Kelly kept her head down as she listened, her tense, pale face obscured by wisps of that baby blond hair. Afraid of what he’d see in Kelly’s eyes, Rob found it easier just to look at Gina. Gina, who knew all of this all too well already. Gina, who was already contaminated by their history. Gina, who beautiful as she was, Rob suddenly realized was no way as special or important to him as the fragile blonde sitting beside him. Gina was a childhood fantasy; Kelly was an adult reality. The fear of losing her so soon after finding her punched him in the guts, and he reached for her hand. She squeezed his fingers, and looked up. But not at him, at Gina.

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  ?Okay, let’s say that all this stuff is true, that it really happened, and after what we saw this morning I’m not really in any position to argue, but there’s one thing I want to know. Have you been able to do any of this stuff since you were a child??

  Watching her, Rob was once again amazed at Kelly’s strength. Her child was missing, she’d witnessed something this morning that was like a bad acid trip, he’d just told her a story that would make most people think he was a loon, and she absorbed it all and came out with a question he hadn’t even thought of asking. A question that was central to everything.

  Gina shook her head. ?No.?Her voice was soft, but still so much in control. ?No, nothing like that ever happened again. Every day I dreaded it would. I couldn’t relax. Not for one second. I used to have what I called my thought police, a small part of my brain, monitoring my thoughts for anything dangerous. After a while, I found it easier just to keep myself apart from other people. Friends were too much of a worry. What if someone made me angry? Or hurt me by accident? What would happen then?? She smiled slightly. ?Of course, as time passed and nothing strange happened it became easier to let people in, but even then, I tended to choose people I would never really truly care about to share my life. Just in case. I’ve been doing it so long now, I guess it’s hard to break the habit.?

  Her words made Rob’s heart ache and those blue eyes looked into his with such honesty that he couldn’t help wondering where they would be if the past had been different. They would have been together, of that he was certain. Would they have been happy? Had kids? He watched her, a little sad for what could have been, and was struck by the intensity with which she returned his gaze.

  Was that hope in her eyes? Did she think that if they could sort out this mess, then the past would be erased and Kelly would disappear? He broke her stare, not wanting to think about how time played tricks on people, not

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  offering what was wanted until it was too late. Lighting a cigarette, he brought himself back to the problem at hand. Everything else was inconsequential.

  ?Carrie’s message said that we’d got it wrong. Wrong about Teacher. What if you weren’t doing any of it? What if it was the house itself? My computer said, ‘make her come home.’ Maybe the house wants you back.?

  Kelly was nodding. ?That would tie in with what Sharnice said. They were talking about how Gina was never coming back and then the lights went out.?

  Gina sighed and took one of Rob’s cigarettes. ?Well, if that’s the case, then why wouldn’t it let me inside today? Why scare me half to death? It doesn’t make sense.?

  Rob said nothing. Gina had a point, but still his gut was telling him that he was on the right track. God, it was frustrating, all this craziness, and somewhere a little girl was lost. The smoke rose like a haze in front of him.

  ?I don’t have the answers, Gina. All I know, all I think I know, is that Tabby is in that house somewhere, and it doesn’t want to let her go.?

  Kelly’s eyes glistened with fresh tears, although none broke over the brimming edge. ?But why Tabby? Why her? I’ve got nothing to do with all this. This is your shit, not mine!? Her face twisted with anger and fear, and Rob knew the aggression wasn’t meant personally. God knows, she was dealing better with all this than anyone else he could imagine. His own voice stayed gentle.

  ?Your dad went to Syracousse on the day Philip Grace died. He answered Camilla’s call. Maybe that’s the connection.?

  Behind her cigarette, Gina’s body stiffened. ?Of course! I remember him now! My mother was sitting on the stairs oblivious to me, and he hugged me and hugged me for ages, telling me everything was going to be okay. He was a very kind man. He hugged me until I’d stopped screaming, and then he rang the police.?

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  Rob was aware of Kelly speaking as ideas pulled reluctantly together in his head.

  ?I don’t get this, any of it, but I do agree with Rob. I think Tabby’s in that house. I can feel it. I could hear her calling for me. It was horrible. She sounded so close and so afraid, but I couldn’t find her.?

  The room was silent and Rob couldn’t bring himself to fill the void. Staring at his watch he saw that it was only just coming up to two in the afternoon. It was hard to believe, with everything that had already happened today, but Rob was starting to realize that there was more to come before the day was over. Far more.

  He got suddenly to his feet, and the women looked up at him, startled.

  ?I’m going out for a couple of hours. There’s something I need to find out, and I think I need to do it on my own. There’s wine in the cupboard. Help yourselves, but don’t have too much. We need clear heads.? Leaning forward, he kissed Kelly on her forehead, which was furrowed with confusion.

  ?I love you.?

  The words were whispered out, and Rob knew that if they had any power at all, then it would be needed when he got home. Glancing at Gina, the other lady in his life, he left the room and was gone before either woman had time to speak.

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  The Hurstone Hospital in Ashburtle had once been hidden away, lost in the countryside surrounding it. Now, although still set in its own vast acreage behind the high electric gates, it was only a mile or so from the nearest new housing development. Rob idly wondered how long it would be before the old manor house was sold off and turned into luxury apartments; the residents pushed on to strange and new places or becoming victims of that wonderful invention, ‘Care in the Community.’ Still, that was a worry for another person on another day.

  The middle-aged nurse at the reception desk smiled as she finished processing the information card she’d handed him on arrival and pressed the buzzer to the side of her neatly organized desk.

  ?Someone will be along to take you to Mrs. Grace shortly.?

  Rob nodded in acknowledgment. ?Thank you for letting me see her at such short notice. How is she??

  ?The same as she’s been since she arrived as far as I know. I’ve been here ten years, and there hasn’t been any

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  change in that time. She’s very fragile. Most of her time is spent in a world of her own. She has responsive spells, but they don’t last long. I think she’s happier shut off from the rest of us. Still,? she smiled thinly with a hint of reproach, ?maybe having visitors will do her some good.?

  Rob said nothing, and within seconds a young male nurse was walking toward him, smiling.

  ?It’s good to meet you, Mr. Black. I’m a great fan of your work.?He shook Rob’s hand eagerly as he spoke. ?Especially The Pyramid Man. Wonderful insight into an unhinged mind. So sympathetically dealt with. You really are a very talented writer.?

  Always uncomfortable with praise, Rob shrugged. ?Thanks. It’s nice of you to say so.?Leaving the older woman behind, he followed the young man down a silent corridor toward the back of the building. The nurse pushed open two large glass doors.

  ?Mrs. Grace is in the garden. I think she likes it out here. Anyway, it’s more relaxing for visitors.?He smiled. ?Isn’t it strange. She doesn’t have any visitors for years, and now two in one afternoon.?

  Rob was barely listening as he scoured the vast green area in front of him. Finally, his eyes found the figure he was looking for.

  ?It’s okay. You can leave me here if you want. I can see her.?He pointed in the direction of the wheelchair-bound patient and the figure sitting on the bench beside it.

  Leaving the nurse at the doors, he walked slowly across the forty yards or so of grass until he was standing beside the bench. The woman in the wheelchair still had the ghost of beauty in her delicate features, but her eyes were dead as she stared into nothing, and her lips sagged as they hung slack in her face. Rob searched for the Camilla Grace of his childhood, willowy and elegant, but this tragic old woman had swallowed her up for good, the blond hair now gray and untidy, the ageing face free of powder and paint.

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  Jack Hollingsworth held one of her limp hands in his, and he looked up at Rob, no surprise in his eyes. After a few seconds, he turned his attention back to Camilla. Rob sat beside him on the bench.

  Rob spoke softly. ?You were having an affair with Camilla, weren’t you??

  Jack didn’t look at him, but shook his head slowly. ?Not when Philip died. It had been over for a few years by then.?He sighed and stretched one leg out in front of him, grimacing slightly. ?But I still loved her. I still do, I guess.? He paused for a second before looking at Rob. ?How did you know??

  ?It was something Gina said when talking about that day. She said you hugged her and then called the police. It made me wonder why you’d gone up there on your own. It was just a hunch. I wasn’t sure until I saw you sitting here.?

  Jack smiled, his face wrinkling into a thousand folds of life. ?You could have been a policeman with thinking like that. You’ve got the ear for it.?

  Rob shrugged. ?I think of it as a writer’s ear. Same kind of thing, I guess.?

  Jack nodded. ?How’s Gina??

  ?As elusive as ever. I’ve left her at my place with Kelly. We’ve had a strange morning.?

  Looking at the older man’s eyes, at the way they seemed to be looking at the past and the present at the same time, Rob knew they had prevaricated long enough. ?Are you ready to tell me about it, Jack??

  The ex-policeman nodded, turning his gaze back to the woman in the wheelchair. ?I think I am. I think I’ve been ready for a long time, waiting for this day. I always knew it would come out, you see. Secrets in small towns are like corpses in water. They stay hidden for a while, rotting and bloating beneath the surface until you almost believe they were never there at all. But just when you start to relax, all that awful gas makes them float to the surface, as if they

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  want to be part of the world for one last time. One last grand, grotesque entrance.?He let out a short, humorless laugh. ?But I guess this one’s been rotting and bloating inside me for long enough. It’s time to let it float.?His tone was conversational and Rob listened, absorbed, drifting into the story.

  ?Camilla and Philip’s marriage went sour after he put her parents in the old folks’ home. She never wanted that, and I don’t think she ever forgave him for it. For my part, even though I’d married Jane, I’d always had feelings for Camilla. When I was a young man, I’d thought she was out of my league. She was so beautiful she could break your heart with a glance.?He paused and smiled at the memory. ?And she knew it, too. Anyway, that’s no excuse for what we did, but one day it just started. I couldn’t have stopped it if I wanted to, and the truth of it is, I didn’t. I wanted it to go on forever. Philip was always in London until late, so I spent as much time as I could up at that house with her. I’d tell Jane I was working late and she, God rest her soul, always believed me.

  ?I should have felt bad, I know I should, but I didn’t. Not when I was up at Syracousse anyway. Afterwards, when I was home, the guilt would eat away at me, but never when I was there. When I was there, everything seemed perfect.?

  He looked over at Rob, his eyes back in the present. ?Do you remember what you said the other evening about weird things happening? ‘Gina things,’ you called them.?

  Rob nodded, not wanting to say a word and interrupt Jack’s flow.

  ?Well, those weren’t Gina things, no matter what you think. Those things were happening long before Gina came along. They happened all the time around Camilla. She could move things on the other side of the room. No, I’m telling it wrong. She couldn’t move them; she was adamant about that. But things moved if she wanted them to. Or if she was likely to hurt herself. The first time I saw

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  it I thought I was going crazy, but she just laughed. She said it had been happening since she was a child. She decided that her father had put so much love into building the house for her that some of it had lingered behind to look after her when he was gone. I don’t know how true it was, but it was a nice story. I’d have loved her without all that stuff, but with it, I just couldn’t fight it off. Jane seemed so ordinary next to her.

  ?The relationship lasted about two years, until she got pregnant with Gina. The baby was mine and we both knew it. She and Philip had been going through one of their bad spells, and he was sleeping in one of the other bedrooms. I guess as soon as she suspected she was carrying she rectified that situation, because as far as I’m aware he never questioned that he was Gina’s father. Up until then we’d been planning to come clean and start a new life together. I was going to tell Jane, she was going to tell Philip, and then we were going to live happily ever after at Syracousse. I wanted us to have a clean break, to move away, but she’d never leave that house.?He glanced sorrowfully at the old woman in the wheelchair. ?Not of her own free will at any rate.

  ?Somehow the pregnancy brought the reality of the situation home to her, and she changed her mind about divorcing Philip. She was frightened of what people would say. How we would be ostracized. It wasn’t really done in those days. Not around here. Streatford’s always been about twenty years behind the rest of the world. In some ways I was relieved when she told me. Underneath everything, I was as afraid as she was. Probably more.? He looked up and smiled. ?Men have never been too brave in matters of the heart, have they? Still,?he nodded to himself, as he stared back into the distance, as if the past were playing itself out on the horizon, ?I would have done it, even though it would have broken Jane’s heart and been the end of my career. I would have given it all up for Camilla if she’d wanted me to. But she didn’t, and there

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  was no way I could carry on with things the way they had been. Not now that I knew that it would remain an affair forever. It was as if it suddenly had become sordid. Something to be ashamed of.

  ?The first year after the baby came was the worst. Every time I saw Camilla out with that pram, and then the pushchair, I felt as if someone were pulling my guts out with a hook. My little baby girl who didn’t even know I existed. My life was on autopilot. Everywhere I went I seemed to see their faces. I thought it would be the death of me, I really did. All that pain was eating me up from the inside and I couldn’t see an end to it.

  And then something happened to end all that. Jane got pregnant, and Kelly came along. After that, the pain just seemed to die away. Not all at once, and not completely, but I had my own family to think about then. Kelly changed the world for me. Everything she did fascinated and amazed me. It still does. I still thought about Camilla and Gina, but I could never imagine hurting Kelly. Not even Camilla was worth that to me.? He squeezed the small, withered hand of the woman beside him as if in apology.

  ?There was still something between us and always would be, so when Philip …?He stumbled, trying to find the right words. ?When Philip happened it was me she called. My direct line, not the switchboard. She wanted me to take Gina. To tell the truth, she didn’t want Philip’s family to have her.?His voice dropped to a painful whisper. ?But I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.?

  Listening to Jack’s story, Rob found himself dragged back into his own memories. Standing in the kitchen at Syracousse looking at that awful, bleeding body, the knife planted in its chest.

  ?What did she say happened that day??

  ?That the knife just flew out of her hand. They’d been having an argument, and she was thinking how much easier life would be if he was dead, and then bang. The knife

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  was gone.?His breath hitched for a second. ?And so was Philip.?

  In Rob’s mind, the memory was reliving itself in splitscreen. Gina outside. He never shuts up. Never. I wish he’d just die. Camilla Grace inside, wishing her husband dead as vehemently as her daughter, probably more so, that sharp knife chopping up and down in her hand. Why had they never thought of her? Why? Because we were kids, that’s why. Because when you’re kids, adults don’t really exist, do they? Not for stuff like this, not for magic.

  Rob leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees; his fingers interlocked to stop their shaking from seeming so visible. ?Did you believe her??

  Jack sighed and frowned slightly. ?Yes, I guess I did in the main. I believed that she hadn’t wanted to kill Philip, and I believed that the knife did just shoot through the air like she said it did. But I didn’t believe it was nothing to do with her. I figured she had subconscious telekinetic powers or something, and her hate for him was that strong at that moment that her subconscious just took over.? He took a sideways glance at Rob, as if to see whether the younger man was laughing, before he continued.

  ?If anyone had asked me even a few months before if she was capable of it, I would have said no without hesitation, but until then, I’d only seen good things come out of that strange power. You know, protective things.? He let out a long sigh.

  ?I guess that somewhere in the back of my mind, I’d been worrying about something like this happening ever since I heard about that dog falling into the fire. A dog falling into a fire and not able to get itself out? I’d have a hard time believing that story from anyone, let alone someone as high-strung as Camilla. No, it didn’t make any sense. And my daughter lived in that house. Yes, after hearing about the puppy I think I was always worried that this strange stuff was getting out of control, and I was right. All I can be grateful for, sick as it sounds, is that it