She shivered slightly although the breeze was mild, and walked forward to greet the car. Yes, sometimes any kind of company was preferable to only your own. Even that of those whose deception had stolen your daughter and broken your heart. She’d never really understood that

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  expression before, a broken heart, but she did now, and the shards of her splintered emotions stabbed her somewhere deep inside as Rob stepped out of the car and walked toward her, his eyes a reflection of her own sad weariness; For a moment, Kelly’s heart squeezed a little with remorse. But not enough. Seeing he was about to speak, she cut him off.

  ?I’m here to get my daughter back. Everything else can wait.?

  Kelly watched him flinch as though her words were acid before she pushed Rob aside to see the others getting out of the car. Her eyes fell to the frail woman her father was easing into the wheelchair, and she could almost taste the bitterness in her mouth.

  ?So this is what you were screwing while my mother sat at home waiting for you.?

  Jack’s face spun around, so much guilt there that it seemed he was a stranger.

  ?Kelly, please. Not now.?

  ?No accounting for taste, is there??Her pale face was flushed with anger, and she sneered at Gina, who held the old woman’s hand, tears still wet on her cheeks. Gina’s expression hardened.

  ?Well, that’s men for you.?She smiled. ?You never can rely on them to keep their dicks in their pants.?

  The knowledge in that controlled voice shook Kelly, and she glanced over at Rob, who had walked to the gates farther up the lane and was staring at the house. What did Gina mean by that? He couldn’t have. He wouldn’t have. The king of the meaningless fling, remember? Of course he fucked her. You saw the way he was looking at her yesterday even when he was telling you he loved you. Just words. Just words. You’re nothing. You’re an outsider in all this. Oh, but it hurt to think of them together, one more hurt to add to her new and painful collection. She followed the others to join him at the gate, fighting back the tears.

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  Rob didn’t look at them, but carried on gazing at Syracousse, his voice calm.

  ?I think Kelly and Gina should wait out here. Jack, you and I can take Camilla in. I think the fewer people going inside the better.?

  ?My mother’s not going in there without me.?Gina’s voice was sharp. ?We don’t know what’s going to happen. Anything could happen to her.?

  Jack sighed. ?The house loves Camilla. She’s safe enough, but I think Rob’s right. We need you girls to be out here in case … in case someone has to go get help. I’d be happier if neither of you were inside.?

  Kelly couldn’t even bring herself to look at him. Oh, Dad, suddenly showing so much fatherly concern for both your daughters. You’re the only one who’s benefited from all this shit, aren’t you? You’ve got yourself a whole new pride and joy. Lucky, lucky you.

  Gina refused to let go of the wheelchair, unaware of her mother’s quiet, happy humming beneath her.

  ?You are not going in there without me. Not with my mother. I go, or no one goes. As the owner I can refuse to let you in and call the police if you try. It’s our house. If anyone belongs in there, we do.?

  Kelly held up her hands in frustration, eager for the stalemate to be over. Just wanting Tabby back. Tabby’s pure love, unencumbered by secrets.

  ?I’ll stay out here. Just leave me the car keys. I don’t want to go in there anyway. All of this is your mess, not mine. You lot sort it out.?

  She held out her hand and Jack gave her the leather fob with the key on it. Taking the key, she grabbed his wrist with her other hand, gripping it tight, feeling the bones through his skin. Her voice was low and cold as she met his gaze.

  ?Just get my daughter back. I don’t care how you do it. Just get Tabby back to me. You owe me and her that.?Behind her, she could hear Gina pushing the wheelchair over

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  the gravel toward the gates where Rob was waiting. She released Jack’s wrist, but he stayed where he was, staring at her for a second.

  ?I love you, Kelly. More than anyone in the world. Try to remember that. There were never any lies about that.?

  ?Not now, Dad. This isn’t the time.?She turned away from him, and didn’t look around until she heard him moving forward, one footstep heavier than the other as he limped to the gates.

  Tears threatened her again as she watched them leaving her behind, Rob and her father pushing open the gates, little resistance this time, Gina resolutely pushing Camilla into the drive. Her father didn’t look back, but Rob hung behind the others and just before stepping across the threshold of Syracousse, he looked over his shoulder, a half smile, almost wistful, on his face, his eyes seeking hers, and in that moment she knew that no matter what did or didn’t happen with Gina last night, he loved her, wholly and completely.

  But was it enough? Would it ever be enough to make up for all this? Kelly couldn’t give him the response he wanted, no nod, or smile, or wave of good luck. She wasn’t ready to let go of her anger yet. If she gave that up, she was terrified there would be nothing left but despair and she would crumble. No, the anger had to stay until she had Tabby back. Until she knew her little girl was safe. After that … well … after that she’d take it one day at a time.

  From behind her frozen mask of indifference, she watched the disappointment on Rob’s face before, like the others, he turned his back on her and stepped onto the drive. Her heart froze for a moment as the four of them moved farther away from her—farther away from safety—not sure what she expected to happen, maybe more weeds clutching at them crazily from the ground, but there was nothing except the sound of the footsteps getting fainter and fainter as they walked toward the house.

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  By the time they reached the front door, all she could hear were the birds that fluttered and flew in the trees around her, and like characters in a silent film, she watched the others disappear inside the house, the door left open behind them, a grinning mouth taunting her for not venturing in.

  Her heart pounded in her chest as she checked her watch. Twenty minutes she’d give them, and if they weren’t out by then, she’d call Keery, and damn the explanation. Getting in the car, glad to be in a familiar environment of her own, she kept her eyes firmly on the house. Twenty minutes was going to seem like an eternity when there was nothing to do but wait. Wait and pray.

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  The silence hung like dust in the air around the four of them as they waited in the desolate hallway. What exactly they were waiting for, Rob wasn’t sure. Tabby to come running down the stairs? No, he couldn’t see it being quite that easy. And they hadn’t considered how they were going to get Camilla out of the house again once they’d gotten Tabby back. What if Syracousse didn’t want to let her go? What then?

  ?What now??Jack was so close to Rob that the feel of breath in his ear as the policeman spoke almost made the younger man jump.

  The sound of humming made them both turn around, the question forgotten. Camilla was squirming slightly in her chair, her eyes still glazed but with more life, more excitement, in them than they’d held for probably years, her lips pressed together pushing out the notes of the uncomposed music.

  ?Mum??Gina crouched down beside her, but the old woman ignored her, if she was aware that Gina was there at all. Camilla’s head rocked from side to side and her

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  withered hands clenched and unclenched the padded arms of the wheelchair.

  Rob looked warily around them. ?Something’s happening.?Invisible pressure was building up, he could feel it almost weighing his body down, and a buzz, like a distant swarm of bees filled his ears. Was it coming from inside him or out? He glanced at Jack.

  ?Can you hear that??

  The old man nodded slowly, and Jack reached out and touched the wall at the bottom of the curved staircase. His fingers pulled back instantly with surprise, and he pushed them back to the smooth surface.

  ?The walls are vibrating.?

  Camilla laughed behind them, a thin sound from a voice rusty from lack of use. ?Oh yes!?Her voice was full of joy. ?Oh yes!?She continued her humming, but louder this time.

  Rob took hold of Jack’s arm, his ears aching with the pressure. ?It’s starting,?As they stared at each other, Rob could see his own thoughts reflected in the other man’s eyes, hidden behind the determination and strength on the glassy, gray surface. What the hell are we doing? What the hell have we got ourselves into? How the hell is this going to end?

  Rob stumbled backwards as two things happened at once. Camilla pushed herself out of her chair and the building pressure exploded into music around them, unbearably loud, its strength pulsing up through his body from his feet, a symphony of sound, the instruments unrecognizable, accompanying and overwhelming the old woman’s solo humming. Jack clutched at his ears, and Gina cringed as she grasped for her mother.

  Rob watched them as if behind an invisible partition. Camilla’s arms stretched out wide, her head thrown back as she laughed and spun around and around, pushing Gina away. Bright sunlight flashed in his eyes like a glitterball gone mad, sunlight that couldn’t be that bright,

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  that couldn’t be in the house, so bright that he flinched each time it hit his eyes, squeezing them shut.

  The real and the unreal were merging around him, and although he could hear Gina calling for her mother, screaming for her above the awful off-key music, when he opened his eyes, he caught glimpses of things that couldn’t be there, vases of flowers on sideboards that hadn’t been in place for a quarter of a century, pictures on walls, there one minute gone the next, the images changing so quickly that he leaned back against the vibrating wall in an effort to steady himself.

  For a moment, the present came back into view, and Rob watched as Camilla danced past him, twirling into the lounge out of sight, her steps as light as a woman thirty years younger. Gina followed her, screaming for her, leaving Jack and Rob alone in the hall.

  ?We brought her back!?Rob screamed at the walls and the ceiling. ?We brought her back for you. To show you she’s okay. She’s being looked after! Now give us Tabby! Give the little girl back. She doesn’t belong here!?

  The anger in the increased volume threw Rob back against the wall, and Jack fell into the banisters, holding on to them, his face tight with pain. Rob’s own anger rose inside, protecting him from his fear.

  ?Give her back! We’ve done what you wanted!?

  The music screeched high, no tune there now, and Rob screamed in pain, stuffing his hands into his ears, trying in vain to block it out as sunlight blinded him once again. Forcing his eyes open, for a moment he forgot the whistling agony in his eardrums, as he gazed at the wall opposite to him. The Graces’ hallway mirror was back and in it he could see his reflection, but not his reflection from now, the reflection of the little boy he had been all those years ago. But that wasn’t what made his breath catch. Not the image of him, he barely glanced at that. It was the figures standing behind his reflection that made him stare. The little boy with the dark hair hanging over

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  his eyes, one hand, one unscarred hand holding the fur of the golden retriever that sat, panting, next to him. Jason? Was that Jason and Teacher?

  Jason’s reflection smiled at him, a cheeky grin Rob had never forgotten, and pointed one finger sideways. ?Upstairs, Rob.?Rob tilted his head. The voice that came from the mirror was Jason’s, but not his childhood voice. This one was deeper. This was the one he had listened to only days ago. ?We’re upstairs, Robster. We can’t get down.?Teacher barked, and the sound of that more than anything else, brought tears to Rob’s eyes. The young Jason’s smile fell. ?But hurry. We haven’t got much time.?

  With a blast of music, the mirror exploded, sending glass everywhere, the shards cutting the back of Rob’s hands and arms as he lifted them to protect himself. How can glass that doesn’t exist cut me? How can that be? He pushed the questions aside and stumbled toward where Jack was curled around the banisters. Jason was helping him, God only knew how, but he was sure of it. The message in the mirror came despite the house, not because of it. Jason and Teacher were helping him, and crazy as that sounded, even amongst all this madness, he held on to the thought, it refilling his muscles and tired spirit with energy.

  He tugged at Jack’s sleeve, making the old man look up at him. Blood was trickling down one side of his face and into the rivulets of his sagging neck, and Rob knew without the help of any doctors that one of Jack’s eardrums had burst. He would have liked to spend a few minutes checking that Jack was going to be okay, but that was going to have to wait.

  ?I think Tabby’s upstairs!?Rob shouted over the music whose volume seemed to have lessened a little, knowing that Jack would only have roaring deafness on one side. ?You go out to Kelly! I’ll get Tabby and then bring the others out. Go!?

  He turned to take the stairs and felt a hand clutching at

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  his leg. Using Rob’s body as a post, Jack dragged himself to his feet, one hand gripping Rob’s shoulder.

  ?She’s my granddaughter!?he yelled back into Rob’s face. ?I’m coming with you!?

  Looking at Jack’s exhausted determination, Rob nodded. They didn’t have time to argue, and he guessed Jack had his own guilt to work off in here. ?Come on then!?

  Trying to keep a firm hold of the banister, Rob made his way up the stairs that were moving under him, sliding this way and that, teasing and taunting his feet, which were desperate to find some kind of secure purchase. Glancing backwards, he could see Jack several steps behind, both hands on the rail, feet tentatively moving forward. Rob felt the urgency eating away inside him. What was it Jason had said? We don’t have much time. He gazed up at the stairway that twisted and turned like a snake before him.

  ?Oh bollocks,?he muttered under his breath before closing his eyes and launching himself upwards, taking the stairs two at a time. His feet hit their targets, slipping at the last two, but only enough to make him stumble, not lose his balance completely.

  When he opened his eyes, relieved to have what felt like stable ground beneath him, the first thing he noticed was the darkness. He could still see the sunlight from below, but there was no light at all on this upper level of the house, and it took him a few moments to adjust to the gloom. Peering over the banister, he saw Jack, still climbing, halfway down. The old man looked up, and waved Rob on with one arm. ?I’ll catch up! Find Tabby!?

  Turning his back on the brightness, Rob stared at the dark ahead of him. This wasn’t the house as he remembered it. This had a feel of vastness that Syracousse never had. Looking into the blackness, Rob had a feeling that if he walked into that corridor, he’d be walking forever. Fear chewed at his stomach again, and he could almost feel the house mocking him. Come and play, Robster. Step inside. Knowing that the words came from his own head, his own

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  imagination, didn’t stop the shiver running down his spine. He had a feeling that if this mad place could speak, then that’s exactly what it would be saying.

  After the wildness downstairs, this sudden quiet stillness unsettled Rob and he felt as if he were walking into the dragon’s lair, only in this case, unlike all the fairy stories, the dragon wasn’t sleeping; it was very much awake. Awake and angry. Knowing there was nowhere else to go, he edged tentatively forward, his feet shuffling along the floorboards, fear gnawing at his stomach at the thought of chasms that dropped forever and ever opening up beneath him, hidden by the blackness. Ignoring the pain that burst into life from his bleeding cuts, he held his arms out in front of him, feeling the warm liquid running into his sleeves cooling against his skin, and stretched out his fingers, desperate to find a wall to guide himself along, not wanting to play this insane game of blind man’s bluff where the rules could change at any minute.

  ?Where is she, Jase? Where the fuck is she?? he muttered under his breath, immediately regretting it, the words deadened and lifeless in the heart of the house, eaten up by the dark. With every step, the dim glow from the stairs behind him faded, and he fought the urge to turn and run. There was a little girl in here somewhere, and if she was having to cope with her fear, then he was going to have to do the same. The thought didn’t give him any more courage, but his feet continued their hesitant moves forward despite himself.

  Feeling something soft make contact with his left shoe, Rob let out a gasp of air that in his head was a skull-splitting scream too terrifying to be released without making him flee as far from this place as he could get. Oh Jesus Oh Jesus Oh Jesus … Freezing on the spot, he waited to feel it, whatever it was, slither and slide against his leg, or like the ivy, squeeze around him. His heart hammered so hard in his chest he couldn’t distinguish between the beats. Where the hell was Jack? How far behind could he be?

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  Rob waited, counting to sixty in his head, but the thing beside his foot didn’t move, and holding his breath, he crouched down, one invisible, shaking hand reaching for it, ready to recoil in an instant. He senses recognized the feel immediately. Soft, worn leather. Picking the item up, Rob held it to his face, the smell confirming what touch had already told him. Running his hands over it, feeling the cigarettes and lighter in the top pocket, his fear was for a moment overrun by his confusion. This was Jason’s jacket. He was sure of it. When they’d found him in the lane, he’d seen the pack of Marlboros resting in it. But how could that be? How could Jason’s jacket be here? And while you’re on the subject, how could Jason talk to you in mirrors? Answer me that one, hotshot.