by Alys West
She shook her head. She was being ridiculous, reading things into Finn’s words that didn’t belong there. Tanya had been drinking last night. She could have the hangover from hell. Or be coming down with flu. And alright, Penny had a bad reaction too but she’d said she was run down when she had the healing. Then what about Anna? She’d suffered after having healing with Maeve. Weren’t three bad reactions more than a coincidence?
Grabbing her coat and the chocolate hobnobs, she locked her door and then hesitated. Should she tell Tanya that she was going out? She didn’t want to disturb her if she were sleeping. Maybe she could ask Helena to check on her later.
Slipping her arms into her cagoule, Zoe took the stairs slowly, stopping in the hall to look through the porch. Dylan and Kyle were in the garden. Continuing into the kitchen, she saw Helena emptying the dishwasher.
“Hi Zoe, how you doing? Do you want a brew? Maeve always has a cup at this time and I’m making for the guys out there.”
“No thanks, I’m going out. Can you do something for me?”
“Sure. What do you need?”
Looking at Helena’s eager smile, Zoe realised that she might be able to answer some of her many questions. “How long have you worked here?”
“It’s been five months now.”
“So you weren’t here in October?”
“No, I started in the middle of November.”
“How did you get the job?” Zoe said, hoping it sounded like a casual enquiry.
“There was an ad in one of the shops in town. Anam Cara had been closed for a while and Maeve needed some help to get it ready to open again.”
“Do you how long it was closed?” Zoe had assumed Catriona had been a guest but if Anam Cara hadn’t been open then what was she doing here?
“Over a month, I think. There was a lot of work getting it ready for guests.”
Realising she didn’t know when in October Catriona had stayed, Zoe tried a different tack. “Did Maeve say why it was closed?”
“No. Why are you asking?” Helena crossed her arms and a frown creased her plump face.
“Just curious.” Zoe shrugged slightly. “I actually wanted to talk to you about Tanya. She’s not well. When I spoke to her a while ago I told her to shout if she needed anything but then I remembered I had to pop out. So I was wondering if you’d look in on her.”
“Yeah, no problem. I’ll go up later to see if she needs anything.” Helena filled the kettle and put it on to boil.
“Thanks. I’m just a bit worried about her. She looked awful. But she thinks she’ll be well enough to meet Dave tonight so I suppose she can’t feel that bad.”
“She’ll be lucky.” Helena leaned against the counter. “It takes at least twenty four hours.”
“What does?”
“Oh, it’s nothing to worry about. Maeve says karmic wave therapy works on such a deep level that the body has to take time out to deal with it.”
“Are you telling me everyone has this kind of reaction after karmic wave therapy?”
“Not everyone reacts in the same way. But there’s nothing to worry about. Most people are better in a day or two.” Helena’s voice was calmly reassuring.
“But not everyone?” Zoe stepped forward. Was this why Finn had come to get his sister?
Helena glanced away. “No, some people take a bit longer to get over it.”
“Like how much longer?”
“I can’t say for certain because most of them have gone home by then.” Helena turned to take mugs and a china cup from the cupboard.
“But some people stayed, right? How long did it take them to get over it?”
“It’s only happened a couple of times. Maeve said that they must have caught a virus before the healing and that’s why it took them a while to -” Helena hesitated, her back still turned to Zoe “- bounce back.”
“Just how long until they bounced back?” Remembering the look on Finn’s face when he’d talked about his sister Zoe couldn’t hide her anger.
Helena turned, her arms crossed. “There’s no need to worry, you know. Tanya will be great in a day or two. Everyone who has karmic wave therapy says it’s transformational. Maeve’s always getting emails and cards from people thanking her and saying how much she’s helped them.”
“So feeling really rubbish for a day or two is a known side effect of this type of healing?” Zoe said. When Helena looked blank, she added, “It happens with the other healers who do karmic wave therapy as well? All their patients get really sick for a day or two but then feel great afterwards?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? You must have asked.”
“Maeve said...” Helena’s voice was flat as if she were reciting a mantra.
“But what about the other healers doing karmic wave therapy?” Zoe repeated. When Helena looked at her blankly, she added, “Please tell me there are other healers doing it?”
“I don’t know. Maeve says...”
“But she’s been trained?” Zoe spoke more loudly to be heard over the noise of the kettle. “I mean, she has qualifications or certificates or something?”
“Maeve says that healing is instinctual. You know, a gift.”
“A gift! Is it a gift to make people ill before you make them better? What kind of healing is that? Tanya didn’t know it would make her feel this bad or she’d never have agreed to it. You know how much she’s looking forward to this date with Dave. She wouldn’t do anything that would risk her missing that.” Voice rising above the clamour of the boiling kettle, Zoe’s hands sliced through the air to emphasise her words.
The kettle clicked off. In the sudden silence, there were two quick footsteps. “Good afternoon girls,” Maeve said.
Zoe swung round. Please God, let Maeve not have heard what she’d just said. Then she gasped. At breakfast the healer, had looked drained, exhausted and – not to put too fine a point on it - old. Now, in the bright afternoon light shining through the kitchen window, she looked rejuvenated. Her skin glowed with health, the deep lines had melted away and her eyes were bright. She looked ten, maybe even fifteen, years younger.
Zoe stared at the transformation. Maeve must have been without her makeup this morning and whatever brand of cosmetics she used they were doing an incredible job. She looked like she’d had a facelift in the six hours since breakfast.
“Zoe dear, you look startled. Is everything alright?” Maeve smiled.
“Sure. I’m...I’m fine.”
“Zoe came to tell me that Tanya’s not well,” Helena said.
“And you’re worried about her, dear? There’s really no need. It’s usual for people to feel a little under the weather after karmic wave therapy. It heals on such a deep level that the body needs time to recover.” Her hand stretched towards Zoe’s shoulder in a gesture that would have been comforting from anyone else. Instinctively, Zoe stepped beyond Maeve’s reach. The healer’s mouth tightened into a thin line.
“That’s exactly what Helena said.” Zoe forced her eyes away from Maeve’s startlingly changed face.
Turning to her employee, Maeve said, “Have they found it?”
Zoe frowned. Were they talking about the doll? Her thoughts slid guiltily to the moment when she’d thrown into the river.
“No, sorry. Not yet,” Helena said.
“Then they’ll have to leave the clean-up and focus on the search. I want it found.” Pivoting on her heel, Maeve strode towards the door. She stopped abruptly, looked Zoe up and down. “You were in the garden this morning. Maybe you saw what I’m looking for? A doll made of wood and cloth, about two inches tall.”
“No.” The word came out of her mouth too loudly. “No, I haven’t, that is, I didn’t see a doll. I just went to see the tree. That’s all.” Zoe’s eyes were fixed on the polished wood floor. As the silence lengthened she felt compelled to meet Maeve’s gaze.
“Alright, dear,” Maeve said with a smile.
For a second Z
oe felt relief. Then she realised the smile didn’t warm the healer’s cold eyes. She waited until Maeve entered the porch before hurrying over to Helena. Keeping her voice low, she said, “What’s so special about this doll?”
“I don’t know.” Helena frowned. “But if it’s more important than tidying up the garden then she must really want it back.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Maeve adores her garden. It’s her passion and her joy. If finding this doll’s more important than getting the garden put to rights...” Helena shrugged before she picked up the tray and carried it out of the kitchen.
Then it’d been a huge mistake to chuck the doll in the river. If only she’d never taken the damned thing. If she’d had any idea last night of the stress it would cause she’d never have cut the doll from its stupid bark binding.
Before the thought was completed, she was sprinting across the hall and up the stairs. She fumbled with the key, turning it the wrong way before the door unlocked. Crossing the room, she snatched up the bin, scrabbling through its contents of uneaten apple, screwed up paper and used cotton wool balls until her fingers closed around the curl of bark. She stuffed it in her coat pocket. Pulling out the scraps of black wool, she shoved those in too.
Locking the door behind her, she raced down the stairs. Then stopped abruptly.
Maeve stood in the doorway of the porch, watching Dylan and Kyle work. She would have to walk past her. After the questions in the kitchen she didn’t think she could face it. Not with the wool and bark stuffed in her coat pocket.
She was heading back to the stairs when she remembered the French windows. They were too close to the stone table but that had to be a better option than hiding in her room. She hurried through the kitchen and hesitated, her hand on the door handle. Four black candles stood, equally spaced, around the rim of the table and a vase of foliage, like the one in her room, was at its centre.
Taking a deep breath, Zoe opened the door and stepped out. Immediately, the same intense feelings hit her. Her heart pounded, her breath caught in her throat. Cringing away from the table she pressed herself against the pebbledash wall.
An image flashed across her mind. A young woman lying on the table, moaning in agony as blood dripped from a gash on her arm.
She lurched away from the table and ran for the gate. Before she reached it, she had the unmistakable sense of being watched. Yanking the gate open, she glanced over her shoulder. Maeve hurried along the path towards her. “Zoe, dear! I just wanted to ask...”
Zoe whipped through the gate and kept running until it slammed behind her.
Chapter 8
Zoe’s hasty exit confirmed Maeve’s suspicion. Every instinct that she’d gained during her interminable years as a school mistress told her that the girl had lied. Admittedly the attempt had been clumsy and unconvincing. And far more revealing than Zoe realised.
Turning back to the house, Maeve passed Helena raking up leaves. “My office. Now!”
Sitting behind her desk, her hand settled on the worn black cover of a large book. There was a tentative knock on the door. “Come!” Maeve rapped out the word. Helena hovered in the doorway.
“Close the door,” Maeve said. Eyes fixed on the floor, Helena complied.
“Look at me.” When the girl’s gaze met hers, Maeve said, “Why were you talking to Zoe about things which do not concern her? You know I will not stand for people gossiping behind my back.”
“Oh, Maeve.” Helena’s eyes welled with tears. “I’m so very, very sorry. It was all a mistake. She started asking me all these questions and I didn’t...”
“What kind of questions?” Maeve interrupted. “Tell me exactly what she asked.”
Shuffling her feet as she struggled to answer Maeve’s cross-examination Helena paraphrased her conversation with Zoe. When Maeve felt confident she’d extracted everything relevant from Helena’s memory, she put her hand on the girl’s wrist and said, “There will be no repeat of this afternoon’s unfortunate behaviour. If Zoe asks any more questions, then leave the room immediately and come and find me.” Helena responded with a stream of apologies and assurances that Maeve cut through saying, “Has Zoe gone out for long?”
“She told me she was going into town but she didn’t say how long she’d be. Did you want her?”
“No. You can go.”
Picking up her delicate china cup, Maeve’s rejuvenated features settled into a scowl. The girl was more astute than she’d given her credit for. When she’d finished her tea, she took a bundle of keys from a locked drawer. Briskly she walked upstairs. The house was quiet. Tanya was the only other occupant and she was in no position to interfere. Maeve turned the key, stepped into the stellar room and closed the door.
Sometime later she emerged and locked the door. Her face was taut with fury, her eyes hard as glacial ice. Her fingers gripped a strand of black wool.
* * *
Zoe swore under her breath when she saw the closed door of the Tourist Information Office. It wasn’t even 5 o’clock yet. And now she was stuck at Anam Cara for the night. That reminded her of the bark and scraps of wool in her pocket. She dumped them in a rubbish bin, wandered up the High Street and through the open doors of the Earth Cafe.
Ordering a latte, she sat in the window to do some people watching. She found the diversity of people in Glastonbury fascinating. Hippies and Crusties passed, followed by a woman dressed as a pixie and a group of slightly bemused looking tourists. But she knew that wasn’t the only reason she’d chosen this seat. She hoped she’d see Finn.
Drinking her coffee she started to relax. Lying was seriously bad for her stress levels. Thank God, Maeve had seemed to buy it. If only she could be sure that the healer hadn’t overheard her in the kitchen.
She really shouldn’t have got so wound up with Helena. If Helena wanted to have blind, unquestioning faith in Maeve then that was her business. It was just irritating as hell to be around. And odd because Maeve wasn’t even that nice to her. She treated her like a slightly dim servant. After putting up with that any normal person would be desperate to dish the dirt behind Maeve’s back.
Zoe pulled her mobile from her bag. If Helena wouldn’t answer her questions then she’d Google. She started with ‘Karmic Wave Therapy’. It wasn’t a huge surprise to find that the only exact match was Anam Cara’s website. Reading the quote from Maeve about its amazingly beneficial effects for mind, body and spirit and the glowing reviews on the testimonials page, her brow furrowed. If other people had been as ill as Tanya then why hadn’t they complained? Or did they, as the testimonials claimed, end up feeling so fabulously revitalised that they thought the healing crisis worth the end result?
Googling ‘healing crisis’ brought up an abundance of natural therapy sites. There was a divergence of opinion as to the causes of the crisis. However the general consensus was that the body expelled toxins during the healing that created symptoms like a bad hangover which often lasted between one and three days.
The sheer number of sites and variety of opinions made Zoe wonder if she could rely on any of them. They were written by people who claimed, like Maeve, to be healers. But exactly what qualifications or experience did they have? If anyone could set up as a healer and make whatever claims they liked then how did people know who was for real and who was a charlatan? And which was Maeve? It was so very tempting to believe she was a fraud but then wouldn’t her guests experience nothing at all? Obviously something was going on. The question was what? Because she was sure Finn hadn’t been at Anam Cara to complain about his sister having a headache for a couple of days.
Her stomach growled. Figuring that as she’d missed lunch she was entitled to a decent meal she ordered veggie lasagne. When she’d finished eating she had another coffee, took out her sketchpad and redrew the crumpled pictures of the Lady of the Lake that Finn had rescued this morning. As usual she became absorbed in her work, adding to and improving what she’d done earlier. When she looked up she was s
urprised to see it was half past seven. Wanting to put off returning to Anam Cara for as long as possible she considered ordering another drink. But the thought of walking back in the dark stopped her. After the day she’d had who knew what phantoms her mind would conjure from the twilight.
She dawdled on the way back, thinking about Finn, wondering what he was doing this evening. As she opened the gate her stomach clenched. Crossing the garden, she glanced at the stump of the Green Man’s tree. She wanted to tell him about Finn and her suspicions about Maeve. She knew she’d have felt better afterwards. Somehow reassured.
She shook her head. Back in London she’d have considered that one small step from unhinged. But Glastonbury was making her reconsider her definition of crazy. After all, talking to trees was far less strange than drawing the future.
She headed straight for her room. Half way up the stairs she met Helena carrying a can of furniture polish and a duster. “Hi, how you doing?” Zoe said.
“Fine.” Helena stared over Zoe’s right shoulder.
“Please tell me you’re not still working?”
“Maeve’s gone out. I want to clean her office before she gets back.”
“Oh, right.” For some reason Zoe had the idea that Maeve never left Anam Cara, that she was a constant presence like a spider lurking in the centre of her web. “How’s Tanya?”
“She’s okay,” Helena muttered, pushing past Zoe.
“Did she go to meet Dave?”
“Yes.” Helena clumped heavily downstairs.
Maeve’s office door was shut with more than necessary force. Zoe raised her eyebrows. Was the chill in the atmosphere because Helena hadn’t forgiven her for what she’d said earlier? Zoe turned and headed downstairs. If Maeve wasn’t around she wasn’t going to hide in her room until bedtime.
Maeve clearly didn’t encourage people to watch TV as the only set was in a small, cramped lounge behind the kitchen. Zoe slipped off her coat and sank into the sofa. She flipped through the channels and settled on a rom-com movie that she’d seen before. It was comfort viewing. But she couldn’t engage with the plot. Her mind churned over everything that had happened since she went to bed last night. It seemed like far more than twenty four hours since she’d left the cafe and trailed drunkenly back here.