“Do you mind?” Carol said.
“Not at all,” Graham said.
They started to run.
Graham glanced at Carol. Now that he knew it was her he couldn’t imagine how he hadn’t see it in the first place, except that wasn’t true. He hadn’t known it because of the way she was dressed now and because he hadn’t expected to see her in such a well to do area. He was glad but confused. He looked forward to hearing her explain it to him.
They ran around the corner and he saw the two boys in the distance. In a month Graham had lost a lot of weight and got into much better shape but he would never have as much energy as a ten year old boy. They carried on running until the boys were in danger of leaving their sight and then he realised that he had to do something to stop them before they got completely away.
He looked around and saw a little side street. He could see straight through and out the other side.
“Keep chasing them,” Graham said. He was panting, out of breath.
Carol nodded and then he peeled away down the alley. He ran more quickly because this seemed like his only chance to catch them. If he came out behind them now it might be too late to do anything except hope they didn’t run out into street and get hit by a horse.
The alleyway was just behind some shops. There was nobody down it and the biggest danger seemed to be the discarded crates and other rubbish that lay strewn across his path. He jumped over one box and landed in a pile of splinters. He got back to his feet and started running again.
He ran out the other side of the alleyway and skidded to a stop before he ran into the road. He turned and looked in the direction he expected the boys to be coming from and saw them running towards him. They ran into his arms and he held them tight until Carol came puffing and panting around the corner.
When she saw that Graham had the boys she slowed to a walk. She held a hand to her chest until her breathing returned to normal.
“You two are going to catch hell for that when your father comes home,” Carol said.
It suddenly occurred to Graham how little he actually knew about Carol. She seemed like a different woman. “Are they ... are the boys yours?”
Carol laughed. “Oh dear. Oh I am sorry Mr Kable. Please forgive me.”
“Not at all,” Graham said. He wasn’t sure what was so funny and he still wasn’t sure whether they were hers.
“No they aren’t mine. I am their housekeeper.”
“Housekeeper?” Graham said. The position seemed a great deal different to her previous one.
”That’s right,” Carol said. “I’ve been working for Mr and Mrs Brambley for the last four weeks.” She glared at him and he took it as a warning not to mention how he knew her. “We were on our way to the park if you would care to join us?”
Graham had no plans for the day so he nodded and the four of them set off towards the park.
While the boys ran around the grass, shouting and chasing each other like a pair of wild animals, Graham and Carol walked together. The air was filled with the sweet perfume of spring flowers and a thick wall of trees blocked the sights and sounds of the busy city.
“Mr Brambley was a friend of mine,” Carol said. By the way she said it Graham knew what she really meant. “I hadn’t seen him since, well, since the night you and I met.”
Graham nodded but didn’t interrupt. On the grass one of the boys pushed the other over. Carol stopped walking and Graham stopped beside her.
“William leave your brother alone!” Carol shouted.
The elder boy turned his back and started walking away. Graham expected the younger to jump up and run after him but he didn’t. Instead he got up slowly and brushed himself down. When he was done he walked over to Carol and buried his head in her side. She put an arm around him.
“Are you okay?” Carol said.
Thomas looked up at her and nodded.
“Go on back and play then,” she said.
Thomas wiped his eyes, although as far as Graham could see, he hadn’t been crying. He smiled at Carol and then ran off to join his brother.
They stood and watched the boys for a moment and Graham found it easy to imagine they were their own children. He pushed the thought aside. He couldn’t deny that he liked Carol but this was hardly the time to give into his baser desires. Apart from anything there was his reputation to consider. Regardless of what she did now they both knew what she had been.
“The brothel,” she whispered the word, “was burned to the ground. I didn’t have anywhere else to go so I went to Mr Brambley.” She shook her head as if the memory of the incident was still difficult to think about. Seeing as she had probably lost everything she owned in the world it probably was. “He had every right to close the door in my face and have nothing to do with me. Fortunately the children’s maid had recently left to get married and he told his wife I was her replacement.”
“That is very fortunate,” Graham said.
Carol nodded and they walked in silence for a moment. The park was warm and the air moist. Most of the other people that he saw were young mothers and nannies. It was strange to pass the time in such a tranquil location when his whole world was so close to falling apart.
“And how about you Mr Kable,” Carol said. “Have you made progress?”
Graham nodded. “I’ve made contact with Bridget.” He didn’t want to tell her that for the last few nights he had failed to reach his daughter. He didn’t want her to consider him a failure.
“That’s wonderful news,” Carol said. “So it won’t be long before you are reunited?”
“I hope not,” Graham said.
“And when you’ve got her back?” Carol said. “What do you plan to do then?”
“I suppose I will try to go back to Scotland Yard,” he said but he didn’t think that they would have him. His behaviour recently wasn’t consistent with someone who could be trusted to uphold the law.
Carol nodded and they walked some more.
“Do you have plans?” Graham said. Becoming a nanny must have seemed like a big advancement for her but he didn’t want their conversation to end.
Carol sighed and said nothing for a moment. “I have been thinking about America.”
“America?” Graham said. He was surprised. It seemed so far away.
“Not yet,” Carol said. She glanced over at the two boys. “Perhaps when they no longer need me.” She turned back to look at Graham. “It would be nice to get a fresh start, don’t you think?”
“I suppose,” Graham said. “But America? Isn’t it full of cowboys and criminals?”
Carol laughed. “Then we would both be at home there.” Her cheeks reddened and she turned away, no longer laughing. “I’m sorry Mr Kable.”
“Think nothing of it,” Graham said. He knew that he would though. America was a long way away and maybe that was a good thing. Maybe that was just what he and Bridget would need when all of this was over. He might never be able to walk down a street in Lunden without having it remind him of the things that had happened there.
They walked the entire perimeter of the park making small talk, as if neither of them wanted their time together to end. The boys continued to play until they were tired and even more silly than they had been to begin with. By the time they were back where they had started Graham could see that they were ready to go home.
He held open the gate for Carol and the boys. They stood by the side of the road.
“I want to go home,” Thomas said. He pulled on Carol’s dress and she turned to look at him.
“In a minute,” Carol said. She looked back at Graham. “Have you got somewhere to stay?”
He didn’t think she was inviting him to go with them and even if she had been he couldn’t. Now was not the time to get distracted. “I have taken rooms.”
She nodded. “We come walking here most afternoons.”
“That’s good to know,” Graham said.
The goodbye lingered but eventually he had to move on.
If he didn’t then he might just stay there all day and he couldn’t have two hungry boys on his conscience, not along with everything else.
“It was nice to see you again,” Graham said.
“And you,” Carol said.
He still didn’t walk away.
“I’m afraid I have to go,” Carol said.
Graham nodded but he didn’t want her to.
“Mrs Brambley will be worried about the children.”
“Of course,” Graham said. “I’m sorry to have kept you so long.”
He took her hand and squeezed it firmly. He would like to have told her how he felt but he wasn’t sure that he could. Graham was not a man who could speak easily of feelings. They parted with smiles. He stood and watched her walk away with the boys until they disappeared around the corner. Reluctantly he turned and made his way back towards his own house.
CHAPTER 6
GRAHAM LOOKED AT THE BOTTLE OF WHISKEY ON his desk. He had managed not to open it but he didn’t know how long he could make himself wait. A part of him knew that he shouldn’t have bought it at all but after seeing Carol he had stopped at the corner shop and handed over his money.
He was cross-legged on the floor. A candle burning on a shrine in front of him. The curtains were open but it was darker outside than in. He tried to call Bridget to the mind space but he couldn’t do it. The frustration built up in him and after a while he couldn’t even remember what she looked like.
The drink wouldn’t help him reach her but it would help him cope with his inability to do so. He stared at the bottle and, if anyone had been observing him, they might have thought that he was praying to it.
He sighed and closed his eyes. He didn’t understand why Bridget wasn’t responding but it had been days since he had last spoken to her. If her schedule remained consistent they would soon be moving her to a new location.
‘Bridget are you there?’ Graham said. His voice sounded as clear to him as if he had spoken aloud but it was only in his mind space that he heard it.
He didn’t expect an answer.
He didn’t get one.
‘Bridget if you’re there please say something?’
Still no response. He could feel his heart starting to race, the calmness that he needed to operate in the mind space was leaving him. He fought to retain control.
‘Bridget please. I just need to know that you’re alright.’
Nothing and he felt his grip starting to fail. He could feel the emotions coming like a wave.
‘Graham!’
He jumped. It wasn’t Bridget’s voice that he heard. There was someone else in the mind space with him. Since Mrs Roberts had helped him to escape from The Grigori he hadn’t heard a voice other than Bridget’s in there with him.
‘I hear you Graham.’
He couldn’t tell whether the voice was male or female but he could feel the anger in it. Graham no longer wanted to remain in the dark ether of the mind space. He tried to open his eyes and pull back but he couldn’t do it. He was trapped there.
‘Speak to me Graham, tell me what you’re doing.’
His head swung from side to side as he tried to get away from the voice. It wasn’t a nice voice and it wasn’t one that he wanted anywhere near his mind.
‘I can see you Detective Graham. Why don’t you want to speak to me?’
With a tremendous effort Graham managed to open his eyes. It felt as if his body was being pulled in two directions at the same time. His mind felt as if it was no longer connected to him in any real way. This was, he thought, how it must feel to die and have your spirit leave your body behind.
The sensation passed quickly but it left him feeling dizzy and disorientated. He expected to hear the voice again but the only thing he heard was his own panting breath.
He got to his feet. His legs were numb and useless. He fell back down in a heap of limbs and sweat.
Graham took his time, content to stay on the floor until his strength returned as long as the voice didn’t. He could still feel the echoes of it running down his spine and he shivered. It might have been anyone and if they could reach him there they could reach him anywhere.
When he felt that his strength had returned he climbed to his feet. He was unsteady but his legs managed to hold his weight. He staggered the few steps across to his desk and grabbed the bottle of whiskey. It would have been easy to open it then and to forget all about the strange voice that hadn’t been his daughter. He wanted to do it but knew that it wouldn’t help.
Graham put the bottle down hard enough that it might have broken but it was strong glass. He turned away from it and walked out of the room.
Graham walked quickly through the hallway, as if his momentum would be enough to keep the bottle at bay. He pulled his coat from the rack and it fell to the floor with a clatter. He didn’t bother to stop and pick it back up. He didn’t bother to stop and put on his coat at all but carried it with him out of the house where he could no longer be tempted to give in to his bad instincts.
Outside the night was beginning to fall. There was a cold snap in the air. As soon as the door was closed behind him Graham stopped, put on his coat and buttoned it to the collar.
He didn’t know where he was going but anywhere had to be better than his own empty apartment where the voice he had heard still echoed. He put his hands in his pockets and walked away.
People hurried back and forth along the street but Graham was invisible to them. He found himself playing with a piece of paper in his pocket as he walked and began to wonder what it was. When he took it out he found the piece of paper that Park had given him.
He stopped beneath a gas lamp and ignored the irritated comments of people who were forced to swerve out of their way to avoid him. He held up the piece of paper and examined the fine writing.
The address wasn’t far away. Rowling Street was old wealth but a lot of the houses there had fallen into complete disrepair.
Graham passed the slip of paper from one hand to the other and considered what he should do.
He put the piece of paper back in his pocket and started walking. He told himself that he hadn’t really made up his mind whether to go there or not but that wasn’t even half a truth. There was nowhere that he could go.
CHAPTER 7
THE HOUSE WAS COVERED IN CREEPING VINES. A winding staircase led to the front door and at the side there was a dark turret with a slate black roof. The garden was overgrown and all of the lights were off. Graham stood on the road and looked down at the piece of paper. It was his last chance to back out but he knew that he wouldn’t do so. If there was a chance that the person who lived there could help him find Bridget then of course he would call on them.
He walked across the path that was buried beneath the long grass. He could feel the moisture soaking through his trouser legs.
The stairs were solid brick but the handrail was wooden and loose. He walked up them and onto the dark porch. The front door was at the end, completely hidden from the road.
He cleared his throat and knocked on the door. There was no echo and he couldn’t be sure whether anyone would hear. He waited and told himself that if there was no answer then it was a sign that he wasn’t supposed to meet the person who lived there. He would be able to leave and keep his conscience clear.
The door swung open and revealed the dark inside. It smelled of sour herbs and smoke. Graham looked around but he was alone. It didn’t make him feel any better.
Warm air spilled out of the house and he felt himself becoming dizzy. Nevertheless he stepped over the threshold and into the darkness beyond.
“Hello?” Graham said. He stopped just inside the door and felt as if he should wait for someone to acknowledge his presence before going further. There was nothing in the hallway except a startling picture of a circus clown in oil.
A moment passed and there was no answer. He considered again whether he should turn around and leave.
“Hello is anybody there? I was to
ld someone here would be able to help me.”
“Come through Detective,” said a voice from the other end of the hall. “The door is open.”
He looked around but he couldn’t see a door except the one he had come in through. He wondered if he was supposed to leave. When he turned back around to face the original direction he saw that there actually was a door and that it had opened towards him.
“Please Detective,” the voice said. It was as clear as if the speaker were standing beside him, but Graham was still alone. “The quicker we meet the sooner you can be on your way.”
“If it’s inconvenient for you to see me I can come back later,” Graham said.
“We both know that once you leave here you will never return,” the voice said. He could hear teeth knocking together between each syllable. “Now please Detective, come through.”
Graham walked forwards slowly, unsure of what he was going to find. He had already gotten used to the strange smell in the building and the warmth no longer made his skin itch. He opened the door the rest of the way and went through to the other side.
The house was surprisingly ordinary. He found himself in a small room with a round table in the centre. There were two chairs at the table and in the middle of it a large deck of cards with black backs. The walls were lined with book cases and purple curtains billowed in the evening air.
“Please take a seat Detective,” the voice said. “I will be with you shortly.”
Graham pulled out one of the red backed chairs and sat down. He looked at the table and the deck of cards upon it. He was curious about them but suspected the woman he had come to see was a witch and that it would be a very bad idea to start touching her things without being invited to do so.
He might have expected her to appear in a puff of smoke but he was beginning to understand that not all people who claimed to possess magic were frauds. A door that he hadn’t noticed before beside the book case opened and a woman walked out. She was not what Graham had expected.
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