by Paula Wynne
The door shook under the persistent fist.
‘Ana-María, the door!’
María scrambled to open it and a shaft of moonlight crept in. A man shoved past her into the kitchen and demanded, ‘Where is your mother?’
Madre stepped into the candlelight and asked, ‘Fernando, your wife is ready so early?’
‘She is in much pain; I could not bring her to you. You must come quickly.’
Without hesitation, Madre pulled a gown over her chemise, grabbed a shawl, threw it around her shoulders, and said, ‘Ana-María fetch me some mugwort from my baking room.’ She turned to Fernando and explained, ‘It induces labour. It will assist the birth and afterbirth. And it will help to ease your wife’s labour pains.’
When María returned a few minutes later with a pile of dried mugwort, Madre kissed the top of her head. ‘Throw that jasmine you crushed into my basket, Ana-María, it will help to calm the new mother.’
With haste, María did as she was told.
Madre picked up her basket, which she kept prepared for an emergency. ‘Feed the animals and follow me in the morning. I will need you to help clean up.’
‘Of course, Mama.’
At the door she gave María a pointed look. María didn’t follow her mother’s gaze but just nodded curtly to assure her the journal had been hidden.
When the noise outside had subsided, and the night had calmed back into silence, María poured water from the bucket into a pot and set it over the fire to boil. She prepared a vegetable and chicken stew for Madre and fed the animals. It would be a long night and day. Delivering babies had long ago bored her. She preferred to spend her time writing, or with the animals in the fields, but Madre needed her.
By the time she left their Finca, and started walking through the night to help Madre, a deep sensation that something terrible was about to happen chilled her.
A cool breeze had whipped up the valley from the direction of the sea. María pulled her shawl closer to her neck, enjoying the roughly woven warmth of the wool. Clumps of clay from the recent rain stuck to her boots.
And then something rustled in the trees ahead.
44
Barker dumped his overnight bag and briefcase on the kitchen island and flicked the kettle on. His flight had arrived late and he’d had to tackle heavy traffic on the M25 to get to his London home.
Living in London, he loved. Fighting its impossible traffic, he hated.
He sifted through a row of teabag tins and chose camomile to calm his mind. He dropped the teabag into his teacup, lifted his briefcase and ambled down the hall.
Passing his sitting room, he glanced at the leather lounge suite, as white as virginal daisies. The curtains draping elegantly to the sides were as white and looked pearlescent with the uplighter shining on them. He’d decorated it to prove his clean sexual tastes. Only to himself, of course. Teresina hadn’t put a foot in this new home.
In his study, he placed his briefcase on the desk, opened it and switched on a lamp. In the corner, he lifted a gift box and spun back to face his desk. He knelt down to a safe hidden under his desk and removed a wad of money. Next, he swathed the pound notes into tissue paper and tucked it into the box.
Inside the lid of the briefcase, a letter opener gleamed. Its decorative handle showed off an angel with expanded wings. Barker grabbed a roll of red twine and sliced through a long strand.
He carefully wrapped the money bundle into the box, closed the lid, and tied a bow with the red twine. Zelda’s find had become an important cog in the mechanical process. It hadn’t taken him long to notice that after his last payout, Zelda had been away from work for a week, returning with a brand new set of ripe, fleshy breasts. She must have paid handsomely for them.
Barker placed the parcel into his briefcase ready for posting and ambled back to the kitchen. The kettle whistled. He poured boiling water onto the teabag and hummed. As the brew steeped, he carried the china tea cup across the marbled floor and set it down before settling into a leather sofa.
Barker reached for his phone, dialled a number and asked to speak to Matt Gorden. When the chairman of Mata Gorda International hollered down the line, Barker cut to the chase. ‘Gorden, have you heard of something called rizado?’
A long silence on the other end.
‘Gorden? You there?’
‘I’m here.’
‘So you know about the Herbal de Carbonela being dug up in the Madrid archives and opened to the public.’
‘Of course, we’ve known for years. We received a sample of it ages ago and we’ve been trying to replicate rizado ever since. Why are you asking?’
Without giving his game away, Barker filled Gorden in and ended by saying, ‘I’ll get my hands on it soon. What did the results show?’
‘It was only a small sample so we couldn’t do much. But it’s amazing. Rizado heals burns and cuts in hours. Our scientists added it to some antibiotics and it made them ten times more effective. If you can get your hands on more, we’ll do more tests. Why don’t you come in and discuss it?’
After arranging a meeting for the following day, Barker cut the call. He lifted a magazine from his coffee table and it fell open to the centre spread. He rubbed a finger along the page. As before, it slit his finger. Staring at the blood made him smile and swelled his Johnson.
He smeared the blood across the two she-devils. Each incited a different fire into his belly: Teresina made him pulsate with revenge and churned up anger, and Kelby, with her secret potion, gave him an exciting new project.
‘You will give up your new secret, Kelby. I have lots of ways to make you spit it out.’
Barker released Johnson, straining inside his trouser zipper. Above the magazine faces, Barker’s engorged penis turned purple.
Like his next victim would soon be.
45
Kelby leaned close so Annie could reveal her secret.
‘Promise you won’t tell Mum.’
‘Tell her what?’
‘Promise properly.’
Kelby dropped her voice to match Annie’s scheming tone, ‘I do solemnly swear, Miss Annie Wade, I will not tell Mum your secret.’
‘You’re not allowed to swear. You’ll get me into big trouble.’
‘I solemnly swear I will not swear.’
Annie giggled and tapped the tip of her finger on Kelby’s nose as if it were a magical wand granting special powers. ‘Okay, you pass the test.’
‘Soooo? What’s the big secret?’
Annie equalled Kelby’s lean-in and came nose to nose with her. ‘I lied to Mum.’
Kelby’s eyebrows shot up, and she tried to stop her jaw from dropping. ‘Annie!’
‘But it was a small little lie, not a big bad porky pie.’
‘Fess up, girl, or I’ll have to start swearing again.’
Annie’s face creased into a delightful mixture of conspiracy and mischief. ‘Everyone is allowed to bring their pets to school for show and tell, but I’m not allowed hairy pets.’
‘Pumpkin, you know that’s because you’ll have a bad attack from a puppy or kitten.’
Annie nodded, clearly resigned to her fate. ‘I told Mum I had to have a pet.’
‘But what about the goldfish I bought you?’
‘They don’t count.’ She consoled Kelby by patting her hand. ‘I couldn’t take a goldfish bowl filled with water to school the way Mum drives!’
‘Ah, I see your point.’
‘And imagine Mrs Greenwood’s face when Marcus tips up the bowl and Emily starts crying and won’t stop. So, I told Mum I needed to start an ant farm for a school project.’ Annie gripped Kelby’s index finger and yanked on it, ‘Remember your promise.’
‘Brownie’s honour.’ Kelby saluted Annie.
&
nbsp; ‘No!’ Annie’s eyes grew large in horror. ‘It’s like this, Aunt Kel.’
Kelby smiled as Annie tapped three fingers of her right hand up. Her thumb and little finger bent and touching as her hand rose to an imaginary cap. Inside her palms, white scaly flakes stood out on the pink tender skin.
‘All my friends have got normal pets, but no-one’s got an ant farm. When I show and tell they think I’m cool.’ Annie’s face lit up. ‘Marcus stopped calling me “sniffer”. And Kathy won’t stop hanging around me. She wants to know about my ants, even though she normally flicks my nose and calls me Rudolf. And guess what …’
‘What?’ Kelby waited in anticipation.
‘Sam has stopped calling me a leper!’
Kelby flinched. She hated how cruel the kids were to Annie. In particular, her hands had caused a fuss at school. None of the other kids wanted to touch her. It took constant reassurance from the teachers Annie’s skin wouldn’t harm them, but that still didn’t help. Even simple actions such as washing her hands, picking up her school bag or pulling on her jumper to go into the playground distressed Annie.
‘Everyone wants to be my friend and even Emily thinks I’m an
ant hero.’
‘You know something, Annie? You’re starting to sound like an entrepreneur.’
‘What’s that?’
‘A crafty, little so and so who thinks up clever plans that will give them what they want. And they take big risks to go for it. Like you. Many of them will lie too.’
Annie chuckled behind her hand clamped over her mouth. ‘I only lied cos Mum said she hates ants. Says they give her the creepy crawlies.’
‘I’m with Mum on that one.’
‘I think she’ll starve them while I’m in here. You know Mum doesn’t bother much about food.’
‘Then you better get your bum out of bed pretty fast.’
‘I’m better. Please tell the doctor to let me go home.’
‘I’ll do that.’
‘Can you keep another secret?’
‘Are you the chief of the secret service?’
Annie giggled behind her hand.
Kelby loved the way her eyes twinkled with mischief.
‘Spit it out.’
‘Corinna told me she saw a man killing her mummy.’
Kelby gasped. ‘Annie!’
‘It’s not me, Aunt Kel, it’s Corinna. And she’s not lying neither.’
‘Annie, where do you hear these things?’ Kelby glanced at the TV on the wall. She’d have to tell the nursing staff to curb Annie’s viewing. She must be watching things Stacie would never allow her to watch at home. The child had an active imagination, but this was getting out of hand.
‘Annie, you must be —’
Annie rolled her head over on the pillow. ‘I won’t tell you any more if you won’t believe me.’
Kelby stood and marched around to the other side of the bed and pulled a face at Annie. ‘Okay, secret service, how does Corinna know these things?’
‘She said before they went shopping she heard someone singing outside so she peeked out. She saw a strange man with something that looked like a tiny iPod in his hand. He stuck it onto their car.’
Kelby almost dared not ask, but did anyway. ‘And then what happened?’
‘She said the car went bang.’
46
A branch cracked underfoot. María froze. Her eyes darted left to right. The moon had disappeared behind a cloud, and for a moment she held her breath. Then, someone stepped out of the shadows and lowered his hood.
‘Don Behor!’ María blurted out in surprise.
Although Behor de Catalon wasn’t her uncle, she considered him to be, and called him Tío — uncle — to show her affection.
‘Shalom aleikhem. Peace be upon you.’ Tío folded her into his arms and with a big hug drew her into his flowing green robe. He finished the embrace with a kiss on the top of her head as Madre did.
‘But what are you doing out at this hour of the night, mi querida?’ Whenever he called her my dear his tone softened with affection.
Tío dressed elegantly in fine silk and linen. Today his tappert’s large sleeves revealed a jubba underneath to stop the cool spring night breeze from piercing him.
María explained what had happened and asked, ‘And why are you out so late, Tío? Is there a problema with my stories?’
Tío placed a hand on her arm and said, ‘Not that kind of trouble, querida. But I was on my way to tell Carmen some terrible news.’
María’s heart pounded.
He lifted the wide-brimmed woollen hat he wore and rubbed the top of his head. He only removed his hat when he was worried. ‘I’ve received news from my family in the Basque region.’
‘Come Tío, let us turn back and talk in the cottage.’
They walked in silence for a few minutes. María’s heart lifted when the animals gathered around her legs as they neared the cottage.
Inside, she threw another log and a handful of twigs on the glowing embers. Kneeling, she blew on the embers. A spark licked at the twigs and flames leapt around the log. María straightened and watched Tío pull out a tiny hardened leather costrel and threw back a gulp of vino. María had heard Tío tell Madre he drank his vino for medicinal reasons.
‘Con salud, querida, with good health. A drink will calm my nerves.’
‘What has happened, Tío?’
‘It is God’s will. You must get this news to your mother as soon as you are able.’
María nodded and waited while he took another smaller sip of his calming wine.
‘It is happening, querida, for many years there has been rumblings that los djudyos — the Jews — will be banished from Al-Andalus.’ He sipped again and breathed deeply.
María stoked the fire.
‘The Alahambra Decree is an Expulsion Edict because of the Catholic reconquista of Spain.’
María swallowed hard.
‘Isabella and Ferdinand — that azno. He is a jackass.’
María suppressed a cry of shock. Tío was clearly distraught. She had never before heard him speak ill of anyone, especially the monarchy, but he trusted her.
‘They’ve ordered Jews to convert to Catholicism. If they don’t, they’ll be executed.’
María’s jaw dropped.
‘We have to leave or die.’
47
Kelby slowly awoke. At first she didn’t know where she was and opened one eye to look around. The chemical tang of newly washed floors reminded her she had fallen asleep beside Annie.
Her laptop had gone to sleep on Annie’s hospital bedside cabinet. Kelby tapped her phone: 01:44.
Annie’s peaceful face lay within arm’s reach, although Kelby resisted the urge to stroke her cheeks in case she woke her. The poor little thing had such a wild imagination, no only having invisible friends, but now believing they were real people with real dramas.
Outside the room, someone whispered, ‘She has no personality.’ The busybody nurse clearly intended to be heard. ‘Yep, she doesn’t say a word to us, just types away.’
‘Shh, she’ll hear you.’ That sounded like Rosalind.
‘No way, I’ve got the heating units on full blast; you wouldn’t hear a devil roar behind her.’
‘That’s a terrible thing to say,’ Rosalind chastised. ‘She’s kind to me and she’s often here visiting Annie, even though someone like her probably gets invited to all kinds of fancy events. But no, she doesn’t bother with that, she’d rather sit with Annie.’
‘Hey!’
The flooring squeaked as the gossiping nurses spun around to face the male voice invasion.
‘Give her a break. She’s been here for hours.’
The voic
e came closer. Kelby dropped her head, pretending to be asleep. Oh, no. Not him again.
From the corner of her eye, she spotted the hairy caterpillars peering through the blinds.
Outside, Doctor Robson whispered, ‘Look, she’s fallen asleep in there.’
‘Yeah, laptop still on and all.’
‘Did anyone offer her a cuppa?’
Silence.
‘Shame on you. All of you!’
His footsteps squeaked along the chemically clean floor. Kelby tiptoed to the door. The nurses had ambled off down the web of corridors. Stuffing her laptop into her briefcase, she blew a kiss to Annie. Kelby crept along the corridor and out of the hospital, extra careful not to bump into anybody.
Surrounded by conifers that reached for the moon, the car park scattered long shadows. They followed her every step as though they wanted to pounce on her ankles and tackle her to the ground. Her breath jammed in her throat, shafting up in desperate gasps.
Where was Hawk?
Hidden amongst the branches, an owl fluttered its wings and hooted, spooking her.
Kelby spotted Hawk inching his car towards her. Phew! Yesterday was only just over, but she wasn’t taking any chances at this spooky hour.
The stalker’s last words still haunted her: See you at yours tonight.
48
The sombre house greeted Kelby with silence. She hated the dark. Always had. A blast of wind blew her inside and growled as she stood beside Hawk.
Kelby slipped off her shoes in the hallway, her nerves still jumpy. In the tomb-like silence, she could hear the rooms resting and emitting stray sighs like a dormant monster deep in slumber.
She placed her keys on the wall keyring holder and their jangle echoed around the kitchen. Suddenly, they heard arguing as a man and woman’s voice came from the lounge.
Hawk followed the echoes.
Kelby’s breath caged in her throat as she tiptoed down the hall after him. Her muscles cramped with dread.