Some Veil Did Fall

by Kirsty Ferry

  ‘He shouldn’t have put you in that position!’ said Jon. ‘And if I’d known all that, I wouldn’t have let him stay upright in front of that bloody picture. God!’ He raked his hand through his hair and moved away, prowling a full circuit of the bedroom, before coming back to stand in front of her.

  Becky stared up at him, feeling for a moment that she was ten years old and she and Lissy were in trouble again. But she wasn’t ten years old, was she? She was twenty-seven and just trying to regain control of her destiny after everything that had happened. No. Seb wasn’t going to win this one. Jon had no cause for concern. She opened her mouth to tell him, but he spoke again.

  ‘You know, I was going to ask the receptionist for some extra blankets last night. I was halfway there and I saw someone on the landing. I thought it was one of our people, but then I realised it wasn’t. He was looking at the portrait, looking as if he was waiting for something.’

  ‘Ella would have told him nothing,’ Becky answered vehemently. ‘Are you absolutely sure it was him?’

  ‘A young Hugh Grant with an attitude?’ replied Jon. He laughed bitterly. ‘There can’t be that many of them about. And if I’m let loose on him, there’ll be one less in Yorkshire, I can guarantee that.’

  Becky sighed. He wasn’t about to let it drop, so she tried to change the subject. ‘Where are we going to go at this time in the morning?’ she asked. She fought the urge to tuck her hair behind her ears and pressed her fists into the bed. ‘It’s not even six o’clock. There’s nowhere open.’

  Jon blinked and looked down at her, as if he was suddenly drawn back to the present. ‘Where can we go?’ he repeated. ‘Well, there’s the studio,’ he suggested. ‘It’s not the most exciting of places, but it’s better than here.’ His face clouded again.

  ‘That’s fine,’ said Becky hurriedly. ‘We’ll go there. To be honest, I’d rather sit in the car than ever face Seb over my toast again.’ She shuddered. ‘Right. Let me go to my room and get ready. Then I’ll give you a knock.’

  She stood up and again felt the sand beneath her toes. She kicked it away, thinking that she would, in truth, be glad to get some fresh air anyway.

  It didn’t take her long. She grabbed the essentials, and got dressed. She felt much more human and ready to face the world afterwards. As an afterthought, she picked up the writing slope and took that as well.

  Jon looked at her curiously when she turned up at the door with her arms full of walnut.

  She tilted her head to one side and gave him what she hoped was a winning smile. ‘I was wondering if this could live in the flat? I know it belongs here, really, but once we both go home, well …’ She shrugged her shoulders awkwardly, as she clutched the slope to her chest. ‘It just seems right. I don’t want to leave it at the hotel anyway. It might get lost or damaged. They won’t care about it as much as we do.’ She lowered her eyes, then raised them and fixed them on Jon. ‘Jon, I don’t even know where you live properly. I don’t know anything about you, apart from the fact you work in Whitby. Lissy was never the best with family news. Unless it concerned her, of course.’

  Jon smiled at her, closing the door of his room quietly behind him. He had the car keys dangling off his fingertips, but still managed to take the slope from her.

  ‘What do you want to know?’ he asked her.

  ‘I don’t know,’ she said. She raised a hand and flipped her hair back, then shook her head. Again, she made a little dismissive gesture. ‘I really don’t know. There’s a lot we don’t actually know about each other,’ she said.

  ‘I know,’ said Jon.

  ‘That doesn’t help!’ said Becky. ‘We never actually had more than a fleeting conversation with each other did we? I can’t quite believe we’re managing it now.’

  ‘No. I know,’ he repeated. Frustrated, Becky pushed him gently. He winked at her and nodded along the corridor. ‘Do you want to go that way? I’m just wondering if you want to take the chance of meeting him.’

  ‘The servants’ staircase?’ Becky said suddenly. She pointed in the opposite direction. ‘This way.’

  ‘I have to trust you, I suppose,’ replied Jon. ‘You know this place better than I do.’

  ‘Ella knows it. Adam should know it too,’ said Becky.

  Jon muttered something derisory as Becky headed off down the corridor towards the servants’ staircase. She wound her way through the hotel, knowing exactly where she needed to be. Sure enough, there was a door fitted into the wall and Becky turned to Jon, smiling.

  ‘You wouldn’t know, unless you had cause to,’ she said. She ran her fingers carefully down the side of the panel, feeling for a latch or a handle. Finding one, she pushed it and the door creaked open.

  She looked at Jon, her fingers still holding onto the door. ‘Do you think anyone heard that?’ she asked.

  ‘I hope not,’ said Jon. ‘It was pretty loud though.’

  ‘That’s what I thought,’ Becky said with a frown. ‘Come on, we’d best hurry in case we’ve set any alarms off.’ She pushed the door fully open and, unaccountably, started to giggle. ‘I feel like we’re in some sort of crime thriller,’ she said. ‘You know, like you see on television.’

  ‘Do you like those shows then?’ asked Jon, squeezing past her and waiting at the top of the staircase.

  ‘Yes, I love how they manage to solve an entire case within an hour,’ she said. ‘Oh, my, it’s really dark in here, isn’t it? They mustn’t use it much. Just as well they’ve got those funny little lights. We’d probably have an accident, otherwise.’

  One or two sickly white circular lights glowed pathetically in the stairwells and an illuminated sign suggested the staircase was merely a fire exit now. Becky closed the door behind them. She tried to make it as quiet as she could, but it was an old door and quite heavy.

  She cringed as the door scraped along the floor again and pulled a face. ‘That so wasn’t quiet,’ she muttered. ‘Okay, down here, Jon, It’s quite easy. There should be a door at the bottom leading out to the courtyard – what?’ Through the semi-darkness, she saw that Jon’s whole body seemed to go rigid.

  He shook his head and gestured for her to lead the way. ‘Keep going,’ he said. ‘I want to get out of here.’ His voice seemed oddly tight.

  ‘Follow me, then.’ she said.

  She hurried down the stairs and found the door that she knew was there. She touched the frame, a little thrill going through her. Ella must have done exactly the same. As if in confirmation, Ella’s world began to creep up on Becky again. A little jolt of panic seized her momentarily, but she managed to ignore Ella and concentrate on the task at hand instead.

  She leaned over and checked the door. ‘I can unbolt it, but we would need the key to get out. Not to worry.’ She stood up and looked along the stone passageway. Turning back to Jon, she pointed along towards the end of it. ‘We can probably get out that way.’

  As she began walking along the corridor, a dull glint in the darkness caught her eyes. She saw, just ahead of her, a rack of old bells on the wall. Unable to stop herself, she reached out and touched them gently. ‘Imagine the stories these could tell,’ she whispered. She ran her fingertips around the edge of one and stood back. ‘Which one was connected to Ella’s room, I wonder?’ She didn’t have long to ponder it. Some light was filtering through a door frame, and it seemed like a good idea to hurry towards it.

  This time, she was in luck. The door opened smoothly and she stepped out into the foyer, right behind Reception.

  ‘Good Lord,’ she muttered. ‘I could not have planned that any better.’ The receptionist was not at her desk. It was shift change or coffee break, Becky neither knew nor cared. ‘Run!’ she said to Jon. ‘Outside! Now!’

  The pair of them ran through the hallway and jostled each other out of the way at the big main door, trying not to laugh.
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br />   ‘We are utter criminals now,’ said Becky, once they had burst outside. ‘Wow, it’s cold!’ The blast of wintry air caught her unawares and she shivered.

  ‘To the car!’ said Jon, rather over-dramatically, Becky thought.

  ‘I’ve done all the hard work getting us out here,’ she whined as they dashed towards the car park.

  ‘I’ve carried your writing slope,’ said Jon, fumbling for his keys. He pressed a button and unlocked the doors, putting the slope in the back footwell.

  Becky hurried over to the passenger side and clambered in. She waited for Jon, twiddling with her hair thoughtfully. Loath as she was to be chased away from Carrick Park, the idea of driving in the peaceful early morning towards the coast was in a strange way quite exciting.

  ‘Is there a way to Whitby over the moors?’ she asked, when Jon was settled next to her. He put the car in reverse and eased out of the space. Becky saw the glimmer of frost on her little car and felt slightly guilty that she hadn’t moved it for a couple of days now. Still, Jon wasn’t complaining – at least not out loud – so it was ridiculous to feel guilty.

  ‘Yes. It’s a detour but we can go that way if you like. I suppose people used to ride horses along the coastal pathways years ago. The more direct route.’

  ‘I wouldn’t fancy riding a horse,’ said Becky, frowning at the thought.

  ‘Cars are better,’ agreed Jon.

  ‘It’s so nice to have a personal chauffeur with his own parking space in town,’ she said, smiling at Jon.

  ‘It’s certainly useful,’ he replied.

  She could see the shadows on his face move and flicker as they drove down the floodlit driveway, highlighting his mouth and cheekbones as he smiled back. It was nice to watch him, she realised. Then her smile suddenly turned into a yawn. ‘Oh, excuse me,’ she said. ‘That was a weird night. I think I’m going to suffer all day.’

  ‘What were you going to do with that hairbrush?’ Jon asked curiously. ‘You looked as if you were ready to throw it at something.’

  ‘Hmmm?’ she replied. ‘Yes. Maybe I was. It’s probably good that we are leaving, actually. I think it’s getting a bit intense. Don’t you feel it? The more we’re there, the more we sense what they felt?’

  ‘I guess it’s time for me to confess to something that happened to me, then,’ said Jon. ‘In the courtyard, last night. When I was waiting for you—’

  ‘When you were stalking me,’ interrupted Becky.

  Jon turned to her for a moment, his eyes wide and innocent. He shook his head. ‘No, not stalking, looking out for you!’

  ‘Eyes on the road!’ said Becky. ‘You were, you were stalking me.’

  ‘Well, whatever,’ he replied. ‘I saw a couple in the courtyard and I thought it was you and Seb. And it turned out that it obviously wasn’t you and him because you came from a different direction when they were still there.’

  Becky shrugged. ‘So? That’s nothing bad. It just means you were stalking the wrong person.’ She yawned again. ‘I am so sorry,’ she said.

  ‘I wasn’t stalking anyone!’ said Jon. ‘Regardless, it wasn’t you, okay? Except, when I looked back into the courtyard after you’d appeared …’

  ‘… they had disappeared,’ finished Becky. ‘Yes?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said.

  ‘Ella knew that back door. That’s all I can say. It may be just a coincidence,’ she said. She looked down at her hands. ‘I feel like I’m getting all mixed up with her life and her issues. I don’t know when it’s going to end.’ She looked across at Jon, hoping for an answer.

  ‘When we get to the bottom of it? When we find out why all this is happening?’ he suggested.

  ‘Maybe. I just hope … I just hope she doesn’t hang around all the time. I can deal with her to a certain extent, but she’s getting stronger. I sometimes feel I’m more her than me. And it scares me a bit.’

  And what scared Becky even more, but she wasn’t about to admit it to Jon, was that she wondered what would happen to them when this all ended?

  WHITBY

  Whitby was strange in the early morning. There was none of the hustle and bustle Becky had experienced over the last few days. She got out of the car and stared around the almost deserted streets. ‘When it’s like this you almost think that it’s waiting for something,’ she said.

  ‘I think the most important thing at the minute is getting into the flat,’ replied Jon. ‘Getting in, getting the kettle going. God, I’ve done all this without the aid of caffeine.’

  He did look tired, Becky had to admit. Surprising both of them, she suddenly turned to him and wrapped her arms around him. For someone who had had so little time to get ready this morning, he smelled particularly nice.

  ‘I don’t know if I’ve thanked you properly at all, over the last few days,’ she said. He was warm and his face was scratchy; he clearly hadn’t had time to shave before their adventure. ‘Thank you.’ She could feel his breath on her hair and his arms tightened around her. She felt a soft pressure on her scalp as he kissed her. She drew her head back, and looked up into his face. She just knew he was going to say something; something she had been thinking herself only a few seconds before.

  ‘Let’s get inside the studio,’ he said. His voice was different; sort of husky. She nodded slowly. There was no need for words.

  The room was dim. She watched him light the lamp as she stood in the doorway. Her heart was beating fast. He turned to her, and offered her his hand. She took it in hers and pressed it to her chest, her eyes never leaving his face.

  ‘Do you feel it?’ she asked him.

  ‘Do you?’ he asked. He gently pulled her hand to his own chest. Understanding, she laid her fingertips against the material of his shirt and felt the rhythmic thrum of his heart, matching her own.

  It was as powerful as the thunder in the trees, as great as the music she coaxed from her piano. He let loose her hand and took hold of her chin. He tilted her face up to his, drawing her body closer with his other arm.

  ‘I will never leave you,’ he promised her. The shadows flickered on the walls and cast his expression into darkness. She turned him gently so the light fell on his lips and his eyes and she reached up, touching his hair.

  ‘I believe you,’ she said, ‘but tell me again so I am sure.’

  ‘I love you,’ he said.

  And there were no more words and there was no more time and they moved to the bed and so it was.

  Afterwards, Jon was astonished that they had actually made it up the stairs and into the bedroom. Once they had both apparently decided that this was the way forward, it was a battle to swiftly disable the alarm and unlock the staircase door before sense and reason returned. And now they lay there, locked in an embrace as the sky lightened over the town and it still seemed like a wonderful, marvellous dream. Jon fully expected to wake up in the hotel and find he was still sleeping on the sofa.

  Eventually, Becky pushed herself up onto one elbow and looked down at him, a funny little smile playing around her lips. The frown, momentarily at least, was gone. ‘Well. That was unexpected,’ she said. Her hair was hanging down like a curtain and Jon reached up. He pushed it behind her ear for her and she laughed, cupping her hand around his and holding it there for a moment. ‘Thanks, I think,’ she said.

  ‘You’re welcome,’ he replied. ‘And good morning. Again.’

  ‘Good morning. Was it inevitable, do you think? Or just weird because you’re Lissy’s brother?’

  ‘Not weird,’ said Jon with a laugh. ‘But maybe inevitable. I did some research before you interrupted my sleep last night. Did you know that Rossetti poem had a different ending originally? In 1870, it went something like this:

  “Then, now,—perchance again! …

  O round mine eyes your tresses shake!

&nbs
p; Shall we not lie as we have lain

  Thus for Love’s sake,

  And sleep, and wake, yet never break the chain?”’

  ‘No!’ said Becky. The frown came back as she processed the information. At length, she shook her head. ‘I had no idea. Amazing. I don’t know that version. It’s lovely, isn’t it?’

  ‘It’s the “tresses” bit that gets me,’ said Jon. ‘It’s just you.’

  Becky laughed. She lay down on her back, staring at the ceiling. ‘“Shall we not lie as we have lain thus for love’s sake, and sleep and wake and never break the chain.” It makes more sense if you run it all together like a sentence.’

  ‘It’s as if it’s telling us that this cycle or whatever it is will just continue. I don’t know if I believe in reincarnation or not,’ said Jon, ‘but it’s telling us that we should be together properly, I guess.’

  ‘Telling us?’ Becky laughed. ‘Maybe. Or maybe it’s just Ella and Adam reliving it through us.’

  ‘Which one would you prefer?’ teased Jon. It was his turn to lean up on one elbow and look down at her. He smoothed her hair off her face and back over the pillow.

  ‘I’d rather be Becky, I think,’ she said. ‘At least I’m not dead.’

  ‘And thank goodness for that,’ replied Jon.

  Becky pulled a face. ‘I should be going home in a day or so. There’s a lot we need to talk about before that.’

  ‘Let’s not talk,’ said Jon. ‘Let’s just enjoy today. We’ll see what Lissy has to say when we see her. I’m sure we can work something out for, well, for later.’