“Where are you going?” asked James.
“I’m off to visit Theo. Do excuse me.”
She darted out of the room before anyone could stop her.
As she burst into Theo’s room, he got up from his chair and came halfway across the room to meet her. She flung her arms round him and kissed him hard.
“What’s happening at the centre?” he asked during a pause for breath. “Can’t remember what you told me last time.”
Zoe quickly marshalled the facts, trying to recall what she’d already shared with him. Yesterday, she’d felt too low in spirits to come and visit him. Natasha. Zoe thought she should begin with her.
“Natasha… everyone still believes she’s a miracle-worker.” She filled him in on the news, not letting go of him. Natasha’s increasing spiritual influence, Alice’s latest ghost sighting, James’s accident…
Theo pulled himself away from her and held her at arm’s length.
“What accident?” he demanded.
“I slapped him. He fell and hit his head.”
“What?” He went over to his chair and stood behind it, steadying himself with his hands on the chair-back. His face was ashen.
“You hit him?”
“Yes, Theo.” She hurried across to join him, her words tumbling over each other as she recounted the story. “If James presses charges, I’ll be arrested. The others won’t escape either. They’re accessories after the fact. Theo, we could all go to prison.”
At this, Theo gripped the chair-back, leaning his weight on it. The chair buckled beneath him, then slid aside. She hurtled forward and grabbed hold of him just in time, as the chair hit the floor.
“Oh God, Zoe, what have you done?” he cried. “This is horrendous.” He passed the back of one hand across his forehead. “I must get out of here.”
She swung him round in a wild dance of joy. Whether he thought ill of her for what she’d done, she didn’t know, but all that mattered was that this news seemed to have sparked him up again and motivated him to return to the centre with her.
“Will they let you go?”
“Who cares? I’ll discharge myself,” said Theo.
“I love you!” she cried. All his strength, will to live and appetite for problem-solving seemed to have kicked back into full throttle once more. Theo was coming back. Theo had recovered. Zoe’s spirit was humming. Whatever doubts she may have had about the suddenness of his recovery, she dismissed. “Theo, where’s your suitcase? I’ll throw in everything I can see. You can always send for other stuff later.”
“Yes, Zoe, hurry.”
A duty nurse walked into the room.
“What’s going on here?” she asked.
“I’m discharging myself. I’m going home.”
“You can’t do that. I’ll call the duty doctor.”
Soon a junior doctor and another nurse had joined them. Both asserted that Theo was in no state to be discharged. Zoe listened to the argument. They all insisted Theo stay. Then Jessica and Bernie came into the room.
“Zoe? We’re ready to leave,” said Bernie.
“What’s up?” asked Jessica. When the situation was explained to her, she said, “Of course Theo must stay! It’s out of the question for him to return to the centre right now! James will be out on Wednesday; he’ll be in top form to take over Theo’s role again…”
Zoe clenched her fists. Before she could speak, Bernie stepped forward.
“Take it easy, Zoe,” he murmured.
The doctor and nurses looked from Zoe to Jessica to Bernie and back again. Theo had sunk into his chair once more. Zoe marched over to the doctor and confronted him. “You must discharge Theo!”
“Zoe,” said Jessica, taking hold of her arm.
“Let the doctor decide, Zoe,” said Bernie.
The doctor spoke to Zoe in a low voice.
“I’ve never seen anyone with clinical depression recover so quickly,” he murmured. “This kind of depression can last several months at least.”
“OK. I’ll wait till I see the consultant this evening,” said Theo. “Then I can explain how I feel, and together we’ll reach a decision.”
This seemed acceptable to them. But Zoe could see they didn’t hold out much hope. She rubbed her eyes. Then her phone beeped. It was a text from Alice.
Found something in J’s room. V interesting. Will sho u 2moro. Alicex.
At once, Zoe’s heart lifted.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
After breakfast the following morning, Zoe went straight to the office. She felt sick at heart, having been forced to spend the meal listening to the guests speak of Natasha’s spiritual gifts, which had been their sole topic of conversation in the dining area. Zoe was now anxious to learn Alice’s news about her search of James’s room. But she was equally impatient to hear from the hospital about Theo’s discharge.
Before she had the chance to call the hospital, Alice appeared wearing a warm fur-trimmed jacket and carrying a backpack.
“Hi Alice,” said Zoe, as Alice took her jacket off and hung it up. “Well done for yesterday. What did you find?”
Alice cast a nervous glance at the door.
“Can’t tell you now, Zoe; anyone could come in.”
As she spoke there was a knock on the door.
“See what I mean?” said Alice, heading for her desk and stowing the backpack away underneath it. “Let’s go to the hermitage after I finish at lunchtime. I’ll bring this with me. You can look through what I found and then we’ll talk.”
“Fine,” said Zoe. “Come in,” she called.
The door opened, and two guests entered.
Zoe and Alice were kept busy all morning with queries, phone calls, bookings and emails. Zoe rang the hospital twice for news of Theo. But the consultant had not yet made a decision.
She hoped too for a phone call from Jessica to give her the outcome of the trustees’ meeting which would be taking place right then in Birmingham. But no call came from Jessica. The meeting had been due to start at nine thirty, and may have lasted a couple of hours. She hadn’t really expected to be informed so soon of their decision.
At twelve thirty Alice closed down her computer, and then, wearing their warm jackets, both of them left the office. Alice held her backpack in her arms.
As she locked the office door behind her, Zoe realised the stone-hard chill in the air had intensified even further since the early morning, beneath a dull, uniform cloud cover. There were no guests around; they seemed to be still in Griff’s morning workshop. Alice and Zoe crossed the courtyard to the north-west, hurrying between the studio and dining area.
They climbed the stile in the woodland fence and set off up the track which led to the top of the ridge. Halfway to the ridge, another track branched off to the right, and they took this. After a short walk they reached a small clearing. There before them was the simple tongue-and-groove pine cabin, known to them all as ‘the hermitage’. It was another place for silent retreat and solitary contemplation.
Zoe unlocked the door and they hurried in through the doorway. Alice sat in one of the wicker chairs and put her backpack down on the floor beside her.
“Shut the door then sit here, Zoe.”
Zoe obeyed. Alice unzipped her backpack, reached in and brought out a well-stuffed A4 document wallet. “Letters, bank statements and copies of emails.”
Zoe’s heart-rate increased. “Anything of interest?”
“You bet. Letters to Natasha’s sister, Sonya.”
“Natasha’s sister? Oh yes, I remember James mentioning her. He said he’d known Natasha and her sister for a few years.”
“Yes. Sonya and Natasha were both born and brought up in the New Forest area. I must admit I’d like to know how James first came to know them both. However, the main thing right now is that a large sum of money changed hands between Sonya and James. But I don’t know why.”
“Large sum? How large?”
“You just see.” Zoe took the paperwork fr
om Alice.
She studied the documents.
“My God,” she murmured. “Massive. What would that be about?”
Alice shrugged.
“She’s bankrolling him for something,” she said.
“The mystery is – for what? There’s no clue here.”
“And if he has all that money, why does he need the manager job?” said Zoe.
Alice shook her head. “I don’t know.”
She took the documents back from Zoe.
“By the way,” she said, “in case you wondered, I’ve photocopied what seemed to me the most important documents. I have them here too. I’ll return the originals to James’s room as soon as possible.”
“Thanks.”
Alice began to tidy them away again into the wallet she’d brought with her. Then twigs snapped outside the hermitage window. Zoe looked in that direction. Branches swayed, as if disturbed by some heavy body passing by.
Alice was looking too. They both held their breath. Then their eyes locked. The undergrowth outside crackled. They twisted round and stared through the window.
“What was that?” asked Alice.
“No idea. Didn’t hear anyone come up the path behind me. Rabbit perhaps? Stoat? Fox?” Leaves rustled. They looked at each other again.
“Birds foraging?”
Alice got up. “Let’s go and investigate.” She opened the door and walked out, followed by Zoe.
They could see nothing but maples and rowans and the leaf-strewn woodland track. They heard only gusts of wind, intensifying the chill-factor; no birds sang. There was no sign of any person or animal moving among the trees.
Zoe’s mobile buzzed in her pocket. She took the call.
“Theo!” she cried.
“I’m back, Zoe. I’m in the office right now.”
“Thank God!”
“Where are you?” he asked.
“I’m outside the hermitage. Wait right there. I’ll be with you in two seconds!”
Zoe stuffed the phone back into her pocket and spun round to Alice.
“Theo’s back. He’s out! I can’t wait to see him.”
“You go on,” said Alice, “I’ll collect the stuff together and put it in my backpack.”
“Ok. Speak to you later.”
“Yeah, I’ll give you a call.”
Zoe sped back down the woodland track.
Climbing over the stile and jumping down into the courtyard, Zoe hurried along the path between studio and dining area. Looking across to the office and through the window, she could see Theo and Bernie. She ran across the courtyard and in through the open doorway.
Theo had been talking to Bernie. But now he turned towards Zoe. His eyes looked bright and engaged; his stance strong and upright. He appeared, to Zoe, as he had done on their wedding day.
A flare of light surged through her body. Her cheeks burned. She sprang forward, just avoiding Bernie, into Theo’s arms.
“Theo, you’re back. You look so much better. This is wonderful.”
Theo held her tight, kissing her, squeezing her.
“Thank God you’re all right, Zoe,” he said. “I was so worried about you.”
“Me?” she said. “I’m all right. All I care about is you.”
Bernie cleared his throat.
They both glanced round at the same time then released their hold of each other. Zoe was still enveloped in an aura of brilliance and warmth. All her fears of the past week had melted. Everything would come good now, she felt sure. Her suspicions about Natasha were temporarily forgotten. She gazed at Bernie. He was wreathed in smiles.
“I’m so happy for you both,” said Bernie. “Can’t tell you how relieved I am to see you back again, Theo. I hope to God everything will return to normal now.”
“Bernie, no need to worry yourself,” said Theo. “I’ll put things right. When Zoe visited me yesterday, she told me everything. It shocked me out of my malaise. I’m back, I’m strong again, and determined to sort things out.”
Zoe held Theo’s hand tight. Her heart was so full, there was so much she wanted to say but no words emerged. She went and sat down behind the desk. Everything would be fine now, she felt convinced.
Half an hour later, Theo and Zoe parted. Theo headed for the barn to join Griff in leading a workshop and Zoe called Alice. She’d said nothing to Theo about what she and Alice had been up to; it seemed inappropriate. First she needed to check that Alice had got those documents back to James’s room unseen, and gone safely home. Then they both needed to do some thinking and work out what they were going to do with their new information about Sonya and James.
However, Alice’s mobile was turned off. Zoe bit her lip. She longed to know what had happened. She’d have thought Alice would at least keep her mobile on. Oh well, she decided, there was nothing for it but to get on with her work. She trusted Alice would call or text her very soon.
However, another hour passed with no news from Alice. Frowning, Zoe called Alice’s mobile again. It was still turned off. Zoe left a voicemail message asking Alice to call her.
“This doesn’t make sense,” said Zoe aloud. Alice’s last words to her had been I’ll give you a call. It was unlike her to fall out of contact. But then, thought Zoe, perhaps something had come up which had far higher priority than their minor troubles here at the centre. Maybe Alice had heard from her agent, with an even more urgent call to another audition. Certainly, Zoe understood that would have made her drop everything. Alice’s acting career came first. Zoe needed to be patient. Alice would call or text when she had time.
But an hour later, when Zoe called Alice’s mobile a third time, it was still turned off. By now, she might have expected a text, even if Alice had caught the next train to London. Then Zoe rang Alice’s home landline and spoke to her mother, Leila.
“I’ve seen nothing of Alice all day,” said Leila. “She left the house before I was up, to go to work.”
“Yes,” said Zoe. “She was with me as usual this morning. I last saw her at one o’ clock. She said she’d call me later, but I’ve heard nothing. Her mobile’s been turned off all afternoon. I thought perhaps she’d had news of another audition and gone to London.”
“Not to my knowledge,” replied Leila. “She’d certainly have texted me. I’ll ask her to call you as soon as I hear anything.”
“Thank you,” said Zoe.
Puzzled and uneasy, she went over the last time she’d seen Alice, their words to each other, and what she imagined Alice would have done after they parted. She’d have gone back to the house and up to James’s room, replaced the original documents, then left the house with the photocopies safely in her backpack, walked up to the car park and driven home to Cirencester.
Zoe decided to check whether Alice’s car was missing from the car park. She put her warm jacket on again, went out of the office, locking the door behind her, and hurried round the house and up the drive to the car park. Alice’s car was nowhere to be seen.
Zoe frowned. OK, so Alice had driven away, but she still couldn’t understand why there’d been no contact since. Her mind ranged over possible scenarios. If she’d gone to catch a train, her car would be in the station car park.
The more Zoe thought about it, the more troubled she became. She fought against her darkening mood, chiding herself that she was overreacting. But this failed to calm her. There was nothing else for it. She got into her own car and drove off to Kemble Station to search for Alice’s car. There was no sign of it.
Zoe rang Leila again at seven and still there had been no news from Alice. Dinner at the centre was at seven-thirty but Zoe had lost her appetite. She went in search of Theo, and found him near the barn, walking along the path from the goose house.
“I’ve been talking to Natasha,” he said.
A dark shadow sprang up from her solar plexus. She made a conscious effort to rein in her paranoid fears. Theo took her hand. As she looked at him, she sensed he was hiding something from her.
&n
bsp; “What is it?” he asked.
Zoe’s stomach felt queasy. It seemed so out of character for Alice to disappear and make no contact. Zoe was used to Alice’s efficiency and had come to expect that Alice would always keep her informed if she changed her plans. Zoe told Theo all this, but didn’t mention James’s documents.
“Well,” said Theo, “as her car’s gone, we can be sure she’s driven away. But who knows where she might have gone? What can we do, but wait to hear further, either from Alice herself, or from her mother? Come on, let’s go to dinner.”
He set off across the courtyard ahead of Zoe, expecting her to follow. Instead though, Zoe hesitated. She shivered. A sense of isolation and loneliness crept over her. In every season, daylight or darkness, Zoe had always felt in harmony with this place. But now, for the first time ever, she felt something hostile waited at the centre of the night.
She hurried after Theo.
At nine o’clock, Zoe called Leila again to ask if Alice had made contact. Leila’s voice sounded high-pitched and jerky. She gabbled and Zoe failed to catch several phrases. But she gathered that Leila was now considering other possibilities, aside from Alice having gone to London. Alice did often meet friends locally, in the evenings. However, she would normally text her mother to let her know of her plans. Today Leila had heard nothing and had, like Zoe, been unable to get through to Alice on her mobile. She planned to wait up until Alice came in later.
Zoe’s mouth went dry. She said goodbye to Leila and went through into the sitting room where Theo sat chatting to three guests.
“Theo, can I have a quick word?”
“Of course. Be back with you a little later,” said Theo to the guests, and went through into the library with Zoe.
She repeated Leila’s news. Then she added, “Theo, there’s something I need to tell you.” She shared all that had happened with Alice and the fact that Alice had borrowed documents from James’s room, and photocopied them, and the circumstances of her disappearance.
Upon hearing this, Theo became thoughtful.
Then he said, “Since Alice had the documents and the photocopies with her when you last saw her, and you now have no access to them, I don’t see how we can use them or the information in them as the basis for any further investigation, until Alice gets in touch again.”
A Passionate Spirit Page 12