Scattering Like Light (23 page)

As she spoke, the cold hard truth of what she was saying wrapped around my heart like icy fingers. There was absolutely no way I could hurt Callum like that, and that made my mission even more vital.

“That’s why I need your help,” I said quietly, looking her in the eyes. “I’ll beg if I need to. You know how to bring them over, to make them alive again. Help me, Catherine, please.”

She looked at me for a long moment, then glanced towards Grace. “Is she having a laugh?”

“I’m not joking, honestly. I want your help. You’re the only person who can bring them back to life.”

Catherine stood back, arms folded. “Why do you think I can do that?”

“Veronica told me.”

“Ahh, of course. Good old geriatric Veronica. She found me
pretty sharpish. I guess it’s no surprise that she found you too.”

“So you know, you understand. It has to be you.”

“No, it doesn’t. She can do it too.”

I swallowed hard before I continued. “She doesn’t have the energy any more. She can only release them so that they all die. Only you can help them to live again.”

Her laughter rang out into the still evening. “Perfect! You’ve made my day. So you have to choose between killing my beloved brother or leaving him to pine after you for all eternity. I couldn’t have organised that better myself!”

“Or you can let them live,” I added quietly.

“Have you not been listening to a single word I’ve said? I’ve no intention of doing that. You’re on your own, sweetie.”

Grace couldn’t stand by any longer. “Look, I’m sure it’s not that hard. We’ll do all we can to help you.”

“It’s like talking to Tweedledum and Tweedledee,” Catherine muttered under her breath before turning towards Grace and stabbing a red-tipped finger at her face. “Listen, stupid. I’m not going to do it. I know that I
can
, I just don’t
want
to. They can all rot over there forever as far as I’m concerned.”

The hate and anger was seeping out of her and I still didn’t know why. It was time to find out, and to see if that gave me the leverage to change her mind. I stepped towards her, my hands up in front of me to try and calm her down.

“OK, you’ve made your feelings crystal clear. But I do have another question to ask. That night in the alley behind the pub, you said that there were two things you wanted to tell me. One was how the Dirges could escape, the other was why you hated me so much.”

“And then your little friend Olivia stole my memories from
me,” she snarled.

“Exactly. And I can understand why you are so cross. But then when we were at the train station, when I was chasing Rob and you were coming down here, you said that you had written down everything, that it wasn’t lost after all.” I tried not to see the loathing in her eyes and pressed on. I had to try. “So tell me, why do you hate me so? What did I ever do to you?”

A small smile suddenly played around her lips, and for a second she looked the beauty that she could be and not a bitter and twisted lonely woman. “Do you know, I might show you the notes I wrote to myself. It could be quite entertaining. You’d better come in.”

Grace and I exchanged uncomprehending looks. What was going on? “Sure,” I said quickly, motioning Grace to stay close as I stepped towards the door. Catherine went to a little grey box on the wall of the house and punched in a code. With a click the lid of the box popped open and she took out the key that was inside, then used it to get into the house. She walked straight in, ignoring us. With another glance Grace and I followed behind, shutting the door as we went. Catherine walked directly into the kitchen and flicked on the lights. All three of us flinched in the sudden glare of the halogen spotlights. It had got pretty dark while we had been arguing outside.

With a single sweeping movement Catherine scooped up a small wheelie bag. It obviously contained just as little stuff as it had when I had seen her on North Sheen station. Flipping it on to the kitchen table she deftly unzipped it and pulled out a small over-the-shoulder bag. There was little else in the suitcase: a few items of clothing, what looked like a small sponge bag and a sunglasses case.

She undid the clasp on the bag and pulled out a wad of folded paper. I felt my palms go sweaty as I watched. Part of me wanted to run away, to never find out what was written on that harmless-looking page, but I knew that I needed to know. I suddenly felt quite sick and wished we were back outside in the fresh seaside air.

Catherine obviously sensed my discomfort. “Are you sure you want to know?” she asked in a taunting voice. “I mean, this was something I knew would bring your cosy little world crashing around your ears.” She dangled the piece of paper from her long scarlet fingernails.

I was rooted to the spot. Faced with knowing what it was, did I really want to? But in the fraction of a second I stood there, Grace took control. She whisked the paper out of Catherine’s fingers and scanned it quickly, a frown forming as she read.

“She’s playing with us,” she finally said, dismissively. “This can’t hurt you.” She held out the paper towards me and I forced myself to move, hoping as I took it that the shaking of my hand wasn’t too obvious to Catherine. Grace caught my eye. “It’s fine, honestly,” she said in an undertone.

It was a single sheet of A4 paper, white and lined, and it looked as if it had been torn out of a spiral-bound notebook. There was a title on the top of the page, which was underlined three times, and underneath, in surprisingly childish writing, was a shopping list.

I looked up, momentarily speechless. “What on earth is this?” I managed finally. “Where’s the real list?”

“You didn’t think I was telling the truth at the station, did you?” She paused to look at my gobsmacked face. “Ahh, you did! Shame.”

Above Catherine’s head a small bright-yellow light danced. “Oh, it was worthwhile having to talk to you two losers for so long just to see the fear on your face! So now you know what I know – nothing. Everything got sucked up by Olivia. And actually, I don’t care. All I need to know is that you did something and that I hate you for it. Simple, really.”

I felt my knees begin to buckle, and quickly sank into the nearest chair, burying my head in my hands. None of this was any good at all; none of it was getting me any closer to my goal of persuading Catherine to help, to rescuing Callum from a life of misery. There had to be some way of making her cooperate, some nerve I could touch. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut and waited for inspiration. What leverage could I possibly use? What did I have that she wanted? I knew that she wanted the amulet, but she also knew I would never, ever, give it up, so it was pointless to try for that. There had to be something else. And finally it came to me.

“Money. You don’t have enough money, no identity and nowhere to go. How much will it cost to get you to help us?”

The smile was back on Catherine’s face. “Now you’re talking sense,” she said, pulling up a chair on the other side of the table and resting her chin on her clasped hands. “Time to negotiate.”

Catherine had stolen the contents of my bank account a few weeks previously but the bank had quickly replaced the money, so I still had something to do a deal with. It wasn’t a fortune and I hoped it would be enough to buy her off. It was mentally draining thrashing out a deal; negotiating was hard when she knew exactly what I had in the bank and I could see instantly if she was getting what she wanted. She also knew that I couldn’t afford to lose, that eventually I’d give in and agree, just to make sure I could get Callum over. We
were getting nowhere until Grace offered to stump up some of her savings, and finally we were done. Grace and I were exhausted, the long drive and emotion of the evening taking its toll. Grace then pulled a masterstroke and persuaded Catherine to agree to let us camp down in one of the bedrooms for the night, and I sank thankfully on to the bed. There was only a scratchy blanket each but we were beyond caring, and as I shut my eyes I had a sudden vision of seeing Callum properly; of pulling him out of the river and into my arms; of holding him tight. It was going to be all right.

I woke with a start in the morning, and for a moment was completely confused about where I was. Grace was still motionless under the blanket on the other bed, so I picked up my shoes and crept out of the room, leaving her to sleep.

Downstairs the house was deserted, but the kettle was warm and the back door was open. In the twilight the night before I hadn’t really noticed how close the sea was to the little row of houses. At the end of every garden was a small gate, then a small, gorse-covered slope. I could hear the crashing of waves coming from somewhere beyond it. Shutting the kitchen door carefully behind me I walked down the garden and on to the dewy heath-land beyond. Within minutes my Converse were drenched, but the sun was already beginning to warm everything. They would dry soon enough.

I followed a narrow path through the gorse up to the top of the slope, and gasped in wonder at the panorama that opened up in front of me. The small rise I was standing on sloped away sharply towards a gravel path, beyond which were rocks and a faint haze of sea spray. The sea was a dark blue, with several big ships on the far horizon. To the left I could just see the land on the other side
of the estuary by Padstow, but on the right the ground rose slightly so I couldn’t see the town or beaches of Polzeath. On the highest point a figure was standing alone, looking out across the water, and even from that distance I could see the cloak of purple mist that enveloped Catherine. I had never seen anything like it before. She had been miserable before, of course, but nothing on that scale. A shiver ran down my back as I realised that she was standing on a cliff edge. Was that the aura of someone about to jump? My walk turned into a sprint as I raced towards her. I couldn’t let her die, not after what she had promised.

She was probably about two minutes away at my fastest pace. There was no point in shouting; I didn’t want to startle her, so I put my head down and ran faster, leaping over the smaller gorse bushes and ferns where the path ambled away from a direct line. Sharp thorns pulled at my clothes and caught my skin but I didn’t slow down. Finally the gorse gave way to the close-cropped grass, and as I crashed through the last line of ferns I startled a small herd of sheep. Bleating loudly they scattered. Catherine turned automatically to see what was causing the disturbance, the purple mist shimmering around her like a cloak. I thought about not mentioning it, just greeting her like a friend, but I instantly knew that would be a mistake. I pulled up quickly, not wanting to frighten her into making any sudden moves.

She was standing on the very edge of the cliff; one stride forward and she would be over the edge. From where I was I couldn’t see how far the drop was, but I could hear the angry crashing of the waves on to the rocks below. The noise was loud enough for me to have to raise my voice to speak to her.

“It’s a bit wild up here,” I called, walking slowly forward and trying to catch my breath.

Catherine ignored me, her gaze following the sheep that were still galloping along the cliff path. The purple cloud that surrounded her pulsed as if it were alive. As I got to within an arm’s length or so, she turned to glare at me. “I’m not going to jump, you know.”

“I wasn’t suggesting you were.” I shrugged. “I just wanted to make sure you were OK.” I hoped that she couldn’t hear the pounding of my heart after my sprint up the hill.

“I just love your sudden concern. The minute you know that I’m prepared to help you, you’re all over me like a rash.”

I raised my eyebrows. “I prefer to think of it as protecting my investment. Let’s be clear, Catherine. We’re never going to like each other, and this little truce is only until we both get what we want out of the deal. Agreed?”

She inclined her head in a short nod.

“And in the meantime, I can’t be bothered with your constant sarcasm. We have a long drive ahead of us and it’ll go much quicker if we’re civil.”

The purple cloud suddenly pulsed with an angry red, but I stood my ground. “Truce?” I asked, holding out my hand, still keen to get her away from the edge. It would be like her to jump just to spite me.

Catherine thrust her hands deep into the pockets of the shapeless cardigan she was wearing, but turned and took a step towards me. Finally she looked at me. “Don’t push it!” she snarled, walking past. “The best you’ll get is if I ignore you completely,” she called over her shoulder as she stalked back towards the house. Heaving a sigh of relief I turned to follow her.

Catherine was as good as her word. She sat motionless in the kitchen while Grace and I tidied up from our impromptu sleepover. I was keen to make sure that when Rob’s family appeared there was no sign that we had ever been there. It didn’t take long, but by the time we were finished I was starving. There was nothing to eat in the house at all.

“I’ll talk to her,” whispered Grace as we dumped the bags in the hall ready to leave. “She must have been eating somewhere. You load the car while I ask.”

I heard the murmur of voices as I opened the door, and before I had stashed the bags in the boot both Grace and Catherine were coming out of the house. Catherine locked up and punched the code into the little security box, leaving the key inside. She then marched to the car and got into the back without a word.