and I woke up.”
“A cave! Why didn’t we think of that? Of course. How stupid. Get Michael now. We need torches. Where’s my mobile phone? How did Randy look in this dream? Had he had an accident, do you think? We might need a doctor for him—should we call a doctor now? Do you think he was taken ill? Or fell? Or you can be trapped by the tide in some of those caves …”
She was rushing around, her arms waving like fluttering wings.
Mrs. Roberts stepped forward to restrain her. “Just a moment, Miss Annabel. You’re not going anywhere in your nightclothes. You go up and get some warm garments on and I’ll make us all a nice cup of tea.”
Annabel looked around in a dazed manner. “All right,” she said. “You’re right. I should get dressed first. And tea would be nice. Thank you, Mrs. Roberts. You’re so good to me.”
“Somebody has to be,” Mrs. Roberts muttered as she moved away.
“And please wake Ben and Michael for me,” Annabel called after her. “I need them to be here.” She ran up the stairs, her slippers flapping and her silk gown flying out behind her.
Evan looked at Emmy and Betsy. “Are there caves on the property?”
Emmy shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I’ve only seen two buildings so far. This one and the meditation center, but I understand the property is huge.”
“I’ll know it when I see it,” Betsy said. “It was ever so clear in my dream.”
“It has to be on the coast. You saw seaweed. That’s significant,” Emmy said.
“I could do with that cup of tea,” Evan said, “and so could you, Betsy
“I know,” she said. “I can’t stop my teeth from chattering.”
“I’ll go and see if I can help Mrs. Roberts.” Evan struck out in the direction of the kitchen. He needed something to keep him busy. It was too unnerving being with the two women. This whole scenario felt so unreal, almost as if he had been cast as an actor in a play and nobody had given him his lines. He met Mrs. Roberts, on her way with a tray of teacups. She refused his offer to carry it for her with a polite, “I can manage very well, thank you, sir.”
By the time they reached the foyer, Annabel had come downstairs again, this time in her purple velour tracksuit, and both Michael and a portly man Evan hadn’t seen before were there, the latter looking decidedly grumpy.
“I know you believe in this psychic stuff, Annabel dear,” the man was saying, “but couldn’t it wait at least until dawn. Couldn’t we send someone out on a preliminary recky? Michael could go with the young woman for you.”
“I want to be there myself,” Annabel said. “He’s my husband. I want to rescue him.”
“But why the caves? What on earth would he have been doing there?”
“I suppose he might have been meditating in a cave. He chose the most unlikely places to meditate,” Annabel said, as if the idea had just struck her. “He told me once he picked up incredible vibes in caves. I had completely forgotten we had those caves on the property. I’ve no idea how Randy found out about them.” She took the offered cup of tea. “You are a gem, Mrs. Roberts.”
“I do my best, Miss Annabel,” Mrs. Roberts said gruffly.
Evan drained his own cup gratefully.
“If you want to get to the caves, we should be going then,” Michael said. “We might not be able to reach them if the tide’s in.”
“It’s not.” Mrs. Roberts said. “Low tide at six, isn’t it? You’ll be able to get around all right.”
It was a silent procession that made its way down the many steps, past the meditation center. The copper pyramid seemed to shiver with an energy of its own and the sandy estuary below glowed ghostly gray in the dying moon. The tide was still far out and water channels made streaks of silver across the sand. Michael led with a large torch. Annabel and Betsy were right behind him, then Emmy and Ben, whoever he was, with Evan bringing up the rear. Down the last steps onto the sand. It was fine and soft and squeaked under their feet, making walking difficult. As they passed the last of the buildings, looming like a great black shadow perched above them, Evan saw that the land rose into a headland at the end of the bay. There was a line of dark cliffs on their right, and the sand on the beach was dotted with large rocks and rock pools, around which they had to skirt.
“There.” Michael shone the torch on the cliff face. Just before the rocky headland were two black slits in the cliff face. One of them was almost down at beach level, one a little higher.
“My father always maintained that smugglers used to use them,” Lady Annabel said. “I thought there ought to be a secret passage to one of the buildings. But I never found it.”
“Are these the caves you saw in your dream, Betsy?” Emmy asked.
“I don’t know,” Betsy said. “I only remember being at the mouth of the cave.”
“Watch your step,” Michael said. “We have to sort of scramble here. Are you all right, Mother?”
“I’ll manage,” Annabel said. “You go ahead with the torch. I think I’ll wait down here until you find …” She shuddered. “Oh, I hope he’s there. I hope he’s all right. He might have fallen and injured himself and not have been able to walk. That’s probably what happened, don’t you think? And he had to seek shelter in the cave … .”
Michael had begun to scramble up the boulders that formed a ramp to the caves. Evan went to join him. “Here, let me.” He took the torch so that the boy could use two hands to find his way up. “There must be a huge tide here,” Evan said. “These rocks are quite slippery even up here.”
“There is a big tide,” Michael said. “The lower of these caves is almost flooded at high tide.”
“So someone could be trapped in there.”
“And the upper one too,” Michael said. “You can’t climb up the cliff right here and your way back along the
