way.’
‘Use me as a medium?’ It was what his mother had implied. Toby shuddered. Discussing the subject so dispassionately somehow made the nightmare worse.
Phyllis nodded uncertainly. ‘Something of the sort.’ She hesitated, then went on, feeling her way with care as she spoke. ‘It seems to me that in this case he would be dependent on you as the host acting for him. He would need your mouth to speak; he would need your hands to gather in his precious ampulla and he would need you to use it for whatever purpose he has in mind.’
‘So, if I refuse to comply he would be helpless.’ Toby nodded, slightly comforted.
‘Exactly.’
‘But -?’ He was watching her face.
‘There are no buts, Toby, if you are strong.’ She gave a gentle smile. ‘And this has only happened once, has it not? You don’t know that you will ever hear of or from him again; you don’t know that what happened was any more than a momentary hallucination. But I don’t think we should underestimate him.’ She paused, then went on thoughtfully. ‘And I don’t think that now is perhaps the right moment for you and Anna to test your resolve.’
‘That’s what my mother said.’
‘Well, she’s right. Are you sure Anna is on her way here?’
He shook his head. ‘I thought this the most likely place she would come.’ He stood up. ‘I couldn’t think of anywhere else. But I know so little about her, Phyllis. I don’t know who her friends are; her relations. I am in so many ways still a stranger, and -’ He hesitated. ‘I am not sure how long I can stand the suspense of all this. It’s like having a time bomb inside me!’
‘He’s not inside you, Toby! Don’t imagine that.’ She looked very stern. ‘It is your body. Your brain. He cannot use them unless you let him.’
‘What if I can’t help it?’ He was staring down at the fire.
‘That sounds very defeatist. You can’t afford to be weak. Not for an instant.’
‘It would be easier if I knew when he was going to strike.’
‘If he is going to strike.’ She sighed. ‘If anything else happens, Toby, it is because he still wants the bottle. My guess is he would wait until it is nearby. He would wait for Anna. And you’re right. I think she might come here.’
‘Then I must go.’ Turning to face her, he sighed. ‘I can’t risk being here when she arrives.’
‘You’ll have to face her one day. I have a feeling Carstairs could wait longer than you would be able to.’
‘You’re not suggesting I stay? Face him out?’
‘I’m not sure what I’m suggesting, my dear.’ She looked round helplessly. ‘I’m not an expert in all this. I don’t know what we should do. Perhaps we should ask your friend, Serena. She seems to have been the only one with any idea of how to deal with this situation.’ She raised a quizzical eyebrow. ‘It is fairly specialised.’
In spite of himself Toby chuckled. ‘You can say that again. As was her solution. A recitation of “Mary had a little lamb”!’
‘Simple but effective,’ Phyllis replied drily. ‘You are lucky there was someone there who took what happened seriously. I suspect a great many people would have laughed it all off anyway and said you were all hallucinating!’
‘Those people were not with us in Egypt!’ Toby commented grimly. ‘You know, I would almost be relieved to think I was suffering from schizophrenia – under the circumstances it would be preferable to the other possibility.’ He shuddered.
‘You don’t mean that, my dear.’ She shook her head. ‘Now, may I suggest that you stay the night. It’s far too late to drive back to London and I doubt if Anna will come tonight. Then tomorrow we will try and establish where she is and what if anything she has done with her scent bottle. And then, and only then, can we decide what you should do next.’
11
The figure standing beside Toby’s bed was tall, insubstantial in the near darkness of the room. Outside the half drawn curtains the sky was bright with stars. It was very cold. Toby had turned off the electric fire before he climbed into the high old-fashioned bed and pulled the eiderdown up over his head, and now, in the warm cocoon of mattress and blankets and sheets he turned over with a groan and settled more deeply into sleep.
Outside the window a car had driven up. Briefly the lights reflected on the wall by the door, then they were gone. As the clouds had cleared the temperature had started dropping. Soon there would be ice. The engine fell silent; the lights were switched off. A door opened and slammed and footsteps echoed up the path beneath his window. He did not hear them; nor the rattle of the knocker on the oak panel; he was not aware of the light going on, on the landing outside his bedroom, or of Phyllis, wrapped in a red chenille dressing gown, tiptoeing lightly down the stairs, opening the door, drawing Anna inside and with a glance up towards his bedroom door, leading her into the sitting room. There, with new logs thrown onto the glowing embers the two women sat down to talk quietly and urgently by the light of one small lamp.
‘I saw Toby’s car.’ Anna shook her head. ‘I nearly didn’t come in. But I didn’t know what else to do. Where to go. I sat in a coffee place for ages, then I drove round for hours before I decided to come here. What did he say? Where is he?’
‘He’s upstairs. Asleep. He explained what happened, Anna.’
‘What am I to do?’
‘Have you still got it?’
Anna nodded, glancing towards the shoulder bag she had thrown down on the sofa next to her.
In his dream Toby watched her reach over and fumble in the bag, produce the small bubble-wrapped parcel and hold it in her hand, staring down at it.
‘I am afraid to keep it; afraid to destroy it. Supposing that unleashes something? Someone? I need to hide it, Phyl. Hide it somewhere Toby and Carstairs can’t find it.’
The sleeping Toby gave a grim smile. How stupid did she think he was? He was watching her. He would know what she did with it. He knew her every thought. And every thought of the guardian priests who hovered so anxiously over her. He frowned. In his sleep he paused to wonder why the priests were so anxious. So angry. They were afraid.
Phyllis was thinking deeply. ‘I don’t believe we should hide it in the house. In fact, maybe you shouldn’t hide it at all. I will. It might be better if you didn’t know where it was.’
‘Phyl, I don’t want you to put yourself in danger.’
‘Danger!’ The old woman was indignant. She ran her fingers through her hair, leaving it standing on end. ‘I gave it to you in the first place. I gave you the diary. I sent you to Egypt. Anna, my dear, I got you into all of this and it’s up to me to get you out.’ She held out her hand. ‘Give it to me.’
Anna handed over the bottle with a shiver. For a moment both women stared round the room, sensing the drifting cold. They saw nothing.
‘Right. Now I want you to go up to your usual bedroom. I have put Toby in the green room at the top of the stairs. Get a good night’s sleep and in the morning it will all be taken care of.’
