The Secret of Crickley Hall

'Oh. Are you all right?'

'Not good.' Eve quickly told the psychic how the same black spirit whose presence had frightened them so the day before yesterday had tried to drown her in the bath last night. 'I'm scared, Lili,' she admitted. 'But that's not why I'm ringing. I want you to come back to Crickley Hall. I want you to try and contact my son again.'

'After what happened on Wednesday?' Lili sounded astonished—and afraid. 'It came back for you last night, don't you understand? It's too dangerous, Eve, I won't do it. I—I had a similar experience some time ago: an entity, a malevolent entity, came through unbidden. I can't take the chance again.'

'Lili, I need you. I know you could help me save my son if you tried. You almost reached him before.'

'Yes, and look what manifested itself instead.'

'But you'd be prepared this time. You could send it away, close it off from your mind.'

'It doesn't work that way. Once I'm in trance I'm vulnerable, I can't control what comes through.'

'Then don't go into a trance, just use your conscious mind.'

'Don't you see? I can't help it sometimes, it takes me over. I just go under.'

'I won't let it happen, I'll keep you awake even if I have to slap your face. But you could reach Cam without being in a half-conscious state, couldn't you? I'm not even asking you to communicate with the dead. My son is alive, I know it! I only want you to establish a telepathic link, that's all I'm asking. Only you can control it properly, Lili, I'm convinced of that.'

'Your husband doesn't want me there.' Lili was struggling to excuse herself.

'Gabe won't object if it's just one more time. I'll talk to him and it'll be okay. Just try once more, Lili.'

'I'm sorry, Eve.'

'Please. Please, Lili.'

'You don't know what you're asking. Crickley Hall is filled with unrest. There's so much wickedness, so much fear.'

'Is it the children?'

'Yes, their lost spirits. Something is keeping them there. They're frightened.'

'Have you considered it might be the dark man, the thing that terrified us both when you came here, the entity that never quite materialized that day? It was stronger last night. It froze the water and wanted to drown me.'

'Its force is building and I don't have the power to stop it. Something really bad is going to happen in Crickley Hall—I felt it as soon as I walked into the hall—and I don't want to be there when it does. My advice to you is get out as soon as you can. Please take your family away from that house.'

'We are leaving. Soon. That's why I want one more chance.'

'No, Eve. Not with me. I'm so sorry.'

Eve heard the connection break.

•

Lili stared at the small cordless phone on her desk. The shop was empty of customers so far, but business would pick up towards lunchtime. Midday Friday was always busy.

She felt awful. She had hated turning Eve down—the woman was in deep mental anguish and desperate—but Lili could not get involved: it was too dangerous. Eve didn't understand, even though she knew there was evil in Crickley Hall. She seemed to have a blind trust in Lili's psychic ability and an unreasonable belief that her son was still alive. It was foolish on both counts.

The truth was Lili was too afraid to return to Crickley Hall after her visit on Wednesday when she had been almost overwhelmed by fear and despair as soon as she'd entered the place. And afraid again later, when that dark thing—literally dark—had terrorized her and Eve. What might have been the consequences had not Gabe Caleigh and his daughter walked in at that point? Lili gave a little shudder at the thought.

No, she could not—she would not—go back to that house, not for Eve, not even for the children… She broke off her deliberations and stiffened in her chair. No, she told herself, don't think of the children who had perished there. There was nothing she could do for their earthbound spirits! How could she stand up to the other, the malign, force that haunted the house? Eighteen months ago she had nearly been driven to a nervous breakdown by a spirit that had spontaneously manifested itself, the spectre of someone from her past, someone she had hurt badly, someone who even in discarnate form could not forget.

Lili unconsciously twisted one of her coloured wristbands. She blocked her own thoughts, wishing it were possible to discard certain memories.

The shop door opened and two people, shoulders still hunched against the rain, stumbled through. It was a welcome distraction.

•

It was just after eleven when Gabe heard the phone downstairs ring.

Bent over his drawing board, he muttered something nasty and snapped down the Rapidograph. He was tempted to ignore the brilling tone, but Eve was out at the harbour village store and Cally was sleeping a few doors away. He didn't want his youngest daughter disturbed, because while she was asleep she was no bother to him and he had a lot of work to wrap up before they left Crickley Hall. Gabe almost regretted not having gone into the office that morning; but then, he supposed, there would have been even more interruptions there. He wanted to finish up his sketches this morning and deliver them that afternoon, hopefully the engineering problem solved.

With a resigned groan, he stepped down from the high stool and went to the open door. Maybe it was someone from Seapower ringing; or maybe it was his own London office, checking on his progress—he hadn't spoken to anyone there for a whole working week.

On his way along the landing, he popped his head into Cally's bedroom to see how she was doing. She was still sleeping soundly, her mouth slightly open, quietly snoring through her nose. Poor mite, she had become as tired as her older sister. Getting Loren out of the door to catch the school bus this morning had been hard work for Eve.

He hurried to the stairs, now having decided to answer the phone, anxious not to miss the call. Might be important.

Crossing the hall's stone floor in sneakers, jeans and half-sleeve sweatshirt, he grabbed the receiver from its cradle.

'Yeah?'

'Gabe Caleigh?'

'Yeah.'

'It's DI Kim Michael.'

Gabe drew in a sharp breath. His heart didn't know whether to sink or be elated. Instead, it became neutral. Michael was the police detective in London who had eventually, when it was assumed that Cam had been abducted, taken charge of the investigation and search.

'Hey, Kim.' Gabe's voice was low and steady. He and Detective Inspector Michael had become almost friends during the long quest to find Gabe's missing son for, although two FLOs (Family Liaison Officers) had been assigned to the family, the detective had taken a personal interest in the case, going out of his way to inform Eve and Gabe of every lead the police were following, of every reported sighting, and every disappointment when they followed them up. He would call in on Eve and Gabe regularly after duty hours, just to see how they were bearing up, encouraging them at the beginning, letting them down as gently as possible as the months went by, his sympathy genuine, unaffected by the official role he played.

'I tried your mobile number first—I wanted to speak to you, not your wife. Couldn't even get a tone though.'

'Yeah,' Gabe responded, 'cell phones don't seem to work in this neck of the woods.' Then, bluntly: 'What is it, Kim?'

The detective was equally blunt. 'We've found a child's body.'

51: THE DRIVE HOME