and dread.'
'Not so much of the beauty.'
'It's there, if you can see past the mud and the shit and the dying. In a way, this time is a lot like the sixties.' Caitlin's disbelieving expression made Mary laugh. 'It was a crucial time… when everything was poised. Young people, for once, were on the brink of shaping society. Not old farts like me. Young people — younger than you. There was a move away from repression towards freedom… hope and optimism. The occult — magic, if you like — was back in the mainstream, and a real honest-to-goodness spirituality came with it. For a moment it seemed as if that was the way things were going to go… towards a new Golden Age.'
'Then human nature kicked in.'
'Oh, you are a cynic,' Mary chided. 'No, it wasn't that. Human nature is basically what I've just told you — good stuff… hope… freedom… people looking for magic in their lives. But there's a tiny group who always manage to worm their way to the top. You wouldn't look twice at them in the street — they're boring, fade into the background. But they're cursed with having no imagination, and that's a terrible thing. If you've got imagination, you worry about people's feelings because you can put yourself in their shoes, you worry about your place in the world… in history. These people somehow know they're lacking because they've got no imagination, so they try to fill in what's missing with power — and because they've got no imagination, they'll do anything to get to the top. No scruples.'
'Is this your conspiracy theory?' Caitlin said with a wry smile.
'No conspiracy. They stand there in plain sight, but you never think badly of them because they're so boring. They were the ones who killed Kennedy — both of them — Martin Luther King, John Lennon, gave Charlie Manson the wrong direction, blew apart all the protests against the Vietnam War, ruined the hippie movement. They're the ones who killed the sixties.'
Caitlin waved her away with a chuckle.
'You can laugh, my girl, but it's true. Those people don't like all the positive things, all that light and freedom and hope, because in that sort of atmosphere they can't exist. They're shown up for what they really are. With the country upside down… the Government nowhere to be seen… we're at a point where we can go in that right direction again, if a few good people lead the way. But those shadow-people are only lying low, and I'm betting you they'll soon rear up their ugly, boring heads and try to stop us getting some good out of all this shit.'
Caitlin looked into the heart of the fire, smiling. The more she learned about Mary, the more she liked her. Mary was an odd mixture of hardness from her days as a psychiatric nurse, and optimism, which she often hid in order to maintain her tough image. Caitlin could listen to her talk all day. But when Caitlin looked up to see Mary watching her with concern, it was clear that Mary had only set off on her impassioned discourse to take Caitlin's mind off her problems.
'I saw something earlier.' Caitlin struggled to find the words to describe her chilling experience in the lane. 'There were two men on horses. I got the impression they were hunting.' She eyed Mary cautiously. 'Only I'm not so sure they were men. Or horses for that matter. I know it sounds stupid
'The world's gone crazy in a lot of different ways, Caitlin.' Mary went over to the window to peer out into the turbulent night. 'Some of the things out there…'
'You believe all that stuff — all the superstitious rubbish people keep going on about in the village?'
Mary turned back to her; for the first time her face was impossible to read. 'Don't you?'
'No.' Caitlin broke her gaze and returned her attention to the fire, unable to accept what she saw in Mary's eyes. 'It's just a human reaction to all the upheaval. When you're trapped in chaos that makes no sense, it's easy to return to childish ways, believing it's all the result of some supernatural power… God, gods, angels, ghosts-'
'What did you see tonight?' Mary asked pointedly.
'I don't know.'
'You do, Caitlin. It's not rational to deny the evidence of your eyes.'
'Really, I don't know what I saw. It was dark, stormy… It just didn't feel right…'
Mary fished a bottle of Jack Daniel's from the sideboard. 'Gary Smedley offered it to me in return for dispensing something to help him sleep. So who am I to say no,' she said wryly. She poured two shots and handed one to Caitlin before joining her on the sofa. 'Look,' she began, 'I know you're a down-to-earth sort, so there's no point me testing your credulity with all the wild and woolly theories as to what caused this whole mess. But you can't deny that people have been seeing things-'
'I don't deny that people think they've been seeing things.'
'You really do have a poker up your arse, don't you?' Mary knocked back the shot. 'At the risk of souring our friendship, then, let me tell you that my family always believed they were gifted with what they called the sight… second sight.'
'Oh, they could see the future.' Caitlin smiled superciliously. 'Did they win the lottery?'
'Not just the future, missy. Ooh, you really are asking for a clip round the ear.' She poured herself another drink. 'They… believed… they could see things happening at a distance, too, and the past… Anyway-'
'And you've got it.' Caitlin laughed. 'Do you want to read my palm, too?'
There was silence for a few seconds, and when Caitlin looked up Mary was deathly serious. 'I can do a lot of things you'd be surprised about.'
'Go on, then.' Caitlin shrugged. 'I could do with some entertainment.'
Mary shook her head, thought for a moment, and then recanted. She disappeared towards the kitchen and returned with a large glass bowl half-filled with water that shimmered in the firelight. Despite herself, Caitlin was growing intrigued.
'Have you heard of scrying?' Mary asked.
'What's that? A new sport?' Caitlin poured herself another drink, enjoying the fuzzy edge of detachment that the Jack Daniel's gave her.'It's a trick to contact the subconscious. You stare into a bright, mirrored surface — in this case, water — and try to reach a trance state. And then spout whatever rubbish comes to mind.'
'How will I tell when you're under?' Caitlin teased.
Mary waved her silent with mock-weariness, then placed the bowl on a coffee table in front of the fire. 'I use it sometimes to try to… understand what's going on with this world.' Caitlin was puzzled to see a shadow cross Mary's face. 'We might find something that would comfort you.' She winced. 'That's probably not the right word… something that might give you a bit of perspective, perhaps.'
'You're serious?'
'No talking now.' Mary gave a smile, but there was a weight behind it that made Caitlin obey instantly.
Silence descended on the room beyond the crackling of the fire; even the gale at the window seemed to abate. Mary leaned over the bowl and stared into the depths of the water. Caitlin watched her for a while until her attention drifted to the fire and then to the patterns made by the occasional raindrops trickling down the panes. She thought of Liam, snuggled up in his bed, and then of Grant. The lucidity surprised her; she saw past the last few years and was overcome with a surprising rush of warm memories, all the reasons why she had fallen in love, the gentleness, the humour, the way she always felt secure around him. It left her with a deep regret that she had run out in such a temper. She'd make it up to him when she got back; perhaps they'd even have sex. If he was asleep, she could wake him…
'I see something.' Mary's voice was dreamy. Her eyes flickered in the depths of a trance. 'I see…' Her words floated languidly. Caitlin leaned in closer, curious to hear what she had to say.
I see…
At first Caitlin wondered if Mary was playing a joke to distract her; it was the kind of thing she would do. But there was a strange cast to her face, muscles held in an unnatural position, that suggested it was real.
'I see a dragon,' Mary said dreamily. 'Lying in the land. It stirs… a trail… blue… so blue.'
Her words brought a tingle to Caitlin's skin. Though she couldn't explain why, she felt a strange connection.
'It's rising… on powerful wings… above the land now… changing… changing… becoming… Caitlin
Caitlin shivered. Instinctively, she was sure there was some meaning hidden in it.
'And now changing again… Caitlin becoming the dragon once more… and flying… flying over the land..
A spasm crossed Mary's face. After the stillness it was like a bolt, jerking Caitlin out of her intense concentration.
Mary's voice dropped to the barest whisper. 'Something is watching… in the night sky… like a hole in
