He puts a plate on the floor. Why hasn抰 he put it through the grille like he usually does?
慖t抯 nearly time,?he says.
慣ime for what??She doesn抰 even know if she said it aloud.
慪ou know what to do,?he says. But does she? She doesn抰 know anything any more. She shuts her eyes again.
When she opens them, he抯 left the room. But he抯 left something else too. Something that glows like a secret jewel. A phone. She waits but, as usual, she can抰 hear any retreating footsteps. She steps forward, knowing that she抯 shaking. Is it locked? Password protected? No, the screen comes to life. She types two words but her hands are so cold that the phone falls to the ground.
慖抣l have that.?He抯 back in the room, picking up the phone and putting it in his pocket. 慪ou didn抰 touch it, did you??
慛o,?she says. 慞lease. Let me go.?
慣here抯 no one who抣l miss you,?he says. 慗ust take the pills like a good girl.?
Should she? In their red and white packet, the painkillers look more enticing than the dry biscuits.
慖抣l be back later,?he says. 慉nd we抣l make an end to this.?
Nelson has had another frustrating day. They have been unable to trace Eileen Gribbon or Joe McMahon. There was no answer from Janet Meadows and no news from Judy. Nelson leaves at five thirty, leaving Tanya and Tony behind in the office. It抯 as if he抯 working part-time. At this rate, he抣l be making Jo抯 dreams come true and retiring before the end of the year.
Nelson drives through the empty streets thinking about the missing students and the Grey Lady. He抎 googled the legend after talking to Ruth. It was a particularly nasty story, he thought, even for Norfolk. The girl trapped in her house and then possibly eating her parents. It抯 no wonder the poor soul walks the streets at night. What would Cathbad say about it? Clear as day, in the quiet of the car, he hears the druid抯 voice, 慣here are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.?Cathbad sometimes calls him Horatio, after the original Nelson. He likes to have his own names for everyone. Ruth is Ruthie and Katie is Hecate. What does he call Judy? Nelson will probably never know.
慔ang on in there, Cathbad,?he says aloud. 慖 don抰 want to have to come and rescue you again.?
He抯 several miles outside Lynn before he realises that he抯 driving to Ruth抯。 The journey has become second nature to him. It抯 almost an effort to remember the route to his own home, the place he has lived for over twenty years. The sea is sparkling in the distance. Why shouldn抰 he drive to see Ruth and Katie? It抯 not exactly in the Covid rules but last week he was practically living there. Why not see Ruth while he can? On the phone last night Michelle said she might be home soon. 慓eorge misses you,?she抎 said. Nelson drives even faster, trying to escape guilt.
He抯 practically at the Saltmarsh turning when there抯 a call on his phone, which is in hands-free mode. He half hopes, half dreads that it抣l be from Judy. But instead, there抯 a voice message from Leah.
慔elp,?is all she says.
Ruth rings Janet back. 慣his is Janet Meadows. Leave a message and I抣l get back to you. Peace and love.?The cheerful, self-mocking tones almost make Ruth think that the 璷riginal message must be a joke. But something about the capital letters make it seem real. HELP ME. Ruth thinks of Janet alone in Steward抯 House. 慡he kept going on about living in a haunted house,?said Nelson. 慞ractically said she was kept awake by ghoulies and ghosties.?But what if it wasn抰 the undead who kept Janet awake but actual human intruders, people who could do her harm? Crime doesn抰 stop because there抯 a pandemic, Nelson said once, it just goes underground. 慖t抯 Ruth,?she says. 慖抦 a bit worried. Please call me back.?
Kate is watching Friends. Ross is dressed as an armadillo. 慣here were these people called the Maccabees . . .?Ruth remembers Janet telling her about the Grey Lady, in the cheerful fluorescent light of the cafeteria. 慣he house was boarded up. That抯 what they did in those days. Sealed the house with the occupants still inside. They抎 draw a cross on the door and sometimes the words 揕ord have mercy?and they抎 leave the household to die. I suppose it was a way of containing the outbreak. When they opened the house again, they found the bodies of a man, a woman and a young girl.?Things are not always what they seem.