Descension

by Shani Struthers

  Ness swallowed, averting her gaze slightly, looking at the spot where Jed was still sitting, ever hopeful of a crumb. “Perhaps it’s easier. I answer to no one.”

  Her latter point resonated.

  “Ruby, Cash is good for you. You’re good for him. You’ll work this out.”

  “It’s not easy on partners, is it, what we do?”

  “Cash is enthusiastic about your profession.”

  Not as much as Eclipse, thought Ruby.

  Ness frowned. “Are you sure you don’t have feelings for Eclipse?”

  “No, Ness, I don’t.”

  “It’s just—”

  “I know, you read what’s on my mind,” finished Ruby. “I admire Eclipse’s passion, that’s all. He feels the same way I do. If there was no Cash then perhaps it might be different. But,” she had to pause and take a deep breath before continuing, “I’m a one man woman. It’s Cash I want. I hope you’re right, I hope we can work this out.”

  With breakfast over, it was time to make plans. Ness and Theo had another session with Hames this afternoon, something they couldn’t cancel, as other professional bodies would be present observing whilst they interviewed him, and so the arrangement had to be honoured. Ruby understood that and wouldn’t dream of objecting. “We’ve got tomorrow and Thursday, although Thursday’s cutting it fine.”

  “Unless you can get a stay of execution?”

  Ruby frowned. “How would I do that?”

  “Peter again, if he’s willing to phone Rob Lock and plead our case. I could try my police contact, Lee, but I know how stretched he is at the moment; he’s got a lot on his plate. I don’t want to keep asking favours, putting him under more pressure.”

  “Fair enough, Ness. Something to keep in mind though is what Cash said. We might blow it if Lock knew our intended purpose. He might forbid us to go anywhere near the site, not least because of Health and Safety reasons.”

  “Heath and Safety?” Ness queried, one eyebrow raised. “Those dilapidated warning boards really show how much he cares about that.”

  “Yeah, but rules are rules. I’ll tell you what, I’ll go back to the office, sort out a bit more admin – there’s always loads to be done; get my house in order so to speak, then I’ll phone Dad and see what he thinks.” She smiled as she said this, couldn’t help herself. What a novelty it was to be even talking about her father. It went some way to softening the confusion and distress she felt regarding Cash. “I’ll phone Theo, Corinna and Eclipse too, set a date to go to Brookbridge tomorrow at dusk. Is that okay?”

  Ness nodded. “Rest in between, though. Conserve your energy. If we can’t get an extension, than we need to make the most of the time we’ve got. Those names you got from the patient notes, have you memorised them?”

  “Most of them, erm… there’s Agnes Jones, Doreen Hughes, Mary Wilson, Ronald Brown, Stephen Evans, Annie Gibb. Oh, and Rebecca Nash, of course.”

  “She’s the psychic?”

  “Uh huh.”

  “That’s good. If we can go in there, if we can personalise our approach, we may get a result. You never know, one of them might still be in residence.”

  “I’ll also access the online archives for the asylum, gather as many as possible.”

  “A whole litany of them.”

  “A whole litany,” Ruby repeated.

  “Take care, Ruby.”

  “You too, Ness. I hope today’s not too taxing for you.”

  Even as she said it, she knew it would be nothing less than that.

  * * *

  Without Ness to bolster her, Ruby could feel the misery of yesterday kicking in again. Alone in her office – even Jed was busy elsewhere – she did as she said she would and kept herself busy. Having phoned Theo and Corinna, both of them more than willing to join her on Wednesday evening, she also phoned Eclipse, who offered to come and help collate names of Cromer’s former patients. Although it’d be nice to have some help, she turned him down, just on the off chance that Cash might have a change of heart and come bursting into her office, a bunch of red roses in hand. She swallowed. Chance would be a fine thing. It wasn’t until later in the day that she called Peter, her nerves still jangling at the prospect – when would that begin to ease?

  “Hi, Peter,” she said. They hadn’t discussed properly the use of ‘Dad’ and she didn’t dare push her luck. “How are you?”

  “Ruby?” He sounded surprised to hear from her – surprised and a little… nervous. “I was going to call you.”

  “You were? Wow, that’s great, it’s always lovely to hear from you. Was it about something in particular?”

  “Erm… y…you go first. I insist.”

  Why was he stammering? He didn’t normally stammer. Not as far as she knew.

  “Oh it’s something and nothing. Well, I hope it errs on the ‘something’ actually, and it’s only if you’ve got time of course, if you’re willing. If you’re not…” She stopped, took a deep breath, mentally admonishing herself for babbling. “As well as to say hello, Brookbridge was the reason I was phoning again, just on the off chance really, and whether you could use your influence again. We might be able to do what we have to in the time we’ve got, but it’s tight. If you could get us a few more days, a week perhaps…” Even as the words left her mouth, she was embarrassed. This was too much. How could she possibly expect him to phone a land developer, tell him one of his buildings was severely haunted and that demolishing it would cause the spirits grounded there further distress? But, hey, not to worry. He knew a team of psychics who were sneaking around, doing their utmost to move them into the light where they’d find peace and comfort at last. But in order to do this, or at least to enable them to give it their best shot, could they possibly interrupt their building schedule and delay razing it to the ground? Yep, it sounded mad, wholly mad. What must her father think of her? “Peter?” she said hesitantly, meaning to apologise for such a cheeky request. They had to work with what time they had left and that was all there was to it. An extension due to spiritual unrest was not on the cards.

  There was a brief moment of silence, in which Ruby hung her head. Could her life in this moment get any worse? She’d alienated Cash, although unwittingly, and now she risked doing the same with her newly found father. “Look, sorry, forget I asked,” she continued. “Honestly, it’s fine. You’ve done enough for us already and I’m grateful. We’re supposed to be getting to know each other, father and daughter, and here I am setting you to work. It’s really wrong of me.”

  “Ruby…” His voice was barely above a whisper.

  Ruby frowned. Had she really pissed him off? “Yes?”

  “I said I was going to call you, didn’t I?”

  “That’s right. Is everything okay?”

  “Okay?” Again, his voice was barely audible. “Ruby, where are you, at work?”

  “I’m in my office.”

  “Is Cash with you?”

  “Cash? No, he’s… erm… at work too.”

  “You’re on your own?”

  To the side of her, Jed appeared, not occupying his usual spot in front of the heater but standing and looking at her, his head to one side, his dark eyes sad for some reason; something else in them too. Concern? Fear crawled up her spine, a many-legged spider.

  “Peter, is there something wrong?”

  There was another brief moment of silence and then he started to speak, slowly, deliberately, as if he wanted each word to sink in, to compute. “Kirsty and John were understandably concerned when I told them you’d got in touch; that you claimed to be my daughter.”

  Claimed? Ruby couldn’t help it, she baulked at the word.

  “When you came to visit, they wanted to be here.” He laughed but Ruby detected no humour in it. “They really are terrible those two. They seem to think I need looking after now I’m on my own. I don’t. I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself, but that’s kids for you. I’ve told you, we’re very close.”

  Yes he had, b
ut this time it felt like rubbing salt into a wound.

  “Ruby, I like you. I meant that when I said it. You’re a nice kid, a fascinating kid. What you do, I’m genuinely impressed. I never used to believe so much in all that spooky stuff, but talking to you, you made it seem so real. I like you. I hoped…”

  Ruby gulped. “You hoped? Hoped what?”

  She heard him exhale. When he spoke again, there was a tremor in his voice. “As you know, Kirsty’s a doctor. From the cutlery you used, the cups you drank out of, she took a sample – a DNA sample. We fast-tracked the result and it came back a couple of hours ago.”

  Ruby felt as though she’d gone into free fall. “A sample?”

  “Yes. I’m sorry.”

  “You mean asking me over; your children being there and them being so helpful during dinner; not allowing Cash and I to even leave the table – it was all a set-up?”

  “No,” he denied, “not originally. It was a genuine offer and I did want to get to know you more, but Kirsty—”

  “Kirsty had other ideas?”

  “As I said, she was looking out for me. You have to understand that.”

  Understand? “What was the result?”

  There was silence again, a maddening silence. Jed had come closer, laid his ethereal head on her knee, his whole body tense. Glancing at the dog, she knew what Peter was about to say, but still she had to hear it.

  “Peter?” She screwed her eyes shut, held her breath.

  “I truly am sorry, Ruby, but we’re not a match. I’m not your father.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Ruby threw the receiver from her. Quickly locating her keys, she grabbed them and ran out of the office, flying down three flights of stairs and out on to the street. Her Ford was parked a few metres away and she ran to it and climbed in, finding Jed already in the passenger seat. For a minute she could do nothing but sit and catch her breath, her hands shaking too much for her to insert the key into the ignition.

  A set-up, I walked blindly into a set-up!

  He’s not my father.

  Who is my father?

  He said he was sorry, truly sorry.

  Why isn’t he my father?

  So many thoughts tumbled into her mind, each one vying for attention as much as the visions she’d experienced at the asylum ever had. Finally managing to fire the engine, she pulled out of the parking space when a horn blast startled her – she’d driven straight into the path of an oncoming car. Accompanying the blast with a rude gesture, the other driver finally manoeuvred round her, whilst Ruby gripped the steering wheel, choking back a flood of tears. Beside her, Jed was agitated, shifting his weight from side to side, but she couldn’t take his emotions on board as well as her own, not at the moment, although she did whisper ‘sorry’ as she advanced further into the road.

  Hastings – that was her destination – and the house in the Old Town where she’d grown up with her mother and grandmother, but no father. Not then and not now. Not ever it seemed. Why had her mother lied to her? Or had she? Did her mother really not know who the father of her child was? Ruby knew about Jessica’s history – that she was wild in her youth and had had a succession of lovers, but how many for God’s sake? That DNA test, what if it was wrong? Was a saliva sample really that conclusive? Didn’t you need a blood sample or a cheek swab to be one hundred per cent sure? What if Kirsty had tampered with the results, not wanting the competition of another daughter? It was possible. Anything was possible. Her life was crumbling, just as the asylum would soon crumble, and she, like the spirits, thrown into utter turmoil.

  The journey passed in a blur, Ruby keeping her foot on the accelerator, eating up the miles. Entering the Old Town, she abandoned her car as soon as she was able to. As she and Jed hurried through the streets to Lazuli Cottage, seagulls circled overhead, people milled about, oblivious to the world collapsing around one person. Many were smiling, at each other, and at her, people were so friendly in the Old Town. For residents and visitors alike, the place had such a happy atmosphere, but today all happiness and colour had been sucked from the world.

  The cottage in sight, she picked up pace, and hastened along the pathway with its flagstones and weeds, then banged on the door, demanding entrance.

  It was Jessica who answered. “Oh, Ruby, it’s you. Haven’t you got your key?”

  She stood aside as Ruby pushed past her and headed straight into the kitchen. Sarah was sitting at the table, no such look of confusion in her eyes; there was resignation instead, and weariness. Seeing this, Ruby tried to rein herself in, but when Jessica followed her into the supposed ‘heart of the home’, words came tumbling out of her mouth in what seemed like the fiercest of accusations.

  “Mum, Peter is not my father. Why did you tell me he was?”

  For a moment, Jessica just stared at her – her mouth slightly open. It took her a moment to gather the wherewithal to speak. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ruby. He is your father.”

  “Ruby, why don’t you sit down?” Sarah suggested, even though she’d begun to rise from the table, both hands holding onto it for support.

  “No, I… Mum, what’s going on? Was it all just a lie?”

  Still Jessica denied it, shaking her head vehemently. “He’s the liar if he’s saying otherwise.”

  “His daughter’s a doctor,” Ruby explained. “She was there when I went to visit at the weekend. She took a sample of my DNA from a cup or cutlery or something, I don’t know how she did it, she’s the doctor not me, and with Peter’s contacts, well, the upshot is we’re not a match.”

  “Why would she do that?” Jessica asked, her eyes huge with disbelief.

  “Because she was concerned obviously,” Ruby’s voice had started to rise, “suspicious of this girl who’d come calling, insisting Peter was her father too.” Her eyes started to sting and she had to turn away slightly, take a deep breath before carrying on. “When I met Peter, I expected to see some sort of likeness between us, but there was nothing. And then I thought, it doesn’t matter; a child can take after only one parent, and, Mum, you and I look quite alike. I’ve even known people who don’t look like their parents at all, so who cared if there was no resemblance? I know… I know he left you, Mum, but he seems like a nice enough guy now; someone I could build a relationship with. I liked him and he said he liked me. And then I met his children, Kirsty and John, and they were nothing like me either; they’re much taller, Kirsty’s got red hair and they’ve both got blue eyes. They’re nothing like me at all!” As she said it, she realised again that none of this had anything to do with looks; it was something more intrinsic that had been missing. She hadn’t belonged in that family, and on a deeper level, Kirsty knew it every bit as much as Ruby did. Swinging round to face Jessica again, tears having broken rank and pouring down her face, Ruby couldn’t help but ask. “Just how many lovers did you have at any one time?”

  The years had fallen away from Jessica; she looked like a young kid, startled, as her past was being dragged up and put on trial when really it should have been left. But this was her past too, Ruby’s. “Mum!” she cried. “Tell me!”

  “I… erm… It was him, I’m sure it was.” Her mother had tears in her eyes too, but more than that, worse than that, there was panic. “It had to be him!”

  Ruby’s skin grew cold. “What do you mean, it had to be? Who else was on the scene? Who didn’t you want it to be?”

  Jessica’s hand came up to her brow. “It was all such a long time ago.”

  “That’s as maybe,” Ruby protested. “But some things, surely, you don’t forget.”

  “I’ve told you, I was a different person back then!”

  “Even so, what you did, it affected me. If you didn’t know for sure, you should never have said anything. I’ve made such a fool of myself.”

  Jessica extended her arm but Ruby avoided her touch. Retracting her hand, she hugged herself instead in a nervous gesture. “No, darling, you haven’t. I’ve always said
that the three of us were enough for each other, haven’t I? But you were so determined, Ruby. Sometimes you’re like a force of nature, you won’t be stopped.”

  “But we weren’t enough for each other!” Ruby retaliated. “You need to make your mind up, because you’ve said that as well. From when I was seven years old, you weren’t there for me; you were locked inside yourself, unreachable. If it weren’t for Gran…” She stopped herself just in time, but the intimation was clear. If it weren’t for Gran, you’d have been locked up. “Maybe it’s because I couldn’t have you that I wanted him so much; one of my parents at least. But you fobbed me off; plucked a name out of nowhere.”

  Jessica shook her head. “At that time, Peter was my boyfriend, I adored him!”

  “Okay, okay, so he was your boyfriend, but he wasn’t your only lover, was he? There was someone else, someone you don’t want to remember. Why don’t you? What was wrong with him? I need to know, who the hell is my father?”

  “Ruby!” It was Sarah, her voice little more than a hiss. “Will you sit down!”

  As her gaze shifted towards Sarah, Ruby noticed she wasn’t just holding on to the table, she was gripping it, her fingers having turned white with the pressure. Her face too was contorted. No longer the gentle, soft-skinned grandmother she remembered, she looked like a stranger. “Gran?” she whispered.

  “Just sit, and you too, Jessica. I knew this day would come. I’ve waited for it. So many years I’ve waited. God knows all I ever wanted was to keep you safe, both of you. You were in danger, you especially, Ruby, and I wanted to protect you – it’s a mother’s instinct and it’s a grandmother’s instinct too.”

  Feeling her knees buckle, Ruby sank on to a chair. So did Jessica, a tremor in her as Sarah’s words sank in. “Mum,” she said, “what do you mean? What did you do?”

  Back in her seat too, Sarah turned to Jessica. “Tell Ruby,” she instructed.

  “Tell her what?”

  “The truth!” Sarah yelled, startling Jessica further. “And tell me too while you’re at it, because I’ve never asked for the full story. Before now, I didn’t dare.”