‘Don’t be a prat. Got a telly?’
However violent the images, he had always found the world inside that little box was safe. It wasn’t like the pictures in your head, you could always switch off what you didn’t like. That’s what he and Mum did when they’d had a bad day.
‘All right,’ said Chloe, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand. She slipped through the door and Sam followed. But first he switched off the light and looked back, just in case.
The high kitchen was full of shadows and the black night clouds almost touched the windows. Everything had become quiet, even the chickens had stopped clucking outside. From here the barn walls looked comfortable and settled where they stood, a little way up the slope. There was nothing now to remind him of the monk. He smiled as he closed the kitchen door behind him. Chloe was calling him into the lounge. Her voice was soft and persistent like it used to be in the old days, a hundred summers ago.
Chapter Six
Chloe shut the front door behind her. The sundial in front of the porch glinted, its shadow-line sharp and thin. Before her, on the grassy slope, sheep were lying, huddled and half asleep under the dark green umbrella of the oak tree, secure in the calm sunshine. As she turned right and walked thoughtfully down to the little river no one else was about. At least Sam hadn’t gone yet. As for Nimbus —
For once she felt free of his attractive yet oppressive presence. She leaned over the bridge and watched the green water weed sway with the current. A small dark fish slid above the stony bed, and then another. Fresh water from the hills, Aidan had told her. Millions of years ago the river had gone underground and swirled out caves and caverns that were lost forever. The age-old water and sun relaxed her and she lay back on the grass and was soon asleep.
When she woke, to her astonishment, Nimbus was sitting beside her, staring down at her face.
‘It’s a beautiful day,’ he said, ‘and tonight’s going to be a good night for stars. Do you know your stars, Chloe Penfold?’
She sat up and looked Nimbus straight in the eye. At first it seemed as if the few days of separation had diminished his power. What harm could there be in him, she thought, he’s only hurt and upset and trying to find a way through.
‘Why?’ she asked.
‘We’ll star gaze tonight, Chloe. I’ll send Tammy down for you, so I don’t get tangled up with that cousin of yours, or Aidan. I don’t trust either of them one inch, I tell you. The stars will be bright tonight. We’ll name them together, you and me and Tammy. No harm in that. We’ll see the Plough and Orion and Cassiopeia —’
He looked at her with a soft smile. ‘You come out just gone midnight, when everyone’s asleep. Make sure the front door’s on the latch and we’ll be there waiting for you.’
Chloe nodded. ‘All right then.’
It was a clear night and the sky above the valley was steeped in stars. They stood on the highest point of Kingsholt, by the hedge that ringed the valley. To their left was the gate that separated the drive from the road beyond. Nimbus’s cottage was in the field below, and to the far side of it was Bones Wood. Below the wood Leela’s cottage nestled in black fields. Ahead Kingsholt rose majestically, its dilapidation hidden in the shadows that fell below the starlight. The house was in darkness, Sam and Aidan and Leela were asleep. When Chloe had crept down the main staircase, her parents’ bedroom had felt cold and empty, like a tomb, and there had been no noise except the creak of wood. She had opened the great front door as quietly as possible and left it on the latch. They were there, waiting for her and she followed them up into the field.
Nimbus held her hand and aligned her forefinger with the Plough. ‘Follow that pointer and you get to the North Star,’ he said, ‘The North Star never changes. You know all about that, don’t you, Tammy.’
Tammy’s eyes gleamed in the dark. She was wearing a headband across her forehead and her dress hung loosely down to her feet.
Chloe looked up. The sky was breath-taking above the trees, and the lovely names that Nimbus gave the stars somehow brought them nearer. Something that has a name can’t be too far away, thought Chloe. Even Nimbus seemed different under the stars. The lines round his mouth were smoothed out, his forehead was clear as he looked down at her and made sure she understood where the stars were and what they were called.
After an hour he said, ‘I’ve taught you a lot and now there’s summat you can do for me. I’m looking at Kingsholt, I’m thinking it’s a good moment to look round it.’
‘Not in the dark,’ said Chloe, suddenly shocked.
‘Makes no odds in a house.’
‘Why don’t you come tomorrow?’
‘I tried once before,’ said Nimbus, ‘Aidan Hardy stopped me.’ His eyes sharpened. ‘He stops me whenever he can. Now he’s asleep, you say?’
She nodded.
‘Nimbus has done a lot for you,’ said Tammy, tucking her arm into Chloe’s, ‘and it’s not just the stars he wants you to know about.’
They both looked at Chloe and she faltered.
‘One or two rooms then, and maybe the others when Aidan’s away.’
‘He’s never away.’
‘My mother would show you around.’
Nimbus laughed. ‘She’s gone away. Come to think of it, she’s always going away.’
He flashed his torch as they walked down towards the dark mass of the house. The outline of the roof blocked the sky, but the moon shone on the sundial, the front porch, and on the glass eyes of the stone saluki dog.
‘The place is full of secrets,’ whispered Nimbus as he urged Chloe towards the front door. She pushed it open and listened to the creak of weathered wood, the groans of old furniture. No one was about.
Nimbus shone his torch on the walls, at the picture of the hunt, muttering under his breath about poor foxes. He flashed his torch at the deerhead and its towering antlers. Then he came to the portrait of Uncle George Penfold and looked at it for a long time, pursing his lips, whispering under his breath, muttering something that sounded like a spell. Uncle George Penfold gazed back, fair and calm in the torchlight, his eyes knowing, as if he was alive.
‘You can’t stay,’ said Chloe peering at him, suddenly feeling she was betraying her uncle. ‘There’ll be another time.’
Nimbus put his hands on Chloe’s shoulders and stared into her eyes. ‘We’re going upstairs, Chloe,’ he said quietly, under his breath. ‘We’re going to the library.’
Tammy nodded. ‘We must all be very quiet,’ she whispered.
Chloe climbed the stairs slowly, almost in a trance. Nimbus came behind, always putting his right leg first, but despite his limp, silent, nimble, at any moment ready to break into a run. Tammy followed, her ears sharp for noise. Aidan’s bedroom was over the kitchen, in the other part of the house, and Chloe was sure Sam wouldn’t be creeping about. He wasn’t like that.
‘Here we are.’
Nimbus quietly pushed his way into the library and the others followed. ‘It’s a big room,’ he said, carefully closing the door. ‘Our cottage would go into this room.’
He turned to Chloe and stared into her eyes. She had no power to resist him when he pushed a white pill into her mouth.
‘You’ll like that. Better than sweets, aren’t they, Tammy? You sit down in front of that mirror while I look around.’
A heaviness came over Chloe and she could scarcely keep her eyes open. She sat on the once plush red seat of the chair, gripping its carved oak arms in an effort to keep awake. Despite all her will power, her eyes closed and she didn’t know how much time had passed before Nimbus’s deep voice pulled her out of sleep. ‘What’s this then?’
Chloe yawned and peered at the sheet of paper he was waving in front of her. The handwriting was very small and the drawing neat. ‘I don’t know. Some sort of map I think. Let me see.’ She took the thin, yellowing paper from him and tried to bring her attention to bear on the tiny, faded writing. ‘I can’t read it. Maybe something about Roman stone mines.�
�� She pushed herself up with difficulty and rubbed her eyes. ‘I’m going to bed,’ she said. ‘And you must go home.’
‘Then I’ll take this with me and you can tell me all about it another time. Tit for tat, eh, Chloe? I teach you stars and you teach me and Tammy how to read. This might be the map I want.’
Chloe yawned again. ‘You must let me have it back.’
Nimbus mumbled as he shoved the piece of paper into his pocket and guided her downstairs.
Chloe opened the front door. How refreshing to see the night sky, she thought. Was it only a few minutes ago I was out there, learning the names that brought the stars closer? But they’re not close, she told herself, they’re a long way off and between each little light the dark is endless. Her gaze dropped down to the rim of the valley and her mouth went dry. Was that a horseman riding in the shadow? She turned and without saying goodbye shut the heavy door quietly. She climbed the main stairway, ran past the library and up the back stairs to her room on the second floor. The half-moon was at her window. It seemed to watch her undress and slip into bed.
Next morning when Sam and Aidan were out shopping, Chloe followed the path to the wood. She must get that map back at all costs.
Two fields away, Leela was out in her garden, watering her clusters of cottage flowers before going over to Kingsholt. She was wearing a bright orange sari, as if she was trying to outshine the flowers. She looked up and waved. ‘You’re looking very pale this morning, Chloe. Is there anything I can do to help?’ Leela’s voice was smooth and calming, with a slight accent that added a lilt to her words.
‘I don’t know,’ said Chloe shortly. She watched Leela deadhead the flowers. ‘I can’t explain. Everything, I guess.’
Leela stood up and looked at her in astonishment. ‘Well! Do you really mean everything?’
‘No,’ Chloe said shortly. ‘It’s Nimbus. There’s something going on that’s all wrong.’
Leela frowned. ‘Kingsholt is a funny place at the moment,’ she said. ‘It’s as if a shadow has fallen on it. There’s quite a history you know, or perhaps you don’t.’
‘I don’t want to know,’ said Chloe.
Leela picked a marigold and pinned it to her sari. ‘You’ve never settled here because you’ve come at a bad moment and you’re homesick for your old house. But you must be careful, Chloe, you mustn’t let anyone or anything take you over. I know what it is. I had a bad experience in London and I might have given up if Uncle George hadn’t found me and brought me here. I was the first of his unhappy children! And now, even though he’s dead, and there’s some sort of shadow over the valley, I believe that shadow can’t touch this garden or this cottage. A hermit once lived here and left a legacy of many prayers. You see, I believe in prayers just as I believe in the shadow.’ She took Chloe’s hand in hers. ‘If things go wrong for you, this is where you must come. You won’t forget, will you?’
Chloe changed the subject. ‘How about Tyler? Doesn’t he get lonely?’
‘Good heavens, no! He’s happy on his own, doing his own thing. The valley’s his world, you see, and he seems to be unaffected by any shadow.’
‘Is the shadow Nimbus?’ asked Chloe directly.
‘He’s caught up,’ said Leela, ‘he’s part of it. He’s dangerous.’
‘Everyone’s against him,’ said Chloe.
‘It’s a matter of choice,’ said Leela, picking another marigold. ‘When you stand against something, it’s human nature to stand against the people who are part of it.’
‘But Nimbus says —’
‘He’s caught up,’ said Leela simply. ‘Sorrow, revenge, the darkness they can lead to. He’s not alone, Chloe. Kingsholt has a history of sorrow and revenge. But it has a history of light too – monks caring for each other, people offering help during the Black Death. In the end, it’s a matter of choice – though some are under a darker influence than others.’
‘I imagine it as Dark Time,’ Chloe said suddenly.
Leela smiled. ‘You sound like someone from my country. They say we’re superstitious but I think we’re susceptible to forces beyond ourselves.’ She put the marigold in Chloe’s hair. ‘I hope you don’t mind me talking like this.’
‘I don’t talk to anyone else. Mum’s great, but she hasn’t a clue.’
‘It’s often like that,’ said Leela gravely. ‘You’re too close. Your mother and I have a different way of talking. Different words. For instance, I would say you’re a passerelle,’
‘What’s that?’
‘It’s my own word. A passerelle is someone very sensitive to the past, even though they don’t know it. Uncle George Penfold once told me that his mother was like that. Take care, Chloe, the dangers are great.’
‘You sound like Aidan,’ said Chloe, suddenly sharp, a twinge of fear in her voice. She no longer wanted to listen to Leela. Who knew where such talk would lead? She pulled the flower out of her hair and turned to go.
‘Be careful,’ said Leela, gentle but firm.
Chloe followed the path through the wood, past the white bony tree where Rosie had been killed, up and up, to the field where Nimbus lived in the pest house. She would get back the map and go straight home. Then she would never see Nimbus again. As she approached his cottage she noticed that a downstairs window was broken and plugged with cardboard. She heard voices shouting and the baby crying. Then Gina came out with the baby in one arm and a duffle bag in the other. Her face wet with tears.
‘You keep away,’ she said brokenly when she saw Chloe. ‘I tell you he’s up to no good. His first wife went and I’m going too. Assassino!’ She rubbed her head. ‘Mi fa male! I’ll not go back!’ She opened the back door of the old car that was parked beside the cottage and strapped the baby into a car seat. Then she clambered into the front, drew her long skirt into the tiny space and wound down the window. ‘I’ve had enough. He’s changed since his daughter died. He’ll go to any lengths…Se ne vada, you go home. I’m clearing out.’
The engine spluttered into life and the car bumped down the track, leaving behind a flag of smoke waving from its broken exhaust pipe.
Nimbus stood in the doorway and watched the car disappear round the corner.
‘She’ll be back.’ He was looking at Chloe so intently she felt powerless. Without a word she followed him through the kitchen to the back room, where a huge television was plugged into the corner. A video game had been inserted and abandoned. A small matchstick figure on the screen was jumping over a wall and back, over a wall and back. Tammy came in from the kitchen.
‘She’s not my mother,’ she said bitterly, ‘I never wanted her to live with us. I hope she never comes back.’
‘Don’t listen to her,’ said Nimbus to Chloe. ‘Come upstairs.’
He wants me, not his daughter. He wants me.
Chloe followed him up the worn stone steps that spiralled from the back room to a small landing above. Three doors stood almost side by side and Nimbus opened the one on the right. The odd shaped ramshackle room was dominated by a large oak desk that was covered with dust. Its legs were curved and the lid was engraved with Celtic knots.
‘An heirloom,’ said Nimbus. ‘It goes wherever I go.’ He opened the lid and took out the map he had found in Kingsholt library.
‘I’ve come to take it back,’ said Chloe but Nimbus ignored her. He sat cross-legged on the floor and unfolded the map. Tammy sat opposite, her long black skirt swathed round her. She pointed to the space beside her father, and as Chloe unwillingly knelt down, Nimbus took out a pill and a flask from his hip pocket.
Chloe heard Leela’s voice in her head but confronted by Nimbus’s intent gaze it had become distant and meaningless. With a sense of daring she put the pill in her mouth and picked up the flask. She expected water and as she took a large swig she watched Nimbus and Tammy exchange glances – one of those conspiratorial looks that turned her into an outsider again and made her wish she was as close to her own father. Then the burning sensation hit her and she fe
lt slightly lightheaded. ‘I thought it was water,’ she spluttered.
‘No one carries water in his hip flask,’ said Nimbus. His deep, unfeeling laugh took over the room. ‘Come on, sit up! You’re going to teach us to read the map, aren’t you?’
Chloe swayed and rubbed her eyes. The map seemed at a great distance, a little black and white puzzle on the floor. Nimbus’s voice came and went, like a wind that swept over her and brought with it stories of another place and time. He was pointing to locations on the map, telling her what they might be. One description stood out so clearly in Chloe’s mind it was as if she was inside the underground domain that Nimbus was describing. All round her were natural passageways hidden deep in the ground, formed by the thrust of an ancient river long since gone. Rocky walls curved overhead, uneven in height, here and there covered with clustered formations and dripping stalactites. The image went and Nimbus’s voice grew loud, almost angry, as he shoved the map in front of Chloe. ‘Tell us, Chloe, tell us.’
‘I don’t feel very well.’
‘You’re meant to be clever, aren’t you, reading and writing?’
Nimbus stroked the air with his hands, speaking in a low, even voice until Chloe picked up the map. She talked through her teeth. ‘Another time, Nimbus, when I’m well.’ She tried to stand up. ‘I must go home.’
Nimbus’s voice hung over the images that came into her mind, insistent, old as the hills. His right hand cupped Chloe’s, his left was clenched over the black pendant. ‘It matters Chloe and time is on our side for only a little while. You must help me, as I’ve helped you.’
Chloe put the map close to her eyes. It grew large and small and there was nothing she could understand.
‘The writing’s too small.’
Nimbus tightened his grip on her hand.
‘You’re clever aren’t you, you’re the clever one.’
Lazy, careless, inattentive were the words she mostly heard in her new school. She smiled as Nimbus looked intently at her. He unclenched his left hand and swayed the black pendant before her, to and fro, to and fro.
Kingsholt Page 4
