Hiding From the Light

by Barbara Erskine

  He nodded. ‘Safe and quiet. Just us and God.’

  She didn’t reply and he remained quiet. Was it going to happen to him again? Was his faith going to chase her away before he had even found her?

  ‘She won’t come back, will she?’ she said quietly.

  ‘Lyndsey?’

  ‘Sarah.’

  He shook his head. ‘If she does, we’ll be ready for her. I don’t think she’ll come back. I saw her go. Besides, it was Hopkins she was after, not me.’

  ‘Aren’t you afraid of me?’ She turned and looked up at him.

  ‘No.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Not any more. I believe in the power of prayer, Emma. In the strength God gives me. I’m actually a bit of a wimp on my own.’ He grinned. ‘But with those sort of guns behind me, I realise now that I can do anything.’

  She gave a small laugh. ‘I wish I could believe you.’

  ‘Why not give it a try?’

  She didn’t reply for a moment but he saw her hand go to the little cross he had hung around her neck. He wondered if she was going to pull it off, but she left it there. ‘Can one be unanointed?’ she asked thoughtfully. ‘I am an anointed witch, and a hereditary witch in my own right, even without Sarah on board.’ She wasn’t smiling any more.

  Mike took a deep breath. ‘We can deal with that.’

  ‘I was christened,’ she went on, almost absent-mindedly. ‘Like all good little middle-class babies, in spite of my witchy blood.’

  ‘Then you’re in with a head start.’ Mike tightened his arms round her a little. ‘Just say the word, and I’ll get to work on you.’

  ‘With bell, book and candle?’

  ‘If that is what it takes.’

  They both looked up as the latch on the door at the end of the aisle lifted with a sharp click. Mike sighed. He wished those moments with the two of them alone could have gone on forever.

  The door opened and a figure appeared in the distance. It was Mark.

  Mike stood up and helped Emma to her feet as Mark made his way cautiously up the aisle. ‘Is everything all right?’ He glanced at Emma.

  She nodded. ‘Mike escaped my clutches.’ She smiled shakily.

  ‘I am glad.’ Mark grinned. Then he glanced at Mike, his face serious again. ‘I’ve come from the rectory, Mike. Colin is waiting there with Paula West. Bad news, I’m afraid.’ He glanced at Emma. ‘Her husband is dead.’

  ‘What?’ Mike stared at him.

  Emma closed her eyes. She gave a little gasp of misery. ‘I was there, wasn’t I. I was at the churchyard when he died. I was Sarah. I couldn’t help him.’ She sank down onto the step again and put her head in her hands. ‘Oh, Mike, what have I done?’

  ‘You haven’t done anything.’

  Mark glanced at her and then at Mike. ‘I’m afraid it gets worse. Mrs West and a group of her friends dragged Lyndsey away. In her confused state she decided that Lyndsey should be swum as a witch. Lyndsey was tied up and thrown into the lake.’

  Emma looked up blindly, tears pouring down her face. ‘She’s not dead!’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Mark shook his head. ‘I don’t think so. She’s been taken to hospital. We haven’t heard how she is.’

  ‘Paula wasn’t alone, you say?’ Mike put in, appalled. ‘There were other women there too?’

  Mark nodded. ‘They ran away when they saw what Paula intended. Common sense kicked in at the last minute. It was Paula alone who pushed her in. Jane Good is going to take Paula back to her house. She has left her children with a babysitter there. I’m afraid one way or another there is going to be police involvement in this. Luckily Lyndsey confessed to killing Alex West in front of several people, so that will exonerate you, Emma.’ He sighed. ‘Poor Lyndsey. She seems to have been a very disturbed young woman. And Paula must bear the grief of losing her husband as well as facing whatever charge the police bring.’

  ‘But surely they will understand?’ Emma climbed unsteadily to her feet. ‘If Lyn killed Alex, Paula can’t be held responsible for what she did. And Lyn will be all right. She will, won’t she?’ She stared from one to the other.

  Mark shrugged. ‘We must hope so,’ he said quietly.

  117

  Jamie and Sophie were fast asleep when Jane Good and Colin let them all into the Wests’ house with Paula’s key. And so was Pam, exhausted by her anxiety after Paula’s lightning visit. They woke her gently, told her the tragic news and Pam and Jane put Paula to bed with the help of some sleeping tablets which they found in the bathroom cabinet.

  ‘I’ll stay for the rest of the night,’ Jane reassured Pam as they came downstairs again. ‘If you could help me later, to contact any family who need to know?’

  Pam nodded. ‘Paula’s mother will come. And Alex’s –’ Her eyes filled with tears. ‘I couldn’t believe it when she told me before. I can’t believe it now.’

  ‘No.’ Jane patted her shoulder gently. ‘It’s always hard to believe when someone dies so needlessly and so suddenly.’ She shook her head.

  Colin walked Pam to her car and then came back to find Jane sitting on a kitchen stool, nursing a cup of tea. ‘There’s one for you there.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘I’ve checked upstairs. They are all asleep.’

  ‘Poor woman.’ There was a long silence. Then, ‘Jane, I think I should go back to the rectory.’

  She nodded. ‘Of course. Don’t worry, James will be here soon. And the police, I fear. I hope to God they will be lenient with her.’

  Colin nodded. Slowly he headed for the door. ‘Are you sure you can cope?’

  ‘Of course I can cope,’ she said. ‘I just hope Paula can when she wakes up.’

  118

  Bill found Mike and Emma still in the church. For the first time in his life he walked right inside and made his way slowly up the aisle to where they were standing. He glanced from Mike to Emma slowly, and he frowned.

  ‘Bill?’ Mike scanned his face anxiously. ‘What is it?’

  Bill shook his head. ‘All is well for now. The Ward have done their bit. The town is asleep and at peace.’

  What point in telling them that Sarah was still there? That she was standing behind Emma once again. That in that last moment he had failed them. He was tired. There was no more that he could do. He stared round the church. He had seen Lyndsey, too, hovering in the church porch. A lost soul. Literally. She had died then, in the hospital or in the ambulance or there on the roadside by the lake. Tomorrow the town would hear which.

  ‘Thank you for the amulet.’ Emma was smiling at him. She put her hand up and touched the cross and the pendant at her throat. Behind her Sarah shrank back in distaste, her body as wispy as the mist above the sea.

  ‘You take care of it.’ Bill nodded slowly. ‘Don’t take it off. Or that bitty cross, either!’ There was a point to hanging all these things on oneself. Not just superstition. Focus. That was it. They helped focus the belief and the protection of millions of people over thousands of years on you. When you needed it.

  Mike was strong, he had found the faith he needed. It was up to them now. They would have to fight that one last fight together.

  Slowly, Bill turned. ‘You should carry holy water with you, Rector. You never know when you will need it,’ he said over his shoulder.

  ‘Thanks. Perhaps I will.’ He didn’t mean it, of course.

  ‘And the rowan. What did you do with it?’

  Mike shook his head. ‘I threw it away.’

  ‘I see.’ Bill had reached the door. ‘Good night, Rector. Good night, Miss Emma.’

  119

  Leaving the locked church in darkness, Mike and Emma went back to the rectory where all the lights were blazing. Colin and Mark had accepted his invitation to stay there for the night. In the morning they would be returning to London with their films, their notes and their plans. The editing suite was booked. What they would make of the documentary now, Mike didn’t know, but he accepted the film would still go ahead and that he would
probably be in it. The commission, and the funding had long been in place. The media would not stop for tragedy and death. On the contrary.

  When the other two had disappeared upstairs to find their bedrooms, Mike flung himself down in a chair across the fire from Emma. A few handfuls of twigs and a couple of logs had warmed the room and brought in an element of cheerfulness.

  ‘Are you sure I can’t persuade you to stay too? There’s plenty of room.’ It was four in the morning.

  Emma shook her head. ‘I need to go home, Mike.’

  He sighed. ‘OK. But you are going to have to let me drive you and see you in. You are not going back to a dark empty house on your own.’

  As it turned out, the house was far from dark. Every light seemed to be on and the front door was still wide open. Alex’s car was parked outside.

  ‘Oh God, Mike!’ Emma stared at the old Volvo as they drew up. ‘I had forgotten it would still be here.’ She glanced nervously across at the churchyard. The overgrown hedge and verge had been trampled flat, the ancient rusted gate dragged open. Police scene-of-crime tape fluttered along the edge of the lane to the tree on the corner, cordoning off the area.

  ‘We can go back to the rectory after we’ve checked here,’ Mike said gently. ‘You don’t have to stay.’

  But she was already climbing out of the car, making her way up the path.

  There did not appear to have been any intruders in the house. Mike checked everything, then he locked the back door and slammed the front door shut. He found Emma sitting at the kitchen table, still wearing the jacket which he had solicitously put round her shoulders earlier. She was staring into space.

  ‘Tea?’ He reached for the kettle. ‘Or would you like something a bit stronger?’

  ‘Something stronger.’ She smiled at him bravely and stood up. ‘It’s here, in the cupboard.’ As she pulled out her bottle of whisky she saw the answer machine blinking. Automatically she punched the button.

  As Mike reached two glasses down from the shelf and uncorked the bottle they heard Piers’s voice ring out round the kitchen. ‘Em? I’ve been trying to reach you all evening. I hope everything is OK and that the cats have turned up.’ He paused, obviously trying to find the right words for what he wanted to say next. ‘Look, Em, I wanted to tell you this myself before someone else does. I’m sorry to leave it on the machine, but well, I wanted you to know.’

  Emma was frowning. Mike passed her a glass.

  ‘Em, look, I know this may seem rather sudden. The thing is, as you suspected, I’ve met someone. Someone very special. It wasn’t working with you and me, was it?’ He paused again.

  Emma walked away from the machine and sat down.

  ‘She’s called Eva.’ He was still struggling. ‘Em, I asked her to marry me this afternoon and she’s said yes. I want you and me to go on being friends. We always will be friends, won’t we?’ He sounded anxious. Guilty. Upset. ‘I’ll – I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I just didn’t want anyone ringing you and letting you know except me. God bless, Em. Talk soon.’ The message was cut off.

  Emma drained her glass. ‘Well,’ she said with a sigh. That was all. She stared down at the empty glass and Mike, taking the hint, reached for the bottle.

  ‘I’m so sorry,’ he said gently.

  She shrugged. ‘It was bound to happen. He and I were finished. I just –’ She paused. ‘I didn’t think it would happen so soon.’

  Mike took a sip from his own glass. It was, he noticed as he caught a glimpse of his wristwatch, nearly five a.m. ‘He asked about your cats,’ he went on. ‘I noticed they weren’t around. They haven’t come back?’

  She shook her head. ‘I’ve looked everywhere.’ The tears were close again and she was overwhelmed with exhaustion. She slumped back in her chair.

  It was at that moment she heard the voice.

  Now is the time, Emma. The perfect time.

  She sat up, her fingers rigid on the glass.

  Mike frowned. ‘What is it?’

  ‘She’s here. She’s come back, Mike. In my head.’

  ‘She can’t have! She’s gone!’ He was appalled. ‘Hold on to the cross, Emma. We’ll pray together.’ He realised suddenly with a stab of terror that he could see the figure standing behind Emma. The woman was dressed in a long black gown; she wore a white cap and her hair was curled into ringlets round her head. She was staring over Emma’s head, straight into his eyes.

  ‘Fight her, Emma.’ Mike stood up. ‘Don’t let her in.’

  Emma put her hands to her head. ‘I’m too tired, Mike. She’s too strong.’

  Mike lunged at the figure behind Emma. It disappeared as he raised his hands to its neck. It was Emma who laughed, but when she spoke it was not Emma’s voice; it was not Emma’s hand which tore off the cross and amulet and tossed them contemptuously onto the table as she stood up.

  ‘Matthew? Where are you? This is where we finally meet again.’ She dragged open the drawer in the kitchen table and took out the bread knife.

  ‘Matthew is not here, Sarah.’ Mike took a step backwards. ‘I told you that. He and I have parted company. We prayed together all Saturday night and he has gone. I am too strong for him, now, Sarah. He is never coming back.’

  Sarah’s eyes were fixed on his. They were a different colour from Emma’s, he realised suddenly. Lighter. Harder.

  ‘It is over, Sarah. It is time to forgive. Innocent people have died, Sarah, because of you. Do you want to add to the total of misery and mayhem that has been caused down the centuries? You can’t hurt Matthew Hopkins by killing me.’

  His eyes went to the knife she was clasping in her hand.

  She was hesitating. Briefly he saw Emma before him again. He saw the puzzled anger in her eyes. He seized the moment. ‘Pick up the cross, Emma. Put down the knife and pick up the cross.’

  She stared at him blankly.

  ‘Listen to me, Emma. You have to be strong. Christ is with you, Emma. And the Ward. The Ward has taken back the town. The mist has gone.’ He hadn’t even realised he had said the words. ‘You can fight this. Witchcraft is not for you.’

  The figure was standing behind Emma again, less substantial now, her eyes like huge dark holes in her face.

  Mike lunged forward and twisted the knife out of Emma’s hand. ‘There!’ He threw it into the sink. ‘The cross, Emma. Now, fight her! Lord have mercy upon thy servant, Sarah. Teach her forgiveness and love. And forgive her. Loose her from the bonds of evil and anger and free her from her sins. All this I ask in the name of Jesus Christ Our Lord.’ He raised his hand and made the sign of the cross again.

  There was a moment of total silence as Mike held her gaze and then Sarah lifted her hands as if in surrender. She was separating from Emma, drifting behind her. The last he saw of her was her smile and she had gone.

  Emma slumped forward across the table. He was by her side in a second. ‘Are you OK?’

  She nodded. ‘I felt as if I was dying for a moment,’ she whispered. ‘Every ounce of my energy drained out of my body.’ Subsiding into her chair, she closed her eyes.

  Mike crouched down beside her and put his arms round her. He rested his head for a moment in her lap. ‘She’s gone, Emma. Really gone. I don’t think she’ll be back this time.’

  ‘I could have killed you.’ She reached past him and pushed the drawer closed. There were several other knives in there.

  He looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. ‘I don’t think you could. I think you would have overridden her!’

  ‘How can we be sure?’ She put her hand on his head and stroked his hair.

  ‘I’m sure.’ He smiled.

  ‘And Hopkins?’

  He looked up at her. ‘I’m sure about him. All this has strengthened my faith, Emma, but it has also taught me not to turn my back on the past, good or evil. Tomorrow I am going out with Bill Standing again and I am going to learn from him how to make sure the light stays in the town. I can learn from him but he can learn from me as well.’

/>   ‘And what am I going to do?’ She bit her lip. ‘I don’t think I know how to learn to be a Christian.’

  He stood up. ‘Ah, but that is my job, too. To teach you.’

  ‘But what if I can’t?’

  He shrugged. ‘I’ll have to learn to put up with it.’ He took her hands and pulled her to her feet. ‘Emma, not so long ago I was thinking of resigning from the church. I’ve changed my mind. I love my job and I love it here and I have a feeling I have grown to love you.’ He made a rueful face. ‘And of all of those things, you three are going to be the biggest challenge.’

  She smiled wearily. ‘I’m not sure how to react to that. Or what you mean by three of us? I’m scared to death by my alter ego, but as far as I know there is only one.’

  He laughed. ‘I was referring to the cats!’

  ‘Ah.’ She smiled sadly. ‘If they come back.’

  ‘They’ll come back. I have a feeling about it.’ He paused. ‘You haven’t screamed and run out of the room at my suggestion?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Sleep on it, Emma. We’ve all the time in the world now to get to know each other properly.’

  She nodded. Wearily she stood up and turned to the door. Then she stopped. ‘Will you be here when I wake up?’ She was anxious suddenly.

  He nodded. Walking over to her he put his hands on her shoulders and gently he kissed her forehead. Just for a moment she leaned forward into his arms, her head against his shoulder. Then she drew back. ‘Mike, has this declaration anything to do with Piers’s message?’

  He raised an eyebrow. ‘I suppose it made me feel the way might one day be clear?’

  ‘I see.’ She nodded. She smiled again and reached up to touch his lips with a fingertip. Then she turned away and began to climb the stairs.