Ariadne's Thread

by Marie Treanor

  As she spoke, she wrapped her hand around the barrel of the shotgun. Jim, completely fazed by this turn of events, numbly relinquished it. Addie spun around before he could change his mind and walked back to Johnny, holding his gaze the whole way.

  “Addie,” Shug growled warningly.

  Addie held out the gun to Johnny who took it slowly, with just an upward twitch of his lips.

  “What?” said Addie, without looking at Shug.

  Johnny moved something on the gun and lowered it. Addie smiled. She’d had no idea what he would do in response to her instinctive, reckless action. More to the point, she had no idea what Shug would do, but as she turned rather fearfully to check, she saw he was completely baffled. His hand still lay motionless at his jacket pocket, but whether deterred by the presence of the police or Johnny’s inexplicable act, he made no move to bring out the gun.

  The policeman seemed reassured. Something of a smile came back into his shrewd, watchful eyes.

  “So, Johnny,” he said, holding out one casual hand. “How come you’re entertaining these city scallywags in your rural backwater?”

  Johnny gripped the hand in his free one, but before he could speak, Shug said, “Nice of them, isn’t it? Our car broke down just outside there, and then I went and fell in the ice. Sprained my ankle.”

  “Broke it, dear,” Helen corrected, drifting by him to get to the policeman. “Daniel, how lovely to see you. Were you working through our party again after all?”

  “No, I was driving through most of it,” the policeman said, kissing her scented cheek. “In fact, I drove into a snow drift outside Loch Foy and had to walk through the rest of it.”

  Tammy, who’d gone deliberately to sit on the arm of Gavin’s chair, flickered a secretive glance in his direction, a glance quite at odds with her harsh voice as she said rudely, “I didn’t know anyone had invited you.”

  “Since when do you need an invitation at New Year?”

  Tammy smiled. “Since you started sleeping with your colleagues. You know Gavin, don’t you?” she added, putting an arm round her new lover’s shoulder. Gavin smirked, met the other man’s eyes with neither fear nor apology. Addie wondered if he’d looked at Johnny like that when he’d slept with his wife. “And Liz Conway. Liz writes for The Herald. Arts stuff that you won’t read.”

  Addie asked, “So is the road to Loch Foy closed now, too?”

  The policeman glanced at her. “Not sure. I came through the wood—it’s quicker, or at least I thought it was. Where are you heading?”

  “Back to Glasgow.”

  “Last I heard the road south of Loch Foy was impassable. They should get it cleared by tomorrow, though. At least the snow’s off.”

  “Tomorrow? But we need to get back today.” Agitated, she began to pace around the room. “Malky, did you look at the car yet?”

  “What’s the point if the road’s closed?”

  “We don’t know that,” Addie snapped. “Only that it was closed. I’m sure the Maxwells would lend as a couple of shovels and a bagful of grit to get us out of their hair…”

  “Aye, go on, Malky,” said Shug.

  “I’ll come with you,” the policeman offered. “I’m good with cars.”

  Tammy snorted, alarmingly like her great-grandmother.

  Helen protested, “But you’ve only just got in after walking half the night. Sit down, Dan…”

  “In a few minutes,” he said cheerfully. “Wouldn’t mind a New Year dram when I get back,” he hinted. “Give us a hand there, Johnny.”

  For an instant, Shug’s brow was thunderous, as if he was about to object in no uncertain terms, but in the end, clearly realizing he couldn’t issue orders without arousing the policeman’s suspicions, he subsided.

  ef

  “So what’s going on, John?” Dan Newton asked quietly.

  In front of them, as they trudged through the snow toward the road, Malky coughed.

  Johnny said, “Gavin? He wants to marry your wife now.”

  Dan’s breath caught on what sounded like several inventive obscenities. “And is my wife complicit in this plan?”

  Johnny shrugged. “If she is, you’ve only yourself to blame. Stupid bastard.”

  Dan sighed. “I know. But I can’t undo it, can I?”

  “No. But you can make bloody sure you don’t do it again.”

  “What’s the point if she’s with that wanker?”

  “Between you and me, I think she’s already bored with that wanker. Objection just makes her dig her heels in, though. I think it’s the disapproval that keeps it going—that and compassion.”

  “Compassion? For Gavin? Why?”

  Johnny’s lips twisted. “I think he cried on her shoulder about Julia.”

  Dan blinked. “That’s a bit of a bloody cheek, isn’t it?”

  “You might think so; I can’t possibly comment. How’s your banger, Malky?”

  As Malky crammed his bulk into the driver’s seat and tried to start the freezing engine, Johnny said low, “Spill, Dan, what do you know about these guys?”

  “Hugh Campbell? Better known as Shug. Small time villain and all round bam. Malcolm Chisholm, otherwise Big Malky—muscle for hire in unsavory causes. James McSween, small-time burglar, nephew of celebrated safe-cracker Eddie. Why, how come they’re all hanging around here? Not their natural habitat.”

  The engine was choking away without much success. Malky tried again. So far, he seemed too concerned with the car to notice that Johnny no longer had the shotgun.

  “And Ariadne McSween? Jim’s sister?”

  “Is that who she is? Never come across her.” Dan frowned, apparently dredging his memory while Johnny waited with his heart hammering in his ribs like a schoolboy’s as his friends find out if the object of his affection reciprocates. “There is a sister, single mother. Never been in trouble, though. Maybe because she’s got the brains not to get caught.”

  And at that, a light went off in John Maxwell’s mind.

  The brains not to get caught. They’d come deliberately to this house to rob it. She was a different caliber to the others and she had the musical knowledge. According to Tammy, she’d recognized Kit’s work and his own. Stealing to order.

  But Addie as Mrs. Big the crime boss…? It didn’t make sense. He didn’t want it to make sense. He wanted to believe he’d driven her wild with passion for his irresistible self… And she had given him the gun back. He’d hidden it on the way out and so far Malky didn’t seem to notice it was gone.

  Of course, Addie thought he trusted her now. And Shug was still armed…

  As the car shuddered, Johnny looked back toward the house. It seemed very far away, and yet he could have sworn he saw a ghostly face at the turret window…

  Something was wrong.

  The certainty closed round his heart, even before he became aware of the tiny, running figure, catapulting through the snow. In his pajamas, silently, desperately running for his life.

  With a low cry of fear and fury, Johnny launched himself back through the gate, ploughing through the snow to get to his son. Only Helen looked out of the sitting room window. There was no sign of the Psycho-Weasel, and yet Jack was beyond fear, crying silently, tears pouring down his chalk-white face as he pounded determinedly toward his dad. More frightening than anything, he made no sound. Beyond him, Johnny could see Addie running after him, hear her calling.

  And then he had Jack safe in his arms, turning, knees in the snow to put himself between the house and his son.

  “There, there, I’ve got you, it’s all right. Hush, I promise no one will hurt you, no one…”

  Jack was gasping, trying to speak through great racking sobs. Johnny had never seen him like this, even when Julia had died. His little hands clung like limpets around Johnny’s neck.

  “Not…not me,” he sobbed out. “It’s Tammy, it’s killing Aunt Tammy!”

  Johnny twisted round, staring back over his shoulder at the house. Addie had run back the w
ay she’d come and was disappearing back inside the front door.

  Johnny got to his feet, still holding his son as a new fear began to churn through his whole body. He began to run again, carrying the boy in his arms. Jack was shivering now with cold as well as reaction. Behind him, he was aware of Dan shouting, but he couldn’t stop.

  “Where?” he asked his son as he ran. “Where is this happening?”

  “In my r-room. Aunt Tammy came up to see me, and at first everything was fine—but then the ghosts came and they started to eat her…”

  Johnny slid and righted himself. “The ghosts ate her?” he repeated. “What ghosts?”

  Jack cried out, clinging tighter and tighter in his pain. “Mummy! It was Mummy!”

  “No, it wasn’t Mummy,” Johnny assured him, stroking his hair. “Only something that looked like her…but you said ghosts, not ghost, Jack.”

  “The others were there. Granddad Kit, and the Highlander, and the man with no clothes—even the maid with the carving knife…”

  “And they were all attacking Aunt Tammy?”

  “Only Mummy,” whispered Jack. He began to cry again. “Only Mummy.”

  Johnny pushed open the half-ajar door and went in. Ignoring Jim who stood in the middle of the hall in a bewildered sort of a way, he yelled, “Mother!” He laid Jack down on the floor, still hugging him close. “Will you go to Granny now? She’ll look after you till I go and help Tammy.”

  Helen appeared at the door, with one of her rare turns of speed, already taking the reluctant Jack from his father. Johnny took the stairs three at a time. He didn’t even pause as he yelled down to Jim.

  “He’s a kid, all right? My kid!”

  Please God that was enough. Jimmy the Lamb appeared to understand about Addie’s daughter, so he could only pray he had enough decency to keep other kids safe as well… Maybe Addie was there to keep them in order. She at least would look after Jack…

  Unless he had her all wrong and she was the boss, making her own life easier by getting his trust until they could split…

  Shite.

  Johnny burst along the narrow passage to Jack’s room and hurled open the door.

  Tammy lay sprawled across the single bed, shivering violently. At least she was alive…

  Addie had her arms round the other girl, trying to wrap the quilt more closely around her. The ghosts had all gone, apart from Christopher, who hovered anxiously around the bed.

  As Johnny surged across the room, Addie raised her own white, frightened face to look at him. “Thank God it’s you! I don’t know what to do. She’s so cold… I think Jack saw it all, that’s why he ran.”

  “What happened?” Johnny asked harshly. Sitting on the bed, he took his sister’s wrist in his hands and began to rub. “Jack said all the ghosts were there.”

  “They were, but I don’t think they were with her. They looked—distressed. Shit, I can’t believe I’m talking about ghosts like real people now. It was the same as last time, only it’s obviously gone on for longer. She fled again when I appeared, and the other ghosts followed her. Apart from him,” she added, nodding in Christopher’s direction.

  “What’s going on, Kit?” Johnny asked quietly. “Is it really Julia?”

  “Julia, and not Julia.” Addie jumped, staring at the ghost whom she’d obviously heard speak for the first time. As usual, it sounded like a thin voice coming over a radio at low volume. “Something’s got her, Johnny. And she keeps leading it to Tammy.”

  “What’s got her?”

  “Something malevolent that lives between worlds, possibly cast out. We avoid such souls. But it’s caught Julia, using her form, such as it is, and it’s strong enough to reach physically across dimensions.”

  “You’re telling me. But why Tammy? Julia had no special down on her… Unless it’s because of Gavin? Kit can this thing really hurt Tammy?”

  Christopher hovered more closely over his great-granddaughter. “I rather think it can. Jemima’s the one to consult. I’ll get her to bring one of her damned potions.”

  Addie looked startled. “Can she manage all those stairs?”

  “She can manage anything she likes,” Christopher said with an air of pride, and glided toward the door.

  “Kit?” Johnny called after him. “Tell me if there’s any trouble over Jack? He’s with Helen.”

  As he turned back, he found Addie looking at him curiously. “Can Helen see them, too?” she blurted.

  “The ghosts? I don’t think anyone’s very sure what Helen sees.”

  “How did she get to be…?” The girl broke off, waving one hand apologetically before she went back to rubbing Tammy’s other wrist. The pure whiteness had gone from Tammy’s skin. The shivering seemed to have calmed.

  “Like that?” Johnny chose to finish her question for her. “I don’t know, to be honest. I suspect she was always a bit unworldly, and after my father’s death it became her protection. She’s not insane, you know, just a little lost in her own world.”

  “Not so very lost either,” Addie said. “She notices things other people don’t. Understands them, too.”

  Johnny found himself smiling at her. If the girl was acting, she was bloody good. “Most people don’t see that.”

  Addie’s gaze dropped.

  Johnny said, “Question in return. What brought you guys here to this house? It wasn’t random, was it?”

  Addie shook her head. “Shug was given the address. And the time to do it.”

  “The time?” Johnny tucked his sister’s hand under the quilt. She looked peaceful now, as if she was merely asleep. “You were told to do it at New Year?”

  “Because you were having a party. They reckoned it would keep the owners busy and disguise any noise.”

  It hurt to ask, because he wasn’t sure he wanted the answer, or the knowledge of a lie. But he said it anyway. “Who reckoned? Who sent you? Who are you meant to take the loot to?”

  She shook her head. “Only Shug knows that. It makes him feel important.” She lifted her gaze to his. She looked desperate. “Look, if I can get the gun off Shug, I’ll give you the manuscripts back.”

  “And what will happen to you?” He kept his voice deliberately hard, and she seemed to expect it.

  She shrugged. “Nothing much. No theft, no crime.”

  “Apart from the false imprisonment.”

  She smiled unhappily. “Well, that does count against us.”

  “Why did you do it? The police knew nothing about you till now.”

  The brash Glaswegian made a brief reappearance. Her chin lifted. “I needed the money. I came north to help rob some rich teuchter, get home in time for New Year dinner. And get paid. Chatting with the householders was not part of the plan.”

  He felt his lips twist with something of the old contempt. “You fucked it all up, didn’t you?”

  “Oh, I fucked it all up right royally,” she agreed. There was a catch in her voice now, and Johnny realized she meant more than this robbery. It was as if she meant her whole life.

  “Addie, what do you do with your life?” he asked with an odd feeling of helplessness. “You’re a smart girl, don’t you have a job?”

  “What, one that covers more than child care costs?”

  “Child care?” Here in his faded fantasy world of eccentrics, he’d lost sight of other people’s reality. “Couldn’t your mother help there? Babysit while you work?”

  She stared at him. “Are you kidding? With Jim’s cronies floating round the house at all hours and Uncle Eddie dropping in for tea just before the police arrive for him?” Her eyes dropped again. “I had an okay job. Barely covered child care, but it had prospects. Till they made me redundant for Christmas. Life’s a bitch.”

  She dragged her hand over her face, as if she was pushing back her wild hair. But Johnny knew better. Her back was rigid, and she was repelling pity with every fibre of her considerable personality.

  He smiled lopsidedly, touched her cheek because he didn’t
know what else to do and heard her gasp.

  “The straw that broke the camel’s back,” he murmured. “We’ve all had one of those.”

  She closed her eyes, hiding the emotion. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss those tears away, protect her from every bad thing life had ever thrown at her. She said low, “What did you do when your last straw landed?”

  “Murdered my wife, of course.”

  Chapter Ten

  Addie’s head jerked up without permission. In total shock, she stared into his stormy dark eyes. Had she really forgotten how unfathomable they were? They seemed to swirl with challenge, defiance, intense passions too closely interlaced to separate or recognize. Her heart beat loudly in the silence and with despair she became aware of several things at once.

  Until now, she’d lost sight of the old accusation; he was making some sort of common cause with her and she was both outraged and desperately disappointed. Worse, none of it made any difference to her heart or her loins. She still wanted him. She still… Oh, fuck, was she falling in love with him? How could she be?

  Oh, Jesus Christ, don’t do this to me, don’t do this to me now…!

  Into her silently rocking world, a clatter of footsteps intruded, pounding on the narrow staircase and along the passage. Addie dragged her gaze free of his mesmeric eyes just as the door flung open and Gavin burst into the room.

  “What’s going on?” he demanded, scanning the room, taking in the sleeping figure of his fiancée held between her brother and the burglar.

  “A little ghostly assault,” Johnny said impatiently. “Bugger off.”

  “Ghostly?” Gavin’s accusing eyes came to rest on Addie. “I don’t think so! What did you do to her?”

  “It happened before she got here.”

  “She says! What’s the matter with you, Johnny?”

  “Jack says,” Johnny corrected, not troubling to hide his irritation.

  “He’s a kid.”

  “Doesn’t make him stupid or untruthful. Everything quiet down there? Why did they allow you out without a minder?”