The cat walked over to him and, purring, rubbed its head against his hand. ‘It’s just a cat, Jane. A stray off the mountain.’ He breathed a sigh of relief and laughed. ‘We are so silly. You know it really had me scared! I thought she was genuinely capable of turning herself into a cat! It will be my turn for the funny farm at this rate.’ He rubbed the cat behind the ears and stooping, scooped it up into his arms.
‘Don’t bring it near me!’ Jane slid off the far side of the bed and walked over to the window. She peered out into the darkness. ‘I expect it jumped from the slates out there. Look. It’s not so far. Stick it outside again and let’s get some sleep, shall we?’ Her voice was tense and frightened.
‘I can’t put it out there, Jane. It’s too high.’ He walked across to her and peered out beside her. The cat shifted in his arms uncomfortably and then made a sudden leap for the bed.
Adam laughed. ‘It knows where the warm comfortable spot is.’
‘I bet it does.’ She spoke under her breath. ‘Please, Adam. Get rid of it.’
‘It’s not doing any harm – ’
‘Get rid of it! Either you do or I’m going to spend the night somewhere else.’
He sighed. ‘Okay, hang on. I’ll carry it downstairs and put it out from the kitchen.’ He bent to pick it up but the cat was too quick for him. Hissing, it dived under his arm and leaped straight for Jane’s throat. With a scream she fell back against the wall, trying desperately to protect herself. Lunging after it Adam found himself with a handful of fur, then it was gone.
Behind them the door flew open. Liza appeared, followed by Philip. ‘What on earth …’ They fell silent as they looked into the room. ‘Sweet Jesus, what happened?’ Philip strode in past his wife and stared round. Jane was kneeling in the corner, her white nightdress covered in blood. She was sobbing hysterically.
‘Jane? Jane, what is it? What happened. Dear God, Adam, what happened?’ Liza grabbed the cover off the bed and wrapped it round the other woman’s shoulders. Jane was shaking uncontrollably.
‘It was a cat.’ For a moment Adam seemed too stunned to move.
‘A cat?’ Philip turned round and stared at him.
‘Not just any cat!’ Jane screamed. ‘It was that sodding Brid!’
Liza looked up at Adam. Her face was white. ‘Where did it go?’
Adam shrugged. ‘Out of the window, I suppose. I don’t know.’
‘Come downstairs, both of you.’ Liza helped Jane to her feet. ‘Phil, close the window.’ She drew Jane out of the room. ‘Come on. It’s all right. I’m going to bathe those scratches. Did you bring your doctor’s bag with you, Adam? Go back to bed –’ She realised suddenly that two more doors had opened on the landing and terrified wedding guests were peering out. ‘It’s nothing to worry about. I’m afraid one of the farm cats got into the house. Everything’s all right now. It’s all under control.’
Half an hour later, cleaned up and daubed in antiseptic and attired in one of Liza’s bright cotton kimonos, Jane was sitting with the other three at the kitchen table sipping hot milk. Her face was still very white.
‘It was probably a feral cat,’ Phil said at last. ‘I know you three have an obsession about this woman, and dear old Meryn has been egging you on, but it’s just not on, is it? I mean, is it! For goodness’ sake! You’re talking witches and familiars and things. No, no, no. I won’t have it! I’m really sorry the damn thing jumped in through your window, and I’ll have a look round the barns tomorrow with a shotgun. We can’t have an animal like that attacking people. In fact it sounds more like a wildcat than a feral, though I’ve never heard of them round here. I didn’t think there were any left in this part of the country.’
‘There aren’t.’ Liza shivered. ‘It was too much for her. We were all here together and enjoying ourselves and she wanted to be here too. With Adam.’
‘Great. It sounds as though I’m the next on her murder list.’ Jane folded her arms across her chest protectively. ‘Anyone who comes between her and Adam.’
‘Poor Nurse Wilkins didn’t.’
‘I think she did. I think she tried to stop her escaping.’
‘I think there are two Brids.’ Liza stood up and went to fetch the kettle. She poured some hot water into her mug to warm the drink, thinking back over what Meryn had told her. ‘I think there is the real one, the one who can be locked up in a hospital. And I think there is this other one, the one she can think herself into. I think all of us have the capability of living in our imaginations. It’s just she has had the opportunity of practising so much that she can do it for real. She can think herself somewhere else.’
‘And disguise herself as a cat?’ Phil looked at her pityingly.
‘Why not?’
‘Because it’s dotty, woman, that’s why not.’ Phil got up and went to the cupboard. He stooped and pulled out a bottle of brandy. ‘Anyone want a drop of this in their milk? I certainly do.’ He poured some into Adam’s mug and then his own. ‘At least the kids didn’t wake up. It’s been a big day for them, and it would have been terrible to spoil it. I suggest we all go to bed and forget this ever happened. I’m prepared to bet good money that we don’t see that animal again. And if we do, I shall shoot it.’
‘Aunt Jane?’ Juliette was sitting on a hay bale in the courtyard outside the farmhouse later that morning. ‘Will you teach me how to knit?’
Jane stared at her in astonishment and then she burst out laughing. ‘I thought you young things regarded knitting as really square!’
Juliette smiled. ‘I want to make some things for the baby.’
‘Of course.’ Jane felt a sudden rush of warmth towards her new daughter-in-law. In spite of the healthy bump which was appearing beneath Juliette’s long sweater the girl looked so frail out here in the brilliant sunshine. Jane reached across and squeezed Juliette’s hand. ‘Of course I’ll teach you. I’d love to.’
She was feeling better this morning. The ugly scratches were safely concealed beneath the soft cotton of her shirt and in the bright daylight she found it hard to imagine the previous night’s attack had occurred. Philip had kept his word and searched all the outbuildings, his shotgun under his arm in spite of Liza’s objections, but there had been no sign of a cat, feral or otherwise, and after an hour he had given up.
‘When you’re back from your honeymoon, I’ll come down for a few days and teach you. I’m sure your mother knows, though, doesn’t she?’
Juliette shook her head. ‘I’ve asked her. She swears she doesn’t. Anyway, she’s left-handed, she can never teach me anything. She does it all backwards.’ Juliette laughed. Then she glanced at Jane again. ‘You are happy for us, aren’t you, Aunt Jane? I’d hate it if you weren’t.’
‘I’m very happy, sweetheart.’
‘And you don’t mind us going away after the baby is born?’
Calum had only sprung this part of their plan on her two days before. Once the baby was safely there and he had got his driving licence, they were going to buy an old van and drive off across Europe heading east. ‘Don’t tell Dad. Not yet. I’ll do it in my own time!’ Calum’s sheepish plea did not have to be repeated. She did not have the courage to tell Adam and never would. Calum for once would have to face his father himself.
‘I do mind a bit, if I’m honest.’ Jane squeezed her hand again. ‘My first grandchild is pretty special. I can’t bear to think I won’t see him growing up.’
‘Or her.’
‘Or her.’
‘You will.’ Juliette reached across and planted a kiss on her cheek. ‘We’ll send you photos from everywhere and we won’t be gone that long. Once we’re back we won’t get the chance to go away again for years and years and years. Don’t begrudge us this one adventure, Aunt Jane, please.’
Jane found herself smiling in spite of the heartache. How could she possibly resent their going? They would be free, free of responsibility in spite of the baby, free of rules and work and respectability. Free of all the things she an
d Adam had so carefully surrounded themselves with over the years to turn themselves into clones of his father and her mother in spite of their best efforts to avoid it. She shivered.
Juliette had closed her eyes and was sitting in the warm sunshine, basking like a plump little animal with her big tummy securely clasped beneath her hands. Their honeymoon was going to start tonight. They were going up onto the mountain to Meryn’s house which he had lent them for a week to be alone together. Jane wasn’t sure where he was going. Liza had been vague, but she suspected he was going walkabout over the hills in order to give the two young people a chance to have some time in peace. She hadn’t met Meryn, but he seemed to feature in Liza’s conversation a great deal. A surrogate father, perhaps, as well as some kind of weird spiritual mentor.
Jane shivered again and looked round puzzled. The courtyard was warm and out of the wind. There was no reason to feel cold. But it wasn’t a physical cold. She had a sudden feeling that there was someone watching her. She glanced round again, this time more carefully, her skin prickling with sudden foreboding. The cat? Phil swore he had checked everywhere, but a cat could hide with ease round here in the outbuildings, in the hedges, in the long grass.
‘Julie.’ She spoke very softly.
Julie didn’t appear to hear. She was sitting, her head back, her eyes closed, enjoying the sunshine.
‘Julie, let’s go inside.’ The farmhouse was a hundred yards away. She could see that the kitchen door was half open. Liza was inside talking to some of the lingering guests from the party the night before. Phil and Adam had driven down the hill on some mysterious errand and her son, overwhelmed by the excitement of his own wedding day was, it appeared, still asleep.
‘Julie!’ Her voice sharpened. ‘Please, we have to go inside.’
‘Why?’ Juliette opened her eyes. ‘What on earth for? What’s wrong?’
Jane shook her head. ‘I’m not sure anything is wrong, sweetheart, I just want to go inside the house for a while, that’s all. Please.’
‘Aren’t you feeling well?’ Julie sat forward, but still made no attempt to stand up.
‘I’ll explain when we’re in there.’ Casually Jane stood up. For some reason she didn’t want to be seen to be running. She didn’t want her – it – to know she was scared, and above all she didn’t want to provoke a chase. ‘Come. Quickly.’ The urgency of her voice as she held out her hand was reinforced by the strength with which she gripped Julie’s wrist and pulled her to her feet.
Juliette gave up arguing. She followed Jane across the courtyard. Jane’s shoulders were hunched, as though she expected any moment something to land squarely on her back. She could feel her skin crawling with fear, her hand clammy around Julie’s fingers. They were almost there when she heard the anxious clucking of the hens from their run nearby. ‘It’s probably a fox, Aunt Jane. Let me go and see.’ Julie stopped.
‘No!’ Jane caught her hand again. ‘No, please. Come inside. I’ll ask someone else to go and see to the hens. Please, Julie.’
Julie gave her a sideways glance but she obeyed and in seconds they were inside the kitchen and Jane had closed the door. She leaned against it, aware suddenly that she was shaking like a leaf.
Liza was standing at the kitchen sink, filling the kettle. ‘The others have gone off for a walk on the mountain,’ she said over her shoulder. She turned. ‘What is it? What’s wrong?’ she asked sharply.
‘It’s there.’ Jane took a deep breath and went over to sit down at the table. ‘In the courtyard.’
‘Dear God!’ Liza paled. ‘Are you sure?’
‘What is it? What is there?’ Juliette looked from one to the other of them, suddenly frightened.
‘It’s a wildcat, darling.’ Liza frowned at Jane in a manner which clearly said, don’t tell her the truth – whatever the truth was. ‘It got into the house last night and attacked your Aunt Jane. It was awful. The poor thing must have come down off the mountain and got lost.’
‘A wildcat? You mean a real wildcat, not just one of the barn cats?’
‘I mean a real wildcat.’ Liza’s voice was dry.
‘Aunt Jane,’ Juliette turned to her, all sympathy. ‘Did it hurt you?’
Jane nodded. ‘I’m all right. I just didn’t want to meet it again face to face unless I absolutely had to, and I certainly didn’t want it scratching you.’
‘As soon as the men come back, we’ll get them to have a look around. Until then, I think you should both stay inside.’ Liza walked over to the window and shut it with a bang.
‘What about the others, on their walk?’ Juliette frowned anxiously.
‘They’ll be all right. There are four of them, and I don’t think it will attack them in broad daylight on the hillside. I think for some reason it’s hanging round the house.’
‘It’s probably hungry. Why don’t we put some cat food out?’ Juliette had already stood up and headed for the cupboard.
‘No!’ Jane and Liza spoke simultaneously. To her surprise they both seemed to greet the idea with wry amusement. ‘No, darling. We won’t feed it. I don’t above all want to encourage it,’ Liza said at last. ‘Let’s just stay inside and wait. The men won’t be long.’
When their car drew up in the courtyard it was Liza who slipped out of the house and ran towards them. ‘Jane thinks she’s seen it again. In the courtyard.’
She turned and scanned behind her, looking at the open shed doors, the long grass in the corners, the walls. There were a hundred places it could hide.
‘Perhaps I should go and look for her,’ Adam said slowly. ‘She won’t hurt me.’
‘Wait, I’ll get the gun.’ Philip closed the car door and headed for the house.
‘No!’ Adam shook his head. ‘No. You can’t shoot her. Leave it to me. You all go inside.’
He watched them go, closing the door behind them, and then slowly he turned round. He walked towards the orchard gate, his hands in his pockets, a tall slim man, his hair greying, his handsome face tanned by the Welsh sunshine after the pallor of six months’ hard work in the practice without a break.
‘Brid?’ His voice was sharp. ‘Is that you?’ He leaned on the gate and sighed. ‘Brid, come on. If it’s you, show yourself and let’s talk. Now.’
There was no reply, but suddenly in the silence he felt himself shiver.
Brid had wakened as the sun rose above the mountains. She stared round; her heart sank. She had hoped that in her sleep her strength would return and she would find herself again securely in Adam’s time. But it had not happened. Slowly she resigned herself to what must be. With food and sleep in her old summer home by the burn and with hours of study and meditation each day beneath the sun and beneath the stars she began to feel her power coming back. It was hard though, because she could feel Broichan prowling near. When he did she played the role of the mountain cat, treading on soft soundless paws across the heather, crouching down in the gulleys and scree out of his sight, climbing high into the swaying pines and peering down from the rough red branches with their spiny needles. Sometimes he came as a man, sometimes he too took on a disguise. Now he was a stag, proudly bearing a head of royal points, now an eagle soaring over the stone, searching the ground with eyesight which would pick up a cowering ant and once or twice, as if he guessed her disguise, he came as a fine, glossy-coated king cat, calling beneath the trees, its nose raised to trace her female scent.
But each time she hid and waited and each time he went away. And then at last with the turning of the moon she found the time when the power returned to the great stone, as her own brother’s carving had shown that it would, and she put her hands upon the symbols and felt the surge of energies rush through her, giving her the strength to go wherever she wanted, and she wanted to go where A-dam was.
Thus it was she had found herself once more seated beneath an oak. The tree was in full leaf, the ground beneath it cushioned with long seeding grasses, and in front of her the hillside stretched away towards the Wye Valle
y in the sunset. For a moment she did not move, then she stretched and flexed her legs and realised that she had brought with her the body of a cat. Inwardly she smiled. That did not matter. It was easier to spy as a cat; easier to creep into houses and into beds; easier to find A-dam, who must have come to see his Liza at last. When she leaped from the wall of the yard onto the low roof of the old stone farmhouse and ran easily up the heavy moss-covered stone slates she already knew which bedroom he slept in. She had not expected to find him with Jane.
Opening the gate Adam let himself into the orchard and walked slowly down the steeply sloping path beneath the old apple trees. It was cooler down there, out of the sun and the air was fragrant with the scent of wild roses. He could hear the breeze rustling through the grasses and, in the distance, the crooning of a dove. He wasn’t sure if he expected to see a cat or a woman. He wasn’t sure of anything any more.
He found himself thinking back suddenly to the last time he had talked to Ivor Furness. The man’s stories about Brid – if it was Brid – had been quite astonishing. He had described how she had gone into a deep trance every so often, and how he was convinced the trance was self-induced, and that during the trance she left her body in some way and could assume other shapes at will, shapes which could be seen by others, and he had questioned Adam closely about his house, comparing Adam’s answers with transcripts he had made of her descriptions.
The trouble was neither of them could be sure that at some point over the years she had not visited the house and been given entry by Jane or Calum or Mrs Freeling, or one of the receptionists from the surgery – the possibilities were endless. And then there was the possibility that in some way she was using telepathy to make them think they had seen a cat. Or seen her. Adam had found himself unable to mention the curiously erotic dreams he had experienced after letting the cat into the house to sleep in his bed when Jane was away, and he rather wished suddenly he had been more open with the man. He had liked Furness. For all his weird hypotheses he was a genuine and intelligent practitioner with whom he would have liked to talk much more. Perhaps when they went back to St Albans he would contact the man again and go and see him.
On the Edge of Darkness Page 31
