‘There is so much to tell,’ Daniel answered, his voice faint. ‘A million stories, a million pictures.’
‘Can you see them?’ Lily asked.
‘If I let go, I feel I’d be swamped with them.’ He closed his eyes and let his head drop backwards. ‘Boats across the lake, breaking the line of the moon. Music and lights. Old music. Dancing. Laughter. Then there is winter, and the island is white and silent. A slow figure climbs out of a dark vessel, crawls up the bank, carrying a dim lantern.’ He opened his eyes. ‘It’s like this place is a hundred films all showing at once.’
‘We should be taping this, or writing it down,’ Owen said. None of them had thought to bring a tape recorder or a notepad with them.
They sat down on the paving stones at the water’s edge, which were warm beneath their hands, and scratchy with dried lichen. The lake smelled slightly foetid, but there was also an overpowering aroma of earth and fruit, so strong, it seemed intoxicating. Lily said it was like taking alcohol by nose.
Daniel lay down on the warm stones. He felt he only had to close his eyes for the images to come crowding in; they were so strong here. ‘This is your history,’ he said aloud, but he wasn’t sure whether he was speaking to Lily and Owen, or to someone else.
‘Tell us,’ Owen said.
‘There is a woman in the water,’ Daniel began. He wrinkled his nose, as if perplexed. ‘She’s bathing, or perhaps she lives in there. Her name is... Mellith. She says she comes from another place. She’s one of the Murkasters. She drowned in the lake. She is showing me a picture from her mind...
‘It is the night of Lammas Eve. They walk to the temple underground. No, not through the Gate of the Cat and up to the island, but further on... The flame, it is waiting. She is there. Yes. So strong. She will go into the flame.’ Daniel began to gasp for breath. ‘Lily, Owen: your mother!’
Lily touched his arm. ‘Daniel! Are you all right?’
His face was puckered up, as if in pain. ‘Yes,’ he hissed. ‘Listen, it’s all too rapid. Images. The flame! She is there, she is the Eye. No! The gate is opening, it is opening, but something’s coming through! No! No!’ Daniel’s voice cracked. Lily and Owen were frozen, their flesh crawling, as they listened to their companion’s panicked words. ‘Too late! It’s closing again, but they have come through! Angry! Punishing! They are like a wave of vengeance. The Murkasters are running away, and some of them are going up to the island. But the vengeance is coming after them! Forcing them into the water. They’re drowning! Drowning!’ Daniel’s voice had become a squeal. Tears ran down his face. His breath caught in his throat and gurgled there, as if his lungs were full of liquid.
‘Wake him up!’ Lily cried. ‘Owen, do something! He’s drowning!’
Daniel’s hand lashed out and gripped Lily’s arm painfully. ‘No!’ His voice was strong and deep, not his own. ‘It must be seen. The Grigori repeat old mistakes in their greed and stupidity. The knowledge is not for the people of low earth. Not yet! There will be a time, when the tree shall fruit once more, and all can feed from it. But not this way!’
Daniel’s booming voice ebbed to a sigh. Lily and Owen exchanged a shocked glance. Who had they just heard speaking through Daniel? Not Kashday, but someone greater.
Daniel stirred upon the stones, then rubbed his nose. His voice was almost normal again. ‘Now, I’m walking back towards the house...’
‘What can you see?’ Owen asked softly.
‘Lights in the windows,’ Daniel said. He was smiling now. ‘It is all lit up and there are people there.’
‘Can you go in?’ Lily asked.
‘Of course. The doors and windows are all open. There are people on the lawn, talking, laughing. I think some of them can see me, others not.’
There was a silence as they waited for Daniel to speak again. He said nothing.
‘Have you gone into the house?’ Lily asked at last.
‘The peacock,’ Daniel said. ‘It’s the peacock.’
‘What do you mean?’ Owen.
‘The tail of the peacock contains the eyes. It’s in the walls. And down there, underneath. The blue. Peacock blue. The flame.’
Lily touched Daniel gently on the arm. ‘Find the spirit of the house,’ she said softly. ‘As it is now, not in the past. Can you do that?’
‘There are so many images,’ Daniel answered, his brow creasing. ‘But I’ll try.’
‘Tell it who we are and that we need to go inside the house,’ Owen said.
There were a few moments’ silence, and then Daniel became agitated. His head moved rapidly from side to side, and his arms flapped as if warding something away from his face.
‘What is it?’ Lily’s voice showed her alarm.
‘So big,’ Daniel answered breathlessly. ‘So dark. Can’t speak!’
‘You can’t, or it can’t?’ Owen demanded.
‘Won’t let me. Pushing me out! Its beak! Its claws!’ Daniel suddenly sat upright, breathing hard. He shook his head as if to clear his mind, then glanced round himself fearfully. ‘It’s very strong. I want to leave!’ He stood up.
Owen got to his feet and put his arms round Daniel. ‘Calm down. It’s all right.’
‘Perhaps we should go,’ Lily said quickly. She was beginning to feel very uneasy. The night had assumed a threatening quality, as if something hideous was about to burst out of the trees around the lake. The thought of the walk back through the yews was not pleasant. Was there another way out of the garden?
‘Scaring each other will not help,’ Owen said, although he did not sound totally at ease himself. ‘This is all psychological. We must be rational.’
Daniel pulled away from Owen. ‘It won’t let you in. It’s a guardian created not to let anyone in.’
‘What about the woman, Mellith?’ Owen said. ‘Can you find her again? Ask her what we must do.’
Daniel made a miserable sound. ‘I don’t want to. I want to get out of here.’
‘Owen, let’s leave it!’ Lily said sharply. ‘We don’t know what we’re getting into.’
‘Lily, your friend Emma is the one who seems to think it’s so important for us to get into the house! We can’t give up yet.’
‘But she’s not here!’ Lily’s voice had become a wail. ‘I’d feel safer if she was!’
‘It’s OK,’ Daniel said, rubbing his arms. ‘I feel a bit better now. I’ll try to talk to Mellith again.’
‘Are you sure?’ Lily asked. ‘We can always come back another time.’ She glanced accusingly at Owen. ‘Perhaps in daylight.’
Owen made a scornful sound, but sat down on the slabs once more. Lily and Daniel sat down as well, Daniel in the middle.
Lily laid a reassuring hand on Daniel’s arm. ‘Stop at any time.’
Daniel lay back and closed his eyes. He said nothing for several minutes, until Lily was beginning to think nothing would happen. Then he sighed deeply.
‘He has left a key.’
‘What? Who has? Where?’ Owen demanded.
‘Sssh!’ Lily hissed. ‘Let him speak.’
‘You need the key to enter the house.’
‘You mean it’s just locked up? Is it that simple?’ Owen’s voice was incredulous.
‘Owen!’ Lily said in low voice. ‘Shut up!’
Daniel shook his head. ‘The key walks. It enters the house and leaves it like smoke. It has to be petitioned.’ He opened his eyes, blinked at the dark sky. ‘That’s all. She won’t say any more.’
‘It doesn’t make much sense,’ Lily said. ‘A key that can walk around? What would it look like? Is it a real key?’
‘I doubt it,’ Owen answered. ‘It must be symbolic. Were there no clues other than that, Daniel?’
Daniel shook his head. ‘No. I’ll think about it.’ He sat up. ‘Now, I really want to leave.’
Lily stood up and offered Daniel her hand. She sensed a shift in alliances. Owen was being awkward and unfair, she thought. Didn’t he consider that what Daniel was doing for th
em might be dangerous for him? ‘Come on. We’ll go back to the cottage for supper.’
They walked quickly, approaching the lightless mass of the yews with unspoken misgivings. To break the tension, they discussed what had happened, trying to ignore the oppressive, watching shadows. We should be safe here, Lily thought. If this is our home, we should be safe. For a moment, she thought about what it would be like if suddenly the three of them should become separated. What would come for her? What would she see? The urge to hurry, to break into a run, was great. She knew she had to resist it. Later, she would ask the others if they’d felt the same. To voice such thoughts now was unthinkable. She was sure it would act as a powerful invocation of terror.
Suddenly, Daniel froze and said, ‘What was that?’
‘What?’ Owen asked, glancing round.
Daniel looked up and moaned. ‘Oh no! It’s coming?’
‘What is?’ Lily demanded, trying to peer through the thick branches. She could see nothing. Then, it came, the slow, heavy pulse of great wings. A charnel-stinking wind, hot as a predator’s breath, came whistling up the yew walk.
‘Run!’ Daniel screamed.
Panicking, the three bumped into each other, tangled in each other’s limbs, unable to move forward. Then Daniel leapt away and Lily and Owen could follow him. A terrible scream shattered the night, a screech as of huge metal teeth grinding against one another. The trees were creaking and swaying and rustling as if something gigantic were pressing down upon them. Twigs and insects spattered down onto the heads and necks of Daniel and his companions. Lily thought she felt claws snag at her hair. She was too terrified even to scream. The end of the yew walk was in sight, a grey rectangle in the blackness ahead. Lily was afraid that once they were out on the bare stretch of the lawn, the thing pursuing them, whatever it was, could pick them off easily. Yet what else could they do but run?
They burst from the trees, and Lily squawked in dismay. Something amorphous and black squatted on the pathway ahead of them. Owen swore and yanked Daniel back. Lily, holding onto Daniel’s other arm, stumbled, grazing her left knee on the mossy stone. ‘What is it?’ Her voice was shrill. She realised that whatever had been threatening them overhead had vanished the instant they’d come out of the trees.
Daniel laughed in relief. ‘It’s over’ he said, pulling away from the twins.
Lily and Owen watched as he approached the shape ahead of them. They heard him murmuring encouraging words, saw him stoop and gather something large and black in his arms. ‘It’s Raven, Verity’s cat,’ Daniel said. ‘I’d know him anywhere.’
Owen exhaled in relief. ‘Thank God! What the hell was that back there?’ He glanced round and up, scanning the sky, but now the night was still once more.
‘The guardian of the house,’ Daniel said. ‘It was warning us off, I think.’
Lily shuddered. ‘It was disgusting!’
‘A bird of prey,’ Daniel told her. ‘A name came to me: anzu bird.’
Lily walked up to Daniel and stroked Raven’s broad head. ‘Well, Raven, I think you saved us from a big, ugly bird! Thank you very much!’
‘Daniel laughed. ‘I don’t think Raven had anything to do with it! He’s just out hunting, aren’t you, boy?’
‘But he was sitting there so still, as if he was waiting for us,’ Lily said. ‘I think he scared the guardian off. You look very threatening, Raven!’ She smoothed the long fur on his back.
‘Careful where you touch him,’ Daniel said. ‘He’s a bit grouchy about fussing. I have scars to prove it.’
‘He’s very handsome,’ said Lily. ‘How long have you had him? I haven’t seen him around.’ Lily wanted to talk about mundane things, like Verity’s cat, rather than think about all that had just happened. It would feel safer to talk about that in the sanctuary of the cottage, with the night shut outside.
They began to walk back towards Long Eden, Owen slouching moody and silent behind the other two. ‘Vez adopted Raven a week or so ago,’ Daniel said. ‘He’s a stray.’
‘I wonder where he’s from,’ Lily said. ‘Perhaps he’s wandered from one of the new bungalows.’
‘Wherever he’s come from, Vez has catnapped him.’
‘He looked so scary sitting there,’ Lily said. ‘It really was as if he was waiting for us, in a menacing kind of way! Isn’t he big!’
As they passed the house, making for the main driveway, the cat struggled from Daniel’s arms and scampered off through the long grass. They could see his path as the grasses shivered in a snaking line. He went back towards the yews.
On the driveway, Lily paused and stared back at the looming towers of the house. ‘Well, Long Eden, your secrets are still safe,’ she said. ‘At least for now.’
Clouds passed over the moon, bringing deeper darkness, as if the house was frowning. They hurried down the driveway, and didn’t look back.
Verity was looking for Raven when the doorbell rang. Since Friday night, she felt safer when the cat was in the house with her at night. She knew, dimly, that something huge and incredible had happened to her life, making ineradicable changes, but her conscious mind shrank from thinking about it. She’d felt numb all weekend, and had avoided her father. Louis had seemed to avoid her too; they’d barely glimpsed one another. Verity knew, in her heart, that her father had been healed, although she was aware he was embarrassed about showing this to her. She wondered whether she herself was responsible for bringing all the strangeness into their lives; it seemed to have begun the morning she’d had the horrible dreams, conjuring ghosts from her past. Had she opened some kind of psychic door? Verity never mulled over her own history. She wondered now whether she should have analysed it more carefully. She felt so different now; numb and sleepy, yet more alive than she’d ever been.
At first, she resolved not to answer the door when she heard the bell. This was not because she feared finding a phantom crouching at the threshold, but merely because she expected it would be Barbara Eager, who had been pestering her all weekend. How would Louis explain himself to Barbara? Verity wondered, as the doorbell rang again. She sat in the kitchen, biting the skin around her fingernails, staring at the door that led to the hall. Eventually, the bell was silent. Whoever had pressed it so insistently had obviously given up.
Then, a sharp tap upon the kitchen window made Verity swing round on her chair in alarm. She could see a pale face looking in.
Her first instinct was to let down the blinds, and she even leapt up and hurried over to grab the cords, but then the kitchen door opened and Peverel Othman walked into her house. The door had been locked, Verity was sure. She wished Raven had come home.
‘Don’t look so scared,’ Othman said. ‘It’s only me.’
‘What do you want?’ Verity was sickened by the mere sight of Othman, as it reminded her of what she’d seen in her father’s study on Friday night. Yet his power and his beauty filled the room, bringing with it a sense of well-being and joy, as well as fascinating undercurrents of forbidden and wicked pleasures. Verity acknowledged Othman’s power, and was wary of it, but she was not totally immune.
‘I’ve come to talk to your brother.’ Othman carefully closed the door and went to sit on one of the kitchen chairs. Verity remained immobile by the window.
‘He’s not here,’ Verity answered. She realised then that Daniel had not even come in from school.
‘Are you sure?’ Othman asked. His mouth curled into a wry grin. He thought she was lying.
Verity sauntered over to the table. The realisation that Othman couldn’t tell for himself that Daniel was out made her feel better. ‘Search the house for yourself if you like,’ she said. ‘He’s probably with Owen Winter. Now, seeing as Daniel’s not here, you’d better leave.’
Othman pulled a rueful face. ‘Oh Verity, I do hope you’re not being prudish about what you witnessed on Friday night.’
‘Prudish?’ Verity’s voice rose, and she felt her face flush. ‘How dare you! What I object to is the way you
coerced me, against my will, to be part of whatever filthy ritual you were engaged in.’
‘It wasn’t filthy,’ Othman said. ‘Only a prude would think so.’
‘Get out.’
Othman stared at her with hooded eyes for a moment or two. She dared to believe she had the power to remove him from her home, even though she did not entirely want to.
‘How is your father?’ Othman enquired.
‘I’ve no idea. I’ve not seen him.’
‘Not a very tight-knit family, are you.’ Othman stood up.
Verity realised she was too close to him, and backed away. Even as she did this, she knew it was a mistake. Othman reached out and touched her face. His fingers were neither cold nor warm. It was just a pressure.
‘My dear, you are a knot of anguish. I can help you, you know.’
‘Get out,’ Verity repeated. She steeled herself not to pull away from his touch or drop her eyes from his gaze. ‘I want nothing from you.’
‘But it pains me to see you suffering. How you punish yourself! And why? What did you do that was so wrong? You wanted the best from life, and other people, lesser people, let their emotions carry them away.’ He laughed. ‘Oh Verity, let it go. You have built a shrine within you that calls to ghosts.’
Verity went cold. He knew about her. He knew all about her. She could not speak.
‘You did exactly the right thing finishing with that puling wretch,’ Othman said conversationally. ‘Imagine how dreary it would have been if you’d carried on seeing him. Sick fools who kill themselves to inflict guilt are not worthy of being remembered, neither do they deserve to enjoy relationships. You did the right thing. Unfortunate, perhaps, that you did not recognise him for what he was before you stole him from your friend, Netty, but you were younger then. You would not make such a mistake now.’
‘I don’t want to hear this,’ Verity said. ‘Just go!’
‘You really should accept my help,’ Othman said. ‘His essence is a ghoul for your vitality, and never leaves the area. He clings to you like a bad smell. You brought him home with you.’ He looked past her, at the window. ‘I can see him now, in fact, scratching at the pane. Would you like me to get rid of him for you? It’s a very simple process.’