No Mercy Page 27

  Ellie collected the tray of tea and cheese sandwiches, and began her way out of the kitchen. It was then that the knock came on the door. Curious, she put the tray down on the table and hurried to see who the visitor was. If it was her father, why didn’t he let himself in? And it wouldn’t be Rosie; anyway, Rosie also had a key. Who, then?

  Anxiously, Ellie opened the door and her eyes widened in astonishment to see a particular face staring back at her.

  ‘Miss Armstrong?’ The dark-haired girl stepped forward, a look of apprehension in her eyes – large, luscious eyes that seemed to see right through Ellie. When Ellie replied that yes, she was Miss Armstrong, a look of relief washed over the girl’s handsome face. Now it was replaced by a sense of urgency, her voice urging, ‘Alec Harman sent me. He needs you.’

  ‘Alec… he sent you?’ Ellie was shocked. She felt uncomfortable beneath the girl’s eyes; felt herself being studied, assessed.

  ‘He’s hurt. A short while ago, I found him at the Lodge.’ The girl’s face was chalk-white and she was obviously in a state of distress. ‘I think his legs are broken.’ There were tears in her eyes. She began to babble now, her words tumbling one over the other, telling Ellie how Alec Harman had been working in the attic. ‘He fell… dear God, I don’t know if his back is broken…’ She seemed on the verge of hysteria.

  ‘Have you alerted the doctor?’ Ellie felt sick in the pit of her stomach. ‘… Rung for an ambulance?’ The questions came thick and fast as Ellie ran into the kitchen to get her coat. The girl did not answer any of her questions. Instead, she went on about how Alec insisted on her going for Ellie, how he was adamant that Ellie had to be fetched straight away…

  ‘He said I wasn’t to take no for an answer,’ the girl told Ellie in a breathless voice. ‘He said I was to make sure you came with me, and that you were not to tell anyone.’

  Ellie was already scribbling a note for her father, explaining where she had gone, when she was pulled up sharp by the girl’s warning. ‘But that’s impossible!’ she protested, finishing the note. ‘My father will be frantic if he comes home and there’s no sign of me.’ Another thought occurred to her. ‘Besides… I think we should get Rosie to come with us. After all, she knows Alec much better than I do.’

  The girl had followed Ellie into the kitchen. She shook her head frantically. ‘Alec was adamant,’ she said in a frightened voice. ‘You were to come with me straight away, and you were to tell no one!’

  Ellie was puzzled. ‘I don’t understand,’ she said, doing up the buttons on her coat and slipping her feet out of the flat shoes and into her ankle boots. ‘That doesn’t make sense! You say he’s hurt… probably both legs broken… and he doesn’t want anyone but me to know?’ She propped the note to her father against the kettle where he was sure to find it. ‘Why? Why would he insist on such a thing?’ She shook her head and went from the kitchen. She did not see the girl surreptitiously snatch the note and stuff it quickly into her coat pocket. Together, Ellie and the girl left the house. The girl stayed slightly ahead, leading the way. Ellie asked again, ‘You haven’t answered me… why would he insist on such a thing?’ In the heat of the moment she had not really stopped to examine the situation properly. Something curious tugged at her senses. She felt increasingly uneasy. Suddenly, she had half a mind to turn back. She stopped, causing the girl also to stop and turn. Their gazes mingled; the girl with a look of apprehension on her face, and Ellie’s sincere amber eyes resolute, suspicious. ‘Why would he insist on no one else knowing?’ she demanded. ‘And why would he send for me… not for Rosie?’

  The girl fidgeted. There was fear in her dark eyes, and a visible mental struggle in the wake of Ellie’s repeated questioning.

  ‘I won’t go another step until you answer me!’ Ellie’s expression was stern. The girl began to relent.

  ‘You must believe,’ she pleaded, ‘he has his reasons.’

  ‘Well?’ Ellie kept her ground. She meant what she said. Her every instinct was in uproar now. She had to know what she was letting herself in for.

  ‘There are things you should know,’ the girl went on reluctantly. Alec had warned her that Ellie might not be so easily persuaded. ‘Alec has… something to tell you. He says you must know now, before it’s too late.’

  Shock stabbed Ellie’s heart. ‘He’s not… dying, is he?’ She felt the colour drain from her face when the girl gave her answer in a quiet, darkly serious tone.

  ‘I believe he might be.’ The girl saw how her words had affected Ellie. She sensed the depth of love which Ellie had for Alec. It was a weakness that she knew she must play on. ‘It’s only natural that Alec would want you by his side,’ she said in a more confident yet probing voice. ‘He loves you, Ellie Armstrong.’

  ‘I’m not sure…’ Ellie was desperately afraid. Surely to God, fate would not be so cruel, she thought. First her mother, then Johnny, and now Alec? No. Oh no! It couldn’t be. She wanted with all of her heart to rush to him, to comfort him and tell him how he could not die because she needed him oh, so much. She was torn in two directions – her deeper instincts told her there was something wrong here, something the girl was keeping back. And yet, dare she risk refusing to go on? Supposing she returned to Thornton Place, right now. Would she be able to sleep this night? Wouldn’t she be tormented with worry and guilt? Could she be so callous as to turn her back on him when he was lying injured? One thing she had to know. Regarding the girl with stiff challenging eyes, she asked, ‘What are you to Alec Harman?’

  The girl was already prepared for such a question. She had been warned, and now she must play the part. ‘We were lovers, I must confess that,’ she replied in a quiet, reticent voice, ‘but it’s over. It’s been over for some time now… ever since you came on the scene I’ve felt him growing away from me. I’m no fool. I know it’s finished.’

  Ellie felt embarrassed and curiously defensive. She was reminded of her relationship with Barny, and of how she too had ‘grown away’ from that relationship, when Alec came on the scene. Suddenly, all the doubts were suppressed beneath her desire to go to him, to talk with him and comfort him. In newly determined mood she began striding on, telling the girl, ‘We must hurry. It will be dark shortly. Is there a short cut?… will we get there before the ambulance?’ Anxiety took over, and a simmering disappointment that she had been so reluctant. ‘Who’s with him now?… you haven’t left him alone, have you?’ Without waiting for answers, she pushed on. Now, the girl was in front again, leading the way. An awkward silence descended. There was no need for words as they pressed ever onwards, through the spinney, skirting the lake, keeping to the little-used track that led directly to the Lodge, and to Alec Harman. The daylight became less intense, greyness began creeping over all. The silence was ominous, broken only by the scrunch of leaves beneath their hurrying feet. In spite of her earlier doubts, Ellie felt as though she was rushing towards her destiny. And now, at long last, she went willingly. Longingly.

  Twilight descended, pushing away the remaining vestige of daylight. Soon, very soon, the blackness would envelop everything. The evening grew quiet. A breeze began softly whispering, stirring the air, carrying every sound. From the old barn the voices floated out, hushed and tender murmurings that spoke of retribution, and of love. And insanity.

  ‘Hello, Johnny. I’ve been waiting for you. You’ve been gone a long time. Are you angry with me?’

  ‘Yes. You burned me! Why did you burn me? I thought you were my friend.’

  ‘Oh, but I am. I am your friend. You must believe that.’

  ‘How can I?’

  ‘You must.’ Soft laughter, then, ‘You haven’t forgotten the things we talked about, have you, Johnny?’

  ‘I don’t want to think about them now. You burned me. Why did you burn me?’

  ‘You don’t forgive easily, do you?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Not even me… your friend?’

  ‘Not even you. Not now.’

  ‘But we underst
and each other, you and I, don’t you see, Johnny?’

  ‘No. Why did you burn me?’

  ‘It was a bad thing, wasn’t it?’

  ‘Oh, yes, it was a very bad thing.’

  ‘As bad as… the others?’ Soft now, persuasive. Clever.

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Yes you do, Johnny. Think!’

  ‘I can’t remember.’

  ‘Yes you can!’ Anger; impatience.

  ‘You burned me!’

  ‘And you can’t forgive me?’

  ‘No!’

  ‘Of course you can, Johnny.’

  ‘Never.’

  ‘But… I love you.’

  ‘You lie. You lied to me before. I thought you were my friend… my only… friend.’ Anguish. Sobbing now.

  ‘Oh, please… don’t cry, Johnny.’

  ‘I don’t want you for my friend any more.’

  ‘Ssh… ssh now. Let me hold you. There, Johnny. I’m so sorry. So very sorry. I promise I will never hurt you again.’

  ‘Promise… never, ever hurt me again?’

  ‘Ssh. Lie softly, Johnny. I do love you. But, not them. I hate them, but, it isn’t really your fault.’

  ‘Why did you burn me?’

  ‘To punish you, of course.’

  ‘I didn’t deserve to be punished.’

  ‘Oh, but you did!’

  ‘Because of the keys?’

  ‘That was only part of it. I didn’t punish you for the keys… not really. Not altogether for the keys.’

  ‘Why then?’

  ‘For what you did… with her!’ Pain. Such unbearable pain.

  ‘What? What did I do?’

  ‘You played, Johnny. You laughed in the sunshine together, and made a sandcastle.’

  ‘I remember.’

  ‘You were so happy, you… and she. She held your hand. She kissed you… embraced you. She loved you so much, did you know that?’

  ‘I think so.’

  ‘Oh… she did, Johnny. She adored you. I didn’t like that. It hurt, oh, so very much.’

  ‘Were you jealous?’

  ‘Oh, yes… yes!’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘You’re forgetting our agreement!’ Anger. ‘Never ask me questions about myself.’

  ‘But you forget… I know who you are. I saw your face.’

  ‘That was very wicked of you, Johnny.’

  ‘I’m not sorry! You were wicked to burn me. Was that why? Was it because I saw your face?’

  ‘Like the keys, it was only part of the reason.’

  ‘Was it really because she loved me… my mother?’

  ‘She loved you too much! That was so painful. I had to punish you, Johnny. I had to punish her also.’ A small hard laugh. ‘But you saw how I punished her, didn’t you, Johnny?’

  ‘You!’ Deep, dark silence, then, ‘Was it you who, who…?’ It was too awful to contemplate.

  ‘Yes, Johnny. I killed your mother. And the other one.’ The voice trembled. ‘I hated that one most of all!’

  ‘It was… horrible.’

  ‘No, Johnny, it was incredibly beautiful. All was as it should be.’

  ‘That perfume?’

  ‘Lavender.’ A long, satisfied sigh, then, ‘It had to be lavender. I anointed them… said a prayer over them.’

  ‘Were you sorry afterwards?’

  ‘Not “sorry”, Johnny… glad. I was so happy. But, you see, it wasn’t finished, though. There were others. They were all part of it. They could not be allowed to live. It was not over, Johnny.’

  ‘Is it over now?’

  ‘Not yet. Soon, though… very soon.’

  ‘Are you going to kill again?’

  ‘Oh, yes, Johnny.’

  ‘Can I watch?’

  ‘If you really want to.’

  ‘I do.’

  ‘That’s good, Johnny. I knew you would not fail me. I want you to watch! It’s only right that you should be there.’

  ‘When? When can I watch?’

  Soft, crazy laughter. ‘Don’t be impatient, Johnny. We have to be very careful, all the time… careful. There are eyes everywhere… watching, waiting to trap me. I’m clever though, Johnny. I move with the shadows.’

  ‘Tonight?’

  ‘Tonight, Johnny. When the shadows are large and black enough to hide us, that is the best time to punish… to kill. Tonight. Be patient, Johnny. All is as it should be!’

  Outside, only the breeze could be heard, a fluttering sighing through the leaves. The dark shadows deepened, the night closed in. Soon, soft, stealthy footsteps disturbed the air, but softly, oh, so softly, urged on by a heart that was blacker even than the darkest night.

  ‘Alec!’ The girl flung herself into his arms as he came into the room. ‘I’m so glad you’re back… I was frightened. I don’t like it here, in the dark.’

  ‘Ssh, it’s all right now.’ He held her away from him. ‘There’s no need for you to be frightened,’ he told her, his black eyes smiling down on her anxious face. Releasing her, he took the gun from the crook of his arm and propped it carefully against the wall. From upstairs there sounded a series of shouts, followed by a loud thumping noise. His smile deepened. ‘You brought her here, then?’ When the girl nodded, he asked, ‘Did it prove difficult?’

  ‘Some. She was suspicious, though. It was her love for you that decided her to come with me.’

  ‘You think she really loves me?’

  ‘Very much.’

  Suddenly his face grew serious as he gripped the girl by her arms. ‘I didn’t want to frighten her this way, Laura, but it was the only way.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘I’m sure. I had to get her away from the house. I’m sorry to have involved you, but she would never have agreed to come with me.’ His face was suffused with pleasure. ‘You know how I feel about Ellie,’ he said softly, ‘I wasn’t altogether sure that she felt the same way towards me… it was a gamble.’

  ‘If she’s in danger, you had no choice. I’m glad I was able to help, but I was so afraid.’ Her voice began trembling again.

  ‘Ssh… you’ll be all right. I truly believe that you were never in any danger, or I would not have asked you to help.’ He went to the door and took down her coat from the hook there. Returning to the girl, he began draping the coat over her shoulders, urging her to put it on. ‘You might be in danger, though… if you stay here. The Land-Rover’s outside. I want you to leave straightaway. Get right away from here.’ He frantically fastened the buttons of her coat and propelled her towards the door. ‘Go back to Medford, and stay there until I come for you!’ he ordered in a stern voice.

  ‘I’m afraid, Alec. Do you really think it will happen tonight?’

  He nodded, opening the door and gently pushing her out into the night. ‘Something bad will happen tonight,’ he told her, ‘I know it. Ellie is the one. But, I’ve got her here. She will draw the badness to her.’ His face was grave as he added, ‘It has to stop. It has to stop tonight.’

  ‘Be very careful, Alec!’ She clung to him. ‘For God’s sake, be careful. I’m afraid for both of you.’

  ‘Don’t be.’ He pressed the keys into her hand. ‘Get away from here, Laura. Now!’

  ‘I’ll pray for you,’ she said. A brief kiss, then she fled into the night. Only when he was satisfied that the girl was safely on her way did he close the door, slipping the bolts home, and afterwards stalking through the house to check that every door and window was secure. Then, he went upstairs to stand outside the room where Ellie was kept. During a brief lull in her vehement and noisy protests at being first tricked, then locked up against her will, he called her name. ‘Ellie. Ellie, it’s me… Alec.’

  Nothing stirred, no sound was heard, then, in a quiet, controlled voice, ‘Open the door, Alec. Please let me out of here.’ Ellie had never been so afraid in her whole life. The girl had shown her up here to this room, indicating that Alec was in here, lying twisted and broken, mortally injured. Once Ellie h
ad set foot inside, the door was slammed and bolted. It was a prison. A nightmare! The one small, narrow window afforded no way of escape, her cries went unheard. There was no telling how long she had been imprisoned here and, when she made herself think calmly, it was to realise, with shock, that Alec Harman and the girl had conspired to take away her freedom – to hurt her. But why? Why? That was the most terrifying part. During the seemingly endless time in the dark, she had recalled her father’s words with regard to Alec Harman… ‘There’s something strange about that one… something sinister.’ Was her father right, then? Was Alec Harman insane? Carefully, with this in mind, she pleaded in a firm, calm voice, ‘Open the door, Alec… please. My father will be waiting… he’s bound to come looking for me.’

  ‘He may come “looking for you”, Ellie,’ the answer was returned, ‘… and he may not. In either event, I will be ready.’

  ‘Don’t keep me here against my will. Don’t do that.’

  ‘Believe me, Ellie… I must. I’m sorry I had to trick you that way, but I had to get you away from Thornton Place.’ He paused, not wanting to frighten her any further, but she had to know. He hoped she might understand. He knew she would not. ‘You were in terrible danger there, Ellie.’

  ‘I’m in danger here.’

  ‘I hope not, Ellie, but… I can’t be sure. I have to keep you safe. I dare not take any chances.’

  ‘Let me out!’ The terror rose in Ellie; it betrayed itself in her cry.

  ‘Trust me, Ellie… I love you.’ His words only made her accuse him all the more, made her plead… calmly… then with panic, made her kick and thump at the door. He felt her fear and it broke his heart. He wanted to go in there and take her in his arms, make her safe, reassure her. He dared not. Steeling himself against her anguish, he turned away. Downstairs, he re-checked all the doors and windows and switched off the lights, then, with the shotgun poised and loaded across his knees, he sat in the tall-backed rocking chair, facing the front door, watching. Waiting. Behind him, the logs crackled in the firegrate, the flames sending long, lazy shadows up the wall. Outside, the breeze had died down. Save for Ellie’s muted cries, the night was quiet, brooding, loath to yield its darkly kept secrets. Ssh! There! What was that? Yes! There it was again… a low, scratching sound. Every hair on Alec Harman’s neck stood up, prickling against his skin, beads of sweat broke out across his temples. There was no denying what he had heard. Someone was out there! Trying to get in… wanting to get to Ellie. He would not let them. Ellie must not be harmed, even if her safety cost him his own life! On sly, silent footsteps he went slowly towards the door, stealthily, one by one he drew back the bolts, holding his breath, afraid that he might be heard. It had not been his intention to go from the house; he had planned to wait until the intruder gained access, then he would be ready. Now, though, his every nerve-ending was screaming out, there were writhing snakes eating at the pit of his stomach. How could he wait? His whole being was on a knife edge, his instincts screaming, ‘Attack! Attack!… get it before it gets you!’