The same baby-faced bodyguard, said Perry, taking back the story. Not in the bar this time, but under a shade tree on the high ground. No Uncle Vanya from Perm with his tam-o"-shanter and family-sized revolver, but a gangly string-bean understudy who must have been some kind of fitness freak, because instead of shinning up the lookout he pranced up and down the beach timing himself and stopping each end for a bit of t"ai chi: "Bubble-haired chap," Perry said, his grin slowly stretching to its full width. "Kinetic. Well, manic manic was more like it. Couldn"t sit or stand still for five seconds. And beyond skinny. Skeletal. We put him down as a new arrival to the Dima household. We"d decided the Dimas had a high turnover of cousins from Perm." was more like it. Couldn"t sit or stand still for five seconds. And beyond skinny. Skeletal. We put him down as a new arrival to the Dima household. We"d decided the Dimas had a high turnover of cousins from Perm."

"So Perry took one one look at the children, didn"t you?" Gail said. "The boys particularly and you thought, Christ what do we do with look at the children, didn"t you?" Gail said. "The boys particularly and you thought, Christ what do we do with this this lot? Then you had your lot? Then you had your one one brilliant idea of the holiday: brilliant idea of the holiday: cricket cricket. Well, I mean, not so so brilliant if you know Perry. Give him a dog-chewed ball and a bit of old driftwood and he"s lost to all non-cricketing mankind. Aren"t you?" brilliant if you know Perry. Give him a dog-chewed ball and a bit of old driftwood and he"s lost to all non-cricketing mankind. Aren"t you?"

"We took the game extremely seriously, as one should," Perry agreed, frowning unconvincingly through his smile. "We built a wicket out of driftwood, put twigs on top for bails, the marina people found us a bat and ball of sorts, we rounded up a clutch of Rastas and ancient Brits for the outfield, and all of a sudden we had six a side, Russia versus the rest of the world, a sporting first. I sent the boys off to persuade Natasha to come and keep wicket, but they came back saying she was reading some guy called Turgenev they pretended they"d never heard of. Our next job was imparting the sacred Laws of Cricket to" the smile widening into a broad grin "well, some pretty lawless chaps. Not the ancient Brits or the Rastas, of course. They were cricketers born and bred. But the young Dimas were internats internats. They"d played a bit of baseball, but didn"t take at all kindly to being told they had to bowl a ball and not chuck it. The small girls needed a bit of handling, but once we"d got the ancient Brits batting we could use them as runners. If the girls got bored, Gail swept them off for drinks and a swim. Didn"t you?"

"We"d decided that the great thing was to keep them moving," Gail explained, determinedly sharing Perry"s brightness. "Not give them too much time to brood. The boys were going to have a high old time whatever we did. And for the girls well, as far as I was concerned, just getting a smile out of them was ... I mean, Christ Christ ..." and left the rest unsaid. ..." and left the rest unsaid.

Seeing Gail in difficulties, Perry quickly stepped in: "Very difficult to make a decent cricket pitch out of that soft sand," he explained to Luke, while she collected herself. "Bowlers get bogged down, batsmen capsize, you can imagine."

"I can indeed," Luke agreed heartily, quick to pick up Perry"s tone and match it.

"Not that it mattered a hoot. Everyone had a blast and the winning side got ice creams. We called it a draw so both sides got "em," said Perry.

"Paid for by the new presiding uncle, I trust?" Luke suggested.

"I"d put a stop to that," Perry said. "The ice creams were strictly on us."

With Gail recovered, Luke"s voice took on a more serious note: "And it was while both sides were winning actually quite late in the match that you saw inside inside the parked people carrier? Have I got that right?" the parked people carrier? Have I got that right?"

"We were thinking of drawing stumps," Perry agreed. "And suddenly the side door of the carrier opened and there they were. Maybe they wanted a bit of fresh air. Or a clearer look. G.o.d knows. It was like a royal visit. An incognito one."

"How long had the side door been open?"

Perry on guard over his celebrated memory. Perry the perfect witness, never trusting himself, never answering too fast, always holding himself to account. Another Perry that Gail loved.

"Don"t know actually, Luke. Can"t say exactly. We We can"t" with a glance at Gail, who shook her head to say she couldn"t either. "I looked; Gail saw me looking, didn"t you? So can"t" with a glance at Gail, who shook her head to say she couldn"t either. "I looked; Gail saw me looking, didn"t you? So she she looked. We both saw them. Dima and Tamara, side by side and bolt upright, the dark and the light, the thin and the fat, staring at us from the back of the carrier. Then looked. We both saw them. Dima and Tamara, side by side and bolt upright, the dark and the light, the thin and the fat, staring at us from the back of the carrier. Then wham wham, and the door slides shut."

"Staring, not smiling, as it were," Luke suggested lightly, while he made a note.

"There was something well, I said it already regal regal about him. Yes. About both of them. The royal Dimas. If one of them had reached out and pulled a silk ta.s.sel for the coachman to drive on, I wouldn"t have been all that surprised." He dwelled on this idea, then approved it with a nod. "On an island, big people seem bigger. And the Dimas were well, big people. Still are." about him. Yes. About both of them. The royal Dimas. If one of them had reached out and pulled a silk ta.s.sel for the coachman to drive on, I wouldn"t have been all that surprised." He dwelled on this idea, then approved it with a nod. "On an island, big people seem bigger. And the Dimas were well, big people. Still are."

Yvonne has yet another photograph for them to consider, this time a police mugshot in black and white: full face and side view, two black eyes, one black eye. And the smashed and swollen mouth of somebody who has just made a voluntary statement. At the sight of it, Gail wrinkles her nose in disapproval. She glances at Perry and they agree: n.o.body we know.

But Scottish Yvonne is not disheartened: "So if I put a bit of curly wig on him, imagine for a moment, and if I cleaned his face up a wee bit for him, do the two of you not think this might just possibly be your fitness freak released from an Italian gaol last December at all?"

They think it might well be. Drawing closer to each other, they are sure.

Early notice of the invitation was delivered by the venerable Ambrose in the Captain"s Deck restaurant the same evening, while he was pouring wine for Perry to sample. Perry the puritan son doesn"t do voices. Gail the actors" daughter does them all. She awards herself the part of the venerable Ambrose: ""And tomorrow night I"m going to have to forgo the pleasure of serving you young folks. You know why? Because you young folks will be the honoured surprise guests of Mr Dima and his lady wife on the occasion of the fourteenth birthday of their twin sons who, so I hear say, you have personally introduced to the n.o.ble art of cricket. And my Elspeth, she has made the biggest, finest walnut-whirl cake you ever saw. Any bigger, why, Miss Gail, by all accounts those kids would have you jump right out of it, they love you so deep.""

For his final flourish, Ambrose handed them an envelope inscribed: To Mr Perry and Miss Gail To Mr Perry and Miss Gail. Inside, were two of Dima"s business cards, white and deckle-edged like wedding invitations, giving his full name: Dmitri Vladimirovich Krasnov, European Director, The Arena Multi Global Trading Conglomerate of Nicosia, Cyprus Dmitri Vladimirovich Krasnov, European Director, The Arena Multi Global Trading Conglomerate of Nicosia, Cyprus. And beneath it, the address of his company"s website, and an address in Berne styled Residence and Company Offices Residence and Company Offices.

4.

If it occurred to either of them to decline Dima"s invitation, they never admitted it to one another, said Gail: "We were in it for the children. Two hulking teenaged twin boys were having a birthday: great. That was how the invitation was sold to us, and it"s how we bought into it. But for me it was about the two girls" again privately congratulating herself on not mentioning Natasha "whereas for Perry" she shot a doubtful glance at him.

"For Perry what what?" Luke asked, when Perry did not respond.

She was already pulling back, protecting her man. "He was just so fascinated by it all. Weren"t you, Perry? Dima, who he was, the life-force, the formed man. This outlaw band of Russians. The danger. The sheer differentness differentness. You were well connecting connecting. Is that unfair?"

"Sounds a bit like psycho-babble to me," Perry said gruffly, retreating into himself.

Little Luke, ever the conciliator, darted in to intervene. "So basically, mixed motives on both your sides," he suggested, in the manner of a man familiar with mixed motives. "Nothing wrong with that, surely? It"s a pretty mixed scene. Vanya"s gun. Tales of Russian cash in laundry baskets. Two small orphan girls desperately in need of you maybe the adults too, for all you knew. And And it was the twin boys" birthday. I mean, how, as two decent people, could you resist?" it was the twin boys" birthday. I mean, how, as two decent people, could you resist?"

"On an island," Gail reminded him.

"Exactly. And on top of it all, dare dare one say, you were one say, you were jolly jolly curious. And why shouldn"t you be? I mean, that"s a pretty heady mix. I"m sure curious. And why shouldn"t you be? I mean, that"s a pretty heady mix. I"m sure I"d I"d have fallen for it." have fallen for it."

Gail was sure he would too. She had a feeling that, in his time, little Luke had fallen for most things, and was a bit worried about himself in consequence.

"And Dima Dima," she insisted. "Dima was the big lure for you, Perry, admit it. You said so at the time. It was the children for me, but when push came to shove it was Dima for you. We discussed it only a few days ago, remember?"

She meant: while you were penning your b.l.o.o.d.y doc.u.ment, and I was a Christian slave while you were penning your b.l.o.o.d.y doc.u.ment, and I was a Christian slave.

Perry brooded for a while, much as he might have brooded over any other academic premise, then with a sporting smile acknowledged the rightness of the argument.

"It"s true. I felt appointed appointed by him. by him. Over-promoted Over-promoted is more like it. Actually, I don"t know is more like it. Actually, I don"t know what what I felt any more. Maybe I didn"t then." I felt any more. Maybe I didn"t then."

"But Dima knew. You were his professor of fair play."

"So in the afternoon, instead of going to the beach, we walked into town to do the shopping," Gail resumed, speaking past Perry"s averted head to Yvonne while referring her story to Perry. "For the birthday boys, the obvious thing was a cricket set. That was your your department. You enjoyed looking for a cricket set. You loved the sports shop. You loved the old man. You loved the photographs of great West Indian players. Learie Constantine? Who else was there?" department. You enjoyed looking for a cricket set. You loved the sports shop. You loved the old man. You loved the photographs of great West Indian players. Learie Constantine? Who else was there?"

"Martindale."

"And Sobers. Gary Sobers was there. You pointed him out to me."

He nodded. Yes, Sobers.

"And we loved the secrecy bit. Because of the children. Ambrose"s notion of having me jump out of the cake wasn"t so far off the mark, was it? And I did presents for the girls. With a bit of help from you. Scarves for the little ones, and a rather nice sh.e.l.l necklace for Natasha with alternating semi-precious stones." Done it. She had let Natasha back in, and got away with it. "You wanted to buy one for me too, but I wouldn"t let you."

"On what grounds, please Gail?" Yvonne, with her self-effacing, intelligent smile, looking for light relief.

"Exclusivity. It was sweet of Perry, but I didn"t want to be paired off with Natasha," Gail replied, as much to Perry as to Yvonne. "And I"m sure Natasha wouldn"t have wanted to be paired off with me me. Thanks, it"s a lovely thought, but save it for another time, I told you. Right? And I mean honestly honestly, try buying decent wrapping paper in St John"s, Antigua!"

She plunged on: "Then there was the business of smuggling us in, wasn"t there? Because we were the big surprise. That That was going to be a blast too. We thought of going as Caribbean pirates you did but we decided it might be a bit over the top, specially with people still in mourning, even if we didn"t officially know they were. So we went as we were, plus a bit. Perry, you had your old blazer and the grey bags you"d travelled in. Your Brideshead look. Perry isn"t exactly what you"d call a fashion freak, but you did your best. And your swimming trunks, of course. And I put a cotton dress over my swimsuit plus a cardigan in case it got nippy because we knew that Three Chimneys had a private beach and there was a chance we might be expected to swim." was going to be a blast too. We thought of going as Caribbean pirates you did but we decided it might be a bit over the top, specially with people still in mourning, even if we didn"t officially know they were. So we went as we were, plus a bit. Perry, you had your old blazer and the grey bags you"d travelled in. Your Brideshead look. Perry isn"t exactly what you"d call a fashion freak, but you did your best. And your swimming trunks, of course. And I put a cotton dress over my swimsuit plus a cardigan in case it got nippy because we knew that Three Chimneys had a private beach and there was a chance we might be expected to swim."

Yvonne writing a meticulous memorandum. Who to? Luke, chin in hand, drinking in her every word, a little too deeply for Gail"s taste. Perry gloomily studying a patch of brickwork on the darkened wall. All of them giving her their undivided attention for her swansong.

When Ambrose told them to be on parade at the hotel entrance at six, Gail continued in a more measured tone, they a.s.sumed they were going to be spirited up to Three Chimneys in one of the people carriers with blackened windows, and let in through a side door. They a.s.sumed wrong.

Taking a back route to the car park as instructed, they found Ambrose waiting at the wheel of a 4x4. The plan, he explained in conspiratorial excitement, was to infiltrate the surprise guests by way of the old Nature Path that ran along the spine of the peninsula right up to the rear entrance of the house, where Mr Dima himself would be waiting for them.

She did her Ambrose voice again: ""Man, they got fairy lights up in that garden, they got a steel band, a marquee, they got a shipment of the tenderest Kobe beef ever came out of a cow. I don"t know what they haven"t got up there. And Mr Dima, he has it all fixed and prepared down to a fine pin. He has packed off my Elspeth and that whole knockabout family of his to a major crab-racing event over the other side of St John"s, just so"s we can smuggle you in by the back door, and that"s how secret you folks are tonight!""

If they had been looking for adventure, the Nature Path alone would have provided it. They must have been the first people to use it for simply years. A couple of times Perry actually had to beat a pa.s.sage through the undergrowth: "Which of course he loved. Actually, he should have been a peasant, shouldn"t you? Then we came out in this long green tunnel with Dima standing at the end of it looking like a happy Minotaur. If there is such a thing."

Perry"s bony index finger jerked upward in admonition: "Which was our first sighting of Dima alone alone," he warned gravely. "No bodyguards, no family. No children. No one to watch over us. Or none visible. We were a three, standing at the edge of a wood. I think we were both very much aware of that. The sudden exclusivity."

But whatever significance Perry attached to this remark was lost in the insistent rush of Gail"s narrative: "He hugged hugged us, Yvonne! us, Yvonne! Really Really hugged us. First Perry, then shoved him aside, then me, then Perry again. Not s.e.xy hugs. Great big family hugs. As if he hadn"t seen us for ages. Or wasn"t going to see us again." hugged us. First Perry, then shoved him aside, then me, then Perry again. Not s.e.xy hugs. Great big family hugs. As if he hadn"t seen us for ages. Or wasn"t going to see us again."

"Or else he was desperate," Perry suggested, on the same earnest, reflective note. "A bit of that got through to me. Maybe not to you. What we meant to him at that moment. How important we were."

"He really loved loved us," Gail swept on determinedly. "He stood there, declaring his love. Tamara loved us too, he was positive. She just found it difficult to say because she was a bit crazy since her problem. No explanation of what the problem might have been, and who were we to ask? Natasha loved us, but she doesn"t say anything to anyone these days, she just reads books. The whole family loved the English for our humanity and fair play. Except he didn"t say us," Gail swept on determinedly. "He stood there, declaring his love. Tamara loved us too, he was positive. She just found it difficult to say because she was a bit crazy since her problem. No explanation of what the problem might have been, and who were we to ask? Natasha loved us, but she doesn"t say anything to anyone these days, she just reads books. The whole family loved the English for our humanity and fair play. Except he didn"t say humanity humanity, what did he say?"

"Heart."

"We"re standing there at the end of the tunnel, having this great hug-fest, and he"s orating all this stuff about our hearts. I mean, how much love can you profess to somebody you"ve only ever exchanged six words with?"

"Perry?" Luke prompted.

"I thought he was heroic heroic," Perry replied, his long hand now flying to his brow to form a cla.s.sic gesture of worry. "I just didn"t know why. Didn"t I put that in our doc.u.ment somewhere? Heroic? Heroic? I thought he was" with a shrug dismissing his own feelings as valueless "I thought I thought he was" with a shrug dismissing his own feelings as valueless "I thought dignity under fire dignity under fire. I just didn"t know who was firing at him. Or why. I didn"t know anything, except "

"You were on the rock face with him," Gail suggested, not unkindly.

"Yes. I was. And he was in a bad place. He needed needed us." us."

"You," she corrected him.

"All right. Me. That"s all I"m trying to say."

"Then you you tell it." tell it."

"He walked us out of the tunnel, round to what we realized was going to be the back of the house," Perry began, and then broke off. "I take it that you do want an exact description exact description of the place?" he demanded sternly of Yvonne. of the place?" he demanded sternly of Yvonne.

"We do indeed, Perry," Yvonne replied, equally efficiently. "Every last dreary detail, please, if if you don"t mind." And went back to her meticulous note-taking. you don"t mind." And went back to her meticulous note-taking.

"From where we"d emerged from the woods, there"s an old bit of service track covered in some sort of red cinder, probably made by the original builders as an access road. We had to pick our way uphill over the potholes."

"Carting our presents," Gail blurted from the wings. "You with your cricket set, me with the gift-wrapped presents for the kids in the fanciest bag I could find, which isn"t saying a lot."

Is anybody listening out there? she wondered. Not to me. Perry is the horse"s mouth. I"m its a.r.s.e.

"The house as we approached it from the back was a pile of old bones," he continued. "We"d been warned not to expect a palace, we knew the house was up for demolition. But we hadn"t expected a wreck." The outward-bound Oxford don had turned field reporter: "There was a tumbledown brick building with barred windows, I deduced the old slave quarters. There was a high perimeter whitewashed wall, about twelve foot high and capped with razor wire, which was new and vile. There were white security lights stuck up on pylons round it like a football stadium, blazing down on whoever pa.s.sed. We"d seen the glow from the balcony of our cabin. Fairy lights rigged between them, presumably in preparation for the night"s birthday festivities. Security cameras, but pointed away from us because we were the wrong side of them. I a.s.sume that was the intention. A shining new aerial dish, twenty foot high, directed northish, as far as I could read it on our way back. Pointed at Miami. Or Houston perhaps. Anyone"s guess." He thought about this. "Well, not yours, obviously. You people are supposed to know that stuff."

Is this a challenge or a joke? It"s neither. It"s Perry showing them how brilliant he is at doing their job, in case they haven"t noticed. It"s Perry the climber of north-facing overhangs, telling them he never forgets a route. It"s the Perry who can"t resist a challenge provided the odds are stacked against him.

"Then downhill again through more forest to a bit of gra.s.s meadow with the headland sticking up at the end of it. In reality, the house hasn"t got got a back. Or it"s a back. Or it"s all all back, take your choice. It"s a pseudo-Elizabethan hotchpotch of a bungalow built out of clapboard and asbestos, facing three ways. Grey stucco walls. Poky leaded windows. Plywood pretending to be half-timber and a rear porch with a lantern dangling in it. Are you with me, Gail?" back, take your choice. It"s a pseudo-Elizabethan hotchpotch of a bungalow built out of clapboard and asbestos, facing three ways. Grey stucco walls. Poky leaded windows. Plywood pretending to be half-timber and a rear porch with a lantern dangling in it. Are you with me, Gail?"

Would I be here if I wasn"t? "You"re doing fine," she said. Which wasn"t quite what he"d asked. "You"re doing fine," she said. Which wasn"t quite what he"d asked.

"Add-on bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, and offices with front doors on them, suggesting that the place had been some sort of commune or settlement at one time. So I mean, overall a shambles. It wasn"t Dima"s fault. We knew that, thanks to Mark. The Dimas had never lived there till now. Never touched it apart from a crash job on the security. The idea didn"t bother us. To the contrary. It had a much-needed touch of reality about it."

The ever-inquisitive Dr Yvonne is peering up from her medical notes. "But were there no chimneys chimneys after all that, Perry?" after all that, Perry?"

"Two attached to the remnants of a sugar mill on the western edge of the peninsula, the third at the edge of the woods. I thought I put that in our doc.u.ment as well."

Our b.l.o.o.d.y doc.u.ment? How many times have you said that now? b.l.o.o.d.y doc.u.ment? How many times have you said that now? Our Our doc.u.ment that doc.u.ment that you you wrote and wrote and I I haven"t been allowed to see, but haven"t been allowed to see, but they they have? It"s have? It"s your your b.l.o.o.d.y doc.u.ment! It"s b.l.o.o.d.y doc.u.ment! It"s their their b.l.o.o.d.y doc.u.ment! b.l.o.o.d.y doc.u.ment! Her cheeks were scorching, and she hoped he"d noticed. Her cheeks were scorching, and she hoped he"d noticed.

"Then as we started down towards the house, about twenty metres from it, I suppose, Dima slowed us down," Perry was saying, his voice gathering intensity. "With his hands. Slow down Slow down."

"And would it be here also that he put his finger to his lips in a gesture of complicity?" Yvonne asked, popping her head up at him while she wrote.

"Yes it was!" Gail leaped in. "Exactly here. here. Huge Huge complicity. First slow down, then shut up. We a.s.sumed the finger to the lips was all part of surprising the children, so we played along with it. Ambrose had said they"d been packed off to the crab races, so it seemed a bit odd they were still in the house. But we just a.s.sumed something had changed and they hadn"t gone after all. Or I did." complicity. First slow down, then shut up. We a.s.sumed the finger to the lips was all part of surprising the children, so we played along with it. Ambrose had said they"d been packed off to the crab races, so it seemed a bit odd they were still in the house. But we just a.s.sumed something had changed and they hadn"t gone after all. Or I did."

"Thank you, Gail."

For what, for Christ"s sake? For upstaging Perry? Don"t mention it, Yvonne, it"s a pleasure. She raced on: She raced on: "Dima had us on tiptoe by now. Literally holding our breath. We didn"t doubt doubt him I think it"s a point to make. We were him I think it"s a point to make. We were obeying obeying him, which isn"t like either of us, but we were. He led us to a door, a house door, but a side one. It wasn"t locked, he just pushed it and went in ahead, then immediately swung round, with one hand up in the air and the other one to his lips like" him, which isn"t like either of us, but we were. He led us to a door, a house door, but a side one. It wasn"t locked, he just pushed it and went in ahead, then immediately swung round, with one hand up in the air and the other one to his lips like" like Daddy playing Boots in a Christmas pantomime, but sober like Daddy playing Boots in a Christmas pantomime, but sober, she was going to say, but didn"t "well, and this really intense stare, urging urging silence on us. Right, Perry? Your turn." silence on us. Right, Perry? Your turn."

"Then, when he knew he had us, he beckoned us to follow. I went first." Perry"s tone by contrast minimal in deliberate counterpoint to hers his voice for when he"s truly excited and pretending he isn"t. "We crept into an empty hall. Well, hall hall! It was about ten by twelve feet, with a cracked, west-facing window with diamond panes made out of masking tape and the evening sun pouring through them. Dima still had his finger to his lips. I stepped inside and he grabbed hold of my arm, the way he"d grabbed it on the court. Strength in a league of its own. I couldn"t have competed with it."

"Did you think you might have might have to compete with it?" Luke inquired, with male sympathy. to compete with it?" Luke inquired, with male sympathy.

"I didn"t know what to think. I was worried about Gail and my concern was to get myself between them. For a few seconds, only."

"And long enough for you to realize it wasn"t a children"s game any more," Yvonne suggested.

"Well, it was beginning to dawn," Perry confessed, and paused, his voice drowned out by the wail of a pa.s.sing ambulance in the street above them. "You have to understand the amount of unexpected din din inside the place," he insisted, as if the one sound had set off the other. "We were only in this tiny hall, but we could hear the wind b.u.mping the whole rickety house around. And the light was well, inside the place," he insisted, as if the one sound had set off the other. "We were only in this tiny hall, but we could hear the wind b.u.mping the whole rickety house around. And the light was well, phantasmagoric phantasmagoric, to use a word my students love. It was coming at us in layers through the west window. You had this powdery light from the low cloud rolling in from the sea, and then a layer of brilliant sunlight riding in over the top of it. And pitch-black shadows where it didn"t reach."

"And cold," Gail complained, hugging herself theatrically. "Like only empty houses are. And that chilly graveyard smell they have. But all I I was thinking was: where are the girls? Why no sight or sound of them? Why no sound of was thinking was: where are the girls? Why no sight or sound of them? Why no sound of anybody anybody or or anything anything except the wind? And if n.o.body"s around, who were we doing all this secrecy stuff for? Who were we fooling except ourselves? And Perry, you were thinking the same, weren"t you, you told me so afterwards." except the wind? And if n.o.body"s around, who were we doing all this secrecy stuff for? Who were we fooling except ourselves? And Perry, you were thinking the same, weren"t you, you told me so afterwards."

And behind Dima"s raised forefinger, a different face, Perry is saying. All the fun had gone out of it. Out of his eyes. It was humourless. Rigid. He really needed needed us to be afraid. To share his fear. And as we stand there bemused and, yes, afraid the spectral figure of Tamara materializes before us in a corner of the tiny hall where she"s been standing all along without us noticing, in the darkest recess on the other side of the shafts of sunlight. She"s wearing the same long black dress she wore at the tennis match, and wore again when she and Dima spied on them from the darkness of the people carrier, and she looks like her own ghost. us to be afraid. To share his fear. And as we stand there bemused and, yes, afraid the spectral figure of Tamara materializes before us in a corner of the tiny hall where she"s been standing all along without us noticing, in the darkest recess on the other side of the shafts of sunlight. She"s wearing the same long black dress she wore at the tennis match, and wore again when she and Dima spied on them from the darkness of the people carrier, and she looks like her own ghost.

Gail grabbed back the story: "The first thing I saw was her bishop"s cross. Then the rest of her, forming round it. She"d plaited and braided her hair for the birthday party and rouged her cheeks, and daubed lipstick round her mouth I mean, really really round it. She looked as mad as a bedbug. She didn"t have her finger to her lips. She didn"t need to. Her whole body was like a warning sign in black and red. Forget Dima, I thought. This is round it. She looked as mad as a bedbug. She didn"t have her finger to her lips. She didn"t need to. Her whole body was like a warning sign in black and red. Forget Dima, I thought. This is really really something. And of course I was still wondering what her something. And of course I was still wondering what her problem problem was. Because was. Because boy boy, did she have one."

Perry started to speak, but she talked stubbornly through him: "She was holding this sheet of paper in her hand A4 typing paper, folded in half and holding it up to us. For what? Was it a religious tract? Prepare to meet thy G.o.d? Or was she serving a writ on us?"

"And Dima, where was he in this?" Luke asked, turning back to Perry.

"Finally let go of my arm," said Perry with a grimace. "But not before he"d made sure I was focusing on Tamara"s sheet of paper. Which she then proceeded to shove at me. With Dima nodding at me: read it read it. But still still with his finger to his lips. And Tamara really with his finger to his lips. And Tamara really possessed possessed. Both of them possessed, actually. And wanting us to share their fear. But of what? So I read it. Not aloud, obviously. Not even immediately. I wasn"t in the sunlight. I had to take it to the window. On tiptoe: which shows you how much we were under the spell. And even after after that, I had to turn my back to the window because the sunlight was so fierce. Then Gail had to give me my spare reading gla.s.ses from her handbag " that, I had to turn my back to the window because the sunlight was so fierce. Then Gail had to give me my spare reading gla.s.ses from her handbag "

" because as usual he"d left them behind in our cabin "

"Then Gail tiptoed up behind me "