• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

'Whatever Delesormes was or turned into or whatever happened.'

Fitz shook his head and picked up the spade. 'That's not it.'

'How can you be sure?'

'Call it an educated guess. I wouldn't be here if I thought I was unearthing something that was going to eat me. Give me a bit of credit, will you?'

He started digging again. She came over and looked into the hole. He'd gone down about a metre. The smell was damp and slightly bitter.

'It'd take me all night to dig the whole thing up,' he said, grunting with exertion. 'I'm hoping that the wood's rotten enough for me just to break through.'

'Into the coffin?'

'Yeah.'

'What do you expect to find?'

'Nothing.'

She shivered and hugged herself. Her bare hands ached with cold. She stuck them under her arms. 'Nothing?'

'Well, no one.' He paused, breathing hard, his breath like smoke on the air.

'He killed them, Anji. It had to be him. Faked his death and killed them.'

'No,' she said briskly. 'We're letting our imaginations run wild. Some maniac slaughtered that family, and there's a body in that grave.'

'We'll know in a bit.' Fitz drove the spade down again.

'Want me to dig? Give you a rest?'

'No, thanks.'

She looked around for somewhere to sit and, after a moment's hesitation, braced herself against one of the gravestones. She watched Fitz's spade rise and fall, the black earth sliding from it.

'If he is still alive,' she said soberly, 'then where is he now?'

A key clicked in the door.

The Doctor turned his head, startled and, for an instant, hopeful. But Dupre didn't seem particularly alarmed. 'Hurry up!' he hissed as the door opened.

The candle flames twitched in the draft and shadows leaped around the red walls.

'Am I late?' said Teddy Acree.

Chapter Fourteen

Rough Magic

Acree had curled up on the bone throne, chewing on his knuckle. He looked cold. It was hard for the Doctor to see him without hurting his neck, so after an initial glance he didn't bother. 'Your wife's worried about you,' he said.

'She's a suffocating bitch,' said Teddy.

After that they didn't really have anything to say to each other, besides which the Doctor was distracted by Dupre's work with the razor. He didn't move or make any sound, but his face was white and sweaty.

'I don't actually need to cut this deep,' Dupre explained.

'I know,' said the Doctor politely. 'It's only because you're a sadist.'

'I'm not a sadist; Dupre said defensively. 'I just don't like you.'

A meaningless distinction from my point of view. I'm sure you understand.'

Dupre laboured on. The Doctor became increasingly well acquainted with the ceiling. It appeared to be made of pine planks sealed from above with tar. The planks were narrow - he supposed three and a half inches was now standard width in America. Had to be, really, when you considered the dearth of old-growth forest, and of course Dupre wouldn't have bought anything expensive for what was essentially a shack. The room didn't look or smell new. What else had Dupre used it for? Probably activities about which it was better not to speculate

'I wish you'd scream,' Dupre pouted. 'I won't cut your larynx for that: I want you to scream.'

The Doctor couldn't think of an adequate response. 'So why are you here, Teddy?' he called conversationally. 'Nice work on the Nightmare, by the way.'

'You should have posed for me.'

'Not sketching me now? Surely this is your sort of subject ' The Doctor stopped. He looked at Dupre. 'What have you told him?' Dupre ignored him. 'What has he told you, Teddy? Has he promised to show you something?' No answer. 'Dupre, you'll kill him -'

'He'll be protected.'

'Protected? He can hardly leave the house. What do you think his reaction will be when he's faced with -' But at this point the Doctor broke off because Dupre had started to rub the powder into his wounds and he was finally screaming.

Fitz's spade smashed through the coffin lid. Anji, who had been holding the lantern so