Doctor Who_ The Hollow Men - Keith Topping [38]
She let out a long sigh as the door closed behind her. The only thing you could say in the Matsons‟ defence was that they probably deserved each other. Anyway, she had work to do.
What she needed was an outsider‟s point of view, someone who had been in the village long enough but hadn‟t been swept away by the festering insanity. Someone she could trust. Rebecca was the obvious choice, but she‟d been born and raised here, and the thing with the handwriting still spooked Ace. The Chens seemed the next-best bet.
Ace strolled down the lane towards A Taste of the Orient, wondering whether to mention what she‟d seen Bob Matson doing the previous night. When Steven Chen pulled open the door, his smile was so full of bitterness and fear that Ace decided to leave the subject well alone. The Chens must have known who was behind the racist attacks, and it seemed foolish to raise the matter so abruptly. Perhaps they had their own way of dealing with it. Maybe some strange Chinese rite could breathe life into the stone lions, who would devour Bob Matson next time he came calling.
„Hello,‟ said Steven. „What can I do for you?‟
„I delivered your note,‟ replied Ace brightly.
Steven immediately put a finger to his lips. „Come inside,‟
he whispered, holding the door open for her.
Steven Chen led Ace into the kitchens, which were deserted. He seemed to be in the middle of washing the floor, the metal work-surfaces already looking clean enough to eat off. Which, decided Ace, was probably just as well, given the number of tacky takeaway joints in Perivale that had been closed by Environmental Health.
„My parents do not approve of my friendship with Joanna,‟
said Steven.
„I suppose you can see their point of view,‟ said Ace cautiously. „I mean, she is married to -‟
„Of course,‟ said Steven Chen hurriedly. „I sometimes think what we‟re doing is stupid.‟ He sighed. „Anyway, it doesn‟t really matter. I hope Bob Matson hasn‟t made life... difficult for you.‟
„No more so than usual,‟ smiled Ace. „I came to ask you about the school. The Doctor disappeared during the reunion the night before last.‟
„Really?‟ Steven looked genuinely surprised. Whatever village grapevine there was, it obviously bypassed the Chens completely. „What‟s happened to him?‟
„No idea,‟ said Ace. „From what Rebecca‟s told me, the school‟s an odd sort of place.‟
„“Odd” is one way of putting it,‟ said Steven. „I‟ve spent the last five years trying to forget about it.‟
„Was it that bad?‟
„If you‟re an outsider, they make your life an absolute hell. I know a lot of kids have to put up with bullying, but this was systematic torture.‟
„But you‟ve lived here so long...‟
„But I wasn‟t born here,‟ said Steven. „Thank God. None of my family were. You‟re either one of Jack‟s children, or you‟re not.‟
„Jack?‟ queried Ace, surprised.
„Just one way they put it. I don‟t know what it means,‟ he added, hurriedly.
„I noticed that the pupils‟ handwriting all seemed very similar.‟
Steven laughed. „In most other places, interbreeding causes extra limbs or close-set eyes. Here...‟ He paused, looking around as if someone were listening. „You wouldn‟t believe what it gives rise to here.‟
Tara Hatch was a formidable woman. A stunning Aryan beauty and an hourglass figure masked a tempestuous nature and a voice that could strip paint. She‟d been a model when she first met Matthew, then a rising star in the last days of a hated, radical government. If there was one thing Matthew Hatch had a weakness for it was the blonde models who frequented the society parties of Knightsbridge and Kensington. A whirlwind romance followed, during which time they holidayed on the Riviera on her father‟s yacht. They made love for the first time at dusk, as dolphins leapt around them. Then they got married, and things were never quite that awesome again.
Tara stood facing Matthew. „Ah, the master has returned from carrot-cruncher land,‟ she announced.
„Shut it,‟ snapped Hatch. „I‟m just not in the mood.‟
„You never are,‟ agreed Tara.
„Then you‟ll just