Ramsey Campbell - The Scar

Ramsey Campbell
The Scar

"It was most odd on the bus today," Lindsay Rice said.
Jack Rossiter threw his cigarette into the fire and lit another. His wife Harriet glanced
at him uneasily; she could see he was in no mood for her brother's circumlocutions.
"ost odd," said Lindsay. "Rather u!setting, in fact. It reminded me, the "ermans#
now was it the "ermans$ %es, I think it was the "ermans#used to ha&e this thing
about do!!elgangers, the idea being that if you saw your double it meant you were
going to die. 'ut of course you didn't see him. (hat's right, of course, I should e)!lain."
Jack mo&ed in his armchair. "I'm sorry, Lindsay," he interru!ted, "I *ust don't see
where you're tending. I'm sorry."
"It's all right, Lindsay," Harriet said. "Jack's been a bit tired lately. "o on."
'ut at that moment the children tumbled into the room like !ierrots, their stri!ed
!y*amas bold against the !astel lines of wall!a!er. "+ouglas tried to throw me into the
bath, and he hasn't brushed his teeth," -laine shouted trium!hantly.
"(here'll be s!ankings for two in a minute," Jack threatened, but he smiled. ""ood
night, darling. "ood night, darling. .o, you'&e had a hard day, darling, I'll !ut them to
bed."
".ot so hard as you," Harriet said, standing u!. "%ou stay and talk to Lindsay."
Jack grimaced inwardly; he had wanted Harriet to rest, but somehow it now a!!eared
as if he'd been trying to esca!e Lindsay. "/orry, Lindsay, you were saying$" he
!rom!ted as the thum!ing on the staircase ceased.
"0h, yes, on the bus. 1ell, it was this morning, I saw someone who looked like you. I
was going to s!eak to him until I realised." Rice glanced around the room; although his
weekly in&itation was of some years' standing, he could ne&er remember e)actly where
e&erything was. .ot that it mattered2 the whole was solid. 3rmchairs, tele&ision,
bookcase full of 4enguins and book5club editions and /horrock's 6aluer's anual#
there it was, on to! of the bookcase, the wedding !hotogra!h which Jack had carefully
framed for Harriet. "%es, he was as thin as you'&e been getting, but he had a scar from
here to here." Rice encom!assed his left tem!le and *awbone with finger and thumb like
di&iders.
"/o he wasn't really my double. y time hasn't run out after all."
"1ell, I ho!e not," Rice laughed a little too long; Jack felt his mouth stretching as he
forced it to be sociable. "1e'&e been slackening off at the office," Rice said. "How are
things at the *eweller's$ .othing stolen yet, I ho!e$"
".o, e&erything's under control," Jack re!lied. 7eet ran across the floor abo&e. "Hang
on, Lindsay," he said, "sounds like Harriet's ha&ing trouble."
Harriet had 8uelled the rebellion when he arri&ed; she closed the door of the
children's room and regarded him. "9hrist, the man's tact," he e)!loded.
"/hh, Jack, he'll hear you." /he !ut her arms around him. "+on't be cruel to Lindsay,"
she !leaded. "%ou know I always had the best of e&erything and Lindsay ne&er did#
unha!!y at school, always being !ut down by my father, ne&er daring to o!en his mouth
#darling, you know he finds it difficult to talk to !eo!le. .ow I'&e got you. /urely we
can s!are him kindness at least."
"0f course we can." He stroked her hair. "It's *ust that#damn it, not only does he say
I'm losing weight as though I'm being underfed or something, but he asks me if the
sho!'s been broken into yet,"
"4oor darling, don't worry. I'm sure the !olice will catch them before they raid the
sho!. 3nd if not, there's always insurance."
"%es, there's insurance, but it won't rebuild my dis!lay, 9an't you understand I take
as much !ride in my sho! as you take in the house$ 4robably some *um!ed5u! little
skinheads who throw the loot away once their tarty little teenybo!!ers ha&e !layed with
it,"
"(hat doesn't sound like you at all, Jack," Harriet said.
"I'm sorry, lo&e. %ou know I'm really here. 9ome on, I'd better fi) u! tomorrow night
with Lindsay."
"If you feel like a rest we could ha&e him round here."
".o, he o!ens out a bit when he's in a !ub. 'esides, I like the walk to Lower
'richester."
"Just so long as you come back in one !iece, my lo&e."
Rice heard them on the stairs. He hurried back to his chair from the bookcase where
he had been ins!ecting the titles. 0ne of these days he must offer to lend them some
books#anything to make them like him more. He knew he'd dri&en Jack u!stairs. 1hy
couldn't he be direct instead of circling the !oint like a wobbling whirligig$ 'ut e&ery
time he tried to gras! an intention or a statement it slid out of reach. -&en if he hung a
sign on his bedroom wall#he'd once thought of one2 "I shall act directly"#he would
forget it before he left the flat. -&en as he forgot his musings when Jack and Harriet
entered the room.
"I'd better be off," he said. "%ou ne&er can tell with the last bus round here." "I'll see
you tomorrow night, then," Jack told him, !atting his shoulder. "I'll call round and !ick
you u!."
'ut he ne&er had the courage to in&ite them to his flat, Lindsay thought; he knew it
wasn't good enough for them. .ot that they would show it# rather would they do
e&erything to hide their feelings out of kindness, which would be worse. (omorrow
night as usual he would be downstairs early to wait for Jack in the doorway. He wa&ed
to them as they stood linked in their bright frame, then struck off down the em!ty road.
(he fields were grey and silent, and abo&e the semidetached roofs the moon was set in a
!lush ring of cold .o&ember mist. 3t the bus5sto! he thought2 I wish I could do
something for them so they'd be grateful to me.
Harriet was bending o&er the cooker; she heard no footste!s#she had no chance to
turn before the news!a!er was o&er her face.
"I see the old Jack's back with us," she said, fighting off the 'richester Herald.
"%ou ha&en't seen it$" He guided her hand to the headline2 youths arrested#admit to
*ewel thefts. He was beaming; he read the re!ort again with Harriet, the three boys
who'd ho!ed to stock!ile *ewellery but had been unable to market it without attracting
the !olice. "aybe now we can all get some slee!," he said. "aybe I can gi&e u!
smoking."
"+on't gi&e it u! for me, Jack, I know you need it. 'ut if you did gi&e it u! I'd be &ery
ha!!y."
+ouglas and -laine a!!eared, !ummelling towards their tea. ".ow *ust you sit down
and wait," Jack said, "or we'll eat it for you."
3fter tea he lit a cigarette, then glanced at Harriet. "+on't worry, darling," she
ad&ised. "(ake things easy for a while. 9ome on, monsters, you can hel! clear u!." /he
knew the signs#s!illed sugar, dro!!ed knife; Jack would turn hy!ertense with relief if
he didn't rest.
'ut ten minutes later he was in the kitchen. "ust go," he said. ""i&e myself time for
a stroll before I meet Lindsay. 3nyway, the news ought to gi&e the con&ersation a lift."
"9ome back whole, darling," Harriet said, not knowing.
%es, he liked to walk through Lower 'richester. He'd made the walk, with &ariations,
for almost two years; e&er since his night out drinking with Rice had settled into habit.
It had been his suggestion, !rimarily to !lease Harriet, for he knew she liked to think he
and Lindsay were friends; but by now he met Lindsay out of a sense of duty, which was
rarely !roof against annoyance as the e&ening wore on. .e&er mind, there was the walk.
If he felt insecure, as he often did when walking#the night, Harriet elsewhere#he
gained a !arado)ical sense of security from Lower 'richester; the bleared fish5and5chi!
sho! windows, the crowds outside !ubs, a drunk !unching someone's face with a soft
moist sound#it reassured him to think that here was a le&el to which he could ne&er be
reduced.
Headlights bla:ed down a side street, billowing with mist and motorcycle fumes.
(hey s!otlighted a broken wall across the street from Rossiter; a grou! of girls huddled
on the shattered bricks, laughing forth fog as the motorcycle gang fondled them roughly
with words. Rossiter ga:ed at them; no doubt the *ewel thie&es had been of the same
mould. He felt a little guilty as he watched the girls, embracing themsel&es to kee! out
the cold; but he had his answer ready#nothing would change them, they were fi)ed; if
he had money, it was because he could use it !ro!erly. He turned onward; he would
ha&e to use the alley on the right if he were not to kee! Rice waiting.
/uddenly the shrieks of laughter behind the roaring engines were cut off. 3 headlight
was feeling its way along the walls, finding one house !rotruding !art of a ruined
frontage like a !iece of *igsaw, the ne)t dismally curtained, its neighbour shuttered with
corrugated tin, its makeshift door torn down like an infuriating lid. 7or a moment the
beam followed a figure2 a man in a long black coat swaying along the !a&ement, a grey
woollen sock !ulled down o&er his face. (he girls huddled closer, silently. Jack
shuddered; the e)!loratory !rogress of the figure seemed unformed, undirected. (hen
the light was gone; the girls giggled in the darkness, and beyond a streetlam! the figure
fumbled into the tin5shuttered house. Jack turned u! his coat collar and hurried into the
alley. (he engines roared louder.
He was halfway u! the alley when he heard the footste!s. (he walls were narrow;
there was barely room for the other, who seemed in a hurry, to !ass. Jack !ressed
against the wall; it was cold and rough beneath his hand. 'ehind him the footste!s
sto!!ed.
He looked back. (he entrance to the alley whirled with fumes, against which a figure
mo&ed towards him, &aguely outlined. It held something in its hand. Jack felt
automatically for his lighter. (hen the figure s!oke.
"%ou're Jack Rossiter." (he &oice was soft and anonymous yet somehow !enetrated
the crescendi of the motorcycles. "I'll be &isiting your sho! soon."
7or a moment Jack thought he must know the man, though his face was merely a
black egg in the shadows; but something in the figure's slow a!!roach warned him.
/uddenly he knew what that remark im!lied. 9old rushed into his stomach, and metal
glinted in the figure's hand. Jack retreated along the wall, his fingers searching
frantically for a door. His foot tangled with an abandoned tin; he kicked it towards the
figure and ran.
(he fog boiled round him; metal clattered; a foot hooked his ankle and tri!!ed him.
(he engines were screaming; as Jack raised his head a car's beam thrust into his eyes.
He scrabbled at !otato !eelings and sardine tins, and struggled to his knees. 3 foot
between his shoulders ground him down. (he car's light dimmed and &anished. He
struggled onto his back, cold !eel sticking to his cheek, and the foot !ressed on his
heart. (he metal closed in the figure's !alm. 3bo&e him hands dis!layed the tin which
he had kicked. (he insidious &oice said something. 1hen the words reached him,
Rossiter began to tear at the leg in horror and fury. (he black egg bent nearer. (he foot
!ressed harder, and the rusty lid of the tin came down towards Jack's face.
(hough the bandage was off he could still feel the cut, bla:ing now and then from his
tem!le to his *awbone. He forced himself to forget; he stuffed fuel into the li&ing5room
fire and o!ened his book. 'ut it failed to soothe him. +on't brood, he told himself
sa&agely, worse is !robably ha!!ening in Lower 'richester at this moment. If only
Harriet hadn't seen him unbandaged at the hos!ital, He could feel her !ain more keenly
than his own since he'd come home. He ke!t thinking of her letting the kettle scream so
that he wouldn't hear her sobbing in the kitchen. (hen she'd brought him coffee, her face
still wet beneath her hair from water to wash away the tears. 1hy had he told her at the
hos!ital "It's not what he did to me, it's what he said he'd do to +ouglas and -laine"$ He
cursed himself for s!reading more suffering than he himself had had to stand. -&en Rice
had seemed to feel himself obscurely to blame, although Jack had insisted that it was his
own fault for walking through that area.
""o and say good5night to +addy," Harriet called.
(he children !added in. "+addy's face is getting better," -laine said.
He saw the black egg bearing down on them. "od, he swore, if he should lay one
finger#, "+addy's sur&i&ing his accident," he told them. ""ood night, children."
4resently he heard Harriet slowly descending the stairs, each ste! a thought.
/uddenly she rushed into the room and hid her face on his chest. "0h !lease, !lease,
darling, what did he say about the children$" she cried.
"I won't ha&e you disturbed, my lo&e," he said, holding her as she trembled. "I can
worry enough for both of us. 3nd as long as you take them there and back to school, it
doesn't matter what the sod said."
"3nd what about your sho!$" she asked through her tears.
".e&er mind the sho!," He tried not to think of his dream of the smashed window, of
the foul disorder he might find one morning. "(he !olice will find him, don't worry."
"'ut you couldn't e&en describe#" (he doorbell rang. "0h "od, it's Lindsay," she
said. "9ould you go, darling$ I can't let him see me like this."
"0h, that's good#I mean I'm glad you'&e got the bandage off," said Lindsay. 'ehind
him the fog swallowed the bedraggled trees and blotted out the fields. He stared at Jack,
then muttered "/orry, better let you close the door."
"9ome in and get some fire," Jack said. "Harriet will ha&e the coffee ready in a
minute."
Rice !lodded round the room, then sat down o!!osite Jack. He stared at the wedding
!hotogra!h. He rubbed his hands and ga:ed at them. He looked u! at the ceiling. 3t last
he turned to Jack2 "1hat"#he glanced around wildly#"what's that you're reading$"
"(he Heart of the atter. /econd time, in fact. %ou should try it sometime."
Harriet looked in, dabbing at one eye. "(hink I rubbed in some soa!," she e)!lained.
"Hello, Lindsay. If we're talking about books, Jack, you said you'd read (he Lord of the
Rings."
"1ell, I can't now, darling, since I'm working tomorrow. 'ack to work at last,
Lindsay. Hea&en knows what sort of a state the sho! will be in with 4hilli!s in charge."
"%ou always said you could rely on him in an emergency," Harriet !rotested.
"1ell, this is the test. %es, white as usual for me, !lease, darling."
Harriet withdrew to the kitchen. "I read a book this week," Rice caught at the
con&ersation, "about a man#what's his name, no, I forget#whose friend is in danger
from someone, he finds out#and he finally !ulls this someone off a cliff and gets killed
himself." He was about to add "3t least he did something with himself. I don't like
books about !eo!le failing," but Jack took the cue2
"3 little unrealistic for me," he said, "after what ha!!ened."
"0h, I ne&er asked," Rice's hands gri!!ed each other, "where did it$"
"Just off the street !arallel to yours, the ne)t but two. In the alley."
"'ut that's where"#he lost something again#"where there's all sorts of &iolence."
"%ou shouldn't li&e so near it, Lindsay," Harriet said abo&e a tray. "ake the effort.
o&e soon."
"+e!ressing night," Jack remarked as he hel!ed Rice don his coat. "+ro! that book in
sometime, Lindsay. I'd like to read it."
0f course he wouldn't, Rice thought as he breathed in the curling fog and met the
trees forming from the murk; he'd been trying to be kind. Rice had failed again. 1hy
had he been unable to s!eak, to tell Jack that he had seen his double lea&e the bus and
enter an abandoned house o!!osite that alley$ (he night of the mutilation Rice had
waited in his doorway, feeling forsaken, sure that Jack had decided not to come;
ashamed now, he blamed himself# Jack would be whole now if Rice hadn't made him
feel it was his duty to meet him. /omething was going to ha!!en; he sensed it looming.
If he could only warn them, !re&ent it#but !re&ent what$ He saw the figures falling
from the cliff5to! against the a:ure sky, the seagulls screaming around him# but the
mist hung about him miserably, stifling his intentions. He began to hurry to the bus5
sto!.
(he week unfolded wearily. It was as formless in Rice's mind as the obscured fields
when he walked u! the Rossiters' street again, his book collecting dro!lets in his hand.
He rang the bell and waited, shi&ering; the windows were blurred by mist.
"0h, Lindsay," said Harriet. /he had run to the door; it was clear she had been crying.
"I don't know whether#" Jack a!!eared in the hall, one hand !ossessi&ely gri!!ing the
li&ing5room door5frame, the cigarette u!on his li! flaking down his shirt. "Is it your
night already$" he demanded of Rice. "I thought it'd be early to bed for us. 9ome in, for
"od's sake, don't free:e us to death."
Harriet threw Lindsay a !leading look which he could not inter!ret. "/orry," he said.
"I didn't know you were tired."
"1ho said tired$ 9ome on, man, start thinking, "od, I gi&e u!." Jack threw u! his
hands and whirled into the li&ing5room.
"Lindsay, Jack's been ha&ing a terrible time. (he sho! was broken into last night."
"1hat's all that whis!ering$" a &oice shouted. "3ren't I one of the family anymore$"
"Jack, don't be illogical. /urely Lindsay and I can talk." 'ut she motioned Lindsay
into the li&ing5room.
"(reating me like a stranger in my own house,"
Lindsay dro!!ed the book. /uddenly he realised what he'd seen2 Jack's face was !aler,
thinner than last week; the scar looked older than seemed !ossible. He bent for the
book. .o, what he was thinking was absurd; Harriet would ha&e noticed. Jack was
sim!ly worried. It must be worry.
"'rought me a book, ha&e you$ Let's see it, then. 0h, for "od's sake, Lindsay, I can't
waste my time with this sort of thing,"
"Jack," cried Harriet. "Lindsay brought it s!ecially."
"+on't !ity Lindsay, he won't thank you for it. %ou think we're !atronising you, don't
you, Lindsay$ In&iting you u! the !osh end of town$"
(his couldn't be, Rice thought; not in this !astel li&ing5room, not with the wedding
!hotogra!h fi)ed fore&er; their li&es were solid, not e!hemeral like his own. "I#don't
know what you mean," he faltered.
"Jack, I won't ha&e you s!eaking to Lindsay like that," Harriet said. "Lindsay, would
you hel! me make the coffee$"
"/iding with your brother now," Jack accused. "I don't need him at a time like this, I
need you. %ou'&e forgotten the sho! already, but I ha&en't. I su!!ose I needn't e)!ect
any comfort tonight."
"0h, Jack, try and get a gri! on yourself," but now her &oice was softer. +on't,
Lindsay warned her frantically. (hat's e)actly what he wants,
"(ake your book, Lindsay," Jack said through his fingers, "and make sure you're
in&ited in future." Harriet glanced at him in anguish and hurried Lindsay out.
"I'm sorry you'&e been hurt, Lindsay," she said. "0f course you're always welcome
here. %ou know we lo&e you. Jack didn't mean it. I knew something would ha!!en
when I heard about the sho!. Jack *ust ran out of it and didn't come back for hours. 'ut I
didn't know it would be like this#" Her &oice broke. "aybe you'd better not come
again until Jack's more stable. I'll tell you when it's o&er. %ou do understand, don't
you$"
"0f course, it doesn't matter," Lindsay said, trembling with formless thoughts. 0n the
hall table a news!a!er had been crum!led furiously; he saw the headline#*eweller's
raided#dis!lays destroyed. "9an I ha&e the !a!er$" he asked.
"(ake it, !lease. I'll get in touch with you, I !romise. +on't lose heart."
3s the door closed Rice heard Jack call "Harriet," in what sounded like des!air.
3bo&e, the children were silhouetted on their bedroom window; as Rice trudged away
the fog engulfed them. 3t the bus5sto! he read the re!ort; a window broken, destruction
e&erywhere. He ga:ed ahead blindly. /hafts of bilious yellow !ierced the fog, then the
grey returned. "/tart thinking," was it$ 0h yes, he could think#think how easy it would
be to fake a raid, knowing the insurance would rebuild what had been destroyed#but
he didn't want the im!lications; the idea was insane, anyway. 1ho would destroy
sim!ly in order to ha&e an e)cuse for a!!earing emaciated, unstable$ 'ut his thoughts
returned to Harriet; he a&oided thinking what might be ha!!ening in that house. %ou're
*ealous, he tried to tell himself. He's her husband, He has the right, Rice became aware
that he was holding the book which he had brought for Jack. He stared at the tangled
figures falling through blue dro!s of condensation, then thrust the book into the litter5
bin between em!ty tins and a sherry bottle. He stood waiting in the fog.
(he fog trickled through Rice's kitchen window. He leaned his weight on the sash, but
again it refused to shut. He shrugged hel!lessly and ti!!ed the beans into the sauce!an.
(he ta! dri!!ed once; he gri!!ed it and screwed it down. 'elow the window someone
came out coughing and shattered something in the dustbin. (he ta! dri!!ed. He mo&ed
towards it, and the bell rang.
It was Harriet in a headscarf. "0h, don't come in," he said. "It's not fit, I mean#"
"+on't be silly, Lindsay," she told him edgily. "Let me in." Her eyes gathered details2
the twiglike crack in one corner of the ceiling, the alarm clock whose hand had been
am!utated, the cobweb su!!orting the lam!5fle) from the ceiling like a bracket. "'ut
this is so de!ressing," she said. "+on't stay here, Lindsay. %ou must mo&e."
"It's *ust the bed's not made," he tried to e)!lain, but he could see her des!airing. He
had to turn the sub*ect. "Jack all right$" he asked, then remembered, but too late.
/he !ulled off her headscarf. "Lindsay, he hasn't been himself since they wrecked the
sho!," she said with determined calm. "Rows all the time, breaking things#he broke
our !hotogra!h. He goes out and gets drunk half the e&enings. I'&e ne&er seen him so
irrational." Her &oice faded. "3nd there are other things#that I can't tell you about#"
"(hat's awful. (hat's terrible." He couldn't bear to see Harriet like this; she was the
only one he had e&er lo&ed. "9ouldn't you get him to see someone, I mean#"
"1e'&e already had a row about that. (hat was when he broke our !hotogra!h."
"How about the children$ How's he been to them$" Instantly two !ieces fitted
together; he waited, chill with horror, for her answer.
"He tells them off for !laying, but I can !rotect them."
How could she be so blind$ "/u!!ose he should do something to them," he said.
"%ou'll ha&e to get out."
"(hat's one thing I won't do. He's my husband, Lindsay. It's u! to me to look after
him."
/he can't belie&e that, Lindsay cried. He tottered on the edge of re&elation, and fought
with his tongue. "+on't you think he's acting as if he was a different !erson$" He could
not be more e)!licit.
"3fter what ha!!ened that's not so sur!rising." /he drew her headscarf through her
fingers and !ulled it back, drew and !ulled, drew and !ulled; Lindsay looked away.
"He's left all the dis!lays in 4hilli!s' hands. He's breaking down, Lindsay. I'&e got to
nurse him back. He'll sur&i&e, I know he will."
/ur&i&e, Lindsay thought with bitterness and horror. 3nd suddenly he remembered
that Harriet had been u!stairs when he'd described his encounter on the bus; she would
ne&er realise, and his tongue would ne&er allow him to tell her. 'ehind her com!assion
he sensed a terrible de&otion to Jack which he could not break. /he was as tra!!ed as he
was in this flat. %et if he could not s!eak, he must act. (he !lan against him was clear2
he'd been banished from the Rossiters' home, he was unable to !rotest, Harriet would be
alone. (here was only one false assum!tion in the !lan, and it concerned himself. It
must be false. He could hel!. He ga:ed at Harriet; she would ne&er understand, but
!erha!s she needn't sus!ect.
(he beans s!uttered and smouldered in the !an. "0h, Lindsay, I'm awfully sorry,"
Harriet said. "%ou must ha&e your tea. I'&e got to get back before he comes home. I only
called to tell you not to come round for a while. 4lease don't, I'll be all right."
"I'll stay away until you tell me," Lindsay lied. 3s she reached the hall he called out;
he felt bound to make what would ha!!en as easy as he could for her. "If anything
should ha!!en"#he fumbled# "you know, while Jack's# disturbed#I can always
hel! to look after the children."
Rice could hear the children screaming from the end of the street. He began to walk
towards the cries. He hadn't meant to go near the house; if his !lan was to succeed,
Harriet must not see him. Harriet#why wasn't she !rotecting the children$ It couldn't
be the Rossiters' house, he argued des!erately; sounds like that couldn't reach the length
of the street. 'ut the cries continued, !iercing with terror and !ain; they dragged his
footste!s nearer. He reached the house and could no longer doubt. (he bedrooms were
curtained, the house was im!ossibly im!assi&e, reflecting no !art of the horror within;
the fog clung greyly to the grass like scum on reeds. He could hear -laine sobbing
something and then screaming. Rice wanted to break in, to sto! the sounds, to disco&er
what was holding Harriet back; but if he went in his !lan would be destroyed. His !alms
!rickled; he wa&ered miserably, and the sil&er !a&ement slithered beneath him.
(he front door of the ne)t house o!ened and a man#!ortly, red5faced, bes!ectacled,
grey hair, black o&ercoat, &alise clenched in his hand like a wea!on#strode down the
!ath, grinning at the screams. He !assed Rice and turned at his aghast e)!ression2
"1hat's the matter, friend," he asked with amusement in his &oice, "ne&er ha&e your
behind tanned when you were a kid$"
"'ut listen to them," Rice said une&enly. "(hey're screaming,"
"3nd I should damn well think so, too," the other retorted. "%ou know Jack Rossiter$
+ecent cha!. 3bout as much of a sadist as I am, and his kids ran in *ust now when we
were ha&ing breakfast with some nonsense about their father doing something dreadful
to them. I grabbed them by the scruff of their necks and dragged them back. 0ne thing
wrong with Rossiter#he was too soft with those kids, and I'm glad he seems to ha&e
learned some sense. Listen, you know who taught kids to tell tales on their !arents$ (he
bloody .a:is, that's who. (here'll be no kids turning into bloody .a:is in this country if
I can hel! it,"
He mo&ed away, glancing back at Rice as if sus!icious of him. (he cries had faded;
!erha!s a door had closed. /tunned, Rice realised that he had been seen near the house;
his !lan was in danger. "1ell, I mustn't waste any more time," he called, trying to sound
casual, and hurried after the man. "I'&e got to catch my bus."
3t the bus5sto!, ne)t to the man who was scanning the headlines and swearing, Rice
watched the street for the figure he awaited, shi&ering with cold and indecision, his
nostrils smarting with the faint stench of wet smoke. 3 bus arri&ed; his com!anion
boarded. Rice stam!ed his feet and stared into the distance as if awaiting another; an
inner critic told him he was o&eracting. 1hen the bus had darkened and merged with
fog, he retraced his ste!s. 3t the corner of the street he saw the fog solidify into a
striding sha!e. (he mist !ulled back like web from the scarred face.
"0h, Jack, can you s!are a few minutes$" he said.
"1hy, it's the !rodigal brother5in5law," came in a mist steaming from the mouth
beside the scar. "I thought Harriet had warned you off$ I'm in a hurry."
3gain Rice was caught by a com!ulsion to rush into the house, to disco&er what had
ha!!ened to Harriet. 'ut there were the children to !rotect; he must make sure they
would ne&er scream again. "I thought I saw you#I mean, I did see you in Lower
'richester a few weeks ago," he said, feeling the fog obscuring security. "%ou were
going into a ruined house."
"1ho, me$ It must ha&e been my#" 'ut the &oice sto!!ed; breath hung before his
face.
Rice let his hatred dri&e out the words. "%our double$ 'ut then where did he go$
9ome on, I'll show you the house."
7or a moment Rice doubted; !erha!s the figure would laugh and stride into the mist.
Ice sliced through his toes; he tottered and then !lunged. "How did you make sure there
was nobody about$" he forced through swollen li!s. "1hen you got rid of him$"
(he eyes flickered; the scar shifted. "1ho, 4hilli!s$ "od, man, I ne&er did know
what you meant half the time. He'll be wondering where I am#I'll ha&e to think u! a
story to satisfy him."
"I think you'll be able to do that." 9old with fear as he was, Rice was still warmed by
fulfilment as he sensed that he had the u!!er hand, that he was able to taunt as had the
man on the cliff5to! before the !lunge. He !lunged into the fog, knowing that now he
would be followed.
(he grey fields were abru!tly blocked by a more solid anonymity, the streets of
Lower 'richester, suffocating indi&iduality, erasing it through generations. 1hene&er
he'd walked through these streets with Jack on the short route to the !ub each glance of
Jack's had reminded him that he was !art of this anonymity, this inertia. 'ut no longer,
he told himself. /igns of life were s!arse2 a !ostman cycled creaking by; beyond a
window a radio announcer laughed; a cat curled among milk5bottles. (he door was
rolled down on a !inball arcade, and a girl in a chea! fur coat was lea!ing about in the
doorway of a bouti8ue to kee! herself warm until the keys arri&ed. Rice felt eyes finger
the girl, then re&ert to him; they had watched him since the beginning of the *ourney,
although the figure seemed to face always forward. Rice glanced at the other; he was
ga:ing in the direction of his stride, and a block of ice grew in Rice's stomach while the
gla:ing of the !a&ement cracked beneath his feet.
(hey !assed a s8uare foundation enshrining a rusty !ram; here a bomb had blown a
house asunder. (he ne)t street, Rice realised, and dug his nails into the rubber of the
torch in his !ocket. (he blit: had almost by!assed 'richester; here and there one !assed
from curtained windows to a ga!ing house, e&entually rebuilt if in the town, neglected
in Lower 'richester. 1as this the key$ Had someone been dri&en underground by blit:
conditions, or had something been released by bombing$ In either case, what form of
camouflage would they ha&e had to ado!t to li&e$ Rice thought he knew, but he didn't
want to think it through; he wanted to !ut an end to it. 3nd round a corner the
abandoned house focused into &iew.
3 car !urred somewhere; the !a&ement was faintly numbered for ho!scotch. Rice
ga:ed about co&ertly; there must be nobody in sight. 3nd at his side the figure did the
same. (errified, Rice yet had to re!ress a ner&ous giggle. "(here's the house," he said. "I
su!!ose you'll want to go in."
"If you'&e got something to show me." (he scar wrinkled again.
'ricks were hea!ed in what had been the garden; ice glistened in their !ores. Rice
could see nothing through the windows, which were shuttered with tin. 3 grey
corrugated sheet had been !eeled back from the doorway; it scra!ed at Rice's ankle as
he entered.
(he light was dim; he gri!!ed his torch. 3bo&e him a shattered skylight illuminated a
staircase full of holes through which moist dust fell. (o his right a door, one !anel
gouged out, still hung from a hinge. He hurried into the room, kicking a stray brick.
(he fire!lace ga!ed, half curtained by a hanging stri! of wall!a!er. 0therwise the
room was bare, deserted !robably for years. 0f course the !eo!le of the neighbourhood
didn't ha&e to know e)actly what was here to a&oid it. In the hall tin ras!ed.
Rice ran into the kitchen, ahead on the left. 7og had !enetrated a broken window; it
filled his mouth as he !anted. 0!!osite the clo&en sink he saw a door. He wrenched it
o!en, and in the other room the brick clattered.
Rice's hands were glo&ed in fro:en iron; his nails were shards of ice thrust into the
fingerti!s, melting into his blood. 0ne hand clutched towards the back door. He tottered
forward and heard the children scream, thought once of Harriet, saw the figures on the
cliff. I'm not a hero, he mouthed. How in "od's name did I get here$ 3nd the answer
came2 because he'd ne&er really belie&ed what he'd sus!ected. 'ut the torch was
shining, and he swung it down the ste!s beyond the o!en door.
(hey led into a cellar; bricks were scattered on the floor, bent kni&es and forks, soiled
!lates leading the torch5beam to tattered blankets huddled against the walls, hints of
others in the shadows. 3nd in one corner lay a man, surrounded by tins and a stri! of
corrugated metal.
(he body glistened. (rembling, his mouth ga!ing at the stench which thickened the
air, Rice descended, and the torch's circle shrank. (he man in the corner was dressed in
red. Rice mo&ed nearer. 1ith a shock he realised that the man was naked, shining with
red !aint which also marked the tins and stri! of metal. /uddenly he wrenched away and
retched.
7or a moment he was engulfed by nausea; then he heard footste!s in the kitchen. His
fingers burned like wa) and blushed at their clumsiness, but he caught u! a brick.
"%ou'&e found what you e)!ected, ha&e you$" the &oice called.
Rice reached the ste!s, and a figure loomed abo&e him, blotting out the light. 1ith
studied calm it felt about in the kitchen and !roduced a stri! of corrugated tin. "7ancy,"
it said, "I thought I'd ha&e to bring you here to see Harriet. .ow it'll ha&e to be the other
way round." Rice had no time to think; focusing his horror, fear and disgust with his
lifetime of inaction, he threw the brick.
Rice was shaking by the time he had finished. He !icked u! the torch from the bottom
ste! and as if com!elled turned its beam on the two cor!ses. %es, they were of the same
stature#they would ha&e been identical, e)ce!t that the face of the first was an abstract
crimson o&al. Rice shuddered away from his fascination. He must see Harriet#it didn't
matter what e)cuse he ga&e, illness or anything, so long as he saw her. He shone the
beam towards the ste!s to light his way, and the torch was wrested from his hand.
He didn't think; he threw himself u! the ste!s and into the kitchen. (he bolts and lock
on the back door had been rusted shut for years. 7ootste!s !added u! the ste!s. He fell
into the other room. 0utside an ambulance howled its way to hos!ital. 3lmost tri!!ing
on the brick, he reached the hall. (he ambulance's blue light flashed in the doorway and
!assed, and a figure with a grey sock co&ering its face blocked the doorway.
Rice backed away. .o, he thought in des!air, he couldn't fail now; the fall from the
cliff had ended the menace. 'ut already he knew. He backed into something soft, and a
hand closed o&er his mouth. (he figure !lodded towards him; the grey wool sucked in
and out. (he figure was his height, his build. He heard himself saying "I can always
hel! to look after the children." 3nd as the figure gras!ed a brick he knew what face
waited beneath the wool.