‘I’m not sure yet.’ Natalie took a step closer to the wall and rested her hands on the cold stones and as Joss watched her she ran her fingers down the wall, almost to the floor.
‘It’s behind here. Whatever it is.’ She turned to Joss. ‘I think we need to look. I’m sorry, but we’ve got to do it.’
‘You mean we have to take the wall down?’
Natalie nodded. ‘Not all of it. I think it’s here. I can feel it through the stone.’ Her hand was pressed for a moment on one of the roughly shaped blocks. Gripping the edges as best she could with her nails she gave a tug but nothing happened.
‘It’s been cemented in. Look.’ Joss leaned over her shoulder and pointed at the crumbling mortar.
Natalie nodded. ‘We need a crowbar.’
‘I’ll go and fetch the others.’ Joss hesitated. ‘Do you want to come with me? Don’t wait down here.’
Natalie gave a grim smile. ‘Don’t worry. I’m all right. Just fetch something to lever this out with and bring your friend David down. Not Luke. Not at the moment. Not till we know what we’re dealing with.’
Joss stared at her, then she nodded. Without a word she retraced her steps up into the hall. Staring at the dead flowers on the oak table she shuddered violently and almost without realising it her fingers went to the small cross at her throat.
*
‘No, I can’t stand it. I’m not staying away!’ Luke had found a crowbar in the coach house. ‘For God’s sake, Joss! If it’s dangerous do you think I’d let you go down there? Either I come or neither of us goes.’
‘You could stay here with me, Luke.’ Jimbo was wiping his hands on an oily rag. ‘If Nat says you shouldn’t be there, you shouldn’t. She knows what she’s talking about.’
‘I’m sure she does, but it’s my house and what goes on in it is my business.’
‘It might be woman’s business, Luke.’ Jimbo shifted uncomfortably.
‘Then they wouldn’t want David.’ Luke hefted the crowbar into one hand and brought the handle down with a smack onto the palm of the other. ‘You come or stay, whichever you like, but I’m going down there now.’
David and Joss exchanged glances and Joss gave a rueful shrug. ‘OK. Come on. Let’s see what Natalie says.’
Natalie was standing where Joss had left her when they trooped silently back down the stairs. She didn’t look round. ‘Joss, you wear a crucifix. Give it to Luke. Put it round his neck.’
The other three looked at one another. Natalie had not taken her eyes off the wall; the cross was hidden beneath Joss’s clothes. As far as Joss knew Natalie had not seen it at any time since she had arrived. Reaching up obediently she unclasped the chain. To her surprise Luke made no fuss when she put it round his neck and she thought she knew why; the atmosphere in the cellar had thickened perceptibly.
Without a word David took the crowbar out of Luke’s hand and stepped forward. ‘What do you want me to do,’ he whispered.
‘Here. I think it’s here.’ Natalie pointed. ‘See if you can loosen this stone.’
Cautiously David inserted the end of the crowbar. ‘It’s old lime mortar. Look. It’s very soft.’ He wiggled it back and forth, pushing the wedge-shaped point further in. ‘There. It’s coming. Everything is so crumbly down here.’ Panting with exertion he gave one last push and levered the stone out. It fell with a loud crash onto the flags.
There was a long silence as, putting down the crowbar, David felt in his pocket for the torch he had picked up from the dresser as they left the kitchen. He shone it into the cavity. ‘There’s quite a hole in here.’
‘You’d better give it to me.’ Natalie’s voice was husky. She could feel waves of emotion coming out of the wall at her; sour, malevolent tides of anger and hatred and spite as, reluctantly she took the torch from David’s hand. She glanced at the others. ‘You all all right?’
They could all feel it to some degree, she could see, even Luke. Joss’s face was grey and drawn with pain.
Stepping forward she shone the torch into the hole.
At first she thought there was nothing there then as her hand steadied the shaking beam she slowly began to make out the shapes in the cavity behind the wall. It was far smaller than she had expected, perhaps three feet by two. No room for the body or bodies she had half expected to find immured there. With an inward sigh of relief she shone the light round the dark space again and only then did she notice, lying amongst the rubble in what was little more than a hidden cupboard, the small wrapped package.
‘That’s it.’ She was talking to herself, although she spoke out loud. ‘That’s where the energy is coming from.’
Her skin crawling with revulsion she reached into the hole and picked the packet up with her finger tips.
‘What is it?’ Joss breathed. They were all staring down at the object on Natalie’s palm. It was about three inches long, perhaps a little less wide, covered in dust and cobwebs and crumbs of mortar.
‘It’s wrapped in some kind of material,’ David said slowly. He reached out to touch it, then changed his mind and drew back. He looked at Natalie’s face. ‘What is it?’
Slowly she shook her head.
‘We have to look.’ It was Luke. He took a deep breath. ‘Do you want me to open it?’
‘No.’ Natalie shook her head again. ‘I think we need to be very careful with this.’ She could feel the power in it, the weight, the cold. With a shudder she had to restrain herself from hurling it as far away from her as she could. ‘I think we should take it upstairs – outside.’ She had begun to feel sick. Her fear and distaste were gripping her with a violence she couldn’t control. Her hand was beginning to shake.
‘Natalie – ’
‘Out of my way.’ Gritting her teeth she closed her fingers over the object in her hand and headed for the stairs. She had to get outside. Now. Quickly. Before the evil closed over them all.
42