Part 27 (2/2)

'I've ordered for you,' noted Hatch as he watched a young couple move towards their table. He tutted, and glanced back at Rebecca with a look of annoyance on his face. 'Time was when you had to be dressed to get in this place. That man was wearing jeans.'

'Call the manager immediately!' said Rebecca. 'You know your trouble, Matt? You're a sn.o.b. Always have been.'

'Nothing wrong with that,' noted Hatch. 'There are too many ignorant plebs in the world. We need a good cull every now and then to thin them out.'

'We haven't had a decent world war for a while,' noted Rebecca with a smile, sipping her vodka and lime.

'It's not for the want of trying,' continued Hatch.

He'd forgotten how much he enjoyed these sparring encounters with Rebecca. For all her acquired sophistication, she was still a vicar's daughter from the sticks, fascinated by powerful, dangerous men. And as dirty as they came.

She licked her red lips and said softly, in not much more than a whisper, 'You're bad.'

He stared into her eyes and lifted his gla.s.s of wine in a toast. 'Here's to badness.'

Steven Chen had met Ace earlier in the day, and they had walked the lanes around the village in near silence, grateful to be away from the claustrophobic madness of Hexen Bridge. Ace had spotted a pall of smoke drifting over the cottages, but Steven had said it was probably farmers burning away the stubble from their fields.

As evening fell, Ace and Steven sat on a wooden stile, high up on the hills. The darkness that covered Hexen Bridge seemed to seep up from the ground, swallowing cottages, trees and sky. They felt, rather than saw, things moving in the shadows all around them.

'It's time we got some answers,' announced Ace suddenly.

'Who from?' asked Steven, rubbing his arms against the sudden chill in the air.

'Who here seems to have the best idea of what's going on?

The vicar. Let's confront him with what we know.'

'What, and tell him we broke into the church?'

Ace got to her feet. 'Come on.' She strode down the hillside towards the church, Steven following somewhat nervously in her wake. When she reached the vicarage she banged loudly on the door.

Baber pulled it open almost immediately, as if he had been expecting someone. His face fell. 'Oh, it's you. What do you want?'

'I'd like to ask you about the photographs of the village.'

The look that crossed the man's face was a contradictory mixture of relief and horror. 'You've seen them? But I expressly forbade you -'

'We saw the photos,' interjected Steven, 'and we were chased from the church by...' He paused, realising how ridiculous it all sounded. 'Scarecrows.'

Baber nodded. 'I had my suspicions when I opened the door this morning. Even the villagers wouldn't dare destroy the fabric of the church.' He looked around nervously, but the darkness that filled the lane was unmoving. 'You'd better come in,' he said.

'You know, the cost of that meal would have fed a whole village in Africa for a month,' said Rebecca as they climbed into Hatch's car. Ian Slater opened the door for her, and closed it as she settled in.

'Remind me to send a plane over to Bongo Bongo Land a.s.a.p.,' said Hatch, with a trace of irritation.

The car drove off, and they sat in silence for several miles before a trace of concern crossed Rebecca's face. 'We're going the wrong way,' she said, leaning forward and tapping on the gla.s.s behind the chauffeur.

'Short cut,' said Hatch dismissively.

'No it's not,' said Rebecca. 'We're heading back to London.

Matthew, I haven't got time for all this, I've got school tomorrow.'

'Sod school,' said Hatch, looking away from her and out of the window.

'Look,' she said angrily, 'you can't just snap your fingers and have me come running every time you feel like it. If you think you're going to get your leg over tonight, matey, you've got another think coming. Now get your slave to turn this car around and take me home. Right now.'

Hatch turned back to her, a quizzical look on his face.

'You're sweating. Are you all right?'

'No,' said Rebecca after a brief pause. 'I feel awful. I think I'm coming down with something.'

'It could be the drug I put in your coffee,' said Hatch.

'You what?' shouted Rebecca.

'Shhhhh,' said Hatch, putting a finger to his lips. 'You just sit back and relax, and I'll take you somewhere where they'll make you feel much better.'

'We could have been killed last night,' said Ace. 'I think the least you could do is tell us what the h.e.l.l is going on.'

Baber stared down at the carpet, as if there was a message somewhere in the Axminster. A cup of coffee was going cold on a table at his side.

'From what Ace has said,' continued Steven, more diplomatically, 'it's as if you wanted her to investigate further.'

Baber sighed. 'The darkest secrets are those we want most desperately to share.'

'Meaning?' snapped Ace.

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