Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine (reading an ebook TXT) 📕

Jo took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Chandler"—at last she had remembered the woman's name—"but whatever you think, there is no baby!"

There is no baby.

She repeated the words to herself as she closed the door. Last night at eleven she had sat there, in silence, listening, and there had been no sound...

She went straight to the phone and called Sam, then she walked through into the bedroom and looked around. The windows were wide open. The room was tidy—and empty. The only sound was the distant roar of traffic drifting between the houses from the Cromwell Road.

Sam arrived at ten to twelve. He kissed Jo on the cheek and presented her with a bottle of Liebfraumilch.

She had put on some makeup to try to hide the dark rings under her eyes and was wearing her peacock-blue silk dress. Her hair was tied back severely with a black velvet ribbon. He looked her up and down critically. "How are you feeling, Jo?" The makeup did not fool him, no mere than had her cheerful voice and breezy invitation. She had sounded near the breaking point.

"I'm fine. My breasts are back to normal, thank God!" She managed a shaky smile. "Let's open that bottle. I've drunk all the Scotch. Sam—I think I'm going mad. "

Sam raised an eyebrow as he rummaged in the drawer for a corkscrew. She found it for him. "It's the baby. I've heard him again. "

"I see. " Sam was concentrating on the bottle. "Last night?"

She nodded. "And, Sam, the woman upstairs has heard him too. She came down to complain. " Her hands were shaking slightly as she reached for two wineglasses from the cabinet.

He took them from her, his hands covering hers for a moment. "Jo, if the woman upstairs has heard it there has to be a logical explanation. There must be a baby in one of the other apartments and you've both heard it. "

"No. " Jo shook her head. "It was William. "

"Jo—"

"The noise was in this apartment, Sam. She said so. Last night. She stood on the landing outside my door and listened, and heard him!"

Sam pressed a glass of wine into her hand. "May I wander around?"

Jo waited on the balcony, sipping her wine, staring across into the trees in the square. It was five minutes before Sam joined her.

"I admit it is a puzzle, " he said at last. "But I'm not convinced there isn't a baby—a real baby—somewhere in the building, or perhaps next door. " He had brought the bottle with him and topped up her glass. "Unless—I suppose there is a faint possibility that somewhere psychokinetic energy is being created, presumably by you—to project the sound of a child crying, but no, I don't think so. It is so unlikely as to be impossible. I suggest you put it out of your mind. "

"I can't, " Jo cried. "Can you imagine what it's like hearing little Will cry, knowing he's hungry, wanting to hold him? Wondering why, if I can't feed him, someone else doesn't? Someone who is there, in the past with him!"

"Jo, I did warn you, " Sam said gently. "You should have stopped while you still could. "

Jo stared at him. "You mean I can't stop now?" She snapped off a stem of honeysuckle. "No, of course I can't, you're right. " Leaning on the balustrade, she sniffed at the delicate red and gold flower. "I tried to call Dr. Bennet but he's still away in the States. Sam, I've got to work this thing through, haven't I? I've got to get it out of my system. And the only way to do that is to go on with the story. Find out what happened next. " She turned to face him. "Please, Sam, I want you to hypnotize me. I want you to regress me. "

Sam was watching her closely. Thoughtfully he raised his glass and took a sip of wine. "I think that's a good idea, Jo, " he said at last.

"You mean you will?" She had been prepared for a stand-up argument.

"Yes, I'll hypnotize you. "

"When?"

"After lunch. If the mood seems right we'll have a go this afternoon. "

To her surprise Jo wasn't nervous. She was relaxed in Sam's company, relieved not to be alone in the apartment anymore, and she enjoyed the lunch with him. Several times she found herself talking about Nick, as if she could not avoid the sound of his name, but each time she sensed Sam's disapproval and, not wanting to spoil the atmosphere between them, she changed the subject. They played music and drank the wine, and she lay back on the sofa, listening to the soft strains of the guitar.

She was almost asleep when she felt him sit down on the sofa beside her and gently take the empty wineglass from her hand.

"I think this is as good a moment as any to start, don't you?" he said. He raised his hand and lightly passed it over her face, closing her eyes as he began to talk.

She could feel herself drifting willingly under his spell. It was different from Carl Bennet. She could hear Sam's voice and she was aware of her surroundings, just as in Devonshire Place, but she could not move. She was conscious of him standing up and going over to the front door, where she heard him draw the bolt. Puzzled, she wanted to ask him why, but she could feel part of her mind detaching itself, roaming free, settling back into blackness. Suddenly she was afraid. She wanted to fight him but she could not move and she could not speak.

Sam sat beside her on the sofa. "No, Jo, " he said softly. "There is nothing you can do about it, nothing at all. It never seems to have crossed your mind, Jo, that you might not be alone in your new incarnation, that others might have followed you. That old scores might have to be settled