other towards Barbara.
When they didn't twig what she wanted, she slapped her palms against the tabletop and then turned her hands towards them. They were meant to clasp hers.
"She's here among us!" Yolanda cried. "Oh tell me, beloved one. Who? Who?" She began to moan.
"Jesus on white bread." Barbara looked at Winston, aghast. Were they meant to ring for help? Nine, nine, nine or whatever? Should they dash her with water? Was there sage anywhere handy?
"Dark as the night," Yolanda whispered, her voice hoarser than before. "He is dark as the night."
Well, he would be, Barbara thought, if for no other reason than they always were.
"Attended by his partner the sun, he comes upon her. Together they do it. He was not alone. I see him. I see him. Oh my beloved!" And then she screamed. And then she fainted. Or she seemed to faint.
"Bloody hell." Nkata whispered the words. He looked to Barbara for direction.
She wanted to tell him that he was the one with the brilliant aura, so he should damn well be able to sort out what to do. But instead, she got to her feet and he did likewise and together they righted Yolanda's throne, seated her, and got her head down between her knees.
When she came to, which happened with an alacrity suggesting she'd not actually fainted in the first place, she moaned about McHaggis, the house, Jemima, Jemima's questions about him and does he love me, Yolanda, is he the one, Yolanda, should I give in and do what he asks, Yolanda. But aside from moaning "dark as the night that covers me," which to Barbara sounded suspiciously like a line from verse, Yolanda was able to relay nothing else. She did say that Abbott Langer was likely to know more because Jemima had been quite regular about her skating lessons and he'd been impressed with her devotion to the ice.
"It's that house," Yolanda said in summation. "I tried to warn her about that house."
FINDING ABBOTT LANGER was a simple matter. The Queen's Ice and Bowl was just up the street, as the psychic herself had said. As its name suggested, it combined the pleasures of ten-pin bowling and ice skating. It also offered a video arcade, a food bar, and a noise level guaranteed to coax migraines from individuals previously immune to them. This came from all directions and comprised an utter cacophony of sounds: rock 'n' roll from the bowling area; shrieks, bleeps, bangs, buzzers, and bells from the video arcade; dance music from the skating rink; shouts and screams from the skaters on the ice. Because of the time of year, the place was aswarm with children and their parents and with young teenagers in need of a location in which to hang round, send text messages, and otherwise look cool. Also, due to the ice, it was quite pleasant in the building itself, and this brought in more people off the street, if only to lower their body temperature.
Perhaps four dozen people were on the ice, most of them clinging to the handrails at the side. The music - what could be heard of it above the din - seemed designed to encourage smooth strokes of the feet, but it wasn't working very well. No one, Barbara noted, save the skating instructors, was keeping time. And there were three of these, obvious by the yellow waistcoats they were wearing, obvious by the fact that they were the only ones who seemed able to skate backwards, which looked to Barbara like an admirable feat.
She and Winston stood against the rail, watching the action for a moment. Several children among the skaters appeared to be taking lessons in an area in the middle of the ice reserved for them. They were being coached by a largish man with a helmet of hair that made him look like an Elvis impersonator. He was far bigger than one associated with ice skaters, well over six feet tall and built like a refrigerator: not at all fat, but solid. He was difficult not to notice, not only because of the hair but also because he was - despite his bulk - remarkably light on his feet. He turned out to be Abbott Langer, and he joined them briefly at the side of the rink when one of the other instructors went out to fetch him.
He had to complete the lesson he was giving, he said. They could wait for him here - "Watch that little