"So exotic, so mysterious-it's a place from thepast, you see. It's ancient, and everybody's forgotten about it, but it's still there. Of course, it's terribly dangerous-but not forus…."
Not relevant, Maggie's mind decided, and shestopped listening. Somebody's weird vacationplans; nothing to do with Sylvia or Miles.
She kept on edging down the hall. The door atthe end was shut.
Sylvia's bedroom.
Well, she has to be in there; she isn't anywhereelse.
With a surreptitious glance behind her, Maggie crept closer to the door. She leaned toward it untilher cheek touched the cool white paint on the wood, all the while straining her eyes toward theliving room in case somebody should turn her way. She held her breath and tried to look casual, buther heart was beating so loudly that she could only hear it and the music.
Certainly there was nobody talking behind thedoor. Maggie's hopes of eavesdropping faded.
All right, then, I'll go in. And there's no point intrying to be stealthy; she's going to notice.
So I'll just do it.
It helpedthat she was so keyed up. She didn't even need to brace herself; her body was at maximum tension already. Despite her sense that therewas something menacing about this whole place, she wasn't frightened, or at least not in a way that felt like fear. It felt like rage instead, like being desperately ready for battle. She wanted to grab some thing and shake it to pieces.
She took hold of the knob and pushed the dooropen.
A new smell of incense hit her as the air rushedout. It was stronger than the living room smell,more earthy and musky, with an overlying sweetness that Maggie didn't like. The bedroom was even darker than the hall, but Maggie stepped inside.There was tension on the door somehow; as soon as she let go of it, it whispered shut behind her.
Sylvia was standing beside the desk.
She was alone, and she was still wearing theGore-Tex climbing outfit she'd had on at Maggie'shouse. Her shimmering fine hair was starting todry and lifting up like little angel feathers awayfrom her forehead.
She was doing something with a brass incenseburner, adding pinches of powder and what looked like herbs to it. That was where thesickeninglysweet smell was coming from.