almost childish glee. ‘I’m so grateful …’ I was about to thank her again but my attention was caught by the chap sitting alone on the small round table behind her. I hadn’t noticed him previously. But now he was staring at me, his body very still, shoulders rigid with tension. Then suddenly he jumped to his feet, spilling his drink over the small table, and raced for the door. Surprised that he would leave the contents spreading over the surface onto the floor, I looked after him. The angle where I was sitting meant I only caught the profile of his face. But I recognised it. He was the man I had knocked into at the garage after Uncle Roger’s party.
Amelia had turned to see the commotion. She looked back and raised her eyebrows. ‘Some people!’
‘He’s not a local then?’ I said as he disappeared out the front door.
‘No. Not seen him before. Actually I was going to say earlier – I thought you’d pulled!’ She snorted with laughter again. ‘He couldn’t take his eyes off you, the whole time we’ve been here. He was at the bar when we were, then took a table after us.’
Unusually I felt myself blush. At least I think it was a blush. A surge of heat spread through my body, leaving me slightly nauseous and queer.
‘Are you all right, Sadie?’ Amelia asked, eyeing me up and down.
I told her I was feeling a bit dodgy and got the bill.
As we wound down our chat Amelia suggested I should take a trip to Kew Gardens.
‘The National Archives are in Kew. They keep passenger lists for ships bound to America.’
‘Great,’ I said, enormously indebted to my new friend. ‘Ever thought of going into journalism?’
‘Couldn’t hack the hours,’ she said with a grin.
I paid up and called a cab, then saw her out onto the pavement. Just before she got into the car, she darted back and gave me a hug. ‘Good luck,’ she said. ‘I mean, with tonight. Don’t let the ghosties or the bedbugs bite.’
I kissed her goodbye and watched the car disappear round the curve of the road. I can almost see myself standing there, waving into the distance. I wish she’d have told me to ‘gird my loins’ or something. It might have helped.
My night at the Thorn was just about to begin in earnest.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Amelia had given me a lot to think about. I was buzzing with ideas and theories and was now able to understand her earlier exuberance. My scalp was itching with excitement. This stuff was good.
I returned to my room, pulled out my notebook and started to annotate the sheets that she had given me. I think I was at it for a good hour until my neck started aching, forcing me to change position. I flopped on the bed, stretched and rubbed my back, realising as I relaxed that I needed to pee, so nipped into the ensuite.
I splashed some water on my face, turned off the tap, inspected a fading blemish on my chin. Then I opened the connecting door and took a couple of steps back into the bedroom.
I don’t know what I noticed first – the drop of temperature or the warping blackness on the far side of the bed. At first I skated over it and my feet automatically continued walking. But when the sight registered with my brain, my whole body stopped stone dead. Slowly, my eyes swivelled back to the other side of the bed.
A woman was standing there.
Shorter than me, her hair was tucked under a white linen cap. She was looking down at something in her hand.
Perhaps, I thought in a flash of reason, it’s one of the staff.
I took in the dress – a grey, stiff, linen shift that reached to the floor, patterned with large grey flowers. Over this she wore an apron. There were smears of blood on it.
I hadn’t exhaled since I’d caught sight of her, but in shock at the sight of bloodstains I released an untidy bustle of air, drawing in quickly once more when I realised it wasn’t her dress that was patterned with flowers. It was the wallpaper on the far wall. I could see it through her body and dress. The woman was insubstantial, wavering.
I did absolutely nothing. My brain had completely closed down leaving me helpless, unable to move.
Wavy lines appeared like visible air streams between us. The bedside lamp flickered and dimmed. My breath came out like