of trouble to re-create a teenage girl’s bedroom, only to have a young woman stand in it with an expression of complete bemusement on her face.
“Ah,” I said, breaking the silence.
Alex looked at her mother and must have seen something there because she leapt forward and hugged her fiercely. “Thanks, Mum.” She said. “It’s… lovely.”
“Well, we can change things,” said Katherine hurriedly. “You can choose your own decorations. We’ll have a man in to do it properly, you’ll see.” She hugged her daughter back and kissed her hair. They were almost the same height, I noticed.
“It’s a bit…” I started to say. Alex glared at me over her mother’s shoulder. “…smaller than I remember.” I finished. “But I guess you’ll get used to it.”
“It’s fine,” said Alex, releasing her mother. “Right, Dad, it’s time you were going, isn’t it?”
“Is it?” I asked. “There were a few things I thought we should talk about,” I suggested.
Alex side-stepped her mother and steered me towards the stairs. I found myself being propelled gently down to the front door. “You will remember to be careful,” I said to Alex over my shoulder. “You’re not supposed to be here, remember?”
“I’ll be invisible,” said Alex. “You can come and get me in a few days. It’ll give Mum and me some time together.”
“I meant to talk to you about Kayleigh,” I said, remembering that I hadn’t explained to Alex what Kayleigh knew.
“Don’t worry. It’ll all sort itself out.” She opened the door pointedly.
“OK, I give in. I’ll leave you to it.”
She stood on tiptoe and kissed my cheek. “Thanks, Dad.”
I shook my head. “If you need me to come and get you…”
“I’ll come back when I’m ready. Mum knows I’m not staying forever.”
“OK. Have a good time.” I stepped outside and she closed the door after me. I couldn’t escape the feeling that I’d just been evicted by my own daughter.
I straightened my jacket and evaluated options. I would actually be better walking down to the tube station and then finding a Way-node in the centre of town. It would take slightly longer, but would involve a lot less walking.
I turned out of the drive and set off for the station, only to have Katherine run out of the house after me. “Niall, wait!”
I turned and waited for her. “That didn’t take long. What’s the problem?”
“No problem,” she said, “but this came for you. It’s been behind the clock in the lounge for a week or so, but I didn’t have a forwarding address.” She handed me a white envelope with my name and Katherine’s address written out longhand in scrawling blue script. I turned it over and there was a serious-looking crest on the back of the envelope.
“It looked like a summons,” she said. “You haven’t been speeding again, have you?”
I slit the top of the envelope with my finger and pulled out a sheet of carefully folded heavy white notepaper. The crest was repeated on the letterhead – it gave the address as The Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand, London. The same scrawling hand had written the letter.
Dear Niall, if that really is your name.
Please forgive the unorthodox method of contacting you but I have no other way. I’ve checked the archives, and read the notes of my predecessors, and there’s no precedent for this. I got this address from Sam – you remember him, I’m sure. He said this was the last address you were known at. I hope to God it reaches you.
It’s happening again. They’ve been here, I know it. It feels wrong and there are things in places where they shouldn’t be. It shouldn’t be possible, but I swear it’s them.
“Niall?” said Katherine. “Is it bad news?”
“May I come in for a moment?” I asked her. “I’d like to use your phone.”
I followed her back to the house. Alex was holding the door half open. “What’s wrong, Dad? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“May I?” I asked Katherine, nodding towards the phone in the hall.
“You can use the one in the lounge if you’d like privacy,” she said.
I stepped through to the lounge and took the sofa seat next to the telephone, opening out the letter to read the rest of it.
They don’t know I’m wise to them yet, and I’m not sure what they’re after, but they’ve been here more than once. I’m making a point of not staying after dark, but I need your help. I can’t deal with this alone. I’ve taken limited precautions, but