The Girl in the Cellar

CHAPTER 23

When she looked back on it she could just remember going up the stairs, and that they seemed very steep. After that there was a candle-flame that worried her. It kept getting in her eyes. Her clothes seemed to be coming off. Prissy’s little plump hands were undoing hooks and buttons and putting on a nightgown. And then-and then-the candle was being taken away and the room was dark about her. Prissy said something, she thought it was good-night, and the door shut. She sank into sleep like a stone sinking into water and there was nothing else at all.

At first her sleep was quite dreamless. She was too tired for thought. And then, as it drew near to morning and the dazed fatigue passed from her, the dreams came. She was running along a dark tunnel with the sound of an express train coming up behind her. She was sitting high up on a hillside with Jim. It was sunny, and they were at peace. It was like the time when they had been together on the last day she had seen him. She knew that there had been a last time, and she knew that he had taken her in his arms. He didn’t touch her now. They sat side by side in the sunlight and did not look at one another. It was quite peaceful. And then the waves began to lap against their feet. Time seemed to have passed. There hadn’t been any water, but time had passed and the sea was up to their feet. It filled all the place below them where she had seen the open fields and the trees. And suddenly a great wave broke over them. And Jim was gone. And she was alone. She came panting and struggling up from the dream into a crushing sense of loss. Jim was gone, and she was alone.

She opened her eyes and saw the strange room before she remembered anything. It frightened her. She started up in the grey, cold dawn and saw it. She had no memory of how she had come there, and for a moment everything was adrift. Then with a rush memory came back. She sat up in bed and saw herself coming downstairs in the other house, listening to the man as he talked to Lilian. She was back in the dark, her eyes wide, her heart thudding as she listened to them talking in the next room. She remembered it all. She could have repeated every word as she had heard, and every word said to her.

Get up and go from here as fast as you can. She was half out of bed, when there was a knock on the door and Prissy came in with her hair in a plait. It was absurd to feel caught, but she did.

Prissy was yawning.

‘I hate getting up early,’ she said. ’Don’t you. It’s only half-past six, but if you really want to catch a train-’

The train… She didn’t know… She looked at Prissy for a moment of blank unseeing fear. And then it all cleared. She had to get away-to Jim-to Miss Silver. She shut her eyes for a moment, and then opened them again.

‘I’m sorry-I was dreaming. I don’t know where I was, but not here.’

‘Are you here now?’ There was a frank curiosity in Prissy’s voice, and in her look too.

‘Yes-I’m here-’ Her voice shook a little on the words.

Prissy came over and sat on the bed.

‘Well then, I think we’d better talk. What I thought was- you’ve got friends, haven’t you?’

Jim-Miss Silver… She said, ‘Yes, I’ve got friends.’

Prissy hugged herself. She said with a good deal of relief, ‘Well, that’s all right. I should think the best thing would be if I were to drive you to Felsham to catch a train. It’s only seven miles, and it’s a different line, so that if anyone wanted to catch you they wouldn’t think of it-at least I hope they wouldn’t.’

‘Would you-would you do that?’

‘Yes, I would. Are you going to tell me anything?’

‘I don’t know. Would you believe me?’

Prissy burst out laughing.

‘How can I tell? You can try. I mean, if you were to say you had fallen out of an aeroplane, or something like that, I might help you, but I shouldn’t believe you, because that would be stupid. It would be much easier to believe that you were making it up, or-or something like that.’

Anne looked at her. Bright brown eyes in a rosy face, a red dressing-gown, bare feet tucked up beneath her. She said, ‘I won’t make anything up, I promise you that. I can’t tell you everything, because I’ve lost my memory and I don’t know it myself. If I tell you what I do remember you’ll maybe not believe me, so I think I won’t. Because they’ll tell lies-the man who came here last night-’

‘Yes, who is he?’

‘I don’t know-I really don’t.’

Prissy had her arms round her knees. She giggled a little and said, ‘He said you were his niece.’

‘I know-I heard him. It isn’t true.’

‘How do you know if you can’t remember?’

‘I’d never seen him before-I’m sure I hadn’t. He was utterly strange and-and horrible.’

Prissy was nodding.

‘Yes, I thought so too. I was glad you’d locked the door. I thought he was a horror.’ She got off the bed and yawned. ‘Isn’t getting up beastly? But we’d better get going before there are too many people about.’

Anne got out of bed and dressed quickly. She had ten pounds not broken into, that was her real comfort. Ten pounds. She looked for her bag, and couldn’t see it.

It wasn’t there.

She stared about the room, unbelieving. She was still staring when Prissy came back. Anne lifted eyes full of tragedy and said, ‘My money is gone-’

‘Oh-when did you have it last?’

‘I don’t know. It was in my bag-I can’t see it. It was in notes-ten one-pound notes.’

‘When can you remember seeing it last?’

Anne tried to think.

‘Yesterday morning.’ She sat down on the bed, her face white, her hands shaking. ‘What am I going to do?’

‘Perhaps you left it downstairs.’

They looked downstairs, but there was nothing there.

Prissy marched out of the room. Before Anne could get hold of herself she was back again. She had a little bunch of notes in her hand.

‘Here you are,’ she said.

The colour came back into Anne’s face with a rush. She said, ‘Oh, Prissy, I can’t!’

Prissy screwed up her face.

‘Nonsense! Money’s only any good when it’s doing something. This isn’t any good at all, not whilst I’ve got it, because it’s not doing anything but sitting in a box under my nightgowns. If that horrid man of yours had got in last night he’d have taken it.’ She gave a determined little nod of the head. ‘Quite easily. Come along, we’ll have some breakfast. And then we’ll be off to the train.’

They had cold bacon and bread and marmalade and cocoa for breakfast. And then Prissy went down to the garage and got out the car.

‘And suppose the horror is prowling. I think you had better be very quick. In fact I think it would be a good thing if you sort of crouched down in the back seat with a rug over you, so that no one would know I wasn’t alone. And the sooner we get off the better.’

Anne was stiff with fear. The sense of not knowing who she was, of being naked and open to attack, was strong upon her. All the way to Felsham she clutched the rug round her and thought with horror of letting go of it and stepping out on to the platform.

When they reached the first houses Prissy said, ‘You’d better come out now. It won’t do to look as if you didn’t want to be seen.’

That was true. She pushed away the rug, sat up, and tidied her hair. She was more frightened than she had been at all, but she mustn’t show it.

The car ran down to the station, drew up, and she got out. When she turned round Prissy was getting out too. She said, ‘Go into the waiting-room. It’s just here. I’ll take your ticket.’

It was a game for Prissy, an exciting game. But for her- And then suddenly there was a rush of courage and hope. She walked into the waiting-room and sat down with her back to the light.

Prissy came to her there with the ticket.

‘Here you are. There’s a quarter of an hour before the train comes in. It sounds horrid, but I think I had better not wait.’

Anne threw a startled look.

‘Why?’

‘Mrs Brown,’ said Prissy. ‘It’s her day. If she comes and finds me out she’ll talk about it all over the place. As it is, if I go at once I shall just get back before she comes and there won’t be any talk. You’ll be all right.’ She nodded her head and took both of Anne’s cold hands in hers, which were like little warm pies.

‘Let me know how it all comes out,’ she said, and was gone.