Page 56 of Infamous

‘Well, I’m only saying .?.?. surely we are just going to bring back the previous inhabitant, and they might not be best pleased that we are all sitting around using their own personal head as a centrepiece.’

One of Nash’s eyes cracked open.

‘It is a family heirloom, all right? Now, please – desist.’

Valentine sighed, but didn’t speak again.

‘Now, you must all close your eyes and hold hands.Allof you, and no complaining.’ Eddie took Kitty’s hand on her left and Henry’s on her right; she watched as Henry, red to the roots of his hair, took Nash’s. ‘Eyesclosed, Edith.’

She closed them.

It seemed strange that she could hardly hear the noise of the party up here, when it had felt all-consuming just moments ago; even Rose and Miss Cliffe felt as if they belonged to some other reality. She attuned herself to the breathing of those in the circle, the sound of the floor creaking below them, the breeze whining through the holes in the roof somewhere above their heads.

‘Much better. Now, you must all let your minds go quiet, so that the spirits may enter.’

There was a period of quiet, during which somebody fidgeted and then fell still. As the silence stretched on, Eddie found that she was actually feeling a little unnerved.

‘Now .?.?.is there anybody there?’

No answer came in any form, even when he repeated the question twice, and Eddie felt herself relax slightly. Therewassomething deeply foreboding about this part of the house at night. Her mind went to the bedroom door directly behind her, warped shut, the contents unknown for years. What might have crept in through the smashed windows and the hole in the roof, unnoticed? What might be lurking there now, perhaps awaiting a visitor, or preparing to claw its way out?

Dead leaves, Eddie reminded herself firmly. And potentially a family of damp squirrels.

‘Are you finished?’ Valentine said finally. ‘Only, if it’s a choice between sitting here with human remains and enjoying a party with those still living, I choose the latter.’

‘Damn it, no, there must be a .?.?.I,Nash Nicholson, son and heir to this house and the land it stands upon, call upon the spirits to hear my voice. I offer you .?.?. er .?.?. my body, as a vessel. My life’s blood, to sustain you. Come on, there must be something you want .?.?.’

‘I can feel something,’ Kitty said suddenly, certain and solemn, her grip on Eddie’s hand tightening. Eddie immediately opened her eyes.

‘What is it?’ she asked.

Kitty shuddered. ‘I feel .?.?. cold.’

‘We all feel cold,’ Valentine said. ‘There’s a hole in the roof.’

‘Shutup, Valentine, let her speak,’ Nash hissed. ‘What do you feel, Kitty?’

‘Be quiet a moment,’ said Kitty. Eddie studied her face, trying to work out if this was all a jest, but she did not seem to be joking. ‘I think thereissomeone here.’

A moment after she spoke, Eddie became aware of a noise she had somehow not noticed – it sounded like a soft thudding, coming from one of the uninhabitable rooms. She glanced around the circle. None of them seemed to have heard it – except Henry, whose gaze was fixed in that direction, frowning. There was a brief sensation like fingers brushing very gently against the nape of her neck, and she felt all of her hair stand on end.

It was probably a shutter, Eddie reasoned. Something loose, banging in the wind. A breeze on her neck. Nothing to be concerned about.

‘A woman,’ Kitty said suddenly, making Eddie jump. ‘There is a woman here. She is .?.?. angry. Hungry.Furious.’

Eddie looked at Nash, who seemed delighted. He leaned towards Kitty, eager for more. By rights his coat should have immediately caught flame, but the candles closest to him seemed to have gone out.

‘Ask her something,’ Nash urged. ‘Go on.’

‘Ask why she’s here,’ said Eddie.

Somewhere behind one of the doors, there was a very loud, distinctive creak. Eddie could no longer pretend that she wasn’t genuinely alarmed. She wished it were Rose sitting next to her – calming her, grounding her. Kitty was holding on to her so tightly that her hand was beginning to throb.

‘She died here,’ Kitty said. ‘On the island.’

Eddie thought of Valentine’s story of the drowned maid, and felt a chill run up the length of her spine.

‘She wants to speak to somebody here.’ Kitty’s eyes opened, and she looked straight at Henry; he stared back in open horror, his mouth slack. ‘It might be—’