Epiworld (11 page)

‘Cheese sandwiches, with Dundee cake. Demi’s coming down.’

‘She’s back, then? How did she get on at the solicitor’s?’

‘All right, she said.’

‘Good. Mrs Dunbar,’ he marches into the kitchen, clapping his hands, ‘are those sandwiches ready yet? I’m starving!’

Demi comes in looking pale. Her eyes are red; she’s been crying. She tells us miserably about Chase coming to stay.

‘So you do have a boyfriend, Demi!’ Dr Mac helps himself to a sandwich. ‘Travis did say you had one. You kept that quiet! Is he staying at the hotel?’

‘Yes.’

‘He’d be welcome here if we had the room.’

Demi doesn’t answer, only picks at her food.

After lunch, Dr Mac says, ‘Come into my office, and we’ll have that chat, Travis.’

Now I’m about to find out what this ‘proposition’ is all about.

‘Take a seat,’ he says, so I sit in the chair opposite his desk. ‘It’s about your seizures.’

‘What about them?’

‘I think there may be a way to get rid of them once and for all.’

I bite my lip. Part of me wants the seizures to go, for me to be rid of the scourge they bring, but if they do go, I may never get back to twenty ninety-nine.

‘Is there a stronger medicine you can give me, then?’

‘No, I’m thinking of surgery. The Neurology Hospital in Glasgow...’

Suddenly I’m back in the institution again, listening to Chase talking about epilepsy surgery. I grip the arm of the chair nervously.

‘Travis, calm down,’ says the doctor impatiently. ‘It’s a perfectly safe procedure.’

‘No! I don’t want them to touch me!’

‘But these seizures are ruining your life! You can’t go on living with them forever, Travis. Have you thought about work; a career?’

‘There’s no point. I might not...’
I might not be here
. ‘I’m all right doing odd jobs. I get by.’

‘Wheesht, laddie! You should be earning a proper living now, and you can’t do that if you keep having fits. The tablets won’t keep you going forever, and the seizures won’t go away on their own. They’re too severe. The only way to eradicate them once and for all is with surgery.’

‘I can’t let them poke inside my head! I’ll – I’ll die!’

‘You won’t die! I’m telling you it’s perfectly safe!’

‘And I’m telling you it’s not!’

We glare at one another, neither of us wanting to give way.

‘Just think about it, Travis,’ says Dr Mac at last. ‘That’s all I ask. I’m trying to help you, not hurt you!’

‘I know, and I appreciate it, but I can’t go through with it.’ I stand up. ‘Sorry, Dr Mac, I’m just not prepared to take the chance.’

I leave the room before he says any more, but later, after supper when I’m helping to clear the table, he brings up the subject again, and gives me a booklet.

‘At least read it through,’ he says as I throw it irritably on the table. ‘It’ll answer most of your questions, and I’ll be able to tell you anything else you might want to know.’

When I get up the next morning, the booklet is still on the table. I glance at the title, ‘Epilepsy Surgery – What You Need To Know’ before flicking through it curiously. There are photographs of people of all ages in hospital beds, smiling. Nurses and doctors are chatting to them. Patients are sitting in armchairs with electrodes attached to their heads, like the ECT electrodes, but these are to monitor the patient for two weeks so a computer can read his or her brain waves during a seizure. Two weeks! That’s a long time! According to the booklet, if the patient has a lot of seizures, and the brain waves show severe readings, then there’s a case for surgery.

The booklet makes it all seem safe and harmless, the people look happy and relaxed, but I’m still not going to risk it.

I
’m amazed when Demi asks me to go with her to the ferry to meet Chase. It’s the first time she’s spoken to me properly in days.

‘Yeah, ‘course I’ll come, if you really want me to; but why do you want me there?’ I look at her closely. She’s still pale, and there are dark circles under her eyes. I don’t think she’s been sleeping very well. ‘Are you scared to meet him on your own? Come on, Dem, tell me, what’s on your mind?’

She walks to the window, and looks out at Ben Crian, the mountain standing proudly against a brilliant blue sky.

‘I want to know if you recognise him,’ she replies hoarsely. ‘I want to know if he recognises you.’

I kiss the top of her head. ‘I think you know I was telling the truth about Chase, don’t you?’

She turns and faces me. ‘I don’t know; I think you believe you were,’ she says, ‘but – but I can’t get what you said about me running away out of my head – and – and the jumper! Chas’s jumper! I’ve been having funny dreams ever since. I can’t get the thought out of my head that you know him, but I need proof, Travis.’

‘What sort of dreams?’

‘Vivid ones, so real,’ she catches her breath, ‘all three of us on the beach; you appearing out of nowhere after four years, not knowing where you’d been, him looking so – different; evil almost. You knew him; you were genuinely frightened of him. It could be autosuggestion; me listening to your story, imagining what went on, but it’s worrying me, and it won’t go away. You also called him “Chase”...’

‘His surname,’ I interrupt. ‘Michael Charles Chase is his full name.’

‘You see what I mean, Travis? I didn’t tell you what his full name was!’

‘You did, Dem. You told me that night.’

Not dreams, not autosuggestion: real memories. Quickly I take her in my arms, wanting to love and protect her.

‘It’ll be all right, Dem,’ I whisper softly. ‘It’ll all become clear soon, I promise.’

––––––––

I
’m almost bursting with anticipation when we arrive at the ferry terminal at quarter to two, but I have to keep myself in check since Demi is almost shaking with nerves, and not saying much.

‘No sign of the boat yet,’ she remarks at last, squinting in the sunlight at the empty horizon. ‘It’s late. You can usually see it halfway across the water by now. Oh, wait a minute, what’s that?’

The black dot in the distance gets bigger and bigger, until eventually a large boat cuts fast through the water. Soon the Oban to Crianvarich Ferry manoeuvres its massive hull into the harbour, docking twelve minutes late.

As we near the ferry landing foot passengers are streaming down the gangplank. Some are wheeling bikes, others are pushing prams. Cars and lorries drive down the ramp. There’s Michael Charles Chase near the back of the convoy of foot passengers, with his untidy hair and glasses, wearing a dark heavy jacket, and dragging a case with wheels behind him.

‘Can you see him?’ whispers Demi, staring at me.

‘That’s him with the glasses, pulling the case,’ I reply at once. ‘I’m sorry, Dem.’

I really am. Her hand is over her mouth now. She obviously doesn’t know what to think. Chase strides towards her, puts his arm around her, and kisses her full on the lips. Her body stiffens.

‘Oh, Dem, I’ve been so worried about you! How’ve you been? Your poor dad! What a shock!’

‘I’m bearing up,’ answers Demi faintly. ‘Chas...’

He’s not listening to her. His cold, grey eyes, so familiar to me, lock onto mine, and we’re gazing hard at one another. There’s a purple mark under his eye concealed well by the frame of his glasses, but not well enough. Poor Demi can see the bruise, too. Now she knows it’s true.

‘Hello, Travis. Feeling better?’

‘Not bad. How’s the eye?’

‘It’s all right now. It hurt for precisely one minute.’

He’s making no attempt to deny the events of that night. Demi wriggles away from his arms. She’s staring at both of us with dread.

‘Demi, what’s wrong?’ Chase asks.

‘Leave me alone, both of you!’ she shrieks. ‘Don’t come near me!’

I put my hand firmly on his shoulder to stop him from following her as she runs off through the crowded harbour. ‘Let her go.’

He’s irritated, put out by her reaction. ‘What’s wrong with her?’ he growls angrily.

‘Not here. The café.’

He follows me to the little harbour café where we order two beers. I imagine I’m back in twenty ninety-nine where someone predicts I will share a beer with Professor Chase in two thousand and fourteen. Of course I don’t believe them, but now it’s true, and since he’s paying, I’m going to pass up the opportunity of a free drink. We find a table by the window, and I get straight to the point.

‘The night I was found on the beach, you were there.’

‘Of course I was,’ says Chase. ‘That’s how we got into the fight; so?’

‘Demi has no memory of it. Tell me why.’

He takes a long swig of beer before he answers, ‘Well, she’s been under a lot of stress. The mind can play weird tricks on you when you’re under so much strain.’

‘Don’t muck me around, Chase!’ I snap. ‘You’re screwing with her head, so let’s not play any more games! I know who you are, you know who I am. I also know what you’re capable of. At first Demi didn’t believe me when I told her what went on at the beach, but when I showed her your red jumper she completely lost the plot. Running away with you was only an idea in her head, but I knew about it, because she told me that night. Now she’s forgotten everything. I want you to tell me why. I want you to tell me what’s going on.’

Chase sits back in his chair, clapping his hands slowly. Other people in the café are looking over at us.

‘Well done, Travis!’ he snipes. ‘I’ve got to hand it to you, it didn’t take you long to figure it out.’

‘Was there any doubt that I wouldn’t?’ I bite back. ‘So what’s your agenda with Demi? Why are you younger than you were when I left, posing as her boyfriend, and
how
and
why
have you made her forget all that stuff at the beach, only to do her head in, and to confuse her to the point where she thinks she might be going mad?’

He smiles his usual cold smile. ‘I’m not going to tell you all of it,’ he says smugly. ‘That wouldn’t be much fun; but OK, I’ll tell you some of it. I made Demi forget because I was, er, experimenting to see if something works here like it does in twenty ninety-nine. I’m pleased to say that it does. I made three mistakes; I saved you from drowning, I gave you my red jumper to keep you warm, and I didn’t stay away long enough for this to heal.’ He swipes off his glasses, showing the bruise. ‘When I heard you’d already told her everything I couldn’t really deny it because she told me about the jumper, but I have to admit to being a little more than satisfied to see her confusion when I arrived. It means I haven’t lost my touch. I had to come back straightaway, play the supportive boyfriend, reassure her she hasn’t lost her mind –
ouch
!’

I land a punch square on his jaw. He tries to stop himself from falling by grabbing my shirt, but it doesn’t work because he topples backwards, upsetting the beers, and landing in a heap on the floor, a piece of my torn sleeve in his hand.

‘You snake!’ I shout. ‘She loves you, and she thinks you love her! What is she, part of some sick plan you’ve got which involves getting at me? Well, if she is, keep her out of it! Creeping into her life, trying to screw it up, and messing with her head! If you harm her...’

There’s a hand on my collar, and I’m being hurled out into the street. Chase follows soon after. He lands on top of me, so I push him off.

‘You’re barred!’ bellows the café owner. ‘Fighting in my place! Sod off, the pair o’ yez!’

The door slams shut. We get to our feet, brush ourselves down, and glare at one another.

‘Well, I’m off to my hotel,’ says Chase coldly, rubbing his chin. ‘Tell Demi I’ll see her later.’

He brushes past me, knocking my shoulder.

Oh, and Travis?’

‘What?’

‘I hope you washed that jumper, because I want it back!’

––––––––

H
e saunters up the hill towards the hotel. I’m being scowled at through the café window, so I cross the road, making my way towards the bank. Loitering in the doorway I can just see the hotel entrance from there. I’ve no idea if Chase will come back out, but something tells me I should watch and wait, and at last he puts in an appearance. Quickly I duck behind a pillar, but he’s going in the opposite direction. I dart out of sight, watching as he walks towards the crossroads, his hands in his pockets. I follow at a reasonable distance, keeping well back in case he decides to turn around.

Soon we’re walking into open countryside. There isn’t much in the way of cover, except for a few brambly hedges, so I make sure I keep well back. There are two policemen standing at the junction of the road guarding a barrier with signs saying that it’s closed to pedestrians and traffic. A car drives slowly, stops, and is directed towards the diversion. The policeman is about to look up, so I scramble quickly into the hedge, wincing as the sharp brambles scratch my arm.

Chase approaches the policemen. They stop him, and speak to him briefly. I nearly gasp out loud when he raises his finger, and presses it against their foreheads in turn. Staring straight through him, they open the road block, and let him pass!

Hypnosis! That’s what he wants to practise; that’s what he’s being doing to Demi! My blood runs cold. Chase likes to use hypnosis in his therapy sessions at the institution. Why does he want to use it here, other than to get a kick out of manipulating a vulnerable person like Demi?

I don’t expect to get past the road block, but I’m desperate to keep Chase in sight, so I worm my way towards the lane through the fields. Luckily it’s been dry recently; I won’t get muddy if I fall in a ditch. The hedges are dense, and I’m attacked by more brambles and nettles as I fight my way through long grass, adding to the tear in my shirt as I go.

I work out that the lane leading to the Frasers’ farm lies in the direction of a small collection of trees at the end of the field. Once I get through the other side I come to a stone wall which isn’t very high, so I’m able to see the farmhouse. There’s a policeman standing by the gate leading up to the farm, and I can just make out the top of a police car parked further along.

Chase is there, talking to him. I want to get closer, hear what they’re saying, but the fields are too open, and I can’t do it without being noticed. I decide not to risk it. I wonder if Chase is going to pull the hypnotic finger trick on him, too; he does! Then he walks up to the farmhouse, opens the door, and goes in. He’s in the house for about ten minutes before he eventually comes out, walks past the policeman, and goes back towards the main road.