Warhol's Prophecy (31 page)

‘We’ve been on all the rides there are,’ Hailey insisted.

‘We haven’t been in
there
,’ said Rob, pointing ahead of him.

The hall of mirrors bore a huge clown’s face that leered down at them as if daring them to enter.

Hailey looked at the large wooden face, and thought how menacing it appeared. Not the usual benevolent visage of a clown, but something darker. The mouth looked more like a sneer than a smile.

Rob saw her slow her pace and he reached for her hand.

‘What’s wrong?’ He smiled.

‘Nothing,’ she told him, squeezing his hand. ‘Nothing at all.’ She leant across and kissed his cheek.

‘Come on,’ said Becky, pulling them both towards the entrance. She ran ahead, beckoning to her parents, who sauntered along behind.

‘I got lost in one of these when I was a kid,’ Hailey said quietly. ‘I was in there for ages before they got me out. I was terrified.’

‘Well, hold my hand,’ Rob told her. ‘
I’ll
make sure you don’t get lost.’

They looked at each other for brief seconds, then Becky’s excited cries sent them running towards the cashier.

Rob paid the entrance fee and they walked in.

Immediately, Becky began to laugh as she was confronted by a bank of distorting mirrors that elongated and squashed her image alternately.

Hailey and Rob also stood gazing at their own warped reflections.

Oh, how appropriate.

Both of us twisted. Bent out of shape.

A little like how some marriages get.

All three of them posed before each mirror in turn, Becky’s musical laughter filling the musty, wooden-floored hall. Then they moved on.

The labyrinth of mirrors seemed impenetrably confusing.

On all four sides, Hailey saw her reflection staring back at her.

Guilt on every side? Is Rob feeling the same thing?

She glanced across at him, or at his reflection, she wasn’t sure which.

He seemed more intent on gazing after Becky, who was picking her way carefully through the maze ahead of them.

Hailey felt a wave a panic rising inside her.

Memories?

She looked into one mirror and saw herself as a child again. Standing alone, sobbing – lost.

When she blinked, the image vanished.

In another she saw Rob and Sandy Bennett, both naked, coupled together. Sweat pouring from their undulating bodies, pleasure etched across their faces.

Again the image disappeared when she blinked.

The image of Adam Walker loomed at her from another of the mirrors.

He was looking at her angrily. There was pain in his expression.

She looked away, but the image was still there.

Hailey felt her heart thud rapidly against her ribs.

She reached out to touch his image.

‘Come on,’ said Rob, touching her bottom with one hand.

Hailey spun round, her face pale.

‘Are you OK?’ Rob wanted to know.

She looked back at the mirror.

The vision of Walker was gone.

Hailey nodded. She leant forward and kissed her husband.

‘I love you,’ she whispered.

Rob looked suprised.

‘I know,’ he murmured. ‘Even though I don’t deserve it.’

‘Come on.’

Becky’s excited shout came from just ahead of them. ‘I’ve found the way out,’ she called.

They hurried to catch up with her.

‘S
HIT
,’
GRUNTED
R
OB
as the gears of the Astra crunched.

‘Do you mind,’ Hailey said, slapping him gently on the thigh. ‘This is
my
car you’re wrecking.’

‘Bloody Astras.’ He grinned.

‘Well, it’s more reliable than yours, or we’d be in yours now instead, wouldn’t we?’ she said smugly. ‘When are you getting it fixed?’

‘It goes in for a service tomorrow. Christ knows how much that’ll cost. I think the exhaust is fucked.’

‘Watch your language,’ Hailey said quietly, inclining her head towards the back seat.

‘She’s asleep,’ Rob said, glancing in the rear-view mirror. ‘She has been since we left the fair.’

He could see Becky safely strapped into the rear seat, the panda he had won for her still clutched in her arms. She was breathing slowly and evenly.

‘I’m glad we went,’ Hailey said. ‘It was a good idea. Becky loved it.’

‘So I do have my uses, then?’

‘Sometimes.’

As he swung the Astra into the drive, Rob glanced at the dashboard clock: 7.38 p.m.

He brought the Astra to a halt next to his own Audi, peering briefly across at the other vehicle.

‘Jesus Christ,’ he snarled.

Hailey turned to look at him, at his angry expression.

Rob switched off the engine and swung himself out of the car.

‘Rob, what is it?’ she asked.

‘Come and look,’ he told her, standing back from the Audi to examine it.

Hailey slipped out of the passenger side and wandered around to join him.

‘Oh, no,’ she murmured, looking down.

Both offside tyres had been slashed.

No, that was an understatement. They had been shredded.

Huge lumps of rubber had been cut from them. The now exposed inner tubes, looking like pieces of protruding intestine, had been gouged and ripped with incredible savagery.

The Audi was listing to one side, its chassis sloping down at an angle, the car’s frame resting on the offside axles.

Rob walked around the vehicle to look for more damage.

The other two tyres were untouched. He could see no harm to the bodywork itself.

In the back seat of the Astra, Becky began to stir.

‘You get her inside,’ Rob said wearily. ‘I’ll sort this out.’ He walked back round and looked down at the slashed tyres, shaking his head.

Hailey lifted Becky from the rear seat of the Astra and carried her towards the front door.

The little girl stirred and opened her eyes.

Hailey put her down as she fumbled for her front door key.

Becky stood motionless, the panda still held firmly in her grip.

‘Soon be in bed, darling,’ said Hailey, pushing the key into the lock.

It was as she did so that she first noticed the smell.

Foul, noxious – and horribly familiar.

It clogged her nostrils as she eased the front door open, the sound of the alarm soon filling her ears.

Hailey thought she was going to vomit.

She put out a hand to hold Becky back, not wanting her to step into the hallway.

The vile smell was even stronger now, and Hailey saw why.

She put one hand to her face, covering her nose and mouth.

The dog excrement had been loosely wrapped in clingfilm, then pushed through the letterbox. The several reeking parcels had burst open to spill their fetid load all over the carpet. There were half a dozen of the rancid packages lying all around.

Hailey stared at them with disgust, the stench filling her nostrils.

She felt her stomach contract.

The alarm continued to ring.

‘Fucking kids,’ snarled Rob, gazing at the ceiling.

Beside him, Hailey rolled over in bed and moved closer to him.

‘I’d like to get my hand on the little bastards who did it,’ Rob continued.

‘Why would kids do something like that?’ she wanted to know.

‘They probably thought it was funny. Ha-bloody-ha. Those tyres are going to cost me seventy quid apiece. Still, I suppose it could have been worse. At least they didn’t break into the car.’

Hailey nodded slowly.

‘Kids,’ she murmured distractedly.

She hoped he was right.

C
AROLINE
H
ACKET GAZED
at the screen of the word processor, then down at her fingers as they rested on the keyboard.

She reread the words on the screen, then leaned back in her chair, stretching.

There were several books spread out on the desk around her.

Pieces of paper, too, with notes scribbled in biro and pencil.

She worked in one of the spare bedrooms, as she always had done. The room looked out onto her back garden, but her desk was arranged so that she had her back to the view. Some days she found it difficult enough to work anyway, without the distraction of something to look at.

It had been easier in the office when she’d been a journalist. She had always found the seething chaos around her there more conducive to work than the silence and loneliness of this small bedroom. Strange, she thought, how easy it had been to shut herself away mentally in the middle of a newspaper office, surrounded by others of like mind. Easier than this. Easier than the silence she had now.

It was a peculiar paradox. But, she reasoned, not the only one in her life.

She got up from the WP and headed for the stairs. She couldn’t think straight anyway. Perhaps a coffee would help. Some caffeine might kickstart her creative juices. She smiled to herself as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

In the kitchen she flicked on the small music centre that was perched on top of the fridge. The CD began to fill the room with the strains of Celine Dion.

During a break between tracks she heard the doorbell.

Caroline hesitated. She wondered for a second if she should ignore it. Her concentration was wavering enough already, without further interruption.

In the end she decided to see who was calling.

In the kitchen the kettle began to boil.

She pulled open the front door.

Adam Walker smiled at her.

She returned the smile.

‘I hope I’m not disturbing you,’ he said.

‘Not at all. I was having a lousy day anyway. Come in.’

He hesitated.

‘The kettle’s just boiled,’ she told him. ‘Can I tempt you to a coffee? I was making one anyway.’

‘Thanks.’

He followed her through into the kitchen.

‘It’s a nice house,’ he told her, seating himself on one of the high stools beside the breakfast bar.

She smiled again and pushed a coffee mug towards him.

‘Sugar there,’ she informed him, nodding towards a bowl close by.

There was a brief silence, finally broken by Caroline.

‘If it’s any consolation, Adam, I think Hailey was wrong.’

He looked puzzled.

‘What are you talking about?’ he wanted to know.

‘She told me what happened. Said you’d been phoning her. I know she hasn’t returned your calls. So, if it’s any consolation, I think she’s wrong. I told her she should at least speak to you.’

‘What else did she tell you?’

Caroline shrugged. ‘What happened between you at your house,’ she explained.

Walker sipped his coffee, his gaze never leaving her.

‘I didn’t force her into anything,’ he said. ‘I don’t care what she said to you.’

‘Look, I’m on
your
side.’

She sat down beside him.

‘Then help me,’ Walker said.

‘How?’

‘Get her to speak to me.’

‘She won’t listen to me, Adam.’

‘You’re her best friend, aren’t you?’

She gazed at him for a moment, then looked away almost guiltily.

‘What do you want from her?’ Caroline asked.

‘I just want her to listen. All I wanted to do was apologize for what happened. I didn’t intend all that to happen. I thought it was what Hailey wanted. She was the one who was always going on about what a bad marriage she had. I wanted to be her friend. I never wanted to start an affair with her.’

‘Not even if she was willing?’

He smiled. ‘Well, maybe.’

They both laughed.

‘I just don’t know why she’s become so hostile,’ he said finally. He then told Caroline about their meeting in the car park of SuperSounds.

She listened intently.

‘Well,
I
wouldn’t have turned you down,’ she said, smiling.

‘I don’t need your pity, Caroline,’ he replied flatly.

‘I’m not giving it.’ She looked directly into his eyes.

‘I shouldn’t have come here,’ he sighed. ‘This isn’t your problem. I just thought that if you spoke to her, told her how I felt, then she might call me back. That’s all I want her to do. It sounds pathetic, doesn’t it?’