Gregory's Game by Jane A. Adams

Author:Jane A. Adams [Jane A. Adams]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2014-02-01T05:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-THREE

It was the silence that was so oppressive, Kat thought. Church Lane had been quiet, with thick walls keeping what little country noise there was at bay, and for a while she had found that oppressive too. But then she had grown used to the creaks and groans of old timbers, the cry of the fox across the fields, and sometimes an owl, off hunting in the twilight. She had learned to map the noises and understand them and the sense of isolation had diminished as a result.

She had been glad, though, when they’d moved back to her old home. She liked to hear the sounds of the occasional car in the street and her neighbours in the garden. It wasn’t intrusive – no loud music or screaming kids; it wasn’t that kind of street. But it was familiar and ordinary and kind of cosy.

Sitting now on the old mattress, her child sleeping at her side, Kat found she was straining to hear … anything. She’d identified the sound of water – occasional and unclear, lapping rather than running or flowing – and the sound of a far-off train. Once, she thought she had heard a car door slam, but there had been no sound of an engine, so she was no longer sure. She listened for the sound of someone coming back. Willed it and feared it and couldn’t decide which was worse; that her abductors would return or that they wouldn’t. That she’d be left alone with Desi and they would both die here, slowly starve. She was rationing the food and water, ensuring Daisy drank and ate, but keeping her own intake to a minimum. She had thought about just not eating or drinking, but reason had prevailed. If she collapsed, what would her daughter do?

She tried not to think what would happen if no one came and brought them more supplies. The thought of her child, hungry and thirsty, tore at her; the thought of Desiree dying of hunger or thirst was one she kept pushing determinedly away – but it kept returning, haunting her.

Desi’s breathing was soft and even and Kat rose carefully, took the lantern and walked the perimeter of their cell once more. The batteries were going, she noted. She had two more sets, but that was all. As she had done already several times, she glanced back to make sure her child was still sleeping and then turned off the light. The darkness closed around her, like some solid thing.

Kat began to count. She knew it would take her eyes time to adjust to the dark. Would take time to tell if the darkness was as entire and thick as it first seemed. If she could see anything … didn’t that mean that light might be seeping in from somewhere?

Three times she had tried this same thing. Turned out the light. Counted to fifty and then one hundred, waiting for a glimmer – of light, of hope, of anything.

Three times there had been nothing.

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