When Shadows Fall by Kaye Dobbie

Author:Kaye Dobbie [Dobbie, Kaye]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kaye Dobbie
Published: 2017-05-01T04:00:00+00:00

8

I woke late, my mind befuddled by sleeping tablets. This time I remembered nothing of the night. I had taken the medication at eight o’clock, wishing to block out the sound of the wind and rain as much as anything else that might happen. I had slept like the dead for twelve hours, and when I woke I felt groggy and had a nasty taste in my mouth.

The weather had improved. The wind had blown itself out, leaving one of those still, golden autumn days. After lunch, I shook off my inertia, changed into shorts and a T-shirt, and carried my paints out onto the verandah. The river glowed softly and I saw a fish jump. The act of painting took me over, and I soon lost myself in it, forgetting everything else. The tranquillity of the place reached out and enfolded me, soothing my jangled nerves and frightened thoughts. My breathing slowed to the rhythm of the water.

I didn’t notice the sun swing around, the shadows lengthening and the air growing chilly and damp. It was only when at last I finished and looked up that I realised it was growing late. I was cold. But I was happy with the result.

I stretched my arms above my head, smiling to myself. Across the water, as if on cue, the evening bird circled and found a place to land. It floated, oblivious to me, settling its feathers. Everything was very still. If I stared long enough, I knew I would begin to imagine a boat gliding over the river towards me.

I shivered and started to gather up my things, bending to pick up my shoes. The cat was sitting behind me, on the very edge of the verandah. It was watching me, its white fur a pale fuzzy blur in the approaching darkness.

I stared at it as if it were a Bengal tiger.

It didn’t move. Suddenly it occurred to me that the cat had been there, at the site of the barracks, just before I had found myself back at the time of the fire, and it had been there, still, when I returned. Perhaps—I groped my way towards a conclusion—perhaps the cat had something to do with all this?

Sure, a time-hopping cat, Ian mocked.

I smiled. It was ridiculous. And yet, it was a possibility, and there was only one way to test it out, wasn’t there?

I began to walk towards the cat, feeling slightly foolish. ‘Come here, kitty!’ I called quietly. ‘Let’s have a look at you.’

The cat stared at me, unblinking. It probably thought I was as mad as I thought myself.

‘Puss? Puss?’ I came to a halt before it, still holding out my hand. The cat ignored it, and began to wash its paw. My fingers were shaking as I moved them closer, closer. I placed my hand gently on the cat’s silky head.

The world went black.

***

‘Oh God,’ I breathed, ‘not again.’

It had been evening, with the sky turning pink and mauve and the light gently fading. Now it was night.

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