Forty-One

Victor knew it would be pointless to talk to Ghorlan as she moved about the living room. It would have as much effect on her as demanding answers from a character in a television drama. This is just a ghost of real events, he told himself. That isn’t even Ghorlan. All he could do was bear witness to her phantom actions. She picked up the phone, dialled, then sighed. ‘Victor, must you have switched off your phone tonight?’ She replaced the handset, pushed back her hair from her beautiful face then got busy. Quickly, she pulled a voice recorder from a drawer in the desk at the end of the room. She clicked her tongue in frustration when she saw that the battery power level was low. Clearly annoyed by being delayed, she opened a fresh pack of batteries, then switched them with the old ones in the Dictaphone.

Victor studied her face with growing perplexity. Why is she so anxious? But then she seems excited, too, as if she’s got to do something that’s incredibly important. Once more she dialled the telephone in vain. She made a tempestuous gesture with both hands as she called out, ‘Victor.’

He groaned. ‘This must be the last few minutes of her life. I found the fleece on the beach. But why did she go down there at this time of night? And what made her go into the water?’ His heart ached beyond belief. ‘That last day I was giving a talk to students. That’s why my phone was switched off.’

Ghorlan rushed back to the desk again, she opened a notepad, then picked up a pencil. Before she started to write, she checked the wall clock in exasperation. Victor thought he caught the words: ‘Can’t or I’ll miss him.’

Victor glared. Miss him? Miss who? A man of course. He grimaced as emotion threatened to overwhelm him. ‘Please don’t show me what happens next,’ he murmured to Jay. ‘I don’t want to see.’

Ghorlan headed toward the door, then paused before leaving. She seemed torn between rushing to her rendezvous and one last task. After glancing at the clock again she dashed back to the telephone. ‘Please, Victor, have your phone switched on.’ She hit the speed-dial key. Once more she sighed as she heard the recorded message. ‘OK, never mind . . . I’m still going through with this.’ The record message tone sounded. Quickly, Ghorlan said, ‘Never mind, Victor. I’ll catch you later.’ After that, his wife raced out of their home for the last time.

Despite what he knew about the impossibility of interacting with anyone in this world he sped after her. At the top of his voice he cried out, ‘Ghorlan! Ghorlan!’ Her name rang out into the forest. Victor came to his senses as he ran amongst the trees. He knew he was back in the present again on Siluria; even so, he couldn’t stop calling out for his dead wife. ‘Ghorlan . . .’

Gales laughing through the branches mocked his grief. Ahead of him lay the castle. There was no sign of Jay. Once again, Victor Brodman was completely and utterly alone.