Simon Green - The Dark Side of the Road

I remembered Diana, dancing. Like the Goddess of Dance come down to blaze among mere mortals. I thought … She doesn’t need me. She needs a good man. I hoped she’d find one, after I was gone. Instead, she found Walter Belcourt, which didn’t last, and then apparently a succession of cheerful young women like Sylvia. Who were never meant to last. I wondered how long it had been since Diana last danced, throwing her body across a lit stage like the music itself come to life. And then curtsying deeply to an audience driven to its feet by wild appreciation.

Throwing flowers and cheering themselves hoarse, and pounding their hands together till they ached.

Of course I remembered Diana, in that wonderful year, with the best films and the best songs ever. Of course I remembered being young, and in love. But what would be the point of saying anything? What could I say that wouldn’t be cruel?

We came at last to the dining hall door, and there was Walter, waiting for us, with Sylvia at his side. He fixed me with a stern look.

‘Just need a quick word with you, Ishmael,’ he said briskly. ‘You go on in, Diana my dear. I kept Sylvia here with me to walk you in, so you wouldn’t have to be on your own, even for a moment.’

‘How very kind of you, Walter,’ said Diana, disengaging her arm from mine. ‘If you’d been this thoughtful when we were married, we might still be together. I was just talking to Ishmael about my old dancing days. You never did see me dance, did you, Walter?’

‘No,’ he said. ‘But I am told, you were a wonder to behold.’

She was. Oh, she was.

Walter pushed open the dining hall door, and Diana and Sylvia went in together. Walter shut the door, very firmly, shutting off a brief clamour of raised voices from within. And then he hesitated, not sure where to start.

‘What is it, Walter?’ I said, as kindly as I could.

‘We need to talk,’ said Walter, but still he hesitated.

‘Tell me,’ I said. ‘Why did you bring in Jeeves as a bodyguard for this particular weekend gathering? Were you expecting trouble?’

Walter nodded, slowly. ‘Not much gets past you, does it, boy? I’ve had bodyguards before, that neither Diana or Melanie needed to know about. But this is the first time I felt the need for an armed guard so close at hand. I hired Jeeves after Alex told me there had been a series of threats made against the company. More serious threats than usual. The company has been having cash flow problems, of late, and we had no choice but to lay off a whole bunch of people. The Board made the decision, of course, but I went along. These things happen … You do what you have to do, to keep the company going. We would have hired them all back, as soon as things improved … Or at least, I like to think we would.

‘Anyway, Alex brought these latest threats to my attention because they were death threats. You destroyed my life so I’ll destroy yours … Aimed not just at me, but my family as well. Nasty stuff … Alex turned them over to the police, of course, but they couldn’t offer much in the way of reassurance, or protection. So I felt it best to err on the side of caution.

‘Jeeves isn’t just here to look after me; he’s here to protect Melanie and Diana and Penny. I didn’t know James would be here too … I didn’t tell Melanie, because I knew she’d only be upset. I didn’t tell Diana, because I knew she wouldn’t take it seriously. And I didn’t tell Penny … because she would only have insisted she could take care of herself. I wanted them protected. It isn’t the first time I’ve lied to them, to keep them safe. And in the end, it turns out the threat wasn’t to any of them, after all. The bastard went after my son, James.’

‘You still think this is aimed primarily at you, rather than the Colonel?’ I said.

Walter reached into an inside pocket with an unsteady hand and brought out an envelope with familiar handwriting on the outside. He hefted the envelope in his hand, as though it was something precious that he didn’t want to give up.

‘James left a letter with me, to give to you as soon as you arrived. It was the very first thing he did, yesterday evening. Before he even said hello. I told him he could give it to you himself, but there was something in his eyes … He didn’t look scared; more, resigned. I should have pressed him for details … but there were so many things I wanted to say to him, so many things I needed to talk to him about. So we sat in my study, together, and we talked for hours and hours. Just the two of us. He couldn’t tell me anything about his work, of course, and I wasn’t really interested. This was all … father and son stuff. I wanted to be sure he was happy, content in his life. That he was living the kind of life he wanted. He said he was. I like to think we made our peace … I’m glad we had that chance, at least.’

‘He couldn’t tell you about his work,’ I said. ‘Who he was, what he did. But if he could have, you would have been proud of him.’

‘Of course I was proud of him!’ said Walter. ‘I was his father …’ His voice cracked on that last word, and he thrust the sealed envelope at me.

I took it from him and studied the inscription on the outside. Just my name, in the Colonel’s immaculate hand. I’d seen it before, on so many sealed orders. I looked up, to see Walter gazing at me expectantly.

I just looked back, until it became clear to him that I wasn’t going to open the envelope until I was alone.

‘Security,’ I said.

‘Of course,’ said Walter. ‘I understand.’

‘I will tell you what it says, later,’ I said. ‘If there’s anything in it you need to know. It’s probably just my instructions. Explaining why he called me here, and what I’m supposed to be doing.’

Walter nodded, reluctantly. He turned to the closed dining hall door, hesitated, looked back. ‘Will you be all right here, on your own?’

‘I’m always on my own,’ I said. ‘And I’m always all right.’

Walter nodded again, trying to look like he understood. He pushed the door open, and once more there was a brief uproar of raised voices from inside, before the door shut them off again. I put my back against the door, so I could keep an eye on the empty hallway, and then I opened the envelope.

It wasn’t a long letter. Just a hurried scrawl, rather than the Colonel’s usual perfect penmanship. Wouldn’t surprise me if he wrote it in his car, before he got out and entered Belcourt Manor. One last piece of insurance.

As I read it, I could hear the Colonel’s voice in my head. Calm and assured, even in the face of danger. Because he was the Colonel.

Ishmael; watch your back. I have returned to my old home to face a very real danger; because my family is at risk. I stayed away all these years, distanced myself from my family, so that my work wouldn’t endanger them. But now, everything has changed. A horror has come to Belcourt Manor. I don’t know if I can stop it, if I can protect my family. If it turns out I can’t, I must ask you to do it for me. I can’t even tell you what I think the danger is, because I have no proof; and I can’t risk pointing you in the wrong direction. It is possible that I am wrong. And if I am, then we’ll just have a jolly Christmas together. But that’s not the way I’d bet. Whatever happens, Ishmael, protect my family.

And that was it. Not even a signature. Just one last note, from a man who believed he was going to his death and went willingly. Because he had always been a man who believed in duty. And in one last act of love for his family. I read through the letter again, looking for some clue as to what kind of danger I’d been brought here to fight. A horror has come to Belcourt Manor …