“Don’t. You’re confusing me.”
“I’ll bet I am. I am absolutely and positively not dead. I never have been dead. I have never been to Purgatory. Everything that you’ve ever been told about Purgatorials is a lie. When people are dead, they stay dead, they don’t come back. But when people come from another world – when people come from another reality – now, that’s something different.”
The young nurse stared at her for a long time, and then she brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
“What’s your name?” Nancy asked her.
“Sophie.”
“Well, Sophie, thanks for the breakfast. And all I can say to you is, never believe what you read in books. Especially A Child’s Book of Simple Truth.”
Sophie, still staring at her, crossed the room, opened the door, and walked out. Nancy lay back on her pillow. She didn’t know what to think. All she knew was that she had very little time. Josh probably would have given her twenty-four hours to come back – but when she didn’t, there was no question in her mind that he would come after her. He could arrive in this reality any time today. It might take him a few hours to find her here at the Puritan Martyrs, but she knew how resourceful he was.
She closed her eyes and said a prayer to her ancestors, to protect her. But here, in this existence, she wasn’t at all sure that she could still feel their closeness.
Early in the afternoon, when she was halfway between sleeping and waking, she heard the door swing open, and the sound of boots on the polished linoleum floor. She opened her eyes and saw two Hooded Men, one on either side of her bed, with their tall Puritan hats and their black tunics and their long swords and their grotesque hessian masks. She sat up in bed and tugged the blanket up to her neck. She was too frightened to say anything.
“You believe that your friend will come looking for you?” asked one of the Hooded Men, in the softest of rasps. It was like somebody sawing a velvet cushion in half.
Nancy still couldn’t speak.
“You don’t think he’s going to abandon you, do you? Especially when he discovers what fate we have in store for you.”
“I don’t know what he’s going to do.”
“Oh, he’ll be here. In fact, we’ve given him a little guidance, so that he knows where you are, and how to find you.”
“He’s not stupid, for God’s sake. You think he’ll walk right into a trap?”
“I think he loves you,” said the Hooded Man, and it sounded as if he were smiling.
“Why can’t you just let me go? We only came here to find out who killed Josh’s sister.”
“So you keep telling us. But what mayhem you created, you and your subversive friends. And this morning we learned that your precious Josh has killed one of our number. Taken his head off. You don’t think that we can turn a blind eye to murder, do you?”
“You’re lying! Josh couldn’t murder anybody!”
“There were more than enough witnesses, I promise you.”
“Where did this happen? Was it here? Is Josh in this London?”
“It happened in another London. At this particular moment, we think we know where your partner is, but we can’t be certain. He could be hiding in any one of a million Londons, and we could never find him. That is why you are so valuable to us. When he discovers that we have you here, and what we intend to do with you, don’t worry, he’ll be here as fast as the turning world will allow him. We’ll give him three or four days. We’re not in any hurry.”
Nancy said, “You’ll be damned for this. Call yourself religious zealots? You’ll be damned for this and you’ll all burn in hell.”
The Hooded Man leaned forward. Nancy could see something moving behind the eyeholes in his hood. She was aware of a strange smell, too, that reminded her of something that had happened to her long ago, when she was a child. Something cold and unpleasant. Something that she had tried to forget.
“You, lady,” the Hooded Man rasped. “You don’t know the meaning of hell.”
Josh and Petty took a taxi from Chancery Lane to West Kensington. Petty was amazed to see London undamaged, and crowded with traffic and people.
“I can’t believe it,” she kept on saying. “Look at that girl’s dress! Look at it! There’s nothing of it, is there?”
The taxi driver’s eyes watched them in the rear-view mirror. They were both filthy and bruised, and they smelled. Their clothes were thick with dust and their hair was matted. Josh saw his reflection in the taxi window and realized that his cheeks were gray and his eyes were rimmed with red, like a zombie.
When they reached Josh’s hotel, he gave the driver a ten-pound tip. “That’s for stopping, and for cleaning up the seats, if you have to. I can tell you that we don’t normally look like this.”
“Doesn’t bother me, mate,” said the taxi driver. “At least you didn’t throw up.”
They walked into hotel reception and headed toward the elevators. Petty’s head went around and around in astonishment. “I’ve never seen nothing like this. This is incredible. And, look, what’s that? Is that a television? It’s huge! And it’s in color, just like a film!”
“Mr Winward?” called one of the receptionists, dubiously.
“That’s me.”
“There’s a message for you, sir.” She reached into one of the pigeonholes behind her and took out a folded slip of yellow paper.
Josh opened it up. It read: Mr Joshua Winward, your lady frend wos cort by the Hoodiz, I no where they are kepin her cum back to Star Yd as soon as U can excuss my riting on a/c of havn no rit han. Yor frend Simon Cutter.
“Josh, I love this place,” said Petty, taking hold of his arm. Her eyes were bright with delight. “It’s de-luxe, isn’t it? Really de-luxe.”
Josh took hold of her arm and propelled her toward the elevators. “Here, steady on,” she protested. “What’s your rush?”
“I have to leave. Something I have to do.”
“But we’ve only just got here!”
“I know. But it’s urgent. I’m going to take a shower, change, and then I’m going to have to go out. I may not be back until tomorrow.”
“So what am I going to do?”
“You can stay here. You can order meals on room service. You can watch color television. You can do whatever you like. I’ll give you some money so you can buy yourself cigarettes or candy or pantyhose or anything else you need. You’ll survive.”
He hurried her into the elevator and pressed the button for the third floor. “But I don’t know anybody here!” she protested. “How do I know that you’re going to come back? Supposing you don’t come back?”
He took hold of her hands and squeezed them. “I’ll be back, I promise you.”
When they entered the hotel room Petty dubiously sat on the bed and bounced up and down a few times. Josh went into the bathroom, stripped off and took a shower. He was exhausted, but Simon Cutter’s note had filled him immediately with fresh determination. You have to be strong, he told himself. Nancy needs you, and you have to be strong. He just hoped that he didn’t have to face up to the Hooded Men again. He stood with the water spraying at full blast directly into his face in the hope that he could wash away the image of the Hooded Man’s head. But the tighter he closed his eyes, the clearer the picture came back to him, and in the end he had to open them again, wide.
There are times in your life when you think, oh, Jesus, what have I done? And this was Josh’s moment.
He stepped out of the shower to find the bathroom door wide open and Petty standing naked in the doorway. He wrapped his towel tightly around his waist and gently maneuvered his way past her into the bedroom.