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‘It was frightening,’ says Amber. ‘You had to go down a rickety ladder. I bet it’s all health and safety at Grime’s Graves now but it certainly wasn’t then. There was no light. We had a candle each and, one by one, we had to blow them out. Then we were in complete darkness. Leo said it was the only way to see into the spirit realm. To commune with the dead.’
Did Leo Ballard really want to commune with the spirit of his dead daughter? wonders Tanya. She wonders if the students even knew of her existence.
‘And did you?’ she says. ‘Commune with the spirit realm?’
Amber laughs, rather to Tanya’s surprise. ‘We didn’t when we were in the mine shaft. I think Emad said something funny and we all got the giggles. Leo was rather cross. But, on the last night, we did see something. We were all sitting round the fire. We were singing. Tom was playing the guitar.’ She gives her husband an affectionate look under her fringe.
‘I don’t play any more,’ he says, as if musicality is a sign of weakness.
‘And then, suddenly,’ says Amber, ‘this creature burst out of the woods. This creature in a mask. It danced around us and then it disappeared. It was terrifying.’
‘It was carrying a stick,’ says Tom. ‘I’ll never forget it. And it pointed the stick straight at Emily.’
‘Or at me,’ says Amber. ‘I was sitting next to her.’
‘Have you got any idea who this person was?’ says Tanya. She’s not going to have any truck with the word ‘creature’.
‘No,’ says Tom. ‘Mark and Cathbad followed it into the woods. But it had vanished.’
‘Mark’s dog wouldn’t go with them,’ says Amber. ‘He stayed with Em and me.’
‘Probably because you were feeding it crusts,’ says Tom. ‘That animal was always hungry.’
‘We were all terrified,’ says Amber, ‘but eventually we went to bed.’
Tanya notices that Emily has become ‘Em’. Amber even sounds different, her voice less clipped, her vowels flattened with what might be the remains of a northern accent.
‘When was the last time you saw Emily?’ Tanya asks Amber.
‘She was asleep when I left the tent,’ says Amber. ‘I still get upset now. Wishing I’d said a proper goodbye to her.’ And, to Tanya’s surprise, there are actual tears in her eyes.
Chapter 17
‘Congratulations, Dr Abioye.’ Ruth stands up to shake hands with the successful PhD candidate who, having been calm and self-possessed for forty minutes, now wipes her forehead and says, ‘Shit. That was scary.’
‘You did very well,’ says Ruth. ‘I always find those Palaeolithic rock shelters so intriguing.’
‘Congratulations, Chioma,’ says David. ‘What about celebrating with a drink in the pub? We haven’t got any more vivas today.’
‘I’ll join you in a minute,’ says Ruth. ‘Could I have a quick word, Jeanne?’
David and Chioma leave, the former very reluctantly, and Jeanne turns to Ruth with a pleasantly quizzical expression on her face. She’s American, which always reminds Ruth of Frank, and the two share an admirable ability to cut through academic jargon with a few simple, but deadly, questions. Ruth has heard that Jeanne runs marathons, but she still likes her.
‘It’s about Leo Ballard,’ says Ruth. ‘I wondered if you knew him.’
‘I know him a little,’ says Jeanne, looking at Ruth rather intently. ‘Why?’
‘I contacted him recently,’ says Ruth. ‘I’ve been ringing around asking for support. You know they want to close the department?’
‘Yes,’ says Jeanne. ‘I’m so sorry. And, of course, if I can do anything to help. . .’
‘It would be great if you could write a letter to the dean,’ says Ruth. ‘I think they’ve made their mind up but if we get lots of support from prominent academics, who knows?’ She thinks she does know but doesn’t want to sound defeatist.
‘Of course I’ll write,’ says Jeanne. ‘And don’t give up yet. You’ve got a lot of fans in the archaeology world.’
Ruth doesn’t know how to respond to this. Pop stars have fans; academics mostly have critics. She decides to get back to the investigation.
‘I met Leo at Grime’s Graves yesterday,’ she says.
