The Deadly Space Between by Patricia Duncker

the majesty and power of the woman as for the intricate robes that cascaded from her shoulders.
    ‘That’s it, Luce, think big,’ cried Iso in my ear.
    And then Luce herself appeared, hand in hand with her designers, prancing forward among their models, the reds and lilacs of her own clothes metamorphosing into green and purple underneath the lights. Luce was transfigured by glory. We bellowed out our roar of praise.
    Suddenly I had the prickling sensation that I was being watched. Again I saw the single eye of the iguana which had turned sideways, and begun his natural process of cryptic coloration, the blue retreating on his shingled skin as he began to vanish into the green. But his gaze had settled upon me. I twisted round and looked up. Quite a few people were standing at the back, but I’m sure that he was there. It was Roehm, his huge form dimly looming against the raw brick wall of the theatre. I jumped up and muttered my departure to Iso. She was fixed upon Luce’s triumph. I rushed up the aisle towards the door and hunted him down the back row. There was no sign of Roehm. Some of the audience were already leaving, but the foyer wasn’t full. I dropped the programme and ran to the front doors. There was an inanimate row of black taxis waiting in the damp night. The street was deserted. I bolted back into the theatre. I even checked the Gents. I was convinced that I had seen him, his giant shadow, his white face, clear against the back wall.
    How had he vanished so swiftly, leaving no trace? Puzzled, I pushed against the mass of people leaving the theatre. The techno beat began again. There was no chance of regaining my seat. I waited for a while in the foyer, then saw Liberty pushing her way towards me.
    ‘Hi, babe! They’re backstage, drinking champagne. I’m off to get the car. It’ll take ages. Keep a glass for me. Climb up stage left and ask for the green room. Wasn’t it wonderful? Luce is jubilant.’
    I wandered back into the emptying theatre, wondering if I had hallucinated his presence. But he was too solid, too massive to imagine. No, Roehm had been there. He must have been there. But he had deliberately disappeared. He had decided not to speak to us. Luce. It’s because of Luce. She’s not allowed to know. When Luce is there, we’re off limits. I asked where the green room was. But I could hear them, long before I reached the green room.
    What struck me as odd was that they were shouting at each other and still drinking champagne. I could hear Luce’s dreadful shriek, a roar above the cheerful bubbles.
    ‘He’s twenty-five years older than you! What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Isobel? Shagging Grandad?’
    ‘Luce. Control yourself. And watch what you’re saying. How can that possibly matter?’
    ‘And I suppose you still go in for all that risky sex where you could easily end up dead.’
    Luce never lowered her voice. I heard her. I saw her hands and chin wobbling with indignation. My mother’s voice was deadly. I had never seen her so angry and so calm.
    ‘Luce, how dare you. May I remind you that Liberty is even younger than I am? And if anyone ought to speak up in defence of perverted sex then it should be you.’
    She swallowed a whole half-glass of champagne in one gulp, got up and stalked out, shaking. She never looked at me. I don’t think she even noticed that I was there. I sat down next to Luce. She didn’t say anything for a minute or two. She was paralysed by distress and rage. I waited, looking at the abandoned costumes hanging round the walls. They sagged, shapeless and foolish, as if the women’s bodies that had filled them had suddenly dematerialized. Then, halfway down her second cigarette, Luce burst into tears.
    ‘Shall I go after Iso?’ I asked, alarmed.
    Luce mopped up the streams and mumbled, ‘I just don’t want her hurt. I don’t want you hurt.’
    I couldn’t pretend that I didn’t know what they were quarrelling about, and things couldn’t