and gone some place where being clever with words made you more than just a big-mouth.'
'Stella, what am I going to do?' he burst out.
His voice was so vibrant with emotion that she almost weakened. Then behind the candid, appealing gaze she thought she saw a glint of what could as easily be amusement as despair.
'You're going to get dressed and get out of my house,' she said composedly. 'It'll not be long till knock-off and I want you long gone when Gav gets back. Me, I'm going to have a nice hot bath. It's gone a bit chilly. Mebbe we should have lit the fire after all.'
She went out, knowing a good exit line when she spoke one. Upstairs she began to run her bath, all the time listening. Suddenly the phone rang. She rushed into the bedroom, but as she picked up the extension she heard Farr's voice saying, 'Hello?'
There was no reply. After a moment the connection was cut. Farr's voice said, 'You listening upstairs, Stella? Seems I'm not the only one you get funny calls from,' Then he laughed.
She slammed the phone down. A little while later she heard the front door bang. She rushed to the window and peered from behind the curtains. He was already out of the garden and walking down the road, moving with cat- like ease and balance.
He didn't look back.
With a sigh that was nearly all relief she went into the bathroom and lowered herself into the warm and scented water. She felt quite drained of strength, both physically and mentally. She didn't want to think about what had just happened or what might happen next, and she readily gave in to the feeling of drowsiness that drifted over her with the tendrils of steam.
Some time later she woke to find the steam had all condensed and the water was nearly cold. She got out of the bath and towelled herself vigorously, enjoying the rough material against her water-tender skin. She was able to think now of her encounter with Colin, reducing it with each stroke of the towel to a fragment of pure sensuality. There was no getting away from it, compared with the other men she'd known, he pushed her into an extra dimension of pleasure. But it was not a dimension that played any significant part in her blueprints of possible futures.
She went into the bedroom where she was surprised to see how late it was. Fortunately the oven's automatic timer was taking care of Gavin's supper. She dressed quickly, but even so she was still making up her face when she heard the front door open and her husband's voice call, 'Hello, love. It's me.' She analysed tone and inflection, found nothing to concern her, and called back, 'I'm up here. Down in a tick.'
But as she began to descend, she heard his voice again and needed no analytical expertise to know there was trouble.
'Jesus!' he exclaimed from the living-room. 'Stella!"
She went in. Her husband was standing before the hearth. In the grate the fire had been lit and was now just a bed of glowing embers. But it wasn't this that had caused his outcry.
Before he left, Colin Farr must have put both his hands into the soot-furred chimney, then pressed them against the wall above the fireplace and drawn them slowly down. It looked as if two monstrous black arms were being raised in supplication or in threat.
'Stella, what the hell has been going on here?' demanded Gavin Mycroft.
Part Two
... I fell to quaking At a fresh sight - a Lion in the way.
I saw him coming, swift and savage, making For me, head high, with ravenous hunger raving So that for dread the very air seemed shaking.
Chapter 1
Nothing in her conversations with her class or her reading of their essays had prepared Ellie for the sheer terror of her first descent in the Cage.
She was the only woman in the group of visitors which included two local councillors - one Labour, one SDP - two Frenchmen who had something to do with the EEC, and an elderly research student from Doncaster who bombarded the harassed-looking pit-manager with disturbing mnemonics like
'Stella, what am I going to do?' he burst out.
His voice was so vibrant with emotion that she almost weakened. Then behind the candid, appealing gaze she thought she saw a glint of what could as easily be amusement as despair.
'You're going to get dressed and get out of my house,' she said composedly. 'It'll not be long till knock-off and I want you long gone when Gav gets back. Me, I'm going to have a nice hot bath. It's gone a bit chilly. Mebbe we should have lit the fire after all.'
She went out, knowing a good exit line when she spoke one. Upstairs she began to run her bath, all the time listening. Suddenly the phone rang. She rushed into the bedroom, but as she picked up the extension she heard Farr's voice saying, 'Hello?'
There was no reply. After a moment the connection was cut. Farr's voice said, 'You listening upstairs, Stella? Seems I'm not the only one you get funny calls from,' Then he laughed.
She slammed the phone down. A little while later she heard the front door bang. She rushed to the window and peered from behind the curtains. He was already out of the garden and walking down the road, moving with cat- like ease and balance.
He didn't look back.
With a sigh that was nearly all relief she went into the bathroom and lowered herself into the warm and scented water. She felt quite drained of strength, both physically and mentally. She didn't want to think about what had just happened or what might happen next, and she readily gave in to the feeling of drowsiness that drifted over her with the tendrils of steam.
Some time later she woke to find the steam had all condensed and the water was nearly cold. She got out of the bath and towelled herself vigorously, enjoying the rough material against her water-tender skin. She was able to think now of her encounter with Colin, reducing it with each stroke of the towel to a fragment of pure sensuality. There was no getting away from it, compared with the other men she'd known, he pushed her into an extra dimension of pleasure. But it was not a dimension that played any significant part in her blueprints of possible futures.
She went into the bedroom where she was surprised to see how late it was. Fortunately the oven's automatic timer was taking care of Gavin's supper. She dressed quickly, but even so she was still making up her face when she heard the front door open and her husband's voice call, 'Hello, love. It's me.' She analysed tone and inflection, found nothing to concern her, and called back, 'I'm up here. Down in a tick.'
But as she began to descend, she heard his voice again and needed no analytical expertise to know there was trouble.
'Jesus!' he exclaimed from the living-room. 'Stella!"
She went in. Her husband was standing before the hearth. In the grate the fire had been lit and was now just a bed of glowing embers. But it wasn't this that had caused his outcry.
Before he left, Colin Farr must have put both his hands into the soot-furred chimney, then pressed them against the wall above the fireplace and drawn them slowly down. It looked as if two monstrous black arms were being raised in supplication or in threat.
'Stella, what the hell has been going on here?' demanded Gavin Mycroft.
Part Two
... I fell to quaking At a fresh sight - a Lion in the way.
I saw him coming, swift and savage, making For me, head high, with ravenous hunger raving So that for dread the very air seemed shaking.
Chapter 1
Nothing in her conversations with her class or her reading of their essays had prepared Ellie for the sheer terror of her first descent in the Cage.
She was the only woman in the group of visitors which included two local councillors - one Labour, one SDP - two Frenchmen who had something to do with the EEC, and an elderly research student from Doncaster who bombarded the harassed-looking pit-manager with disturbing mnemonics like
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