Moon by James Herbert
He shuddered and she clung to him. 'It's strong in me,' he told her. 'God, I can feel the power so strong in me. And… and…'
The glow was before him, a vaporous shimmering, yet he knew the image was inside his head, not there in the room. Small to begin with, gradually growing solid, becoming rounded, taking form.
A moonstone.
But no. Still growing, altering in shape, in texture. Not a moonstone any longer.
Fissures and craters scarred its surface. Mountain ranges shadowed its whiteness.
He saw the moon itself.
And with the image came a dreadful, a stomach-wrenching foreboding.
34
Jeanette sprinted across the circular lawn, heading for the science department and praying that no staff member would catch her trespassing on hallowed ground. She skirted around the statue of the school's founder, dark hair flailing loosely behind, books for the next lesson tucked tightly beneath one arm. Fortunately, the lesson was Computer Studies and Mr Childes seldom got really cross, although occasionally he could get quite stern if the girls misbehaved too much
She was relieved to be off the lawn and on the gravel turning circle for visitors' cars. Taking the stone steps two at a time, Jeanette pushed through the glass entrance doors and pounded up more stairs to the computer room which was on the first floor with the science laboratory, spilling her books near the top so that she had to pound down again to gather them up. Once more she made the ascent.
Outside the computer room she paused in order to compose herself. Three deep breaths, a swift combing of hair with clawed fingers, and she entered.
'Hello, Jeanette,' Childes greeted her with a trace of a frown. 'You're a little late.'
'I know, sir, I'm sorry,' she said, still breathless despite her efforts to steady herself. 'I left my program sheet in the dormitory this morning and didn't have the chance to fetch it between lessons.' She regarded him apprehensively and he smiled.
'That's okay,' he told her. 'Let's see, you'll have to share with Nicola and Isobel, then take your turn with the screen when they're finished. Hope you worked out a decent program to try.'
'A spelling test, sir.'
Somebody giggled.
'Well, that's a little basic, Jeanette, but it'll be fine,' said Childes, then added for the benefit of the rest of the class: 'Everybody has to find their own way with computers, there are no short cuts to begin with. Takes a while for the sheer logic of it all to sink in, but once it has, you'll be up and running.'
Jeanette pulled up a chair behind Nicola and Isobel and looked over their shoulders at the monitor screen they were using. She saw they were playing an anagram game.
Childes went from machine to machine, offering advice and suggestions as to how his pupils could increase the information in their programs and make them more interesting.
He lingered behind Kelly and nodded with pleasure. She was devising sailing times from and into the local marina, assuming she had a yacht or motorboat moored there, having taken the trouble to visit the harbour master for detailed information on traffic flow and regulations. Kelly became aware of his interest and glanced round at him, a smile on her upturned face.
As usual, he thought, you're just a trifle too smug, Kelly, but there's no denying you're my brightest. He said, 'That's a good exercise, Kelly. Looking towards the future?'
'Yes, Mr Childes, the very-near future. But my yacht's more likely to be in the Bahamas.'
He held back the grin. 'I don't doubt it.'
She turned back to the machine and he watched her deft fingers tap decisively at the keyboard. The only blemish on her hand was an ink stain and he wondered, not for the first time, what had caused him to see the limb so horribly burned those few weeks ago. Premonitions were not part of the strange ability he possessed. Yet, as a boy, hadn't he seen his future-self? He was confused and afraid, but no longer willing to be a compliant victim of this terrible curse, nor of the monster who had taunted him through his own mind. Childes had finally began to probe himself, a tactic he had agreed with Overoy to try, searching for the perverted psyche of his tormentor. The burning down of the psychiatric hospital had still not officially been attributed to any particular person, but neither he himself, nor Overoy, had any doubt it was the same one who had mutilated and murdered before. He supposed he ought to have been grateful for the detective's belief in him, and Overoy had certainly worked hard behind the scenes to prevent Childes' name being linked with Annabel's disappearance. Overoy was making amends for mishandling the publicity surrounding their past association, yet Childes could not find the willingness to fully trust the man. The last time they had spoken, just three days before, Overoy had told him that he was now the chief liaison officer in charge of investigations into all four crimes, his involvement with Childes being the prime factor in the appointment; unfortunately, there had been no solid leads as yet to follow up. Was there any more information Childes could give him to save him from looking a total jackass? None at all, Childes had replied, then, almost apologetically, he had mentioned the curious vision of the moonstone which had gradually changed into the moon itself. What did it mean? Who the hell knew? And no, there still had not been any contact with the other mind. In fact, after finally accepting he possessed an extra-sensory ability, Childes now wondered if the power had left him, like some spectre that vanished when focused upon.
He wondered: Is it all over? Had the creature, like the child-murderer before, ceased to exist, become its own executioner? Had the terrible visions and the nightmares ended?
'Sir. Sir!'
Kelly's voice had broken into his thoughts. He quickly glanced up to find she had twisted towards him once more, this time with a look of consternation on her face.
'What is it, Kelly?' he asked, rising from the desk.
'Something's gone wrong with my computer.' She turned back to the screen and stabbed at the keyboard below.
'Whoa!' he said, going over. 'Don't take it out on the machine. Let's just go through the thing logically.'
He leaned over her and froze, further words locked in his throat. His hand gripped the back of her chair as a soft pressure nudged at his mind.
'What made you write this on the display, Kelly?' he forced himself to say calmly.
'I didn't do it,' she retorted indignantly. 'It just appeared and everything else went off.'
'You know that's impossible.'
'Honest, sir, I didn't do anything.'
'Okay, clear the screen and start again.'
The girl touched the RETURN key. Nothing happened.
Childes, not sure if she were playing stupid games with him, impatiently leaned forward and pressed the same key. It had no effect.
'Kelly, have you-?'
'How could I? There's no way I could make the computer do that.'
'All right, let me take your seat.'
She stood and Childes eased himself into the chair, watching the monitor warily as if disbelieving his own eyes. His hands hovered nervously over the keyboard. Other girls in the classroom were looking round curiously at them.
'We'll try RESET.' Childes murmured, keeping his voice steady, disguising the panic bubbling inside. He could not hide the beads of perspiration that had rapidly formed on his forehead, though.
He fingered the key.
The screen went blank and he sighed with relief. The single word appeared again.
'Why's the computer doing that, sir?' Kelly asked close to his shoulder, both astonished and fascinated by the phenomenon.
'I've no idea,' he replied. 'It shouldn't happen, it should be impossible for it to happen. Could be an outsider's somehow tapped into your circuit.' Extremely unlikely, he thought and then remembered Fran's computer/mind analogy. Nonsense, that had nothing to do with this! He pressed RESET again.
The word disappeared. Then reappeared.
'I don't want to lose your program,' Childes told Kelly, his voice more even than the turmoil inside his head should have all
This time he tapped HOME.
The screen went blank, became a dark void. He rested back in the chair.
And sat rigid when the word shone from the blackness yet again.
He stared transfixed at the screen, his eyes wide, the green glowing word reflected in his contact lenses. The small, computer-typed word said:
MOON
Some of the other girls had gathered round, but sudden cries came from those who had remained at their machines. Childes pushed his chair back and went to each one. The same single word was impossibly displayed on every monitor.
In a desperation that alarmed the girls, he reached underneath the benches and yanked out all the plugs, cutting off the power supply to each computer so that the screens blinked to a lifeless grey. He waited in the centre of the classroom, his chest heaving, the girls beginning to huddle together as if he were mad.
Cautiously he approached the computer which Kelly had been operating. He knelt, picking up the power plug once again, and slid it into the socket.
The computer screen came to life, but now the word that had frightened him so much was missing.
***
He found Amy after the lesson had finished, having barely managed to show his pupils a calm face throughout the rest of the period, explaining that what had occurred was due to some peculiar malfunction or the intrusion of another computer. The explanation was hardly feasible, but the girls appeared to accept his word.
Childes drove Amy away from the school, grateful that the lesson had preceded the lunch break, giving them the opportunity to be alone. He did not stop until they had found a remote point on the clifftops.
He switched off the engine and looked out at the sea. Only after a few more moments when his breathing had steadied did he turn to her and say: 'It's here, Amy. It's here on the island.'
35
The day was perfect. Only a few small clouds clung to the sky like glued cotton-wool buds, seemingly stuck fast to a vividly blue board, unable to drift, with no breeze even in the upper reaches. The sun, a brilliant fireball, gloried in its dominance. A faint low mist spread over the sea, and other islands were merely hazy smudges in the distance.
Scores of small motor-powered boats left short white plumes in their wakes, while yachts searched in vain for the slightest wind that would allow use of canvas. Further in, closer to the shore, wind-surfers drifted astride their boards, colourful sails resting flatly beside them in the water. Sandy beaches were full, only the less accessible coves and inlets still quiet and uncrowded, refuges for those who valued their peace enough to undertake arduous climbs.
On the clifftop overlooking one such secluded bay, stood La Roche Ladies College, its white main structure a beacon lit by the sun.
A perfect Saturday for Open Day, when staff and girls and classrooms preened themselves under inspection. An important day for the school: prize-giving, awards and certificates for excellence (or even plain usefulness), and general school or house achievements throughout the year; speeches by the principal, Miss Estelle Piprelly, and a member of the governing board, Conseiller Victor Platnauer; a recitation by La Roche's head girl of the year's events within the school related in obligatory (by tradition) rhyming verse, a test of nerve and ingenuity (and often of perseverance by the assembled guests); the luring of more fee-paying parents. A fun day for the school: various raffles, a lottery, games, a second-hand uniform sale; a strawberry-and-cream stall, a jam, sweets and cake stall, a hot-dog stall and barbecue, a wine and orange-squash stall, a gymnastic display, light choral singing, country dancing; and all to be enjoyed on the lawns.
A day for things not to go wrong.
***
Milling parents, arriving vehicles jostling for space in the overcrowded carpark and driveway, schoolgirls excited and pretending not to be, giggling though under threat to be on best behaviour. Childes had left the computer classroom when the mandatory parent/teacher discussion period was over. Now he watched the activity with restless attention. He tried not to let his close scrutiny of each passing face appear too obvious, but more than one parent was made to feel uncomfortable under his gaze.
And after a while he, too, had the feeling of being studied. He turned quickly and found Miss Piprelly, only yards away and supposedly in conversation with a group of parents and staff, staring intently a*t him. Their eyes met and a curious recognition passed between them, a knowing that had never been present before. An anxiety shadowed the principal's features and Childes watched as she said something to those around her, then broke away from them, striding in her stiff-backed manner towards him.
She acknowledged greetings from other visitors she passed with a brief smile that was polite yet rebuffed conversation, and then she was before him, looking up into his face. He blinked, for he had seen the energy glowing from her, an aura of vitality that was of many subtle colours. The phenomenon was extraordinary and something he had witnessed more than once just recently, the radiance like a gentle many-hued flame that flared briefly to fade when concentrated upon, leaving him perplexed and slightly spellbound. The unusual effect vanished when Miss Piprelly spoke and his attention was diverted.
'I'd rather you didn't stand there inspecting everybody with quite such intensity, Mr Childes. Perhaps you could tell me if there is something wrong?'
That uncanny awareness in her eyes. He was slowly beginning to view the school's principal in a different light, catching glimpses of deeper sensitivities beneath the somewhat brittle exterior. Yet their relationship had not changed. He wondered if these fresh insights into the woman were due to the confusing developments within himself.
'Mr Childes?' She was waiting for an answer.
The urge to tell her everything was almost overwhelming, but how could she believe him? Estelle Piprelly was a rational, no-nonsense headmistress, energetic and diligent in her pursuit of educational excellence. Yet what was it in her that puzzled him so, what elusive - or camouflaged - quality did she possess that belied her image?
She sighed impatiently. 'Mr Childes?'
'I'm sorry, I was miles away.'
'Yes, I could see that. If you'll forgive me for saying so, you seem unwell. You've looked haggard for a while now, since your few days absence, in fact.'
A minor illness, a summer cold, had been how he had accounted for his time spent on the mainland after Annabel's disappearance. 'Oh.' He shrugged. 'Well, summer term's nearly over, so I'll have plenty of time to rest up.'
'I wouldn't have thought your curriculum is exactly full, Mr Childes.'
'Perhaps not.'
'Is there something on your mind?'
He faltered, but it was neither the time nor the place to be frank with her. She would have probably ordered him off the premises if he had, anyway.
'No, I was, uh, interested in the parents, trying to associate them with their offspring. Just a little game I like to play. Have you ever noticed how like their mothers or fathers some of the girls are, while others are total opposites? Incredible, really.'
She was not satisfied, but she was far too busy to indulge him. 'No, I don't find it incredible at all. Now I suggest you forget your "game" and mingle a little more with our guests.' Miss Piprelly began to turn away, but paused. 'You know, Mr Childes, if there is some kind of problem, my door is always open to you.'
He avoided her stare, feeling uncomfortable, for there was more in her remark than a casual invitation. Just how much did she really know about him?
'I'll remember,' he told her, then watched her walk away.
***
Amy spotted Overoy endeavouring to resemble a visiting parent but succeeding only in looking like a plain-clothes policeman on the lookout for pickpockets, his intent look and alert stance the giveaway. She could not help smiling: maybe he only looked like that to her because she knew who he was and why he was there. She resisted the mischievous urge to wave and call out, 'Inspector!' Instead, she said to the two thirteen-year-ol
'Yes, Miss Sebire,' they replied in unison, delighted to be in charge.
Amy made her way from behind the stall, exchanging hellos with any parent she recognised. Overoy was standing beneath a tree, sipping wine from a plastic cup, shirtsleeves rolled to the elbows and jacket hanging over an arm.
'You look hot, Inspector,' Amy said when she drew near.
He turned in her direction, surprised for a moment. 'Hello, Miss Sebire. You seemed busy on your stall.'
'Strawberries and cream are in great demand on a day like today. Would you like me to bring you some?'
'That's very kind, but no, thank you.'
'They would add to your disguise.'
He grinned at the mild leg-pulling. 'I stick out that much, do I?'
'Probably only because I know who you are and what you're doing here. At least your numbers are discreet.'
He gave a wry shake of his head. 'Yes, I know. I'm sorry about that, but as it is, I'm on my own time. Difficult to convince my governors that an undercover team was needed for this little exercise - not that we have any jurisdiction on the island anyway. Fortunately Inspector Robillard is an old friend, so I'm here on a weekend social as his guest.'