Claire was shaking her head, as if in blank denial. The look in her eyes, however, told Adam that she was almost convinced.
"This whole thing is insane," she muttered. "Even if I were astral travelling, wouldn't I have some memory of having done it?"
"No conscious memory, perhaps," Adam said. "What the unconscious mind records may be another matter. Hypnosis might allow me to test the theory. If you could bring yourself to reconsider it."
Claire was silent for a long moment, nervous fingers plucking at the rug over her lap. The silence drew itself out until every small sound from the surrounding garden seemed strangely amplified.
"All right," she finally whispered, her voice almost inaudible. "I don't know what's going on, but I want to find out."
Chapter Ten
"I was hoping you'd see it that way," Adam said gravely. "Shall I take those photographs back now?"
Wordlessly Claire handed the prints back to Adam, who rose and returned them to their envelope, stowing it away again in his briefcase. McLeod, meanwhile, fetched two white plastic lawn chairs from the patio and brought them into the shade of the arbor. Claire watched these preparations without comment, but made no move to join them.
"Would you prefer to stay in the sun?" Adam asked, handing his briefcase to McLeod.
She shrugged and glanced at the fishpond, where a dragonfly was humming just above the surface, its wings barely stirring that water.
"Does it matter?" she said.
Retrieving one of the chairs, Adam brought it over beside her, angling it slightly toward her before sitting. She was not making this any easier.
"Not really," he replied. "Wherever you're most comfortable. I can certainly understand your apprehension, but please allow me to reassure you that nothing is going to happen without your consent. Despite what the makers of a B-grade horror movies would like you to believe, hypnosis has nothing to do with brainwashing or mind control. Only your cooperation will make any kind of success possible. My role, as physician and therapist, is simply to be your guide and companion." He smiled slightly. "Shall we begin?"
She shrugged, feigning indifference, but her hands were clasped tightly in her lap.
"Very well," he said easily, aware of McLeod settling a few feet behind them, still in the shade of the arbor. "The most important initial rule is always to relax. So before we do anything else, I'd like to make sure you're quite comfortable. Take a deep breath and let it all the way out, as far as you can. Close your eyes and feel the warmth of the sunlight on your face and hands. Unclasp your hands and let them just lie there in your lap… that's right.
"Next, I'd like to run through a simple breathing exercise with you," he went on. "The pattern is this: Take a deep breath in for a count of five, hold it for a count of five - and then exhale as fully as you can, also for a count of five, and feel the tension draining out of your body each time you repeat the sequence. Let's do it together a few times. In for five - hold for five - out for five…"
He made a soothing litany of the instructions. Under the calming influence of his voice, Claire showed signs of beginning to unbend, but her eyes kept flickering open to see what he was doing. Noting her distraction, Adam casually slipped the pocket watch from his waistcoat pocket and unfastened the fob and chain from the buttonhole.
"That's fine," he murmured. "Feel yourself becoming more and more relaxed as you sit here soaking in the sunshine. And now I'd like you to fix your gaze on this pocket watch, if you would." He dangled it at the end of its chain and set it gently turning. "As you can see for yourself, there's nothing particularly unusual about it - just an ordinary gold pocket watch, if a bit old-fashioned. I'd like you simply to use it as a focal point. Watch it spin; see how it catches the sunlight. We're going to use it to distract your conscious mind - the mellow flicker of sunlight on the gold. It's very pleasant sitting here in the sunshine….
"And as you find yourself more and more comfortable, more and more relaxed, you can feel yourself growing drowsy, your eyelids growing heavier and heavier as the sunlight dazzles your eyes. You can even feel the warmth of the reflected light. It's so much more peaceful just to let your eyelids close, and float on this calm, tranquil tide of well-being. You're safe and warm and secure and very relaxed and comfortable… so relaxed, your thoughts subsiding, floating, drifting… too much effort to think very much. You just drift and float, like a leaf on the surface of the pool. No strife, no danger, just peaceful silence all around you… Let your eyes close if you want. You can feel yourself becoming more and more relaxed, more and more at ease…."
His voice continued to soothe and reassure. She was more resistant than most, and for a while Adam was not certain she would let go enough for any useful work; but gradually her eyes closed and her breathing steadied, some of the lines of tension easing from face and shoulders. When she seemed to have settled, he pocketed his watch and shifted his approach slightly, easing into a standard induction for deepening trance.
"I want you to imagine now that I'm holding the string of a helium balloon, just between us. The balloon is about twice the size of my head, and it's made of shiny silver mylar that flashes in the sun. Can you see it in your mind's eye, floating just above our heads?"
"Yes," she replied, after a slight hesitation.
"Very good. Now I want you to imagine that I'm pulling the balloon over closer to you, and I'm going to tie the string around your left wrist. You'll feel just a light touch as I attach it." He lightly stroked across the back of her wrist with a fingertip.
"And now you can feel the tug of the balloon against your wrist, pulling at it, making it lighter and lighter, so that any second now, your hand will begin to float free of your lap. You can feel the tug of the balloon, and your hand is becoming lighter and lighter…."
Under such guidance, her left hand soon began to float free of her lap, slowly rising toward her face. As it touched, at his suggestion, she seemed to relax even more deeply into her chair, indicative that she finally had slipped into trance. Satisfied that the depth probably was sufficient to be of use, Adam gently clasped her wrist and eased her hand back to her lap.
"That's fine," he said softly. "I've removed the balloon now, and your hand can lie easy in your lap again. Can you hear me clearly?"
"Yes." Her voice was scarcely louder than a whisper.
"Excellent," Adam murmured. "Now, you're very deeply relaxed, but you're also perfectly well aware of who and where you are, sure of yourself and your surroundings. Even with your eyes closed, you will always retain some sense of being solidly anchored to your familiar environment, relaxed and safe and secure. That underlying security will abide with you, whatever else may happen here today, and wherever our inquiries may take us.
"Now, we've agreed that we'll try to discover what reason you might have for wanting to revisit the scene of your accident. To explore this question, I should like to take you back to the accident itself. Will you allow me to do this?"
A flicker of uncertainty passed over Claire's hitherto quiet face, suggestive of conflicting impulses at work. Adam half held his breath and waited. After a moment, however, she gave a dreamy nod of acquiescence.
Adam allowed himself to breathe again, though something in her manner made him wonder whether the simple regression he had in mind would be sufficient. Even relaxed in trance, the strength of Claire's anger and fear remained as an almost palpable tension. As much to safeguard himself as to focus his own powers, he dipped into his trouser pocket to slip his sapphire ring onto his finger, mentally pausing to pay homage to the Light as he touched the stone to his lips.