She didn’t realize she was stumbling, almost falling. She felt slightly dizzy. She was so intent on seeing Max that she was unaware of the signals, and blamed the way she was feeling on the weight of her suitcase. She tossed it aside: she didn’t want to miss the boat.
Suddenly her legs almost buckled beneath her as the darkness crept upwards. Then came the fear, making its way up her legs to her thighs. Soon it would be dragging at her intestines. Laura gasped for breath as she crawled back to her suitcase. She fumbled with the clasp and got it open to find her medicine box. At any moment now she would be incapable of helping herself. As she opened the box, spilling tablets on the ground, the horror seized her. She tried to stand but her body jerked backwards and she fell heavily on the floor, cracking her head against the paving. Blood seeped into her hair, but she couldn’t feel the pain, and she thrashed around, slithering across the stone-flagged path, twisting and turning, spittle at the corners of her mouth.
Not a quarter of a mile away, Max walked along the narrow gangplank to jump down on to the deck of the mail-boat. He watched the boys haul in the planks, the engines started up, and the boat eased away from the jetty. He saw Justin running like a man possessed along a narrow path, saw him bend out of sight. The next moment he was carrying Laura in his arms. Max turned away, not wanting to see them, not wanting to remember what he had seen. He only wanted to forget, but it would take a long time.
Justin pushed open the bungalow door and laid his sister on the bed, praying that it was over, that it would not take hold again. But just as she seemed peaceful, it began again in such force that her body seemed to lift itself up, as if hurled by unseen hands. In a panic he rummaged for her medicine box and realized it was back down the path in her suitcase. He ran out of the bungalow.
Justin’s breath heaved in his chest. He’d picked up the pills and the medicine box, shoved them in the case and dragged it back up. Now he opened the box, took out a thick wedge of rubber and stood over her. He calculated how long it had been going on, and tried to hold her down, but her strength was awesome.
‘What the hell are you doing?’ William shouted from the doorway.
‘She’s having a fit. It’s been going on for a long time. It’ll kill her. Help me get this into her mouth — she’s biting her tongue. She’ll choke herself.’
William could not believe the strength of the fragile woman. At last Justin gripped her head long enough to prise open her mouth, and used a platinum spatula to force her teeth apart. Blood trickled from her mouth where she had bitten through her tongue, but at last he was able to insert the wedge. He stepped away from her, then filled a syringe and injected her with a sedative.
‘Get away from her. There’s nothing we can do except hope it’ll be over soon.’
They stood watching Laura as she continued having spasms and slithered across the floor like an eel. Slowly the fit subsided and she lay twitching and snorting. Her body was black and blue where she had slammed against the furniture and the wound to her head bled freely.
As soon as she was calm enough, Justin lifted her and carried her to the bed.
William fetched wet towels to wipe the blood from her head, then watched as Justin dressed her in a satin nightie. He tucked the sheet tightly around her and took the wedge out of her mouth. She was still now, in a deep sleep. William was moved by the tenderness Justin showed her.
At last Justin turned to him. ‘I’m so glad to see you, Willy.’
‘And I’m glad to see you, Justin. I’ve missed you.’
Only then did he see the scratch marks on Justin’s face, the bruises on his neck. ‘Dear God, don’t tell me she did that to you?’ William said, shocked.
Justin shook his head. ‘No, I fell. It looks a lot worse than it is.’
William made him sit down, got some disinfectant and bathed the cuts. Some were so deep they bled profusely. Justin remained silent throughout.
Tears slid down Justin’s cheeks, which William wiped away. He did not know why it happened, but suddenly he took Justin’s face in his hands and kissed him on the cleaned wounds and his neck, but was afraid to move to the lips he wanted more than anything to touch with his.
Justin clung to him as though he never wanted to let go, and the kiss, when it came, was instigated by him. For William it was shocking but also the ultimate pleasure of his life. The embrace took him to a world of love he had believed was beyond his reach. He was filled with desire and hope. This was where he knew Andrew Maynard had been; this was the love he had written about. A shining peace swept through every fibre of his body.
‘I’m so glad you’re here, Willy,’ Justin murmured.
‘Me too.’ William hesitated before he spoke again. ‘I’ve missed you, Justin. I’ve also been so afraid, but it’s all going to be all right now. I’m here for you both. It’s all going to be all right, I’m sure.’
‘Is it, Willy?’ Justin said. ‘Promise? I bet you daren’t! There’s so much you don’t know about me and Laura. We’re not good people, Willy. I’m not a good person.’
‘Justin, trust me, I know everything about you and Laura now, and it doesn’t make any difference to me. Marta told me. She loves you and... and no one will ever hurt either of you again. I’ll see to that.’
He went to the door, overwhelmed by his emotions, but he knew it was not quite over yet: he had to know more. ‘I’ll arrange for Dahlia to sit with her and we’ll get Marta over here.’ He faced Justin. ‘I have to eat. Would you join me?’
Justin followed him. ‘I’m so glad to be with you, Willy. I don’t think this time I could have coped. I’ve been on my own for so long, and I’m tired. Laura needs to be taken care of, she always has. These fits get worse. I’ve been told that each time it happens, her brain is damaged a little and it terrifies me.’
William put his arm around Justin’s shoulders. To his delight, Justin caught his hand and threaded his fingers through it.
‘You’re not on your own, Justin, not any more. You’ve got me, and I’ll get Laura the best medical attention money can buy. She’s my responsibility now.’
‘Why?’ Justin asked.
‘I love you both, that’s why.’
Justin appeared to accept his answer and they strolled on into the house.
William fingered the stem of his glass. He had to choose his words carefully. They had both bathed and changed, and now sat across the table from each other. Yet again, he had a feeling of peace and calm, as if his life at long last had come into focus.
‘I have never been what I would call a happy man,’ he began. ‘There has been little joy in my life. But suddenly I realized... you have given me that. It hasn’t been plain sailing, but I look forward to seeing you more than anyone. And when I began to think you were...’ he sipped the champagne ‘...planning murder, it was not that you were about to commit a crime that concerned me, it was the thought that I might not see you again. I realized you had become a very important part of my life. But I need to be told the truth, all of it, so that, if need be, I can protect you both. You must tell me everything. I want the facts, no matter what they are.’
‘Maybe you won’t like me if you know it all, Willy. You might have taken on more than you bargained for.’
‘Try me. I’m offering you this island as your home, a place to stay for ever. What is your alternative? Where else will you go?’
Justin shrugged. ‘Oh, back to the villa, get some more design commissions. This place will do me a lot of good as far as that goes.’