As soon as Carol set eyes on Hatty Summers she knew she was locked in with a mad woman, and her blood ran cold.
‘So they’ve got you too,’ Hatty whispered, and laughed. ‘Picked you off the road, did they? Now that’s what I call real smart: knew you as soon as they saw you.’
Carol crouched away from the bright little eyes that seemed to probe right into her mind. Again she experienced the feeling that she was asleep and dreaming.
‘They’ll take you to Glenview,’ Hatty went on, ‘and they’ll lock you up. I’ve heard of Glenview. That’s where I’m going, because the nurses are afraid of me at Kinston.’ She raised her head, added, ‘And they’re right to be afraid of me.’ She laughed, went on: ‘Glenview’s nice, but I’m sick of being locked up. I want to be free to do what I like.’
Glenview!
The name stirred a dormant chord in Carol’s memory, conjuring up a shadowy picture of a room with blue walls and a nurse who stared and pointed at her, but said nothing.
‘I must get away,’ she said, speaking her thoughts aloud. ‘I must get away before anything happens...’
She ran to the door and tried to open it, but her fingers slipped over the smooth surface, unable to find a purchase.
‘They won’t let you get away,’ Hatty said, giggling with excitement. ‘You’re mad like me. There’s nothing you can do.’
‘I’m not mad!’ Carol cried, twisting round and setting her back against the door.
‘Oh, yes, you are,’ Hatty said. ‘I know. You’re clever. You can hide it from most people, but not from me.’
‘I’m not mad,’ Carol repeated, and hid her face in her hands.
‘You are,’ Hatty whispered. ‘You may call it by some other name, but you’re mad as I am. I can always tell.’
‘I’m not mad,’ Carol said, but cold fingers seemed to squeeze her heart. Could she be mad? she asked herself. Was that the explanation of these extraordinary things that were happening to her? Were they delusions of a diseased mind? Was that why she couldn’t remember who she was? Was that the explanation of the odd, infrequent snapping noise that sounded in her head which turned everything into a badly-focussed film?
‘Losing confidence?’ Hatty asked, watching her closely. ‘Well, don’t give up hope. I didn’t mean to make you unhappy.’
‘Oh, stop talking to me!’ Carol burst out, and began to beat on the door of the ambulance.
‘Hush, you little fool,’ Hatty said. ‘It won’t do any good. He won’t let you out until you get to Glenview, and then it’ll be too late. Do you want to get away?’
Carol looked at her over her shoulder.
‘I must get away...’
‘Between us we could manage it. He’s smart, but he’s overconfident. You’d have to get this jacket off me.’
‘Oh, no!’ Carol said, shrinking back.
‘You’re not frightened of me?’ Hatty asked, and laughed. ‘We belong to the same breed. We don’t hurt each other. You needn’t be frightened.’
Carol shivered.
‘Please don’t talk like that; I’m not mad. It’s wicked to say I’m mad.’
‘Don’t excite yourself,’ Hatty said. ‘If you want to get away you must undo these straps; and you’d better be quick. We can’t be far off now. Once they get you inside you’ll never get out again.’
Carol walked slowly over to her, stood looking down at her.
‘And if I do release you, how shall I get away?’ she asked, and shivered as she saw the cunning that lurked in the bright little eyes.
‘Get me out of this jacket,’ Hatty whispered, ‘and then start screaming and banging. He’ll come in to see what’s the matter. It’s his duty to see what’s happening. While he’s attending to you, I’ll go for him. The two of us can fix him easily enough.’
Sam Garland was a mile from Point Breese when he heard hammering and screaming from inside the ambulance. He scowled into the darkness, and after a moment’s hesitation stopped the ambulance. He didn’t want Carol to hurt herself. He wanted to hand her over to Doc Travers in good condition so there’d be no arguing about the five-thousand-dollar reward.
He climbed out of the cab and, cursing under his breath, walked round in the darkness to the back of the ambulance, unlocked the door, opened it and peered into the dimly lit interior.
Carol was flinging herself against the far wall, her screams reverberating in the confined space.
Garland shot a quick look at Hatty Summers. She eyed him from under the blanket, giggled excitedly, but she looked safe enough. He climbed into the ambulance, pulled the door to, but not shut, grabbed hold of Carol, twisting her arms behind her.
‘Take it easy,’ he said. ‘You lie down, baby. You’re getting over-excited.’
Carol was terrified when she found how helpless she was in his experienced grip, and although she struggled frantically Garland forced her to a stretcher that hung on a rack opposite to the one on which Hatty lay.
‘Let me go!’ Carol panted. ‘Take your hands off me!’
‘All right, baby,’ Garland said soothingly. ‘No need to get worked up. Just lie down. I’ll make you comfortable.’
He gripped her wrists in one big hand, suddenly stooped and caught her under her knees, lifted her and dropped her on to the stretcher.
At that moment Hatty pushed off the blanket and sat up.
Some instinct warned Garland of his danger, and he looked over his shoulder as Hatty swung her legs off the stretcher.
Still holding Carol’s wrists, he faced Hatty.
‘Be a good girl and stay where you are,’ he said gently. He wasn’t flustered, but he knew he would have to get out quick. He couldn’t hope to handle both of them. ‘Get back on to that stretcher,’ he ordered, and at the same moment he released Carol’s wrists, jumped for the door.
There wasn’t enough space for quick movement, and besides, Hatty was already on her feet. She grabbed hold of Garland’s arm, swung him round and, laughing gleefully, she shot her hands at his throat.
Carol struggled off the stretcher, tried to force her way past Garland to the door, but he threw her back and, cursing, broke Hatty’s stranglehold.
As he broke clear Carol caught hold of his arm, hung on. Hatty flew at him, her eyes blazing. He reeled back under her weight, his shoulders thudding against the stretcher. Then his foot slipped and he was down, and Hatty, screaming with excitement, reached for his throat again.
Garland didn’t lose his head. He buried his chin in his chest, kept his neck stiff and hit Hatty with his clenched fist. He hit her very hard, driving her off him, and he twisted round, shoved the ambulance door back, threw himself into the road.
Carol sprang down beside him, began to run. She had only taken two steps when a hand gripped her flying ankle and she pitched forward, coming down heavily on the tarmac, the breath leaving her body.
Hatty sprang out of the ambulance as Garland was getting to his feet. She jumped straight at Garland, her feet thudding into his chest. He went over, rolled clear, struggled up, cursing.
He didn’t give a damn if Hatty escaped, but the Blandish girl was not going to get away if he could help it. She represented five thousand dollars to him — and he could use five thousand dollars. He imagined that if he left Hatty alone she would run off and he would only have to worry about Carol, but here he made a mistake. Hatty was after his blood.
And when he again shoved her off, and ran to Carol, Hatty paused for a moment while her blunt fingers scrabbled in the grass by the side of the road for a stone. It took her a moment or so before she found a heavy piece of flint, and in that time Garland had caught hold of Carol and was dragging her back to the ambulance.
Carol screamed frantically, but she was powerless in his grip, and when he swung open the ambulance door she suddenly gave up in despair.