The Devil Rides Out Page 10

  ‘Don’t fret your sweet self. No one shall lay a finger on you as long as I’m around.’

  ‘But, you great fool, you don’t understand,’ she waved miserably. “The Power of Darkness cannot be turned aside by bruisers or iron bars. If I don’t appear at the meeting tonight, the moment I fall asleep Mocata will set the Ab-humans on to me. In the morning I may be dead or possessed-a raving lunatic.’

  Rex did not laugh. He knew that she was genuinely terrified of an appalling possibility. Instead he turned her towards the house and said gently: ‘Now please don’t worry so. De Richleau does understand just how dangerous monkeying with this business is. He spent half the night trying to convince me of it, and like a fool I wouldn’t believe him until I saw a thing I don’t care to talk about, but I’m dead certain he’d never allow you to run any risk like that.’

  ‘Then let me go back to London!’

  ‘No. He asked me to get you here so as he could have a word with you-and I’ve done it. We’ll have a quiet little lunch together now and talk this thing over when the Duke turns up. Hell either guarantee to protect you or let you go.’

  ‘He can’t protect me I tell you-and in any case I wish to attend this meeting tonight.’

  ‘You wish to!’ he echoed with a shake of the head. ‘Well, that gets me beat, but you can’t even guess what you’d be letting yourself in for. Anyhow I don’t mean to let you-so now you know.’

  ‘You mean to keep me here against my will?’

  ‘Yes!’

  ‘What is to stop me screaming for help?’

  ‘Nix, but since the Duke’s not here the servants know

  I’m in charge, so they won’t bat an eyelid if you start to yell the house down-and there’s no one else about.’

  Tanith glanced swiftly down the drive. Except at the white gates tall banks of rhododendrons, heavy with bloom, obscured the lane. No rumble of passing traffic broke the stillness that brooded upon the well-kept garden. The house lay silent in the early summer sunshine. The inhabitants of the village were busy over the midday meal.

  She was caught and knew it. Only her wits could get her out of this, and her fear of Mocata was so great that she was determined to use any chance that offered to free herself from this nice, meddling fool.

  ‘You’ll not try to prevent me leaving if De Richleau says I may when he arrives?’ she asked,

  ‘No. I’ll abide by his decision,’ he agreed.

  ‘Then for the time being I will do as you wish.’

  ‘Fine-come on.’ He led her back to the house and rang for Max, who appeared immediately from the doorway of the dining-room.

  ‘We’ve decided to lunch on the river,’ Rex told him. ‘Make up a basket and have it put in the electric canoe.’ He had made the prompt decision directly he sensed that Tanith meant to escape if she could. Once she was alone in a boat with him he felt that, unless she was prepared to jump out and swim for it, he could hold her without any risk of a scene just as long as he wanted to.

  ‘Very good, sir-I’ll see to it at once.’ Max disappeared into the domain of which he was lord and master, while Rex shepherded Tanith back to the neglected cocktails.

  He refreshed the shaker while she sat on the sofa eyeing him curiously, but he persuaded her to have one, and when he pressed her she had another. Then Max appeared to announce that his orders had been carried out.

  ‘Let’s go-shall we?’ Rex held open the French-windows and together they crossed the sunlit lawn, gay with its beds of tulips, polyanthus, wallflowers and forget-me-nots. At the river’s edge, upon a neat, white painted landing-stage, a boatman held the long electric canoe ready for them.

  Tanith settled herself on the cushions and Rex took the small perpendicular wheel. In a few moments they were chugging out into midstream and up the river towards Goring, but he preferred not to give her the opportunity of appealing to the lock-keeper, so he turned the boat and headed it towards a small backwater below the weir.

  Having tied up beneath some willows, he began passing packages and parcels out of the stern. ‘Come on,’ he admonished her. ‘It’s the girl’s job to see to the commissariat. Just forget yourself a moment and see what they’ve given us to eat.’

  She smiled a little ruefully. ‘If I really thought you realised what you were doing I should look on you as the bravest man I’ve ever known.’

  He turned suddenly, still kneeling at the end of the boat. ‘Go on-say it again. I love the sound of your voice.’

  ‘You fool!’ She coloured, laughing as she unwrapped the napkins. ‘There’s some cheese here-and ham and tongue-and brown bread-and salad-and a lobster. We shall never be able to eat all this and-oh, look,’ she held out a small wicker basket, ‘fraises des bois.’

  ‘Marvellous. I haven’t tasted a wood strawberry since I last lunched at Fontainebleau. Anyhow, it’s said the British Army fights on its stomach, so I’m electing myself an honorary member of it for the day. Fling me that corkscrew-will you and I’ll deal with this bottle of Moselle.’

  Soon they were seated face to face propped against the cushions, a little sticky about the mouth, but enjoying themselves just as any nice normal couple would in such circumstances; but when the meal was finished he felt that, much as he would have liked to laze away the afternoon, he ought, now the cards were upon the table, to learn what he could of this grim business without waiting for the coming of the Duke. He unwrapped another packet which he had found in the stern of the boat, and passing it over asked half humorously:

  Tell me, does a witch ever finish up her lunch with chocolates? I’d be interested to know on scientific grounds.’

  ‘Oh, why did you bring me back-I have been enjoying myself so much,’ her face was drawn and miserable as she buried it in her hands.

  ‘I’m sorry!’ He put down the chocolates and bent towards her. ‘But we’re both in this thing, so we’ve got to talk of it, haven’t we, and though you don’t look the part, you’re just as much a witch as any old woman who ever soured the neighbour’s cream-else you’d never have seen me in that crystal

  this morning as I sat in the lounge of your hotel.’

  ‘Of course I am if you care to use such a stupid old-fashioned term. She drew her hands away and tossed back her fair hair as she stared at him defiantly. ‘That was only child’s play-just to keep my hand in-a discipline to make me fit to wield a higher power.’

  “For good?’ he questioned laconically.

  ‘It is necessary to pass through many stages before having to choose whether one will take the Right or Left Hand Path.’

  ‘So I gather. But how about this unholy business in which you’ve a wish to take part tonight?’

  ‘If I submit to the ordeal I shall pass the Abyss.’ The low, caressing voice lifted to a higher note, and the wise eyes suddenly took on a fanatic gleam.

  ‘You can’t have a notion what they mean to do to you or you’d never even dream of it,’ he insisted.

  ‘I have, but you know nothing of these things so naturally you consider me utterly shameless or completely mad. You are used to nice English and American girls who haven’t a thought in their heads except to get you to marry them-if you have any money-which apparently you have, but that sort of thing does not interest me. I have worked and studied to gain power -real power over other people’s lives and destinies-and I know now that the only way to acquire it is by complete surrender of self. I don’t expect you to understand my motives but that is why I mean to go tonight.’

  He studied her curiously for a moment, still convinced that she could not be fully aware of the abominations that would take place at the Sabbat. Then he broke out: ‘How long is it since you became involved in this sort of thing?’

  ‘I was psychic even as a child,’ she told him slowly. ‘My mother encouraged me to use my gifts. Then when she died I joined a society in Budapest. I loved her. I wanted to keep in touch with her still.’

  ‘What proof have you got it was her?’ he demanded with a
sudden renewal of scepticism as he recalled the many newspaper exposures of spiritualistic séances.

  ‘I had very little then, but since, I have been convinced of it beyond all doubt.’

  ‘And is she-your own mother, still-yes, your guide-I suppose you’d call it?’

  Tanith shook her head. ‘No, she has gone on, and it was not for me to seek to detain her, but others have followed, and every day my knowledge of the worlds which lie beyond this grows greater.’

  ‘But it’s extraordinary that a young girl like you should devote yourself to this sort of thing. You ought to be dancing, dining, playing golf, going places-you’re so lovely you could take your pick among the men.’

  She shrugged a little disdainfully. ‘Such a life is dull-ordinary-after a year I tired of it, and few women can climb mountains or shoot big game, but the conquest of the unknown offers the greatest adventure of all.’

  Again her voice altered suddenly, and the inscrutable eyes which gave her a strange, serious beauty, so fitting for a lady of the Italian Renaissance, gleamed as before.

  ‘Religions and moralities are man-made, fleeting and local; a scandalous lapse from virtue in London may be a matter for the highest praise in Hong Kong, and the present Archbishop of Paris would be shocked beyond measure if it was suggested that he had anything in common, beyond his religious office, with a Medieval Cardinal. One thing and one thing only remains constant and unchanging, the secret doctrine of the way to power. That is a thing to work for, and if need be cast aside all inherent scruples for-as I shall tonight.’

  ‘Aren’t you-just a bit afraid?’ He stared at her solemnly.

  ‘No, provided I follow the path which is set, no harm can come to me.’

  ‘But it is an evil path,’ he insisted, marvelling at the change which had come over her. It almost seemed as if it were a different woman speaking or one who repeated a recitation, learned in a foreign language, with all the appropriate expression yet not understanding its true meaning, as she replied with a cynical little smile.

  ‘Unfortunately the followers of the Right Hand Path obsess themselves only with the wellbeing of the Universe as a whole, whereas those of the Left exercise their power upon living humans. To bend people to your will, to cause them to fall or rise, to place unaccountable obstacles in their path at every turn or smooth their way to a glorious success-that is more than riches, more than fame-the supreme pinnacle to which any man or woman can rise, and I wish to reach it before I die.’

  ‘Maybe-maybe.’ Rex shook his head with a worried frown, ‘But you’re young and beautiful-just breaking in on all the fun of life-why not think it over for a year or two? It’s horrible to hear you talk as though you were a disillusioned old woman.’

  Her mouth tightened still further. ‘In a way I am-and for me, waiting is impossible because, although in your ignorance I do not expect you to believe it, as surely as the sun will set tonight I shall be dead before the year is out.’

  Chapter 13

  The Defeat of Rex Van Ryn

  For a moment they sat in silence. The river flowed gently on; the sun still dappled the lower branches of the willows and flecked the water with points of light.

  Gradually the fire died out of Tanith’s eyes and she sank back against the cushions of the canoe as Rex stared at her incredulously. It seemed utterly impossible that there could be any real foundation for her grim prophecy, yet her voice had held such fatal certainty.

  ‘It isn’t true!’ Rex seized her hand and gripped it as though, by his own vitality, he would imbue her with continued life. ‘You’re good for fifty years to come. That’s only some criminal nonsense this devil Mocata’s got you to swallow.’

  ‘Oh, you dear fool!’ She took his other hand and pressed it while, for a moment, it seemed as if tears were starting to her eyes. ‘If things were different I think I might like you enormously, but I knew the number of my days long before I ever met Mocata, and there is nothing which can be done to lengthen them by a single hour.’

  ‘Show me your hand,’ he said suddenly. It was the only thing even remotely connected with the occult of which Rex had any knowledge. The year before he had ricked an ankle, while after Grizzly in the Rockies, and had had to lie up for a week at a tiny inn where the library consisted of less than a dozen battered volumes. A book on Palmistry, which he had discovered among them, had proved a real windfall and the study of it had whiled away many hours of his enforced idleness.

  As Tanith held out her hand he saw at once that it was of the unusual psychic type. Very long, narrow and fragile, the wrist small, the fingers smooth and tapering, ending in long, almond-shaped nails. The length of the first, second and third fingers exceeded that of the palm by nearly an inch, giving the whole a beautiful but useless appearance. The top phalange of the thumb, he noted, was slim and pointed, another sign of lack of desire to grapple with material things.

  ‘You see?’ she turned it over showing him the palm. ‘The Arabs say that “the fate of every man is bound about his brow,” and mine is written here, for all who can, to read.’

  Rex’s knowledge of the subject was too limited for him to do much but read character and general tendencies by the various shapes of hands, but even he was startled by the unusual markings on the narrow palm.

  On the cushion of the hand the Mount of the Moon stood out firm and strong, seeming to spread over and dominate the rest, a clear sign of an exceedingly strong imagination, refinement and love of beauty; but it was tinged with that rare symbol, the Line of Intuition, giving, in connection with such a hand, great psychic powers and a leaning towards mysticism of a highly dangerous kind. A small star below the second finger, upon the Mount of Saturn, caused him additional uneasiness and he looked in vain for squares which might indicate preservation at a critical period. Yet worst of all the Line of Life, more clearly marked than he would have expected, stopped short with a horrifying suddenness at only a little over a third of the way from its commencement, where it was tied to the Line of Head.

  He stared at it in silence, not knowing what to say to such sinister portents, but she smiled lightly as she withdrew her hand. ‘Don’t worry please, but there is no appeal from the verdict of the Stars and you will understand now why marriage -children-a lovely home-all things connected with the future just mean nothing to me.’

  ‘So that’s the reason you let yourself get mixed up in this horrible business?’

  ‘Yes. Since I am to die so soon no ordinary emotion can stir me any more. I look as though I were already a great way from it, and what happens to my physical body matters to me not at all. Ten months ago I began seriously to cultivate my psychic sense under real instruction, and the voyages which I can make now into the immensity of the void are the only things left to me which still have power to thrill.’

  ‘But, why in heaven’s name involve yourself with Black Magic when you might practise White?’

  ‘Have I not told you? The adepts of the Right Hand Path concern themselves only with the Great Work; the blending of the Microcosm with the Macrocosm; a vague philosophic entity in which one can witness no tangible results. Whereas, those of the Left practise their Art upon human beings and can actually watch the working of their spells.’

  ‘I can’t get over your wanting to attend this Satanic festival tonight all the same.’

  ‘It should be an extraordinary experience.’

  ‘Any normal person would be terrified at what might happen.’

  ‘Well, if you like, I will admit that I am just a little frightened but that is only because it is my first participation. By surrendering myself I shall only suffer or enjoy, as most other women do, under slightly different circumstances at some period of then-life.’

  ‘Slightly different!’ he exclaimed, noting again the sudden change of eyes and voice, as though she were possessed by some sinister dual personality which appeared every time she spoke of these horrible mysteries, and blotted out the frank, charming individuality which was
natural to her. ‘This thing seems worlds apart to me from picking a man you like and taking a sporting chance about the rest.’

  ‘No, in ancient Egypt every woman surrendered herself at the temple before she married, in order that she might acquire virtue, and sacred prostitution is still practised in many parts of the world-for that is what this amounts to. Regarded from the personal point of view, of course, it is loathsome. If I thought of it that way I should never be able to go through with it at all, but I have trained myself not to, and only think of it now as a ritual which has to be gone through in order to acquire fresh powers.’

  ‘It’s mightily difficult for any ordinary person to see it that way-though I suppose the human brain can shut out certain aspects of a thing.’ Rex paused, frowning: ‘Still I was really speaking of the hideous danger you will incur from placing yourself in the hands of-well, the Devil if you like.’

  She smiled. ‘The Devil is only a bogey invented by the Early Church to scare fools.’

  ‘Let’s say the Power of Darkness then.’

  ‘You mean by receiving reBaptism?’

  ‘By attending this Sabbat at all. I imagined from your strange name you had received reBaptism already.’

  ‘No, Tanith is the name by which I was Christened. It was my mother’s choice.’

  Rex sat forward suddenly. ‘Then you haven’t-er-given yourself over completely yet?’

  ‘No, but I shall tonight, for if De Richleau has a tenth of the knowledge which you say he has he will realise the appalling danger to which I should be exposed if he detained me here, so he will let me go immediately he arrives-and remember, you have promised not to interfere with my freedom once he has seen me.’

  ‘But listen,’ he caught her hands again. ‘It was bad enough that you should have been going to take a part in this abominable business as a graduate-it’s a thousand times worse that you should do it while there’s still time to back out.’