Tedd and Todd's secret (37 page)

It was an intense but happy moment. But he didn't see the same in Ashley's eyes. She looked worried.

"Someone has to lose. That's the game. He asked me to congratulate you. You've done very well, Ashley."

"Thanks, Ethan. I'd like to ask you a favour. Tedd and Todd are up to something with my husband. I need you to get him out of all of this."

Ethan saw what was torturing Ashley. Not even the game of chess, with the danger that defeat implied, could make her forget Aidan. It had been five years since she'd been able to talk with him, resigned to watch him rebuild his life as best he could. There was little doubt that he'd gone through a terrible time, particularly when he'd been with other women. And she was still around, until the last moment.

Ethan felt like nothing beside this living example of love that stood before him. It hurt him more than he could have imagined to refuse to help her.

"You know that I can't intervene."

"Ethan, please. He's my husband, the only reason for me to be here now."

"I'd do anything to help you, but I cannot."

Ashley's eyes shone suddenly.

"Of course you can, but it is easier not to do it. You only care about your son. Thanks anyway. Now go away and hide wherever you like. I see you don't understand my situation."

Ethan opened his mouth and then closed it again. He took a deep breath and made an effort to control himself.

"I know how you feel about it, but you are wrong. Do you remember Sarah?"

Ashley was not expecting this question and it took her by surprise. She tried to remember.

"You spoke about her once… She was your girlfriend, wasn't she?"

It was difficult for her to concentrate on her memories while Aidan was in danger.

"Not exactly," Ethan said. "I have never loved a woman as much as I loved her. I agreed to play the chess match for her."

"You never told me that," Ashley protested, still not understanding what Ethan was trying to say.

"I agreed to play and I won," Ethan repeated with glassy eyes and a thoughtful expression. "I became the great champion and all that."

"You should be happy about it; you are the only one who has ever achieved it. I don't understand you."

"It is easy to understand, bearing in mind that my opponent was she, my dearest love, Sarah."

"Good Heavens…"

"I didn't know it when I agreed to play…" Ethan was not looking at her. His eyes were out of focus and he was talking to himself. "I should have let her win… but I didn't. And I hate myself for it… I was weak. Never again…"

Ashley remained silent for a while. Ethan's story had impressed her deeply. She could understand now that air of sadness, which would probably accompany him throughout all his eternal life. It was a burden she wouldn't have been able to carry.

"I tried to commit suicide many times," Ethan confessed while he was leaving, looking down. "But I cannot die, and it is better this way. Now I understand it, I must pay for my mistake, that's just…"

Ashley observed him while he walked away, not knowing what to say. She tried to assimilate his story and to draw some conclusions that could be applied to her situation. But the only thing she knew for sure was that nobody would help her.

"Goodbye, Ethan," she said in a whisper.

Ethan had gone. She was alone.

CHAPTER 27

Aidan Zack had no idea where he was going to find Tedd and Todd, but find them he had to. He was convinced they were the ones responsible for this unbelievable game of chess. He ran all the angles through his mind as he was driving, and despite explaining almost everything that had gone on, he felt a natural rejection towards the theory. It was almost impossible to believe that London was a great board upon which live chess was being played.

He'd spoken with Fletcher about it, testing the theory on a second pair of ears. And while he was as suspicious about Aidan's sanity in the first ten minutes as Carol had been, he eventually came to see the glimmer of truth in the preposterous idea. He finally agreed that it was the best hypothesis that anybody had put on the table up to now. Aidan concluded in the end that if Fletcher was convinced then that had to be because the theory was correct.

With James dead, disappeared or converted into Helen, which to all intents and purposes was the same thing, all that occupied Aidan's thinking was getting hold of Tedd and Todd. Ethan was the key to that. He'd been a player, so that meant he must know where the odd couple was. He drove towards Wilfred's mansion with the idea of telling him what he'd found out and asking for his help in locating his father. It was the only idea he had apart from getting himself locked up again and having them bail him out.

The flow of his thoughts was interrupted suddenly by a frightening sight. A short distance in front of him, a child was crossing the road with his back to him and had crouched down to retrieve something from the ground. Aidan slammed his foot on the brakes, but the child showed no reaction to the car skidding towards him. Aidan's heart was in his mouth, hoping for dear life that he would stop in time. The tyres were screeching, leaving a layer of rubber on the tarmac, the car veering to one side of the road, but not enough to slide out of the lane and avoid hitting the child. Aidan pulled on the handbrake and stamped on the brake pedal. The car came to a screeching halt and the child disappeared under the bonnet. Aidan charged out of the car, fearing the worst.

"I've got your walking stick, Tedd," he heard a young voice say.

Aidan froze on seeing Todd pick up a walking stick from the street and continue walking towards the pavement as if nothing had happened.

"I don't know what I'd do without your help, Todd," the old man said, waiting for his young companion to give him the stick.

"You scared the life out of me," Aidan shouted furiously. "I feel like giving the pair of you a thumping."

"Are you sure he wants to see us, Tedd?" Todd asked, giving the stick back to him. "He doesn't seem too happy to have found us."

"Perhaps, I was mistaken, Todd," Tedd said. "If he's not going to show us the respect we deserve, then perhaps it's better that we go."

The old man grabbed the stick and started walking off, supported by Todd. Aidan watched them go, stunned. They were the strangest pair of individuals he'd ever seen. He made an effort to remember how they'd talked to each other back in the police station and he remembered the emphasis they'd placed on being shown respect. He'd have to find some from somewhere, because he needed to know the truth.

"Wait! I definitely wanted to see you. We have to talk. Who are you?"

"Are you sure that you can maintain this rhythm while we talk, Tedd?" Todd asked. "I don't want you to miss your daily walk."

"Of course, Todd," Tedd said, "But his question bothers me. It shows that he doesn't know that we're his best friends. He asks who we are, when up to now no one has helped him as much as we have."

"Are you talking about getting me out of jail?" Aidan enquired. "You did that for some motive that I still don't understand. And you lied to me when you said that Wilfred sent you. Why should I trust you if I can't believe a word you say?"

"I have to admit he's got a point there, Tedd," Todd said. "I guess our little lie doesn't make us deserving of his trust. Nevertheless, it was necessary at the time, given that he wasn't ready to know the truth. He didn't know then that he'd need time to assimilate everything that's going on. And saying that Wilfred had sent us was the best way of getting him to accept us without asking inconvenient questions."

"That's true, but we've done a lot more for him than get him out of jail, Todd," the old man said, sitting down on a bench seat with Todd at his side. "We've been protecting him for years. He still hasn't asked who he is."

"I don't understand," Aidan said. "Of course I know who I am. What have you been protecting me from?"

"Did you hear that, Tedd?" Todd asked. "He seems very sure. We could test him. Ask him if he knows how he recovered from a triple break of his spine without complications."

"Surely he doesn't think that his body possesses some special recuperative quality, Todd," Tedd said. "I hope we're not mistaken and that he's prepared now to accept the truth."

"W–Was it you?" Aidan stammered a question. "Did you save my life?"

He'd been through his recovery in his mind so many times. It had been surprising for him and everybody else. But there had always been a little doubt at the back of his mind that something out of the ordinary had taken place. And here he was now, looking at these strange violet-eyed people, with the old doubt in his mind rising to the surface. If they'd done that for him, they could also do it for Wilfred. The urgency of finding out who this strange couple was invaded his mind again.

"He's grasped the first one, Todd," Tedd seemed satisfied.

"I… I'd like to thank you," Aidan stuttered again. "Did my recovery have anything to do with chess?"

"You see how thankful he is, Tedd," Todd said. "I knew he'd learn to appreciate two great friends like us."

"That means he deserves to hear a little about the game, Todd," Tedd said. "Tell him what a majestic game it is. A king's game. He's going to find it very interesting to know that we got sick of playing between ourselves so we decided to create a better game in order to invite others to play."

"I needed to play against someone different, Tedd," Todd remembered. "Winning all the time took the interest out of our last few games."

Tedd waved his walking stick. "That's not true and you know it, Todd," he replied. "I always beat you. In fact, I taught you all you know about chess."

"Did you also save my wife?" Aidan asked, endeavouring as quickly as he could to tie up all the loose ends. "You rescued her from the river, didn't you?"

"Now we'll clear up who beat who, Todd," Tedd said. "Our friend is asking about our dear Ashley."

"That's normal, Tedd," Todd said. "He needs to know what happened to his wife. He didn't know that she survived the accident. At no point did she require our art for herself. But she did ask help for her husband."

"For me? She asked you to save my life? I should have died." A new idea flashed through Aidan's mind.

Ethan had become immortal; Dylan a millionaire; Ashley had been able to get her husband saved. All of that, as strange as it was, was fair enough. But what did Tedd and Todd get out of that? There were still plenty of doubts to clear up.

"Do you remember the beautiful Ashley when she first came to us, Todd?" Tedd asked. "She was so scared."

"It was a pleasure to help her, Tedd," Todd said. "There should be more women like her, so charming, so in love. She's a delight. She wanted to thank us by playing a game of our chess. It was an honour for us to accept her request."

It seemed that this was how the whole thing worked. Tedd and Todd did something for someone and that person played a game of live chess in return. There were still some missing links, but it had to be something like that. Aidan wasn't that surprised. There had to be some reason to explain how people had got involved in all of this. But what was more important than anything else was the fact that Ashley was alive and so was he. He decided to ask the question that scared him the most.

"Why hasn't Ashley said anything about all of this to me? Why couldn't she have let me know that she was alive?"

"You shouldn't answer that, Todd," Tedd warned him. "We're not the people to involve ourselves in matters of true love."

"What type of friends would we be if we were to do that, Tedd?" Todd said. "I would never do something like that. Our duty is to respect the wish of our beloved Ashley, so that she can explain it herself in person. It's certainly a decision I applaud."

"Ashley will tell me?" Aidan begged to know. Just the thought of seeing her again was driving him crazy. "Where can I find her? I wouldn't know how to thank you enough if you helped me with that."

"It's a pleasure dealing with such polite people, Todd," Tedd said. "Tell him where he can find his wife. He wants to see her before she goes."

"You're right, Tedd," Todd agreed. A flyer fell onto the bench as he was taking a handkerchief out of his pocket. "I wouldn't like him to arrive late because we kept him here too long. After all, his wife can't wait for him much longer there."

Aidan grabbed the pamphlet that Todd had dropped. He was so happy to think he would meet his wife again that he didn't notice that Tedd and Todd weren't even looking at him as they continued to talk to each other.

He said goodbye as politely as he could and dashed to his car. As he drove off, he glanced at the flyer beside him on the front seat. It advertised an art gallery. He memorized the address and sped there as fast as he could.