Water Music (28 page)

He slipped his fingers under the chain and caressed
her throat.

Esther tattooed her name on her daughters neck with a Bic. She inked it there, just like prisoners do, said Clare, her voice hoarse. Esther lives on. You failed to erase her.

Sterns eyes blazed, but he continued as if she had not spoken.

You will relinquish the ties that bind you to family. You will forget the story you have been told about yourself. It may take years, but in the
end you will give yourself up. He cupped her face in his hands. An obedient wife, willing, finally, to trust her husband with the life he chooses for her.

I want to know where Rosa is.

You would know, I imagine, how hostile the world is to wilful young women.

Its the wilful ones who make it, said Clare.

In my experience, they end up here. He smiled at Clare. You wished to see her and now
you will.

Stern moved the shelves aside, revealing a low steel-covered door. He tapped in a code and it swung open.

Get up, he ordered, slipping the chain off the pole suspended above the bed.

Clare stumbled towards the opening that led deeper into the mountain.

The muffled sound of water.

She stepped into the dimness, Noah Sterns hand on her back.

He stopped, turned sideways.

Rosa, he
said.

There was a bundle on the floor. Wrapped in black plastic, it looked like a body bag.

Ive brought you a friend, said Stern.

Clare dropped to her knees.

Rosa? she whispered.

The bundle moved. A pale girl tried to push herself up, but her arms collapsed. She stared up at Clare. Her blank eyes reflected Clare back to herself. Two tiny pinprick selves in the girls pupils.

Bring her here,
ordered Stern.

Take the chain off me, then, said Clare. Otherwise I cannot help her.

He removed the chain, and Clare gathered Rosa into her arms.

Water, whispered Rosa. Please.

Theres some through there, said Clare. She helped her through and laid her on the bed.

Clare held a bottle to her lips and drip-fed the girl as if she were a wounded bird.

Its been three days. Thirst flays the mind,
said Stern, watching Rosas throat convulse. Little else is needed to tame the body.

Clare lifted the plastic. The girl was naked.

She will die, Stern, said Clare, turning from Rosas battered body. Get her out of here; get her to a hospital, save yourself.

Im not the one who needs saving, he said to Clare. Dr Hart, unless you wish to live here alone, unless you want to give birth alone, you
will have to find a way to keep her alive.

Leave me unshackled then, said Clare, stepping away as he approached her with the chain. Otherwise I can do nothing.

There is little you can do in the darkness, he said, weighing up her words. But just remember: down here, if you do what I say, you are free.

Stern turned on his heel and went up the stairs. The door closed, plunging the hole into darkness
once again.

Clare lay next to the naked girl, covering her with the blanket, with her own body.

You survived. She felt the girls breath on her cheek.

Clares thoughts spiralled in the silence. The distant throb of the river was a sensation rather than a sound. Time passed. There was nothing else for it to do. Time passed. Surely, it passed. There was no way to tell, apart from the regular rhythm
of Rosas breath that brushed Clares ear.

Rosas voice brought her back into the ink-black present.

He made me help her, she said. Just like he made you help me. Esther, the little girl

Shes alive, said Clare. Shes going to be fine.

Rosa was silent for so long that Clare put her hand up to her face to see if she was still awake. Rosas eyes were wide open, staring into the darkness.

My life,
its as if Im in a movie. And that night, the trees, the light, something wasnt right; I knew that. I looked down that avenue into the darkness. The oaks leaned into each other and whispered to me. Those trees now that I live buried among their roots, I know they were warning me. They were telling me to run. I heard them, but I didnt listen. That was my mistake. I know that now. Im sure you know
what your mistake was too.

I know, said Clare.

You know what happened at the castle. She lay still, her mind back in the moment that had unhinged her life. Both their lives.

I saw, said Clare.

Thats why youre here.

Yes.

You know why I did it?

I know.

So you know I didnt walk back towards the light, said Rosa. But I felt so dirty and my mind, it was in pieces. I wasnt strong enough. I
put my cello and my bag on my back and walked into the night. I walked up the road, climbed the path. I was hurting. I came here. Nancy was here. It was as if shed been waiting for me. He took my cello and leaned it against the wall.

Noah Stern?

Rosa ignored Clares question.

I try to run the movie in reverse, another version. Me, walking back to the shop, back into the light, back inside. I
pick up the phone. I phone my oupa, I tell him. He fetches me. I give him the money for his cancer pills, enough to buy him and me a few more days.

Rosa was quiet again, her exhalations marking the moments.

But it never happened. Thats how life is, she said. Nothing gets undone. It was like I had a fire under my skin. I left that place. I walked faster, faster down the hill, trying to get away.
There was the garage. I went in. I had to find some water again. I got the key, but nothing helped their hands on me, inside me, burning, burning me. I wet my hair and I walked to the trees. I knew the path was there Id walked there before. I knew it went to Paradys. Nancy is his wife. I knew her, she had combed my hair in the sun and told me that I would find sanctuary there.

Rosa shifted,
leaned on her elbow and faced Clare.

A woman makes you feel safe, said Rosa.

She sank back onto the bed.

I was wrong.

Me too, said Clare.

Ive thought so often about what Nancy knows.

Everything, said Clare. Shes his handmaiden.

Clare put her arms around Rosa.

When you first visited them, what did Noah say to you then?

It was Nancy who did the talking. He just watched and smiled and went
about his business. I didnt really pay much attention to him.

And after you arrived here at Paradys?

The next morning he asked me if Id spoken to anyone. I told him no, Id come straight from the castle. I told him I didnt want to see anyone. Not after what I had done, not yet. He made me coffee. There was bread, a jar of honey. We sat at the table and he watched me eat. Then he asked me if I
would help him in the shed.

Bastard. So thats where the entrance to this hole is.

Rosas breath quickened. Yes. He was standing at the door and said to me, After you like a real gentleman. There were three boxes on the floor. He gave me the smallest one. He pointed to a door, some steps. It was, a cellar, I thought. He came after me. There were seventeen steps. I counted, I dont know why. And
then there was another door. It opens with some kind of code. He leaned forward while I held the box and he opened the door and then it was too late and the chain was round my neck.

Is that where you found the little girl?

Yes, she was curled up on a mat on the floor. Her eyes were open. He turned her onto her side, to face the wall. Then he took my dress, he took my panties, he bent me over
the table, his hand on the back of my neck, his voice was in my ear telling me I was unclean

Clare shook her head in the dark, stroked Rosas forehead.

After a long pause, she asked, Where was her mother?

Thats exactly what I asked her, said Rosa. Poor little thing, she looked like she wanted to cry when I said mother. But that was all, and then he put the light out and it was as dark as it
is now.

Riedwaans search had taken him and Njobe along remote tracks that led up the slopes of the Sentinel. Higher up they had found a dead dog, a strand of wire twisted around its scrawny neck, but no trace of Clare. That left Riedwaan with no comfort at all.

The cold sun was already sinking behind Judas Peak, the trees cast spectral shadows across the parking lot behind the garage and the KwikShop.
Mandla Njobe, Riedwaan Faizal and two Mountain Men security guards were standing next to Clares abandoned 4x4.

Its nearly four oclock already, said Njobe. Weve been searching for Dr Hart all day. Why the fuck did you only find her car now?

We looked everywhere for the doctor, said the younger guard.

Cwele was looking for her too, chimed in the other. And for you, Captain.

You spoke to him?
asked Riedwaan.

Didnt get a chance, said the younger. Cweles so busy telling you what a grootkop he is, you dont need to say anything.

Dont give me any shit about Cwele. Njobes voice was lethally quiet. I want to know why you only found the car now?

We did one last patrol, said the older one. We drove this way. Came in for coffee. Those guys had fixed their truck and moved out so we saw the
car. He pointed to the eighteen-wheeler chugging up Victoria that had blocked Clares vehicle from casual view.

I sent you here this morning. Njobes fists bunched. This is Dr Harts life were talking about.

We looked, sir, both of us. The truck

Useless fuckers is what you are, said Mandla Njobe. He turned on his heel.

Its my fault, Faizal, he said. I should have come myself.

It should have
been me. Riedwaan walked away from the men. Leave them. We know this is where she was last. We start here. Now.

Riedwaan peered into Clares car. Everything seemed to be in order. Everything except for the fact that her car had been parked here for twenty-four hours and that its owner had vanished.

The KwikShop security cameras, said Njobe, what do they show?

Nothing much, said the older guard.
Just going in to the shop, then leaving.

She buy anything? asked Riedwaan.

Nothing, the guard replied. She went in, she talked to the cashier, she went out, walked out of shot, then shes gone.

Heres Mercy, said Njobe. The girl who was on duty yesterday. Shes back on shift.

Riedwaan turned around when the cashier appeared.

You spoke to Dr Hart, he said to her.

Yes. Her hands inside the pockets
of her uniform. She was looking for that girl who went missing. Rosie whatever.

Rosa Wagner, said Riedwaan. What did you tell her?

That she was here, said Mercy. It was a few weeks ago. Late at night.

What else?

I told her she used the bathroom and then she walked out and she vanished.

Thats it?

Thats it. Mercy chewed her gum, blew a pink bubble.

Then Dr Hart left?

Yes, said Mercy. She
walked out. Round the corner. I didnt see her again either.

What about her car?

I didnt think about it. I didnt see it, that big delivery truck was parked here, it just left.

We radioed everyone, Captain, said the second Mountain Men guard. Nobodys seen her. Shes just gone.

You not the first cop who was looking for her, said Mercy.

What do you mean? asked Riedwaan. This wasnt the time to
explain that, as of yesterday, he wasnt a cop.

He was here, she said. Got a fat stomach like a politician, drove a Pajero.

What did you tell him?

Nothing. I dont like him. Mercy eyed Riedwaan. I dont think he liked your doctor lady. Not like you.

Did he see the car?

He didnt park this side, so I dont think so, said Mercy. He took two Cokes and he didnt pay for them and then he left.

Cwele.
Njobe turned to Riedwaan. Clare mustve seen him.

A bell tolled in the valley. Riedwaan counted four, one for each hour of the afternoon so far and already the light dimming, fading towards evening. He swept his field glasses along the neglected firebreak that ran below Savićs fence. The castle rose above the trees, silhouetted by the last rays of sunshine.

Riedwaan dropped his glasses. The overgrown
track cut across the mountain to where Wewers had sat eating Sweetie Pies while a girl was running through the trees.

Keep looking for her here, Mandla, said Riedwaan. Right now, theres someone I have to see.

The light flickered on, illuminated the contours of Rosas face. Clare flinched, her eyes hurting. She braced herself, but there was no sound, no one approaching.

This happens sometimes, said Rosa. Theres light, theres food, and then its gone again.

Does it mean someone is coming? asked Clare.

Eventually, yes,
he
comes, said Rosa. The first time, he came back three days later. Three days
of darkness. No clothes, just me and the little girl and a bottle of water and some biscuits. We broke them into little pieces to make them last. Then he came down and he told me to bend over the table again. When it was over, I ate the orange he peeled for me.

Clare brushed the tears from Rosas face.

Listen to that. Rosa inclined her head.

Clare heard nothing, just the sound of water.

You
know, I arrange the sounds of the water. Its my own Water Music. Its what kept me sane for a while, but I cant hold on much longer. She buried her head in Clares arms. Clare, please help me, help me die. I cant do it alone.

Theres a way out of here, said Clare, aware of the pulse of the life deep within her her nameless comrade, her own reason to live. Well find it, Rosa.

You dont think Ive
thought of everything, tried everything?

This time theres two of us, said Clare.

There were two of us the last time, said Rosa. It didnt help.

Did Esther tell you how long she was here?

She didnt know, she thought maybe ten years, said Rosa. She used the babies to count off the years.

And did she know about Isaac?

Yes, she knew, said Rosa. She told me she was his mother up there in the sunshine
until he was two. Its what kept her obedient all the years she was buried here with her shadow children thats what she called them.