Out of Such Darkness Read Online Free PDF Page B

Rachel, who sit alongside him like relatives at a death-bed, and robot-like he turns to one of his business techniques – an ‘action pathway’. First, he’ll find out what has happened at Straub, DuCheyne. If, as seems likely, all his colleagues have perished he’ll talk to the widows of the men who brought him to New York. He can’t imagine how these conversations will go. After that, he’ll know where he stands workwise.
    While the images flash and the commentators prattle he tries to think of something normal – routine. He recalls the evening of Ben’s first day at school nearly a week ago when he had made sure he was home in time for dinner. The garlic-rich smell of a pasta sauce had met him as he opened the screen door.
    ‘Jay, how was it?’ Rachel tried to lift her tone but the fragility in her voice was obvious.
    ‘You know that company
Heroes of the Alamo
– the one I went to see in San Antonio?’
    Rachel shook her head. ‘Companies here and their strange names …’
    ‘Well, they’re coming round.’ He shucked off his jacket and hung it over a chair-back. ‘That’ll be two clients inside a month. Glenn and Francois are already talking end-of-year bonuses.’
    ‘That’s good. Ben has news as well. He’s happy with how it went.’
    Jay loosened his tie. ‘Where is he? Up or down?’
    Rachel signalled ‘up’ with her forefinger.
    Jay went to the bottom of the stairs. ‘Ben, I’m home. Want to come down and tell me about your day?’
    Rachel was at the table pouring sauce over the tagliatelle by the time Ben’s fast feet percussioned down the stairs and he fell into the room.
    ‘This is good, Rachel. Delicious.’ Jay said it before the food had passed his lips. He rubbed his hands together. ‘So what’s your news, Ben? Everything okay, first day?’
    Rachel looked across the table. ‘Go on. Tell your dad your news.’
    Ben looked down at his plate. ‘They had an audition for chorus–’
    ‘Chorus?’ Jay said.
    ‘It’s what they call the school choir. Anyway, I sang a bit and they got all excited.’ He blushed. ‘I’ve been a bit self-conscious about my voice – haven’t sung anything since it started to break and it was all over the place. Well, they loved it. Said I’m a natural counter-tenor, whatever that means.’
    ‘And …’ Rachel tapped a fingernail on the table-top.
    ‘And they want me to audition for the school show at Christmas.’
    ‘Really? What is it?’ Jay asked.
    ‘
Cabaret
,’ Ben answered.
    A frame from the film loomed up in Jay’s mind. The cabaret’s Master of Ceremonies, in white-face makeup and painted-on eyebrows was leering into the camera. Jay tapped a foot as the music crawled into his ear. ‘Doo doo de, Ca-ba-reyey,’ He swayed his upper body in time with his singing and clicked his fingers. ‘Doo doo de, Ca-ba-reyey.’
    ‘Da-ad!’ Ben put his fingers in his ears.
    ‘Sorry, Ben. It’s great. Go for it.’ He looked up and saw Rachel frowning and making round, dark eyes. ‘You won’t hear any more singing from me – promise.’
     
    Now, there’s something more significant about the image that came to him that day – the chalk-complexioned, ruby-lipped Master of Ceremonies. An idea as elusive as an eel on a boat-deck is squirming in and out of the foreground of his mind. He focuses on it, trying to pin it down but it slips away.
    He switches to yesterday when Ben came home agitated with news of the audition.
    ‘They’ve given me a part!’
    ‘Who? What?’ Jay said, looking up from the dinner plate. Rachel gave her husband a scowl.
    Ben put on his talking-to-a-moron voice. ‘
Cabaret
? The audition on Friday?’
    Jay noted how his son now punctuated the majority of his statements with question marks.
    ‘Dad?’
    ‘Jay!’ Rachel put down her knife and fork. ‘Ben wants to tell you something.’ Her articulation was precise and she emphasised her warning with a nod of her head.
    ‘Sorry, Ben. I was miles away there for