Scrivener’s Tale. Fiona McIntosh

it to me,’ he encouraged.

      ‘I’ve been looking for you, Gabe.’

      He blinked with consternation. ‘For me?’ She nodded slowly. ‘But until yesterday you didn’t know me.’

      ‘When we met I knew it was you I had been seeking.’

      ‘Angelina, forgive me, but do you realise how odd this seems and why people are concerned about you?’

      ‘I cannot help that.’

      ‘Yes, but people like Reynard are trying to help.’

      ‘He’s using you.’

      ‘Why would that be?’

      She smiled and just for a blink he sensed an old cunning.

      ‘Angelina?’ he prompted, waiting for her to explain.

      She glanced toward the door. ‘Reynard is becoming impatient.’

      He frowned. ‘I told him to wait.’

      ‘Any moment the phone will —’

      The phone began to ring.

      He looked at it startled, then back at Angelina, who was staring out of the window again as if lost in deep thought. He resisted answering it and finally the machine whirred into action. He listened to his automated message being politely trotted out, waited for the caller to speak. The line went dead.

      ‘He won’t let it be,’ she warned dreamily.

      Gabe felt his mobile phone vibrate against his thigh. He ignored it. The main phone rang again. It sounded even more shrill, demanding his attention with an I know you’re in there! screech.

      ‘Excuse me,’ he said. He stood up and grabbed the receiver. ‘Hello?’ he said, sounding irritated.

      ‘Gabriel, this is Reynard.’

      She turned to give him a slight ‘told you so’ glance and then immediately looked away.

      ‘Er, yes, Reynard. I thought we had an arrangement about being left quietly.’

      ‘It’s been forty-five minutes.’

      ‘I said at least three-quarters of an hour.’

      ‘I was worried.’

      ‘For whom?’

      ‘Are you finished?’

      ‘We are now. You interrupted us.’ He sighed. ‘I’ll let you in.’ He put the receiver down and walked over to the door to unlock it.

      The man came in hesitantly. He gave a small embarrassed smile. ‘Well. How did it go?’

      ‘We’d barely begun,’ Gabe admitted. ‘I can’t just leap in, Reynard. I’m playing with someone’s life. It has to be approached with caution and a genuine regard for Angelina’s state of mind and what she wants to reveal at this stage.’

      ‘And what has she revealed?’ Reynard whispered.

      ‘Nothing I can give any credence to.’

      ‘It’s hard when she doesn’t speak, I know.’

      Gabe shook his head. ‘There is nothing to tell and I must pay attention to her wishes and rights too. This is a therapist–patient session — or so it has turned into.’

      ‘What can you tell me?’ Reynard demanded.

      ‘She needs a sense of safety and to be around a therapist she trusts. I’m not sure anyone you’ve chosen so far is providing the confidence for her to open up.’ They walked over to Angelina, who was now ignoring both of them. ‘She’s an intelligent person and needs respect.’

      ‘Don’t lecture me, Gabriel,’ Reynard snapped. It was the first time Gabe had seen anything but the genial personality of the man. ‘We’re dealing with a girl who can’t express herself in —’

      ‘Wait. I’ll stop you there,’ Gabe said reasonably. ‘Reynard, you should know that Angelina has spoken to me.’

      He watched the colour drain out of Reynard’s face.

      Gabe continued. ‘She speaks as easily as you and I are conversing now.’

      Angelina was dressing in her warm clothes as she stared outside, entirely unisinterested in the pair of them. He would be lying if he didn’t admit that he was hooked.

      They were still standing by the door, blocking any run for freedom she might suddenly decide to make. ‘Reynard, why are you so scared of Angelina?’ he said, softly enough for their hearing only.

      ‘Scared?’ Reynard growled, cutting him an incredulous look.

      Gabe realised he needed to temper his approach. ‘Perhaps I should say that you are overly anxious for her. Talking briefly with Angelina today she seems, um … “airy” for want of a better word, but not insane and certainly not dangerous.’

      ‘Then you are seeing a different Angelina. She believes herself threatened by some outward force and would rather kill herself than be hunted down.’

      ‘How has she told you this?’

      ‘She wrote it.’

      ‘Wrote it?’

      ‘Not once, Gabriel, but hundreds, thousands, maybe a million times. She wrote it on paper, her walls, her floors, her clothes, her skin! She even wrote it on a hamster, a pet of one of our patients at the clinic. She never stops writing it. The girl is unbalanced and definitely suicidal.’

      Gabe shook his head, absolutely certain of what he was about to say. ‘She is not suicidal. I assure you.’

      ‘You have no —’

      ‘Reynard, you asked for my professional opinion and now you have it. What you do with it is your business. I have done what you asked. In my reckoning, Angelina is thinking clearly and not about death. However, she is moving in a world of her own. I don’t want to call her delusional because it smacks of crazy. She is convinced of a threat, but not the one you think, and she is no danger to herself, let me reiterate that.’

      ‘I cannot believe she is speaking with you.’

      ‘Believe it. I’m not shocked. Many youngsters choose their moment to reveal themselves. Sometimes it’s with the most unlikely partner. She obviously feels safe here.’

      Reynard stared at him. ‘And your advice is?’

      He shrugged. ‘Bring her back. I was on the brink of learning more when you interrupted. Let me have a second session with her and see what can be achieved.’

      Reynard looked tired and old suddenly. Gone was the pleasantness and confidence of the previous evening. Now he looked intense and worried.

      ‘It’s entirely up to you. If you want me to see her again, I will. But I won’t push.’ Reverse psychology, Gabe thought.

      ‘All right. When?’

      ‘Thursday. It will have to be the evening. I’m sorry that I can’t offer more convenient sessions.’

      ‘I understand. In two days then.’

      ‘Seven okay?’

      Reynard nodded. ‘We’ll be here. Remember my warning, though, Gabriel. It is not given lightly. Come then, Angelina.’

      She drifted over to them like a child with her attention riveted in her own thoughts.

      ‘Why don’t you say a proper farewell. I gather that you can,’ Reynard said with only a hint of sarcasm.

      She looked at him with loathing. A quick glance was all Gabe was given but it was enough. He saw only humour in it.

      ‘Thank you,’ Reynard