There was no contest.
She felt behind her. Her hand made contact with an umbrella stand. Inside it was a spare walking cane for Ted. It was made of oak and had an enamel duck on the top. She’d bought it with Johnny, at an antique market in Ambleside. Her hand clasped it, and she waited for the figure to appear in the hall. It didn’t take long, and she held the cane as tightly as she could, poising her body for attack.
The figure looked upstairs again, and she could tell he was figuring out the floorplan.
For a split second she refused to believe this was happening to her and her brain told her she was hallucinating, but then she saw him approach the stairs.
She grabbed the cane with as much force as she could load through her body and swung it towards him. It connected and she felt a splat where it hit his head.
He went down and she stood over him, but then he recovered and rolled away.
‘Who the fuck are you?’ she seethed.
He rolled and rolled and sprang up, then shot towards the terrace and jumped over her balcony. She chased him and heard him enter the river with a faint splash, but when she looked over into the dark water, there was no trace of him.
Her chest heaved up and down and her eyes darted every which way. Her heart pumped hard, and she willed herself to calm down.
Johnny came down the stairs and flicked on a light and she held up the cane.
‘What the fuck?’ He backed away.
Then she sank to her knees and mumbled some words that didn’t make sense.
He came to her and held her.
‘Kel, what happened? I heard a noise.’
She sank into his arms and allowed herself to be embraced wholly. In that moment she surrendered everything because she knew she was safe.
In the same moment, she realised that she wanted him home. It wasn’t the same without him, and that wasn’t to do with the fact that he might be able to deter an intruder or comfort her in her hour of need. It was because his presence soothed her. It was like they were two parts of the same whole.
She calmed her breathing and told him about the phone call from Ted’s phone.
‘Jesus! Is he OK?’
Kelly’s heart glowed because she knew how much he cared for her father.
Then her phone rang, and it was Dan.
Johnny answered and stared at her.
She knew exactly what Dan had told him.
Her team and her loved ones had been warned.
This was no accidental invasion.
Chapter 47
Sunday morning felt otherworldly. Not only had Kelly not slept, but she was still wearing the same clothes she’d had on last night.
She’d driven to the Penrith and Lakes hospital, where Ted had been admitted for observation. He’d railed against his treatment, saying being mollycoddled wouldn’t help anyone.
He’d been embarrassed. It would take his wrist six weeks to heal in a cast. In the meantime, he wouldn’t be able to perform surgery but he’d already announced loudly that he could type one handed and tell other people what to do.
‘Twenty years ago, I would have seen them coming,’ he’d told her.
‘You might not have done, Dad. It was organised; it was a warning,’ she’d told him.
