*
“Mr…”
Neurin stopped himself, startled. Mr Evesham sat at the table assembling
notebooks, files and an assortment of what may have been personal items. I do believe we may have a better outlook,
Mr Evesham. Neurin shook himself awake. “I’m sorry. Here is your tea, Mr
Evesham. I see you are serious about your response to my letter.”
“Yes, I was and am very serious about
it. Although…you were not clear about what you needed assistance with Neurin. I
am a spiritualist. I do not concern myself with scientific aspects. Not even
within my own beliefs.”
“I am aware of your beliefs and of
your line of work Mr Evesham. There have been many scientists and doctors
through here. They have taken blood and set up experiments. They have had no
luck with my issue. I had hoped that a less traditional approach may prove some
worth. I hope you are not adverse to a little unusual happenings.”
Mr Evesham barely hid a quick smile
beneath his well-kept beard. “I will be the judge of that, Mr Lothian.”
“Yes,” Neurin slowly replied. He
extended the tea within his hand and, as soon as Mr Evesham held it, he sat
himself down at the table.
“To get us started, Neurin, what is it
that you require assistance with?”
Neurin stared into Mr Evesham’s soft
blue eyes. They held something within them. Neurin began to feel as though he
trusted this Mr Evesham implicitly with his information. Captured, lured. His breaths began to escape him and all at once
every breath was deep effort and chased. A frown caught him. It raised one brow
slowly then he found himself to be blinking. Whatever the ‘spell’ was, became
lost and he blinked again, rubbing his eyes.
Neurin sat back in his chair. Mr
Evesham was still looking at him. He was watching him. You are studying, not watching. Neurin brought his hand to his chin
and made eye contact again. He kept his frown. “There is something about you,
Mr Evesham. I do not know whether I should trust you or not.”
Mr Evesham set his hands on the edge
of the table apart. He brought them down and onto the arms of the chair he sat
in. “That is for you to decide of course,” he said in a hint of a smile. “Are
you alright?”
“I am quite alright, thank you.”
Neurin shifted in his seat and brought his coffee to his lips looking passed
this Mr Evesham. He caught something in his eye beyond in the dark. Round,
small. Yes, he considered. Bringing
his sight back in line with his guest Neurin leant against his hand. He
gestured with a finger to the unseen object, ready to tell his story yet again.
“My family has had a history with this house. It has been in the name of
Lothian for quite a number of generations now…though the house has been empty
for a large number of those until my grandfather took over its ownership.”
Neurin took another sip of coffee I
wonder why he decided to live here when none before my great grandfather had.
I wonder… coughing brought him
sharply back to his present. He took Mr Evesham in once more. “I apologise. My
mind wanders frequently,” he explained straightening up.
“I see. Where does it wander to?”
He was concentrating on a notebook,
writing with an inkpen and had at some point put glasses onto his face. They
added some wisdom to his features and brought a more serious light to him. You stand out more with those glasses, Mr
Evesham. “It wanders into the past.”
“Where most of the answers to your
problem may lie I suspect.”
“Most of your experiences lead you to
that conclusion?”
“Yes, they do. Please, continue with
your account.”
Neurin dropped the hand propping up
his head onto the arm of the chair. “As far as I can discover the problem has
been occurring from that point onwards. It is the same for every male in the
family line. On the day of the twenty-fifth birthday something appears to
happen and continues to occur thereafter.” He adjusted his position in his
seat. “I noticed it when I was shaving in the upstairs bathroom, that was the
first happening for myself. I looked into the mirror and when my reflection
looked back the mirror cracked. Lines snaked out from the centre. It appeared
as though the mirror had been hit.”
The sound of the ink pen slowed down,
presumably as Mr Evesham finished writing down his final word before they began
talking to each other again.
“And was that the first time you knew
of the problem?”
“Yes. My father kept his affliction
well hidden from me.”
“How did you find out about it?”
The pen had begun writing once again. Very thorough. “The journals of my
family are all here in this library.”
“How far back do they go, Neurin?” Mr
Evesham sat waiting, a serious look on his face…almost as though he suspected
something already.
“I am uncertain. The journals have
been scattered across the entirety of the room. I have been locating them for
the past six years.”
“You have not found all of them?” Mr
Evesham supposed.
“Some of my father’s, grandfather’s
and great grandfather’s I have. None other.” Neurin focused on the shelves. Where are they all? Is it all linked…
“…with why your grandfather can not
remember who the portraits are of?”
Neurin found himself staring through
suspicion into Mr Evesham’s soft blue eyes again. “Are you a mind reader as
well as a spiritualist, Mr Evesham?”
Mr Evesham issued him a suspicious
smile as though he were holding something back from Neurin. As though he knew
something and he was not going to share it. “I am not. Your were speaking
aloud. I merely made the connection.”
I
am not certain that I was speaking aloud. Neurin rested his chin upon his
fist and took up a study of his guest. He would not say any more tonight. “We
should retire for the night and come to this again in the morning. We may move
to the garden and discuss the case further. It will lend some light to our
discussion both literally and figuratively.” Neurin heaved himself up on his
legs. They stubbornly responded to his request and scuffed the chair back over
his wooden floorboards. “There is a room for though on the second floor. It is
the last door on the left before the corner turns.” He paused. The silence of
the house should have been apparent to Mr Evesham in that moment. “If you need
anything in the night do not hesitate to call upon me. Do not go into the room
across the hall or open its door.”
Neurin
noted Mr Evesham’s eyes turn irresistibly in the door’s direction. Neurin narrowed
his eyes at the gentleman in the moment and studied the man further behind the
glasses. Curiosity, eagerness and…
Neurin smiled satisfied. Perhaps I am
not mad after all. “I will be in here for the night, Mr Evesham. Up the
stairs. Goodnight to you, I will see you in the morning.”
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