Read Online The Fetch by Robert Holdstock - Free Book Online

was staring down at the ground, quite motionless, quite safe, as if listening to something.
    ‘If my own parents weren’ton holiday, they’d be here too. But this is just …’ Richard raised his glass, tapped it against Susan’s, and waited for Susan to say:
    ‘Here’s to you two: about to be grandparents for the
second
time!’
    Doug’s reaction was typical of the man. ‘Well, I’ll be buggered!’ He drained his champagne glass, stood awkwardly, leaned to kiss Susan on the head, then ran to the rope swing, making childlike cries of delight. He leapt on it and swung four times in a shallow arc.
    Susan laughed, then noticed her mother’s frown.
    ‘I thought …’ Gwen started to say, and her frown deepened.
    ‘You thought we couldn’t have a natural child? So did we. Apparently this is very common. You adopt a child and something, some maternal change occurs, and the next thing you know …’
    ‘You’ve got your
own
child …’ Richard said lightly, and instantly turned away, furious with himself. ‘Damn!’
    Susan was on her feet, blazing. ‘Don’t
say
that! You stupid man! You
stupid
man!’
    ‘I’m sorry, Sue …’ He stood awkwardly and took her by the shoulders. His eyes had filled with tears. ‘I didn’t mean it that way. I didn’t mean that. You surely know I didn’t …’
    ‘
Michael’s
your own child! Like it or not, Rick, you’re
already
a real parent!’
    ‘I didn’t
mean
it …’
    ‘You always mean it!’ Susan bit off the words, folded her arms and looked down. She was shaking with anger.
    Doug drifted gently on the rope swing, then let himself down and came over to the picnic party, where tension hung silent and deadly in the air.
    Michael was watching them. There was a light breeze, now, and his ginger locks were being blown about. The leaves around his feetwere disturbed, as if being kicked by little feet.
    ‘Take the words away from me,’ Richard said quietly, but his eyes suddenly shone with need. Susan watched him, her fury dissipating but her concern growing.
    ‘It’s OK, Rick. It’s done. Forgotten.’
    ‘Take the words away …’
    Now she looked suddenly frightened. ‘It’s not necessary. It’s over. Just … Just …’ she punched him on the chest, her mouth grim. ‘Just bloody well be careful what you say. And if you ever
do
think like that, then for God’s sake talk to me about it …’
    But Richard was too angry, too mortified to be pacified. His face was ashen. Doug watched him in alarm, while Gwen kept an eye on Michael.
    Richard said loudly, ‘Use the doll. Take the words away. Michael might have heard me …’
    ‘Don’t take family superstition too far,’ Gwen murmured as she realized what the man was asking. Irritably, Richard tried to reach into the pocket of Susan’s skirt. ‘Use the doll,’ he said, his voice rising.
    ‘Why do you think I’ve got a doll?’
    ‘I know you have. You’ll have brought one with you to make the link. Please, take the words away from me. Use the doll.’
    Again he reached into her pocket, grasped the small clay figurine, and struggled with Susan, forcing her grip from his wrist as he wrenched the object from her clothing.
    ‘Give it back!’
    ‘Use it!’
    ‘No! I can’t! I’m pregnant! I
can’t
use it. Stop this, Rick. Stop it now!’
    Richard swept his arm round, holding the crude figure towards Gwen. ‘You do it, then. You do it.’
    Gwen very calmly slapped the man’s face, not hard, just very purposefully. Withouta flicker of emotion on her face she said, grimly, ‘I didn’t
make
the doll. Susan can’t
use
it. And you don’t
need
it. Why don’t you listen to what she says? You’re behaving like a damned fool.’
    There were tears in his eyes, and Susan reached out and touched his shoulder. He shook his head, then raised the doll to his lips and whispered, ‘Take those words from me. Take them from me. I love Michael. I love Michael. I love Michael …’
    And then with a roar of