Passage by Night (v5) by Jack Higgins Read Free Book Online

I'd been following him. He'd have slit my ears.'
    Manning finished his gin and stood up. 'Thanks for the drink, but I've got to be moving.'
    She leaned back against the pillows and gazed at him fixedly. 'What's your hurry? Juan won't be back for a couple of hours.'
    'If I were you, I shouldn't bank on that,' he said and closed the door gently as her mouth went slack with astonishment.
    Dusk was beginning to fall as he went across the square. He turned into the side street and Seth moved out of a doorway.
    'Do any good, Harry?'
    Manning nodded. 'I think so. Ever hear of a fortune teller called Mother Diamond?'
    Seth glanced at him sharply. 'Sure, everybody knows her. She mixed up in this?'
    'I'm not sure, but it looks like it. Know where her place is?'
    'Not far from the waterfront.' Seth appeared to hesitate and went on, 'She's bad trouble, that woman, Harry. Don't pay to meddle with her. Lots of people found that out.'
    Manning lit a cigarette and grinned. 'Afraid she might put a hex on me?'
    There was sweat on the man's face and all at once, his eyes seemed very white. 'They say she can whistle up the duppies, Harry. They say she can bring the drowned men out of the sea.'
    Manning was aware of a sudden irrational coldness as if somewhere, someone had walked on his grave, but he managed to force a smile.
    'Let's go and find out.'
    It was almost dark when they reached Grant Street. The house was detached and surrounded by a six-foot board fence painted white. Manning opened the gate and they walked along a brick path and paused at the bottom of a flight of rickety wooden steps.
    He turned to Seth. 'You stay here and keep out of sight. If you hear a disturbance, kick in the door.'
    Seth merged into the darkness without a word and Manning mounted the steps and knocked on the door. After a few moments, steps shuffled along the corridor and he could see a shadowy figure through the cracked frosted glass window. The door clicked open and an old woman looked out at him.
    A scarlet bandana was tied around her head like a turban and her wrinkled skin was the colour of leather, long jet earrings hanging on either side of her face. The eyes were the most disturbing feature, absolutely black and yet contained a weird luminosity.
    'Mother Diamond?'
    'What do you want?' Her voice was strangely lifeless.
    'I wonder if you could spare me a few moments?'
    'You wish to consult the stars?'
    'That's right. I was told you could help me.'
    She nodded at once. 'Come in.'
    The hall was gloomy and filled with a smell of incense that caught at the back of the throat in a curiously unpleasant manner. She pulled back a heavy velvet drape and opened the door.
    The room was sparsely furnished, the only light a single lamp on a small table. He took a chair and she sat opposite, several books at her elbow and a pad of blank paper in front of her.
    'Give me the date of your birth, the place and time. The time is most important.'
    He told her and looked over her shoulder at the shadows crawling out of the corners, pushing against the light thrown out by the lamp. He wondered what his next move should be, but decided to wait till she gave him an opening.
    She consulted several books, making notes on the pad, and finally nodded. 'Do you believe in the powers of the supernatural?'
    'Would I be here if I didn't?'
    'You are ambidextrous?'
    For the moment, he was completely thrown off balance. 'How the hell did you know that?'
    'Many born under the sign of Scorpio are.' She looked at the notes again. 'Life for you is often a battleground.'
    'You can say that again.'
    She nodded calmly. 'Mars, Sun and Neptune in conjunction on the mid-heaven will result in a certain sharpness of tongue and temper. You are often your own worst enemy.'
    In spite of himself, Manning laughed harshly. 'I think that's bloody marvellous.'
    The old woman looked across, eyes glinting in the lamplight. 'You find something humorous in what I say?'
    'Something like that.'
    She carefully piled