The Last Revelation Of Gla'aki by Ramsey Campbell Read Free Book Online Page B

Before he came abreast of the theatre he turned uphill to the town hall, a massive grey edifice as plump as the statues of dignitaries that stood guard on either side. Perhaps the town didn't have much of a budget for the upkeep of monuments, since the stone faces were fattened by masks of lichen. He parked on the forecourt in front of an annexe, where the automatic doors of the tourist office deferred to him with a faint glassy squeal.
    The walls were decorated with vintage posters, all of which showed the seafront very much as it still was. IMMERSE YOURSELF IN GULSHAW and BREATHE IN GULSHAW were two of the slogans that caught Fairman's eye, but the one that provoked a wry laugh said SO MUCH MORE TO SEE. So the townsfolk hadn't been mistaken after all, and perhaps he should take more notice of them. He was making for the counter at the far side of the room when a woman called "With you right now, Mr Fairman."
    She was beyond a door at the end of the counter, applying makeup or retouching it so vigorously that she might have been trying to squeeze her cheeks smaller. They looked as carelessly expansive as the rest of her, most of which was contained by a loose blouse and a capacious overall. Unruly auburn curls framed nearly all of her round face, which stayed sleepily jovial as she waddled to the counter, sticking out a hand. "Heidi Dunscombe," she said, "as if you didn't know."
    Her grasp felt slippery, no doubt with makeup. "What have you made of our town so far, Leonard?" she said.
    "I should think that's your job."
    It had taken her so little time to turn familiar that his reply was sharper than he liked, but she only said "What's that?"
    "Making the most of your town."
    "We'd love to have your thoughts."
    Did she think he was being too unfriendly? Though her face stayed so genial that she might almost have been lost in a dream, Fairman said "Forgive me. I've been having rather an odd day."
    "There's the night to come as well."
    He might have expected such a comment from the bookseller, not from her. "May I have the book you're holding for me?" Of course.
    Fairman thought for a moment that she was repeating herself, except that someone else he'd met had used the phrase. She waddled to a wall safe behind a desk in the office and then swung around languidly to ask "What do you think was odd?"
    For a disconcerting moment Fairman had a sense of being watched from an unexpected distance, not just across her room. "Someone I met," he said.
    "You'll get used to us, Leonard," Heidi Dunscombe said and turned ponderously away to spin the wheel on the safe. "What was odd about him?"
    "He seemed to believe in the book he had. I don't imagine you do."
    The safe lumbered open, gaping with darkness, a lump of which Heidi Dunscombe brought forth. She hugged it to her breast while she shut the metal door and twirled the wheel. As she advanced to the counter she said "It's belief that makes us what we are, Leonard."
    Despite her equable expression, he assumed this was a rebuke. When she handed him the book, her breasts seemed to swell as if she were taking an enormous breath. The cover of the volume was imprinted with unfamiliar constellations, presumably somehow illustrating the title, Of the Secrets behind the Stars. "Thank you," Fairman said and hesitated. "May I ask how you came by it?"
    "The same as everybody. From our father."
    The wording unsettled Fairman, and so did the remoteness of her gaze. "Can you tell me whom I should see now?" he said.
    "Of course." Her pause might almost have implied that he should know as well. "Rhoda Bickerstaff," she said. "She looks after our old folk."
    "Not all of them, surely."
    "Just the worst ones, Leonard." Her face suggested she had taken his bemused comment as a joke. "We like to think our town's a healthy place," she said.
    She added a heavy nod, not just for emphasis. When Fairman looked where she was indicating he saw a brace of joggers down on the promenade. He assumed she had them in mind