تام دیوانه

CHAPTER THREE

Mad Tom

I left the pub quickly. I didn’t like this talk about mad people. Maybe it was the newspaper article I had seen that afternoon, but I began to worry for Linda. Where was she? Was she safe? I had to go to the train station and wait for Linda. The weather was still not very good and I drove slowly in the dark - there were no street lights and not many houses. After a few minutes I saw the lights of a car behind me and turned round. The car passed me and I thought I saw the words PARKER’S TAXI on its side. For nine reason I felt cold with fear. I decided to go home first to see if Linda was there. Maybe she’d forgotten to call me and had come straight there. I saw the lights of our house were on. I thought it must be Linda.

I ran up to the front door and opened it. Every light in the house was on. I called out ‘Linda, Linda are you there?’ There was no answer, but as I ran through the sitting-room and into the kitchen I heard a car start outside. I looked into the blackness outside and saw the back lights of a car poing away down the road. I was sure it was the taxi that had passed me earlier. It must have been parked on the opposite side of the road but I hadn’t seen it. What did that man want with me, with my house? All I could think about was that madman’s face as he drove towards the station and my Linda.

I ran out of the house and got into the car again and drove as fast as I could along the narrow country roads towards the station. It wasn’t easy driving as I didn’t know the road well - I was breathing fast.

At last I saw the lights of Woodbridge. I followed the signs to the station. I drove through the centre of the town and down to the river. I parked in the small car park outside the station and looked around. I couldn’t see a taxi anywhere. In fact there were no other cars in the car park. About five or six people were coming down the steps from the station.

‘Was that the last train from London,’ I asked an old man.

‘Yes. There are no more trains tonight, I’m afraid. Where do you want to go?’

‘Nowhere. It doesn’t matter,’ I said. I looked up and down the station and waited for five minutes or so. There was no sign of Linda. She’d missed the train or had decided not to come after all.

Was she still angry with me and had decided to make me wait? There was nothing I could do about that. I phoned the flat in London from a public phone near the station but there was nobody there. Then I phoned Melissa. Her answerphone was on and I left a message for Linda to ring me at the pub.

Linda must still be at the party, I told myself. She’s enjoying herself and just forgot the time. She probably remembered and called the pub after I’d left. I decided to go back to the pub and ask. I didn’t want to think that something might have happened to her, nor did I want to think about mad Tom.

I had a sudden need to talk to someone about my fears.

I thought of Mary who had been friendly to me in the pub. Yes, she would understand, I thought. She would stop the terrible thoughts that were beginning to fill my head. I drove slowly back through the town and took the lonely country road to Little Moreton. There was no other traffic on the road. I passed our house on the left as I entered the village. The lights were still on but I didn’t stop. When I reached the Ancient Mariner it was in darkness. I looked at my watch. Twelve-thirty. It was long after closing time and Mary was probably fast asleep. I got out of the car and walked towards the pub. I heard a voice in the darkness.

‘Who’s there?’ It was Mary. She was speaking from an upstairs window.

‘I’m sorry. I know it’s late but I want to know if my wife’s called yet.’

‘No,’ said Mary, ‘she hasn’t phoned. I think it’s very late to call now, don’t you?’ I nodded my head. I didn’t know what to do now. I just stood there outside the pub in the rain and nodded. Then I said, ‘Could I talk to you about that man in the taxi? I know this sounds stupid-‘

She didn’t wait for me to finish. ‘Wait a minute. I’ll come down.’

A light went on somewhere in the pub and then I heard Mary unlock the door.

‘Come in,’ she said. I went inside and she told me to go and sit in her sitting-room, which was behind the bar.

‘Are you sure my wife hasn’t phoned,’ I asked.

‘I’m sorry, she hasn’t. Are you very worried? Have you been to the train station?’

‘Yes, and she wasn’t there. Of course I’m worried. With that madman driving around in a taxi? You know when I left here Tom was waiting for me outside my house. I can’t be sure, but I think he’d been inside the house. Anyway, he drove off quickly when I arrived. What do you think about that?’ I sounded angry as well as afraid.

‘Yes, well I might be able to explain that,’ Mary said. ‘You see Tom Parker - the man who came into the pub tonight and asked anyone if they wanted a taxi - well, he used to in that house - In the house you bought. They had to move out when their father died. He and his brother, that is. His mother died when he was a baby. It made him go a bit strange. Then the father died and they had to leave the village. The father was drowned, you see. Tom was with him at sea in the fishing boat but he couldn’t save his dad. Tom couldn’t swim. He’s always been frightened to get in the water.

‘I’m sure he wouldn’t hurt you or your wife, Mr Anderson. He just looks a bit strange and he frightens people if they don’t know him, that’s all,’ Mary said.

‘You’re probably right,’ I said. ‘I just don’t know what to think. If only Linda had rung to say she wasn’t coming–’

‘Oh, you know how it is if you’re having a good time at a party,’ Mary said. ‘The last thing you want to do is find a phone and ring someone and tell them you don’t want to leave.’ Mary smiled at me in a warm way. What she said made sense and I thought that it would be better if I waited until the next day. I was sure everything would be all right and I suddenly felt very tired.

‘Look. Why don’t you stay here tonight? You can sleep on the sofa and I’ll bring you some blankets.’

I agreed. I didn’t want to go back to the house. Perhaps I would feel better in the morning, I thought to myself.

Mary left me on the sofa and went back upstairs. I fell asleep almost immediately, but I slept badly. I woke several rimes after terrible dreams.

I was running after Linda on the beach. I could just see her in front of me. Her fair hair and long slim legs were so near I could almost touch them. But she was running into the sea and I couldn’t stop her. She was drowning and there was mad Tom shouting at me: ‘Let her go, let her go-!’