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.“And this istrue also.I’m a doctor, a psychologist-”There was a wave of hatred, loathing, terror.Charlie snapped hiseyes open.The emotional wave was gathering momentum, hitting him likesurges of power.Gretchen screamed.Charlie tried to yell, tried to call outConstance’s name but could make no sound.Stop it, he tried to whisper Stop it!Constance had been prepared for something but not this.She wasthe target; she knew that as she felt nausea and vertigo.She felt as if she were falling from a terrible height, falling faster and faster, and knew that when she hit she would die.She wanted to fling out her hands to catchherself, to stop the fall; if she did that she would be lost.There were words in her head, words she had to say now.She tried to speak; her throat was paralyzed, her tongue paralyzed.Angel leaned forward, her eyes wide and staring, her face as pale as death.And in her mind Constance cried, No!“Angela,” she said in a hoarse whisper, “close your eyes.Go tosleep.”Angel blinked.For a moment Constance was afraid it was not goingto work, but the childish face relaxed.Her eyes closed.She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.It was over.Charlie’s hand shook when he reached for his water andtook a drink.It was all over, he thought.He looked at Constance, who was very pale.“You were swell,” he said huskily.She nodded, grateful, but kept her attention on the girl across thetable from her.Slowly, softly she said, “Angela, go into your deepest trace.Very relaxed, comfortable, down, down.”In a few minutes Constance asked, “Angela, does Amos hypnotizeyou?”“Yes.”“You won’t allow him to ever again, Angela.Do you understand?”“Yes.”“When he tries to hypnotize you again, you will remember what I’mtelling you now and he won’t be able to control you ever again.” Constance repeated this several times before she was satisfied and then said, “I amnot your enemy, Angela.I won’t send you back to the home.You don’t have to hate me.You don’t have to be afraid of me.Do you understand?”Charlie watched in fascination, but time was running out.He caughtConstance’s eye and tapped his watch.She nodded.“When you wake up, Angela, you will remember what we’ve talkedabout, all of it.You won’t be afraid or nervous, but very relaxed andpeaceful.You’ll know that Charlie is not your father, Angela.You’ll want to stay here with us tonight so we can take care of you.You don’t have to go with Amos.” As before, she repeated each part of her message severaltimes.At Constance’s command Angel opened her eyes.She blinkedrapidly a few times and started to eat her cake.“Do you remember what happened?” Constance asked.“Nothing happened.”Gretchen had not said a word throughout.Now she got up and startedfor the door.“I want coffee.Maybe I want a drink, too.Charlie?Constance?”They both nodded and she left.Charlie looked helplessly from Constance to Angel and back.Had ittaken? He couldn’t tell.Constance raised her eyebrow in alet’s-wait-and-see manner, and he dug his fork into his cake.Angel looked at him and said scornfully, “I knew you were a cop fromthe beginning.You look like a cop, walk like a cop, smell like a cop.”Charlie grinned at his cake and started to eat it.“That’s more like it, kid,” he said under his breath.Aloud he asked, “You had that muchexperience with cops?”“Yeah.” She looked past him.He turned to see Amos in the doorway.“Come along, Sister Angel.Time to go study.”She started to rise from her seat and then sat down again.A puzzledlook flickered across her face.She shook her head.“Sister Angel, it’s late.Time to go home.”Again she shook her head.“They said I can stay here.”“We’ll come back tomorrow.You can wait one more day.”She was pushing crumbs around her plate with her fork, not looking athim.She shook her head.Now Amos walked around the table and put his hand on her shoulderlightly.“Be a good girl, Sister Angel.You hear me? Get up and come along home.”Gretchen entered carrying the coffee tray, to which she had addedbrandy and glasses.“Hi, Amos.Just in time.Join us?”He was watching Angel closely, his hand tight on her shoulder now.“Be a good girl, Sister Angel,” he repeated clearly.She stood up.“Is it okay if I go watch TV awhile?”“Run along,” Constance said.“We’ll be in here if you want anything.”Angel nearly ran from the room.“You can’t keep her,” Amos said harshly.Charlie shrugged.“She wants to stay.”Amos looked at him, his eyes narrowed.His face was mean and rigid.“You’ll regret this,” he said.“You don’t know what you’re doing.” Hemarched out, and Charlie followed him through the hallway, watching until he left, the house.He returned to the dining room, where Gretchen was drinking brandyas if it were going out of style.“What was that all about?” she demanded of Constance.“I don’t want her to overhear,” Constance said, and Charlie took hisglass and stood by the open door to keep watch.“She’s a runaway,” Constance said then.“She was in a home fordisturbed youngsters in Philadelphia up until two and a half years ago.There was a scandal, the director apparently helped her, gave her money, then she vanished, and he resigned.She was classified schizophrenic.Her father abandoned her and her mother when she was three.When she wassix, she landed in a hospital with multiple bruises, abrasions, a concussion, and she had been sexually molested.She had no memory of the incident.Mother said it was an attack by an unknown.Case closed.Two years later it was repeated, but this time Mother was implicated by a neighbor in thebeating.Mother came under investigation.A series of live-in boyfriends, child abuse.Mother was ordered into therapy.When Angel was twelve hermother had her committed, called her sexually promiscuous andincorrigible.She authorized a series of shock treatments.”Gretchen looked pale and sick.Charlie’s face was a mask.“They started her on hypnoanalysis.And they got the story about herfather, about her mother’s boyfriends, who she wished were her father, and about her mother’s reaction each time.And they got a dose of what we’ve had from her, the projections she’s capable of.Easier to call herschizophrenic than try to deal with that.Delusions of grandeur, retardation, nymphomania, schizo.She’s had it all pinned on her.Physically she’s like a thirteen-year-old, but God only knows what’s in her head.”“They gave you the key words to induce trance?” Charlie asked afterthe silence had persisted many minutes.“Yes.First she had to know that I was a doctor.That was the cue theyleft with her, that she would respond to a doctor using those words.” She glanced at Gretchen and added, “It’s a posthypnotic suggestion to return to trance instantly on cue.Obviously Amos planted one also, but he’s anamateur.He didn’t know enough to protect his power over her.”“He isn’t even her father,” Gretchen said in disbelief.And they were in the area last summer, Constance thought, whenVernon became obsessed with a mysterious woman and was killed.Shelooked at Charlie; he shook his head slightly.“I’m going to keep her company,” Gretchen said then.“She may belonesome tonight, and afraid.Poor little kid.”Charlie nodded.“I wanted to check the security system [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]