Free The Kind Folk by Ramsey Campbell Page B

child—Luke. EVEN BETTER THAN THEY COULDVE WISHED FOR ought to be heartening, as well as the record of Luke's progress: LUCAS ON THE MOVE at two months, LUCAS WALKING by Christmas, HEALTH VISITER NOT SEEN ANYTHING LIKE the following week, LUKE TALKS SENTENCES almost immediately after, LOST COUNT OF LUKES WORDS less than a month later... Perhaps Luke should be pleased, but he feels remote from this account of a deception everyone played out without realising. It seems unlikely that this section of the journal will help him find out where he came from, if any of the entries will. As he leafs fast through the diary he feels as though he's trying to leave his childhood behind.
    The name of a town catches his attention—Peterborough, which he drove through on his way to Norfolk. The entry is dated almost a quarter of a century ago. RALPH SANSOM PETERBOROUGH, TOLD ABOUT HIM . Suppose the person referred to didn't live in Peterborough but had that for his surname? Even if he lives there, what can Luke ask? He's already starting to feel absurd and deluded as he uses his mobile to search online. But there is indeed a Ralph Sansom in Peterborough, and the listing gives his phone number.
    Luke thumbs the key to make the call and immediately wants to cancel it. Surely he won't run out of words when his job is improvisation, but is he nervous of what he may learn? As he takes a breath that tastes of lavender and old paper a voice says "Yes?"
    It sounds more like a challenge than an invitation. "Yes," Luke says. "Mr Sansom?"
    "Yes?"
    "Mr Ralph Sansom?"
    "Yes?"
    The voice has grown thinner and shriller, pinching the word. "I'm sorry to bother you, Mr Sansom," Luke says. "I—"
    "Then don't. Whatever you're selling, I'm not in the market."
    "I'm not a salesman, Mr Sansom."
    "What are you, then?"
    Luke doesn't want to answer that, at least not yet. "I found your name in—"
    "Wherever you've got it, rub me out. I've signed up not to be pestered by your kind."
    "It's nothing like that," Luke says and wonders whether he does indeed sound like a cold caller. "Your name was in a diary, Mr Sansom."
    "A diary," Sansom says as if repeating it may cancel the notion. "You do surprise me. Whose?"
    "His name was Terence Arnold."
    "Arnold." Sansom isn't quite so ready to repeat this, and pauses again before saying "And what is that expected to mean to me?"
    "I was hoping you could say."
    "I've said it." Presumably in case this is unclear Sansom adds "Not a thing."
    "You wouldn't know of another Ralph Sansom in Peterborough."
    "There hasn't been one while I've been living here, and that's my entire lifetime." Sansom takes a harsh effortful breath and says "May I ask what you know about this Arnold person?"
    For a moment Luke can't understand why Sansom has grown more resentful, and then he thinks he does. The man is wishing he'd said there was somebody else called Ralph Sansom; he feels he has betrayed himself. "He was in demolition," Luke says. "Maybe you hired him."
    "I did nothing of the sort." With no diminution of annoyance Sansom adds "You keep saying was."
    "He died last month."
    "You'll realise why I've no response to that." As if he doesn't think this is a contradiction Sansom says "How, may I ask?"
    "A heart attack."
    "Common enough. Was there any cause?"
    Luke tries not to feel accused. "He didn't have his medication."
    "We can be careless as we get older. Now if you'll excuse me—Sansom interrupts himself with a laborious exhalation and says 'Just before I bid you farewell, what is Mr Arnold's diary supposed to have said about me?"
    "Either somebody told him about you or one of you told the other about someone."
    "Yes?" The word is sharper than ever. "And so?"
    "That's all there is. I thought you might be able to fill me in."
    "Then your call has been a waste of time," Sansom says, and immediately "One moment. If that was all he wrote about me, what made you seek me out?"
    "I'm trying to find people he may have been to see," Luke decides as