Free Moon by James Herbert

the cemetery, for one brief moment as it had drawn out the dead child, a sensation had stayed the movement, a feeling of being watched. The graveyard had been deserted, though, that was certain, only headstones and frozen angels the nocturnal spectators.
         Yet there had been contact with something, with someone. A touching of spirits.
         Who?
         And how was it possible?
         The figure stirred in the chair as a cloud engulfed the moon; its breathing was shallow and harsh until the feeble light returned. It considered the possibility that someone was aware of its existence, and stretched its mind, seeking the interloper, searching but not finding. Not yet.
         But in time. In time.
        

13
        
        'You look a little pale,' Estelle Piprelly remarked as Childes entered the study and took a chair facing her on the other side of the broad desk.
        'I'm fine,' he responded. 'You've hurt yourself.'
        He raised the bandaged hand in a deprecative gesture. 'I broke a glass. Nothing serious, just a few minor cuts.'
        The ceiling was high, the walls half-panelled in light oak, the upper portions a restful pastel green, except one wall which was covered from floor to ceiling with crowded bookshelves. A portrait of La Roche's founder dominated the wall to Childes' right, undoubtedly an accurate facsimile but one that revealed little of the sitter's true character, so typical of many Victorian studies. Beside the door, an ancient clock loudly ticked away the seconds as if each one was an announcement in itself. Childes looked past La Roche's principal, bright sunlight from the huge windows behind her blazing her grey hair silver. Outside were the school gardens, green lawns bordered with awakening flowers and shrubs, the slanted roof of a white-framed summerhouse dazzlingly mirroring the sun's rays. Beyond were the clifftops, rugged and decaying, slowly eroding bastions against the sea. The darker blue of the horizon indicated the clear divide between sea and sky, a distinct edge to the calm affinity between both elements. Although the room itself was spacious and its tones soothing, Childes suddenly felt confined, as if the walls were restraining an energy emanating from within himself, a force that the bounds of his own physical body could not contain. He knew that the sensation was simple claustrophobia, nothing more, and much of it was due to the impending confrontation with the headmistress.
        'I had a call from Victor Platnauer this morning,' Miss Piprelly began, confirming his expectation. 'I believe you met on a social basis last Saturday evening.'
        Childes nodded.
        'He told me of your, er, unfortunate accident,' the principal went on. 'He said that you had fainted during dinner.'
        'No, dinner was just about over.'
        She eyed him coolly. 'He was concerned over your state of health. There is, after all, a huge responsibility on your shoulders when teaching youngsters, and such an occurrence in the classroom could cause some distress among the girls. As one of our governors, Conseiller Platnauer was seeking some assurance that you were not prone to such collapses. I think that's reasonable, don't you?'
        'It's the first time ever for me. Really.'
        'Any idea as to why it happened? Have you consulted a doctor yet?'
        He hesitated before answering. 'No to both questions. I'm okay now, I don't need a doctor.'
        'Nonsense. If you fainted, there must be a reason for it.'
        'Maybe I was a little tensed up on Saturday. A personal thing.'
        'Enough to make you black out?' she scoffed mildly.
        'I can only tell you it's not a regular occurrence with me. I feel healthy nowadays, probably healthier than I've felt in a long time. Life on the island has meant a big change for me, a different style of living, away from the pressure of my last job, out of a rat-race profession. And I don't mind