The marks of her wanderings were visible in the long grass. He followed them and found her lying on her back in a small hollow. Her blouse was open and her face flushed. At first he thought she had been violated. Then he realised she was merely asleep. He picked her up and carried her to the van.
***
Getting Alison home involved climbing through a window. Tom accomplished the task without awakening her parents and got back to the pub with his nerves on edge. He downed the greater part of a bottle of whisky and slumped into bed. Sleep came immediately but it was not the pleasant alcoholic haze that usually accompanied his drunken soirées.
He shut his eyes and dreams invaded his mind. Within moments he was back beside the pond. Dark shapes hovered at the edge of his vision. Bony fingers pulled him down and a board was placed on his chest.
'Tomas son of John.'
It was like being back at military college again, taking tests. But the tests were more demanding than at Sandhurst. There was no written paper. Questions were asked in a croaking voice and they came in the form of riddles.
The first involved double negatives.
Tom answered without difficulty.
The next was more difficult.
He hesitated and a stone was placed on the board. He tried to rise and bony fingers held him down. Another question followed. He answered quickly ... got it wrong … and another stone was added.
The interrogation went on relentlessly. He continued to make mistakes and the stones piled up. The pressure became unbearable. He summoned all his strength and was ready to give up when a female voice drummed in his ears.
'Nonsense ... nonsense ...'
It sounded like his mother.
His relations with her had never been smooth but the message came over loud and clear. The questions were trivial. They only gave trouble if you thought they were clever. When you knew they were stupid ... you could handle them.
He answered the next one correctly. A stone came off. After that it was easy. More correct answers followed and more stones came off. The last was removed and he guessed he'd passed the test.
***
Alison stretched and looked around. She was lying on her bed fully clothed apart from her shoes. On the ordinary plane of existence she remembered very little of the previous evening. But, on the plane of dreams, her recall was total.
She remembered sinking into the grass and closing her eyes. Moths flew about. She became drowsy and the dream took hold ... if it was a dream. Everything seemed so real. The boy wore old-fashioned clothes and smelt of wood smoke and bracken. At first he just looked at her. Then he came close and reached out a hesitant hand. Alison felt his soft touch and looked into his light-blue eyes. He was only a little bit taller than herself. Beside him she did not feel small.