They discussed ways of remaining out of sight as they drove to Kane's house but quickly gave up on the idea. With access to the right people his phone could be tracked, his credit card spending could be tracked. He would leave digital footprints wherever he went. When they went back to the pub to collect his things he'd had to pay for his stay at The Blue Ball Inn using a debit card. He'd run out of cash and using a cash machine would be just as easy to trace.
Si also raised the ugly possibility that one of his neighbours could have been given some money to inform Aldred's people that he had returned home. Kane's gut reaction had been complete denial but if it was couched in the right way - poor man has gone mad with grief and disappeared, family just want to know where he is - then it probably didn't even have to be very much money.
He sighed, lost in thought, as they wended their way through the small Devon lanes that led back to his cottage, the little Ford well suited to the Devon byways. Many of the smaller routes were single track roads with raised verges or hedges alongside. Visibility was minimal and there were small passing places just wide enough to allow two vehicles to get past each other. Thankfully traffic was sparse and Si was in no rush.
Kane had never been much of a passenger. When Emma was driving he'd had to hold on to the grab handle for...tears welled up again as he was overwhelmed by memories of his wife and his loss. Si was kind enough to leave him to his emotions. He'd nearly got himself back under control as Furze Hill slowly came into sight and his emotions threatened to overtake him once more.
They drove into his small driveway and he sat gathering himself before getting out of the car. He looked around but none of his neighbours' houses were particularly close and he couldn't see any curtains twitching. He walked up the gravel drive, small stones crunching under his feet. He reached the front door and after a short moment to brace himself for the memories inside he turned the key. The heavy door swung open and familiar smells assaulted him with memories of his once perfect life.
There was a pile of post on the hall table, presumably put there by Gus but otherwise the cottage was much as it had been left when they'd rushed out of the door that fateful morning. The answerphone light was blinking away and any number of small tasks loomed ahead. Stupid stuff like washing up the breakfast dishes that were still in the sink; emptying the washing machine that had long since finished its cycle; bringing in the clothes still blowing about on the line outside. Stupid stuff. Kane's eyes filled as he saw reminders of his family everywhere he turned.
He slowly settled onto one of the kitchen chairs and cried his eyes out for his lost life.
By the time he was aware of his surroundings again Si had completely taken over. Dishes had been washed, post had been sorted, something was defrosting in the microwave and he was just returning from the garden with the clothes that had been on the line for weeks.
"Thank you. I..."
"Don't mention it. I wish I'd had a family like yours that I cared about as deeply as you obviously did. Just relax, let it all out and let me get things looking shipshape."
"Nevertheless Si, this is..."
"Kane. It's fine. Deal with the answerphone and the post if you're feeling up to doing something."
So he did.
Later that evening the house was finally warming up, phone calls had been made, messages answered and the wheels of bureaucracy were underway. He had the details of the funeral directors; he'd reassured his elderly parents and his sister; chatted to Gus and though it felt horribly wrong, he'd started the life insurance process. What a horrible word 'claim' was. But the payout would allow him to take a sabbatical from work and really get a handle on how to protect himself.
If he lasted that long.
Over the next two days that they spent at his house, the sense of threat that he'd felt since leaving the hospital began to diminish. Maybe it was the familiarity and security of being back home? Maybe because it all felt so ridiculous that someone would actively want to kill him. Whatever it was, the number of nervous glances out at the small road leading to their house reduced and the knot in his stomach slowly untied itself.
They spent a lot of time in the spirit world trying to find more effective ways of protecting themselves. It was hard work as neither really knew what they were looking for. Si was a master at hiding himself and Kane knew that practising those techniques would pay dividends. So he worked hard at it until Si found it impossible to detect even a hint of his aura.
It was towards the end of the second day that Kane stumbled on something.
He'd been pushing himself to move as far away from his body as possible, testing his limits while remaining hidden. Each time he pushed himself it became easier. He discovered that if there was an opening in the wall, like a window, he could pretty much ignore it and just pass outside. It felt slightly odd pushing through the glass but his spirit form was able to essentially ignore the barrier.
That day he'd made it most of the way up the hill behind his house before he slowly allowed himself to be pulled back towards his body. He'd gone at least twenty yards further this morning. Following Si's guidance he kept a constant watch for Brain Claws as he exerted himself, continuously maintaining the dampening field on his aura.
As he got back to the gate in the hedge denoting the edge of his property, he reached out both hands to the posts on either side of the gate to pull his spirit form over the barrier. He knew that he didn't need to use his hands but it seemed to help his progress somehow. As his palms touched the top of the posts there was a bright flash and a line of softly glowing light appeared between the tops of the two gate posts. He jerked his hands back as if burnt. The line slowly faded but he knew that it was still there. He wasn't sure how, but he could feel it.
When he returned to his body he asked Si what he thought had happened.
"No idea, old thing."
"But I've done something. I can still feel it out there. It must do something!"
"Well, there's only one way to find out."
Si put on his coat, slipped on a pair of wellington boots and walked up to the gate. Standing there he couldn't see or feel anything. He then went into the spirit world and after focusing very hard on the gate and specifically looking for something he was able to see the thread-like line between the posts. Slightly shaken he moved back into his body.
Taking a deep breath he braced himself. He reached out, unlatched the gate, opened it and walked through.
He felt nothing.
Kane felt the connection being disturbed - not snapped, just disturbed. He reached towards it using his spirit form and was suddenly there! One moment he was in the house and the next he found himself looking down on the gate as if it was his physical body there and not Si's. He was able to move towards the point of the disturbance in the spirit world as if teleported!
Giggling like a little child he reached out and tapped Si on the shoulder from the spirit world. Poor Si jumped a foot in the air, his heart nearly beating through his chest, he was so startled.
"You bastard!" he shouted up into the sky, knowing that Kane was hovering nearby, "You know what that does to me! I'm going to wet myself one day."
Kane shifted back into his body and ran to the window.
"Come back inside!"
"This had better be good, damn you."
"Look, I'm sorry, just come back. This is exciting."
Soon Si was stamping his feet on the mat and shutting the cool Exmoor air out of the house.
"Well?"
"I knew the instant that you crossed the line."
"You did?"
"And I was able to move myself there instantly. No waiting to drift over there like normal."
Si looked at him dumbstruck.
"Wow! You mean it? But that's..."
Kane nodded and Si let out a long slow whistle between his teeth. He took his coat and boots off, and slowly eased himself down onto a kitchen chair.
He smiled and looked up at Kane.
"Well in that case that was worth scaring the shit out of me. Do you know what you did? Can you do it again?"
