11.3

 

Roisin stiffened. “I don’t.”

“You do.” He wrapped the object up again before she could touch it. “It’s not a bad thing. Just means you’re gifted. You can see a bit more than most people.”

She looked at the wrapped object again. “Where did it come from?”

“Someone found it in a church,” Steve said. “Behind a panel. Hidden.”

“What kind of church?”

“A very old one.”

Roisin felt the air shift around her. “And you’re… what? Delivering it somewhere?”

“Eventually.” Steve crossed the kitchen and lifted the electric kettle. Satisfied with the weight of it, he switched it on before he turned back to her “But I need to figure out what it is first.”

Roisin stared at him. “Why?”

“Because some things shouldn’t be passed on blindly.”

She felt a chill crawl up her spine. “Why bring it here?”

Steve hesitated. “Because this house is a natural sinkhole.”

“Sinkhole?” Roisin instinctively looked at the floor.

Steve laughed as the hiss of the kettle indicated the water inside was heating. “Not that sort of sinkhole. More like the earth wire in a plug will ground the current if there’s a short circuit “There are lots of names for it. Earthline. Grounder. Spike. Whatever you want to call it doesn’t matter. What does it that it doesn’t hold onto things the way other places do.”

Roisin almost laughed. “You mean like a leyline?”

Steve gave her a strange look. “No. The opposite of that, actually. A leyline carries energy from one place to another. Sinkholes stop it going anywhere else.” The kettle boiled and switched itself off. He opened the cupboard and got out two mugs and set them next to the kettle. He lifted up the instant coffee jar and raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, please.” Roisin wasn’t going to get back to sleep anytime soon. She may as well enjoy being awake.

“I don’t know how to describe it any more clearly. “ He spooned coffee into the two mugs and added water from the kettle. “Have you ever been in one of those sensory deprivation tanks? They sometimes have them in spas and places like that.”

She shook her head. “I’ve heard of them. Never tried them myself.”

Imagine this house is asense-dep chamber, but for psychic residue.” He turned and waved the teaspoon at her. “Better still. Do you know what a Faraday cage is?”

“Yes. There’s a film about then, where they used them to be invisible to aliens who see by detecting energy.”

“That’s sounds about right.” He nodded and turned back to the mugs, spooning four sugars into one mug before turning back to her. “Sugar? Or are you sweet enough?” He made a face. “I just heard myself say that. Sorry. I wasn’t flirting or anything. My gran used to say that all the time.”

She shook her head. “Just milk, please.”

He opened the fridge and seemed happy to see there was a bottle of it in there. He added a generous amount into each mug and replaced it. “Yeah. Where was I? Faraday Cages. You can put your bank card in a little plastic envelope that acts like a Faraday cage. It stops people cloning your card when they walk past you but doesn’t damage the card inside. Same with car keys for keyless car ignitions. This house is like a Faraday Cage for psychic residue. It stops it broadcasting to the world at large but doesn’t damage the object while it’s here.” He stirred bot mugs and carried them over to the table. “Once you bring them over the threshold they can’t be detected outside the house.”

“She lifted her coffee but it was too hot to take a sip. “No, you’re wrong. If that was the case that thing—” she pointed to the cloth-covered object “—wouldn’t bother me at all.”

“That’s a good point, but I didn’t say they stopped broadcasting, just that they couldn’t broadcast out.” Steve pointed to the back door. “Do me a favour and stand on the fire escape.”

“Why? Are you going to lock me out?”

“I told you. I’m not a burglar. Take the key out if you want.”

“Why?”

“Indulge me for a minute.” He picked up his coffee and took a long swallow. Roisin was quite certain he must have no feeling in his mouth, or it would have first degree burns right now.

“All right.” She walked across the kitchen, took the key out of the lock and opened the door.” Now what?”

“You have to step past the threshold. On the fire escape.”

“Okay. “She took two steps forward. At least the rain had finally stopped, and she could see the shadowed garden below. The downstairs flat had lights on, but she couldn’t see inside from this angle. She turned to face Steve again. “Now what?”

“What do you feel?”

“A light breeze carrying the scent of wet grass and petrichor. The hair on my arms standing to attention.” She could also sense a thousand souls sleeping, fighting, driving or watching television, but she wasn’t going to tell him that.

“Can you sense the relic?”