The Presence

Couple on carnival holiday. Something strange in the air.

 

 

THE PRESENCE

 

The presence had always been there, lurking around just out of sight, never fully seen.

 

Elodie and her husband were in bed, while he was fast asleep she was struggling hard to do the same. Her eyes were wide open and then she heard the sound of soft mournful singing. Elodie turned her head to look at Vere to see if he had responded to the sound. He hadn’t, so she gently got out of bed making sure not to wake him, and tiptoed over to the French window. She opened it just enough to be able to slip out onto the small balcony. She peered out over the edge and saw that a large moving dark mass of people were carrying large candles and descending into the little town on her left. They were singing to a music she didn’t recognise, but understood it to be of religious origin. Elodie stepped back nearer to the window not wanting to be seen as the procession passed below the balcony. The effigy of a local saint was being transported on a stand accompanied by local men, wearing a special outfit for the occasion. The four corners of the stand held large tulip shaped lamps which cast a dismal light over the effigy and the flowers that lay around its feet. Every now and then, the whole shuddered as if it would topple over. The air was heavy with the smell of candle smoke. Elodie stayed where she was for a few minutes and as she turned her head she had the sensation that someone was watching her. She moved her head and caught sight of someone disappearing into the crowd on the opposite side of the street. Nausea was what she felt. The nausea of fear. Elodie hadn’t felt it for years, ever since she’d been married, but now it had returned with such strength it almost took her breath away.

 

Vere had chosen their holiday destination from a photograph he had seen in a travel magazine. He loved travelling, and got so enthusiastic about every new trip that, over the years, he had won Elodie over to his side. He was certainly not a boring man to live with. His enthusiasm about almost everything in life was nothing less than overwhelming. His natural curiosity for all that was new, animated all those who met him. Elodie adored him for brightening up what had been a rather dull and miserable life before he had entered it. What she had never told him about, was how she had once been jumped out on when going home from school. She had not been raped, but the feeling of vulnerability had stayed with her until she was safely married to Vere and living in a different place.

The sight of an unknown person watching her had brought back an unsettledness that she had forgotten about long ago.

 

Vere was up and dressed and standing over her, he tickled her feet, “Come on, wake up, there’s a good girl. We don’t want to miss out on the celebrations, do we?”

Elodie opened her eyes and said, “Morning already? You missed the procession last night, you were sound asleep.”

“Why didn’t you wake me up? I would have liked to have seen it.”

“There wasn’t much to see. A multitude of the faithful holding large candles and following an effigy. All rather theatrical really,” Elodie said, as she picked up her clothes for the day and went into the bathroom.

 

They went downstairs to have breakfast. Elodie was not the chattiest person in the morning, on the other hand Vere was fully awake as soon as his eyes opened. The mixed noise of people and traffic came through to where the hotel guests were breakfasting. The sun was shining and the whole street was a different place from what it had appeared in the dark night so recently finished. “What shall we do this morning?” Vere asked Elodie.

“Whatever you like, shall we go and see what the carnival programme has planned for today?”

“Yes, why not? After all that’s what we came here for,” Vere answered.

There were pamphlets placed on small tables in the reception area, advertising the different activities that would be taking place during the following three days. One of them described the procession that Elodie had seen the night before. She suddenly felt tired, and said to Vere, “I think I’ll go into the street to get some air, it’s a bit stuffy in here.”

“Shan’t be long, see you outside,” Vere said, as he went on picking up pamphlets and putting them back down again if they proved to be of no interest to him.

 

The street was more crowded than it had been during breakfast. Elodie stood staring into space while she tried to gather her thoughts. There were some small shops just along from the hotel. She began window shopping as she walked along, hoping that Vere wouldn’t be too long choosing the pamphlets he wanted. Elodie was in front of a gift shop window when she looked up and saw the most horrible looking thing imaginable. He had blotting paper skin, his eyes were so pale they had almost no colour at all, his hair was white-blonde and he was standing right behind her. And then he leered at her and made an effort to grab her by an arm. Elodie shook herself free and ran back to the hotel. It was what she had seen from her balcony during the nocturnal procession.

Vere was just coming out of the hotel when Elodie ran into him. “I say, Elodie, you look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

Elodie, on the point of collapsing, grabbed her husband to stay standing, “I don’t know what I’ve seen, but it was horrible.”

 

They went back up to their room and sat down. Vere noticed how shaken she was and put his arm around her shoulders. Elodie snuggled up to him and began to feel drowsy. Vere said, “Let’s lie down on the bed. It’ll be more comfortable there.”

They both fell asleep in a very short time. The closed window kept out any noise that might come from the street. The telephone ringing made them wake up.

“Madam, Sir, just to let you know that lunch is now being served in the dining-room.”

Vere looked at Elodie, “Might as well lunch here and then go out for a while. Otherwise we’ll miss so much of the fun.”

Elodie wished she were back home, but kept up the pretence of enjoying herself to please Vere, who really was.

 

As there was something for everybody in the festivities, it represented no problem to find a distraction in the streets. There were parades of big heads, men dressed as women in frilly old-fashioned dresses, women pushing buggies with husbands or boyfriends as the babies. In other parts of the town cycle races were being held, and in others, preparations were being made for the firework display at midnight. All the streets were lined with vendors selling drinks, sweets, and evil-looking cakes. Vere took Elodie’s hand as they walked around the overcrowded town. From all parts there were flashes of movement and there was always a small splash of white, either in windows or coming from doorways or even behind her. In one bad moment when Vere and Elodie were separated Elodie saw the full reflection of the white man in a  taxi door. The crowds jostled her and she had no way of finding Vere. The faces in the crowds were those of strangers to her. Elodie stood back and saw she was beside a small department store. Surprised to see it was open and with plenty of customers, Elodie stepped inside. Feeling as if she was on more familiar ground, Elodie took an escalator to the women’s and girls’ floor. Making every effort to appear as cool as was possible, Elodie walked into the Ladies. It was empty. She went into the last  cubicle and sat down on the lid. Now feeling less vulnerable, she tried to calm herself down. There was no point in ringing Vere as he wouldn’t be able to hear her with all the streets crowded with noisy people. Women and girls came and went while Elodie was sitting in contemplation. No one bothered her. For an hour Elodie  tried to shake off the feeling of nausea and fear. When she was the only person in the Ladies, she came out and washed her hands, combed her hair, and touched up her make-up. Elodie walked slowly, she was in no hurry to get mixed up in the crowds again. She took her time in getting to the exit, casually searching through anything that caught her eye. Down by the automatic doors she rang Vere.

“Hello, Elodie, where are you?”

“I somehow got separated from you and was very upset, then I found this department store and came inside. Now I feel more relaxed I’ll get a taxi and return to the hotel. OK?”

“That’s fine by me, don’t be too long. See you soon.”

 

Elodie put her phone back into her bag and went outside to look for a taxi. There was a movement that came from the opposite side of the street facing the store. Elodie saw the white man, he was staring at the procession that was passing down the main street, he saw Elodie and he tried to move across the street. The masses of excited noisy people in the crowds, and the performers in the carnival made this an impossibility. Elodie ran down the street at the side of the store and jumped into a taxi which took her back to the hotel and Vere.

The white man showed he was determined to get across to the other side of the street. He fought his way between onlookers and revellers. He was knocked down accidentally by one of the revellers, but the rest, in their desire to follow the procession failed to notice that he was lying on the ground, and just trampled him to death. 

 

Vere went up to Elodie on seeing her get out of the taxi, grabbed hold of her and said, “Don’t go disappearing again. There are too many people here for my liking.”

“Do you wish we hadn’t come?” Elodie asked him.

“Let’s put it this way, I’ve got mixed feelings about this holiday. Let’s go and dine, it’s been a long time since we ate.” Vere took her arm and they went into the dining-room.

 

    On the local television channel the main news item was that the character of the ‘white man’, who was a legendary figure in the local religious festivities, had been trampled to death that afternoon. That year, the part had been taken by the unfortunate, and much respected, bank manager.