Dancing in the Shadows Read Online Free Page A

parents,’ said Feli, momentarily snapping out of it, and accepting the broken-off piece of chocolate. ‘I’m being silly, aren’t I?’
    Dorcas, not feeling too brave herself, was keenly sympathetic. ‘We all have our hang-ups. Look, the sky is brightening. The storm is abating, just as I said it would.’ She heaved a sigh of relief. She was beginning to feel like a spent force herself.
    Too much had happened in too short a time. She was as much mentally as physically cramped to the point of exhaustion. Too many things had played on her emotions. Her grandmother’s death had been a cruel blow. Her grandmother had filled a large part of her life and she still couldn’t believe that she would never see her again. Apart from losing a loved one, Dorcas had been faced with the upheaval of leaving home for the uncertainty of finding temporary accommodation and never properly unpacking her suitcase. The strain of rehearsals and the fight to keep on her dancing toes in a competitive field. All this on top of the heartache of discovering that her brother Michael had a hard, greedy side to his nature that was difficult to forgive.
    Grandmother had spent as she lived, leaving only the house and its contents. At first Dorcas had been hurt that she hadn’t been remembered in the will, until she reasoned it out in her mind that her grandmother had assumed that Michael would keep on the house and provide Dorcas with a home there. But Michael had sold the house and contents. Dorcas didn’t want a share of the proceeds. She had her pride. But it would have comforted her to be offered something. She was not too proud to ask for a memento of her grandmother. ‘Of course,’ Michael said obligingly when asked. ‘I didn’t think. Take anything you want.’ ‘If I may, I’ll have this,’ and she picked up her grandmother’s well thumbed bible.
    The sky was darkening again. For a moment Dorcas thought the storm was returning. Then she realized the train was travelling in the shadow of a range of mountains. She disliked the mountains. They blocked out the remaining bit of daylight and she felt menaced.
    Rosita was still fretful. Dorcas offered to hold her for a while. Feli gladly handed over her precious burden. The child gazed up at Dorcas disbelievingly; her eyes were like twin moons. There was a chocolate smear down the side of her mouth. She stared at Dorcas for a long moment, wondering whether to accept her or not. Finally she gave an aggrieved snuffle and settled her head against Dorcas’s breast. Dorcas could feel her breathing; the warmth of conquest mingled with the wonder of the child’s perfection. She was sorry to hand Rosita back to her mother.
    There was a distant rumbling sound, and the feeling of menace gripped Dorcas once again, only it was fiercer now. Feli’s and Rosita’s cheeks were glued together; Feli was smooth-talking her daughter to sleep. The rumbling sounded again, nearer, like thunder, and not like thunder. Dorcas found herself struggling to identify the sound, recognizing its importance with the sense of self-preservation.
    She was sitting up, tense, alert, waiting. The train seemed to be reducing speed, as if it too was hesitant to plough into danger. Or were her taut nerves playing tricks? No, the train was slowing, she was quite certain of that. And the rumble of thunder, that was not thunder, filled her ears.
    She knew she had to move. Quickly. She was acting on instinct alone. She couldn’t give Feli a plausible explanation. Feli could not heed the danger and was reluctant to move. ‘Stretch your legs if you want to. I’m perfectly all right here.’
    â€˜It’s not that. I think we should all go to the end of the train. There’s a fair chance that we might be safe there.’
    â€˜Safe? What are you talking about? Safe from what?’
    Dorcas couldn’t tell her because she didn’t know