The Automaton ( Part 5)

At midday Tom came home for his usual lunchtime break and opened the kitchen door. Dianne was sitting at the table staring into space.

“Hi honey, you okay? You look miles away.”

Dianne didn’t answer. Tom walked over to her and crouched beside her.

“Di?”

She turned her head, looked at him and smiled. Then flung her arms around his neck and held him tight.

“Wow, I like this coming home for lunch thing, just look at all the attention I get.”

He noticed that Dianne was gripping him a little too tightly as though she wanted him to protect her. He gently pushed her away a few inches so that he could look at her face, he could tell she’d been crying. Tom was worried.

“Babe, what’s the matter, has something happened?”

Dianne took her arms away and wiped her face.

“I had a blackout.”

“When?”

“Early this morning.”

“Are you okay, did you fall and hurt yourself, how do you feel now, how did it happen.”

He seemed to want to know everything at once.

“Okay, you sit there and take your time. I’ll make us both a coffee and then you can tell me all about it.”

Tom quickly made the coffee, anxious to find out what had happened. He sat down opposite her at the table. Dianne began.

“I was doing a bit of research on the toy, I had the laptop open and was looking through the books. I stood up and the whole room seemed to spin round and then I blacked out.”

“Maybe you just got up too quick Di, you know, like a head rush or something.”

“Tom, I was out for nearly an hour.”

“Bloody hell Di, we should call a doctor.”

“That’s not the worst thing though Tom, it was the dreams I had while I was out, they were bizarre, horrible, really frightening.”

“They were just dreams Di, nothing to worry about; it’s the blackout that’s worrying me. Have you ever had one before?”

Dianne ignored his question and carried on.

“There were shadows Tom, everywhere, but they seemed to be alive, all talking together making this weird screeching noise. It felt like they were all talking about me, discussing me. They knew I was scared and this seemed to excite them. They grew bigger and came closer so much so that I curled up in a ball with my head between my legs. But they kept coming; I could feel them on me, cold and clammy. It was horrible Tom, really horrible.”

“Di, it was only a dream. Forget it babe. Let’s deal with the blackout first. We need to get you to see a doctor.”

“We haven’t registered with any doctors here yet.”

“Doesn’t matter, this is an emergency.”

“Tom, I’m fine now just a bit shaken. Look I’ll call the agent later and see if she can recommend one and I’ll go and see them tomorrow.”

“Promise?”

She looked at him and smiled.

“I Promise.”

She made them both some lunch and decided to change the subject.

“So, how did the deliveries go this morning?”

“Much better, all vehicles went out on time, so no excuses. The drivers know their routes and should get quicker every day. Fingers crossed for this afternoon; let’s see how many failures we get.”

“That’s good Tom, the big promotion could finally be on its way.”

They smiled and raised their coffee cups in the air. Tom continued.

“Right, before I go back to work, tell me what you found out about the toy and I’ll tell you what I discovered.”

Dianne looked puzzled.

“What you found out?”

“Oh yes, I decided to do some digging of my own this morning.”

Dianne smiled. He never failed to surprise her.

“Well, no surprise really but Jean Henri Demart did live here for a while and he was a close friend of the satanist Aleister Crowley. They formed a very close and intimate relationship and formed a secret society called the Live Tobors. I then found a torn out page from a diary in one of the old books, it was dated 12th February 1928.”

She read the page out loud for him. Tom laughed.

Dianne ignored the sarcasm.

“I also had a good look at those keys I found in the draw and they are definitely connected to the sect. Each one of them has a letter inscribed on them. T. O. B. O. and R. Tobor. So it would seem that this secret sect had their meeting here, right here in this house.”

Dianne was pleased with herself.

“But what are the keys for, different doors?”

Dianne shrugged.

“Haven’t got that far yet. Anyway, mister clever clogs, what did you discover?”

Now it was Toms turn to look smug.

“Well. Actually, I got in touch with the Automaton museum in Zurich and spoke to a Professor Jonas Zimmerman. I explained about the toy we’d found. He was very excited and thinks it could be an important piece.”

“Really?”

“Yep, I sent over a photo of it and he called me back straightaway. He wants to come and have a look at it.”

“When?”

“Tommorow.”

“What come here, to the house?”

“Yes, he’ll be here mid-afternoon; he seemed very excited by it.”

“That’s great news Tom; perhaps he’ll want it for the museum.”

“He said that these vintage automatons are superb pieces of engineering and are highly sought after in certain circles and as soon as I mentioned Jean Henri Dumart, I swear he nearly had a heart attack.”

“So, hang on, when did you take the photo of it, before you went to work this morning?”

“No hun, I took the photo at work with the new digital camera they have in the warehouse.”

Dianne looked confused.

“I still don’t understand Tom.”

Tom smiled at her.

“It’s very simple my darling. I took the toy to work with me this morning, don’t worry I’ve brought it back, it’s on the front seat of the car.”

Dianne tried to say something but no words came from her mouth, the only sound was from the crash as her coffee cup hit the floor.