Prologue

The heavens opened. They looked up into the threateningly black sky
and felt the large heavy raindrops fall on their flimsy summer clothes.
Just a few yards in front of them was the covered shopping area, a safe
haven from this ruthless torrent of rain. They ran quickly with the
other tourists as well as locals who also sought shelter there,
huddling in the entrances and blocking the way through.

"Excuse me please, I'd like to get past?" The woman just looked at her
but was unable to move, hemmed in on all sides as she was. The two
young women glanced at each other in desperation; the doorways were
packed, there was no room for them to shelter here. A rumble of thunder
sounded uncomfortably close. They gasped and glanced around for another
alternative, not knowing the layout of the small Cornish town they had
chosen for their holiday.

"Look! Over there!" She tugged at her friend's arm and pointed over to
the left. A small wooden sign, which ended in a pointing hand, bore the
words The Ginnel in faded copperplate. The stone archway it
indicated was narrow but sunlight could clearly be seen through it,
shimmering with hundreds of spiralling dust motes.

Holding her handbag over her head to protect her hair, her friend
followed as she ran, dodging puddles and people going in the opposite
direction who tutted at them in disgust for daring to get in their way.
They headed towards the archway and disappeared through the gap.

Sheltering in the narrow covered passageway, one of the young women
patted ineffectively at her rain-spattered clothes and smoothed down
her dampened blonde hair. The other paid no heed to her attire, instead
she glanced over to see where the passageway led and found a small
street where the dry pavement was dappled with patches of
sunlight.

"How odd," she stated softly, making her companion look up. "It's not
raining out there." They both looked back the way they had come to
where the rain still fell heavily. "It's so strange, it's almost as
though it leads to another world."

Her friend sighed at the dreamy expression she wore and shook her
head. "That's hardly realistic," she stated and stepped forward into
the street. With a shrug, the second woman followed and they took in
the quiet antiquated scene before them. Compared to the bustle of the
main market area, it was silent with not even the occasional peals of
thunder to startle them. The way the houses bowed forwards above them,
they could be forgiven for thinking they were actually under cover; the
black timbered buildings were crammed together, leaning on each other
as though for support and solidarity.

"Oh, look at this place, it's so quaint!"

"It's probably the old part of the town, you know, look at these
buildings."

"That probably explains why it's so quiet here; it's off the tourist
track."

They wandered slowly down the cobbled street, admiring the architecture
and its dilapidated and forgotten air. Moving from shop to shop, they
peered in the windows at the goods on display though most products
seemed strange to their eyes. It was like peering into a display case
in a museum full of antiquated items that only made sense to an
archaeologist. They reached a dark secluded corner where most of the
shops were gloomy giving the appearance of being closed or empty. The
young women were loitering outside what appeared to be a butcher's shop
of some kind, trying to decipher all the unfamiliar animals in the
window, when the door opened with the 'ting' of a shop bell and an old
woman stepped out into the street. Dressed from head to foot in
unrelenting black, the only colour on her came from her eyes. They
shone a brilliant green in her pale face, even shadowed as it was by a
fine example of the milliner's craft complete with obligatory bird. She
strode off down the street with tiny rapid steps as though her
ankle-length skirt prevented her from taking larger strides. The
tapping of her heels sounded loud in the still air.

One of the pair stifled a giggle and tugged on her friend's arm. "That
bird thing on her head wouldn't look out of place in this shop window,"
she whispered.

Her friend looked over and realised what she meant. "Jayne!" She tried
to look scandalised but failed miserably due to the smile in her
eyes.

Jayne just shrugged with a grin. "Come on, Belinda, admit it!"

"Shh, she'll hear you!"

Jayne looked over to the old woman who was engrossed in a nearby shop
window. As they watched, the bird ornament perched atop the black hat
very definitely turned its head to glare back at them.

"Oh my God-" Jayne gasped, unable to tear her gaze away from those
beady black eyes.

"I told you she'd hear you," Belinda hissed. "Quick, hide in here!" She
pulled her friend into the nearest shop where the banging of the door
behind them broke the silence.

The interior was dimly lit and very little light came through the grimy
window. They gazed round in surprise as a gentle glow slowly filled the
shop.

"Oh, look at these!" Belinda exclaimed, examining a rail of clothes in
jewel bright colours embroidered with gold or silver thread. "I've
never seen anything quite like them before."

Jayne's attention had been captivated by trays of jewellery: necklaces
of woven silver, fine as thread; rings embellished with sparkling
jewels, and bangles engraved with swirls and curlicues. Both of them
were so engrossed that neither saw the shopkeeper appear as if by magic
at the back of the shop.

"Good afternoon, ladies," he greeted, with a foxy smile revealing many
small uneven teeth.

"Good afternoon," Belinda responded politely. The shopkeeper nodded his
head at her and then spied Jayne standing over by the jewellery. She
noticed him moving in her direction and suppressed a small shudder.
Something about him just made her spine prickle uneasily and she
instantly decided not to buy anything from him, no matter how
appealing. "Talk about out of the frying pan, into the microwave," she
muttered under her breath.

"Is there anything I can help you with, miss?" he asked.

Jayne raised her head briefly and bestowed upon him a small polite
smile. "No, that's all right. I'm just looking, thanks." She instantly
regretted the smile, feeling him appraising her. She turned her
attention back to the jewellery, furtively glancing at him out of the
corner of her eye and wishing he wouldn't stand quite so close. She
found his hands distracting; in perpetual motion, they rubbed against
each other continuously, the long bony fingers twisting and twining in
a way that reminded her of a nervous habit. She looked up again to find
him staring at her with an intense gaze, strangely at odds with his
pale blue eyes.

"Yes," he nodded, though no one had asked him a question. "I know the
perfect thing for you."

Jayne frowned but the man turned away and started rummaging through a
wooden chest of drawers at the side, rapidly opening and closing each
one, searching for the item he had in mind. "It can't hurt to at least
look," she found herself thinking, "I don't have to buy it."

The man slowly turned back to her, holding something she couldn't see
in his cupped hands. He licked his thin lips quickly, an expression of
satisfaction on his sallow face. With great deliberation, he carefully
laid the object on the glass countertop with the air of a magician
going 'tada!' at the end of his trick. Jayne cast her eyes down,
prepared to see nothing particularly special and so was unable to hide
the little "oh!" of surprise that burst from her.

"What is it?" Belinda asked, coming up and looking over her shoulder
until she too gasped in delighted surprise. "Oh, Jayne, that's
lovely!"

On the glass in front of them lay a necklace. A fine silver chain made
of tiny links sparkled under the light and upon it was a pendant of
simple design but no less beautiful for that. Two silver fish placed
nose to tail encircled a round, perfectly smooth stone, no larger than
a five pence piece. The attention to detail in the engraving was
apparent, right down to the individual marking of every scale, making
the fish look so realistic that Jayne almost expected them to wriggle
about any second.

Without knowing quite why, Jayne reached out a tentative finger and
gently touched the stone only to retract it the second she made contact
with a cry of dismay.

"What happened?"

Jayne studied her finger to ensure it was unharmed and resisted the
urge to stick it in her mouth. "It shocked me," she explained. "Like
static."

Belinda gingerly picked up the necklace without any adverse effects.
"It really is rather pretty," she commented, examining it closely. "It
looks like the fish are swimming round a tiny lake."

"Huh?" Jayne looked puzzled. "But the stone's clear, how can that look
like a lake? A drop of water maybe, but not a lake."

"No, it's blue," Belinda corrected her and showed her the pendant as
proof.

"I could have sworn it wasn't a second ago." In confusion, Jayne took
the necklace from her friend's hand.

"It's like your birthsign," Belinda pointed out as she turned it over
in her hand.

"It is, isn't it?" Jayne studied the necklace thoughtfully, the stone
shining a brilliant sapphire blue. "I wonder how much it would
cost."

At those words, the shopkeeper stepped forward, smiling all over his
thin face. "Thank you, miss," he grinned hungrily. "I knew it would be
perfect for you."

"No, I don't want - I mean, I wasn't going to - it'll be too expensive
- "

"Please miss, I think that you will find the price quite
acceptable."

When she thought about it later, Jayne couldn't understand why she
allowed the shopkeeper to bully her so but at the time, the only
thought in her head was that she had to have that necklace. It was very
strange as she was resolute in her decision not to buy anything, or at
least she had been, but now it seemed too difficult to think of
anything else.

Pulling her purse out of her bag, she duly handed some money over to
the shopkeeper. He smiled at her, a lurid grin that didn't quite reach
his eyes and the cash disappeared somewhere in his clothing. Belinda
took the necklace and fastened the chain round her neck. It felt cool
and slithery, brushing against her skin as she moved and making her
constantly aware that it was there.

"Thank you," Jayne murmured to both Belinda and the shopkeeper. Belinda
nodded her head to the shopkeeper and then looped her arm through her
friend's.

"Are we all done then?" she asked in an unnaturally bright voice that
didn't sound at all like her own. "Good. Let's move on." Jayne was
unable to do more than nod and let herself be pulled out of the
shop.

As they stepped out of the door, they were dazzled by the bright
sunlight outside which made them blink furiously. They looked at each
other in bemusement, each feeling slightly dazed and something not
unlike jetlag.

Jayne gazed through strangely heavy eyelids and frowned. "Is that the
shopping centre?" Shaking off the sleepy feeling, she stared
thoughtfully at the building before them.

"It looks like it," Belinda agreed.

"How did we end up here? The shop was behind the centre, wasn't it?
Down the alleyway..."

Belinda tutted impatiently. "You know what these old towns are like,
they're rabbit warrens. You don't always come out the same place that
you went in."

"Generally though, you tend to come out on the same road that you were
on beforehand," Jayne retorted. Glancing around, she noticed what
looked like a weather-beaten piece of wood nailed to the wall to her
right. Studying it carefully, she could just about make out some long
since faded lettering. "The Ginnel," she whispered to herself and
turned around in the direction of the pointing hand. The entrance to a
small narrow alleyway was behind them, the way barred by a large black
wrought iron gate. "Like another world," she said under her breath and
felt a shiver run down her spine.

Belinda tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Well, I don't know about
you, but I think I'm done here. I'm going to go back to the cottage.
Besides, the sun is really bright now and I don't have my sunglasses. I
don't want to get wrinkles from screwing my eyes up."

"Mm, yes," Jayne responded automatically. Still deep in thought, she
followed her friend's lead out of the market town and onto the country
lane that took them back to their holiday home. They hadn't taken more
than a few steps when Belinda called a halt.

"Ouch, I think I have something in my shoe." She slipped her shoe
off and stopped to rub at one stockinged foot whilst balancing
precariously on the other. Jayne halted as well, comparing her comfy
but grubby trainers with Belinda's simple navy court shoes. Personally
she was surprised that Belinda's feet hadn't taken a battering; she
doubted if Belinda actually walked anywhere if her choice of footwear
for sightseeing was anything to go by. She was definitely one of those
women who went everywhere in the car.

"We're nearly at the cottage," Jayne assured her, "it's only round the
next bend."

Belinda slipped her shoe back on. "I'm going to have to soak my feet
for an hour at least tonight. I hope I have enough left in my pedicure
set. I don't want to have horrible red feet when I go to Rhodes."

"Rhodes?"

"I have a big symposium in two weeks time in Rhodes. I hope I'll be
ready for it."

"Oh, you lucky thing."

"It's work, Jayne."

"Right, of course it is. You won't get chance to go to the beach or see
the sights or anything, just like you didn't three months ago when you
went to Greece. Somehow you still managed to come back with a tan. I'm
pretty sure that all of the ouzo you brought back with you wasn't
bought from the hotel either." Belinda just smiled enigmatically. "And
now Rhodes!" Jayne felt a familiar surge of envy and fiercely swung the
carrier bags she held, feeling them bash against her legs.

"Simon should be there too, which will be lovely," Belinda smiled as
she thought of her attractive work colleague.

"Is he the tall one with the sports car or the blond with the flat by
the river?"

"No, Simon is the one whose parents have the yacht."

"I can never keep up with the men you have," Jayne grumbled, kicking at
a stone on the path. "I don't even have one and you have half a
dozen."

Jayne swallowed down her envious feelings, fiddling once more with
the necklace. It glinted in the sunlight and caught Belinda's
eye.

"Didn't I say that stone was blue when we were in the shop? How odd,
it's practically emerald now."

"Is it? Most strange." Jayne tried to look down at it, but the chain
was too short and prevented her from doing so. "Come on, I thought you
wanted to get out of the sun." She sighed as they sauntered along.
"It's hard to believe we've only got tomorrow left." Carrier bags
swayed at her side with every step while her other hand played with the
pendant at her throat.

"It'll be nice to get back to work," Belinda said as she tottered along
behind her friend, treading carefully on the uneven stone path.

"Maybe for you, I'm just going back to the reception desk; same old,
same old."

"A break is all very well and good, Jayne, but I have so much to do. I
imagine my desk will have exploded, there'll be so much catch up on. I
expect I'll be doing some late nights to get back on top of it
all."

"You shouldn't have to do that, Bel, it's not right."

"Well, it's either that or I take it home."

"No, you shouldn't be expected to do that either."

"I bet my diary will be chockfull with meetings as well, I really don't
know how I'll have the time for it."

"Neither do I," muttered Jayne, knowing full well that Belinda never
got into work before 10 and always seemed to leave about 3. Somehow she
must have managed to cram more work into those five hours than most
people got through in a week.

As they strolled along back to the cottage, she allowed herself to
indulge in her favourite fantasy, the one where she had the same
lifestyle as Belinda: one that would result in jetting off across the
world all in the name of work, where she would be as beautiful and
desirable with the same poise and men would demand she grace them with
her attention. She glanced at her reflection in a shop window as
Belinda studied the display within and appraised herself, knowing that
she would evaluate herself on the standards of her friend and would
therefore be found lacking. She pulled a face and turned away, but not
before the sparkle of the pendant around her neck caught her eye. She
noticed how the blue of the stone now appeared to be more green in hue
but didn't give it a second thought as Belinda tutted in disgust over
the products on sale and they moved away.

As they walked together, Jayne noticed the looks of passers-by and felt
the familiar sensation of jealousy. Her friend was so tall and
curvaceous that she felt dumpy standing next to her, even though she
was comparatively slender. With pale blonde hair that reached just past
her shoulders in a sleek waterfall, bright blue eyes and peachy smooth
skin, Belinda quite often drew attention to herself. She tended to wear
smart, classic outfits in varying shades of black, white and blue that
made her look older than her 26 years. Wherever they went, her bearing
demanded respect from those attending to her needs and without fail,
she got it.

Jayne couldn't have been more different. Her hair was a dark mousy
brown with golded highlights if the sun hit it right and she wore it in
a jaw-length bob; her eyes were a green-blue that seemed unable to make
up their mind exactly what colour they should be. She wore flowing
skirts to her ankles, matched with loose fitting tops in a variety of
colours and fabrics that put one in mind of another age. She tended to
make her own jewellery, stringing together brightly coloured beads into
bracelets and necklaces which she teamed with many silver bangles so
she looked like a kind of medieval gypsy. The only thing that didn't
match her image was her name.

"I just don't feel like an Jayne," she occasionally complained to her
friend, "even if it is spelt with a 'y'. And Smith? Why couldn't I have
a more glamorous name? Something exciting that conjures up images of
tall slender females with long white blonde hair, big blue eyes and
porcelain skin, like in romance novels."

"Because this is real life, Jayne," Belinda would respond in her
take-no-nonsense manner, "No one looks like that. At least, not without
some small effort." She would tuck a strand of smooth blonde hair
behind her ear with precision, her perfectly painted nails reflecting
the light dancing along their surface; her face made up in that way
which enhanced her classic features and brought out the blue of her
eyes - yet without looking like she was wearing any make up at all.
Jayne would inwardly sigh and try to turn her thoughts to more cheering
matters but all the while knowing that compared to her friend, she felt
as dowdy as a chicken standing next to a peacock.

Later that evening, Jayne was sat out on the patio deeply engrossed in
one of the novels she'd brought with her, enjoying a glass of wine. The
fresh breeze which wafted across her face brought with it the scent of
lavender from pots that edged the paved area. Belinda stepped out of
the French windows onto the flags, wrapped in her dressing gown with a
towel turbaned on her freshly washed hair. Jayne peered up at her over
the top of her sunglasses.

"You look peachy," she observed.

"I look what?"

"Peachy. You must have caught the sun this afternoon, you've got some
colour in your cheeks."

Belinda immediately stepped back inside the house to check her
reflection in the mirror. When she came back out, she looked horrified.
"It's all blotchy."

"Hmm?"

"Look!" Belinda was aghast. "It's awful."

Jayne tipped up her sunglasses and studied the face of her friend.
"Wow, you're right. It goes down your neck as well."

"What?!"

"Perhaps it's just a reaction to something. Have you used a new
product today? Like sun cream or after sun? Maybe it was the alcohol in
your perfume."

Belinda shook her head. "No, I've just used the same things I normally
do."

Jayne frowned. "Well, I don't think it's uncommon to get a reaction to
something you've used before. It's not normal, but I'm pretty sure it's
possible." Belinda was smoothing her fingers over her neck and peering
into her dressing gown to check how far the blotchiness had spread. "I
think I brought some calamine with me," Jayne said. "It's good for
sunburn and skin complaints. Let me get it and you can see if that
helps any."

Belinda muttered something that sounded like an affirmative response so
Jayne went inside to the bathroom where she found her toiletries bag on
the floor near the sink. She rummaged in it and found the calamine
cream. As she moved to stand up and leave, she glanced towards the
bath.

"Bel?" she called over her shoulder as she took one step closer to the
tub.

"Did you find it?" Belinda entered the bathroom behind her.

"Oh yes, it's here." She held up the ointment, still examining the
bathtub. "Is this yours?"

"Is what mine?"

"This hair." Jayne glanced over her shoulder, her eyes straying to her
friend's towel-wrapped head. Belinda knit her brow in bemusement but
looked where Jayne indicated.

"What the - ?" she started and her eyes opened wide in shock. Strewn
along the bottom of the white porcelain was an unusual amount of long
strands of hair. Although dark in colour due to being wet, there was no
doubt where it had come from.

"You could have cleaned up after yourself, Bel," Jayne admonished, "I
don't want to get in there when it's full of your sheddings."

"But that can't all be mine!"

"Whose else is it? You've the one that's just had a shower."

"There's so much of it though," Belinda raised her eyes to Jayne's.
"How can that all be mine?"

Jayne looked thoughtfully back in the tub. "I suppose there is rather a
lot." She turned back to her friend and once more glanced at her head.
Belinda caught the unspoken question and slowly raised her hands to
remove the towel. Jayne was surprised to see the slight tremor there;
she knew Belinda was vain but she had no idea she would be so
affected.

Belinda turned to face the mirror over the bathroom sink as the towel
slid from her head and into her hands. As it fell, generous strands of
long blonde hair fluttered down to land on her shoulders and the floor
where she stood. Her lips opened in a silent scream but no sound left
her mouth. Jayne, standing behind her, saw how dull and sparse the once
shiny blonde locks had now become and stared in amazement.

Her eyes caught those of her friend in the mirror. Belinda's skin was
pale, making the red blotches stand out as though someone had slapped
her. Her large blue eyes moved to stare at Jayne's own hair, which
shone from the overhead electric light. It appeared to have been
dramatically lightened by the sun and was run through with light blonde
streaks, not unlike the colour of Belinda's own. Jayne now looked at
her own reflection and was pleasantly jolted by the sight which greeted
her. She swallowed in surprise, making the pendant at her throat react
with the motion and her eyes followed the movement.

The two silver fish sparkled in the harsh unforgiving glare, but it
wasn't that which demanded her attention. The stone that they encircled
had now, unmistakeably, taken on the exact shade of a blood red
ruby.