by A. D. Winch
The path that she took to her apartment block was one she normally avoided. Dog poo, broken bottles and syringes covered the cracked paving stones. Despite appearances, Ursula felt safe. The door to her block was always open, after somebody had accidentally broken it, so she entered easily and skipped up the seven floors to her grandparents’ flat. After four knocks on the door it was opened by Mémé who scolded her for being late, reminded her to remove her shoes and then let her in. Ursula made straight for her bedroom, laydown on her bed and closed her eyes. The moment she did this she heard urgent knocking on the front door, followed by the sound of Mémé opening it.
“Bonjour Madame, I am Officer Massot and this is Officer le Blanc. We are looking for a thin girl aged approximately ten. Would you be able to help us?”
Clutching hold of Fred, fear gripped Ursula like a vice and a deafening clap of thunder did not help her mood. Mémé had always told her that lying was wrong, she would tell the policemen the truth, get Ursula from her room and hand her over. Before Ursula did anything, she waited to hear what her Grandmother said.
“I’m very sorry but I think you have the wrong apartment. It’s only me and my husband who live here, and he is very sick. You will have to excuse me as I was just looking after him when you knocked. Au revoir.”
She shut the door shakily. Ursula breathed a sigh of relief; she was out of the frying pan but into the fire. She heard her Granddad get up and shuffle into the hall.
“Who was that, Marie-Thérèse?” he asked.
“Nothing for you to worry about, Jerome. Go back to bed and relax. It was nothing important.”
Granddad Benjamin did what he was told, but his wife’s words did not convince him.
Footsteps approached Ursula’s room, and she watched as her door handle turned. Before it was pushed fully open, there was another knock at the front door, and Ursula’s door was slammed shut.
On opening the front door, Mémé was greeted by a slight woman wearing leather trousers, a leather jacket and a T-shirt upon which was written ‘Pixies.’
“Bonjour,” greeted Andrea and continued in perfect French, “I’m looking for Ursula Benjamin.”
Looking Andrea squarely in the eye and without batting an eyelid, Mémé said, “I’m sorry, madame, but there is no one of that name who lives here. You must be mistaken. Au revoir.”
Calmly and politely she shut the door. Andrea knocked once more. At first Mémé ignored it, but the persistent tapping forced her to open the door yet again.
“I’m sorry, but I think you have the wrong apartment,” she said holding back her temper.
Before Mémé could close the door, Andrea placed her foot up against it.
“Madame Benjamin, I am not the police or a detective. This is a fact. However, there is a police car parked in the road, and I passed two policemen on the stairs coming up,” she said calmly.
The words seemed to reassure Mémé who stopped pushing the door against Andrea’s foot. Andrea continued speaking now that she felt she was not going to be shut out again.
“My name is Andrea Duna and I represent the Meyer foundation. I am here about the competition.”
From the bedroom, there was a loud thump as Granddad Benjamin fell out of bed; a desperate shout followed.
“For God’s sake Marie-Thérèse, let her in!”
The three Benjamins sat attentively on the itchy sofa. In the centre, and slightly elevated due to the weight of her grandparents on either side of her, was Ursula. She sat motionless, more worried about the trouble she was in and whether she would go to prison, than the puzzle competition she had won. Her Grandmother had not invited Ursula to the living room; she had summoned her. Likewise, she had been told to sit down rather than asked. As they sat there, Ursula felt that the usual warmth she received from Mémé had been replaced by a very cold shoulder. Granddad Benjamin knew something had happened, but he had no idea what. Experience had taught him not to ask questions in these situations if he didn’t want to get caught in the middle. Also, after hearing the words ‘Meyer’ he had stopped caring about what may have happened anyway.
Andrea sat opposite them on one of the white, Formica seats. She had finished explaining that Ursula had won the competition, would receive ten thousand Euros and was about to share the other news.
“I have been asked to inform you of another competition that you have also won which was not advertised in the newspapers along with the puzzle.”
Granddad Benjamin’s ears pricked up, and he leaned forward while trying to contain his excitement.
“Another competition?” he asked.
Surprised that she needed to confirm this, Andrea simply nodded her head. She proceeded to explain that the Meyer Foundation wished to offer a scholarship for an exclusive school in Prague - a scholarship which would cover Ursula’s education until she was eighteen. During the explanation, Andrea mentioned that this was the same school that the Meyer’s own son also attended. She did not say that it was hoped that Ursula would be a companion, and hopefully, a friend for Eric while his parents toured around the world on their yacht.
The Benjamins had heard of the word scholarship but as it had never applied to them before they did not fully understand what it meant. They asked for an explanation.
“To put it simply,” explained Andrea, “we would fly Ursula to Prague, house her, clothe her, feed and water her, supply her with pocket money and pay for her to attend the Prague Anglo International School.”
“That sounds great,” announced Granddad Benjamin genuinely, “what a superb opportunity! It is what we have always dreamed of for Ursula.”
He looked at his wife.
Mémé had started to fidget, and Ursula sensed that the cold shoulder was thawing quickly.
Trying to keep her voice steady Mémé added, “Jerome is right. We always wanted Ursula to have opportunities that we never had, but I never imagined they would be in another country. She will be able to come home every weekend, won’t she? Prague is not that far away, is it?”
Her hand moved to Ursula’s knee and held on as if she were about to fall. Ursula relaxed slightly and felt that it was only the police she had to worry about now. She looked at Andrea and waited for her answer.
“This would not be possible,” Andrea replied.
The Benjamin’s faces dropped.
“But she would be back during the holidays. This is not a question of money. It is about doing the best for Ursula. Travelling between Prague and Paris, every weekend would exhaust her.”
Faking a look of comprehension Mémé nodded unconvincingly. She and her husband had arrived in France on a boat and taken a steam train to Paris. They had never been in an aeroplane and had not visited even an airport. The closest they had come to a plane was watching them in the sky above their apartment. In other words, she did not understand. Over Ursula’s head Mémé looked desperately at her husband. After so many years together he knew the look and took over the conversation.
“It would not be easy for us to lose Ursula,” he said.
Andrea shook her head slowly and managed a brief smile.
“I understand but you would not be losing her. We will insist she stays in contact with you, and we will set up a video phone, and pay for all your calls, so you can see her when you speak to her. There is no obligation for you to say yes and no obligation for Ursula to go. Think about it this way, we are just providing Ursula with a better school to go to and because it is far away we will take care of her as well.”
During the adult’s discussion, Ursula had sat silently. She did not know what to say. She did not want to leave her grandparents, but she did want to escape the police. She did want to explore new places, but she was scared of not knowing somewhere new. She wanted to learn more, but she found her present school boring. Her silence was caused by her confusion. Over the years, her grandmother had taught her that if she didn’t know what to say it was best to say nothing at all. Unfortunately, Ursula was unable to st
ay silent because Andrea then asked her what she wanted to do. Another one of Mémé lessons had been that it was rude to ignore questions. Therefore, Ursula was forced to answer. Not knowing what to say, she avoided speaking and shrugged her shoulders.
Pushing her seat back towards the table, Andrea stood up. The Benjamins obviously had to discuss this, and she decided it was best if she left them to do so.
“You do not need to make a decision today. I would like one by tomorrow evening,” Andrea requested.
The three Benjamins politely stood up and nodded like a small Mexican wave. Together they followed Andrea to the hallway. At the front door, Andrea handed over her telephone number on a small playing card to Mémé. Granddad Benjamin opened the front door in a gentlemanly fashion and Andrea, followed by his wife, stepped outside into the passageway. Indoors, Granddad Benjamin placed his arms around Ursula and held her close to him like a precious stone. Outside Mémé pointed at the two of them.
“You can see it is not easy,” she sighed.
A tear formed in her eye at the thought of losing Ursula. Delicately she wiped it away, and as she did so, she saw the two policemen, poking their heads around the stairwell, at the end of the passageway. The moment they saw Mémé they hid. They disappeared quickly behind the peeling walls and badly spelled graffiti like rabbits down a hole. It was their not-so-secret spying that prompted Mémé to invite Andrea back into the house.
Once they had returned to the living room and were sitting relatively comfortably again, Mémé cleared her throat.
“I can see it would a great opportunity for Ursula, as my husband told you, but as I said it would not be easy to let her go. I don’t know a lot, but I do believe that Ursula does not stand a good chance of a good life if she stays here. She will be denied it only because of where she is from.”
She paused, choosing her next words carefully.
“But I need to know that she will stand a better chance of a good life somewhere else, even if we are not there.”
A feeling of loss started to eat away at Ursula. They had talked as a family about their dreams, but the reality was very different.
Andrea replied, “Mrs Benjamin, I would like to stress that we are not taking your Granddaughter away from you. She will always come back to you and you will have as much contact with her as you want through the use of modern technology.”
Placing his arm tenderly around Ursula’s shoulder Granddad Benjamin began to speak, but his words had difficulty leaving his throat.
“I think really,” he coughed, “it is Ursula’s decision.”
Up to this point, Ursula had been content with the adults talking about her as she still did not know what she wanted to do. Suddenly this changed, and all eyes were upon her.
After an initial shrug of her shoulders, she whispered, “I think it would be good and...,” There was a long pause and then she spoke from the heart, “...if I didn’t love my grandparents so much I would go.”
Granddad Benjamin took her right hand, looked her in the eyes and said gently, “That’s no reason to say no. Love can travel over long distances and survive over periods of time.”
Taking her left hand Mémé continued, “And Miss Andrea said you could write to us and do that phideo vone thing.”
Ursula felt her heart rise and fall at the same time. Tears were welling up in her eyes, but she tried to ignore them.
“When you are older you won’t regret the things you did,” said Granddad Benjamin, “only those you didn’t.”
Tears filled Ursula’s eyes and were slowly meandering down her cheeks. Nobody spoke until Andrea broke the silence.
“If you do want to do this, then we will leave Paris in two days.” Her tone was functional as she continued, “Ursula will need a suitcase of clothes, anything else she wants to bring and her passport.”
Ursula’s grandparents looked at each other. On their faces, more wrinkles had appeared at Andrea’s last request. Andrea looked at Granddad Benjamin, who began to talk.
“Ursula does not have a passport. None of us do. We...,”
“...had a fire,” Mémé interrupted. “We lost them all in a fire. We lost everything including the passports and we never felt we needed new ones.”
“That is fine,” replied Andrea unconcerned. “We can get a new one. All I need is a birth certificate.”
Looking down at his feet Granddad Benjamin uttered quietly, “We don’t have it, as my wife said we lost everything.”
Andrea tried to reassure them, “That makes it more difficult but I know someone who can help. When I give him the name of Ursula Benjamin, he will be able to provide us with a new birth certificate from the existing records.”
Granddad Benjamin was still looking at his feet.
“I don’t think he will be able to help either as we...” he paused and pressed his fingers into his forehead as he did so, “...never registered her.”
“Not that it was our job to do it,” Mémé was keen to explain. She spoke very quickly and babbled, “Obviously it was Ursula’s parent’s responsibility but they went away shortly after the birth, rock climbing, and when they didn’t come back it was hard and then Ursula was with us, and we thought they had done it but they hadn’t and we had other things to do and then, soon after, we had the fire and we lost everything, well nearly everything, all the important things anyway and it was a very difficult time and...”
Andrea interrupted, “I am sure it was. Do not worry, no problem is unsolvable. Ursula has already proved that by winning the competition. I’m sure we can solve it.”
After checking her watch, Andrea excused herself and stood up. Before she left she made the Benjamins agree that they would phone her if they had any problems or decided not to accept. At the front door, she told them that she would see them in two days if they did not change their minds, and walked off towards the staircase. As she turned onto the stairwell, she stood on Officer Le Blanc’s hand. He was lying on the floor spying. While he rolled around in agony, his partner asked her if there was a young girl in the apartment that Andrea had just left.
“No,” she replied and continued walking down the stairs.
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Chapter 5 - Au Revoir
In the centre of the Meyer’s dining table stood two silver candlesticks. The flames slowly danced in the hot, summer breeze, and the net curtains moved in time with them. Outside, the orange sun had set and turned a bright day into night. The only light in the large dining room came from the flames at the end of the wax candles. They were slowly melting, and wax dripped onto the mahogany.
There were fourteen, high-backed chairs around the oval table. However, Eric and his parents only sat around one end. Mr Meyer was tucking into a meal of truffles, fine sausage and exclusive Foie Gras paté. His wife was nibbling on a lettuce leaf from her Waldorf salad and picking around the other ingredients. Eric was eating a beef burger made from maize fed, Argentinian cows. It was squashed between a freshly made, wholemeal bun covered in sesame seeds. According to the chef, who also worked in a five-star hotel famed for its food, it was a designer burger. This meant, as far as Eric could see, that the pickles and garnishes were artistically arranged, but it still tasted the same as every other burger.
The Meyers ate in silence. The only sounds in the room came from the cutlery as it scraped against the plates. Outside the dining room window, a quiet miaow could be heard coming closer and closer. A grey, Persian cat suddenly appeared at the window, jumped silently onto the table and then once more onto the floor.
Dark wooden panels covered the wall opposite the window. They stretched from the floor to the ceiling and hid the only entrance to the room. Slowly a wooden panel moved and the hidden door opened. A thick ray of light cast itself across the table. Andrea entered and stood in its glow as the cat bolted past her. She faced the Meyers and spoke matter-of-factly and without emotion.
“I am sorry to interrupt but I have good news. I have f
ound someone who has won the competition. She also fills your requirements for the scholarship. She is exactly the same age as Eric, and I will infer from her puzzle entry, equally as intelligent. She lives with her grandparents in Paris, and they have agreed to let her study in Prague. I shall be collecting her the day after tomorrow, early in the morning before the flight. I will take Eric with me and then the three of us will journey to Prague.”
“Bravo!” cried Mrs Meyer.
“Vell done!” congratulated her husband.
“Pile of poo!” muttered Eric under his breath.
Andrea turned and left as swiftly as she had arrived. The door closed without a sound, and the thick beam of light retreated from the room. Spitting out a piece of burger that he had been unable to swallow Eric stood up. He leant forward until his lips could feel the warmth of the candles and blew. The flames struggled and fought, but Eric blew harder until they gave up and went out. A black sheet draped itself over the three diners, and Eric returned unseen to his seat.
“Just pretend I’m not here,” he uttered while straining to hold back his tears, “that shouldn’t be too hard for you.”
Mr Meyer asked his wife if she would like a dessert. She declined.
On top of one of the four apartment blocks, there was a large board advertising petrol. From behind it a glorious, red sun rose and white clouds, barely visible before the sun came up, turned to pink candy floss. The resulting light bathed Saint-Denis in a warming glow. Ursula looked down on her neighbourhood. She knew that she was going to miss it, in spite of its appearance.
Sitting on the roof, above the seventh floor of her block, she could look down and see it all. She was wearing her favourite clothes; her threadbare, black jeans, a yellow vest top and her greying, white trainers. Her feet dangled over the side and moved in small circles above her grandparents’ balcony. They were being watched by her Granddad and Mémé as they twirled in the air.
