Ondine

by Ebony McKenna

  ‘Let me set up a table for you. Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll come back and get you.’

  ‘That sounds promising,’ Lord Vincent said with a saucy grin.

  This time Ondine did blush, as that familiar bothersome heat seared her skin, but she turned away before he could see how much he’d affected her.

  Outside, they still had the fairy lights in the trees from Margi and Thomas’s party, so she turned them on and set to work, flicking the tablecloth into the air and laying it down on to a table. The last time she’d done this, Shambles had raced in and skidded along the top, before turning into a very handsome man who’d delivered Ondine her first real kiss.

  And he’d warned her about Vincent.

  Jealousy did strange things to people, Ondine thought.

  But she missed Hamish all the same. Yes, he was still around (judging by the copious sausages Chef kept turning over on the stove), but the rules of her grounding meant they shouldn’t talk to each other.

  But oh, how she missed him. Seriously missed him, which was more than she thought was good for her. What was the point of falling in love with a man if he turned back into a ferret when the moon went down?

  Falling in love! Oh no, that’s not what she meant to think at all. Not when she thought she might have the attentions of Lord Vincent. Admittedly, he was completely out of her reach socially, but a girl could dream, couldn’t she? And he’d asked to be seated outside and was flirting so outrageously with her, he must be interested, surely?

  Then why had her thoughts been filled with the delicious Hamish?

  Gah! Ondine shook the images from her mind as she straightened out the wrinkles in the tablecloth, all the while chiding herself for such foolishness. If a person looked up ‘confused’ in the dictionary, it would say ‘Ondine de Groot’.

  ‘Beautiful,’ Vincent said, strolling outside. There were no clouds tonight and the moon along with the bud lights cast small amounts of magic over the garden.

  Ondine kept straightening out the tablecloth, even though it didn’t need doing. Anything to keep busy. To keep from falling under Vincent’s spell.

  ‘It is a beautiful garden,’ she managed. Something tugged at her, reminding her to keep thinking of Hamish.

  ‘Not the garden, you.’ He closed the distance between them.

  How did a girl respond to that? A sensible girl would say, ‘You’re very kind. Now I’ll bring out the tea and coffee orders for your table of friends,’ but by this point ‘sensible’ and Ondine had long parted company.

  She giggled.

  Like a twit.

  Burning heat spread from her neck all the way to her forehead. If only her feet would work, then she’d walk out of here and back into the kitchen. Even with her shove-in-the-back sister, the kitchen was a much safer prospect right now.

  No such luck. Vincent took a step closer while Ondine stood mute. Another step, and he was only a metre away. Less now as he took another step.

  One more step and they were almost touching. His hand cupped her chin. Tingling heat spread over her skin and down her body, making her pulse hitch in her throat and her mouth turn dry.

  Quick, find something to say, or this is going to get way out of hand.

  Her brain fled as Vincent’s lips slowly closed the distance between them.

  She tried to swallow, but her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. Her voice croaked as she blurted out, ‘How come your da wants to close us down?’

  Vincent paused a centimetre from his target.

  ‘Don’t talk about my father. I don’t want to be thinking of him when I’m with you.’ His voice sounded smooth and hypnotic.

  When his lips came down on hers, Ondine expected to swoon, but she didn’t. Instead her eyes flew open while his cold, wet tongue darted into her mouth in an altogether uncomfortable and completely baffling experience.

  There was even a bit of slobber.

  Ondine’s hands came up and pressed against Vincent’s chest, keeping their bodies apart, but only just.

  ‘Stop fighting it, you know you want it.’ His lips continued to make a mess of her face.

  ‘This isn’t going to happen,’ Ondine said, surprised at how confident she sounded. A girl of her years should have been revelling in the intimacy, but instead it felt . . . not wrong, because that would mean she felt something. No, this was more of a sad hollowness, a disappointing sequel to their earlier encounter.

  How quickly her emotions had changed. She would have sworn she’d heard birds singing in her head when she’d first laid eyes on Lord Vincent. Now she felt a bit grubby as he continued his Braille conversation.

  ‘That’s enough.’ Ondine pushed Vincent backwards, so that their faces were a good few centimetres apart and she could breathe properly without having him pressed so tightly against her.

  ‘Now you’re going shy on me? Take what you can get, honey, I won’t offer again.’

  Anger bubbled in Ondine’s veins. ‘And I won’t accept either. I’m going back inside.’

  She took a sideways step to get past him, but he blocked her exit, his nostrils flaring. ‘No you don’t. Not until I get what I came for.’

  Cold, horrible, paralysing fear glued Ondine to the spot.

  ‘L-leave me alone,’ she said, only it came out as a squeak, so she said it again, hoping it would come out stronger. Nope, still a squeak.

  ‘Where is it?’ Vincent said, closing the distance again so they were almost nose to nose, body to body. Each time Ondine took a breath, her breasts touched his chest.

  No more squeaks. All she could do was whisper, ‘Where’s what?’

  ‘Don’t play dumb with me. Where’s the money?’

  ‘I d-don’t know what you’re –’

  Slap! Lord Vincent’s hand came down hard across her face. His voice took on a growling demand. ‘Where’s the money?’

  Her cheek burned, but it didn’t hurt as much as her heart, which felt like it could shatter into a million pieces. ‘I’m going to scream,’ Ondine whispered, but her squeaky voice made the threat completely pathetic. All the while her pulse hammered in her ears.

  ‘You have one sister damaging the piano and the other’s howling at the moon. Nobody will hear you. Now tell me where the money is.’

  Trapped. Utterly trapped. In the quiet, between the thudding of her own heart, Ondine could hear loud music from inside the pub. Vincent was right; they wouldn’t hear a thunderbolt out here, let alone one sad girl’s screams.

  Her face stung from his slap, but it was more a pain of disappointment. She thought she’d been a fairly decent judge of character until now.

  ‘We’ve spent it,’ Ondine confessed.

  For a second Lord Vincent’s face fell, before a nasty sneer took hold. ‘Nice try. I almost believed you. Tell me where it is.’

  ‘I’ve told you we sp–’

  His hand flew up, ready to smack her again.

  ‘It’s inabox underthefloorboards inthepub,’ Ondine blurted. With a burst of strength she didn’t know she had, she pushed him away and made a run for it.

  A hard hand gripped her arm, swinging her back so sharply her shoulder felt like it would pop out of the socket.

  A growl came from deep within Ondine. ‘Get your hands off me!’

  The back door swung open and a murderous scream erupted. ‘Arrrrgggghhh! Hands off what’s nawt yers!’

  Familiar black fur blurred past Ondine. Relief washed over her at Shambles’s timely intervention.

  ‘What the . . .’ Vincent stumbled backwards in shock as something raced up the leg of his trousers. A howl of pain sprang from his throat as he fell down with a thud, hard on his bottom. Then he battered madly at his leg with his hands. ‘Get off!’

  ‘Leave her alone!’ Shambles cried out.

  ‘I am, I am.’ Lord Vincent swatted at the rapidly moving lump under his trousers. He managed to hit himself a few times, which made him wince. Changing tactics, he stood up, crazily shaking his leg to
free him of the demon possessing it.

  With a battle cry of victory, Shambles rolled away from Vincent’s leg. Then he rounded on his victim and gave him a nasty swipe against the ankle. It drew blood.

  ‘Stitch that, Jimmy!’

  ‘It talks!’ Vincent gasped at the sight of his pint-sized enemy.

  ‘I don’t just talk, pal,’ Hamish said, swiping at Vincent’s ankle again and making another cut.

  Vincent made to stomp on his attacker, but Shambles darted out of the way, then doubled back and charged up Vincent’s leg.

  ‘A ferret!’ Vincent tried to shake him away before he could reach anything sensitive. ‘You set a ferret on to me? Say goodbye to the hotel, I’m going to close this place down!’

  With her heart beating a tattoo in her chest, Ondine felt her body trembling all over from fear and indignation.

  ‘Yer all pish and wind,’ Shambles said as he leapt free of Vincent and then made for the safety of Ondine. When he reached her shoulder, he made ready to launch himself at Vincent’s stricken face.

  ‘That’s enough, Shambles. I think he’s got the message.’

  ‘You’re finished, witch!’ Vincent said. ‘I’ll have you charged with treason.’

  ‘Oh really?’ Shambles asked. ‘Exactly how’r ye gonna explain what ye were doin’ when ye got cut, eh?’

  The colour drained from Lord Vincent’s face. The shock value was priceless.

  Courage stirred in Ondine. ‘Everyone knows Shambles is always with me, and I’m happy to tell people what you tried to do to me. So go ahead, tell everyone you came off second-best to a ferret.’

  They stared at each other for a moment, but it was Vincent who blinked first. ‘Watch your back,’ he said and made to leave. The words carried a veiled threat, but his voice cracked in the middle, exposing it as nothing but bluff.

  ‘I’d watch yours if I were you, and your legs,’ Ondine said as Vincent walked out of the side gate of the garden. ‘We’ll send the dinner bill to yer da.’

  Shambles yelled out, ‘And ye’ll need ten rabies shots, all of them in the a–’

  Ondine slapped her hand over Shambles’s mouth. ‘No need to be rude.’

  ‘Ah, yer a feisty one! I’m real proud of ye.’ Shambles gave Ondine a wet, whiskery kiss on the cheek.

  Proud of her? Well, that was about the best thing she’d heard all night. ‘Thanks, Hamish. I’m glad you arrived when you did.’

  What a mess she’d made of things! Why, when she had someone as beautiful and funny as Hamish to look forward to, did she even contemplate an idiot like Lord Vincent?

  Because he may never be Hamish again!

  ‘Did he hurt ye, lass?’

  There were so many different levels of hurt a person could feel. ‘I guess not, but . . . oh, Hamish, you tried to warn me about him, but I wouldn’t listen. Go on, say “I told you so”.’

  ‘Nay, lass, you don’t need to be told anything. You’re far smarter than me.’

  ‘You’re just saying that.’ Ondine brushed off the comment as she made to return to the kitchen. She was still grounded; any prolonged absences would make her mother suspicious.

  ‘No, I’m nawt just saying that. It’s true. And thanks for calling me Hamish, it’s nice to be treated like a person again.’

  Something made Ondine stop at the back step. Here she was, growing older by the day, feeling frustrated because everyone treated her like a kid. All the while the adult male on her shoulder fared little better because of his present ferrety incarnation.

  ‘If it helps any, you’re a real person to me. And I hope the spell wears off permanently soon so you can be yourself again.’

  Please be you again, Hamish.

  Shambles gave a wickedly deep chuckle as they walked down the hall. ‘Sure, yer just saying that, lass, cos ye want another kiss. I wouldn’t mind another meself. Yer very good at it.’

  No heat of embarrassment this time, but a wide grin split her face at the thought.

  Shambles chuckled, then stopped suddenly. ‘What are we doing in the laundry?’

  ‘I’m pretty sure this is your room and, as I’m grounded, I’m not allowed to have anyone in mine. That includes you.’

  ‘Nobody will notice. And you can’t expect me to stay down here, it’s all reekie.’64

  For a moment Ondine stood still, wondering what to do, but then Shambles made her mind up for her.

  ‘Ye were giving it laldy65 on that eejit, but yer still in shock and I think someone should keep an eye on ye, and as I was there, it may as well be me.’

  ‘Why am I regretting this already? You’re sleeping on the end of the bed, OK? Above the covers.’

  ‘I wouldnae have it any other way.’

  As they approached the kitchen, Shambles peeled off Ondine’s shoulder and begged Chef for leftovers. Things were winding down for the night, with only a few tables left to receive their desserts.

  ‘Lord Vincent had to leave,’ Ondine told her mother. It wasn’t exactly a lie. ‘We’re to send the bill to the Duke.’

  Her mother’s face took on an air of concern. ‘What happened out there? You don’t look so good.’

  ‘And I don’t feel so good either. Da was right, Vincent’s a total pain in the . . . neck.’ She wanted to say worse, but good manners turned up in the nick of time.

  ‘You should go to bed,’ Ma said, touching the back of her hand to Ondine’s forehead.

  ‘Vincent knew about the jewellery, and the money. I don’t know how, but he did.’

  ‘Oh dear.’

  ‘Exactly.’

  ‘Right.’ Ma was quiet for a while, as she thought what to do next. At the same time, she put the coffee on and set up cups and saucers. Not only could she talk about five things at once, she could practically do them as well. ‘Things won’t settle down out front for another hour at least, and you look ready to drop. Your father’s retired early for once, Thomas is doing a great job at the bar. You get some sleep, then we’ll talk about it in the morning.’

  No second invitation needed. Ondine was only too glad to head to her room and collapse. Sometime during the night, Shambles arrived and made good on his promise to stay at the end of the bed.

  ‘Settle, lass. I can’t sleep with yer feet kicking me all the time.’

  ‘Stop fidgeting then.’

  A knock came on the door. ‘Ondi, are you in there?’

  ‘Quick, Hamish – under the bed, Ma’s coming in,’ Ondine whispered, then called out to the door in a louder voice, ‘Where else would I be?’

  Instantly she wished she’d kept her mouth shut. Already in enough trouble, answering back to her parents again could make things worse. Especially if Ma walked in and found she had company. Ondine couldn’t think of a worse punishment than being stuck in her room whenever she wasn’t needed for work, but her mother had no such lack of imagination and would be bound to come up with something more heinous. The furry black streak disappeared under the bed, his claws skittering on the floorboards as Ma opened the door. Thank goodness for creaky hinges drowning out the sound!

  ‘Ondi, I’m sorry things went so badly with Vincent tonight. I thought your father was overreacting about him. Turns out his instincts were spot on,’ Ma said, positioning her well-cushioned self on the end of the bed, right where Hamish had been. ‘I told your da everything that happened –’

  ‘But nothing happened!’ Ondine protested.

  ‘Sweetheart, it’s not your fault, and you have nothing to feel embarrassed about. Vincent’s the one with the problems, not you.’

  ‘But . . . how did you know?’

  ‘Hamish told me, because he was concerned for you.’ Ma embraced Ondine in a hug and gently rubbed her back. ‘We all think you’ve been very brave and Vincent’s going to get what’s coming. Aunt Col’s looking into it. She could turn him into a toad or a slug. Which would you prefer?’

  Ondine smiled in relief. And hey, Ma had called Shambles Hamish again.

  ‘It’s goo
d to see you smile. I have some more good news. I was going to wait until the end of your grounding to let you know about school, but you need cheering up. Ondi, we do have the money. You can take the classes you want.’

  Hope sparkled in Ondine’s veins; she would have a life again! Then confusion made her head turn fuzzy. ‘But . . . but why did you say we didn’t?’

  ‘Because I wanted you to think about your actions, and to realise that they have consequences,’ Ma said.

  After the altercation with Lord Vincent, Ondine hardly needed a reminder, but she was also intrigued by their sudden return to wealth. ‘So . . . how much money do we have?’

  Ma gave her a knowing smile, then kissed her on the forehead. ‘Enough. Not enough to be silly with, but enough. It’s getting late, you should go to sleep,’ she said, closing the subject.

  Part of Ondine wanted to give her mother a good old-fashioned yelling at for scaring her so much. Another part wanted to wrap her arms around her and hug her till they both dissolved into tears. The second idea won out.

  Tears poured out.

  ‘I love you, Ma.’

  ‘I love you too, sweetheart. But better save your tears for the morning, Ondi. Aunt Col is leaving and she’ll be taking Shambles with her, so they can work out a way to reverse the spell for good.’

  Cold dread snaked around Ondine’s heart and gave a squeeze. ‘Tomorrow?’ she croaked.

  ‘I’m afraid so. Just as well he’s back to being a ferret, otherwise I’d be worried you might try something stupid. And then I’d have three weddings to plan instead of two. I’d best be getting back to the kitchen. Goodnight, dear.’ With that Ma closed the door behind her, leaving Ondine feeling confused and frustrated.

  Old Col would be taking Hamish with her? Then another thought smacked her. Three weddings? Her parents were so stuck in the past!

  The minute you’re interested in a boy they want to marry you off.

  From underneath the bed, she heard, ‘Want to try something stupid?’

  To her shock, she saw Hamish looking up at her. The real Hamish McPhee, not the ferret but the man. With a devilish grin on his face.

  62 Anyone whose parents run a restaurant will attest that these things do happen. Friends who come home with you after school think it’s ‘fun’ to iron tablecloths and do the dishes. That is, until they realise at the end of the night the parental units think it’s all ‘fun’ as well, and give lollies instead of cash payment for work done. Said ‘friends’ will then never come back.