Those Faraday Girls

by Monica McInerney

The family had been in uproar as it was. Maggie had been very excited about her birthday party. She’d chosen her own theme (rabbits), her own menu (fish fingers and ice-cream), her own music (Christmas carols, for some reason) and had invited five friends from school.

  There had been the usual excitement the night before – Maggie asking time and time again if the birthday chair would be there, if everyone would sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to her five times, one for each year; all the Faraday family rituals. Clementine was up studying late the evening before and somehow managed to sleep through her alarm. When she woke up, Maggie’s bed was empty. She heard laughing from the kitchen. She found Sadie and Maggie sitting at the table together, Maggie in the birthday chair, wearing a little coronet of flowers, beaming. She was already dressed, in clothes she must have chosen for herself – a yellow T-shirt, red pinafore dress and a pair of blue trousers.

  ‘At last, you’re up,’ Sadie said.

  Clementine ignored that, going to Maggie, giving her a big kiss, saying happy birthday five times and adjusting the coronet so her ears didn’t stick out so much. It annoyed her to see that Maggie had already opened up one of her presents – from Sadie, by the looks of it. A wooden jigsaw puzzle. She loved jigsaw puzzles.

  ‘Sadie’s got another present, Mum, for both of us. Hurry up and open it with me.’

  ‘Don’t you want to wait until the others are up?’

  ‘No, I want to do it now. Sadie said it’s really special.’

  It was a scrapbook of Maggie’s life. Clementine stayed silent as she and Maggie looked through the pages together. Every milestone of Maggie’s life was documented. There were photographs and drawings, with commentary and dates alongside. There were other markers – a tiny fragment of one of Maggie’s early teeth. A scrap of her cast from the time she broke her wrist. Maggie was flicking through the pages quickly, pointing at herself on every page, counting the photographs.

  ‘See the numbers on the pages, Maggie?’ Sadie said. ‘Take a close look.’

  Clementine and Maggie looked. Each letter was done in large outline, the inside filled with little drawings of things Maggie loved, all the way up to the fortieth page. On page one, the number one was filled with Red Monkey. There were two little cakes inside the number two on page two. Maggie was entranced. She ignored the contents of the pages and flicked back and forth looking at the numbers, counting each time.

  Everyone thought it was fantastic. Sadie basked in their compliments all morning. No one noticed that Clementine didn’t seem as happy about it as them.

  Leo had been expecting something big at the meeting the following day. Maggie’s fifth birthday had been a landmark date for all of them, he knew that.

  It started normally enough, with Maggie in charge as usual, taking her mother, aunts and grandfather by the hand and leading them one by one to their chairs. She had started doing it eight months earlier, first each night at dinnertime and then at any family meeting. It was a ritual for her. Once they were all seated she would walk around the table counting them. Only when they were all there and all counted would she let them start talking. If they tried to do it before, she would start wailing and stamping her foot. The foot-stamping was funny, the wailing wasn’t. She had a shriek that could break glass.

  ‘I haven’t counted you,’ she would say crossly. ‘You have to let me count you first.’

  Once they were gathered around the table to Maggie’s satisfaction, Leo opened proceedings. Not with a prayer or a speech, but with a simple, ‘Anyone got any news to tell?’

  Three hands shot up. Maggie looked cross for a moment, then put her hand up as well.

  ‘We’ll start with Maggie,’ Leo said, smiling at his granddaughter. ‘What’s your news, little one?’

  Maggie kept her hand up in the air. ‘It’s a secret, Tadpole.’

  ‘What kind of secret?’

  ‘A secret secret.’

  ‘Do you want to tell us what it is?’

  Maggie shook her head.

  ‘Good girl. You’ll grow up to be a spy, for sure.’ Leo turned back to his daughters. ‘So, anyone else like to start?’

  There was silence for a moment and then Miranda stood up, straightened her spine and spoke in a deep, modulated tone. ‘Welcome aboard your flight from Hobart to Melbourne.’

  Clementine leapt up. ‘You got accepted? You’re in?’

  Miranda grinned. ‘I’m in!’

  ‘Into what?’ Sadie asked.

  Miranda made a theatrical bow. ‘I, Miranda Faraday, have been accepted into the next intake of flight attendants with our esteemed national airline carrier.’

  ‘You’re going to be an air hostess?’ Sadie looked shocked.

  ‘At your service, madam.’

  ‘But what does this mean, Miranda?’ Leo asked. ‘Flying everywhere, I realise that, but you can’t be based in Hobart, can you?’

  She shook her head. ‘That’s news item number two. I’ll be moving to Melbourne in a few months’ time.’

  Eliza started to laugh. Miranda turned. ‘What’s so funny about that?’

  ‘We can share costs on a removal company.’ She waited a beat as the others around the table stared at her. ‘I’m moving to Melbourne too.’

  Leo put his hands to his head. ‘Two of you gone, just like that? Without any discussion?’

  ‘Dad, I’ve been thinking about it for months, you know that. Years. I’ve been offered a position with an one on one training company.’ The lie came easily. ‘It’s just starting up, I’ll be in it from the bottom. It’s exactly what I want.’

  ‘I don’t even know what one on one training is,’ Leo said mournfully.

  ‘It’s a form of prostitution, except you do it in tracksuits,’ Miranda told him.

  ‘What’s prostitution?’ Maggie asked.

  ‘I’ll tell you later,’ Clementine said, with a glare at Miranda.

  ‘I bet you don’t,’ Miranda said.

  Eliza explained what the company did.

  ‘But aren’t there unfit people in Hobart?’ Leo asked. ‘Why do you have to move to Melbourne?’

  ‘There’s more there.’ Eliza told them about her proposed training programs, the trend towards personal fitness consultants and her research into different methodologies.

  Leo had the look of a dazed man. ‘I just thought you liked to run.’

  ‘Of course I do. But fitness is more than that. Healthy body, healthy mind. Do you know that studies in the US have shown —’

  Leo interrupted. ‘Eliza, perhaps you and I could have a separate meeting about this later. In the meantime, I need to know something. Is anyone else abandoning the family ship?’

  Juliet slowly raised her hand.

  Leo shut his eyes. ‘When and where, Juliet?’

  ‘I don’t know when but I’m moving to Sydney,’ she said. She couldn’t help herself. Her face burst into a grin. ‘Myles has asked me to marry him.’

  There was an explosion of congratulations, hugs and excitement around the table. Clementine fired questions. ‘What did he say? Did he get down on one knee? Produce flowers? Violins?’

  Miranda was watching her very carefully. ‘It was romantic, wasn’t it? I can tell.’

  Juliet blushed. ‘It’s none of your business.’

  ‘That’s exactly right, Juliet,’ Leo said. ‘You keep your happy memories to yourself. It makes them more special.’

  ‘So when is the wedding?’ Eliza asked.

  ‘We’re not rushing into it. There’s plenty of time.’

  ‘Not much,’ Miranda said. ‘If you want to start a family, you’re going to have to get cracking, aren’t you? I certainly want to be an indulgent aunt to more than Miss Maggie here.’

  ‘Of course we want children, but there’s plenty of time for that too.’ She and Myles had spoken about that as well. He wanted three. She wanted five. They’d compromised on four. Not straightaway. They wanted time together first, to get themselves settled in Sydney. There was plenty of time. Sh
e wasn’t even thirty yet.

  ‘Where will you get the baby from?’ Maggie asked.

  ‘They have wonderful shops in Sydney that sell all sorts of things like babies, Maggie,’ Miranda said.

  ‘Oh.’ Maggie seemed content with that.

  Clementine glared at Miranda again.

  Leo looked pleased. ‘That’s marvellous news. He’s a fine man. When we finish the meeting, this definitely calls for champagne.’ He counted off on his fingers. ‘That’s me, Miranda, Eliza, Juliet…’ He stopped and looked expectantly at Sadie and Clementine.

  ‘My turn,’ Clementine said. She reached into her bag beside her, pulled out a letter and read. ‘“Dear Miss Faraday, We are pleased to announce your grant application has been successful in regard to the study program specified in the supporting documents.”’

  ‘Which means what, exactly?’ Miranda said.

  ‘It means that our Maria Island study has gone up a level. For the next three years and maybe longer, I’ll spend two weeks every year studying the birdlife there, with full field team back-up. It’s part of an international study. My professor suggested I apply for it. We’re world leaders in this kind of environmental, theoretical and practical study —’

  ‘Hold it there, Clementine,’ Miranda interrupted. ‘Use words of one syllable.’

  ‘It’s an international study into a rare species of Tasmanian bird and I’ll be leading my own team.’

  ‘At twenty-two years old?’ Miranda said. ‘Have they taken leave of their senses?’

  Clementine gave them the details. The project would cover the effects of weather changes, risks to habitats, the impact of airborne and water-borne pollution. The results would be shared with universities around the world, the data to form the basis of a major ecological study.

  Leo looked like he might cry. ‘Clementine, I am so proud of you. I’m so proud of all of you.’

  ‘No, you’re not. Not yet.’ It was Maggie speaking. She pointed across the table. ‘Sadie, you haven’t had your turn yet. Tadpole, ask Sadie what her news is.’

  ‘Sadie, I’m so sorry. What’s your big news?’

  ‘I don’t have any.’

  ‘Well, I know it might be hard to top some of that.’

  ‘I don’t have any, really. I’m finishing my degree, staying in Hobart, looking after Maggie.’ She shrugged, appearing casual, though there were two spots of colour high on her cheeks. ‘If you want me to keep doing that, that is, Clementine?’

  ‘Of course I do. You know I couldn’t have got this far if it wasn’t for you. But there’s something I need to talk about with all of you, about exactly that.’ Clementine leaned down to her daughter. ‘Maggie, would you run into the living room for me and pick out six books from the bookshelf that have the word “the” in the title? I’ll count how long it takes you, okay?’

  ‘Six books? Can I get ten?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘You treat that child like she’s a dog. A very well-trained dog, mind you,’ Miranda said after Maggie had hopped off her chair and run out of the room.

  Clementine looked around the table at her family. ‘I’ve got something big to ask all of you, something about Maggie.’ She hesitated. ‘I can’t tell you how much it’s meant to me for Maggie to grow up here with all of us; to get to know all of you so well. It could have been so hard for me, but you all made it so much easier. And I’d hate that to change. What I want to know is would you each take it in turns looking after Maggie while I’m away each year? Wherever it is you are living? So she doesn’t lose touch with any of you?’

  ‘But you don’t need to do that, Clementine,’ Sadie said. ‘I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. I can look after her while you’re away.’

  ‘I know you could, Sadie, but it’s too much to ask.’

  ‘It’s not too much. I love looking after her.’

  ‘I know, but I want to make sure she spends time with all her aunts, especially now. I just like the whole adventure of it for her. Coming to stay with each of you, you spending proper time with her. The idea of all of us sharing her still.’

  ‘I think that’s beautiful, Clementine,’ Leo said. ‘Your mother would have loved that.’

  ‘I do too. I think it’s a great idea,’ Miranda said.

  ‘But what about your work?’ Sadie asked. ‘You won’t be able to do it, Miranda. Not if you’re a flight attendant. Be realistic.’

  ‘They have these incredible things in the airline industry called holidays, I believe. I’ll use those. We’d get plenty of notice, wouldn’t we, Clementine?’

  ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘I’ll know my schedule for the next three years.’

  ‘Oh, you are a clever girl. Then definitely, count me in.’

  ‘Me too,’ Juliet said.

  ‘But won’t Myles mind?’ It was Sadie who asked the question, not Clementine.

  ‘He thinks Maggie’s great. And it would be too bad if he did mind.’

  ‘I’d love to have her to stay with me too,’ Eliza said. ‘I don’t know yet where I’ll be living, though.’ She laughed. ‘A minor point, but I’ll let you know as soon as I do. You’re sure you trust us?’

  ‘Of course I trust you. I’d love it, and I know Maggie would love it. I love the idea of her moving between all of us.’

  ‘But this is mad. She doesn’t need to,’ Sadie said, her voice loud. ‘I’m here. Maggie wouldn’t have to be disrupted. What about her schooling?’

  ‘It won’t matter too much, not in the early years, I’m sure. It’ll be fine. I’ll get schoolwork from her teachers if I need to.’ Clementine smiled at them all, looking like her teenage self for a moment. ‘It means so much to me. Thank you.’

  ‘But, Clementine, seriously,’ Sadie said. ‘I think you’re rushing into —’

  ‘I did it,’ Maggie announced from the doorway. They could hardly see her over the pile of books in her arms. ‘Twenty-two. Who wants me to count them?’

  She beamed as Leo, Clementine, Juliet, Miranda and Eliza applauded. Only Sadie wasn’t smiling.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Sadie thought about it constantly for two days. She was trying not to be angry. But it was hard. It felt like she and Maggie were being punished for getting on so well together. How could Clementine not see she was making a big mistake? Didn’t she realise that Sadie would do anything to keep Maggie happy?

  She had a special bond with her, she knew that. One the others didn’t. Some of it was because she’d spent so much time with Maggie, but there was more to it than that. It was a true connection.

  It was no good. She was deeply hurt. She couldn’t let it rest. She waited one afternoon until she knew Clementine was in her room alone. Maggie was out helping Leo in his shed.

  She knocked on Clementine’s door. ‘Can I talk to you about something?’

  Clementine looked up from her desk, books spread in front of her. ‘Of course.’

  ‘It’s this whole business with Maggie.’ Sadie took a breath. ‘I’ve tried to understand and I can’t. I thought you were grateful for everything I’d done. Putting my studies on hold, looking after Maggie as much as I have, and then —’ She faltered. ‘It feels like you think I haven’t done a good enough job.’

  She wanted Clementine to fall over her, to tell her she had done a wonderful job, that she hadn’t realised this would hurt her, that of course she wanted Sadie to take sole care of Maggie each time she was away. Instead, Clementine gave her a long look, sat down on the bed. She seemed to be choosing her words carefully.

  ‘I’m sorry if you feel hurt. You know I think you do a great job with Maggie. But I want the others to spend time with her as well, and this is the best way to do it.’

  ‘What are you two talking about so seriously?’ It was Miranda, just arrived home from work. Normally Sadie would have snapped at her, told her it was a private conversation. She needed to talk about this more, though. If Clementine kept refusing to understand, maybe Miranda’s input would help
.

  Sadie realised seconds after filling her in that she’d made a mistake. Miranda wasn’t on her side.

  ‘Sadie, of course you’ve done a wonderful job with Maggie,’ Miranda said. ‘But she is Clementine’s daughter and it’s up to her to decide what she thinks is best. Besides, you can’t have her all to yourself. We all want to spend time with her.’

  ‘But it’s a crazy idea. You’ll be in Melbourne or flying all over the country. Eliza will be there too, busy. Juliet will be in Sydney. You can’t put a child on a plane on her own. She’ll get scared.’

  ‘Maggie isn’t scared of anything. Besides, one of us takes her to the airport, another meets her at the other end and we ask the flight attendants to watch her in between. I still don’t understand why we’re talking about this. She is Clementine’s daughter and this is what Clementine has decided. Since when did you set yourself up as Maggie’s gatekeeper?’

  ‘When I became her primary caregiver.’

  ‘Her what?’ Clementine’s voice was icy.

  ‘The person who spends the most time with a child is called the primary caregiver,’ Sadie said sullenly.

  ‘Forget it.’ Clementine rarely lost her temper but she did now. ‘Sadie, go back to university full-time. Thank you for all you have done. It’s clear I made a big mistake. I’ll put my research on hold and I will look after Maggie myself.’

  ‘Clementine, you can’t,’ Miranda said. ‘After all these years of work. And you can’t pass up this opportunity.’

  ‘I have to put Maggie first.’

  ‘You are putting her first. You always have done. But you’re allowed to have a career and be Maggie’s mother. We’re just fighting over what scraps of her are leftover. Sadie, you have to learn to share.’

  ‘I don’t want her routine disrupted,’ Sadie said. ‘It’s her I’m thinking of, not me.’

  ‘That’s too bad because I don’t want months to pass without seeing my niece.’

  ‘Then don’t move to Melbourne. Stay here like me.’

  ‘Oh, the martyr. No, there’s a whole world out there and I want to experience it.’

  ‘It’s always about you, isn’t it? Well, I’m talking about a little child’s life.’