‘Really? Couldn’t we stay a little longer?’ asked Star plaintively.
‘What’s the point? Pa’s gone, we’ve seen the lawyer and we need to get to London as soon as possible to find somewhere to live.’
‘You’re right,’ said Star.
‘What will you do with yourself in London while CeCe’s at art school?’ asked Ally.
‘I’m not quite sure yet,’ replied Star.
‘You’re thinking of taking a cordon bleu course, aren’t you, Star? She’s an amazing cook, you know,’ CeCe added to me. ‘Right, I’m off to see about flights. I know there’s an eight o’clock from Geneva to Heathrow, which would suit us perfectly. See you later.’
I stood with Ally as we watched both girls walk into the house.
‘Don’t say it,’ I sighed, ‘I know.’
‘I always thought it was a positive thing that they were so close when we were all growing up,’ said Ally. ‘They’re the middle girls and it was good they had each other.’
‘I remember Pa suggesting they go to separate schools, and then Star sobbing hysterically and begging him to let her go with CeCe,’ I mused.
‘One of the problems is that no one ever gets a chance to talk to Star by herself. Is she okay? She’s looked awful since she’s been here.’
‘Ally, I have absolutely no idea. In fact, sometimes I feel I hardly know her,’ I admitted.
‘Well, if CeCe is going to be busy with her art course, and if Star decides to do something separately too, perhaps that will give them both a chance to disentangle themselves a little. Now, how about you and I go and sit on the terrace and I’ll ask Claudia to bring out some sandwiches for you? You look pale, Maia, and you missed lunch. And I have something I want to discuss with you.’
I acquiesced and sat down in the sun, its warmth caressing my face and relaxing me. Ally reappeared and sat down next to me.
‘Claudia’s bringing you something to eat,’ she said. ‘Maia, I don’t want to pry, but did you open your letter last night?’
‘Yes, I did. Well, this morning actually,’ I confessed.
‘And it’s obviously upset you.’
‘Initially yes, but I’m okay now, Ally, really,’ I replied, not prepared to discuss it any further. Tiggy’s sweet concern had comforted me, but I knew Ally’s attention might make me feel patronised. ‘How about you?’
‘Yes, I opened mine,’ Ally said. ‘And it was beautiful and it made me cry, but it also uplifted me. I’ve spent the morning looking the coordinates up on the internet. I now know exactly where all of us originally came from. And there are a few surprises in there, I can tell you,’ she added as Claudia brought out a plate of sandwiches and placed them in front of me.
‘You know exactly where we were born? Where I was born?’ I clarified.
‘Yes, or at least, a clue to where Pa found us. Do you want to know, Maia? I can tell you, or I can leave it to you to look up yourself.’
‘I . . . I’m not sure,’ I said, aware of a nervous fluttering in my stomach.
‘All I can say is, Pa certainly got around.’
I looked at her and I only wished that I could be as calm as she seemed in this paradox of mysterious death and revelations of birth.
‘So you know where you’re from?’ I asked her.
‘Yes, though it doesn’t make sense just yet.’
‘What about the others? Did you tell them you know where they were born?’
‘No, but I’ve explained to them how to look up the coordinates on Google Earth. Shall I explain to you too? Or just tell you?’ Ally’s beautiful blue eyes were fixed on me.
‘At the moment, I’m simply not sure.’
‘Well, as I said, it’s very easy to look it up yourself.’
‘Then I’ll probably do that when I’m ready,’ I said firmly, feeling yet again one step behind my sister.
‘I’ll write down the details of how you pinpoint the coordinates, in case you decide you want to know. Did you have a chance to translate any of the quotes that were engraved in Greek on the armillary sphere?’
‘Yes, I have them all.’
‘Well, I’d really like to know what Pa chose for me,’ Ally said. ‘So would you tell me, please?’
‘I can’t remember exactly, but I can go back to the Pavilion and write it down for you.’
‘Thank you.’
I bit into one of the sandwiches Claudia had put in front of me, wishing for the thousandth time I could be more like Ally, who took everything in her stride, who was never afraid of anything life threw at her. The career she had chosen – full of danger and often solitary, facing waves that could knock over in an instant the fragile craft in which she sailed – was a perfect metaphor for who she was. Out of all of us, I thought she was the most comfortable in her own skin. Ally never succumbed to negative thinking; she saw any setbacks as positive life lessons, and then she moved on.
‘So it seems that between us, you and I can provide the rest of the sisters with the information they need if they wish to explore their past,’ Ally mused.
‘We can, but perhaps it’s too soon for any of us to think whether we’ll go back and follow the clues Pa has given us.’
‘Maybe so,’ Ally sighed. ‘Besides, the Cyclades race is starting and I’m going to have to leave here as soon as possible to join the crew. To be honest, Maia, after what I saw a couple of days ago, getting back on the water is going to be hard.’
‘I can imagine,’ I said. After all I’d just been thinking about her, I was surprised to sense Ally’s sudden vulnerability. ‘But you’ll be fine, I’m sure.’
‘I hope so. It’s honestly the first time I’ve had cold feet since I began racing competitively.’
‘You’ve put everything into your sailing for years, Ally, so you mustn’t let it faze you.’
‘You’re right. I’ll do my best to help us win. For him. Thanks, Maia. You know, I was thinking earlier how I’ve allowed it to dominate my life. Remember how desperate I was to become a professional flautist when I was younger? But by the time I got to music school, the sailing bug had taken over.’
‘Of course I remember,’ I smiled. ‘You’re talented at so many things, Ally, but I must admit, I miss hearing you play the flute.’
‘Funny, I’m actually beginning to realise that I miss it too. Anyway, will you be okay here by yourself?’
‘Of course I will. Please don’t worry about me. I have Ma, and my work. I’ll be fine.’
‘Well, perhaps later on in the summer, you’d like to come out on my boat for a few days? We can sail anywhere you fancy; perhaps down the Amalfi Coast. It’s so beautiful there, one of my favourite places. And maybe I’ll bring my flute on board with me,’ she said with a faint smile.
‘That’s a lovely idea. But we’ll have to see. I’m very busy with translation work at the moment.’
‘We’ve managed to get two seats on a flight to Heathrow,’ crowed CeCe, bursting onto the terrace behind us. ‘Christian is taking us to the airport in an hour.’
‘Then I might see if I can get a last-minute flight to Nice and come with you. Don’t forget to write out the quotation for me, will you, Maia?’ said Ally as she rose from the table and disappeared inside the house.
‘Everything go all right at Georg’s office?’ I asked CeCe.
‘Fine.’ CeCe nodded. ‘I take it you’ve translated the quotations?’ she asked as she pulled out a chair and sat down.
‘Yes.’
‘Ally told me that she also had all our coordinates.’
‘Have you opened your letter yet?’ I asked. ‘No. Star and I have agreed we’ll pick a quiet moment together and open them then. But it would be very helpful if you could write down our quotations, put them in an envelope and give them to me before we leave. I’ve asked Ally to do the same with the coordinates.’
‘I can certainly give you yours, yes, CeCe. But Pa said explicitly in his letter to me that I must only hand over the translated quotes to t
he sister in question. So I’ll give Star’s directly to her,’ I said, surprising myself with the smoothness of the lie.
‘Okay,’ CeCe shrugged. ‘But obviously we’ll share.’ She glanced at me suddenly. ‘Are you going to be okay here by yourself, what with Pa gone? What will you do?’
‘I do have my work to keep me busy,’ I reiterated.
‘Yes, but we all know you were living here because of him. Anyway, it would be great if you could come to London and visit us once we have our new apartment. I’ve already contacted some rental agencies. Both of us would love to have you.’
‘That’s very kind of you, CeCe. I’ll let you know.’
‘Good. Maia, can I ask you something?’
‘Of course you can, CeCe.’
‘Do you . . . do you think that Pa liked me?’
‘What a strange question! Of course he did. He loved us all, equally.’
‘It’s just that . . .’
I saw CeCe’s stubby fingernails moving like a pianist’s on the tabletop.
‘What is it?’ I asked her.
‘Well, to be honest, I’m scared to open the letter. I mean, as you know, I’m not the most emotional person and I never felt the relationship I had with Pa was very close. I’m not stupid, I know that people think I’m brusque and too practical – except Star, of course – but I do feel everything inside. Do you understand?’
CeCe’s unexpected revelation made me instinctively reach out a hand to touch hers. ‘I understand completely. But CeCe, I remember you coming home as a baby and Ma being shocked because your arrival here was so soon after Star’s. When I asked Pa why we’d had another sister so quickly, he said that it was because you were so special, he simply had to bring you home with him. And that’s the truth.’
‘Really?’
‘Really.’
For the first time since I’d known her, my fourth sister looked as though she was about to cry.
‘Thank you, Maia,’ she said gratefully. ‘Now, I must go and find Star and tell her that we’re leaving soon.’
As I watched her stand up and walk inside, I thought how Pa’s death had changed all of us already.
An hour later, having handed each sister a copy of the inscription I’d translated for her, I was yet again on the jetty saying goodbye. I watched Ally, CeCe and Star skim across the water in the launch, on their way back to their own lives. In the Pavilion, I poured myself a glass of wine, thinking how each one of my sisters had offered me space in her life; if I chose, I could literally spend the next year traversing the globe and inhabiting their various worlds.
But here I was, still living in my childhood home. And yet, I thought, there had been somewhere before this place. A life I didn’t remember and knew nothing about.
I walked determinedly to my office and switched on my laptop. Maybe now it was time to discover who I was. Where I came from. And where I belonged.
My hands trembled slightly as I accessed Google Earth. Carefully typing in the coordinates as Ally had instructed me, I held my breath, waiting for the laptop to tell me where to find my heritage. Finally, after the small circle on the screen had spun for an eternity – like a globe on its axis – the details appeared in front of me. And the place of my birth was revealed.
8
Surprisingly, that night I slept a deep, dreamless sleep, from which I awoke refreshed. I lay staring at the ceiling of my bedroom, processing what I’d learnt yesterday.
I felt the information I’d discovered had not been shocking – it was as if I’d always known it somewhere in my DNA. And in fact, purely coincidentally, my life had already encompassed a part of it. I could hardly believe that I had actually viewed the very house in which I might have been born. The aerial view on Google Earth made it seem enormous and very grand, and I wondered why, given its apparent splendour, I’d been removed from it by Pa Salt as a baby.
As I climbed out of bed, my mobile rang, and I grabbed it to try to answer before it rang off. I saw on the screen it was an unknown number and probably a cold call, so I left it and walked into the kitchen to revive myself with my usual morning mug of English Breakfast tea.
As I sipped it, I mused that it really was incredible to think that if I so wished, I could simply jump on a plane tomorrow and within twenty-four hours, I could be knocking on the door of my past.
A Casa das Orquídeas, Laranjeiras, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
I searched my mind for the exact details of the conversation I’d had with Pa before deciding on my university degree. There was no doubt he’d encouraged me to take up Portuguese as one of my languages, and I remembered how learning it had come as easily to me as my mother tongue, French. I wandered into the sitting room to find the small, triangular-shaped tile that had been in the envelope, pulled it out and studied the faded inscription on the back.
Looking at it now made far more sense, because I realised it was written in Portuguese. I could make out some of the letters, and a date – 1929 – but I couldn’t decipher the rest of it.
A sudden shiver of excitement ran through me, but I stifled it immediately. Surely it would be ridiculous to simply up and go to Brazil?
And yet, would it?
I pondered the thought over a second cup of tea. Once I had calmed down I decided that yes, perhaps sometime in the future I would make the journey. After all, I had a valid reason to go there, given that I translated Brazilian authors into French. I could arrange to visit the Brazilian publishers of Floriano Quintelas – the author who’d contacted me only recently – to see if they would recommend me to work with other authors who needed my services.
My mobile rang again. I stood up and went to retrieve it from the bedside table, and heard the voice alerting me to a message from the earlier missed call. I put the handset to my ear as I walked back to the kitchen, as another, all too familiar voice spoke to me.
‘Maia, hi, it’s me, Zed. I hope you remember who I am,’ he said with a casual chuckle. ‘Listen, I don’t know whether you’ve heard the dreadful news about my father; so terribly tragic. To be honest, we’re all just getting over the shock. I wouldn’t have called, but I heard about your father yesterday through a sailing friend of mine. Apparently, he just passed away too. Anyway, I have to come to Geneva in the next few days, and I just thought how good it would be to see you. Perhaps we can cry on each other’s shoulders. Life is bizarre, isn’t it? I’ve no idea if you’re even still living in Geneva, but I’ve got your home number somewhere. So when I arrive, I’ll give you a buzz, or even try my luck and call in at the famous Atlantis if I don’t hear back from you after this message. I’m so sorry about your father. Take care.’
A beep alerted me to the end of the message as I stood, rooted to the spot, the shock of hearing his voice for the first time in fourteen years rendering me immobile.
‘Oh my God,’ I breathed, as I processed the thought of Zed turning up here on the doorstep in a couple of days. I felt like a rabbit caught in the headlights; part of me wanted to crawl under the bed and hide, just in case he was already in Geneva and would arrive here any second and find me.
I realised that Marina or Claudia might well pick up the telephone at the house and innocently tell him that I was indeed at home. The thought of this sent shock waves through me. I had to go up to the house immediately and warn them not to tell anyone who called that I was here.
But what if Zed simply appeared on the doorstep? He knew exactly where Atlantis was. I’d described its location in detail to him once.
‘I’ll have to go away,’ I whispered to myself, my legs finally obeying my command to carry me into the sitting room, where I paced restlessly, thinking which of my sisters’ offers I’d take up.
Not a single one appealed, so I wondered whether I should simply go back to London, and hole up with Jenny until it was safe to return.
But for how long? Zed might well be in Geneva for an extended period of time; I would have taken a bet that his father’s vast wealth lay in th
e hands and the vaults of the Swiss banks.
‘Why now?’ I wailed to the heavens. Just as I needed some time to regroup, to calm down, I knew I had to leave. Seeing him again would break me completely, especially given my current fragile state of mind.
I looked down at the coffee table and my fingers reached out instinctively to touch the smooth surface of the triangular tile. I stared at it as my brain processed the thought that had just appeared in my mind.
If I wanted to put distance between myself and him, with no one knowing where I was, then Brazil certainly fitted the bill. I could take my laptop with me and work there on my current translation. Why not?
‘Yes, Maia, why not?’ I asked myself.
An hour later, I walked into the kitchen and asked Claudia where Marina was.
‘She went into Geneva on some errands, Maia. Can I give her a message for you when I see her?’
‘Yes,’ I said, digging deep to find the courage to say the words. ‘Tell her that I’m leaving tonight, for a couple of weeks at least. And, Claudia, if anyone calls for me, either on the landline or in person, you can tell them I’ll be away for some time.’
Claudia’s usually impassive face registered an expression of surprise.
‘Where are you going, Maia?’
‘Just away,’ I said neutrally.
‘Good,’ she said.
I waited for her to continue, but she didn’t.
‘So, I’m going back to the Pavilion to pack,’ I said. ‘And perhaps you can let Christian know when he comes back that I need the launch to take me to Geneva at around three o’clock.’
‘Shall I prepare some lunch for you?’
‘No thanks,’ I said, knowing my stomach was churning enough as it was. ‘I’ll pop in and say goodbye before I leave. And remember, Claudia, if anyone calls for me from now on, I’m not here.’
‘I know, Maia, you’ve already said.’
Two hours later, having booked flights and a hotel and with a hurriedly packed suitcase in hand, I left Atlantis. As the launch carried me smoothly across the water to Geneva, it suddenly struck me that I had no idea whether I was running away from my past or towards it.
The Seven Sisters Page 8
