My Name Is Rose

by Sally Grindley

  ‘As soon as you’ve finished, you can open your present. I’m so excited for you to see it.’

  Rose forced down the last piece of cheese and wiped her hands on her napkin.

  ‘I do so wish I knew what you were thinking,’ Mrs Luca sighed. ‘I suppose it’s too much to expect you to carry a notepad around with you.’

  ‘She’s probably wishing you’d stop clucking over her,’ Mr Luca observed. ‘Can’t we just get this present thing out of the way so that I can get on with my work?’

  ‘Close your eyes, then, Anna,’ said Mrs Luca.

  Rose did as she was told, though it made her feel vulnerable. She heard a cupboard door being opened and closed and a rustling of paper.

  ‘You can open them again.’

  Mrs Luca was standing behind a huge rectangular parcel wrapped in gaily coloured paper. Half a dozen smaller parcels were on the side table next to her.

  ‘Happy birthday again, Anna. We hope you’ll have hours of fun playing with this.’

  Rose stood rooted to the spot, not daring to move forward and take possession of the proffered gifts.

  ‘Well, if you don’t want it, we’ll give it to somebody else,’ Mr Luca blustered.

  ‘Shhh, darling. Come, Anna, I’ll help you unwrap it.’ Mrs Luca beckoned her closer and pointed to the top corner of the large parcel.

  Rose took hold of the paper and began to undo it very carefully.

  ‘Give it a jolly good pull,’ Mrs Luca urged.

  Rose stared at her as though she were mad – Esme would have been appalled at such waste – then tore into the paper, now eager herself to discover what it concealed. What looked like a roof appeared first, followed by a wall with windows and a door. Rose stepped back, puzzled.

  ‘Do you see what it is, Anna?’ asked Mrs Luca.

  Rose shook her head.

  ‘It’s the front wall of a doll’s house – your doll’s house. Look, behind it are three more outside walls.’

  Mrs Luca pulled the first wall aside to reveal one of the side walls. She pulled that aside to reveal a further wall inset with a back door and another side wall.

  ‘Do you see it now?’ she asked, her voice full of excitement.

  Rose nodded, though she had no idea what she was supposed to do with it. She tried to look pleased.

  ‘Well, that went down like a lead balloon, didn’t it?’ muttered Mr Luca. ‘Can I go now?’ He headed for the door. ‘Enjoy your day,’ he aimed at Rose and managed a smile.

  ‘Open the other boxes, Anna.’ Mrs Luca pressed on, anxious for her excitement to be shared.

  Rose opened one box after another. There were more walls – smaller ones – and flooring and doors. There were beds and cupboards, chairs and tables, appliances for the kitchen, baths and showers, all of them needing to be assembled. One box contained grass and plants and paving; another was filled with people; yet another contained animals.

  ‘There are lots more things we can buy for the house as well, once we’ve put all the pieces together,’ purred Mrs Luca.

  Rose opened the last box. Inside were a cot and baby toys and even a baby with miniature clothes to dress it in.

  ‘That’s so sweet, isn’t it?’ said Mrs Luca. ‘So sweet.’

  Rose noted a catch in her voice and looked up at her. Her eyes were misty and watery. She must be remembering the time when Victoria was born, Rose thought. And then, without any forethought, she put her arms around Mrs Luca’s waist and hugged her. She felt Mrs Luca relax and respond, and suddenly found herself holding on to her, not wanting to let go. Esme’s face flashed in front of her. She could almost feel her mother’s presence.

  ‘There, there, child,’ Mrs Luca murmured. ‘I’m so glad you like it.’

  Rose pulled away again, embarrassed and perturbed.

  She didn’t really know if she liked the doll’s house or not. She had never seen anything like it in her life. She allowed herself to be led by Mrs Luca, who suggested that they spend the morning constructing the shell of it.

  ‘There’s no better project for a rainy day!’

  Chapter 21

  The doll’s house stood one metre tall when they had finished constructing the outer walls. It was in the style of a mansion, like the Lucas’ own house. Rose walked round it and felt quite proprietorial. She was enjoying herself and Mrs Luca seemed to be enjoying herself too, chattering away about how they could buy wallpaper and paint to decorate each of the rooms, how they could put curtains at the windows and make blankets for the beds. Mrs Luca went upstairs from time to time to check on Victoria, and came back down full of how the poor child was really not well and saying that a doctor might need to be called.

  Victoria herself appeared just before lunch, complaining that she was hungry and would die of boredom if she had to stay in her room any longer. Rose was annoyed at her emergence, especially when she kept stealing Mrs Luca’s attention by moaning and groaning about pains in her stomach – though they didn’t stop her from demolishing a sandwich and a chocolate bar. Rose was pleasantly surprised then when Victoria gave her a neatly wrapped parcel, only to find that it was a book about England, written in English.

  ‘I bought it with my allowance. I know it’ll be a while before you can read it,’ she said pointedly, ‘but the pictures are nice.’

  ‘It’s such a thoughtful present, isn’t it?’ Mrs Luca said, beaming. ‘And haven’t we done well with Anna’s doll’s house?’

  ‘Lovely,’ smirked Victoria. ‘As long as you don’t expect me to play happy families with it too.’

  ‘Talking of happy families, we must take some photos to remind Anna of her birthday. I’ll fetch the camera.’

  Mrs Luca swept out of the room. Victoria waited for a moment, before announcing to Rose that she had no intention of staying to have her photograph taken. Rose watched her go, wishing she could follow. Mrs Luca returned a few seconds later with Marina, and quickly masked her disappointment over her daughter’s disappearance.

  ‘We have all the time in the world to organise some family portraits,’ she said, ‘but we mustn’t miss this special day.’

  She passed the camera to Marina and went to stand with Rose.

  ‘Smile, miss,’ Marina encouraged Rose, adopting a big smile herself and winking at her.

  ‘Take several shots,’ said Mrs Luca, ‘then we can choose the best.’ She stood Rose in front of her and placed her hands on her shoulders. ‘Big cheese,’ she said brightly.

  Rose smiled, but she couldn’t have felt more uncomfortable. She sighed inwardly when at last Mrs Luca declared herself satisfied and dismissed Marina. Thank goodness that’s over!

  After lunch, Victoria announced that she was well enough to join them in taking the horses out. She galloped ahead on Griffin, while Mrs Luca still insisted that Rose should attempt nothing more than a slow canter. Rose tried to show she was capable of greater things by speeding up every so often, but Mrs Luca always called her back. She took some comfort from being outside and away from the playroom where they had set up her doll’s house, which had lost its charm once Victoria had joined them. Now that the rain had stopped, it was a beautiful, crisp afternoon, the sky a crystal blue broken only by a few languid white clouds. Rose breathed in the fresh air and took pleasure in the parade of autumn colours that passed by. She smiled at Mrs Luca, who showed her delight by throwing her head back and laughing out loud.

  ‘We’re having such a good day, aren’t we, Anna?’

  Rose nodded, and she meant it.

  ‘There’s another surprise to come when we get home,’ Mrs Luca added.

  The surprise was a chocolate birthday cake in the shape of a castle, complete with a princess on top.

  ‘We had this made specially by the best baker in town,’ Mrs Luca purred.

  ‘And it was my idea,’ Victoria crowed, taking a large spoonful from her plate.

  Mr Luca came to join them.

  ‘Daddy’s a chocoholic, aren’t you, Daddy?’ Victoria said
, putting her arms around him.

  He nodded gruffly. ‘Has it been a good day?’ he asked, not addressing the question to anyone in particular.

  ‘Perfect,’ said Mrs Luca. ‘Hasn’t it, Anna?’

  Rose nodded again, licking her lips clean. The cake was the best she had ever tasted.

  ‘I’m glad to hear it. It cost me enough,’ Mr Luca stated, as he cut himself a large piece of cake.

  ‘And it was worth every penny to see Anna looking so happy,’ Mrs Luca said sharply. ‘It won’t be long before she rediscovers her voice, and then she’ll be able to express her gratitude to you fully.’

  ‘Hmmph. Much good that will do me,’ Mr Luca muttered.

  Rose was gratified to see that he had a dollop of chocolate clinging to his moustache, which made him look slightly ridiculous. She treasured the image a little while later, when she had gone to bed and was reflecting on the day. It didn’t matter how obnoxious Mr Luca might be to her now, because whenever he was, she would switch on that image to cut him down to size. Why is he so horrid? she wondered. And what was he like before I arrived? She couldn’t have failed to notice that he was worried about money, and that Mrs Luca and Victoria carried on spending regardless. Was that the reason? And did he dislike her simply because she was costing him more money? Or was there a deeper reason?

  Rose thought again how lucky she was to have had a father like Nicu, and pictured him sitting at the front of their wagon, alternately smoking his pipe and whist­ling gently. He was a giant of a man, her father, compared to Mr Luca, yet it was Mr Luca who was the real ogre – a chocolate-moustached ogre.

  Rose was giggling to herself when there was a loud knock on her door. She began to get out of bed to answer it, but before she had the chance, the door flew open and Victoria barged in.

  ‘Have you got my bracelet?’ the girl demanded.

  Rose didn’t have a clue what Victoria was talking about. She shook her head.

  ‘I left it on the hall table when we took the horses out, but it’s not there now.’ Victoria glared at Rose. ‘Don’t tell me you didn’t see it?’

  Rose adamantly shook her head again. She could hear Mrs Luca calling from downstairs, telling Victoria not to go accusing her sister.

  ‘She’s not my sister!’ Victoria shouted. ‘She’ll never be my sister.’

  Mrs Luca began to climb the stairs. ‘It’s probably fallen down somewhere, or you put it somewhere else and forgot.’

  ‘I’m not stupid!’ Victoria hurled at her. ‘I know where I put it and it’s not there now.’

  ‘That doesn’t mean it had anything to do with Anna. Leave her alone, please, and let’s have a proper look for it.’

  Victoria slammed the bedroom door.

  ‘Why are you always protecting her?’ Rose heard her say. ‘You don’t know anything about her.’

  ‘If I don’t protect her, who else will?’ Mrs Luca countered.

  Chapter 22

  The bracelet didn’t turn up. A few weeks later, another fish died. Rose was in the middle of a lesson with Mrs Conta, when they became aware of a furore outside. They went to the window, which overlooked the gardens. Mr Luca was standing with his hands behind his head as if in despair, but he was shouting. Goran was by the pond, holding a net and attempting to retrieve the dead fish from the water. Summoned by the disturbance, Mrs Luca left the house and made her way towards them. Mr Luca turned on her and blasted her with a venomous barrage of words, which were indecipherable through the closed window, but whose meaning was certainly not lost.

  In that moment, Mr Luca caught sight of Rose in the window. He stared long and hard at her. Rose withered under the look of sheer animosity his pose suggested.

  ‘Come, Anna,’ said Mrs Conta. ‘Back to work. There’s nothing we can do to help.’

  Rose found herself shaking. The teacher did her best to distract her with a comic picture book about a dog with an extreme sense of smell, but Rose couldn’t concentrate. Mr Luca was blaming her for the death of his fish, she was sure of it. Does he think I poisoned it? That I put a curse on it? Does he really believe I could do such a thing? She wondered what else he might think to accuse her of.

  ‘Are you paying attention, Anna?’ Mrs Conta asked.

  Rose shook her head. She took a piece of paper and wrote painstakingly, fish dead not me.

  ‘Of course not!’ exclaimed Mrs Conta as soon as she understood what Rose meant. ‘What on earth makes you think anyone is blaming you?’

  Mr Luca not like me, Rose wrote.

  ‘Mr Luca is a very difficult man,’ Mrs Conta said quietly. ‘Very difficult. But I’m sure it’s not you he’s angry with. When you’re a child, it’s easy to think grown-ups are angry with you when in fact they’re angry with everything but you.’

  Rose wasn’t convinced. She tried to concentrate on her lessons, but Mr and Mrs Luca’s row moved indoors and she couldn’t blot out the raised voices, which carried on for what seemed like hours. She was glad to be with Mrs Conta. She wasn’t ready to be left on her own to cope with the fallout from the argument, and was sure the teacher would stick up for her should Mr Luca accuse her of any wrongdoing.

  As soon as the last lesson was over and Mrs Conta had dismissed her with a friendly pat on the back, Rose went to her room. There were no further sounds from below, but once again she dared not go downstairs straight away. After a while, she tentatively opened her bedroom door, checked that the coast was clear and made her way to the playroom.

  Her doll’s house had been left untouched since her birthday. Mrs Luca hadn’t at any time suggested that they might continue building it together. Rose saw no reason not to play with it. It’s my present after all, so why shouldn’t I carry on with it on my own? She couldn’t help being astonished and excited all over again when she saw the sheer scale and exquisite details of the model. She resolved to make this her very own venture. It would be her first ever house!

  The roof was the next thing that needed to be constructed. Rose dug out all the pieces from one of the boxes and began fitting them together. There was a plan showing the different stages, but Rose found it difficult to follow with her scant knowledge of English. She laid the pieces out on the floor and tried to marry them up with the pictures on the plan. Slowly but surely, she sorted out what went where and the roof began to take shape. Rose picked up one large section and held it above the house to check that it was correct before fixing it to the top of the wall. Just as she did so, Mrs Luca came in.

  ‘Ah, there you are, Anna,’ Mrs Luca said. Her face was unsmiling.

  Rose sprang to her feet.

  ‘I’m afraid that Mr Luca and I have decided to dispense with Mrs Conta’s services. She will no longer be taking you for lessons. I shall teach you myself, when I have the time.’

  Rose couldn’t help but show her alarm and disappointment.

  ‘You must realise that your lessons have been very costly for us. Mr Luca’s business has run into a few problems – nothing to worry about – and we may be able to bring in a new teacher in the future. For the moment, though, it’s necessary for us to reduce our expenditure. Do you understand me, Anna?’

  Rose nodded her head sadly.

  ‘I’m glad to see you’re getting on with your house. We can’t have it just sitting there, can we?’ Mrs Luca smiled briefly.

  Rose shook her head. She was only too pleased to have Mrs Luca’s approval to complete the house, especially now that it seemed as if she was going to have little else to do.

  ‘There’s one more thing, Anna.’

  Rose waited, anxious once more that Mrs Luca was going to mention the dead fish and the missing bracelet.

  ‘The stable boy is no longer in our employ, either. We’ve agreed that you should earn your keep by taking over from him.’

  Rose gasped. She hadn’t expected that. Does it mean that the stable boy had something to do with the bracelet and the fish? she wondered. Secretly, she couldn’t help feeling cheered, because she di
dn’t think she’d mind mucking out the horses.

  Mrs Luca misinterpreted her gasp as being one of dismay. ‘You should think yourself lucky,’ she said shortly. ‘Many young girls would do anything to be allowed to look after horses. You’ll start tomorrow, after you’ve walked the dog, and I shall expect you to do a good job.’

  She didn’t wait for Rose to respond, but parted briskly.

  Rose was left to struggle with her emotions. She was devastated at the news of Mrs Conta’s departure. Mrs Conta had been her friend as well as her teacher, yet Rose hadn’t even been allowed to say goodbye to her.

  She was worried about having lessons with Mrs Luca. Theirs was a different relationship. She would never have counted Mrs Luca as a friend however much she had been showered with presents and finery by her. She was terrified too about how Mrs Luca would react when she found out about her lack of reading and writing skills, even though she had now mastered some of the basics. Mrs Conta had been pleased with her and said she was a very quick learner, but Rose doubted she had been quick enough to impress Mrs Luca. Rarely had Rose felt close to this woman who liked to speak of her as her daughter. Rose certainly didn’t think of Mrs Luca as her mother, but now their relationship seemed to have undergone an inexplicable change. Mrs Luca had been abrupt with her and had treated her more like a servant than a daughter. Was this what I was warned about, Rose wondered, when Marina and Goran told me to beware of upsetting my guardian? Have I upset her somehow?

  Rose was plagued again by fears that she was being held accountable for the mysterious dead fish and the missing bracelet. She wanted to find some way to plead her innocence, but how could she? In any case, she was certain that even if she were able to raise the issue she would just draw more suspicion to herself. She would have to keep her head held high, do as she was told and hope that nothing else would happen to cause more trouble.

  Chapter 23

  Mornings in the stables became the best part of the day for Rose, even when the weather grew colder and it rained frequently. Goran couldn’t spoil them for her, either, though he tried. She did her utmost not to allow herself to be brought down by his snide comments and accusations, nor by his muttered warnings.