Sky's the Limit

by Janie Millman

  Too late Dawn realised her mistake. ‘Yeah, maybe, I mean I guess it must have been, I’m sure I told you.’

  ‘No, Dawn, you didn’t, you certainly didn’t tell me.’ Gail spoke slowly. ‘You know you didn’t.’

  ‘Well, I probably did you a huge favour.’ Dawn was desperately fighting to regain control. ‘I mean he never got in touch again so he couldn’t have been that bloody keen, could he?’ She was making a mess of this and she knew it. If only her head wasn’t throbbing, if only she didn’t feel quite so sick, if only she hadn’t drunk quite so much last night.

  Somewhere in the background a clock chimed. Gail heard it and caught her breath.

  ‘Dawn, where are you?’ she asked suddenly.

  ‘In the kitchen,’ Dawn said without thinking.

  ‘In whose kitchen?’

  There was a long silence before Dawn replied. ‘I, um, well I came over last night to see if everything was OK.’ Christ this was fast becoming a nightmare. ‘You know you asked me to keep an eye on the place and it, well, it just seemed easier to um, well to stay the night.’ A noise in the doorway made her turn around.

  ‘Hi there.’ Her mate stood yawning. ‘Any chance…’ But Dawn cut her off, quickly putting her finger to her lips.

  ‘Who else is there?’ Gail’s voice was ice cold.

  ‘Oh, just Mandy, she came over with me, so she um, well she stayed too.’ Dawn was frantically signalling Mandy to shut the door before Gail could hear the others but it was too late, there came a loud yell from the lounge.

  It was the final straw for Gail. A red mist descended over her.

  ‘I want you and your friends out of the house within half an hour, Dawn. I want you to post the key into next door and I will ring them to make sure you do.’

  ‘Bloody hell, Gail, I’m your sister, we’re not burglars or anything.’ She rolled her eyes at her mate who was looking startled, she had been under the impression that this had all been arranged beforehand.

  ‘Half an hour, Dawn, or I will ask Margaret to call the police.’ She put the phone down and before she could change her mind dialled another number.

  ‘Margaret, hello, it’s Gail here.’

  ‘Hello, Gail, is everything OK?’ Her next-door neighbour sounded alarmed.

  ‘No not really, Margaret.’ Gail took a deep breath. ‘I need a favour. Will you ask Jeff to go next door in half an hour and make sure that my sister and her friends leave my house and please get my key.’

  ‘He will do it with pleasure,’ her neighbour replied with feeling, delighted that Gail was finally seeing sense.

  ‘I’ve told Dawn that I’ve asked you to call the police if she doesn’t leave.’

  ‘They were making that much noise we nearly called them last night.’

  ‘I’m so sorry, Margaret, so very sorry.’

  ‘It’s not your fault, sweetheart. Don’t worry, I’ll text you to say they’ve gone.’ She hesitated before asking, ‘Are you having a nice time?’

  Gail smiled grimly. ‘Nice is not exactly the word I would use right now, Margaret.’

  She put the phone down and buried her head in her hands. She suddenly felt exhausted.

  ‘Gail?’ I stood in the doorway of the study. ‘Are you OK?’ She looked anything but and I felt desperately sorry for her.

  ‘You think you know someone, you love them, you think they love you and then you find out they’ve deceived you. How could I have got it so wrong?’ She looked up slowly.

  ‘Tell me about it,’ I replied with feeling.

  Gail shot me a quick sympathetic smile. ‘I threatened to call the police.’

  ‘Because she betrayed you?’ That seemed a bit over the top.

  ‘No, because she is in my house without my permission.’ Gail shook her head. ‘It doesn’t sound much but it was the final straw.’

  ‘Beatrice has put breakfast out for us, come and tell me all about it.’ I needed more coffee.

  ‘It can’t possibly still be that early, I feel like I’ve lived a whole year this morning.’

  ‘So what did your sister say? Did you say her name was Dawn?’ I asked as we made our way outside.

  ‘Yes, her name is Dawn. She was born at six in the morning and I was born during a storm. I don’t think my mother was blessed with too much imagination.’ She gave a half-hearted grin. ‘Technically speaking she’s actually my half-sister.’ Gail paused but I smiled encouragingly. I was keen to hear everything. ‘My father walked out on Mum just after I was born and we never saw him again. She re-married some years later.’ Again Gail hesitated. ‘He walked out when Dawn was a year old.’

  ‘Your mother knew how to pick them.’ I raised my eyebrows.

  ‘She certainly did,’ Gail agreed. ‘Several years later Mum died and I gave up university and came home to look after Dawn.’

  ‘Oh, Gail, how incredible of you.’

  ‘Not really, I didn’t feel I had a choice and anyway I loved Dawn.’

  ‘It sounds like she’s chosen a funny way to repay you.’

  ‘I can’t believe what she’s done, I simply don’t understand it.’

  ‘Maybe she was worried about losing you?’

  ‘Maybe she was worried about me losing a very rich boyfriend.’ Gail gulped the strong mint tea. ‘I can’t think about it anymore, my head is spinning.’ She suddenly leapt up. ‘Christ, where’s Sonny?’

  I grabbed her hand and pulled her back down. ‘Calm down, Gail, Sonny is having the time of his life watching Nick butchering meat.’ I smiled. ‘He’s got all the makings of a forensic pathologist.’

  ‘Thank you, Sky, thank you so much. I’m sorry, I’m just all over the place.’

  ‘You’ve had a shock Gail, a huge shock, it’s not really surprising.’

  ‘How are you?’ Gail changed the subject.

  ‘I have terrible sunburn on my neck which is totally my fault, I behaved rather stupidly and will have to eat humble pie with the arrogant Frenchman.’

  ‘Do you think he’s arrogant?’ Gail looked surprised. ‘I think he’s gorgeous.’

  ‘I guess he’s sort of good-looking in a very arrogant French way,’ I said, picturing Philippe’s wavy hair pushed back with sun glasses, his Mediterranean complexion, his effortless elegance. Yes, he was good-looking, if you liked that sort of thing. Personally I didn’t. I preferred blond hair and blue eyes. Dismissing him I turned back to Gail. ‘I don’t know why but I’ve offered to help Nick in the kitchen, which is the last thing I want to do.’ I paused and shook my head.

  ‘You are trying hard to hate him but you can’t because you love him.’ Gail’s eyes filled with tears. ‘I’m the opposite, I’m finding it hard to love and rather easy to hate at the moment.’

  ‘Christ, we make a right pair, don’t we?’

  Gail was stopped from replying by the appearance of Beatrice.

  ‘I wondered if you needed anything?’ She looked from me to Gail.

  ‘Our sanity, Beatrice.’ I sighed. ‘We both need our bloody sanity.’

  ‘And so does Bushara. Nick has taken over the kitchen completely, he is singing at the top of his voice and Sonny is in seventh heaven.’

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  ‘Tell Sonny the tale behind the ginger kitten,’ Beatrice said to Philippe. Philippe had been telling us about the chateau and Sonny’s eyes were like saucers at the thought of piglets, dogs and hens.

  And, I have to admit, so were mine, it sounded like a magical place. I wasn’t sure whether it was all true or whether he was making it up for Sonny’s benefit. We were all gathered in the courtyard having pre-dinner drinks.

  ‘A kitten?’ Sonny asked. ‘There’s a kitten as well as all the other animals?’ He shot a glance at his mother who rolled her eyes in despair.

  ‘Home is going to seem like the most boring place on earth after this,’ she whispered to me.

  ‘Yes, Sonny, we’re getting a new kitten.’ Philippe smiled at the little lad.

  Stephanie had told
him about the new ginger kitten on the phone. Philippe suddenly frowned, his sister had been in a strange mood, talking non-stop without listening to his questions. He remembered that Bea’s face had seemed rather grim when she handed him the phone after her conversation with Stephanie. There was something he wasn’t being told and he needed to get to the bottom of it but right now Sonny was tugging at his sleeve.

  ‘Tell me the story,’ he demanded. ‘Please,’ he added quickly before his mother could prompt him.

  ‘I want to hear it too.’ Nick grinned and pulled the young lad onto his knee. ‘Let’s hear the story, Philippe, and then I’ll fetch the canapés and you can pour your wine.’

  ‘Once upon a time there lived a beautiful gypsy princess called Rosa. She had long black hair which fell to her waist, flashing dark eyes and a shapely figure. She was promised to be married to a gypsy prince from a powerful family. The young prince was as handsome as Rosa was beautiful but Rosa knew that beneath the good looks lay a cold heart. His only real love was power and wealth. She had no wish to be married to him but they had been betrothed since they were children and Rosa could see no way out of the marriage. As the wedding day drew nearer her heart became heavier.

  One day while walking in the countryside she heard music, such sweet melodious music the like of which she had never heard before, and a beautiful voice that made her heart sing.

  She rounded a corner and there sat upon a rock was a young man playing a guitar. He looked up and smiled at her with eyes that were as blue as the deep blue sea beyond. He continued to play and to sing and she sat down and listened.

  He played until all her troubles had melted away and she was filled with happiness. The birds in the trees stayed silent to listen, a hedgehog rolled over on his bed of leaves and a small fieldmouse sighed contentedly. He wove a magic spell and when he had finished she knew that she was his for ever.

  When she announced that she was not going to marry her intended there was confusion and wrath in her gypsy camp. Her father pleaded and begged her to reconsider but she remained resolute and her mother was secretly relieved.

  Furious that they had been shamed, the family of the handsome gypsy prince cursed her.

  The young gypsy princess knew the power of the spell and was frightened. But that night at the stroke of midnight her mother came to her rescue. She presented Henri, for that was the name of the young musician, with a ginger cat.

  She told him that if he always kept a ginger cat by his side then no harm would come to them. The ginger cat would ward off evil but without the ginger cat they would no longer be protected. Then the black magic would be able reach them and their lives would be doomed.

  Henri promised solemnly that he would heed her words and guard her precious daughter.

  And from that day forward there has always been a ginger cat by his side and they have lived happily ever after.

  The End.

  Everyone applauded when he finished.

  ‘It gets more dramatic every time you tell it, Philippe.’ Beatrice smiled.

  ‘It’s beautiful.’ I leapt up from the table. ‘I want to paint the whole story.’ I had been captivated by the tale and could already imagine translating it onto paper. I wanted to run away and start immediately.

  ‘How much of it is true?’ I turned to Philippe. He looked surprised at my enthusiasm.

  ‘Pretty much all of it,’ he replied. ‘There are obvious embellishments but the facts are true.’

  ‘And who are Henri and Rosa?’

  ‘Henri is my right-hand man and Rosa runs the chateau.’ Philippe smiled. ‘Her flashing eyes remain the same although the dark hair is now dusted with silver but when Henri starts to sing the world still stops to listen. They remain blissfully in love and the ginger cat wards off the curse.’

  ‘I want to be cussed.’ Sonny slid down from Nick’s lap.

  ‘Cursed, Sonny, not cussed.’ Nick grinned. ‘Two very different things, and why would you want to be cursed?’

  ‘Coz then I would always have a ginger cat,’ he replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

  ‘Well then, I will have to think of a particularly good curse for you.’ He smiled at the young lad. ‘Who else lives at your chateau, Philippe?’

  ‘My sister Stephanie. She sadly lost her husband not long after she was married, she sold their house, ploughed the money into our business and moved back in with her son Luc.’ He ran his hand through his hair. ‘She has been invaluable, she has the best palate of us all, and Luc is now travelling the world learning the wine trade, ready to take over when I am old and grey.’ He glanced over at me. ‘Which according to Sky is about now.’ He grinned as he said it but I felt embarrassed.

  Tonight he was simply dressed in jeans and a white linen shirt, his hair was curling onto his neck, his hazel eyes were teasing me and his face was alive with the passion of his story. It was hard to believe that I had thought him geriatric. I desperately wanted to respond in a light-hearted fashion but no words came. I just stood there rather awkwardly.

  ‘Are your folks still around?’ Nick filled in the gap.

  ‘My father is sadly no longer with us but my mother certainly is, she’s actually English and at the moment spends her time flitting between the two countries.’

  ‘Ah, hence the reason for your excellent English,’ Gail said.

  ‘She was insistent that we all spoke both languages, including a reluctant Rosa and Henri.’ Philippe chuckled at the memory. ‘I’m trying to do the same with Emmie.’

  ‘Is Emmie your daughter?’ I asked.

  ‘No, Emmie is Celine’s child.’

  ‘But he couldn’t love her more if she was his own.’ Beatrice grinned. ‘He dotes on her, well, to be fair we all do.’

  ‘How long have you known Celine?’ I asked. For some reason it hadn’t occurred to me that he would be in a relationship.

  ‘How long?’ Philippe was puzzled. ‘I’ve no idea, I’ve known her for years.’

  Beatrice smiled to herself. Sky had completely misread the situation. She was about to put her right but was interrupted by Sonny.

  ‘How old is she?’

  ‘Emmie or Celine?’ Philippe smiled. ‘Emmie is nine years old, Sonny. But Emmie is a bit different from other children. You see, when she was born she didn’t have enough oxygen.’ He paused for a moment. ‘That means she’s a bit slower at learning things than you, but she’s patient and she tries very hard.’ His voice was so full of love and understanding that I was taken aback. I was seeing a new side to Philippe tonight.

  ‘But she has lots of pets,’ Sonny said in a voice that implied that more than made up for being a bit slow.

  ‘You like animals, don’t you, Sonny?’ Tariq leant forward.

  Sonny nodded.

  ‘And which is your favourite?’ Tariq asked him.

  ‘I doesn’t know every animal,’ Sonny replied seriously. ‘I like dogs, I like these tortosses and the goat what was outside.’ He paused and then solemnly shook his head. ‘I doesn’t have a favourite.’

  ‘You love the donkeys in the field near us,’ Gail said.

  ‘I know someone else who likes donkeys,’ Nick said, standing up.

  ‘Who?’ Sonny demanded.

  Nick looked towards me.

  I frowned, it annoyed me when he tried to recapture our old relationship. Every time he brought up something from our shared past it only reminded me of how much I had lost.

  Sonny was looking expectantly at me. ‘Is donkeys your favourite, Sky?’

  ‘Well, when my sister and I were little, about your age, Sonny, my father gave us both a donkey. They had been rescued from a very horrid person who hadn’t looked after them very well. They were our Christmas present and we called them Mary and Joseph.’

  ‘Well thank you very much,’ Gail glared at me and groaned in despair. ‘As if cats, tortoises and piglets were not sufficient you now have to introduce a donkey!’

  ‘Do you still have the
m?’ Sonny asked me.

  ‘No, darling, they died a while ago, but we now have several others, we all became rather hooked on them, especially my father and grandmother.’

  ‘And what about your mother?’ Philippe smiled at me. ‘Doesn’t she have a say in it?’

  ‘My mother died when I was little.’ I paused. ‘The donkeys were given to us the first Christmas we were without her.’

  ‘Oh, Sky, I’m so sorry, how tactless of me.’

  ‘Not at all, you weren’t to know,’ I said quickly. ‘It was a long while ago.’

  ‘Well, your chateau sounds enchanting, Philippe,’ Gail said quickly to cover any awkwardness. ‘Not too many families live all together like that in the UK.’

  ‘It must sound a bit crazy to you but it works for us.’

  ‘It sounds wonderful rather than crazy,’ Gail said a touch wistfully. ‘It must be lovely having your family around you.’

  I looked over at her and felt a wave of pity. Hers can’t have been an easy life. She was a brave lady and once again I felt in awe of her courage. Whatever my problems I’d always had my family whereas Gail appeared to have no one. Of course that may all be about to change, I thought, and I glanced over at Tariq who had remained fairly quiet but who had not once taken his eyes off Gail and Sonny. I prayed for her sake that despite the inauspicious start this morning things would work out second time around. She deserved it, they both did.