‘But aren’t you lonely there on your own?’
‘Lonely? Far from it. I’ve never been busier.’
A thought occurred to her. ‘Charlotte, have you got a boyfriend?’
Charlotte had laughed. ‘A boyfriend? I guess I have, as it happens. In a manner of speaking, at least.’ Before Gracie had a chance to ask more, Charlotte said she had to go.
Gracie thought for a minute about ringing Charlotte now, but the phone was downstairs and she didn’t want her parents catching her. She spent a minute or two sitting on the top stair instead, hoping and even crossing her fingers for luck that her mother or father would come out of the kitchen, look up, see her, tell her Hope was fine again and invite her down to have a cup of hot chocolate. But nobody appeared. Gracie could hear the three of them in the kitchen, their voices shouting one minute, quiet the next. She wanted them to talk to each other in their normal voices, about normal things.
It seemed she had no choice left but to go to bed. She’d just stood up when a shadow down in the entrance hall made her jump. Three fast heartbeats later, the figure moved into a patch of moonlight and she realised it was Spencer. She waited until he’d crept up the first flight of stairs before moving into the light herself, glad to see him get a fright.
‘Gracie! What are you doing hiding like a weirdo?’
‘Did I scare you?’
‘Nothing scares me.’
‘I thought you were in your room. Where have you been?’
‘Out.’
‘Out where?’
‘Just out.’
‘Doing what?’
‘Just stuff. Tom and I stuff. What’s going on here?’ He sat down on the stairs.
Gracie sat down again beside him. ‘Mum and Dad and Hope are in the kitchen fighting and Audrey’s in her room crying but still not speaking.’
‘Oh. Okay.’
She noticed then he had a black mark on his shirt sleeve. ‘Is that a burn? Spencer, is it? What were you and Tom doing out there tonight?’
‘Nothing,’ Spencer said, casually moving his hand to hide the mark. ‘I’m going to bed. Goodnight, Gracie.’
‘Spencer, wait. Come back.’
He didn’t.
She sat on the stairs for another ten minutes, listening to the sounds from the kitchen until she started to shiver. ‘Mum,’ she called, in a soft voice. ‘Mum? Dad?’
Nothing. No one came. She waited there for five more minutes until the cold got too much and she had no choice but to put herself to bed too.
Her parents were already up when she came down for breakfast the next day. She knew as soon as she came into the kitchen that they’d been arguing. It was if she could feel their fight still in the room. Her mother looked like she’d been crying, all red and swollen around her eyes, and she was making a lot of noise at the sink. It was her father who asked whether Gracie had slept well. Before she could answer, he said he hoped she hadn’t been too upset by what had happened the night before.
‘Now, you’ll find out soon enough, Gracie,’ he continued, still using the cheery voice she only usually heard him use on the tours, ‘so you may as well know now. It seems both your aunt and your sister plan to stay in their rooms for the foreseeable future, so that’s where they’ll be if you need them. But don’t go looking for them, as they’ve both made it clear they want nothing to do with any of us.’
Gracie paused in the middle of pouring out her corn flakes. ‘They’re not coming out? Either of them?’
‘So they say,’ Henry said.
‘Oh, well,’ Gracie said, trying to match his carefree tone. ‘Two less mouths for us to feed.’ She was joking, trying to cheer her parents up. She was pleased to see a glimmer of a smile cross her father’s lips.
At the sink, however, her mother wasn’t amused. ‘Actually, you’re wrong, Gracie,’ Eleanor said, wiping the dishes in an angry way. ‘Because despite the fact they’re both insisting they want to be left alone while also insisting that the rest of us are unfeeling, unsympathetic monsters, I do still have to feed them, don’t I?’
Gracie was confused. Then she noticed the two trays on the wooden table, each set with breakfast dishes, a teapot, cup and saucers. ‘You’re giving them breakfast in bed? Mum, that’s not fair. That’s a treat, not a punishment.’
‘Thank you, Gracie,’ Henry said. ‘My own thoughts exactly.’
‘What am I supposed to do, Henry, leave them up there to starve?’
‘You could try it. If they’re really hungry, they’ll come down. The exercise might do them good.’
‘You’re right. Of course. Have it your way.’ With an angry gesture, Eleanor pushed the trays across the table. Gracie jumped as the teacups clattered. ‘Let the two of them wallow in self-pity, starving to death. Excellent idea. And meanwhile down here in the real world, you and I can try to salvage what’s left of this once apparently brilliant business idea of yours.’
‘Oh, so now it was only my idea, was it?’ Henry’s voice was too calm, too mild. ‘How extraordinary. Because I can recall every detail of the many conversations you and I had about this in London, deciding that we’d make the best of this unexpected opportunity. “A family business – what could be better?” you said.’
‘A family business that worked. Yes, Henry, nothing could have been better. But this? It’s not a business. It’s a never-ending struggle. We’re not getting anywhere. Because any time we get the smallest way ahead, you blow it all again. It’s not a game, Henry. This isn’t a theme park for us as well as our poor unfortunate visitors. This is our lives. And it’s not working. You’re not working and it’s not working and we can’t go on like this. I won’t go on like this.’
Gracie hated hearing her mother and her father speak like this to each other, act like this in front of her, talk about Templeton Hall like this. She looked back and forth between them, feeling those little warning prickles on the back of her neck again. Little flittering memories of similar words, of similar tones, before they’d moved house and cities other times. She had to do something now, say something, stop this before it happened again. She leapt out of her seat and stood between them.
‘Not yet, Mum, Dad. Please, not yet.’
Her mother turned away. Her father, however, gave her his whole attention. ‘What are you talking about, Gracie?’
‘We’re in financial trouble, aren’t we? Again? Can’t you sell some more antiques? Isn’t that what you usually do? Please, Dad. Don’t make us move yet.’
‘Gracie, we’re not going anywhere. We’re just having a rough patch.’
Eleanor gave an odd laugh. ‘A rough patch. A rough patch someone in this room who isn’t me and who isn’t eleven years old promised to address more than a year ago and didn’t, leaving us in an even more rough patch than before?’
‘Eleanor, please —’
‘No, Henry. No more pleading. No more excuses. Can’t you see? Don’t you realise? I have had enough of this. Of you, of everything. I’ve had enough of all of it.’
Gracie and Henry could only watch as Eleanor left the kitchen, slamming the door behind her.
For a moment, the room was silent. Then Henry stood up, rubbed his hands together and reached for the kettle. ‘A cup of tea, Gracie, don’t you think? That will soothe our nerves and lift our spirits on this strangely agitated morning.’
Gracie wasn’t mollified or distracted by the talk of tea. She was still trying to take in the fact that her mother had just stormed out. That had never happened before. The flittering feelings of distress were now threatening to overwhelm her.
‘What does Mum mean, she’s had enough of everything? She’s not going to leave like Charlotte too, is she? Or lock herself in her room? Please, Dad, don’t let her.’
Henry sat down beside her and took her hands. ‘Gracie, please don’t worry. Your mother didn’t get much sleep last night so she’s speaking in riddles a bit today. And she’s upset with Hope and still excited after Tom’s great victory yeste
rday. It was quite a day, wasn’t it? Now, haven’t you got something to do to get ready for the tours this weekend? Have you checked the bookings register?’
‘Of course. We’ve only got two groups coming through so far. I’m doing the downstairs and Audrey’s upstai—’. She stopped. ‘She’s supposed to be doing the upstairs. Will she be, Dad?’
‘Will pigs fly?’ Henry sighed. ‘No, Gracie, I think I’m correct in saying Audrey probably won’t be up to much of anything tomorrow, and quite frankly at the moment I don’t think I’d trust her to show three blind mice around the Hall, let alone any groups.’
‘Mice?’
He smiled. ‘No, Gracie, we don’t have mice. There’s absolutely nothing at all for you to be worried about in even the farthest corner of Templeton Hall, I promise you.’
‘You really promise? Everything will be all right again soon?’
‘Everything not only will be all right, it is all right. Now, go and polish the silver, would you? Or dust the china? Or count the lamps?’
‘I already did. There are still fifteen.’
‘Then go and play outside, would you? Or go and read? See if you can find your brother. You can do anything you like, but please, just give me enough time to go and find your mother and remind her how much I love her and let the two of us have a bit of a private talk, would you?’
Gracie was halfway down the drive when she heard Spencer’s voice calling her. She waited as he caught up. He was obviously just out of bed, still wearing his pyjama bottoms, his feet bare, a dirty T-shirt on top. His blond curls were tousled. ‘Are you going to see Nina?’ he asked, slightly out of breath.
She nodded. ‘Mum and Dad are fighting. It’s no fun in there at the moment.’
‘I’m coming with you. It has to be more fun at Nina’s, even if Tom’s at school. I went in to get breakfast and Dad told me to go and tidy my room first. And when I tried to ride my skateboard down the hall, Hope opened her door and started shouting at me. It’s not fair. If she and Audrey want some peace and quiet, why don’t they lock themselves out in the stables apartment and leave the house to us?’
‘That’s a great idea,’ Gracie said brightly. ‘I’ll suggest it to Dad.’
‘If he likes it, it was my idea.’
When they reached Nina and Tom’s house five minutes later, Spencer became uncharacteristically shy, hesitating at the front door. Gracie savoured the great feeling of being more at home here than Spencer.
‘Oh, we don’t knock, Spencer. We just go straight in.’ She gave her brother an encouraging smile and opened the door with a flourish. ‘Hi, Nina. It’s us!’
Nina looked very happy, Gracie thought, though she barely had time to smile a welcome and say hello before her phone rang.
‘Excuse me a moment,’ Nina said.
Spencer made a dive for the couch, disappearing in one smooth movement up and over the back. ‘If it’s Mum and Dad, I’m not here,’ he said in a muffled voice.
It wasn’t their mum and dad. Gracie watched as Nina answered in a cheery voice, which changed as quickly as her expression. She listened for what Gracie thought was a very long time, just murmuring, ‘Oh, Hilary. Oh, darling. Oh, Hilary,’ over and again. Then she started talking in a rush. ‘Of course I will. I’ll get the first flight. Don’t worry about that. Of course I can sort out something. I’ll be there as soon as I can, I promise.’
She hung up and Gracie was taken aback by her expression. This wasn’t the smiling Nina any more. Her face was tense and it was as if she’d forgotten they were there. She picked up the phone, rang another number, murmuring under her breath. ‘Come on, Jenny, answer.’ After a minute, she hung up, took out a phone book, checked it, then dialled another number. No answer again. ‘Come on, please,’ she said urgently. ‘Come on.’
Gracie dared to speak. ‘Nina, is everything all right?’ She saw Spencer pop up from behind the couch too.
Nina seemed surprised to hear her voice, and turned, distracted. ‘Gracie, Spencer, I’m sorry. That was my sister in Queensland. Something’s happened and her husband’s away. I need to get to her as soon as I can.’
‘Is she hurt?’ Gracie asked. ‘Was it an accident?’
‘No. Yes. I can’t really explain now. But I need to go to her and I need someone to pick up Tom and have him for a few days. I don’t know how long I’ll be away.’ She reached for the phone book again.
Gracie had the feeling Nina was thinking aloud rather than talking to them but she answered her anyway. ‘No, Nina, don’t, please. What about us? We can take Tom.’
Nina kept dialling. ‘No, Gracie. Thanks but no.’
‘Why not?’
‘Why not?’ Spencer asked from the couch.
Nina stopped mid-dial. ‘It’s too much to ask. He needs to be taken to school, picked up again, driven to cricket practice. I’ll ask one of the other school mums. They’re used to —’
Gracie moved over to her. ‘But you can’t get hold of the other school mums. And we’re here. Ask us.’ She noticed Nina hesitate. ‘Please, Nina, ask us. We’ll say yes and you can go straight to the airport.’
Nina glanced up at the clock on the wall, back at Gracie, then ran her fingers through her hair. ‘Gracie, it’s too much —’
‘It’s not, I promise. Mum and Dad are both home now. We can ring them this minute.’ Was this the time to tell Nina all about the fight they’d had that morning? About Hope and Audrey’s in-room protests? No, perhaps not. Gracie moved swiftly, taking the phone from Nina and dialling the number of the Hall. After a long wait her mother answered.
Gracie spoke in a rush. ‘Mum, it’s me. I’m at Nina’s. She needs our help. Urgently. And we have to give it to her, okay?’ She handed the phone to Nina.
Five hours later Gracie was happily sitting in the back seat of her father’s car as they drove into Castlemaine to collect Tom from school. Spencer had insisted on coming along for the ride too. Gracie would never admit it to Nina, but it had turned into such an exciting day. And all because of her! If she hadn’t chosen that moment to visit Nina, none of this would have happened.
‘It’s as if it was all meant to be, isn’t it, Mum?’ she’d said after Nina called to the Hall to hurriedly confirm all the arrangements and drop off a suitcase of Tom’s clothes. Gracie had stayed close by, standing very still as her mother and Nina spoke, telling herself it wasn’t eavesdropping. She was being the backup, taking in all the information so she could remind her parents later if needs be. She’d heard all sorts of words she’d never heard before, including ‘miscarriage’, and seen the sad sight of Nina crying, as she’d told Gracie’s mother that she hadn’t even known her sister was pregnant, her sister hadn’t even known she was pregnant, and it had been a shock to learn about the baby and a heartbreak to lose it, all at once, and even worse because Hilary’s husband was away overseas and she was in the hospital on her own.
‘Of course you have to go,’ Gracie’s mother had kept saying. ‘Don’t worry about anything here. We’ll take care of Tom for as long as you need.’
Gracie hadn’t understood all of what Nina had said. She’d also been a bit disappointed when Nina only gave her a distracted thank you and a quick wave goodbye.
At the school, she leapt out of the car as soon as she saw Tom coming through the doors, reaching him before Spencer was even out of the car. He’d had trouble undoing the faulty seatbelt in the front seat, which was one of the reasons she’d let him travel in the front, even though it was actually her turn.
She ignored Tom’s surprised expression as she ran up to him. ‘Tom, you’re coming to stay with us! Isn’t that great! Your mum had to go to Cairns for a few days urgently because her sister was going to have a baby but then she didn’t, and she’s very, very upset and her husband is away and she needs your mother so your mother has just gone straight to the airport, but she wrote this note before she left, explaining everything.’ Gracie thrust an envelope at him. ‘So you’re going to stay with us until she
gets back. Isn’t that brilliant?’
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
By five o’clock the next day, Gracie had changed her mind. It wasn’t brilliant that Tom had come to stay. It was awful. She’d thought she, Tom and Spencer would have great fun together, making up plays or playing cricket like that time at Nina’s house – maybe even having midnight feasts together like the children in her favourite books. Spencer, however, had made it clear within moments of Tom arriving at the Hall the previous day that it was all about the two of them, not the three of them.
‘He’s staying here because he’s my friend, not yours, Gracie, okay?’ he’d hissed when she followed them out to the stables apartment.
‘But it was my idea. I suggested it to Nina.’
‘So what? We want to do boy stuff.’
‘I can do boy stuff.’
‘You can’t, Gracie. You’re a girl.’ With that, Spencer shut the apartment door and she heard him turn the key. She could have knocked and knocked until he opened it again but she suddenly felt too sad. She’d pictured Tom all upset with his mother away, and her – her, not Spencer – making him feel at home, showing him his room, showing him the flowers she’d picked herself to put on his dressing table. But it had been Spencer who carried his case up for him, Spencer who threw it on to the bed and – even worse – Spencer who mocked her flowers and insisted she take them out of Tom’s room immediately. ‘Flowers are for girls, Gracie.’
The two boys had then gone out into the garden, Tom showing Spencer over and over how to bowl a cricket ball as fast as he could, then they’d disappeared out to that dam they loved so much that she just found so boring, and they hadn’t even come back for the sausages and mashed potato she’d cooked for dinner. She’d had to just serve it up and watch unhappily as they ate it an hour later, cold, when they finally came back in. They hadn’t even sat down to eat it, just ate off their plates, standing up.
At Home with the Templetons Page 20
