by E. M. Cooper
Mr Arnold nodded as though acknowledging a secret, which didn’t escape Marnie’s quick green eyes.
‘Get to work,’ Mrs Arnold said before she turned on her heels.
As the children dispersed, Marnie grabbed Seb by the sleeve. ‘Um, could you help me, please? I’ve lost my glasses.’
‘Sure, you want me to read your list of chores?’ As he smiled, his eyes crinkled at the corners.
‘Thanks.’
‘No problem, I’ll show you the ropes. She won’t mind on the first day.’ He eyed Marnie’s list quickly. ‘Most of your jobs are outside: sweeping the paths and porch, taking bins to the curb, collecting deliveries. And like she said, you have to report to Mr Arnold on your first day.’
‘Why?’
Seb shrugged. ‘It’s what they always do. Don’t worry about it. Come on, I’ll show you where the bins are outside.’
Marnie followed Seb out the front door to the green, tiled porch and revelled in the crisp, clear morning, which revealed a cottage garden with neat box hedges and bordering lily shoots. The iridescent butterflies, white cats and silver-eyed people had vanished making way for a normal winter morning.
‘The snow’s gone,’ Marnie said. ‘How’s that possible? There was so much of it last night.’
‘Must be warmer than it feels.’ Seb showed her the small gardening shed crowded with brooms, shovels, buckets, chairs, a bicycle and tins of paint. He helped her carry the rubbish bins to the curb and sweep the curving, red brick path. After gathering a plastic-covered tube of rolled papers, he handed it to Marnie. ‘See, it’s easy. Nothing to worry about.’
Marnie held the paper roll up. ‘I’ve heard about these—newspapers, I think they were called.’
‘Aye, Mr Arnold belongs to a special group that still read them.’
‘What are the Arnolds like, really, I mean?’
‘It’s difficult ... Mr Arnold works on projects, maps and papers and things. He lectures at Downfell University about astronomy, you know, stars and planets, while Mrs Arnold writes books about their research and runs the house.’
She pressed him further. ‘That’s what they do, but what are they like?’
‘You ask a lot of questions.’
Marnie laughed. ‘That’s what they said about me at St Augustine’s.’
Seb sighed. ‘I suppose we should be grateful for food and a bed, but they’ll squash you like a fly if you annoy them. They take kids in from all over the world for government money and to help around the house. Everyone in Downfell thinks they’re saints and are always giving them awards or talking about them in the news.’
‘And Charlie?’
‘Careful of him.’
‘Why?’
‘He’s their pet and a complete idiot—and watches us.’ Seb glanced at the windows upstairs as though worried Charlie might be peering from a window. ‘Be smart, Marnie. You can get away with a lot if you stay invisible.’
‘How do I do that?’
‘Keep them happy. Do as you’re told and don’t talk too much.’
Once Marnie had finished the outdoor chores, she wandered inside towards the study to report to Mr Arnold. The double doors were slightly ajar, so she slipped through silently while hoping the room was empty. Last night she had snatched a glimpse of the study, but today in the morning light, she saw it all—a huge room bordered by walls of leather-bound books and tall cabinets. At the centre was a large, round wooden table with maps and papers spread on its surface. Marnie inhaled the wood polish air. Her eyes followed a shaft of light beaming from above and catching frenzied dust particles swimming through the air. Overhead, a magnificent transparent dome revealed blue sky and scudding cloud. A narrow ladder by the nearest wall reached to a high wooden platform with a large telescope. She longed to climb the ladder to see the view.
On the far side of the room, closed glass doors led to a glasshouse suffused with silver mist and brilliant sunlight. As she crept closer, she saw feathery ferns and ornate birdcages. She glimpsed movement in the glasshouse and spotted the Arnolds through lush flowers eating breakfast at a table covered in a white cloth. Marnie’s stomach growled as she edged closer to examine their food through the glass panes. The table overflowed with bowls of fruit, pots of butter and jam, a jug of juice and plates of toast and eggs while faint strains of violin music wafted through the glass.
Mrs Arnold dabbed her thin red lips with a snowy white napkin before noticing Marnie. Her lips moved as she focused on her husband. He shifted his chair back and stood while Charlie dropped his fork and grimaced at Marnie as though she was encroaching on their private world.
‘Never come into my study unless I say,’ Mr Arnold said to Marnie after he rushed through the fernery doorway.
‘You asked me to report to you.’
‘Did you look at my papers?’
‘Sorry?’
He pointed at the round table. ‘Those documents.’
Surprised, Marnie shook her head.
‘Are you sure?’
She realised a confession might work to her advantage. ‘It wouldn’t have mattered if I did.’
Mr Arnolds’ face flushed crimson as though he was ready to burst a blood vessel.
‘I can’t read.’
He propped and smirked, and obviously considered it a huge joke he had even considered her a threat.
‘But you said you were good at numbers,’ a high voice said. Charlie had crept up behind them and was sneering at Marnie. ‘Were you lying?’
Marnie shrugged. ‘Numbers have always come easy, but letters are a problem.’
Charlie and his father burst into laughter.
Marnie found their unkindness and lack of manners strange.
‘I expect all my foster children to be trustworthy and appreciative of the opportunity they‘ve been given here.’
‘But I am very grateful.’
The air cooled as he eyed her curiously. ‘Late tonight I have an important meeting. You shall sweep and dust the study and help cook set up supper for my guests. But first I have some questions.’
Marnie gave him her best impression of someone dull and uncomprehending.
‘Where did you come from before the orphanage?’
‘Miss Baxter said I was brought to St Augustine’s as a baby after being left on the doorstep of the church next door.’ Actually someone had left her when she was a small baby in the battered suitcase she now used to carry all her belongings, but she never liked to draw attention to her case as it was her only possession.
Charlie smirked. ‘Did they drop you on your head?’
Mr Arnolds’ eyes narrowed. ‘Were you left with a note?’
Marnie shook her head.
He seemed pleased with her response.
‘They can’t have wanted you,’ Charlie said with the bluntness of a hammer.
The comment hung in the air and Marnie felt ready to scratch his eyes out but instead turned enough to block him from her view.
‘Did you have any more questions?’
‘No, it won’t be necessary. I’ve heard enough.’ Mr Arnold turned to his son. ‘Enough of your jokes, young rascal. Go and finish your breakfast, Charlie.’ He tousled his dark hair with a loving hand. ‘I have to go to the university. You’ll take care of business, won’t you, Blythe?’ he said to his wife, who had also joined them and pecked her on the cheek before gathering a leather briefcase from a chair.
Mrs Arnold ordered Marnie to return to the kitchen where Molly was serving breakfast to the foster children. The meal was a stodgy affair of oats and milk, yet Marnie didn’t mind because the foster children were allowed as much as they wanted, so she ate until her belly bulged.
‘What happens now?’ Marnie asked Seb after they’d taken their dishes to wash in the sink.
‘Because it’s Saturday, we have free time until this afternoon, so I’ll show you Downfell before lunch if you’re interested. You’ll get to see the school you’ll be starting at in a couple of wee
ks ... Downfell Community School.’
‘I’d like that. I’ll just get my jacket.’ Marnie rushed to her room before stretching to climb the ladder two rungs at a time. When she was almost at floor level, she could hear scuffling in her room, so she slowed before peeking from the hole in the floorboards. Astounded to see Molly with her suitcase open on the bed, she screamed at her in rage.
‘What do you think you’re doing in my room with my things?’ She clambered onto the floor.
Molly jumped and grabbed the case like an elastic frog. ‘Why do you care? They’re ugly, worn clothes. There’s nothing interesting.’
‘They’re mine!’ Marnie flew at her. ‘Give it to me, witch.’
‘Make me.’ Molly, a head taller than her, held the case high above her head.
Marnie pummelled her with her fists and jumped uselessly for the case. ‘Get out of my room, or I’ll tell Mrs Arnold!’
Molly laughed and used her weight to shove Marnie to the floor, but she jumped to her feet and kicked the older girl hard in the shin. With one full swing, Molly sent the case high into the air and flying over the bed where it slammed into the wall and crashed to the ground, flinging Marnie’s clothes across the floor. Molly scurried to the hole and disappeared down the ladder, laughing all the way.
Fuming and indignant, Marnie gathered her clothes and sat with the case on the floor until she stopped shaking. After she realised the hinge was damaged, tears slipped down her cheeks because it was her last fragile link to her mother and father. Gently, she drew the case onto her knees and lifted the lid only to discover the silky lining was torn. No matter how much she stroked and stretched it back into place, she couldn’t restore it. Flipping the lining, she noticed something shining deep inside. The torn silk had revealed a hidden layer. She took a deep breath before extending the tear. The case had a false bottom and inside was a brass device and a peculiar array of glass lenses, transparent and variously coloured, all packed firmly in velvet depressions. Puzzled, she fingered each and every lens as she wondered what they were for and why they had been hidden in her case. The brass device expanded into a tube like a small telescope and when she peered through its eyepiece, it didn’t seem to work. A card lay under a transparent pair of lenses, one green-tinted and the other pink. Flipping the card, she felt her breath leave her lungs because it was a photograph of a young man and a woman holding a small baby. The woman was fine-boned and pale-skinned with dark hair and the man, tall and slim with a floppy red fringe and a happy smile. A tiny, pale baby with a faint fuzz of red hair and her eyes closed was nestled in the woman’s arms.
* * *
CHAPTER 3
A meeting of strange fellows
After finding the false bottom in her case, Marnie hid the glass lenses and brass telescope under her mattress yet kept the photograph in her pocket. She could risk someone finding the pieces of glass, but the photo was different. It had become her most valuable possession, more important than her old case because it was the only photograph she had and possibly the only link with her past and future.
‘Ready?’ Seb asked as Marnie met him near the back door of the Arnolds’ mansion. ‘Are you okay?’
Marnie forced a smile. ‘Yes, I’m fine.’
Appearing from nowhere, Charlie peered at the pair curiously and said in a demanding tone, ‘Where are you going?’
‘Town.’ Seb pursed his lips as though he were stopping himself from saying more. ‘We won’t be long.’
Charlie stepped in front of the door, blocking their way. ‘Mother!’ His voice echoed down the hall.
Seb groaned softly.
Mrs Arnold bustled into the hall from another room. ‘What is it, my petal?’
Marnie grinned at Seb.
‘They’re sneaking out.’
‘No, we weren’t. We were just going for a walk. Seb was going to show me the streets around Downfell, so I’ll know my way around.’
Mrs Arnolds’ eyes narrowed as she folded her arms.
‘Sounds dodgy to me,’ Charlie said. ‘You don’t need to know what’s outside. This is your world now.’
Marnie stepped forwards boldly. ‘I’ll need to know my way to the shops to run errands or find my way to school before spring term starts as it’s only a couple of weeks away. You’d be very welcome to come with us, Charlie,’ she said in her sweetest voice, sensing he wouldn’t want to come with them if there was no battle.
Charlie scowled. ‘Why would I want to come with you? How would it look?’
‘Like the three of us were going for a walk,’ Marnie said.
‘You can go tomorrow morning,’ Mrs Arnold said. ‘Right now, I want you both to report to the cook. We’ve an important meeting here this evening and Clara will need all the help she can get.’
‘Bad luck,’ Charlie mouthed and gave Marnie a smug, thin-lipped smile.
Seb waited for Charlie to follow his mother into the study. ‘See what I mean about Charlie—pure snake.’
‘Don’t worry, we’ll go tomorrow,’ Marnie said. ‘And next time we’ll be more careful.’
Marnie followed Seb down the hallway to the black and white-tiled kitchen with cooking pans hanging from ceiling racks over two long stainless steel workbenches. The kitchen was warm and welcoming, with a crackling fire up one end and the delicious smells of wood smoke and roasting meat wafting through the air.
‘Hi, Clara, this is Marnie. She’s a new foster kid,’ Seb said. ‘Mrs Arnold asked us both to help you today.’
Clara, a large, red-faced woman was sweating copiously as she leant over a bubbling pot on the stove while sprinkling and stirring herbs into a mixture. After dropping her wooden spoon on the sink, she wiped her hands on her apron before offering her hand. ‘Hello, Marnie, it’s lovely to meet you.’ She beamed at her in a welcoming way and shook Marnie’s hand, almost pulling her arm from its socket. ‘Can you cook?’
‘No, sorry.’
‘Not to mind. I’ll teach you everything you need to know.’ Clara hummed to music playing in the background. ‘We’re chopping vegetables for the soup. It isn’t hard. Start with the carrots over there and let me know when you’re done.’ Leaning over, she pulled a drawer out. ‘I expect you like chocolate?’
‘I don’t know,’ Marnie said.
Clara and Seb glanced at her with surprised expressions but said nothing.
She handed Marnie and Seb a few squares and winked. ‘Don’t tell them, will you?’
‘Thanks.’ Marnie had never tasted any food so sublime. It was sweet and creamy like a perfect cup of cocoa but far better. ‘That’s amazing.’
Seb nodded. ‘I like it too.’
When they had finished making vegetable soup, crusty bread and iced cakes, Clara told Marnie to take a broom and duster to the study to make sure it was clean. Stepping into the room, Marnie leaned against the broom and gazed in wonder at its splendour. She wished she were wealthy like the Arnolds and able to read the multitude of books filling the shelves on the walls. The maps and documents had been cleared from the huge table. Mr Arnold had probably filed them in the great cabinets. Once again, Marnie peered up at the platform and the evening sun pitching soft rays over the giant telescope. The narrow ladder leading to the platform beckoned Marnie to climb its rungs.
Glancing around the room and pricking her ears for a sign someone was near, Marnie decided the coast was clear. She grabbed the broom and duster, shoved them in the cleaning cupboard near the door and ran to the ladder. Within a few moments, she had scaled it to reach the platform. Exhilarated, she hung over the railings to enjoy the view of the study. After tiptoeing to the telescope, she stood for a moment admiring its shining metal gears and knobs. To one side was a desk with a computer like the one Miss Baxter had used to keep records at the orphanage. A large map stretched out on the desk was weighted down with bronze cats in each corner. Stars, planets and comets of all sizes and hues hung in a dark blue paper sky with names and numbers in curly script. She pored over the ma
p wishing she could read its secrets. On another shelf behind a small curtain was an array of large coloured lenses, surprisingly like larger versions of hers.
A door swung open into the study and Marnie ducked out of view until she heard a hissing sound.
‘Marnie, are you in here? It’s me, Seb,’ he whispered.
Crawling to the edge of the platform, she peered over. ‘Psst, I’m up here. Shut the door and come up.’
‘Marnie, what are you doing? You’ll get caught. Clara says the guests will be here any minute. You have to get down, now.’
‘Come on up, just for a minute. It’s worth it, I promise.’
Seb hesitated before hurrying to the ladder and scrambling onto the platform.
‘It’s amazing, isn’t it?’
‘Mr Arnold will kill us if he finds us here. You don’t know what he’s like ... what he can do.’
‘He won’t know. We’ll be out of the study before they get here.’
Seb crept to the end of the telescope and peered through the eyepiece. ‘I can’t see anything.’
Marnie climbed a stepladder and pulled the cover off the front of the telescope. ‘How about now?’
Seb turned the telescope slowly with a wheel. ‘Hmm, looks like sky and a few clouds.’
‘Can I see?’
Seb stood back while Marnie pressed her eye to the telescope. She turned it back and forwards. ‘I can see the moon! It’s only a sliver though. Have a look.’
Seb peered through the eyepiece at the motley shape. ‘It’s incredible.’
‘We should come back later tonight and have another look when the meeting’s over and the stars are out.’
‘I don’t know—what was that?’
Hearing voices and footsteps outside the study, Marnie signalled for Seb to crouch low on the platform.
The doors swung open and Mr Arnold led his guests into the study—around twenty men and women dressed in pointy hats and dark gowns that scraped the floor. Some had stripes, stars and extra adornments like weird generals from an army.
‘Please everyone, take a seat around the table, so we can commence the meeting as soon as possible,’ Mr Arnold said.
