Gifts of the Peramangk

by Dean Mayes

  Khalili turned to Ruby and indulged her with a knowing grin.

  A subtle tension began building in Isobel as the pressure of her moment began to tell on her features. Her technique took on just the slightest hint of desperation as she fought to maintain control of her performance. Though it remained powerful, Ruby could see that Isobel had lost her emotional connection to the piece.

  Finally, as if time had passed in an instant, Isobel Barrie reached the finale and she entered into it as strongly as she had begun. She had strengthened her grip once more and, with a final pluck of her strings, Isobel finished her performance and the audience struck up with enthusiastic applause.

  Ruby breathed deeply and prepared to stand when Khalili placed his arm around her and gently squeezed.

  “This is your moment. Make it your own. You can do this, Ruby.”

  “Are you gonna be here?”

  Khalili nodded and smiled.

  “I’m going to join your grandmother for this one—out there. I shall be with you.”

  He gently nudged her to stand up.

  “Go. Your audience is waiting.”

  Ruby cradled her violin and bow in her arm and walked slowly to the stage entrance. The nervousness surged on a wave of adrenaline but Ruby began going inside herself, controlling her emotions so that they became a distant thrum.

  Isobel appeared from the stage and stepped down. Ruby nodded but Isobel kept her eyes forward and her expression stony as she brushed past her. Ruby blinked and watched her go but before she could react, the MC announced her name. Smoothing her dress one final time, Ruby pushed Isobel from her mind. She appeared from behind the curtain and made her way over to her spot in front of the orchestra.

  Her heart began to thump. Her mouth went dry and she felt sweat on her brow, but she ignored them, returning to her breathing and finding her centre once more.

  On cue, the quartet members and the orchestra turned over their sheet music in readiness and, as Ruby took up her position, the cellist winked encouragingly at her.

  Ruby managed a smile as the house lights dimmed, the applause died away and the orchestra lifted their instruments.

  Khalili crouched low as he quickly made his way to the empty seat beside Virginia and sat down.

  “So?” Belle pressed immediately. “Did she tell you?”

  Khalili frowned and shook his head.

  “She is determined to keep it a surprise,” he answered in a gruff whisper. “She’s stubborn—no doubt about it.”

  Virginia smiled knowingly for a fleeting moment then she rubbed her brow with thumb and fore finger.

  “Let’s just hope she knows what she’s doing, eh?”

  The quartet began—introducing a soft harmony that carried across the audience with a warmth and ethereal serenity.

  Ruby closed her eyes and began to count time in her head, synchronising her breathing and concentrating on the quartet’s sound. She was centred now, calm and peaceful. This was it.

  ‘Make it your moment.’

  The quartet approached a subtle pause and Ruby lifted her bow, waiting until the music trailed off to nothingness for the briefest of moments, heralding her cue. Ruby bowed her head.

  From the moment that Ruby drew the first plaintive refrain from her strings, Virginia knew what her granddaughter had chosen as her final piece. A shiver of recognition passed through her at the opening notes of the hymn.

  Ruby swayed gently on the stage, rising gently on the balls of her feet entering into the composition—that which Virginia had secretly cherished for years—the one piece that her tired fingers could still negotiate across the bridge of the violin.

  It was Prayer For The Children.

  Virginia gripped the arms of her seat as Ruby held the bow precisely, producing the silken notes of the song with a gentleness and clarity that struck the entire audience dumb.

  The sound was beautiful, more beautiful than Virginia could ever have dreamed of. Virginia knew Ruby had captured her audience. The auditorium around her was entranced and enthralled by her violin’s song. And as she approached the end of the first passage of the hymn, the orchestra softly joined in with her, adding a unifying harmonic to her solo.

  In Rex’s hospital room, Davo sat quietly beside Rex, watching the concert on the television. Rex had been dozing on and off but at that moment, when Ruby began her solo, his eyes fluttered open and he turned his head towards the television. He recognized the hymn right away and, like the audience watching, he was captured by it.

  Quietly, Rex began to cry and Davo reached over and squeezed his friend’s shoulder gently.

  It was the hymn of his sister, the hymn of Ruby's mother. From across time, the bitter years since her death, Aggy Delfey’s beautiful voice returned to him and he rejoiced in it. Quite unconsciously, Rex raised his hand and placed it over Davo’s and smiled through his tears.

  Beside Virginia, Khalili sat in reverence of his young student. He knew this hymn well—though he was accustomed to hearing it performed acapella by a choir, rather than as an instrumental piece. Here and now, the beauty of Ruby’s symphonic interpretation was undeniable and she commanded it.

  In her mind, Ruby tapped into the memories of that terrible night—when Uncle Rex had confronted her in the back yard and Asher had in turn attacked him in Ruby’s defence—and she poured it into her performance now.

  After everyone had left and Uncle Rex had been taken away in the ambulance, Ruby had snuck out of the house and huddled in the rain, under the window of her grandmother’s granny flat.

  And, peering through the window into Virginia’s little bedroom, Ruby witnessed her grandmother play her violin for the first time—the only time she had ever seen her grandmother do so. All that time that Virginia had taught Ruby since the discovery of the violin in that old car, Virginia had never actually played it in Ruby’s presence.

  In that moment, out there in the rain under her grandmother’s window, Ruby knew that this was what she wanted to play.

  Her eyes opened and she saw Jeremy and Asher in the audience—both of them were visibly moved. They had endured so much more than any child should, but together, they had prevailed through their love for one another. It had given them hope. In her own prayers, Ruby had asked for strength for all of them. Somehow, those prayers had been answered.

  Virginia’s eyes had welled with tears as long-forgotten memories bubbled up from deep inside her and flashed before her now.

  Of her childhood, before she had been taken—her happy and carefree life in the Adelaide Hills. The faces of her mother and father, as vivid as if she had seen them yesterday; riding tall on her father’s shoulders as they walked across the meadows near home, holding her mother’s nurturing hand. Of the water hole where she had frolicked with her friends, so many years ago. Those friends—so full of soul and life, their bond seemingly unbreakable—until the people who came to take her away crushed it, robbing her of her youth. Her innocence.

  Virginia had, long ago, abandoned the notion of prayer—or a belief that would deliver her from the life she had been forced into. Any hope of being returned to her mother had been cruelly snatched away from the moment the Pastoralist threw her against the verandah post on that wretched farm.

  Yet, somehow, Virginia had found hope amidst her tragedy.

  Ruby’s performance weaved its way through the tapestry of Virginia’s memories, bringing forth more of her past.

  She remembered the dog, her unfailing companion who had been at her side as she’d worked from dawn until dusk, in the heat and the dust, the cold and the rain. The dog who had lain at the end of her bed as she huddled under her threadbare sheets, crying late into the night in the little stone out house. The dog who had become her protector against those who harmed her and sought to rob her of her dignity.

  And she remembered all those countless afternoons with Agatha Penschey in the parlour of the homestead, where music had become her salvation, empowering her with a unique and special g
ift. The gift she had buried for so long. The gift that now lived on in her precious granddaughter.

  Khalili noticed Virginia’s tears and hesitated, wondering if he should comfort her or offer his hand to hers. But, for the first time, Virginia Delfey sat taller in her seat, she held her head high and proud and in that moment, Khalili realised that those were tears of joy rather than sadness. Belle leaned forward and acknowledged the professor silently, with a nod of respect, of gratitude.

  Ruby continued on, absorbed in the hymn, complete in her performance. She was aware of nothing but herself and the music. Her fingers felt lighter than air. They hit their marks and she wielded her bow with the grace of a dancer. The beauty of the hymn was undeniable. Somewhere in her awareness she knew that she had never played like this before.

  She arrived at the final bars of the hymn with a melding of the Orchestra’s strings that produced a pure, perfect harmony. Then she rose up, lifting her violin’s last notes above the Orchestra where she finished alone—as though the sound had been liberated and had taken flight.

  It was done.

  The crowd rose unanimously to a standing ovation. Their applause was electric, their appreciation unmistakable. Ruby lowered her violin and looked out into the auditorium, smiling politely—overwhelmed by the moment. She curtsied once, just as Asher had taught her, then turned to the Orchestra and curtsied again. The members of the quartet in front, those who had witnessed her first performance in front of the professor at Elder Hall, stood from their seats and clapped wholeheartedly, their eyes red with emotion.

  She searched the faces of the audience once more and found both her nana and Khalili among them. His smile was just like the one he’d worn after that very first performance in his presence. It was simple, respectful but in his eyes, she knew, that his pride in her was complete.

  Ruby bowed her head to him, then turned and walked from the stage.

  Chapter 35

  Isobel and Ruby walked onto the stage together for the last time, greeted once more by a standing ovation from the audience. The MC gestured to them both with an outstretched hand as they stood beside him, at the same moment as a representative from the judging panel stepped up with the envelope that held the final result.

  Ruby watched as the MC took it and whispered something into the ear of the representative. She nodded once then returned to her seat.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” the MC announced as the applause died away. “I have the results here which have been gathered from the four members of the judging panel. Each judge has scored both finalists independently, using the set criteria and no panelist has conferred with any other during the recital tonight.”

  “The winner of the Malley-Joyce Scholarship will receive full tuition and residency at The Lavery School, which will secure their continued education and music tuition throughout their entire academic career. I’m sure you’ll agree this represents a once in a life time opportunity for one of these wonderful young performers here.”

  The MC peeled back the flap of the envelope and took out the card from inside.

  Asher took Virginia’s hand and squeezed it tightly. Jeremy leaned forward, listening expectantly. Virginia glanced at Khalili and smiled nervously.

  The MC blinked at the card in front of him and he gulped in what appeared to be surprise.

  “We…we h-have a tie,” he announced.

  A collective gasp issued from the audience followed by a low murmuring that rippled throughout the Concert Hall. Ruby glanced across the audience at Virginia, then at Isobel beside her, who appeared equally confused.

  The MC conferred with the representative from the judging panel once more, nodding as she explained the situation to him, out of range of the microphone. Once they had discussed the scenario, he stepped back to the lectern and adjusted the microphone.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” he began, holding his hands out, palms down, gesturing for quiet. “I have been informed that in this situation, a count back scenario comes into play. The judging panel are now reviewing their results for each candidate from each round, to determine the winner.”

  Ruby’s mouth went dry as she clasped her hands behind her back. She held her posture as best she could, as she watched the judges look over their scoring sheets and relay their scores for both Ruby and Isobel from the previous rounds to their representative.

  Several agonising minutes passed during which the level of tumult in the audience rose and fell.

  “What’s happening?” Belle whispered to Virginia. “Why are they taking so long?”

  “I’m not sure,” Virginia answered, shaking her head. “I guess they’re making sure they’ve got their numbers right.”

  Belle glanced nervously at Cherie and Jeremy.

  “They love to keep everyone hanging, don’t they?”

  The judging panel studied the compiled scores one final time between them and once the last member nodded in the affirmative, they all followed suit.

  The representative stood once more and walked up to the stage.

  “Alright,” the MC announced with renewed vigour as the representative handed him the sheet. “The count back has been checked and confirmed. I will now read the results for both girls from each round.”

  The audience fell silent once more as the MC placed the sheet on his lectern.

  “For the final, both candidates scored an equal 75 out of a possible 80.”

  The audience applauded appreciatively for both girls and Ruby looked over at Isobel who nodded respectfully in return, adding a smile.

  “For Round 1,” the MC continued. “Miss Ruby Delfey scored 76 out of 80. Miss Isobel Barrie—78 out of 80.”

  The audience uttered a long procession of “ooh”s and followed with another round of clapping which faded quickly at the gestured command of the MC.

  “Okay—now the next scores I read will determine the winner of this year’s scholarship,” he said earnestly.

  Virginia steeled herself in her seat once again and reached over to place her hand on Khalili’s.

  “Round 2. Miss Ruby Delfey—78 out of 80. Miss Isobel Barrie—80 out of 80!”

  The applause came up before the MC could finish, but he continued over the cheers and the whistling.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Isobel Barrie is this year’s winner of the Malley-Joyce Scholarship. Please join together in congratulating her.”

  Virginia felt her heart plunge at that moment but she gave no hint of her emotions. Instead she sat proudly in her seat, her eyes forward as she held up her hands and applauded her granddaughter on the stage, who embraced Isobel warmly and congratulated her.

  “You were amazing,” Isobel offered with genuine admiration.

  Ruby nodded in thanks then stepped back and clapped along with the audience, the orchestra and the officials, smiling graciously.

  Jeremy and Asher were applauding their cousin as fervently as they could and Virginia noted that both of them had tears in their eyes even though they, too were smiling.

  The MC stepped across to Isobel first, handing her a scholarship certificate and taking her hand in congratulations. She stepped forward, visibly overwhelmed, to bow to the audience and her supporters in the front row who stood and cheered. Juliette appeared from the side of the stage armed with two bouquets of flowers and presented one to Isobel, leaning down to kiss her cheek. Then she turned to Ruby and presented her with the second bouquet. She stooped down and kissed Ruby’s cheek.

  “Well done, my dear, well done,” she said into Ruby’s ear, above the din. “You have won a lot of hearts here tonight.”

  Ruby blushed and smiled in gratitude, feeling a warmth flow through her.

  “Thank you,” she mouthed.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, please continue your applause for Miss Ruby Delfey,” the MC announced. “This recital has been her very first public performance and I’m sure you’ll agree she has shown herself to be a tremendous talent, worthy of a bright future.”

  Th
e MC gently encouraged Ruby to step forward and she stifled a gasp of surprise when the audience responded enthusiastically by remaining on their feet in a standing ovation.

  And in that moment, even though she had lost, Ruby felt overjoyed. For she was here. Her dream had indeed come true. It had always been her dream, from the very moment she had discovered that newspaper article in her classroom, to achieve all that she had achieved right here. She had done it, regardless of the outcome.

  Ruby searched for Virginia in the crowd and found her beaming face, her exuberant smile and her tear stained eye.

  Virginia side stepped out into the aisle and hobbled toward the stage. Ruby reflexively started forward. She leapt down from the stage and ran into her grandmother’s outstretched arms which closed around her and held her, the embrace secure, safe and filled with love. Together they stood at the foot of the stage and held each other close while the applause continued.

  Ruby looked up from Virginia and saw Khalili, his smile and his own misting eyes, large with pride.

  They had gathered backstage, all of Ruby’s family, where they were watching as a throng of people were mingling with the other performers and laughing and chatting.

  Ruby continued to receive warm congratulations from a myriad of people, adults and children. So overwhelmed by all the attention was she, that it all seemed to blur. She couldn’t quite comprehend it. Though she delighted in the flattery, Ruby soon felt the creeping tendrils of exhaustion begin to take hold.

  A sizable group of media representatives were also there, including the reporter that Ruby saw at Elder Hall. Each had taken their turn in interviewing Ruby, this time, with the blessing of Khalili who himself, had answered a number of questions willingly.