by Ana Salote
Oy’s eyes welled.
‘I’d forgot,’ said Gritty.
Alas walked to meet his friends. His eyes were fixed on Lucinda. Excited waifs bumped into him. He didn’t notice.
Lucinda stood before him. ‘Is it really you, Alas?’ she said. ‘You’ve grown as filled as an Afflander. I feel like a raisin next to you.’
‘It won’t be like that for long,’ he said. He folded her bones close and whispered against the frame of her shoulder. ‘I’m sorry I left you.’
The factory waifs would have to spend a few more nights in the sheds but none of them minded. They had all saved some of the bread they were given half expecting to be back in service the next day. But as each day passed and more food arrived and the engines remained idle and the workshops locked a party atmosphere took over. The waif sheds were made comfortable with truckle beds, extra blankets and pillows. The factory waifs could hardly imagine a finer life, but a much finer life awaited them.
The clerks worked far more quickly than the lawyers. Papers were drawn up transferring most of Jeopardine’s assets to Molly. She was happy for him to keep his bone collection and for Gwendalyn’s sake she allowed him a small sum to set up home modestly elsewhere. As transfer day approached the waifs questioned whether they could ever live happily at Duldred. The bad memories were strong. Molly thought it could be done. She had a vision of a bright and happy home full of well-fed children.
‘I can’t settle without Gert,’ said Gritty. ‘I hope she’ll come back when Oy tells her how things are.’
‘I’m sure she will,’ said Molly. ‘The library will be hers to run as she pleases.’
‘Her own library – Duldred library,’ Gritty mused.
‘Duldred will be a happy place, I promise. We’ll clear out everything old including the name. We’ll change it to something nice and cheery. We’ll store coal in the basement. Everything will be open and airy. There’ll be some work to do but it will be work that each one chooses. It will be done equally for the benefit of all and strictly limited to a few hours a day.’
‘The rest of the time you can learn and play,’ said Dr Sandy.
‘And eat and rest,’ said Molly.
‘There’ll be a place for Lil won’t there?’ said Gritty.
‘If that’s what she wants,’ said Molly. ‘You’re very attached to her aren’t you?’
‘I know you think she’s cold and stiff,’ said Gritty.
‘She is,’ said Alas, ‘and stubborn and awkward.’
‘But there’s something in her,’ said Gritty. ‘I can’t even say what it is. She lets it out in the littlest bits and you never know when it’s coming. You’ve seen it haven’t you, Oy?’
‘It’s always there,’ said Oy.
‘Well I’ve only seen it a few times but it’s worth waiting for,’ said Gritty.
‘Ask Lil what she would like,’ said Dr Sandy. ‘We’ll do what we can to oblige.’
Gritty ran off. She spent some time telling Lil that Duldred was the perfect place for a Dresh away from home. The park was big enough for solitude. The ceilings were so high she need never stoop. She could have her own room full of tall cupboards if she wished. Her friends would be there when she wanted them and not there when she didn’t. Would she stay?’
‘No,’ said Lil.
‘Why?’ said Gritty, and again she ran through the benefits making it all sound as enticing as it possibly could be. Whenever she sensed a ‘no’ rising she carried on talking. ‘Moss,’ she said, ‘and rockery plants. We’ll build a rockery and raise whatever food you like.’ Gritty took a breath.
‘No,’ said Lil.
‘Why not?’ said Gritty.
‘I prefer the mountains.’
‘The Glumaws. It’s a long way off and awful cold.’
‘I don’t care. The song there does not pain me.’
‘Would you like me to come with you? I could set up with Bram and Kurt.’
‘No. I want to be alone.’
‘You’re not thinking about going to stand again are you?’
Lil refused to answer.
‘You can’t. You can’t just go and fade into some rocks somewhere.’
Lil’s earlids lowered like shutters.
Oy said that Gritty should give Lil time and space. Perhaps she would come round. Lil did not come round though she did make one concession.
‘I will come to Duldred with you for three days only,’ she said. ‘I will see you settled with the jolly cook and the bandy doctor and all your friends around you. Before too long your sister will join you, then I know you’ll have no need of me. You will be happy and you should be. You are not a bad child.’
Such words were as near affection as Lil could manage. And for that Gritty had to be grateful.
The new master and mistress of Duldred used the newly cleared canal to transport themselves and their things to the estate. Molly had consulted with all the factory waifs about what sort of home they wanted. Their needs were very modest. They were fond of their beds and wanted to keep them. They would like to keep on with the food and to wake up in daylight. A day off work now and again would be grand. Molly smiled and said she would see to it.
The Sandys’ few bags and pieces of furniture fit easily into the barge. Molly herself took up nearly as much room. Oy, Alas, Gritty and Lil went with them. The other children would follow when the house was ready. The Duldred waifs gathered to see their friends off. Dr Sandy hitched his horse to the boat. At the last minute Molly called to Blinda to join them. She had a special job for her she said. The horse walked on. The narrow boat glided out between the high brick walls of factories and warehouses. The water was slicked with oil and it stank. Making gave way to baking as they passed the mills and bakeries. The canal path greened and widened. They looked into back yards and sculleries. Then the houses were left behind and the water cleared. All of them mused on past and future. Oy held his finger up and watched it.
‘What’re you doing, Oy?’ said Gritty.
‘Feel’s like I’m still and the world’s moving,’ he said.
Gritty watched the hedges slide past. ‘I see what you mean,’ she said.
‘Will we see Jep, Molly?’ said Alas.
‘You needn’t. I must,’ said Molly. ‘He has to sign the estate over to me in front of the lawyers.’
‘Do you think he’ll do it?’ said Gritty.
‘He’s got no choice,’ said Molly.
‘He’s tricky though ain’t he?’
‘Tricky and mad. Mr Maundry says nothing can go wrong now, but I’ll feel better once I get those papers.’
‘There it is,’ said Oy.
Duldred’s outer walls and parkland lay ahead.
‘Ain’t never seen it from this end before,’ said Gritty. ‘There’s a tunnel coming up.’
Dr Sandy took the horse over the top while the barge passed into the darkness. The waifs lay across the bows and pushed against the tunnel walls with their legs. Oy thought it much like a sewer. The circle of light at the far end grew till they came out into Duldred estate. The hall itself was nearer than expected. Alas scratched his arm where red rings had suddenly appeared. A small boat approached from the direction of the hall. It was being driven along like a punt by a short person with a pole.
‘Raymun!’ said Oy.
‘It isn’t,’ said Gritty. ‘It is you know. I thought it was a child at first. I’d forgot how small he is.’ She began to wave.
Raymun might be small but he was as quick and strong as ever. Soon the two crafts lay alongside each other. Raymun looked from the waifs to Molly to Lil with a great mix of emotions on his face.
‘I don’t know where you’ve been,’ he said, ‘but it’s made fine people of you. I wouldn’t have known you. I wouldn’t have thought so much growin’ could be done in so short a time. And I’m thinking maybe I shouldn’t have bin so agin growing; I shouldn’t have tried so hard not to do it. Looking at you now and at this fine heighty lady, I see there is
merit in growing after all.’
Gritty could hardly keep from laughing. ‘It’s good to see you, Raymun. The lady back there is our friend, Lil. I would introduce you but she don’t like meeting new folks. It’s not personal, just the way of the Dresh. She’ll let you know if she wants to meet you – or not.’
But Raymun was hardly listening to Gritty. He was looking beyond and above her.
‘How d’ya do, short-as-yar.’ Lil’s voice surprised them all. She had come to stand beside the waifs and her voice was the mellowest they had ever heard it.
Raymun stretched up tall as he could, puffed his chest as wide as he could. ‘I am very pleased to meet you Miss Lil. Short-as-I-am, I must tell you, old-as-I-am, I don’t believe I’m fixed-as-I-am. There’s some growing left in me yet; if I was just to remember how to do it then I believe I could.’
‘That’s how to talk to a Dresh,’ Lil turned and scolded Gritty. ‘Respectful-like.’ Her face showed Raymun that she approved but her uppity streak remained. ‘Well, don’t put yourself out,’ she told him, then relenting, ‘I mean to say it ain’t necessary to my good will. I’m height-blind you might say – treat all alike.’
‘Lil!’ said Gritty.
‘From now on, is what I was going to say, if you,’ she addressed Gritty, ‘nose-pokey-as-yar, would give me a chance. Oh!’ Lil put her hand on her chest.
‘What is it, Lil?’ said Gritty.
Lil didn’t answer her. Instead she spoke to Raymun. ‘Forget the Lil; my given name is Almonde Powdibloo.’
‘Well!’ said Gritty.
‘A right beautiful name,’ said Raymun.
‘Sorry, Raymun,’ Alas interrupted. ‘We’d like to keep with the pleasantries but Molly’s got some business to see to and the quicker the better. Is Jep still here?’
‘The master is inside,’ said Raymun. ‘It’s a sad day for him, and for me, or it was.’ He looked at Lil. ‘I would have stayed with master right till the end. I think he wanted me to. I would’ve gone with him and served even if it’s only a cottage he’s going to. There’s still work to be done in a cottage. It’s the mistress who sent me away.’
‘Miss Spindle?’ said Gritty.
‘Mistress Jeopardine,’ Raymun corrected, ‘wants him all to herself. She wants to be the only person he relies on, but she don’t know him like I do. She can’t calculate his moods or know what to do to ease them.’
‘What will you do, Raymun?’ asked Oy.
‘Master gave me my freedom while he still had the right to do it, and he gave me a purse to go with it. I gave it back to him, said he’d more need of it. Then he offered to make me topdog over the upservants, but I didn’t want that. They all deserted him of course when the wages started falling, but not me. Service here has been my life. Now... I’ll find work in Crust. There’s always cheer in work.’
‘Please stay and work for us, Raymun,’ said Molly. ‘You’re the perfect person to run the estate. We want to concentrate on looking after the waifs. It would be a relief to leave everything else to you.’
‘I don’t know if I could cope with such a turnaround,’ said Raymun. ‘It would seem disloyal to the Master.’
‘It’s no disloyalty,’ said Lil. ‘You have done as much as you can for him. His wife has sent you away. You must look to your own happiness now.’
‘Would you be staying here by any chance, Miss Powdibloo?’ asked Raymun.
‘I will be staying,’ said Lil.
‘Well!’ said Gritty, again.
‘Then I’ll take this boat back the way it came,’ said Raymun.
Lil kept her eyes on Raymun’s.
Gritty looked from Lil to Raymun and back again. She folded her arms and stared sulkily across the park.
The barge followed the little boat along the edge of the formal gardens to the back of the house. Raymun tied the boats up and took the new occupants in.
They walked through the service rooms. It was cold and the floors and walls were bare. ‘Excuse the musty smell,’ said Raymun. ‘Master’s been economizing on fuel. You’ll find the front of the house much the same. We shut eight public rooms and twelve private. That way I could do the work of all the upservants and the waifs. The lawyers are waiting for you in the Tulip Room.’
At the Tulip Room Raymun tapped on the door.
‘Come.’ It was the voice of the Master.
Molly pushed. The door opened with the familiar soft drag over thick carpet. Molly and the doctor went in. Raymun pulled the door shut behind them.
‘I won’t go far,’ said Raymun. ‘He might need me still. We’ll wait in Rook’s Parlour.’
‘No,’ said Alas. ‘Not there.’ He crossed the corridor to the Shell Room.
‘That’s not in use,’ said Raymun.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ said Alas. He went in and sat by an empty hearth on a sofa covered by a white cloth. Gritty and Oy sat with him. Lil and Raymun stood at either end of the sofa.
‘Master’s – I mean Jep’s voice,’ said Gritty. ‘Didn’t it just bring everything back? It feels wrong sitting here. I was always up there.’ She pointed to the chandelier. ‘I’m even getting phantom hunger pangs. Feels like I dreamed it all and tonight we’ll be down in the basement with Raymun counting us in.’
Alas stood up. ‘How did it happen?’ he said angrily. ‘How was Jep allowed to own us and to treat us so bad? He had no right. I’m going to tell him.’
Alas strode towards the door. Oy stopped him. ‘I wouldn’t, Alas. Let Molly get through her business first.’
‘He’s right,’ said Gritty, ‘best not to interrupt. You can catch Jep on his way out if you must. Why don’t we watch through the hatch? Will you wait here, Lil?’
Lil kept on looking at Raymun. She didn’t answer.
‘Go on. I’ll keep Miss Powdibloo company,’ said Raymun.
The waifs were surprised at how low and narrow the runs seemed. Only Oy was small enough to move freely. At the Tulip Room Alas took first turn at the eyehole.
Molly and Dr Sandy sat at one side of the table with Mr Maundry. Master and Mistress Jeopardine and Mr Baracula faced them. Baracula passed Jeopardine the pen. Jeopardine twisted the nib. His fingertips were dark with ink. Gwendalyn took the pen from him and wiped his hand with her handkerchief. Jeopardine let her. ‘Come on now, dearest,’ she coaxed. ‘Write your name on the paper and let’s be done with it.’ She put the pen back in his hand and closed his fingers round it.
Mr Maundry checked his fob. ‘Time is money you know,’ he said.
Baracula looked at him with professional solidarity. ‘Indeed it is,’ he said.
‘Did you hear that, dear?’ said Gwendalyn. ‘We are keeping Mr Baracula unnecessarily.’
‘He has failed us. Let him wait.’ Jeopardine threw the pen down again.
‘We’ve been through this, dear, you can make him wait for as long as you like but it will cost you 500 mariats per hour.’
Jeopardine put the pen between his teeth and crunched down on it.
‘My love, for pity’s sake, the cost could be the difference between a house and a hovel.’
‘I am mad,’ said Jeopardine. ‘A madman cannot be charged legal fees.’
‘Not so,’ said Mr Maundry. ‘I refer you to Sydney Lydney v the state.’
Baracula folded his arms and nodded.
Jeopardine looked for a way out: in the faces around the table, in the objects in the room, in the walls and windows. There was none. He wrote his name with such angry force that the paper was marked by gouges and peppered ink.
The party rose. Gwendalyn led Jeopardine towards the door. The lawyers walked behind, all differences forgotten. Molly and Dr Sandy held hands and smiled at each other with weary gladness and relief.
‘I got to do this,’ said Alas bursting out of the hatch with Oy and Gritty behind him.
When Jeopardine saw them his chest heaved with outrage.. ‘Those two!’ he shouted, pointing at Alas and Oy. ‘They started this. Get them out of here.�
�
But there was no one left to follow his orders.
Alas walked up to Jeopardine. He stood squarely before him. Where once his head had reached Jeopardine’s chest, now it was level with his chin. ‘I’ve got a right to be here,’ said Alas. ‘You’re the one that needs to leave. You never did have a right to any of this. All of it was built on the sweat of Porians. We earned every stone of this place, and now we’re taking it back. Ha, I remember when I couldn’t even look you in the eye. Now I see you in your weakness and I wonder why I ever feared you. I got no more to say.’
Jeopardine inhaled deeply. He curled and uncurled his fingers as though he would like to strangle Alas. Gwendalyn took his arm. They walked woodenly away. But Jeopardine was not done. He spun around and grabbed Alas by the hair. Alas elbowed Jeopardine in the groin. Jeopardine doubled over.
‘Why I didn’t do that a long while back I’ll never know,’ said Alas.
Raymun and Lil heard the shouting and came to investigate. Seeing how things were Raymun apologised to Lil and went to help his old master and mistress out to the cart. The fine carriages were all gone. They left in the same way that the waifs had once arrived, seated on rickety planks hired from the Carter’s Inn.
27 Cats and Cupboards
‘Now we must go and find my aunt,’ said Molly. ‘I only hope she’s grown no worse since last I saw her.’
Molly was right to be worried. The Duldred kitchens were surrounded by cats. They pressed themselves against the doors, they crouched on the roof, they balanced in the gutters. They tried to access the windows from above and below. Molly shooed them away. The kitchen window had grown grimy without a winders waif to clean it. Molly rubbed it with her sleeve and looked through. The kitchen itself was in great disorder. Pies covered every surface: some half made, some without lids and some stacked in piles like pancakes. Balls of dough lay around the pastry board. On the board was one huge boulder of pastry topped by a smaller one. Mrs Midden, in a skewed hat and soiled apron, was kneeling on the table. She was shaping a face on the smaller ball. It was an effigy of herself. ‘Oh dear,’ said Molly. ‘This is what I feared. She isn’t well at all. I’m going to risk taking you in. I hope the sight of you will take her back in time, then we’ll convince her that the future can be better than the past. Ready? If she cusses don’t take any notice. Leave the talking to me.’ Molly opened the door. ‘Aunt, dear,’ she said, gently.