The Moonlit Garden

by Bomann, Corina

  The lady looked toward the house again, but this time not to check whether anyone was coming.

  “The house where you live is a really big one. Maybe you can find a room. I’m sure your mother goes out on errands during the day, doesn’t she?”

  “Yes, she always goes out for two or three hours in the afternoons. You could even come in.”

  The lady shook her head. “No, I can’t do that. If your mother saw me, she wouldn’t be pleased that I was there. Anyway, this is supposed to be our secret, isn’t it? Do you like secrets?”

  Helen nodded. Yes, she liked secrets, even though she had found out that keeping them was difficult.

  “So where should we meet?” she asked.

  “You tell me. I assume you’re not allowed to leave here alone?”

  Helen thought about it. Where could she hide away with her new friend and learn to play the violin? Then she had an idea. She had only been to the place once, because it was not their property but their neighbors’. It was a garden that had grown wild. She called up a small pavilion into her mind’s eye. That was the place to go with the mystery lady.

  “I know of a place, but I’ll have to show you. It’s not so easy to find.”

  “Is it in your garden?” The lady looked as if she wasn’t too pleased about that.

  “No, outside it. Follow this fence until you come to a hedge. We’ll meet there.”

  Helen darted through the bushes. She made her way straight to the gap between the fence and the hedge, through which the other, neglected grounds could be reached.

  Helen peered through the gap, and since her friend was taking some time to reach it, she glanced up toward the white timber house with its paint peeling off in large flakes. Did anyone still live there? The windows looked like sad eyes. Maybe the house felt lonely without anyone to live in it.

  Helen heard a rustling behind her and turned. The lady appeared, a little out of breath, as if she had been running. But she couldn’t have been, or she would have been quicker.

  “So this is your secret place,” she said as she dabbed at her brow with a handkerchief. Helen noticed that the lady’s lips were as blue as the bilberries she had seen in one of her picture books.

  “Is everything all right?” she asked, concerned, as she had never seen a person with blue lips.

  “Yes, I’m fine now,” the lady said, but in the same tone of voice her mother used to say she was all right when she had a headache.

  “Do you like it here?”

  The lady looked at the house. “It seems a bit spooky. Aren’t you frightened?”

  “This isn’t the place. Come on, I’ll show you.”

  She took the lady by the hand and led her through the long grass that grew so high it almost concealed her. Although the grass blocked her view a little, it didn’t take her long to find the pavilion, which looked no more cheerful than the house. But perhaps someone visiting regularly would bring it back to life.

  “There it is!” Helen said, pointing happily at the building, its sides clad with thin clapboard.

  “Do you really think it’s safe here?”

  “Yes, not even Mama has ever found me here. If we don’t make too much noise, no one will notice we’re here.”

  “Very well, then we’ll meet here. Shall we say every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon? I’ll wait here until you come, all right?”

  “All right.”

  “And take good care of the violin. Hide it away so that no one can find it.”

  Helen nodded eagerly.

  “You’re a good girl.” The lady stroked her cheek affectionately. “But you should be getting back to the house now.”

  “You really will come back?”

  “I promise. And this time I won’t keep you waiting so long. Thursday is in two days’ time. I’ll be here then.”

  Helen hugged the violin case to her in delight, then took her leave of her friend and ran with a light heart back to the house. She didn’t go in by the front door in case Miss Hadeland was waiting there. Instead, she hurried through the tradesman’s entrance, then up the stairs to her bedroom, where with a thumping heart she hid the violin under her bed.

  As she left her room, she thought perhaps she should look around for a place where she could practice in secret. She had always been a little afraid of the attic, but maybe the violin could protect her, and she could drive away the ghosts that haunted the top floor with her music.

  But before she reached the attic stairs, she heard footsteps behind her.

  “Where have you been, Helen?” her mother asked reproachfully as she caught sight of her daughter. “And why are you hiding up here? You’re supposed to be having a music lesson!”

  Helen held up her hand, showing her mother the fresh welts, and said with the utmost conviction: “I never, ever, ever want to play the piano again!”

  20

  London, 2011

  With a sigh, Lilly checked her e-mail in-box. Still no message from Enrico or his friend. She had been hoping so much that she would hear whether there was any news about the sheet music, which might provide a key to her dream of Helen. And something else was bothering her.

  Since Gabriel’s visit, the idea that she should perhaps fly to Sumatra had not left her. She felt that the solution to the puzzle lay on the island. But would she dare to make such a journey alone? She had not traveled far afield since Peter’s death. But something had changed in her, something connected with the violin, Rose, and Helen, and also Gabriel.

  She had spent the whole morning looking for a reasonably priced trip, but the results were disheartening. The price of a flight to Sumatra alone was horrendous. Her antiques business might cover her bills, but she had nothing left over to afford a trip to Padang to follow the trail of the two violinists. Did this mean her search had come to an end?

  The sound of the telephone startled her out of her thoughts. She wasn’t expecting a call, but she hurried down the stairs and picked up.

  “Lilly?” asked a man’s voice she knew all too well. There was a lot of noise behind him, as if he was standing on a busy street.

  “Gabriel, to what do I owe this honor?” she quipped. Was he unable to wait for their dinner date? The morning after his visit he had sent her a few suggestions of London restaurants.

  “I’m afraid I have some bad news for you,” he said a little hesitantly. “I’ve had a call from Diana, my ex-wife, you remember?”

  “Yes,” Lilly replied. “Has something happened?”

  “You could say that. I’ve got to go and see her, look after her. I’ll tell you more when we meet. I’m on the way there now, but to my deep regret I’m afraid I can’t even name another day for our date yet. I can’t make it on Friday in any case.”

  Lilly swallowed. Her delight at hearing Gabriel collapsed into a heavy lump in her stomach.

  “OK,” she said, and although she tried not to, she couldn’t help sounding offended.

  “I’m really sorry, Lilly, but I promise you we’ll have that dinner. It’ll happen—better late than never, hey?”

  Lilly forced a laugh. “Yes, I guess so.”

  “Good. I’ll be in touch when I’m back in London, all right?”

  A lump in her throat prevented her from answering. She would have liked to know when that would be.

  As if he had read her thoughts, he added, “It could be in a day’s time or a week, but I’ll be back, I promise.”

  “OK,” Lilly replied, and felt like hanging up, but she heard herself saying, “Look after yourself, Gabriel.”

  “You too. See you soon, Lilly.”

  And he was gone.

  Lilly stood numbly by the telephone table for a moment. He’s going to see his ex, she kept thinking, and although it probably meant nothing, disappointment spread through her. She had looked forward so much to their evening, and now . . .

  Don’t be so childish, she told herself. You turned him down yourself last time.

  She put the telephone back
in the cradle and went upstairs. Perhaps she could still find a way of getting to Sumatra. If she busied herself with the search, then she wouldn’t have to think about Gabriel at his ex-wife’s—and the idea that Diana might be more important to him than she was.

  “What are you looking for?” Ellen asked as she leaned lightly on Lilly’s shoulder and looked at the screen. It was now the afternoon and Lilly was still searching for a special offer. And she still had not succeeded in coming to grips with her disappointment at Gabriel’s cancellation.

  “A lottery win,” she murmured.

  “And you’re hoping to find one in Padang? Do they have a special lottery there or what?”

  “No, I need it to get to Indonesia. But the whole idea’s probably crazy anyway.”

  Ellen was quiet for a moment before carefully turning the office chair around and forcing Lilly to look her in the eye.

  “What’s the matter?”

  Lilly pressed her lips together and looked at her knees.

  “Gabriel called.”

  “And?”

  “We were going to go out to dinner on Friday, but he’s cancelled.”

  Ellen shook her head incredulously. “Did he give you a reason?”

  “He said there were some family matters he had to see to.”

  “Oh. Well, these things happen.”

  “It’s to do with his ex-wife.”

  There was another pause.

  “His ex-wife?”

  “Yes, Diana. He said she’d asked him for help, and he had to go and look after her.”

  A smile flitted across Ellen’s face. “You’re jealous.”

  “Don’t be silly, why should I be jealous?” Lilly said defensively, trying not to reveal that Ellen had hit the mark. “We’re friends, nothing more.”

  “Really? The looks he was giving you when he was here led me to believe he was interested.”

  “I didn’t notice,” Lilly claimed, a little put out.

  “Oh, Lilly!” Ellen threw her arms around her. “You don’t fool me. You’re afraid he might rekindle a flame with his ex, aren’t you? You don’t know anything about the reasons why they separated. They could have had an amicable separation and still be friends. Don’t give up before you know what’s behind it all. He hasn’t cancelled your date but just postponed it, am I right?”

  Lilly nodded. “Yes, he said it was only a postponement, but he hasn’t given me another date.”

  “Who knows what’s happened? Just wait and let him get back to you. I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you. We’d be better off having a look to see if there’s a way of getting you to Padang.”

  They sat at the computer until the evening looking for a suitable travel offer, but nothing affordable came to light. Lilly felt her mood growing worse, and even Ellen’s attempts to cheer her up with jokes about travel agents did nothing to help. She wasn’t going to have her date with Gabriel, and she would probably never get to Sumatra. The mystery of the two violinists would remain unsolved forever, and she could keep asking until she was old and gray what hidden family secret could explain why she was now the owner of a famous violin.

  She was very quiet during dinner and couldn’t say whether it was because she couldn’t afford the trip to Indonesia or because she kept thinking of Gabriel, who had gone to see the woman he was once married to. The fact that she didn’t know more about Gabriel and his past was driving her mad. Was Ellen right that they were still friends? Was there still anything between them? Was she making a fool of herself to hope for more from him? A dinner for two was a long way from them getting together.

  All these questions finally followed her to bed, causing a restless, completely muddled dream about Indonesian temples and landscapes in which she was running after Gabriel but never caught up with him.

  Two days later, during which she had continued to wait in vain for a message from Italy, Lilly found an envelope next to her coffee cup. She had overslept. Ellen was already on her way to work, the girls had long since left the house, and she had even missed Dean that morning. Was this the letter she had waited for?

  The sight of Lilly on it in Ellen’s lovely, sweeping handwriting left her in no doubt that it was for her.

  Ellen had sealed the envelope tightly, as if it contained secret state papers, so Lilly took her knife and carefully slit the top.

  At first she saw nothing but thick, white paper. Lilly found that the white sheet was simply a brief letter folded around a second narrow, colorfully printed envelope. As Lilly turned it around, her face fell. She looked at the envelope in bewilderment for a moment, then placed it on the table and ran from the kitchen to fetch the phone.

  It took her a while to get through; the phone in Ellen’s office was incredibly busy that morning.

  A man’s voice finally answered. Terence, Ellen’s secretary.

  “What can I do for you?” he asked in a tone of voice fit to pacify the most irate caller.

  Lilly asked for Ellen and was told that her friend was in a meeting at the moment but would call her back as soon as possible. Lilly felt like asking how long she would be, but she merely thanked him and hung up.

  With a shake of her head, she stared at the two logos that adorned the envelope. One was a purple goat’s head on a gray background, while the second had blue-and-turquoise lines arranged to form the head and wings of a flying eagle.

  “Oh, Ellen, what are you doing?” Lilly murmured. She studied the words, reading them again and again, wondering if she had missed something.

  When the telephone rang, she shot out her hand and picked it up before the first tone had finished.

  “Ellen?” she asked before the caller had a chance to say anything.

  “My goodness!” her friend’s voice replied. “What’s up?”

  “That’s what I want to ask you!” She looked again at the turquoise-and-blue emblem. “I have a message from you here.”

  “What do you say to that?” Ellen replied, and her grin could almost be heard.

  “Don’t you think this is a bit excessive? I’ll never be able to repay it in all my life.”

  “It’s only a gift voucher. And a suggestion of how you could use it, if you want.”

  “This is more than a voucher!”

  Lilly could practically hear Ellen waving her concerns aside.

  “I’ve gotten you two flight vouchers so that you only have to pay a quarter of the price. I could have paid for the whole trip but know you wouldn’t accept that. After the conversation with Gabriel, I knew you had to go to Rose’s homeland. So give me the pleasure—take the voucher and book the trip. Look at it as an early birthday present.”

  Lilly rubbed her thumb pensively over the logo of Garuda Airlines, an Indonesian airline. The goat belonged to Qatar Airways, the flight that would take her to Padang. All she had to do was book . . .

  “Hello, Lilly, are you still there?” Ellen asked.

  “Yes, I’m here. I’m still waiting for someone from Candid Camera to jump out and tell me it’s all a joke.”

  “Lilly, we’ve known each other for more than half our lives. Have you ever known me to pull your leg?”

  “No. But even so, this is too expensive, it’s—”

  “It’s no problem for your rich friend. And you know I don’t want anything from you in return. I simply want you to follow the trail of Rose and Helen. And for you to take charge of your own life again. By traveling alone you can prove to yourself—and Peter—that you can manage without him and do anything you want to. You have to break the spell that’s been binding you. The violin was a sign, and I feel that it’s changed something in you. So take the opportunity—you’re ready to do it!”

  Lilly was unable to say anything at first. Her friend was right; without a reason she would never have considered traveling to Indonesia alone, even if she could have afforded to. The violin had turned her life upside down. Or rather, Rose and Helen had.

  “Let’s talk about it this evening. Terence is pest
ering me,” she heard Ellen saying. “But I’d advise you to book the flights before too long or they’ll be gone. And should you decide to accept my gift, I’d suggest you use the time to find out all you can about Indonesia.”

  “All right. Thank you!” was all Lilly could say.

  “Excellent. Love you!” And she hung up.

  It took Lilly a while to get over the shock. Her surprise slowly gave way to a joy and a fear she had never felt before. She had never flown any farther than London without Peter. Before coming here to see Ellen, she had hardly left Berlin. And now she was going to the other side of the world? The thought gave her butterflies in her stomach, and her hands went cold.

  She called the number of the travel agent that Ellen had given her and booked the flights that would take her to Padang in just two days’ time.

  By the afternoon she had grown used to the idea that the trip was actually going to happen. She was still a little uneasy about accepting such a generous gift from Ellen, but she also knew that it would do her good.

  And she wanted to go to Indonesia! She wanted to find out what had happened to Rose, and she also wanted to discover more about the life of Helen Carter.

  She suddenly thought of Gabriel and realized she wanted to call him to tell him of her unexpected trip. But could she do that? He had been at Diana’s for a couple of days, and the fact that she was going away was hardly earth-shattering news. But it was important to her, and she felt a desperate need to tell him.

  She scrabbled for his cell phone number and dialed. Gabriel answered after the third ring.

  “Lilly, what a surprise! Are you missing me that badly?”

  The humorous tone of his voice dispelled her brief doubt that she was calling at an inconvenient time.

  “I wanted to tell you something. It’s . . . something . . . Something’s come up.”

  “I hope it’s nothing unpleasant. Is everything OK with you? Has your acquaintance’s friend from Rome been in touch?”

  “No, it’s not that. There’s something else . . . ” Lilly took a deep breath. If she told him now, there would be no going back. “I’m flying to Sumatra in two days.”