by Judy May
Alice often rushes from rooms with no prior warning so she probably thought some cute guy had arrived downstairs when I suddenly tore from the room in search of Stephen, Ro and Paul.
Luckily they were all together by then tidying the Professor’s office, with the Professor himself reading by the window.
‘LOOK!’ was all I could manage to say.
‘Could it…?’ was all Stephen could ask.
We rushed over to the window-seat and put it in front of the Professor’s gaze.
It took him a moment before he face lit up.
‘Ah, yes. There it is,’ was all he said. ‘Now be sure and put it back where it belongs.’
He seemed more amazed at the way the four of us couldn’t stop laughing than at the fact that we’d found the necklace. The chain had been wound in and around the spirals and hoops, in a way that was so artistic that it never occurred to me that it could possibly be a neck chain, and the place where it ended in three small loops made it so perfect for holding in your hair that I never thought it could be made for anything else. Wendy had bent it a bit but I straightened it out with one move and just stared at the diamonds and wondered how I hadn’t noticed. It’s strange how easy it is to miss the value of something that’s right under your nose all the time.
We decided, as usual, to keep it to ourselves.
Wendy was still packing away the female extras’ wardrobe when Ro and I wandered in as nonchalantly as we could. I asked if she might have a small wooden box, saying it was for a present for a friend and she came up with the box that the Professor later confirmed was the original. He must have left it in that bedroom before the film people arrived.
I know I’ll see everyone again in a week, but it does feel odd to think it’s all over.
Straight after dinner, with most of the trucks and film people moved on and plenty of Grangers still running about, I suddenly felt a little overwhelmed again. So, meeting Miss Higgins on the attic steps with an armful of books from the boys’ bedroom I offered to return them to the library.
I put the books on the large writing desk, the one Ro and I had hidden under, promising myself I’d shelve them properly later. Right at that moment I simply felt like hiding away, and knew that every other corner of the house would be buzzing with chat about recent events. I also felt that the window nook would be an obvious place to look if anyone wanted to find me. So I took a cushion from one of the armchairs and crawled under the table, knowing that no one would see me if they came in. I sat hugging the cushion under the table for ages, I’ve no idea how long, just letting my brain catch up with itself, and letting the rest of me calm down. I took the necklace from the box in my pocket and placed it around my neck. There was nothing scary about it any more, it just felt like a beautiful, magical work of art that made me feel connected to the past.
Eventually someone walked in, but I was confident they’d be gone when they saw the place apparently empty. For a minute the person seemed to pace the room, then they stopped and all was silent. The next thing a hand lifted the edge of the tablecloth and someone appeared. It was Stephen, crawling under the table to join me, sitting close and looking at me as if I was suddenly new. It had been days since I saw him wearing anything other than his soldier’s costume, and he seemed as worn out as I felt.
‘Lemony, Lady Lemony,’ he said softly, as he settled himself in. ‘My apologies for arriving uninvited to your secret hideaway like this, however I have something very important to share with you.’
I couldn’t even speak to reply as he placed his hands on either side of my face and pulled me close and kissed me very gently. He then kissed me again and again.
Everything was just as I would wish it to be.
A minute later we heard Miss Higgins calling for Stephen so he escorted me to one of the armchairs and smiled as he handed me this journal and my pen before leaving me there. I can see the portrait of the woman of the necklace from here, and she seems to be smiling at me.
DAY THIRTY-TWO
Mum and Dad are at their symposium so the Professor invited us to stay on at the Grange (my guess is with some prodding from Stephen and Miss Higgins), and Ro’s folks said she could stay for a couple more days too. The crew has a couple of days off today so Ro was able to be with us.
This morning we re-buried the diamond necklace under the flagstone in the cottage and then (carefully) messed the place up again to discourage future treasure-hunters.
Then the four of us spent hours wandering around the grounds, talking over the small things that had happened to us separately and that the others hadn’t heard about. Paul told us he’d been in the make-up room when this extra asked Dipti to make her look ten years younger and she’d give her a whole day’s wages. Ro remembered the night she had to go around to the nearest neighbours of The Grange and ply them with chocolates to stop them from calling the police for noise disturbance during one of the late shoots. Stephen confessed that he loved the catering pancakes so much that one day he went back three times, the third time claiming it was for an extra who’d hurt his foot and was on the bus. I told them about how Driggers from props had a thing for Wendy, but that she couldn’t stand him because he smokes. Paul spoke to Alex’s dad one day and found out when the movie is due to be released next year … On and on and on we went even after Miss Higgins called us in for dinner.
Tonight was the chess championship playing by ‘Smith House Rules’, where all moves must be completed within one minute and if you take someone’s queen you can opt to switch sides with your opponent. Paul won, but we expected that.
DAY THIRTY-THREE
Today was our last day at The Grange. We mostly sat talking in the large sitting room and we finished off tidying the Professor’s office, which now looks neat and respectable, but still like a treasure trove.
Dad came to collect us at ten this evening and we dropped Ro home. It feels really strange and empty to be back home. Paul and I just sat in the kitchen for ten minutes and it was like we were reminding each other of what was missing so we both told Mum and Dad a ‘parent-friendly’ version of what we’ve been up to and disappeared off to our rooms. I have that feeling that nothing in life is ever going to be as good as the last few weeks.
Only when Mum asked me what I wanted for my birthday did I realise that it’s going to be on the same day as the wrap party. I said I didn’t really want to celebrate my birthday this year.
ONE WEEK LATER
I never did discover where Stephen went to on those days when he disappeared. Then this morning I found out! He was over here talking with my parents and helping them choose my birthday presents. As I opened them at the breakfast table I was expecting to get things that were nice, but not what I really wanted, and was amazed (and confused) to open a package with a shallow plastic bowl inside.
‘That’s only part of it,’ Mum explained. ‘Look outside.’
There on the lawn was a big hutch and inside I could see a pair of chinchillas hopping about. I filled the bowl with water and, still in my pyjamas, went out to give it to them. I have decided to name them ‘Lady Lovely’ and ‘Starman’.
It took great efforts on Dad’s part to drag me back into breakfast and soon I knew why he was so keen. He handed me a case with a red bow tied on the handle, and inside was a second-hand saxophone in great, great condition! I can’t believe that I’ll finally be playing an instrument I love, and I can already sight-read music thanks to my years of scratching away on a violin. I’ve decided that, although Mum and Dad would pay for lessons, I want to pay for them myself with the money I earned on the film.
Ro is using her wages (plus all her Christmas money since she was born, practically) to buy a second-hand film camera because she has decided that she wants to be a director. She has asked me and Stephen to write a script for a fifteen-minute short which we’re going to make in three weeks time. I told her we could have it ready in two, but she said three so that Alex will have flown out and won’t expect to star in
it – that honour goes to Paul, of course. The whole thing could be amazing or amazingly disastrous, but I don’t really mind as I know we’ll have loads of fun. We invited Nick to scout out some locations for us, but he’s decided that he just wants to hang out in town for the rest of the summer so we’ve given that job to Gussy who is proving remarkably (very remarkably) good at it.
The wrap party is tonight and I’m beside myself with excitement, especially as I adore the outfit I bought during the Granger Girls’ shopping trip. Lorna had decided she might or might not dance with Alex (if you can call that a decision) and Alice is concerned that her dress is too patterned and it might ruin her entire night. Sophie has phoned ten times in the last two hours.
The whole gang of us are meeting at The Grange at lunchtime to help prepare the party. I’m so glad they decided to have it in the ballroom, Stephen is really glad that they’ll have pancakes, and Lorna and Alice are thrilled that my dad was able to talk their folks into letting them be at the party as they initially felt it must just be for the adults working on the film.
Stephen just called and I told him that I love my present of the ‘Teach Yourself Chinese’ course, and the new fountain pen is just perfect. While we were talking about this and that I told him that when you do the computer love-compatibility test, ‘Lemony and Stephen’ comes out at 95 per cent. He said not to worry, he’ll soon sort out that last troublesome 5 per cent.
Oh yes! The game of life is a good one.
About the Author
JUDY MAY grew up in Dublin and is an international traveller and adventurer. She has visited over thirty different countries and has lived in Kathmandu, Paris and New York. She has a degree in Drama and a Masters in literature from Trinity College, Dublin. She used to have a job chaperoning kids and teens on Hollywood film sets, and is proud to be a super-geek! She has also written Blue Lavender Girl, Copper Girl and Hazel Wood Girl.
Copyright
This eBook edition first published 2012 by The O’Brien Press Ltd,
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First published 2008
eBook ISBN: 978–1–84717–476–5
Text © copyright Judy May 2008
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