5 Peppermint Grove

by Jackson, Michelle

  Carol turned her head and gazed into Gerry’s eyes. He was so romantic and thoughtful. She was falling in love with Gerry and her hometown all at once.

  After a stroll in Stephen’s Green they had a long and leisurely lunch in the James Joyce Room in Bewley’s restaurant and Carol told Gerry her innermost thoughts and dreams that she had never shared with another soul. They enjoyed a little window-shopping and finished off the excursion with a visit to the National Gallery and the Jack B Yeats’ paintings which Gerry had heard were beautifully displayed.

  They then took the DART back to the Northside and Carol was sad to be saying goodbye to Gerry at the end of such a perfect day together. But she knew that her father would be asking questions if she didn’t come home and, besides, she didn’t want to leave him alone.

  “Please, can you stay with me – in the hotel – for just one night?” Gerry pleaded. “I’ll be going back north tomorrow.”

  Carol sighed. Her heart was tugging at her to stay.

  “Let me go home and get a few bits and have a word with Dad. I’ll make up an excuse.”

  Gerry hugged her tightly. “Hurry back!”

  Carol’s heart was beating. But now she knew, after the last four days, how she really felt about Gerry and she was ready for a relationship.

  Carol drove quickly home.

  Horatio was sitting looking at the snooker on TV in his room when she arrived.

  “Dad – I might stay over in my friend Treasa’s tonight after bridge – is that okay?”

  Horatio raised his left brow and looked at his daughter from the corner of his eye.

  “If you say so – that’s fine by me. I’m glad to have the house to myself for a bit of peace. I have to tidy it up before Paola gets here tomorrow morning. She’s the best company we’ve had in this place since I can remember.”

  “All right, Dad. I know you’re her biggest fan.”

  “The Brazilians are such lovely people – great respect for their elders they have too – that’s something that young Irish people could do with a lesson in.”

  Carol nodded. “Yes, Dad. See you in the morning.”

  “Not too early now,” he said with a wink.

  It made Carol wonder just what her father really thought. At times he was doddery and then again at other times he was the most alert member of the house.

  Chapter Thirty-six

  Michael pulled up at the designated parking area and Julia got out of the car. The imposing façade of Fremantle Prison loomed at the top of a mound with shallow steps leading up to it.

  It was a hot day and Julia drank from a bottle of water as they climbed up to the two- towered Gatehouse which was built of white stone, with its massive arch and clock-face.

  Inside the Gatehouse was information about the various guided tours and an office where Michael purchased two tickets for the next session which would start in fifteen minutes.

  “You can take a look in the art gallery while you’re waiting,” the girl in the ticket office suggested.

  A special exhibition was on display in the gallery. It contained the work of inmates who were currently residing in prisons in Perth.

  “Come on,” Julia said, linking her brother’s arm.

  They strolled into the first section of the gallery and large glass doors opened electronically. The paintings were impressive from the beginning. The colourful dot paintings by the Aboriginal prisoners stood out particularly.

  Michael was reading a brochure. “It says here that none of the artists can be named as they are all currently serving sentences but they will receive payment for the work.”

  Julia was transfixed by a beautiful study of three turtles painted delicately in shades of grey and white, resembling a constellation of stars. The composition was divided up symmetrically in all directions and it was a remarkable blend of mathematical division and mastery of the paint, the patterns created from tiny dots and the contrast of yellow and orange against the grey making the complete work perfect.

  “I don’t normally take such a liking to pictures but I would love to hang that in my office,” said Julia. “It’s number six. How much is it?”

  Michael looked at the brochure. “It says here two hundred dollars.”

  Julia was impressed by the price.

  “Come and look around the rest of the gallery,” Michael beckoned as he stood at another automatic door.

  The paintings varied in theme and style, some reflective, others offensive, but all painted with a remarkable level of skill.

  “I’m getting that one of the turtles!” she decided.

  “It’s nice, I guess,” Michael said with a nod.

  Suddenly her phone bleeped. It was from Odette.

  Hope u are having a good time. Michael arrived? xxO

  “Oh, poor Odette, I think she’s missing us.”

  “Missing you, Julia.”

  “I don’t know how to help her. Craig is impossible at the moment and she’s feeling isolated. I don’t know why she can’t call Mum – though she hasn’t been herself either.”

  Michael had to agree. There were big changes, he felt, last time that he was home. Big changes with his friends and with Ireland. But still he was desperate to be there.

  “Have you heard from Lydia at all?” he asked candidly.

  “Oh Michael, you have to forget about her. She’s crazy about Peter and if he doesn’t propose soon I think that she is going to do it on the 29th February!”

  Michael was in shock. “She wouldn’t?” he gasped. That was so out of character with the girl that he had once loved so deeply.

  Julia nodded. “She sent me an in-depth email a few days ago – I read it on the plane coming over. I’m sorry to have to say it but that last email that you sent was the nail in the coffin for you guys.”

  Michael felt awfully uncomfortable all of a sudden.

  “Come on, let’s get that painting,” he urged. “The tour is starting soon.”

  Julia went into the gift shop and paid for the piece. She was disappointed that she couldn’t take it with her as the exhibition was running until March but she would ask Ruth to collect it on the designated day when the exhibition was over.

  The guide was a chirpy woman who was quick to tell them that her son had been a warden in the prison before the facility was closed back in 1991. She was dressed in warden’s clothes and Julia and Michael were on her shift along with the rest of the tourists for the next hour and a quarter.

  Julia and Michael were gasping for a drink by the end of the tour. The cells were abysmal and tales of rats crawling over inmates through the night and the stench that took a year to leave the building after the last inmate had been moved had made Julia’s stomach churn.

  “We need to get something to eat,” Michael said. “Do you know anywhere near?”

  “Let’s go to one of the spots along the Cappuccino Strip – we passed some lovely restaurants the other day after we got back from Rotto.”

  Michael drove and parked on South Terrace. The first Italian restaurant at the corner was called Gino’s and it looked inviting.

  “I think we have to order inside,” Julia said.

  Michael followed his sister and the two chose a panini and fries to be washed down with Coke and water.

  “Hey, they have free Wi-Fi here,” Michael commented as he looked at his watch. “I might give them a call at home.”

  “Oh do – I’d love to talk to Granddad.”

  “Is it too early?”

  Julia looked at her watch. “Nah – eight o’clock – Horatio will be up.”

  They went down to the corner and sat at a quiet table with the number stand for their order in hand. Michael dialled and put his phone on speaker.

  Horatio answered the phone. “Hello?”

  “Granddad, it’s me, Michael.”

  “Ah how are you – what’s the weather like in Singapore?”

  “I’m sure it’s extremely hot and humid but I’m in Australia.”
/>   Horatio chuckled. “Julia’s in Australia too, you know!”

  “Yes, Granddad, she’s right here with me.”

  Horatio seemed confused. “I thought she was going out to see Ruth!”

  Michael was now laughing. “She is – I mean, we’re both here staying with Ruth.”

  “Oh, that’s very good. We’re getting very multi-cultural, aren’t we? Paola will be here in a couple of hours – I could sit and watch her hoover all day!”

  “Granddad!” Julia said.

  “Hello there, Julia. Odette rang last night and I thought it was you.”

  Julia bit her lip. “How is Odette doing?”

  Horatio sighed. “She sounded a bit flustered. She was looking for your mother who I have to say has been acting very strangely since you left.”

  “What do you mean, Granddad?”

  “Well, I think she has a man!”

  Julia and Michael burst out laughing.

  “Why do you think that?” they said together.

  “Because she didn’t come home last night – made up some cock-and-bull story about staying with Treasa. I could tell by the look on her face that she was up to something!”

  Julia was speechless. Horatio never said things unless he was certain that they were true.

  “Is everything okay there?” she asked when she got her voice back.

  “Of course it is!” the old man scoffed. “I just wish she’d come clean about him and then buzz off and leave me in peace for a few days – you’ll be back ordering us all about before we know it!”

  “Granddad, you’re cruel!” Julia said.

  “Oh, tell your sister to stop being so sensitive, will you, Michael?” The old man chuckled. “Anyway, you two should be out there having a good time dancing and not worrying about us old codgers.”

  “We are having a good time,” Julia said defensively.

  “What are you like, the pair of you? Not a husband or wife between you! Would you ever go and fall in love?”

  Julia and Michael could only laugh.

  “All right then,” said Horatio, “I’ll be wanting to hear a full report of the fun you’ve had when you get back, Julia. Don’t wait until you are too old like me – I’m glad your mother’s gone and got a bit of life in her.”

  “Okay, Granddad, so I’ll see you soon,” Julia said.

  “Goodbye now and remember all that I’ve said – have a good time.”

  When he was gone Julia looked at Michael. “You don’t think he’s right, do you?”

  “About Mum having a man?”

  Julia nodded. “I’m knocked for six.”

  Michael shrugged. “I don’t see why she couldn’t but then it would be very out of character.”

  Julia rested her chin on her palm in contemplation. She had been so concerned about Odette and her troubles with Craig that she hadn’t been paying that much attention to her mother’s behaviour.

  “Come to think of it, she has been extra-secretive since she returned from that trip to Germany. Did you notice anything exceptional when you were home at Christmas?”

  “Apart from the fact that she was on the computer, she seemed pretty much the same as usual. Mind you, she was on it for most of the time,” Michael said with a grin.

  Their food arrived and they tucked in. The portions were huge and they wished they had only ordered one panini to share.

  “By the time we finish up here and take the car back to Subiaco it’ll be time to meet Ruth,” Michael said.

  Julia took a chip and dipped it in mayonnaise. The world was changing dramatically around her and she wondered what other surprises were in store for her when she returned home.

  Ruth wasn’t alone when the others arrived at the Lucky Shag. She was sitting on a high stool next to Steve and draining a glass of cider. Already the long rows of tables were filling up and Michael and Julia had to move some stools around and squeeze up next to where Ruth and Steve were sitting.

  “Hi, Michael – this is Steve. Steve – Michael. And of course you know Julia!”

  Julia held out her hand. “Nice to see you again, Steve.”

  Steve nodded his head. “Of course – Julia. Ruth has really settled in great!” he said with a beaming smile. “She’s a super addition to our team.”

  “Well, I think this lifestyle suits me,” Ruth said, not pleased at being spoken about as if she wasn’t present.

  “Would you guys like a drink?” Steve asked Michael and Julia.

  “I’ll have a glass of white wine, please,” Julia said.

  “Thanks, yeah. A beer for me – Corona,” Michael said with a nod.

  “And another cider for you, Ruth?” Steve said with a familiarity that concerned Julia.

  “Yes, please,” she replied.

  Julia looked around but there was no sign of Brian yet. The sun was going down on the other side of the Swan River and they had a spectacular view of the waterfront and the herons and long-billed birds that glided gracefully across from shore to shore.

  Steve left at seven and just after that Brian arrived. The bar was heaving now with after-work clientele who were keen to enjoy the warm summer evening in such a salubrious setting. The sky was now a dark velvet navy, the stars and waning moon beaming down on the revellers.

  Brian was smiling although it was obvious to Ruth that he was tired at the end of his day’s work.

  Julia, however, was ready for action and she immediately launched into making him feel welcome and beckoned to him to sit next to her.

  “Have you been enjoying your stay?” he asked Julia and Michael as he sat down.

  “Yes, we went to Fremantle Prison today,” Michael replied.

  “Gruesome place!” Brian said with a nod.

  “I bought a painting – oops, I forgot to check if it’s okay with you, Ruth – I can’t have it until the exhibition ends in March so can you collect it then and post it over to me?”

  “No problem,” Ruth said. “And speaking of post, what news do you have, Brian? I’m dying to know what you heard from that neighbour about the Walters.”

  Michael interrupted. “Let me get you a beer, Brian – what would you like?”

  “Eh, a bottle of something German would be good, thanks,” said Brian and then turned his attention back to Ruth. “Yeah, it was lucky, I guess. An old lady was just walking by and she wanted to know if I could fix the window in her pool house. I said I’d send one of the guys around and we got talking about the lady who had lived in Number 5. She was a great friend of hers and she said that she missed her. They used to play tennis together when they were younger and in later years played bowls. This old dear was about ninety. She said that her son was friends with Mrs Emily Walter’s son and the whole family was devastated when he died. Mrs Walters’ husband died soon after his son, leaving the old lady on her own for years in the house that we pulled down.”

  Ruth was trying to figure out which of the Walters men had known her mother.

  “Did this lady give you the names of the men?”

  “They were both called Charles – the son was Charlie. I remembered that was the name you mentioned.”

  “Did she say what had happened to the son?”

  “It was a car crash on the highway,” Brian said.

  “I wonder which Charles Ruth’s mum was writing to,” said Julia. “Was the son married?”

  “Nah, he was the golden boy – his parents adored him. He was driving a sports car when he sped along the freeway and hit another car.”

  “What did the Walters do – were they business people?” Ruth asked.

  “They were merchants – freight ships and that kind of thing. A booming business in Perth – always is! When the husband and son died, the nephew took over and kept the old lady sweet in her house until she died.”

  “I would love to know how my mother knew them. She wasn’t working when she lived here as far as I know.”

  “You’ll really have to ask her,” Brian said with a shrug of hi
s shoulders.

  “Well . . . I found the letter when I was in my mother’s attic. Then she would know that I had been snooping in her private stuff!”

  Michael returned with a fresh round of drinks.

  “This is a great spot,” he said. His eyes scanned the beautiful people who had all descended on the bar to watch the sunset over the river and mingle with the other beautiful people of Perth.

  “There’s a nice enough restaurant beside us here if you fancy some dinner?” Brian said, pointing to a wooden-clad building which opened up onto the decked jetty.

  “What’s it called?” Ruth asked.

  “Halo. It’s a bit pricey but a nice setting. Is anyone hungry?”

  “I’m starving,” Ruth admitted. “I had an apple at my desk at twelve and can hear my stomach rumble.”

  “Okay, let’s finish these drinks and go over there,” Brian said.

  As they drank, Brian told them stories about growing up in Perth and Julia was amazed that Michael was happy to let another man take the limelight – but she realised that he was doing it for her.

  They finished up their drinks and walked the short few steps over to the entrance of Halo restaurant. It was very contemporary inside with beautiful jarrah wood on the floors and in the bar area and there was unobstructed viewing of the Swan River and the boats sailing by.

  This was another minimalist restaurant and the food was artistically displayed as well as appetising, as the waiters strutted by with the plates held high.

  Ruth took the seat beside Brian and Michael sat opposite her.

  Julia was delighted to be facing Brian. She would work this meal to her advantage. Since meeting in the Lucky Shag she was more certain than ever that she wanted to be with him.

  A snooty maitre d’ sauntered over to them with large flat menus. Golden hair swept down her back in a ponytail – her black dress reached down to the ground and covered her five-inch heels.

  “The specials today are . . .” and she recited the list in the plummy tones of an English governess.

  “She’s not Australian, is she?” Ruth whispered into Brian’s ear.

  “Unfortunately she is, but she’s so stuck up her own ass she’s in danger of disappearing up it – don’t let that put you off the food here though – just ignore the snobs!”