“That will be seven dollars twenty-five, lady,” the cabbie said, breaking into her thoughts.
Dani paid the man and told him to keep the change.
The airport concourse was a beehive of activity. Everywhere she looked there were milling people, all in a hurry. The loudspeaker announced arrival and departure times. Redcaps trundled along pushing their dollies full of loaded baggage.
Dani grasped Maria’s hand securely and bent down. “Which airline did you arrive on, honey?”
“Trans World,” Maria answered quietly.
“Good, we’ll start there.” Fifteen minutes later, standing in line, they knew no more than they had when they started. “We’ll have to go to the baggage area. Let’s hope that the limousine driver turned in your luggage. You have your half of the claim check, don’t you?”
“No, a man took the check when I was given my luggage. But I will know it when I see it, Dani. It is bright red and my initials are on the handles.” Dani nodded as she weaved her way through the milling throngs of people. Arriving at the baggage area, she stood in line and waited her turn. She explained the situation to the plump, redheaded boy behind the counter. He shook his head “no.”
“I don’t understand. Didn’t the limousine service turn it in? I mean, after all, she’s only a child,” Dani said, more than a little annoyed.
“I can see that, miss. But it’s not here. There was a man here this morning asking about it. I looked for it then and it’s not here.”
“Do you know who it was?” Dani asked.
“Not by name. He was a tall, distinguished gentleman, black hair and dark eyes. Dressed very well. That’s all I can tell you.”
Dani looked down at Maria, who was standing quietly by her side. “Does it sound like anyone you know?”
“It sounds like my papa.”
“Terrific,” Dani said, relieved. “Now let’s see if we can find the limousine service while we’re still here and see if the driver knows anything.” Threading their way through the throngs of people, they made use of the stairs once more. Outside, they looked for the traditional long, black limousine. Seeing one standing by the entrance, they approached with much jostling on the part of the milling crowds.
Dani stuck her head in the window and spoke softly. The man in the dark blue livery touched his cap and waited. Briefly Dani explained the situation.
“Sure, miss. That’s the kid. I took her to the United Nations Building yesterday afternoon. Couldn’t pay the bill. She had a bright red suitcase. I think she was lost, if you want my opinion.” Letting his eyes settle on Maria, he winked. “No offense, kid. Now that the bill has been paid.”
“What? Who paid it?” Dani asked, surprised.
“Sure. Not more than half an hour ago. Some guy comes up and asks me real nice. He even gave me a ten-dollar tip.”
“Thanks a lot,” Dani said. “Come on, Maria. I guess your father is on your trail. We won’t be able to find him in this place, but as soon as he finds the cab driver that took us to my apartment last night, he’ll rescue you.”
Maria nodded happily.
“In the meantime, would you like to see a little of New York? I don’t have anything pressing to do today and I have a feeling it will take your papa a while to chase down that independent cab driver. Would you like to see the Statue of Liberty?’ Maria nodded and smiled. “Good. Then let’s start there and then play it by ear.”
The next few hours passed happily, for Dani as well as Maria. They walked all day and only stopped once to gorge themselves on hot dogs and orange drinks. Dani bought the child a large, yellow balloon and a small music box that tinkled “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head.” Maria was ecstatic over the gift.
At four o’clock, they sat on a bench in Central Park and removed their shoes. “Did you have a nice time?” Dani asked conversationally.
“Oh, I had a lovely time, Dani. I want to thank you. It would only have been half as nice with Papa. He only takes me to places that will help me to learn. Then he gives me lectures on wherever we go. Sometimes it is very boring.”
“Tell me, Maria, what is it your father does in your country?”
“He manages our estate. Did you know that Argentina is the market basket of the world? No? Well, we live on what is called a hacienda. The land goes on for miles and miles in every direction. My papa, with the help of many overseers, runs the farm. We are landed gentry.” Dani favored her small charge with a dry smile. “We have many servants to care for us. I have my own personal maid who takes care of me.”
“Well, you won’t get that here, kid. Now, would you like to eat dinner at my apartment or have something to eat in one of the small restaurants nearby?”
“I prefer to eat at your apartment if it is agreeable with you. Perhaps we could dine while we watch television,” she smiled, looking at Dani hopefully.
“I think it can be arranged,” Dani laughed. They gathered their belongings together and walked to the exit of the park. Dani hailed a cab and within minutes they were back at the small apartment house that was Dani’s home.
Maria immediately hung her coat in the closet and grabbed the tomcat that had been waiting in the lobby for them, and settled herself on the floor in front of the television. When Dani looked at the small happy face of the child and heard the contented purring of the cat, she felt a small tug at her heart,
“OK, Maria, I’ll start dinner. If anyone comes to the door, don’t you dare answer it. Call me.” Maria nodded solemnly.
Dani looked around the small, colorful kitchen she had worked so hard to decorate. It usually lifted her spirits, even if she was only making a cup of instant coffee. But now, for some reason, she couldn’t get into the swing of things. She lit a cigarette and sat down at the bright yellow table. Idly, she traced the ivy leaf on the place mats. She lit another cigarette and then another, only to crush them out. The tall, lovely girl felt like the sword of Damocles was hanging over her head. She needed to snap out of this funk and she needed to do it now. Allowing herself a mental shrug, she started opening and closing the kitchen cabinets. What to cook? Opening the freezer door, she scanned the shelves. Chicken Kiev. It would be quick. All she would have to do was heat the oil and make a salad. Next, she reached for the cherry cobbler she’d made one rainy Sunday afternoon. By the time the chicken was ready to come out of the oil, the cobbler would have baked through. Briskly and efficiently, she set to work, her mind on her tasks.
As she set the table, she let her mind wander. How was Jack doing? Dani shrugged exaggeratedly as she took a long pull at the drink she held. So much for unrequited love! Lighting still another cigarette, she immediately crushed it out in the heavy, square earthenware ashtray that Stash had given her for her last birthday. She really did have to give up smoking. With one eye on the clock, Dani finished her drink. Tonight would be festive for Maria. She would use her best dishes—pure white ironstone with large luscious strawberries in the center of them—for dessert. The matching napkins would add even more color to the table. After today she wouldn’t see the youngster again, and she felt strangely sad at the thought.
Dani called Maria. “Wash up, honey. Dinner is almost ready. Look, there isn’t anything good on television except the news, so let’s eat in the kitchen.”
“All right,” the child agreed. Gently, she placed the cat in his basket next to the refrigerator. She was back in minutes. “How you say, a lick and a promise?” She grinned, holding out her hands for Dani to inspect them.
Dani looked at the proffered hands and nodded. “Good enough. Sit down.” She served the golden chicken and salad to Maria before handing the girl a small oven-warm roll and filling her own plate. She watched the child cut into the tender piece of chicken and smiled at the expression on her face when the butter squirted out.”
“Oh,” she squealed. “My papa would adore this,” she said, biting into the Kiev. “But it is delicious, Dani,” she said appreciatively.
“I’m glad you lik
e it,” Dani said as she bit into her own perfectly cooked chicken.
“When do you think my papa will find me?” Maria asked between mouthfuls.
“Some time tonight, I would imagine. These independent cab drivers are hard to track down, you know. There was no point in my even trying—your papa seems to be on your trail. Are you so anxious to leave me, Maria?”
Instantly contrite, Maria gasped, “But no, Dani. I shall hate to leave you, but I have not seen my papa for so long. I wish you lived with my papa, my grandmother and me. We would have such good times together. My papa will adore you.”
Dani drew in her breath. “Don’t count on it,” she half muttered under her breath. Somehow she knew that the father of Maria would not adore her in any way, shape, or form.
After dinner Maria politely offered to help with the dishes. Dani declined the offer, knowing the young girl wanted to watch a game show. The kitchen cleaned, Dani joined Maria in the living room, gin and tonic in her hand. She lit a cigarette and watched two young boys answer questions to the tune of a loud drum roll, and Maria clapped her hands each time they gave the right answer.
The program over, Dani watched idly as Maria pressed the remote control’s buttons that took her from one channel to the next. She looked at her watch and then at the phone. She felt her eyes stray from time to time toward the door, with its carved mahogany panels, that had so pleased her when she’d first moved into the tiny apartment.
While small, the apartment fitted her needs, away from the mainstream of New York life. The plush, chocolate sofa was striking against the chrome and glass tables and matching etagere. The deep beige pile of the carpeting, with flecks of orange, contrasted with the mushroom-colored walls, flamboyantly picking up touches of color in the Chagall and Van Gogh prints in the room.
Her eyes traveled once more to the door. Who was she expecting—Jack, or Maria’s father? Dani chain-smoked till after ten. Finally she looked at Maria. “Come along, honey, I don’t think your papa will be here till tomorrow. Let’s get cleaned up. You can have the bathroom first. There’s bath oil on the side of the tub. Towels are in the vanity under the sink.”
Dani switched off the television and picked up the evening paper. She scanned the headlines and moved on to the women’s page. Looking at the gossip column, she noticed a picture of a strikinglooking man. She read the caption: “Handsome, wealthy Argentinian Alexander Renaldo Mendeneres dines at The Four Seasons with socialite Alicia Weverly.” Dani peered closer and gasped as she checked the date of the paper. Today’s paper and today’s date. “Hmm. While I take care of his daughter, he nightclubs,” she snorted. “Well, we’ll just see about that. His daughter’s lost and he’s prancing around with women.”
Folding the paper carefully she laid it aside. God, what if she was wrong and he didn’t show up for the little girl? What could she do? What would she do? She had already become fond of the youngster. She couldn’t just leave her in some children’s shelter. The child deserved better than that. Walking into the colorful kitchen, she decided to make another gin and tonic. Everything in moderation. Defiantly she lit another cigarette. Gulping at the tart drink, Dani flickered her fingers in the air. So there, Alexander Renaldo Mendeneres!
Dani marched back into the comfortable living room, the cigarette hanging loosely from the corner of her mouth. Catching sight of her reflection in the foyer mirror, she quickly removed the cigarette from her mouth. Flopping dejectedly on the chair, she spilled half her drink. Back she went to the kitchen just as the phone shrilled. Standing still, she listened. Yep, it was the phone. Retracing her steps she picked up the push-button phone. “Hello?”
“Dani? This is Helen. How about coming up to Connecticut tomorrow with Sue and me? There’s to be a swinging cocktail party at Stacy’s house to celebrate the sale of his latest book.”
Dani hedged. “I’m not sure, Helen. Can I let you know tomorrow?”
Helen laughed. “Are you trying to tell me you have a better offer?”
“You might say that,” Dani said as she looked at the shiny scrubbed-up girl in the floor-length nightgown standing in the bathroom doorway. “If you don’t hear from me by three, then go without me. And if I don’t make it, have a good time and give my best wishes to Stacy. Anyone that can grind out those Westerns with his speed deserves something.” Dani hung up the phone and looked at the child. “My goodness, you look good enough to eat,” she laughed.
“I adore you, Dani,” Maria giggled as she threw her arms around her new friend. “You always make me laugh.”
Dani smiled and hugged the child. “Come on, let’s fix your bed. Tomorrow is another day and I am sure your papa will be here in the morning.” Carefully, the young woman arranged the brightly colored sheets and the child climbed into bed.
“Tell me about New York, Dani, and all your friends before I go to sleep.”
“There isn’t much to tell,” Dani said seriously. “My mother and father were killed five years ago when they were taking a motor trip out West. I have a brother in the navy. He’s stationed in Alaska. I have several aunts and uncles who live in Georgia. And that’s all the family I have. After my parents were killed, my kid brother enlisted and I moved here from New Jersey and got a job, and this small apartment. This way when my brother gets a leave, he has someplace to stay. I still have my parents’ home in Glen Garden. I haven’t been back there since the funeral. I pay the taxes on the property and the neighbors watch out for vandals. I wish you could see the house, Maria. You would love it. It’s a small Cape Cod home and has morning glories climbing all over the front porch. It has the biggest fieldstone fireplace that’s just perfect for hanging your stocking on, on Christmas Eve. I have my job and lots of friends and for the most part I am kept pretty busy. Now tell me all about you.”
Maria sighed. “I thought you would never ask,” she giggled. “Well, I told you I live with my grandmother and my papa and lots of servants. I have a very good friend. Her name is Anna. At the convent the mother superior had to separate us. She said we were ‘thick as thieves.’ I got into much trouble. But I had a good time. That is important—to have a good time, is that not so, Dani?”
“Well, yes and no. First you have to learn, then you have a good time.”
“You sound like my papa,” Maria let out a loud cry of laughter.
Dani pretended horror at the declaration and, again, Maria laughed.
“I have a dog and three kittens. They are not half as pretty as Bismarck. I have the pedigree,” she said disdainfully. “My grandmother is very indulgent and my papa is very strict but sometimes, how you say”—her brow furrowed in thought—“I wrap him around my finger. I pretend that I have the bad stomachache and I cry. If that doesn’t work, then I say that my head hurts. Usually, I win with the stomachache. Sometimes I have to use the headache, but not often.” She looked at Dani guilelessly, who found it hard not to smile.
“Now is that nice?” she asked.
“Probably not,” Maria said seriously, “but then it is not nice to have secrets either. My grandmother and my papa have a secret. It has something to do with my mother. They will not tell me. I am old enough to know a secret. Do you think so, Dani?”
Talk about being put on the spot. “It all depends. Perhaps it isn’t a secret, just something that you aren’t old enough to understand. Your grandmother and father are much older and possibly wiser than you. I’m sure that if it was something they felt you should know, your age would make no difference. Try to think of it in those terms.”
“Perhaps you are right,” the child said, mollified.
“I think that’s enough talk for now. We’ll talk more in the morning.” Dani bent down to give the child a kiss and again found herself in an all enveloping bear hug.
“I shall miss you, Dani, when I leave.”
“Honey, you know I think you’re a very brave young lady. I know if I were your age I’d be afraid.”
“I’m not afraid, Dani. If you say Papa w
ill find me, then he will. And I have you, and I know in my heart that you are good. Besides, the monk also protects me.”
“About this monk, Maria. What are you talking about?”
“The Mendeneres Monk!” Maria explained. “It seems I can teach you something, Dani. The monk has been dead many years,” Maria whispered conspiratorially. “It’s said that the first Alexander Mendeneres brought the monk’s spirit to Argentina hundreds of years ago. Grandmother said our ancestor and the monk were great friends. The monk has appointed himself a guardian of the Mendeneres family and protects them from harm. Grandmother tells me stories about the monk and they make me tingle. I get goose bumps. But I’m not afraid of the monk, Dani. He’s good like you are. But Mother is afraid. Whenever Grandmother mentions him, Mother runs to her room with a headache. . . .”
Maria stopped her excited talk abruptly, aware that she had said more than she’d planned.
“Your mother! But I thought she . . .”
Dani’s words stuck in her throat when she saw Maria’s frozen expression and the hard set of her round, dimpled chin.
Four
At times, she had forgone a lazy morning in bed after a hectic Saturday night. Somehow she found it easier to live with herself on a little less sleep without the remorse of having missed the Sunday service.
Dani woke with a start. She looked at the small bedside clock and jumped from bed. If she didn’t want to be late for church, she would have to hurry. If there was one thing she did right, it was to go to church every Sunday. And on holidays, she added to herself. There were times when she couldn’t find a Catholic church and she had gone to those of other denominations. What difference did it make, as long as one attended a religious service?
The Future Scrolls Page 4