‘Well, unfortunately I have to go out of town tomorrow, sweetheart, so I need you to come home with me today.’
‘Today?’
Fleur looked over at the pair. Jessie couldn’t understand the look on Fleur’s face; a mixture of sadness and perhaps even relief. It was obvious she and Harmony didn’t share much in common, but Fleur was her mother.
‘Unfortunately the art shop in town didn’t have a very good supply of colours, Jessie,’ Fleur said, as Harmony and her dad disappeared inside the house, ‘so I was only able to buy two tubes of luminescent paint, red and green. The people in the painting will just to be odd colours. You don’t mind, do you?’
‘No. That’s okay. It’s only a trial painting after all. My first.’
‘I so wish Harmony shared your interest in art.’
‘I think Harmony enjoys doing outdoors type stuff, well, apart from the computer that is.’
‘Mmm. You’re probably right, Jessie.’
Fleur looked over to the house. ‘I suppose we’re all different, aren’t we?’
‘Just like paintings,’ Jessie said.
Fleur turned around and looked at Jessie. ‘You’re absolutely right. Well, let’s get to work, shall we? But we’ll need to go inside and find somewhere reasonably dark.’
As Jessie followed Fleur over to the house, Harmony was following her father outside, carrying an overnight bag.
‘Jessie,’ Fleur said, ‘this is Harmony’s father, Peter.’
‘Hi.’
‘So you’re Jessie,’ he said, ‘Harmony’s told me all about you. She’s really enjoyed your company this holiday. Well, we’d better get going, Harmony. I have a very early start tomorrow. Goodbye Fleur.’
‘Bye, mum, bye Jessie – I’ll email,’ Harmony said as her father steered her towards the car. As they drove off, Harmony waved, and Jessie had the distinct impression she was waving at her, not her mum. That’s really weird, thought Jessie, Harmony didn’t even kiss her mum goodbye. Fleur’s eyes looked tired and Jessie felt sad for her.
CHAPTER 12
But she brightened up as they started to paint, and an hour later, in Fleur’s studio with the blinds closed, Jessie’s painting was complete. Fleur had drawn in the people’s outlines and Jessie had filled them in with the luminescent paint. They did look funny, all in green, a bit like ghosts Jessie thought. And it was strange sitting in a dark room, painting. But that was how it worked, the luminescent paint really did only show up in the dark.
‘Well,’ said Fleur, ‘it will certainly be different, Jessie. I don’t think it matters that the people are green, do you? Actually I think it adds a certain … dimension to the painting. They’re almost like ghosts, aren’t they?’ Jessie smiled to herself.
‘Now, let’s take this back outside and see if we can still see the people,’ Fleur said as she lifted the painting carefully and carried it out to the front of the cottage. But as soon as they left the darkened study, the people disappeared from the painting.
‘Well, that looks terrific, don’t you think?’ Fleur said as she put the painting down against the side of the house and stood back to view their handiwork.
It was a very normal painting, Jessie thought as she tried to make out the shapes of the two people they had painted in the luminescent colours. She had painted them right at the front of the house, in the cottage garden. Now she couldn’t even see their outlines, here in the daylight, and she couldn’t wait to see how they turned out at night, in the darkness of Nanna’s hallway.
After all, that’s where it had to go, in the hallway, if Harold was to read Jessie’s message.
‘Yes, really great. You can’t see the people at all, Fleur. Just like those paintings at the gallery. Um, can I take it back to Nanna’s now?’
‘Well, we really should leave it to dry, Jessie. Usually I leave them for a several hours at least. And, we haven’t even hooked up the wire on the back yet so that you can hang it.’
But I don’t have a few hours, Jessie thought, as panic gripped her, I have to do this tonight.
‘Please Fleur, I’d really like Nanna to see it!’
Fleur looked doubtful but then smiled and said, ‘well, okay then. It’s really only the middle of the painting that’s still wet – the house and gardens dried overnight. But be very careful carrying it, Jessie, hold it towards you, we don’t want any dust getting on it and ruining it.’
Jessie smiled. ‘Thanks heaps Fleur. It’s just like I’d hoped.’ She leaned over and gave Fleur a kiss on the cheek, ‘I really enjoyed painting it with you.’
Fleur caught her bottom lip and said, ‘I’m so glad you like it, Jessie. Shall I see you tomorrow, before you go?’
‘You bet,’ Jessie said, as carefully she lifted the painting up. ‘Oh, and would be it be okay if I took one of the tubes of luminescent paint with me, so I can show Nanna what it looks like?’
‘Here,’ Fleur said as she reached for them both, ‘You keep them Jessie, and next time I’ll try to get some different colours.’
Jessie arrived back at Nanna’s with the painting and placed it on the floor against the kitchen table. She couldn’t forget the sad look on Fleur’s face when Harmony had left. And Harmony hadn’t even kissed her goodbye. Did she really hate her mother that much? If only Harmony understood what it was like not to even have a mum.
‘It’s a pity Harmony had to go home early,’ Nanna said as Jessie brought her painting into the house.
‘Well, not really, Nanna. She wasn’t enjoying herself here.’
‘That’s a shame. Fleur is such a lovely person. Do you think you’ll keep in touch with Harmony?’
‘I’ve been thinking about that. I’d already decided I didn’t want to be friends with her.’
‘Why is that?’
‘She doesn’t get on with her mum, at all. And she doesn’t treat her right.’
‘Seems like she might need a friend, Jessie.’
Jessie sighed. ‘I guess so. She might be older, but it isn’t just computers I know more about. She needs to know how special her mum is. And that she’s lucky to have both her parents around. Maybe I can help her understand that.’
‘Oh, you’re a good girl, Jessie,’ Nanna said as she went to wrap her arms around her.
‘Watch the painting Nanna!’
‘Oh, sorry, love. It’s just beautiful. But had you thought about putting any people in it?’
‘Well there are people in the painting, Nanna. You just can’t see them. I’ll show you when it gets dark. Fleur bought this luminescent paint - you can’t see it in the daylight, but it glows in the dark.’
‘Oh, like those paintings at the gallery. Well, that’s amazing,’ Nanna said, ‘I can’t wait to see it.’
Jessie thought it was a shame that she would have to write over the painting - but it was the only way she could think of to get her message to Harold. And tomorrow, after they had read her message she would just have to hide the painting, so Nanna would never see the message. She would tell Nanna she didn’t really like it, after all it was only her first attempt and next time Fleur was going to give her proper lessons.
And the loft was the perfect place to hide it – Nanna wouldn’t be going up there again.
Once Nanna was snoring in her lounge chair, Jessie went into her bedroom, lay the painting on her bed and turned off the lights. The two people in green suddenly came alive. Jessie grinned as she took the lid off the green luminescent tube of paint.
For days she had been thinking about what message she would write and had finally decided to make it very simple. Jessie was convinced that ‘You are forgiven, be at peace,’ would be enough. She didn’t know whether Harold would even see the painting, let alone read it. But she had fingers and toes crossed that it would work.
Tonight was her last night at Nanna’s. If she didn’t solve this mystery tonight, it would have to wait until the next school holidays and surely Harold wouldn’t be able to stand all that remorse for another three months.
/> Jessie took a cotton bud from her bathroom bag and dipped it into the end of the tube. She brought it out slowly and then wondered where on the painting she should write the message. As she was staring down at it, a voice came from behind, ‘Making some finishing touches?’
Jessie got such a shock at hearing Nanna’s voice she almost dropped the cotton bud.
‘Sorry sweetie, did I frighten you?’
Jessie breathed out and turned around to face Nanna. ‘No, that’s okay Nanna, I was just … yeah, finishing it off.’
‘Why are the lights turned out? I thought you must be in bed, asleep.’
Jessie swallowed. And then she remembered the people in the painting and that she’d told Nanna she would show her after dark.
‘Look Nanna,’ she said, stepping out of the way of the painting, ‘see the people?’
‘Well, isn’t that amazing,’ Nanna said, ‘They weren’t in the painting this afternoon, and now here they are, just like you told me. That’s really something, Jessie.’
‘Nanna, would it be okay if I hung this painting on the wall in the hall?’
‘Well, I don’t see why not. I’ll get a hammer and a hook and we’ll put it up right now if you like.’
‘Oh,’ said Jessie.
‘Oh, you still have some work to do. Well, just let me know when you’ve finished and then we’ll hang the painting.’
Nanna walked out of the room and Jessie thought, now what am I going to do? What would Nanna have said if she’d seen me writing words on the painting? How would I explain that? And how am I going to paint the words on it without her seeing them?
‘Nanna,’ she called, and then thought, no it’s okay, if we hang the painting with the lights on she won’t see anything. Jessie sighed with relief as Nanna came to the bedroom door.
‘Yes, love.
‘Oh … it’s nothing Nanna. I’ll just let you know when I’m finished.
Jessie waited until Nanna had gone back down the hall in search of a hammer before dipping the cotton bud back into the tube of green luminescent paint. Slowly she brought it out and very slowly wrote You are forgiven across the top of the painting. There wasn’t much at the top except sky so it didn’t interfere with anything else. Then she looked for somewhere to put the second half of her message.
Jessie decided to put those words on the path leading down from the front door of the cottage. She didn’t want to spoil any of the flowers she and Fleur had taken so much time to paint in all those pretty colours. It really was a pity to ruin the painting, but Jessie knew that giving her ancestors peace was far more important. Determined, she dipped her cotton bud back into the tube of paint and wrote Be at peace along the garden path. Jessie stood back and looked at her writing.
It wasn’t very neat, and it wasn’t as clear as she would have liked. But she only had a cotton bud to write with and she was in a hurry. She hated to think what Nanna would say if she walked in right now.
This would have to do. And hopefully Harold would be able to read it.
Jessie quickly turned on the lights and instantly the people in the painting, and the writing, disappeared.
‘Nanna,’ she called as she lifted the painting carefully and carried it out into the hallway, ‘I’m ready to hang the painting now.’
Nanna came from the kitchen holding a hammer and a picture hook.
‘Where would you like to hang it, love?’
‘Can we put it opposite the portrait?’ Jessie asked, looking up at Harold.
Nanna looked up and down the hall. ‘Are you sure you wouldn’t rather hang it nearer your room?’
Jessie thought fast. ‘At Fleur’s house she has paintings on both her hall walls. It looks great.’
‘Oh, why not?’ Nanna replied, pressing the picture hook into the wall and gently hammering it in until it was fixed. ‘Do you want to hang the painting yourself?’ she asked.
Jessie lifted the painting up and then gasped, ‘Oh no, I forgot, there’s no wire at the back!’
Nanna looked at the back of the painting and said, ‘We just need some string and a couple of tacks. I’ll see what I have in the kitchen.’
Jessie shook her head in frustration. I should have remembered that, she thought, but I was in such a hurry to get the painting back to Nanna’s. What if the lights suddenly go out? What will I do?
Oh, I’ll be so glad when this is all over.
Nanna was back in no time with a piece of kitchen string and a couple of drawing pins. ‘This should do the trick - after all, it’s only light, it doesn’t even have a frame.’
Jessie held the painting away from herself, with the back towards Nanna as she carefully pushed in the drawing pins, one on each side of the back of the painting, and then brought the string around each pin until there was a bit of a loop. ‘Now it’s right,’ she said.
Jessie smiled and lifted the painting up until the string was over the picture hook. They both stood back and Nanna adjusted it slightly so it was straight.
‘Well, that’s been a good day’s work Jessie. I didn’t know you were all that interested in art. I’m so glad I introduced you to Fleur.’
‘Me too Nanna, really glad.’
CHAPTER 13
Jessie was relieved to be going to bed, not that she would sleep of course, but she was exhausted from trying to think of ways to keep Nanna from seeing the message on the painting. And then she thought about the lights. Nanna would turn them off when she went to bed.
‘I just need a glass of water, Nanna,’ Jessie yelled, ‘so I’ll turn off the lights.’
‘All right, love. I’ll see you in the morning.’
Jessie waited until Nanna had gone inside her room and part closed the door, before turning off the lights and going back to her own room. I just hope Nanna doesn’t have to go to the kitchen during the night, Jessie thought; it’s just as well the bathroom is in the opposite direction.
Jessie tossed around from side to side in her bed, unable to stop worrying that Nanna would need to get up for some reason and see the message on the painting. But everything remained quiet and finally Jessie’s tiredness won out and she fell asleep.
Some time in the night she was woken by the familiar voices of Harold and his mother. Opening her eyes, she quickly adjusted to the darkness and slipped out of bed. Following the line of moonlight across to her open door she heard,
‘Mother, it was an accident.’
‘My son, you must report what happened to the police.’
‘They will send me to prison.’
‘Harold, you must speak the truth - for the sake of your father.’
Jessie listened intently, wondering if Harold would see the message and read it. But the conversation continued, just like it had every other night.
What was the problem? she wondered. Couldn’t he see the writing? Maybe it wasn’t clear enough. Maybe I should have borrowed a brush from Fleur as well. Oh, would this conversation go on forever? Would she never be able to stay at Nanna’s without hearing the voices over and over every night. And would Harold never be at peace?
Jessie sighed to herself and slipped silently into the hall. Well, at least now she would be able to see the people in her own painting - maybe they would look a bit clearer now, in the pitch black.
As she tiptoed quietly down the hall the conversation continued.
‘You must go away my son. Leave this place.’
‘And leave you too?’ Harold cried.
Suddenly the voices stopped. Jessie too stopped in her tracks. Had she disturbed them? Oh, not again! Not tonight, of all nights! It wasn’t fair!
And then great-grandmother spoke. Words Jessie had never heard her speak before.
‘Harold, my son. Do you not see it?’
Jessie watched, spellbound as Harold turned to face the hallway, and her painting.
‘Harold, you are forgiven,’ his mother said.
Jessie could see tears falling from Harold’s eyes. ‘I am at peace, Mother,’ h
e said, ‘at last I am at peace,’ and as he turned back to face his mother, they both became still and the light faded.
Jessie realised her mouth was open, and very, very dry. And then she looked at her painting … and slowly her message, the one she had painted only a few hours ago, faded, one word at a time, until all that was left were two green people.
Relief swept over her like a huge wave. ‘It worked,’ she said out loud, ‘it really worked!’
She didn’t know how long she stood there, tears slowly creeping down her cheeks. She wanted to yell out, to tell everyone what she had done; that she had solved an ancient family mystery. All by herself.
But she knew she couldn’t. Ever. No-one would believe her, except Harmony. But then Harmony would probably forget all about it once she got back to her dad’s. After all she hadn’t really been that interested. No, it would be her very own secret. Forever.
And now she’d be able to leave the painting for Nanna, just like she’d wanted to - with no luminescent message to worry about.
Slowly she made her way up the hall to her room as a huge smile spread across her face. She was felt too excited to sleep, but finally she fell into a pleasant and dreamless sleep and didn’t wake again until the smell of bacon and eggs came wafting into her room.
‘Thought I’d make them for you this morning,’ Nanna said as Jessie wandered into the kitchen, ‘After all, you’re going home today.’
Jessie’s stomach wrenched as she realised the truth. How she had dreaded coming to Nanna’s, and what awful things she had said to Sarah about Nanna. Things were so different now.
She couldn’t believe how much fun she’d had. First meeting Fleur, and then Harmony, well at least using the computer, sending emails, finding information, and the haunted portrait! Wow. It was one of the best holidays she had ever had.
A horn tooted.
‘I wonder who that is,’ Nanna said, ‘Sarah’s not due for ages yet.’
Jessie started on her bacon and eggs as Nanna went out to the front door.
‘Well, look who I found,’ she said, leading Fleur in.
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