Alice-Miranda In New York 5

by Jacqueline Harvey

  ‘Mama,’ she said finally, ‘where are we going?’

  Gerda Finkelstein looked at her daughter. ‘To see a friend.’

  ‘Who?’ Lucinda asked as the limousine headed towards the Brooklyn Bridge.

  ‘Just someone I need to see,’ Gerda replied.

  Lucinda wasn’t accustomed to her mother behaving so mysteriously. Her tummy began to flutter.

  ‘It’s all right. You don’t need to come in with me,’ said Gerda, sensing her daughter’s unease.

  The limousine weaved its way off the Brooklyn Bridge and into the suburbs before pulling up outside a row of brownstone buildings. A curtain moved slightly and Lucinda wondered who was looking at them. Her mother gathered her handbag and moved to the door, which Raymond opened for her.

  ‘I won’t be long.’ Gerda patted her daughter on the knee.

  ‘Can I come?’ Lucinda blurted. ‘I don’t want to stay out here on my own.’

  ‘Raymond will be here,’ her mother replied. ‘But if you want to, yes, you can come.’

  Lucinda followed her mother out of the car and onto the street. Gerda walked up the short flight of steps and rang the buzzer. The door opened. A rail-thin woman wearing a headscarf stepped out onto the porch. Lucinda stayed behind on the pavement.

  ‘Oh my heavens, is it really you?’ It sounded like the woman had something caught in her throat.

  ‘Yes. It’s me, Louisa,’ Gerda replied. ‘May we come in?’ Gerda motioned for Lucinda to join her.

  ‘You must be Lucinda,’ the woman said. ‘Last time I saw you, you were so small. I nursed you in my arms.’

  ‘Lucinda, this is Louisa,’ Gerda said.

  ‘Hello,’ said Lucinda.

  ‘Please come, come in. I’ll make us some tea.’

  Lucinda noticed that Louisa walked with a limp. She and her mother were led down a hallway and into a small sitting room.

  ‘I hoped you’d come.’ Louisa glanced at a tea tray laden with cups and saucers and a small plate of cakes sitting in the middle of the coffee table. ‘I’ll just boil the kettle and fill the pot.’

  Louisa hurried off to the kitchen. Gerda motioned for Lucinda to sit down on one of the floral sofas.

  ‘How do you know each other, Mummy?’ Lucinda looked at her mother, who was studying some photographs on the wall.

  ‘We were friends a long time ago,’ said Gerda.

  ‘But why haven’t I met Louisa before?’ Lucinda asked.

  Gerda opened her mouth to reply when Louisa re-entered the sitting room. She busied herself making two cups of tea and then asked Lucinda if she would like one too.

  Lucinda shook her head. ‘No, thank you.’

  ‘I wasn’t sure if children drank tea so I’ve got some juice. Would you like that?’ Louisa asked.

  ‘Yes, please,’ Lucinda replied.

  Louisa handed Lucinda a glass of orange juice and sat down beside the child on the sofa opposite Gerda.

  The two women sipped their tea. Lucinda grew increasingly aware of the uneasy silence between them.

  Finally, it was Gerda who spoke first.

  ‘How are you, really?’ she asked.

  ‘Well,’ said Louisa, the corners of her mouth turning up just a little, ‘apart from losing my hair and feeling as though my mind has gone with it most days, I’m okay.’

  ‘I didn’t know you were so ill,’ Gerda started. ‘I would have come.’

  ‘I know you would have but I didn’t want you to get into trouble. Knowing how he feels about me, that last time at the house with Lucinda . . . He was so mad. I just didn’t want to put you in that position again. I can’t really believe that you’re here now.’ Louisa placed her teacup back onto the saucer with a sharp chink.

  Lucinda watched this exchange, not knowing what to make of it.

  ‘But there’s not much time left and I didn’t want to go without saying goodbye.’ Louisa’s blue eyes filled with tears.

  Gerda Finkelstein stifled a sob. She put down her teacup, walked over to Louisa and put her arms around her. Louisa stood and the two women embraced as though their very being depended on it.

  Lucinda didn’t quite know what to do. She felt like an intruder. This was a part of her mother’s life she knew nothing about and now she was watching something unfold that she felt she had no right to see.

  ‘Mama,’ Lucinda whispered. ‘Would you like me to go and wait in the car?’

  It was Louisa who spoke first. She looked up at Lucinda, her mascara tracking down her face.

  ‘Please, Lucinda, I’d like to spend a little bit of time with you, if I may. It would make me very happy.’

  Lucinda nodded.

  Her mother sat back down and Louisa patted the seat beside her, beckoning for Lucinda to move closer. The gangly child did as she was asked.

  ‘You’re going to be a very tall girl,’ Louisa observed. ‘And I see you’ve inherited your father’s lovely curls.’

  Lucinda pulled a face and a handful of hair. ‘Believe me, there is nothing lovely about this hair. My brothers are so lucky. They take after Mummy and I’ve just got this terrible frizz,’ Lucinda griped.

  Louisa smiled. ‘Well I can remember when you were just a wee little thing and you had the most delicious curls. They flopped in your face and you were forever pulling them. I gave you some hairclips with stars on them and you used to wear them all the time.’

  Lucinda frowned. ‘I’ve still got them. I’ve got this long piece of ribbon with all my hairclips attached and the stars are right at the top. I love them.’

  ‘Oh, I am glad. So I’ve been part of your life all along and you haven’t even known it,’ Louisa said, and reached for her teacup.

  ‘But why haven’t we seen you?’ Lucinda asked.

  Gerda Finkelstein sighed. ‘Because your mother has been a stupid fool and I’ve let your father tell me what to do for more years than I care to remember.’

  Lucinda wondered if she had heard her mother correctly.

  ‘Lucinda, Louisa was my best friend in the world before I married your father,’ Gerda began.

  On Friday afternoon, Dolly Oliver met Alice-Miranda after school as she had done every day that week.

  ‘Hello Mrs Oliver.’ Alice-Miranda ran down the steps and onto the pavement.

  ‘Good afternoon, my darling girl.’ Dolly enveloped the tiny child in her arms. ‘It seems Millie has finally got around to writing to you.’ She retrieved a letter from her handbag and gave it to Alice-Miranda.

  ‘Oh, thank you for bringing it. I thought they’d forgotten about me.’

  Alice-Miranda opened the envelope and unfolded the paper. She scanned its contents, laughing and smiling.

  ‘It sounds like Millie and Jacinta are getting along most of the time,’ Alice-Miranda informed Mrs Oliver. ‘Miss Hephzibah and Miss Henrietta are well and the renovations are coming along at Caledonia Manor. Oh no, Bonaparte bit Mr Walt on the bottom when he was leading him out to the paddock. He’s a naughty boy,’ Alice-Miranda tutted.

  She folded the letter and placed it back into the envelope, then stuffed it into her school satchel. She looked up at Dolly and said seriously, ‘I’ve been thinking about something today.’

  Dolly bit her lip. ‘Oh dear, that sounds ominous.’

  ‘I promise it’s not. I was just thinking that I’ve been so bossy all week telling you where I wanted to go and all the things that I wanted to see and it’s been awfully selfish of me not to ask if there’s anything you’d like to do,’ Alice-Miranda offered.

  Dolly smiled down at her young charge. ‘Well, that’s very thoughtful, my dear.’

  ‘Is there?’ Alice-Miranda looked at her expectantly. ‘Anything you’d like to do?’

  ‘Well, as a matter of fact, there is
,’ Dolly replied. ‘And I think you might like to go there too.’

  ‘What is it?’ Alice-Miranda bubbled.

  ‘I think I might keep this one a secret until we get there.’ Dolly Oliver arched her eyebrow at the child and gave a mysterious smile. Dolly took Alice-Miranda by the hand and the pair headed towards Park Avenue.

  ‘Are we walking there?’ Alice-Miranda asked.

  ‘No dear, it’s a little too far for these old legs of mine. I walked from the store to school and that’s just about done me in,’ Dolly replied. ‘Keep your eyes open for a taxi.’

  Standing on the corner of Park and East 75th, Alice-Miranda scanned the oncoming traffic but for once there didn’t seem to be a yellow vehicle in sight.

  A doorman wearing tails and a top hat stepped out from the awning of the apartment block he stood sentry in front of.

  ‘Excuse me, miss, ma’am, are you looking for transportation?’ he asked.

  Alice-Miranda pulled Dolly towards him.

  ‘Yes, sir,’ the child replied.

  ‘I’m afraid that you might have to wait a while. It’s just on shift change time for the drivers,’ the man informed them.

  Mrs Oliver frowned.

  ‘But look,’ Alice-Miranda grinned and pointed. ‘There’s someone who can take us.’

  ‘You wanna lift?’ The man weaved across two lanes of traffic and pulled up beside the kerb.

  Mrs Oliver shook her head. ‘Oh, I don’t think so.’

  ‘Please, Mrs Oliver. Think of it as an adventure,’ said Alice-Miranda, tugging on her arm.

  ‘I don’t know.’ Dolly’s brow puckered and she frowned fiercely.

  ‘I’m sure that it’s perfectly safe – and there’s hardly any traffic at the moment – well, for New York, anyway,’ Alice-Miranda pointed out. ‘Please.’

  Mrs Oliver consulted the silver-haired doorman.

  ‘What do you think?’ she asked.

  The man nodded. ‘I’ve been known to use them every now and then,’ he replied.

  Alice-Miranda ran towards the contraption and leapt into the carriage. The young man on the bicycle, aware of his elderly passenger’s uncertainty, hopped off and assisted Mrs Oliver into the seat.

  ‘Thank you, young man,’ she nodded at him. ‘Now, please take the greatest of care. No lane-changing and watch your speed.’

  Alice-Miranda grabbed hold of Dolly’s hand. The pedicab pulled out from the kerb.

  ‘Ma’am, where would you like to go?’ the young man called back.

  ‘Serendipity 3,’ Dolly replied. ‘I believe it’s on East . . .’

  ‘Sixtieth, ma’am between Second and Third. You’re in for a treat, little lady,’ he said, glancing around at Alice-Miranda, who beamed back at him.

  ‘Please, keep your eyes on the road, for heaven’s sake.’ Dolly gripped the edge of the carriage and held on as though her very life depended on it.

  ‘Scrambled eggs and bacon?’ Dolly asked as Alice-Miranda wandered into the kitchen just after 8 am on Saturday morning.

  ‘Yes please, although I think my tummy is still full from that delicious food yesterday afternoon. I couldn’t believe that’s where you wanted to go in the whole of the city.’ Alice-Miranda walked up behind the older woman and put her arms around her waist.

  ‘Well dear, you know food and inventing are my passions so I was keen to see what all that fuss about frozen hot chocolate was,’ Dolly replied. ‘And now I know.’

  ‘Has Mummy gone downstairs?’ Alice-Miranda opened the refrigerator and retrieved a carton of juice.

  ‘Yes dear, she’s been up for ages. I know there are still a few things worrying her about the opening this evening.’

  Alice-Miranda poured herself a glass of orange juice and returned the carton to the fridge.

  ‘Has she heard from Daddy?’ she asked as she sat down at the table.

  ‘Yes, he should be in sometime early this afternoon, which is a blessed relief.’ Dolly Oliver placed a small mound of scrambled eggs alongside two strips of crispy bacon.

  ‘I think I might see if Mummy and Mr Gruber need any help downstairs,’ Alice-Miranda decided. ‘I can’t wait to see how everything looks.’

  ‘Well, dear,’ Dolly instructed, ‘just don’t get in anyone’s way, that’s all.’

  ‘I won’t,’ Alice-Miranda smiled.

  Alice-Miranda rode the lift down from the apartment to the ground floor, where the extravagant cosmetics counters and perfumeries were now stocked with their myriad wares. Several staff members were adding the finishing touches to the displays and Alice-Miranda smiled at them and said hello as she made her way around the floor. She had no idea where her mother would be but decided that if she started at the bottom and made her way up one level at a time she’d probably run into her somewhere. Through a marble archway, Alice-Miranda admired the beauty salon and then through another archway to the left was the handbag department. It all looked perfect, even without the floral arrangements her mother had planned.

  The lift bell dinged and Alice-Miranda saw her mother walking out of the carriage. ‘Hello Mummy.’

  ‘Oh, hello darling,’ Cecelia smiled and waved.

  Alice-Miranda skipped over to meet her. ‘The store looks amazing.’

  ‘Yes, I think everything will be fine.’ Cecelia ran the fingers of her left hand through her hair. ‘Have you had a proper look around yet?

  ‘No, I’ve only seen the ground floor but I was planning to take it one level at a time,’ Alice-Miranda replied. ‘Is there anything I can do to help?’

  Her mother’s telephone rang. Cecelia smiled apologetically at Alice-Miranda before answering it. ‘What’s that? No. I explained about that before. I’ll be there in a minute.’ She rang off. ‘Sorry sweetheart, there’s a problem with the change rooms on five. I have to go.’ She pushed the button for the lift and the doors slid open. ‘I’ll see you later on.’ And with that, Cecelia disappeared from sight.

  Alice-Miranda trotted up the grand central staircase to the mezzanine level where three men were screwing a fascia board onto the temporary stage area which would play host to the formal celebrations.

  She recognised their foreman. ‘Hello Mr George,’ Alice-Miranda said as his drill shuddered and whirled.

  ‘Take that upstairs to five, will you?’ George said to the other men, while pointing at a long piece of timber lying on the ground beside the stage. ‘See what she’s bleating about this time.’ The men nodded and quickly disappeared.

  ‘The store looks beautiful,’ Alice-Miranda said, wondering if he hadn’t heard her say hello. ‘I’m so glad that everything has come together for Mummy. She’s been terribly worried, you know.’

  ‘She’s had good reason to be,’ George smirked. ‘All those little hiccups, driving her crazy.’

  Over the past few weeks, Alice-Miranda had seen George working in the store on several occasions and had always given him a wave or a smile but she realised that up until now she’d never actually had a proper conversation with him.

  ‘Well, there have been a lot of strange things happening,’ Alice-Miranda commented.

  ‘Right under her nose,’ George said.

  Alice-Miranda studied his face, searching for clues. ‘Do you know something?’

  ‘No. Why would I?’ he snapped.

  ‘I wasn’t accusing,’ Alice-Miranda replied. ‘I know you’ve had so many problems to sort out and you’ve been working such long hours.’

  ‘You don’t know the half of it,’ George mumbled to himself. ‘But the pay’s been good.’

  ‘What did you say, Mr George?’ Alice-Miranda asked.

  ‘Nothing.’ He shook his head.

  ‘Well, I’ll see you tonight at the gala,’ Alice-Miranda smiled.

  ‘Yeah, I wou
ldn’t want to miss it. I think it’s really gonna go off.’ He stared past her as if lost in his thoughts.

  Alice-Miranda hadn’t enjoyed her conversation with Mr George at all. In fact there was something about him and what he said that gave her a very strange feeling indeed.

  'Im not going to the stupid salon today, Mama, or any other day.’ Lucinda refused to budge from her bed.

  ‘Please Lucinda,’ Gerda begged. ‘If not for your father, for me.’

  ‘Not until you tell Papa about Louisa.’ Lucinda rolled over and looked her mother in the eye.

  ‘But Lucinda, what’s the point. Louisa is sick and your father will be so mad that we went to visit her.’

  ‘I hope I’m never as weak as you,’ Lucinda spat.

  Gerda felt hot with shame.

  She walked to Lucinda’s wardrobe and pulled out the particularly beautiful white dress her father had brought home the evening before.

  Lucinda sat up in bed. She watched her mother hang the dress on the handle of the tall chest. Gerda was a proud woman but at that moment she looked utterly defeated.

  ‘Lucinda, today is the opening of the new salon. We must be there together as a family. Your brothers are dressed. Your father is ready. We cannot leave you at home,’ her mother begged.

  ‘All right, I’ll go, as long as you tell Papa that I am going back to school on Monday and you are going to see Louisa as often as you want.’ Lucinda hopped out of bed and walked across the floor towards her mother.

  Gerda was tired of the fighting. ‘I will,’ she said, pulling her daughter in close and stroking the top of her head.

  ‘He’s a horrible person, Mama.’ Lucinda stared up at her mother’s brown eyes.

  ‘No, he’s just a proud man,’ Gerda replied.

  ‘He’s been making trouble for the Hightons.’ Lucinda took a step away.

  ‘That’s a terrible thing to say, Lucinda. Why do you think that?’

  Lucinda shrugged. ‘Because he has.’

  ‘Don’t tell lies about your father – he’s not a bad man.’ Gerda turned and left the room.

  But Lucinda had proof. That morning, knowing her father had gone out, Lucinda had crept into his study. She didn’t know what she was looking for or if she would find anything at all but it didn’t take long to uncover her father’s dirty secrets. In a notebook was a list of names and lots of large numbers with dollar signs. She was sure that her father was paying people to make trouble for Alice-Miranda’s family. Lucinda had to get to Alice-Miranda and tell her what was going on. She just had to work out how.