“Really, how mighty peculiar!” was all an extremely disappointed Boritz could utter as it began to dawn on him that, sadly, all this time and expense had brought him nothing more than a much lighter bank account.
The tall, willowy man in the smart suit continued to sincerely share his thoughts and concerns with Boritz.
“Yes, to conclude, I think it’s true to say that Polly did her absolute best to be as truthful as she could when recounting all her experiences. And when she finally related her harrowing climb up the mountain, well, I have to say that both my colleague as well as myself were truly moved to tears. This girl is extraordinarily tenacious and wholehearted in everything she says and does. It is therefore quite mystifying as to why she would even want to create an imaginary land such as Piadora.”
“Hmm. Mystifying for us all,” he lamented.
“So sadly, Mr. Scumberry, we have come to a sudden halt, and therefore we can go no further in our attempt to find out the origins of the ring. What is certain is that Polly did not steal the ring. It really was given to her as a present. Also, her friends, if imaginary, are as real to her as you and I. Therefore, she obviously needs the help that earlier on in the day you mentioned, yes, help from someone more suitably trained in the matters of the head and mind, experts such as your good friend and colleague Nick Ninkumpoop.”
With his subservient canine growling dutifully at his side, Boritz bid both gentlemen farewell and quickly closed the door behind him. He then headed back to his private room with the full intention of reexamining the graphs as well as reevaluating the conclusions that both American gentlemen had come to. If even this failed to produce anything that might well have been overlooked, then at least he could sit all alone and contemplate not only his navel but his seriously diminished bank account! For truth be known, he had completely run out of ideas in terms of what, if anything, he could do next.
Pitstop, his ever faithful companion, quietly patted alongside him, his long, pink tongue limply poised over his front fangs as he left his usual thick, slimy trail of drool all along the highly polished corridor.
Once again in his sitting room, a profoundly desperate Boritz sunk heavily into a comfortable chair while experiencing the deepest sense of utter dismay, for despite spending a king’s ransom on the polygraph affair as well as traveling the length and breadth of England with his good wife, Mildred, he was still none the wiser. Oh, he had to admit the holiday had been both educational as well as a lot of fun. They had eaten at some of the finest gourmet restaurants that England had to offer, and they had trudged over hill and dale as they visited one enchanting castle after another in their desperation to find out the real identity of the ring. However, it had all been to no avail, and this is why he had rather mistakenly hoped and believed that with these professionals on board, all would finally be revealed. But he could not have gotten things more wrong. As he sat alone wallowing in the deepest self-pity, Boritz continued to muse about how else he could discover the source of this jolly old ring and its true value.
Chapter Twenty
GOOD-BYE, POLLY, GOOD-BYE
LATER THAT SAME day Uncle Boritz invited Polly to join him in his comfortable and very plush sitting room, as he wished to have one final and very private audience with her.
“Well, Polly, how do you think you generally fared in terms of this unusual test?”
“I really have no idea,” Polly quietly but politely mumbled.
“Hmm. Well, it is my sad duty to inform you that you were by no means exonerated, for not only did you fail the polygraph, but you failed it dramatically. As a result, these gentlemen were left with no alternative other than to agree with me that, whatever the reason, you, my dear, really have gone barking mad. Yes, sadly, as I have never failed to remind you and the other children, a leopard never, ever changes its spots!”
On hearing this latest piece of terrible news, Polly began reeling backward and forward, feeling sickened to the very core of her being. She closed her eyes tightly and let out a small exasperated gasp.
“There is nothing further to say except that in the morning after breakfast, Miss Scrimp will be ordered to pack a suitcase with a few of your personal belongings. You will then be taken by Mildred and my good self to the hospital. From tomorrow onward you will no longer be my problem but theirs. Until then, kindly get back to your duties.”
Polly felt as though she had just been hit with a ten-ton hammer as she struggled to come to terms with failing the lie detector test when nothing she had relayed to the gentlemen had been as much as a small white lie—not that she believed in things such as white lies, as it was either the truth being told or it wasn’t; at least, that’s how she saw things.
Moments later, after being so brutally lied to and dismissed from her Uncle Boritz’s presence, she sunk to her knees with a washcloth to clean the kitchen floor, and she felt paralyzed with a sadness so acute that it actually felt like the very life force had just been sucked out of her. In that lonely and very desperate moment in time, she felt she had no choice left other than to believe that she was, after all, in her uncle’s own words, barking mad.
Had she really lost her marbles? Everyone else seemed to think so. She thought back to the boys at the train station, who had denied that they had ever known her. That little incident had left her feeling miserably confused. She then formally considered the sad and indisputable truth that Aazi had not even had the decency to reply to even one of her very friendly, chat-filled letters. This was yet more confirmation that she was, after all, in cuckoo land. Then surely the trump card was that she had failed the notoriously infallible lie detector test, and not just by a teeny bit but terribly.
No, enough was enough. She now had little choice but to face the harsh truth that all of this talk of Piadora had been little more than a figment of her wildly overactive imagination. Now she would have to face the terrible consequences of having been gullible enough to have fallen foul of such a ridiculous and unbelievable fantasy.
With Polly dismissed to go back to her punishment, Uncle Boritz then called all the other children to come to his private sitting room for a meeting. Once the children were comfortably seated, Boritz wasted no time at all at getting to the heart of the matter.
“Children, it probably comes as no surprise to any of you when I say that Polly has completely failed the polygraph.”
“Who cares?” Tommy Pulleyblank murmured, as he chose to speak up for all present.
“I realize that none of you care, and why should you? However, still I need you to hear me out. It is now a matter of record, as she abysmally failed the polygraph, proving once and for all that she is a compulsive liar, and with this in mind, she will be leaving our tightly knit family to attend a specialist hospital that deals with children who are suffering from such appallingly severe diseases of the mind. It would therefore be best if you all keep your distance and stay well clear of her at this most difficult time. Please understand me when I give this order, for it is not my choice but hers alone. After all, good-byes can be very harrowing, and she needs time to herself consider her ways, as well as to reflect on the severity of all that has taken place.”
Uncle Boritz inhaled deeply and, whilst doing so, took the time to observe how each child was digesting this latest piece of news. He still felt unsure as to whether a few might be inclined to want to say goodbye, if only because they genuinely felt sorry for her. He therefore decided he must try one more time to ensure that his express wishes were enforced.
“Children, let not any of your hearts be troubled or afraid, for this specific disease is not the least bit infectious or contagious; it therefore cannot be caught by simply standing next to her. However, I must reinforce that as she is struggling with such a debilitating mental deficiency I sadly have to forbid you all from striking up even the smallest of conversations with her. Have I made myself clear?”
“Yes, Uncle,” they quietly and unanimously agreed.
“Tomorrow, as
soon as breakfast is over, Mildred and my good self will be escorting her to the hospital to begin her specialist treatment that will hopefully one day find her reconnecting with real life. Enough said. You are all officially dismissed.”
As the other children danced along the corridor as they headed back to the television lounge to continue watching their favorite western, James, who was still officially on ROPE, knew instinctively that there was now a greater urgency than ever to talk privately with his sister before she was taken away—and for all he knew it might well be forever!
James knew with the greatest of clarity that it was now or never. He needed to speak with his sister, and if he left it any longer, it could well prove to be too late. He quietly entered the kitchen, and immediately his eyes fell upon Polly as she furiously continued to scrub the kitchen floor down on all fours. James quietly knelt down beside her, feeling terribly overwhelmed with the thought that he might never see her again, and this moment in time might well be his last and only chance to ever say a proper good-bye to her. Polly stopped what she was doing and placed her brush back in the bucket before turning to face him.
“Listen to me, Polly. I now know that Piadora really does exist,” he sniffed as he fought to hold back tears of anguish that his sister, the flesh of his flesh, was about to be taken from him, and maybe for good!
Polly shook her head, her eyes glistening with fresh tears.
“Oh, James, stop right now. Believe me when I say that Piadora is one big lie. It really doesn’t exist. Even the polygraph has confirmed to everybody living within these walls that I am nothing more than a treacherous liar. So believe me when I say that I just made it all up as a way of getting through each day,” she unconvincingly stated as she struggled to persuade her brother that everything she had told him and the others was entirely untrue.
“Please, Polly, listen to me. I beg you. Even though everyone in this place is calling you bonkers, I know you’re not. Piadora really does exist, for I have finally met Hodgekiss, and Ralph too,” he stated with the greatest sense of urgency.
“So tell me, James, precisely how long has all this been going on?” she coldheartedly quizzed, her eyes blazing.
“Look Polly, Ralph even gave me this book titled The Prince and the Pauper. Here, see for yourself.”
Polly glanced over but then chose to close both her eyes as well as cover her ears in protest.
“Stop it, James! I’m not listening. Believing in all of this craziness has only made my pain a whole heap worse. Why, even Will has chosen to turn aside from me, and he of all people promised with his hand on his heart that he would always be my faithful friend who would see me through anything and everything. So go away and forget about it all. Promise me you will,” she despairingly urged.
“No, I cannot do that, Polly. You are my sister, and I need you to leave this hateful castle and come with me, for I want us to go together to Piadora. If we steal away in the night, then you will not have to go to that awful hospital where they send horribly mad people.”
“Stop it now!” she hissed. “If anyone hears us talking about any of this, then you will be joining me in the hospital, a hospital specially set up for lunatics like me! They even call it the loony bin. So, James, listen to me. Do you really want that for your life?” she cried out as she grabbed hold of both his arms out of sheer desperation.
“Polly, please stop it, for you’re hurting me,” he cried.
Polly instantly released him from her tight grip as once more she sunk to the floor in despair, her eyes brimming with fresh tears.
“Come with me. We can do this together. I beg you. You’re my sister. You owe me this much, and as I cannot do this alone, I beg you to change your mind and say you’ll come,” he urged.
Sadly for him, all his strong pleading fell on stony ground.
“Sorry, James. I need you to drop this subject, for I’m most adamant when I say I’m not going,” she sniffed, once more shaking her head to show him her utter disapproval.
James still wasn’t about to give up. “Please, Polly. Please,” he implored.
“James, please do me a favor and stop all this nonsensical rubbish. Go to bed, and forget about all of this, for as I’ve already told you, it can only bring you much sadness and misery,” she angrily stated as she plunged her hand into the bucket to retrieve the scrubbing brush. Picking up the brush once more, she then threw it on the ground in frustration as she then began to wipe away the tears that were now furiously rolling down her cheeks.
“No, no, no. Polly, I cannot forget it, and shame on you for denying everything, because now that I have met Ralph and Hodgekiss, I no longer need any convincing.”
“What? You’ve been secretly meeting with them?”
“Yes, Polly, I have. Ever since you were banned from making tea for the tramps, I have been called to take over, and that’s how things started. So I don’t care what that stupid polygraph read as true, for I now know in my heart that you didn’t lie. Piadora does exist, as does the Hoolie Koolie and Hubber Blubber tree, and I promise, hand on heart, that at sometime in the future, in fact, as soon as I’m a bit older, then I am going to go on this journey, even if it means going it alone without you,” he said as he unexpectedly lunged forward to give her an almighty embrace.
Polly’s response was to ignore his sudden and very touching expression of affection as she wearily picked up the scrubbing brush to continue on with the cleaning.
However, a very determined James still chose to ignore her distressed pleas. “Polly, I’m so sorry that I’ve been moping around so much, and I’m just as sorry that I didn’t believe you from the start,” he stated, his arms still tightly clung ’round her shoulders as he continued to hang on to her and whisper in her ear. “You are, after all, my only sister, and at the end of the day you’re very dear to me.” He wept as he continued to hold her as though it would be for the last time ever.
James suddenly began to believe he finally was winning her over when Polly dropped the scrubbing brush back into the bucket of soapy water and reached to clasp his hands and hug him tightly.
“James, I insist that you listen to me. Please don’t leave here. I beg of you. I promise you that Piadora is one fat, big lie that I made up, and it’s just all got way out of control,” she wept.
James jerked backward and then removed her arms from around his neck as he began to flounder. “Polly, I thought you of all people would tell me the truth. And now I see you’ve changed. You no longer care about right and wrong, truth and lies, and the like. Now I see you’re no different from the rest of them,” he contemptuously spat as he then quickly released himself from her grip to get up from the floor and make his way out of the room, for he too had punishment chores that he was expected to complete, and he knew he was running out of time.
“If you won’t leave with me tonight, then I have no idea when, if ever, I’ll see you again. But what I do know is that at some time in the future I will be ready and fully prepared to leave this hateful place, and when that time comes, trust me, I will know. I am not going to turn back, for I will do it with or without your help, that’s for sure,” he cried.
As he closed the kitchen door on his sister, bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh, he wiped away the tears that were now furiously and unashamedly running down both cheeks. For Uncle to have confiscated his model planes was one thing, but to take away his one and only precious sister by sending her to a hospital for nutty people when in his heart he knew she was innocent of all crimes was quite another. He was indeed justifiably completely heartbroken. In that anguished and forlorn moment he felt fueled with uncontrollable anger, for deep inside he believed that he might never see her again, and if this was based on all he had previously experienced, he felt just as sure her whereabouts would most certainly be forever withheld from him.
Therefore, in that small moment in time, he knew with every fiber of his being that he now had to use the time and be prepared to risk all to go down this
never-before-trodden and so very scary path. It was now no longer just about him but also for the sake of his dear and very precious sister. He would now live every day of his life as though it were his last, as he secretly prepared himself for that day when he would leave. He would have to be mentally agile, and he needed to gain a bit of muscle on his arms. He felt determined to become physically strong, and if that meant using the lunchtime breaks to go to the school gym and get fit, then he would do whatever it took until finally he stopped looking so pathetically puny and malnourished. There would indeed come a time when he would face himself in the mirror and know that he was ready.
Polly continued on scrubbing the floor despite feeling fresh concerns regarding her younger brother. Later that night as she scrambled into her bed and cuddled Langdon tightly to her chest, she could only hope and pray that her younger brother would come to his senses and follow her advice by completely abandoning all ideas of heading off in hot pursuit of the elusive kingdom of Piadora. She sincerely hoped that if nothing else, she had put him off going alone, at least for the time being.
True to Uncle Boritz’s word, after Polly had finished her painfully small bowl of cereal with the usual quota of silverfish struggling to stay alive as they floated to the surface in the lumpy substitute for milk, Polly was then ordered to go and brush her hair while Miss Scrimp dutifully headed upstairs to pack a light suitcase on behalf of the child. With this done, Polly was then ordered to go in a quiet and orderly fashion and sit in the car until he had finished reading his daily newspaper. Polly did as she was ordered, and so, without even being given the opportunity to say good-bye to her younger brother or any of the any of the other children, she was quickly and most efficiently escorted by Miss Scrimp to her guardians’ car, which was parked outside under a large oak tree.
To her horror, Polly noticed that Miss Scrimp had her beloved Langdon scrunched up tightly under her right arm. He looked so limp and helpless that she could only hope that the unpleasantly strong odor emanating from under Miss Scrimp’s armpits had caused the poor darling to pass out long ago. When they reached the car, Miss Scrimp demanded that Polly stand by the car door while she marched to the back of the car to place the small suitcase in the trunk. Then she ordered Polly to take a seat in the back and wait patiently for Aunt Mildred and Uncle Boritz, who planned to be with her as soon as they were able.
The Trouble with Polly Brown Page 36