Nurse Jess (28 page)

CHAPTER XIX

AND fireworks, indeed, they were.

Barry agreed with this when he returned from delivering the Jessamine tourists to the Palm Hotel on neighboring Haven Island and picked up his delegate passengers for the coast.

He was extremely cheerful, so much so that Jessa caught suspiciously at his arm.

“
Ba, you wretch, you manoeuvred all this. You and that queer, priceless, subconscious urge of yours whispering at your shoulder that all would be well.
”

“
But it did,
”
he persisted seriously, discarding his smug cheerfulness a moment.
“
It
did,
but of course it had to be nudged.
”

“
Then you did manoeuvre it.
”

“
I did nothing, except fetch back, as I
’
ve always fetched, orders from the mainland to the island.
”

“
And this was an order for fireworks?
”

“
Exactly, my child.
”

“
From whom?
”

Barry examined his nails.

“
Benjamin,
”
he said.

“
Benjamin! But Benjamin went beach with Keefi.
”

“
Only as far as the point, after which they veered inland and—well, you
’
ve just witnessed the result yourself.
”

Jessa was staring at Barry.
“
But Benjamin was always frightened of Lopi,
”
she remembered.
“
He would never leave the station wagon and climb to the top.
”

“
Probably he was more frightened that somebody might grab his place at the wheel. He adores cars, don
’
t forget. Besides, a man loses his fear when there are vital issues at stake, and to Benjamin the position of general usefulness at the Jessamine Inn was the most vital issue in the world.
”

“
It
’
s a very dreadful thing all the same,
”
said Jessa, not very convincingly since she was not very convinced of the dreadfulness herself.
“
Do you know what will happen?
”

“
Of course I do. The Tourist Bureau will withdraw their patronage. They
’
ll have to. News spreads fast. You can tell people for hours on end that Lopi never erupted, that it was all a hoax, that it never will erupt in the future, but they won
’
t believe it. They
’
ll refuse point-blank to come here again, my child. In time the Palm at Haven will wean over the trade... I believe Gascoyne would like that sort of hotel ... and the Jessamine be back where it started. Just as well the old pub wasn
’
t completed, eh, pet?
”

“
It
’
s completed enough to be an unwarranted expense,
”
said Jessa bluntly, thinking of her father and all he would lose.

“
Don
’
t you believe it. The delegates weren
’
t alarmed, were they? The conventions will still come, and the way the hotel stands that should suit your dad fine—and suit me as well.
”

“
You?
”

“
Well, you don
’
t think the Bureau will keep up a twice
-
weekly run for practically next to nothing, do you? A run entailing two pilots, a navigator and an air hostess, my pet. No, they
’
ll retire hurriedly and more or less gracefully to allow B. Burns with his
Matthew Flinders
to take over again. And believe me I mean to do the thing handsomely,
”
declared Ba.

Jessa nodded gravely, remembering what he had told her on the journey out.

“
I know, blue seats, blue carpet down the gangway.
”
Barry finished sublimely,
“
And Margaret in a blue suit.
”

“
Who?
...Who,
Barry?
”

“
Meggy—don
’
t tell me you didn
’
t know it was like that with us?
”
Barry looked at her, incredulously at first and then a little uneasily.
“
Look, kiddy, you haven
’
t—I mean you
didn
’
t think that—well, that we, you and I
—”

Jessa reminded him with mock gravity,
“
You gave me that impression once.
”

“
Of course I did, and I believed I meant it, too at the time. But just as well you didn
’
t think that way in return, because I tell you now, Jess, that if we
’
d gone ahead with things I couldn
’
t have stuck it out with you, not after I met Meg.
”

“
It
’
s not very complimentary,
”
admitted Jessa, but without any rancour. She asked breathlessly,
“
Does—does Margaret feel the same about you?
”

“
Jessamine, you astound me. You were at Biggabilla. You must have seen that shining face.
”

“
I did, but I thought
—”

“
Yes?
”

“
Well, you see, I
’
d always planned Meg for the Professor
—”

Barry stared back at Jessa as though she was quite stupid.

“
Margaret for the Professor! Margaret, when it
’
s—when everyone can see it
’
s
—
Oh, Jessa
—
m
y
Jess,
”
he said.

There was a lot she wanted to find out... how wicked Benjamin had manoeuvred the fireworks business, and who had put it into rather unimaginative head in the first... how Mummy was reacting to their demotion... and, of course, Dad.

There was no time, however. They had to get going at once to return by schedule.

She could not discover about Benjamin as he was wisely keeping under cover, temporary cover, anyway, but Mother and Father did not seem at all let down.

Jessa suspected that Mummy was already planning a quick return to her old room, seaward the reef, the mission through the other window, and she knew Dad was thinking of the island traders in the bay again, a leisurely evening with his pipe while travellers talked the island talk he understood and loved, tide, element, coral, copra, conchi shell, all that.

Not so much money, she thought, but one didn
’
t need much money at Crescent. Life would be on the old pleasant basis again.

The journey home was interspersed with laughter over the supposed eruption. Far from alarming the delegates they had considered it a fine farewell. When they reached Rose Bay they transferred to the boats and were taken ashore.

The Professor found Tom, who proudly brought out the Duchess more highly polished than ever, and the four of them got in.

When they arrived at Lady Belinda, Jessa went first to Matron and handed her the typewritten notes, then she sought out Meg.

“
Darling, I was absolutely astonished when Ba told me ...You see, I had never guessed
...
I always thought of you as
dedicated,
Meggy
—”

“
There are many dedications, Jessa,
”
reminded Margaret with a gentle smile.

Just as on the island there were lots of things Jessa wanted to ask
... When first Margaret had known about Ba ... if it was not for her, then for whom had the Professor bought Barry
’
s opal to make into a ring?

But Meg was in a hurry, and Jessa could not blame her. Her day
’
s work was over and Barry
’
s plane was in.

She watched her go, then went down to consult the roster to see when she started, and found that she resumed this evening. Trust Matron to drive home the fact that she was still at work.

She put on her pinafore early, pulled on her cap. She intended to visit the Perfesser before she signed on. She knew he was still here because she had peeped round his corner of the verandah to make sure. How long more will I have him? she thought achingly, recalling that his time at Belinda must almost be over.

As she came to the long corridor she looked upward as usual
... something inside her knew a little drearily that she would always look as a matter of course.

But today she did not look vainly, for there it was again, the tall lanky shadow, the daddy-long-legs legs, the gangling arms, all traced unmistakably on the wall. Dear, dear Professor, she thought.

They rounded the corner together, the tall man, the small girl.

“
Good evening, Nurse Jess.
”

“
Good evening, sir,
”
she said.

“
You
’
re starting early.
”

She was, but how did he know unless he, too, had consulted her roster?

“
Yes, sir,
”
she said.

“
And why, may I ask?
”

“
I wanted to visit Barry.
”

“
And why, may I ask again
”
—he was in an enquiring mood, it seemed—
“
do you insist on that unsuitable name? Especially now.
”

“
How do you mean, now?
”

“
Now that it
’
s scarcely your right to give it; now when it is surely Margaret
’
s prerogative.
”

“
Margaret
’
s
...
How—how do you mean, sir?
”

“
Isn
’
t Margaret engaged, officially engaged to Barry at last?
”

“
But—but I never called the Perfesser after
that
Ba, I called him after you.
”

“
After me? But
—”

“
Oh, yes, I know it was impertinence on my part, but somehow I always associated him with you, so, of course, when I knew what that B stood for, I gave him your name. I
’
m sorry, sir.
”

“
Stop that absurd
‘
sir
’
at once.
”
His tone was sharp.

“
Yes, Professor.
”

“
And don
’
t call me that either. Call me by my name.
”

“
B—Barry.
”

“
I
’
m not Barry.
”

“
But the quadruplet, he was Barry.
”

“
That was after his father. There was also a Peter. I
’
m that young chap—or at least, that young chap is me.
”

“
But your letter when I mended the spectacles
—”

“
One pair only,
”
put in the Professor succinctly.

“
—Was signed
B.
Gink.
”

“
Yes, Bartholomew. Mr. Winthrop baulked at that, and I can
’
t say I blame him. He quite cheered up when I assured him I had a second name, Peter. He closed the deal on that.
”