The Little Secret (11 page)

They hurried through miles of dingy corridors. They climbed miles of winding stone steps. The palace was so enormous that it took the three of them more than half an hour to reach the top of the turret where the old princess had her “secret” apartments.

Twilly rapped a secret signal on the door. An older Ecker girl, with bedspring curls just like Twilly's, opened the door. She beamed when she saw them.

“Look who it is! Oh, she will be pleased to see you!” She curtseyed to Jane. “How do you do, madam. I'm Narcas, the old princess's personal maid. We don't get many visitors.”

“It's quite safe,” Twilly assured her. She said it again, nodding at Narcas in a meaningful way. “Quite safe!”

A very old, quavering voice said, “Is that my little Twilly?”

“Yes, madam darling,” said Twilly. “And I brought the princess.”

“Staffa?” The old voice sounded overjoyed. “Really? Oh, what a splendid surprise!”

Jane found herself in a corner of the palace that was a piece of England. The old princess's sitting room was stuffed with cozy human rugs, pictures and knick-knacks, and it reminded Jane strongly of her grandma's bungalow in Peterborough.

The old princess sat in an armchair beside the gas fire. She was very, very old, and very frail, but she smiled like a girl when she saw Staffa and Twilly. Jane saw at once that they were both extremely fond of the old lady.

Narcas smoothed the tartan rug across her knees. “And this is Miss Jane — the new girl.”

Feeling shy, Jane curtseyed.

The old princess smiled. “Hello, Jane — how nice to see a new human face! Come and sit beside me, so that I can look at you properly.” She pointed to a low stool, and Jane sat down. “Gracious, how young you are! I was quite a grown-up when my husband brought me through the box.”

Jane wondered who the old princess's husband had been. Was she the grandmother of Staffa and Quarley, or the great-grandmother?

“It took me some time to get used to the kingdom of Eck,” said the old princess. “But I was in love, which made it easier. And I had a nice little maid to cheer me up — the granny of these two sweet sisters. Have you seen her lately, Twilly?”

“Yes, madam,” Twilly said. “I popped into the Old Servants' Home on my last day off, and she's ever so well. She won the sack-race at sports day.”

“Oh, that is nice. Shall we have some tea? And Jane might like to see some of the things I brought with me from my world. I wasn't supposed to bring anything, of course — it had to come through bit by bit, and my mother-in-law was very cross with she found out. But my dear husband insisted. He wanted me to be as comfortable as possible.”

Narcas and Twilly set out the tea things, very quickly and neatly. There was a china tea set patterned with roses, a small jug of something that looked like milk and a plate of fairy cupcakes (Jane tasted one of these, and found it nothing like a cupcake, but pleasantly chewy). The five of them sat cozily around a small table. It was peaceful. They were at the top of the highest tower, and could hardly hear the guns.

Staffa asked, “May we see your Special Book? Jane would love it.”

The old princess chuckled kindly. “Oh, I guessed you'd want to see that — you've always adored it. Narcas, would you bring it, dear?”

Narcas brought her a very old photograph album, covered with cracked red leather.

“They don't have photographs here,” she told Jane. “Which is a pity, because there's no better way to store precious memories.”

“We have videos now,” Jane said. “I mean, moving pictures, with sounds.”

“Goodness! There was nothing like that when I came through in 1927.”

Jane tried to imagine having memories that stretched back to 1927. Even her grandma had only been a baby in those days. She stared at the black-and-white photos in the old princess's precious album. These were not very interesting — page after page of men with mustaches and ladies with big hats. Like Jane's grandma, the old princess loved to talk about people who were dead.

“That's my cousin Bruce. That's his wife, Barbara. Those are the Clapper sisters, who lived next door, just after their poodle won a prize at a dog show. And here's a snap of the poodle. Oh, what was his name?”

“Enoch,” prompted Narcas. She had taken out her knitting.

“That's right, after the Enoch in the Bible who walked with God. Thank you, dear. He was a vicious little beast — quite the terror of Pangbourne.” She turned a page. “And that's me, shortly after I met my dear husband.”

She and Staffa exchanged private family smiles.

Jane looked curiously at the photograph. It showed a smiling young girl with short curly hair. She wore a white dress, and she was sitting in a flat boat on a river. A young man sat beside her, and he looked very like Quarles. This must be his grandfather, she thought. The family likeness was amazing. She was still staring at the photograph when the king himself walked into the room.

Staffa gave a yelp of joy and leapt up to hug him.

Jane was a little nervous, afraid that Narcas and Twilly would get into trouble. But she quickly saw that the two Eckers were very relaxed with Quarles. Narcas dropped him a curtsey without putting down her knitting.

The old princess was radiant with happiness. “Quarley, my dear boy! First Staffa, and now this! What a day of lovely surprises!”

“I wanted you to be the first to know,” Quarley said. “The revolution is over.”

“Hooray,” said Narcas, still knitting. “At last I can hang out some washing, and not have to worry about bullet holes.”

The young king kissed the old princess. He sat down beside her and smiled at Jane. “Hello, Jane.”

“Hi, Quarley — is it really over?”

“For the moment,” Quarley said. “It's not the right time of year for revolutions. The trouble usually stops around Race Week, and doesn't start again till after the harvest.”

“I used to adore Race Week,” said the old princess. “The excitement! The parties! The dancing! Are you running a spider this year, darling?”

“Yes,” Quarley said. “He's called Tornado Twenty-three. Let's hope he takes after his famous ancestor.”

The princess clapped her trembling old hands. Her eyes shone with memories. “Oh, there'll never be another Tornado. The way that beast ran along the gutters!”

Quarley laughed and said he would place a bet for her. Jane saw that he was very fond of the old lady. He held her hand and encouraged her to talk about the old Pangbourne days until her voice had sunk to a whisper. Her eyelids, like white tissue paper, closed over her eyes. She was asleep, smiling slightly.

Quarley went through the maze of servants' corridors with the girls. Before he left them outside Jane's bedroom, her muttered, “Mother must never find out about this. She doesn't like us visiting Norah.”

SILVER THREADS AMONG THE GOLD

Jane and Staffa were in high spirits the next morning. The revolution was over, and Staffa had promised to take Jane swimming. The sun shone. They were both impatient to get out into the fresh air. Outside the window of the breakfast parlor, the gardens looked beautiful — just like the painted gardens on the box.

Queen Matilda was also very cheerful. Her black hair was in curlers, and her face was covered with a stiff green paste. “It's to make my skin soft for tonight,” she explained, her mouth full of fried slug. “And I'll be spending the rest of the day having my bosom ironed.”

Jane hid a snort of laughter. She didn't know you could iron bosoms.

The queen didn't seem to have noticed. “Tonight is the greatest occasion in our social calendar — the Race Week Ball. Thank goodness we were able to crush that pesky revolution.”

“We're going to the waterfall,” Staffa said. “But don't worry — we'll be back in plenty of time.”

“Please see that you are, dear. This will be Jane's first ball, and I want her to look very special.” She smiled hugely at Jane. A blob of green paste dropped off the end of her nose and plopped into her plate.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Jane said. She was going to a real ball, in a real palace. It was a little scary, and almost unbearably exciting.

The gardens around the palace were a good distraction from the excitement. Directly after breakfast, Jane, Staffa and Twilly ran into the open air, like three corks shooting out of three champagne bottles. They had to walk slowly at first, because Twilly was carrying a rug, a picnic basket, an umbrella and the slugskin bag that contained their swimming things.

As soon as they were out of sight of the palace, however, Staffa said, “Give me the picnic basket, and Jane — you take the bag.”

Twilly was shocked. “No, Your Highness! That wouldn't be right! And if anyone sees us —”

“Nobody will see us,” Staffa said firmly, wrenching the picnic basket out of her hands.

Jane grabbed the slugskin bag. “Come on, Twilly — if you want to be a good servant, here's an order for you — stop being a servant.”

This made Twilly and Staffa laugh. Swinging their bags, the three of them gave themselves up to the joy of being outside. The palace gardens were very beautiful (despite the bomb damage that dozens of Ecker gardeners were clearing up) and rather strange. There were trees and shrubs and smooth lawns that looked just the same as they would to full-grown humans in the normal human world. But there were several clumps of enormous dandelions, and shady forest glades of forget-me-nots; and they passed two gardeners chopping down a mushroom the size of an oak tree.

Maybe the box world can't quite keep out the human world, Jane thought, and there are patches where it shows through, as if the skin were wearing too thin. Or maybe it's the box itself that muddles things up.

After about an hour of hot walking, they came to a natural pool that was hidden in a grove of forget-me-nots, with a little waterfall cascading down from the rocks on one side — Jane thought it looked delicious, and she couldn't wait to get into the silvery water. The three of them changed into their swimsuits — bulky, old-fashioned things that covered their legs down to the knees.

Jane loved swimming, and this pool was bliss — she could have fooled about under the waterfall all day. By the time they climbed out and ate their picnic, the three girls were wrinkled like prunes. The sun shone, and the snail cheese sandwiches tasted wonderful. Staffa had forgotten she was a princess, and Twilly had forgotten she was a servant. Jane had forgotten that they were anything but three normal girls.

“Ooh, look!” Twilly squealed suddenly while they were packing up the picnic. “This is a sight you must see, Jane! You can't beat it for excitement and handsomeness — a beeman out pollening!”

Jane thought at first that a small airplane, with a loud, buzzing engine, was flying towards them. As it came closer, she saw that it was a huge bee. Its wings sliced the air in a metallic blur. Its face was a menacing mask carved from what looked like black plastic. It carried a large sack on each of its back legs. Unlike any bee in the human world, it wore a harness and a saddle. A brawny young Ecker man rode on its back. He swerved the bee away from them in a showing-off way that made Twilly giggle. “Oh, don't you think he's handsome?”

Staffa laughed, and said she thought he fancied himself enough for all of them. “Come on, we'd better get back to the castle.”

“But the ball's not for hours!” Jane protested. “Couldn't we have one more swim?”

“Sorry,” Staffa said with a sigh. “Preparing for the Race Week Ball is a very serious business, and it's supposed to take a long time. Look at Mother — she'll be clapped in those bosom irons for at least two hours, and then she'll have her hair stretched.”

“Cheer up, Jane,” said Twilly. “It's the biggest night of the year, and all the very grandest people in the land will be there. Oh, it's a wonderful spectacle! I'll be watching from the servants' gallery, and I'll be wearing a blue dress and my new pink apron.”

“What shall I wear?” Jane asked. “The yellow again?”

“Lawk, no! You wait and see.”

*   *   *

The palace was bustling with preparations for the ball. They found servants spreading purple carpet over the cobblestones in the courtyard, and carrying large tubs of flowers into the ballroom. More servants hammered at a great platform in the ballroom. There were servants carrying thrones, servants polishing the stair rails, servants hanging peculiar metal cages from the high ceiling — servants swarming everywhere.

Twilly ran Jane a warm bath, full of floating petals. When Jane had dried herself with a towel as soft as thistledown, it was time to put on the dress. Twilly washed her hands twice before taking Jane's ball dress out of the wardrobe. She held it in her arms, and both girls stared at it in silence — until Jane said, “I think that's the loveliest dress I've ever seen.”