The Week at Mon Repose (9 page)

 

 

“Life's a bore,” Allie grumbled the next day.

“And the Ouija board was wrong. We still haven't got all we wanted,” Jenny said with a sigh.

It was raining. It hadn't stopped raining since they woke up. It had rained through breakfast, morning tea, and the meat pies, mashed potato, and peas they had for lunch.
Mon Repose was marooned in a gre
y veil of pouring rain.

Allie wondered again if Ahmed had controlled the weather while he had been staying with them. The three girls sprawled on the veranda, watching the small children playing a noisy game of chasey.

“Wish Ahmed could have stayed around a bit longer.” Marilyn sighed. “Do you think we could bring him back again?”

There was a thoughtful silence. Ahmed had said it was possible he could come back again. Jenny gave a small shake to her head. Allie sighed. Jenny was right as usual.

“Anyhow, we can keep in touch with each other,” Allie said.

Marilyn pouted, her mouth as orange as her nail polish. “I'm on the other side of the city from you two.”

“Doesn't matter,” Jenny said. “What about we put in the afternoon with your makeup kit? You have the most incredible range of matching lipsticks and polish.”

Marilyn's face brightened. “Should have thought of it earlier,” she said as she stood up. She glanced over the veranda. “Our resident creep is back.”

As Mr. Masterton came up the steps, Mrs. Marybone bustled up to him. “As you intended to leave tomorrow, I had your account made up,” she said, thrusting the folded sheet at him.

There was a brief silence. “Two nights and six meals for Ahmed Masterton?” he shouted.

“The girls said he was your nephew and staying with you,” Mrs. Marybone said. “Is everything all right?”

“Absolutely,” Mr. Masterton said more quietly.

He followed Mrs. Marybone into the small office. When he came out, he spotted the three girls.

“Ah, young ladies, that was clever thinking of you to tell Mrs. Marybone that our young man was my nephew.”

“What did you do with the silks, Mr. Masterton?” Allie asked.

“I have a market for them among some friends of mine in the rag trade.”

“So where's our share?” Marilyn demanded.

“I haven't taken delivery of any cash yet.” Mr. Masterton gave the three girls a more careful look. “Where is he?”

“We sent him back,” Marilyn said.

“What?” Mr. Masterton roared. He seemed shocked. The noise of the children playing and the murmur of adults talking died away. The other guests looked at him. He lowered his voice. “How could you send him back without knowing how to?”

“So you didn't teach us how to send him back on purpose?” Jenny said thoughtfully.

“But you did know it was dangerous for him to stay too long out of his own time?” Allie said in disgust.

“My dear young ladies,” Mr. Masterton said. “He isn't real, you know. He's just a construct. We can call him up again and get him to bring back jewellery or something.”

“We're leaving in the morning,” Marilyn said coldly. “Find some other suckers to do your dirty work. That kid Ahmed was a bit young to be in the spirit business anyway.”

Mr. Masterton glared at the three girls. He had a nasty look on his face. Allie was relieved some parents were sitting near them.

“Tell you what, young ladies,” Mr. Masterton said at last. “You do old Bob a favour and call up the boy again, and we'll go halves on what he brings back.”

“We haven't seen any money for the last little chore we did you.” Marilyn turned, “Coming, girls?”

“Now don't be like this,” Mr. Masterton said. He followed them into the passage. “Look, I'll give you an advance on the money from the silks. Fifty dollars each.”

“Those rolls would retail at least a thousand dollars each.” Marilyn retorted. “Do you think we're idiots?”

Mr. Masterton tried to smile. “You are very intelligent, businesslike young ladies with good heads on your shoulders.”

Allie shuddered as he said that. Mr Masterton's smile hadn't reached his eyes, which were cold and hate-filled. She had the feeling Mr. Masterton would like to see them without any heads on their shoulders, good or otherwise.

Jenny and Allie followed Marilyn along the passage. Mr. Masterton trailed after them.

“Five hundred dollars. And it's my last offer,” he said tersely. The girls continued walking. Mr. Masterton softened his voice as he followed them along the passage. “Maybe he would like to come back? He can only come through if he is invited, you know.”

“Each,” Marilyn bargained.

“Each?” Mr. Masterton repeated in horror.
“
No!”

Marilyn shrugged, and she and the other two girls started walking again.

“Each,” Mr. Masteron groaned.

“Cash in small notes, and right now,” Marilyn said.

“And you do our little chore for one last time?” he whispered.

The girls looked at each other.

“Done!” Marilyn said.

“I'll put it in three envelopes and give it to you after dinner tonight,” Mr. Masterton promised and stamped off to his room.

“I don't believe that Ahmed is a pretend person. He seems too real,” Jenny said.

“What if it's dangerous for Ahmed to return?” Jenny asked.

“At least we know we can send him straight back again,” Marilyn said. “And we will at the first sign of something nasty happening.”

After dinner of baked lamb, baked parsnips, potatoes, tomatoes an
d lumpy gravy, and something gre
y and doughy swimming in custard for dessert, the three girls left the dining room.

Mr. Masterton slipped them three envelopes as he walked past. “Eight o'clock tonight,” he whispered.

The girls went off to their room to count the notes in the envelopes. Each envelope had exactly five hundred dollars in either ten or twenty dollar notes.

“How are we going to explain this to our parents?” Allie asked. “It's a bit much to say we earned it doing odd jobs.”

“Mine is going straight into my bank account, so no one will have the chance to ask awkward questions,” Jenny said.

“No trouble,” Marilyn said. “You say that you were so bored that we got Mr. Masterton to bet on the weekday races for us, and we sat on a lucky streak. He won't be game not to back us up if they check.” She was suddenly businesslike. “I'll get the racing guides so we can memorize the names of the winning horses in case they don't believe us.”

“Very good,” Allie said with admiration. “Time we were leaving.”

The rain had eased to a thin, cold mist. The girls sloshed over the wet grass of the paddock towards the dam. Mr. Masterton was a lot more confident tonight and already waited by the water's edge.

Allie pulled on her nightgown, Marilyn wriggled her caftan over her clothes, and Jenny draped herself in the muddy bed sheet.

“Right, young ladies,” Mr. Masterton whispered.

They took their position around the dam and lit their candles. Shielding them with one hand, they started chanting in time with Mr. Masterton's booming voice.

A wind rose. The flames of the wavering candles reflected in the ripples on the water. Suddenly there was a loud splash. The girls stopped chanting and raised their candles. Mr. Masterton was floundering in the muddy water.

“You can't do this to me,” he was yelling. “You have to obey me. I have summoned you. I am your master.”

There was a low chuckle from the bank near Allie. A thickset, bearded figure wearing a white turban, checked shirt and tight jeans stood there.

“Ahmed?” Allie asked doubtfully.

A smile showed through the beard and dark eyes twinkled. “My nice young ladies,” the thickset man boomed. “I have always remembered you and sought the perfumes of Arabia for you.”

He flung something at Allie. She ducked, but a heavy chain landed around her neck. It had a small bottle swinging on the end of it.

“Are you really Ahmed?” Jenny asked, as she fingered the chain that he had thrown around her neck. “You seem a lot older than yesterday.”

“Forty years older,” Ahmed replied. “And still remembering how beautiful you all are.”

“How dare you, creature!” Mr. Masterton roared as he made his way to the bank, dripping. “I am your master! I have summoned you! Where is the treasure I ordered?”

Ahmed gave a hearty belly laugh. He stooped down and helped Mr. Masterton up the bank and out of the mud. “The beautiful young ladies summoned me, and none can return me.”

He took careful aim with his foot and booted Mr. Masterton into the water. Except there was no splash where he should have landed! The wind rippled the water, but Mr. Masterton was gone.

“Where is he?” Marilyn asked.

“Returned to where I came from,” Ahmed said with a chuckle. “The universe is not out of balance because our weights are the same. He will wait long before someone has the knowledge to summon him back, and he won't be able to stay because he is anchored in my world.”

“By his clothes you took with you,” Jenny guessed.

“And by the way you smart young ladies reversed the anchoring when I was fading.”

“Will he be all right?” Jenny asked.

“He is unharmed and returned to loving friends, my kind-hearted ones,” Ahmed replied and sniggered.

“So he came from there in the first place,” Jenny mused.

“No, but he has many, many friends waiting there for his arrival.”

“Why would he have friends waiting in a place he has never been?” Marilyn asked.

“Tell you what, beautiful ladies,” Ahmed's teeth flashed white as he motioned them in the direction of Mon Repose, ignoring Marilyn's question. “It is time for all of you to be getting some beauty sleep, which I assure you none of you need. I am going to be busy fulfilling your hearts' desires as you have fulfilled mine.” He paused and then continued. “I am going to learn all about the beautiful motor cars, and I will never be a genie again.”

He vanished. The three girls waited, but he was gone. Mr. Masterton also stayed missing.

“What odd heart's desires?”Allie said. “Wouldn't you think that life as a genie would be more exciting and interesting than living in our modern society with motor cars?”

“He was car mad,' Marilyn mused. “As most teenagers are, but he is now an adult. It is very odd.”

“And not want to be a genie with magic carpets and magic,” Jenny said. “His society sounded a lot more exciting than ours.”

By the time they reached Mon Repose, their supper of cocoa and hot scones was waiting. Afterwards they sat on their beds to keep talking about their interesting evening.

“What did he mean grant our hearts' desires?” Marilyn asked. “No one could know what I really and truly want.”

“I don't have a heart's desire,” Allie confessed. She looked at Jenny.

“Mine is very modest but totally unable to be granted,” Jenny sighed. “There's no way anyone could know what I want.”

“Wonder if Mr. Masterton will get reported as a missing person?” Allie mused.

“What will Mrs. Marybone say when he doesn't turn up for breakfast?” Jenny said.

“Have to wait and see,” Allie said and yawned.

She felt as if she hadn't had a proper sleep for days.

“I know the feeling. We've had a few hectic nights,” Marilyn said with a grin. “See you both at breakfast.”

****

They saw Ahmed at breakfast but didn't have a chance to speak to him.

He had shaved off his beard and tied his greying, dark hair back neatly. This morning he was dressed in brown trousers and a familiar looking cardigan. He didn't look at all like a genie any more. After breakfast he went off to the office to pay his bill.

The three girls settled on the veranda. Allie and Jenny had their packed bags and were waiting to be collected. Ahmed waved to them as he put a case in the fawn car parked at the bottom of the steps.

The problem of covering up Mr. Masterton's disappearance appeared to have been solved. No one seemed to have noticed that Mr. Masterton had been replaced by Ahmed. Even Mrs. Marybone had called him Mr. Masterton.

“Maybe he and Mr. Masterton were related,” Jenny mused as they waved back. “Once Ahmed got forty years older they looked awfully alike.”

The three girls each had a sheet of paper scrawled over with all the odds of the winning horses for the race meeting. They were trying to find out how much they would have made if they had bet on the winning horses at the last race meeting.

After a
while Allie was voted as best at math and left to work out what horses they would have had to bet on to make their five hundred dollars.

“This is creepy,” Allie said.

“How creepy?” Jenny asked.

“It's the three horses that totalled up the right amount.”

“So?” Marilyn asked.

“Ennui won the first race at twenty to one.”

“That gives us twenty dollars,” Marilyn said.

“Ouija Girl won the third race at five to one.”

“That gets us up to one hundred dollars,” Jenny said.

“Spring Genii won the last race in the second meeting at fifteen to one.”

“All up that makes up our five hundred dollars each,” Marilyn said. “What's supposed to be creepy about that?”

Allie looked at her two best friends. “Ennui means bored, which we were. Ouija was the board we used to find our channel, and don't you think Spring Genii makes it all too coincidental?”

“Don't be silly,” Marilyn said with a shrug. She collected and screwed up the paper and folded the racing results. “Got the names and odds memorized?”

They watched as the fawn car drove down the driveway and into the winding track that led back to the main road.

“He didn't say anything else about granting our desires?” Marilyn said wistfully.

“I think the five hundred dollars each is sufficient consolation,” Allie said. “And you have to admit that our week at Mon Repose has been interesting.”

“Interesting,” Jenny agreed.

“Marilyn,” Mrs. Marybone called. “Come into the office. There's a phone call for you.”

Marilyn hurried into the office. A few minutes later she gave an excited whoop. She ran out of the office.

“Mum!” she yelled as she ran down the passage. “Mum, Grandmother is on the phone and wants to talk to you.” She emerged tugging at her mother. “Hurry up, Mum. It's a long distance call.”

She came back and sat down with Allie and Jennie. Her eyes glowed under the arch of silver stars across her eyebrows that matched her silver nail polish, and her face was pink with pleasure.

“It's my grandmother,” she explained. “I'm going back to my own boarding school. She's had a big win and is paying the fees until I'm through. I will be close enough to stay with her on weekends and holidays.”

“Won't you miss your mother?” Allie asked.

“My boarding school has been my proper home since I was six years old,” Marilyn explained. “Mum couldn't afford to send me there after Georgie arrived and they had to pay for his operations.”

“Won't it be dull staying at your grandmother's?” Jenny asked.

“Not my grandmother,” Marilyn said happily. “She takes me to the races with her, and sometimes the trots. She has tickets to all the first nights of the opera and ballet and if we get bored, we go off to psychic afternoons. I am so happy! If Ahmed was still around, I would kiss him.”

“Marilyn,” her mother called as she came out of the office. “Come and help get everything packed. We'll have to leave almost immediately to reach your grandmother's before dark.”

“Well!” Jenny said. “I would never have picked Marilyn as an exclusive ladies' college student.”

Jenny giggled. “Well, at least we know where she got all her bright ideas. All our grandmother ever talks about is her ailments.”

“Wonder if Ahmed really organized it, or whether it was just a coincidence?” Allie mused.

“Coincidence,” Jenny said. She glanced down at the drive. “New guests arriving.”

However, it was Allie's mother who got out of the car and beckoned them to come down.

“Maybe Aunt Gwen's car isn't going,” Allie said. “I think that might be Mum's company car.”

They picked up their cases and went down the steps. The boot lid flew open. They dropped their cases in and slid into the back seat. Mrs. Marybone came to see them off.

“The girls have been helpful, quiet, and well-mannered, and made some nice friends while they were here,” Mrs. Marybone said. “And they are very welcome to return any time you need them to.”

“I'm so pleased they behaved themselves, and thanks again for having them, Mrs. Marybone.” Allie's mother pressed the button that closed the boot lid.

They waved goodbye to Mrs. Marybone, and the car purred quietly out of the driveway and away from Mon Repose.

“Did Mum have car trouble again?” Jenny asked.

Allie's mother drove without answering until they had reached the main highway. Allie and Jenny sneaked looks at each other. Allie's mother had a serious look on her face.

“What with Jenny's father being away so much on business, he has agreed it would be more satisfactory if Jenny stayed with us until things settled down.”

“Has something happened to Aunt Gwen?” Allie demanded.

Allie's mother flicked a glance in the rear vision mirror at Jenny. “Your mother left as soon as she had returned from dropping the pair of you at Mon Repose.” She took a deep breath. “She left a note for your father. She has run away with your orthodontist.”

“But he was quite old!” Jenny gasped.

“He has just retired. They are sailing across to the Adriatic
in
his yacht.”

“Mum kept asking how I liked him.” Jenny remembered. “He was just an orthodontist, nothing special. Why would she do that?”

“She would like you to join them when everything settles down,” Jenny's mother said very fast. “But she didn't want you to lose too much schooling, and thought you could join her during your next holidays and see how you like everything.”

Jenny started to giggle. Allie sneaked a look at her cousin. Was sensible level-headed Jenny going into shock or something?

“Don't get upset,” Allie's mother soothed. “Your mother is quite happy for you to go to school with Allie, so there won't be any problems. You're part of our family now for as long as you need us.”

“I'm not upset,” Jenny said. “I'm okay. It's only been a matter of time before Mum left on a permanent basis.” She paused and spoke more slowly. “She and Dad didn't seem to like each other much anyway. I much prefer a real family like yours.”

“So that's settled. We've collected all your stuff and your bed. You'll have to share Allie's room, I'm afraid.”

“No probs,” Jenny assured her.

The traffic got heavier. Allie's mother concentrated on her driving. The girls were silent for a while. They both had a lot to think about.

Jenny nudged Allie. “It must have been Ahmed. I have just got my heart's desire to belong to a proper family.” Her face suddenly looked worried. “You don't mind, do you?”

“Love the idea,” Allie replied. “I hated being an only child.”

The car reached their suburb before Allie remembered to ask. “Will you get into trouble for using the company car, Mum?”

“That's the other thing that has happened,” her mother explained. “The spare room is now my office. The company have given me a new PC and the company car. From now on I'm employed to work from home.”

“Wow!” Allie gasped. “That means you'll be here when I get home from school.”

It was the one thing she had hated about her mother working. All her friends said they liked having their houses to themselves with their mothers working. Allie agreed with them, of course, but secretly she liked having her mother around to talk to. Not that you could tell mothers everything. Certainly not about weird coincidences and things.

They turned onto their own street. Allie relaxed back with a sigh of pleasure. It was wonderful to be home. It was wonderful to know that her mother was going to be working from home, and it was wonderful to know that Jenny was staying with them permanently. If she ever saw Ahmed again, she would thank him properly. The Ouija board had really come through with getting the three of them all that they ever secretly wished for and wanted.

“I never noticed there was a used car lot on that corner before,” Jenny remarked.

“It's new,” Allie's mother replied. “Very flashy opening. Someone named Honest Bob Masterton owns it. Believe he's got stables at the back as well with some palominos for hire.”

Allie and Jenny stared at each other, their eyes round in surprise. Allie wound down the window. They waved frantically, attracting the attention of a thickset man standing in front of the glassed-in office. It was Ahmed. He waved back cheerfully.

“Wow!” the girls chorused.

“Glad to be home?” Allie's mother said as the car pulled into their driveway. “Suppose the week at Mon Repose was a bit grim. I hadn't realised that the place had got so run down in the last fifteen years.”

“Wouldn't have missed it for anything,” Allie and Jenny assured her.