CHAPTER SIXTEEN

It was quick and easy to move their furniture and belongings from the farmhouse to the apartment. Nina’s bright curtains, painted furniture and colourful rugs looked even cheerier in their new home. It also seemed like a good omen when she got a commission to paint a series of designs for greeting cards the day before they moved.

She started work in her new studio the next afternoon and yes, the light there was good, and there was something very inspiring about painting with the door wide open, looking out across the paddocks and gum trees, without the tank and shed that had blocked her view back in the farmhouse.

Her main worry, that she’d be under the Templetons’ feet and scrutiny, proved unfounded. The design of the apartment and its position at the eastern back corner of the Hall meant they actually had great privacy. As well as that, the gate that joined their gardens creaked, and the gravel on the path crunched loudly, so she had plenty of warning that Gracie – and it usually was Gracie – was on her way for a visit.

‘Mum said I have to limit myself to one visit a day, but I could come in the morning and stay all day, Nina, couldn’t I? And technically that would only be one visit.’

‘Technically, yes, but, Gracie, I really do need to get some work done.’

‘I’ll be quiet as a mouse. You won’t even notice I’m here.’

As kindly and firmly as possible, Nina asked Gracie to please leave her alone to work until three each day. ‘After that, I’d be delighted to see you.’

‘But not until three? What if something major happens and I’m bursting to tell you?’

‘If it’s really major, that will count as special circumstances, but otherwise, please, Gracie, I need to settle in, establish some kind of working routine.’

‘I’ll try,’ Gracie said, solemnly.

Over the next fortnight, life was almost idyllic for Nina. Gracie kept to her rules, mostly. Nina worked steadily on her paintings. Thankfully, Eleanor and Spencer recovered from their flu and Nina’s services as a guide hadn’t been required again. Audrey still wasn’t speaking and had refused to go back to boarding school, but Gracie happily shared the news that her sister was joining her and Spencer for home-school classes. ‘I heard Mum ring the school principal about her, too,’ Gracie told her. ‘This non-speaking is a rebellious adolescent phase, apparently. We’re not to worry too much. She’ll talk when she’s good and ready.’ As for Hope, Nina hadn’t seen or heard anything of her since she’d moved to the Hall. ‘She’s busy drinking again,’ Gracie had informed her, matter-of-factly. ‘None of us see much of her when that’s happening.’

Tom had settled into his new surroundings very well, Nina was glad to see. His cricket practice had also increased from three nights a week to five, as the state competition neared. Spencer wasn’t pleased about it.

‘You have to go to practice again?’ he’d whined, when he called over one night just as Nina and Tom were about to drive away. ‘I never see you any more.’

Tom told her every day how much he liked their new apartment. ‘It’s the perfect arrangement, isn’t it? For everyone, us and the Templetons.’

Outwardly, Nina agreed. Inside, she hoped he was right.

In the Hall, Gracie’s worries were beginning to build again. It was wonderful to have Nina and Tom so close by, but in her own family things weren’t good at all. It had nothing to do with Audrey and Hope this time, either. It was her parents again. They were fighting non-stop, either shouting or giving each other the silent treatment.

Gracie wondered if she was the only one noticing all the tension. Spencer seemed oblivious. He was too busy on the project he and Tom were working on, whenever Tom wasn’t busy playing cricket, at least. She’d been to the dam and seen it under construction – the raft they’d been talking about for months. It was huge, three times the size of her parents’ bed. She’d dared to suggest that perhaps it was just a little bit too big for such a small dam, but Spencer had just said, ‘What would you know? You’re only a girl.’ Tom hadn’t mocked her, though. He’d been lovely, explaining to her how they were building it. From what she could see, it involved strapping about two kilometres of rope around some rusty sheets of iron. He also promised to let her have a go on it once it was built. ‘Not until we’ve had the first shot,’ Spencer had shouted across. Tom just smiled at Gracie and sort of rolled his eyes in Spencer’s direction and she’d got that warm feeling inside her again.

At least Audrey was coming out of her room more often, but she still wasn’t talking to anyone. As for Hope, Gracie didn’t really want to know how she was. The more her aunt stayed in her room, the happier Gracie was. She’d heard some clanking from Spencer on the stairs one afternoon, but decided to ignore it. Just because it sounded like he was smuggling bottles under his jacket didn’t mean he was, did it?

At least Charlotte was happy in Chicago. Deliriously so, she told Gracie when they spoke each week. Mr Giles’s apartment – ‘it’s called a condo here’ – was enormous, apparently. It had a wonderful view of Lake Michigan. ‘It’s more like the ocean than a lake, it’s so huge.’ She’d been shopping for clothes and books on Magnificent Mile. ‘It’s what they call a section of North Michigan Avenue, Gracie, and you should see the shops. I’ve never seen so many big names and I don’t even care about fashion! Mr Giles has even given me my own credit card!’ Best of all, Charlotte told her, Ethan hadn’t turned into an evil troll now he was back on home turf. ‘It’s the world’s easiest job,’ she said. ‘I take him to school or baseball or to visit his friends, pick him up afterwards and then we spend the rest of the time playing computer games or watching movies on TV. It’s like having a best friend sleeping over except he’s eight and a boy. And I’m being paid. As Ethan would say, it’s awesome.’

The main person worrying Gracie at the moment was her father. When he wasn’t fighting with her mother, he was spending nearly all his time in his office, opening and shutting his filing cabinet a lot, swearing under his breath and talking on the phone at strange hours of the day. Her most recent overheard conversation bothered her the most.

‘The timing couldn’t be better. Three months’ work at least, do you think, between the cataloguing and the valuing? Perfect, perfect. Yes, I’ll come first, and the rest of the family will follow. Or perhaps all of us together. I’ll let you know once it’s decided.’

Once what was decided? And what did ‘all of us together’ mean?

Gracie didn’t have to wait long to find out. Two days later, she was summoned into the kitchen by her parents. Audrey, Spencer and even Hope were already there waiting. Everyone looked very serious.

‘Take a seat, Gracie, would you?’ her mother said. ‘And please don’t interrupt.’

Her father did all the talking. He’d barely finished breaking the news before Gracie stood up, pushed back her chair and started running, down the hallway, out across the back garden and through the gate. It wasn’t three o’clock. It didn’t matter.

‘Nina, Nina!’

Nina’s head emerged from her studio. ‘Gracie, what is it?’

Gracie burst into tears. ‘We’re leaving, Nina. All of us. Leaving!’

‘Just like that?’ On the phone that night, Hilary was as surprised as Nina.

‘Just like that,’ Nina said. ‘Henry and Eleanor told the kids and Hope today. They fly out a week on Saturday, straight back to London.’

‘But what about the Hall? The groups? The tours?’

‘They’re putting a sign up at the gate. “Closed for renovations until further notice”, or something like that. Henry’s ringing the local paper too.’

‘But why? What’s happened? Why so suddenly?’

Nina had asked first Gracie and then Eleanor exactly the same questions herself. Gracie had been too tearful to tell her. When Eleanor had followed her daughter out to the stables, Nina hadn’t been able to read the other woman’s face. She had seemed calm, matter-of-fact about the sudden news, but surely it must have been a shock to her as well?

Nina told Hilary all she’d managed to find out. ‘They’ve been called back to England for family reasons, apparently.’

‘Apparently?’

‘It doesn’t make sense to me. Gracie told me they don’t have any close family left in England. And it just seems so strange, to suddenly decide to go back for three months, to close the whole Hall up. And it seems even stranger that they’d invite me to rent the apartment and then announce only a fortnight later that they’re moving.’

‘So where does it leave you?’

‘I’ll just have to start packing again, I guess. I’ll ring the real estate people tomorrow, look for a house in town after all.’

‘There must be more to it. You can’t even get the truth out of Gracie?’

‘Not a word. The poor little thing hasn’t stopped crying since she found out.’

Over the next few days, Gracie was a constant visitor to the apartment, but anything Nina said to try to console her just sparked more sobbing.

‘There’s nothing good about any of this, Nina. It doesn’t matter what you say. I won’t be able to be your neighbour. We won’t get to see Tom play cricket again. I won’t get to pick the flowers I helped plant. It’s a disaster.’

‘Do you have to go?’

A slow, unhappy nod. ‘We have to. We just have to. It’s just the way it is.’

‘She’s obviously been told not to tell you anything,’ Hilary suggested after Nina related that conversation. ‘And they’re all going? Even the drunk one? The mute one?’

‘Hilary!’

‘I can’t say I envy poor Eleanor. Presumably she’s the one doing all the packing and organising? If I was her, I’d want to just run away and leave them all to it, wouldn’t you?’

‘Sometimes, Nina, I wish I could just run away and leave them all behind.’

Nina had already been surprised when Eleanor appeared at her door again. She was even more thrown now. ‘You don’t need to tell me anything, Eleanor. I don’t want to pry —’

‘I know you don’t. I also know you don’t go around telling everyone around here our business. That means a lot to me, Nina. Thank you.’

Nina was struck again by Eleanor’s dignity and grace. By something else, too. Her sadness. There was something very sad about the other woman.

‘Is there anything I can do until you all get back?’ Nina expected her to say no. She was surprised when Eleanor hesitated and said, as it happened, yes, there was something they hoped she could do for them. Nina listened as Eleanor explained.

‘Be your caretaker? But how can I, when there’s nothing to take care of? The Hall won’t be open, will it?’ She was puzzled. ‘I thought you were going to ask me to move out.’

‘Of course not. You’ve just moved in. This will only be a short trip away, while we, well, while Henry – I won’t go into it. But we will be back. And it would give us great peace of mind to know you were keeping an eye on everything in the meantime. Airing it, arranging cleaners, that kind of thing. We’d pay you, too.’

‘Eleanor, no!’

‘Nina, we would. It’s a job, so we’d pay you for it.’

‘You’re already giving me cheap rent.’

‘If you won’t take payment, then we won’t take your rent.’

‘But Gracie said you were in financial diffi—’ She stopped, embarrassed.

Eleanor gave a brief smile. ‘Gracie says a lot of things that she doesn’t quite understand. Please, Nina, think about it. A caretaker’s role in return for rent-free accommodation.’

It was so tempting. So incredibly tempting. Work had slowed down again. Money was as tight as ever. And as exciting as Tom’s promising cricket career was, it was also expensive – the equipment, the uniforms, the travel. One day, years off perhaps, if he turned professional, all his costs would be covered, but for now, it was her responsibility. Three months of rent-free accommodation could be just what she needed to help get her through this tight patch. Give her some breathing space …

‘You’re definitely coming back?’ she asked. ‘It won’t be for long?’

‘Of course we’re coming back,’ Eleanor said. ‘We’ll be away three months at the most. Please, Nina, would you just consider it?’

Nina knew she should think about it first. Talk it over with Hilary, with her parents, look at the whole situation with a careful eye. But Eleanor was standing there, waiting, that sad, secret look in her eyes. There seemed to be no way she could say no.

So she said yes.

Time moved faster from that day. Nina agreed the terms with Henry and Eleanor, even signing a contract to keep it formal. A sign announcing the Hall’s temporary closure was erected at the front gate. A full-page article appeared in the local newspaper. Gracie finally stopped crying and spent her days choosing what to pack instead, running each item past Nina for her approval. ‘I’m not taking everything,’ she informed her during one of her many daily visits. ‘Just my favourites. We’ll be back so soon there’s no point taking masses of suitcases with us.’

The day of the Templetons’ departure felt like a strange dream to Nina, as they all gathered on the front steps of the Hall. She felt as if she was a head of state, moving from one to the other saying goodbye, Tom following behind her.

Audrey was first in line. She gave Nina a feeble hug. She still hadn’t spoken a word.

‘Good luck, Audrey,’ Nina said. ‘I hope things get better soon.’ There was no reply.

Hope was next. Nina hesitated before holding out her hand. ‘Goodbye for now, Hope.’

Hope’s voice was as sardonic as her smile, her handshake perfunctory. ‘It’s been a pleasure, Nina.’

Spencer shied away from her hug and shook hands instead. He did hug Tom, though. Very quickly.

Eleanor and Henry were next.

‘Thank you again, Nina, for everything,’ Eleanor said, kissing her cheek.

Henry kissed both her cheeks and then hugged her. ‘We couldn’t do this without you, Nina. Thank you.’

Gracie was last. Nina held the little girl close, smoothing down a fly-away lock of her hair. ‘I’ll miss you, Gracie.’ She meant it. ‘You’ll write to me, won’t you?’

A forlorn nod. ‘All the time. When I’m not writing to Charlotte, that is.’

Their bags were in the car. There was nothing for the Templetons to do now but leave.

‘See you in three months,’ Nina called, as their car turned in a slow circle and made its way down the tree-lined drive away from the Hall.