‘Don’t even think about it!’
The door had closed on the Bradwells. So far as the Gwynns knew, they were on their way back to wherever they came from. In the kitchen, the girls were still pursuing the elusive pig bags. Matthew and Alison were seated in the green armchairs, facing one another across the hearth.
‘I can see you are tempted,’ Alison went on, ‘but, please, for all our sakes, don’t give it another thought.’
Matthew smiled at her weakly, self-deprecatingly. ‘The idea of actually boarding a ship and returning home has its attractions,’ he said, ‘but it goes no further than that. Apart from the fact that Nesta has made it quite clear that she won’t go, I don’t trust that fellow at all.’
‘I trust him,’ said Alison. ‘He is Ormingatrig and clearly no liar. He is, I believe, even well intentioned. That is what makes him dangerous.’
‘He’s a maverick,’ said Matthew with unusual vehemence. ‘He may be all you say he is, but he has no regard for the rules. If we took his place in his ship to journey home, we would be as bad as he is. I know he is likeable and friendly, but he has no proper respect for risk. I suppose that’s why he’s a facilitator and I am just a researcher.’
‘He lives on a different level from us. He has spent years manipulating things – things and people. He could get himself out of situations that would leave us baffled.’
Alison, not for the first time, saw wisdom in Matthew that she often failed to appreciate. She smiled at him affectionately. ‘I’ll go and make the tea,’ she said.
Nesta and Amy hardly noticed when Alison came into the kitchen. They were deep in the pursuit of a particularly devious purple pig bag.
‘We’ll have tea in the front room,’ said Alison. ‘It’s cosier in there. Ready in ten minutes, if you can drag yourselves away from the machine!’
Amy looked up guiltily. ‘Thank you, Mrs Gwynn. We’ll pack up now. We have been playing a long time.’
Nesta had control of the game at that point.
‘Leave it now, Nesta,’ said Amy. ‘We can save it and go back to it later.’
‘OK,’ said Nesta reluctantly. ‘I suppose so.’
The food was set out on the low table in front of the settee. The two girls shared the settee and Alison and Matthew sat in the armchairs again.
‘What would you like to do tomorrow?’ said Alison gently. ‘I mean, you don’t want to spend your whole holiday slaving over a hot computer game!’
‘Well,’ said Matthew, joining in, ‘we could all go for a drive. I know the weather’s a bit iffy, but we could drive up to Scarborough. If the sea’s choppy, we can watch the waves. And I know a nice little café where we can have lunch.’
Nesta gave a deep sigh. She felt embarrassed that Amy should see how utterly square her parents were. Recalling things like the karaoke box in the Browns’ garage, and thinking of the PlayStation game she was just itching to return to, it seemed to her that there was more than one sense in which her family were aliens. They were seriously out of date.
‘Can’t we do something more interesting?’ she said. ‘It’s not that I’m ungrateful, Dad. But you do come up with some tame ideas!’
‘All right,’ said Matthew a trifle impatiently. ‘It was only an offer. Where would you choose to go?’
Nesta looked speculatively at Amy.
Amy said nothing. She would have been very happy to go and watch the waves crashing against the cliffs.
‘We could go down to Sheffield,’ said Nesta.
‘Sheffield?’ said Matthew.
‘We could have a trip to Meadowhall. There are loads of shops there – and a bowling alley. Suzanne Pearson was there at Christmas and she said it was great. I might get some ideas for my birthday present.’
Now seemed the right moment for Matthew to mention another plan that he had been thinking about. It would be better to discuss it in front of Amy so that she would know that, whatever was decided, Nesta was not going to be snatched away to some unwelcome place. Recent experience had taught him to be cautious.
‘Yes, honey,’ he said. ‘We are not likely to forget it’s your birthday in a couple of weeks’ time. Thirteen is quite a special age. I’d like us to do something special for the occasion.’
‘Not a party,’ said Nesta in mock horror. ‘Please not a party!’
‘A bit more special than that,’ said her father.
Alison looked at him, mystified, wondering what he was going to say next.
‘What then?’ she said.
‘Don’t you know either, Mom?’ said Nesta, looking more interested.
‘I haven’t a clue!’
‘It seems to me,’ said Matthew, ‘that on your thirteenth birthday it would be nice for you to see the land of your ancestors. We’ll take a trip to America.’
Amy gave her friend a worried look, remembering what had happened last time America was on the agenda.
‘Why would we want to go to America?’ said Nesta tersely.
‘To lay a few ghosts,’ said Matthew. ‘You need a past and a future. Look at Amy – she knows where she belongs. Her grandmother lives near Pickering, and she has cousins in Beverley. I can’t give you that, honey – much as I would like to. But I can let you see the Statue of Liberty. I can let you know where your family is from.’
Amy’s family had been discussed when she first arrived, bringing with her not only the PlayStation game, but also an invitation for Nesta to spend a week with her at her grandmother’s farmhouse in the summer holidays. The cousins from Beverley were going to be there.
‘Are you sure?’ said Alison.
Matthew looked at her wistfully. ‘I am completely sure,’ he said.
Amy looked at Nesta hopefully. What Mr Gwynn said sounded so reasonable. There was no question of helping Nesta to hide out anywhere ever again.
‘I think I’d like that,’ said Nesta very deliberately. ‘Yes. I’m sure I would.’
‘Settled then,’ said Matthew. ‘I’ll make arrangements tomorrow.’
‘What about school?’ said Nesta. ‘We’ll be back at school by then.’
‘I’ll see Mrs Powell,’ said Matthew. ‘It will only be for one week. We won’t be staying away indefinitely.’
‘What was all that about?’ said Alison after tea was over and the girls had left the room.
‘It is, if you like to think of it this way, a sort of experiment. We shall never return to Ormingat. We are here on this Earth for the rest of our lives. What I am suggesting is making our lives as real as possible. Virtual reality is not enough. We are supposed to be Americans, emigrants from Boston. But that’s not just a cover story any more. It’s as near as we can get to having roots here on Earth.’
‘It could go wrong,’ said Alison. ‘It could all break down.’
‘That’s where my faith is stronger than yours,’ said Matthew. ‘It could go wrong, but I am going to make sure that it won’t.’
A momentary doubt crossed Alison’s mind. But she dismissed it as not just unworthy, but totally impossible.