The Boy in the Olive Grove (23 page)

ABOUT THREE WEEKS
before I was to fly south to stay with Nick, the past life we’d shared came back. While it answered my questions about what had happened to them, it made me jittery — why turn up now? I’d been so sure I’d put both those lives to rest — left them to settle back where they belonged.

I hadn’t been doing anything unusual when they appeared. It was an ordinary school night, and I’d just sat down at my desk. I reached out to draw the curtains, then left them alone so I could watch the light fading from the day. It was that odd, witching light you get sometimes at dusk when the colours turn sharp and clear. And, without any warning, there were my olive grove couple. I didn’t move, concentrating on staying in the zone, staying focused on them and their story.

They were in a sparsely furnished room. The boy fell to his knees, clutching his stomach. The girl rushed to help him, but he held out his hand to stop her. I couldn’t hear any words but he was plainly telling her to leave him, to go away. She didn’t. She helped him to his feet. They struggled from the room to a bigger, lighter one. There were mattresses on the floor. Lying on them were children, an old man, a young woman with a baby at her side. The girl lowered her lover onto a mattress. She bathed his forehead, held the bowl while he vomited. Again, he tried to make her leave him. She kissed his forehead, got to her feet and began tending the others.

The scene changed. It seemed to be later, perhaps several days later. She knelt by her lover, keening and rocking back and forth. He was dead, and she too was ill. She slumped onto the mattress, unable — or unwilling — to move.

I felt sick, watching her, feeling her anguish. I was helpless and I experienced that powerlessness all over again, there in my twenty-first century bedroom. Then, just as the scene began to dissipate, I remembered Gwennie’s instructions. I imagined taking off the cloak of that life, shaking it and letting it drop.
It’s in the past. It’s done with
.

All the same, I was shaking and felt weirdly cold. I closed the curtains, turned up the heater and Skyped Nick.

‘I saw what happened to them,’ I said.

‘The olive grove couple? What? Did he slay a dragon for her?’

If only. ‘No. He got ill and wanted her to leave him to die.’

‘Let me guess. She was a stubborn wench, went against orders and died as well?’ His eyes laughed at me from the screen.

‘Yep, exactly right. So be warned.’

‘You know,’ he said, ‘I rather fancy being hitched up with a girl like that. Fate, wouldn’t you say?’

‘There’s no escape. Our love is written in the stars.’

‘Bess, hon — seriously, are you okay? Seeing us die back then hasn’t freaked you out? You’re not worrying it’ll happen again?’

‘I’m okay while I’m talking to you. While I can see you. I think I’ll be okay. I’ll ring Gwennie if I have to.’

We talked for an hour, stopping only because Kitty wanted to be let out. ‘I’d better go,’ he said. ‘Only twenty more sleeps and you’ll be here. Don’t forget to get on that plane!’

As if I would.

Later that week I called in at the factory on my way home from school to see if they’d found a solution to the problem of the vanishing finishing shed.

‘It’s not looking good,’ said Clint.

Eddy was much more positive. ‘We’ll get it sorted, Bess. I’ve got an idea. Need to talk to the bank, though. Keep it to myself till I know if it’ll be a starter.’

Jason said, ‘I wanna give that bastard the bash.’

‘Actually, who is the buyer?’ I asked.

Dad shrugged. ‘The agent won’t say. Bloke wants to stay anonymous. Probably a consortium rather than a single buyer.’

The future of the factory depended on Eddy and his idea.

THREE DAYS BEFORE
the holidays started at the end of September, Mum announced that she would be away for ten days. ‘I’m leaving in the morning. There’s food in the freezer. I’ve transferred money into your account for you to order in. You won’t need to interrupt your study by cooking.’

I gulped. She was being
thoughtful?
But no, possibly not. ‘Mum, that’s lovely of you. But remember? I won’t be here. I told you. I’ll be away all the holidays.’

‘Take Clodagh out for a meal then. You must learn to pay your way when you stay with people.’

‘Where are you off to?’ I hadn’t said I’d be staying with Clo. I carefully hadn’t said where I was going.

‘I’m competing in an international bridge
tournament
. In Dunedin.’

‘Hey, that means you must be a top player. Good luck, Mum.’

She inclined her head.

I went into my bedroom to check my bank account. She’d deposited $500 in it. I shivered. What was she up to? This wasn’t normal behaviour. To Hadleigh, yes. To me, no. I rang him after I’d waved her goodbye, but he had no useful ideas either.

The next morning I got a text from Nick.
Will be out of contact today. Sorry
. I stared at the message. That was odd. Out of character as well as out of contact. I phoned him back and got the answerphone.

He didn’t ring me that night either. Instead, he sent me an email. I read it, and for the second time in my life my world fell to pieces.

He was dumping me.

I didn’t believe it, I simply didn’t believe it. I rang. The call went direct to answerphone. I sent a text:
Why?

Got one back:
It’s just how it is. Sorry
.

It was true, then? Real? My love didn’t want to be with me? I gave a howl, the anguish of the olive grove lovers searing through me. I rushed into the bathroom but threw up on the floor before I reached the toilet. I cleaned up the mess and wept.

All evening I kept trying to ring him. He’d switched his phone off. I sent a text:
Just tell me why. Please.

There was no reply.

I didn’t go to school the next day. When Iris came that afternoon to take me to the airport as planned, I was still huddled in my bed, unshowered, unfed and broken.

‘Bess! Where are you?’ she called, hammering on the front door. ‘You’ll miss that plane if you’re not careful.’

I trudged to the door, opened it and threw myself into her arms.

‘What’s happened? Come on, Bess, tell me. He’s not dead or Charlie would have heard by now.’ She held me tight, right there on the doorstep.

I just shook my head.

She came into the house, an arm still around me. ‘You’d better tell me everything. Get showered and dressed first. I’ll find you something to eat.’

I shook my head again, and showed her the email.

She pushed me towards the bathroom, then had to take me by the hand, pulling me till I started walking. She turned the shower on. ‘Get in. It’ll help.’

Later she came back with a towel that she’d warmed. She turned off the water, wrapped me up. ‘Get dry. Put some clothes on. You can do this, Bess.’

I was in the bedroom now, not the bathroom. Clothes were set out on the bed. It reminded me of school and Clodagh. I dressed, then stood still, unable to move.

Iris must have taken me into the kitchen. I sat at the table. A plate in front of me.

‘There’s only toast. Eat. It’ll help.’

The thought of food convulsed my stomach again. She didn’t say anything and soon I was aware that she’d gone from the room. Then I was walking, propelled by her hand pushing and guiding me. We were in her car, back at their house. I sat at the kitchen table, drinking something strong and sweet.

I don’t know how long I sat there. The cup was empty. Hadleigh and Su Lin were there. Dad too. He swung between looking mad and looking relieved. Later, a million years in the future, I might smile about that.

‘Council of war,’ Hadleigh said. He pulled a chair up to the table. The others took their places. ‘Su Lin, the floor is yours.’

Iris and Dad glanced at each other, but let Hadleigh do the orchestrating. Su Lin spoke kindly but firmly.

‘Bess, get it together. We need information here, not emotion.’

I shook my head. Numb. I was just so numb.

‘Where’s your mother?’

‘Away.’

‘Where? How long for? When did she leave? Where did she go?’

‘She wouldn’t!’ Iris said.

‘Oh yes, she bloody would,’ Dad said. ‘Come on, Bess. This mightn’t be what you think.’

A trickle of hope slid into my soul, jostling with sickness. Mum. She
couldn’t
have made Nick break up with me. ‘Dunedin. Wednesday, I think. Bridge tournament. Ten days.’

‘What sort of tournament?’ Hadleigh picked up his phone.

‘International, she said.’

We watched him flick through site after site. I wavered between hope and despair. Whatever the
outcome
, I would lose either my mother or the man I loved.

Hadleigh looked at us, his face grim. ‘No bridge tournament anywhere. Rotary, though — there’s a big do on in Auckland next week.’

‘What do you want to do, Bess?’ Su Lin asked.

I made an effort to clear my mind. Didn’t work. ‘I don’t know. He won’t talk to me. His phone’s off.’

‘Go down there then,’ said Dad. His voice was gruff. ‘Find out the truth.’

‘Oh, Dad!’ I fell against him.

He patted my back. ‘Come on, girl. You can do this. You need to get to the bottom of it.’

‘But what if he’s not there? He might have gone somewhere.’ I couldn’t bear it. Couldn’t go down there only to discover he’d gone away.

Dad got tough. ‘You want to stay here moping? This isn’t the girl who rescued her old dad.’

I sniffed, scrubbed at my eyes and sat up.

‘That’s better,’ Iris said. ‘I’ll make us a cuppa. And you, Bess, are going to eat something.’

Hadleigh got up to help her. Su Lin said, ‘You need to think about what happens if our suspicions are right and it’s your mum who’s forced him to do this.’

I just shook my head, feeling another roil of nausea.

Hadleigh set a sandwich in front of me. ‘Eat that, sis. And get the brain functioning. You need a plan.’

‘If Mum has … well, I’ll never trust her again. I’ll leave.’ I turned to Dad. ‘If I can’t live with you two, I’ll move in with Nick. Finish school down there.’

‘Don’t be daft, girl. That room’s yours and you know it.’

Su Lin pulled me around to face her. ‘You have to be sure about this. If you go against your mother, you won’t get a cent more from her, ever. Think carefully. She won’t pay your uni fees. She’ll cut off your allowance.’

I struggled to keep from bawling my eyes out. I was caught again between two horrible possibilities. Either my mother had betrayed me or the boy I loved had dumped me.

‘I am sure,’ I said at last. Giving in was too high a price to pay. I’d lose Nick, and for ever after she’d use her money like a weapon. I didn’t want her money. All I’d wanted was for her to be my mother. ‘I’m sure.’

‘Good,’ said Hadleigh. ‘That’s a start. There’s another flight to Palmy tonight. Expensive, though. You want me to book it?’

They waited, silent. My call. My decision.
Nick
.

I nodded.

And so it was that, later than planned, I found myself on a flight to Palmerston North. I had no idea whether Nick would even be there. Maybe he really did want to break up and this was nothing to do with Mum. Mum … I couldn’t think about her. How could you possibly hope that your own mother has done something unspeakably mean, something catastrophically underhand?

I took a taxi from the airport to Nick’s flat. There were lights on inside. I got a grip on my jittering thoughts and knocked on the door.

Nobody came.

I knocked again, thumping it this time.

Footsteps did their own thumping inside the house, then someone wrenched the door open.

Nick stood there, looking like hell. We stared at each other, the cold wind chilling us. ‘Bess. Oh, Bess. Why have you come?’

He went to shut the door in my face. I shouldered my way inside, hope flaring. He looked just like I felt.

‘You shouldn’t have come,’ he said, but I could hear the pain in his voice.

I dropped my bag. ‘What did my mother say to you?’

He went utterly still for a second, then his whole body — his whole being — seemed to come to life. He grabbed my hands. Held them hard. ‘How did you know? She said you didn’t know she was coming. I wasn’t allowed to tell you. If I did …’

‘Tell me, Nick. I have to know.’ I was crying.

He pulled me into his arms, holding me tight. ‘I didn’t want to send that email. I couldn’t think what to do. It’s been hell. Utter hell. You’ve no idea.’

I sniffed into his jersey. ‘I do know. I know exactly.’ I lifted my head and we kissed, tears running down our faces.

Something scratched my leg and I jumped. ‘Kitty!’

‘Bloody cat,’ Nick said, his voice wobbly. ‘No sense of timing.’ He scooped up the cat, but kept an arm around me. ‘Come on into the kitchen. It’s the only room we can warm up.’

There was a heater on, but the kitchen was still fridge temperature. Nick lit all the gas burners on the stove. Then he sat down, pulled me on to his lap and held me tight against him as if to anchor me.

‘Tell me everything,’ I said.

‘She turned up on Thursday. I’d just got home from uni. She didn’t beat about the bush.
You are to stop seeing my daughter. I have other plans for her
. I told her I wasn’t going to break up with you, and she hauled out the big guns.
You need to understand this will sever my relationship with my daughter
. She said she wouldn’t support you, and did I want to be responsible for making a pauper of you.’

He stopped talking and rubbed his head against the top of mine.

‘Go on,’ I whispered. ‘What did you tell her?’

He sighed. ‘I said I’d discuss it with you. I didn’t want to be the one to cut you off from her. I know what her approval means to you. And there was the money. She’s worth millions. I didn’t know what you wanted there.’

I huddled against him, trying not to howl. She’d planned this. She’d fed me crumbs of approval. For weeks she’d been planning it. ‘Why didn’t you talk to me? Why did you just break up with me?’

He held me away so he could look at me. ‘Bess, she had me over a barrel. She said she was about to buy the land your dad’s finishing shed is on.’

‘What?
She’s
the mystery buyer?’

‘That’s what she said. If I talked to you about any of this, she said she’d sign the deal. If I broke up with you, then she wouldn’t buy it. I rang Dad. Just to check she wasn’t bullshitting.’

‘And, being Clint, he said the factory would have to shut down.’ I slid off his lap, unable to keep still.
My own mother
. How could she be so cruel?

Nick pulled me back on his lap, back in his arms. The kitten jumped onto the table and licked my face. ‘I’m sorry, Bess. I’m so sorry.’ It sounded as if he was forcing himself to say the next words. ‘What do you want to do? About us?’

I slid an arm around his neck. ‘I want you. Now and for ever. Mum … how can I ever trust her again?’

‘You’re sure? What about the money?’

‘Do you mind if I’m poor?’ I asked. ‘I’ll be just the same as any other uni student. Broke and with a loan to pay back when I finish.’

He gave a shaky laugh. ‘There’s only one way to deal to a daft question like that.’ And he kissed me.

We were interrupted by my phone. I pulled it from my pocket to silence it, but it was Hadleigh.

‘Hi, Hads. I made it. I’m here.’

‘Well, you sound more cheerful now. In the lover’s arms, are you?’

Nick leaned over. ‘Yes, she is. Any probs with that?’

‘Hell no! Welcome, bro-in-law. So Mum really did a number on you, did she?’

I said, ‘Yes, she did. One of her spies saw us at the airport, apparently. Put me on speaker, Hads. Dad needs to hear this.’

‘Shoot. We’re all ears.’

‘Dad, she’s the one buying the finishing shed. She told Nick if he broke up with me she wouldn’t sign the deal.’ I held the phone out from my ear, expecting that he’d yell. He did.

‘Calm down, Charlie.’ It was Iris. ‘Bess, are you all right?’

I sighed. ‘Yeah. Kind of. I will be. It’s pretty awful.’

Dad bounced back. ‘Listen here, Bess. You too, Nick. I will not let Clarissa wreck my life, and certainly not yours. She can go to hell. We’ll move out of the shed. Eddy’s applying for a loan to build a finishing shop beside the factory. But even if that doesn’t come through, I won’t renew that lease whatever she does.’

I leaned against Nick, listening to my father and
trying
not to wish I had a normal mother. ‘Thanks, Dad.’

‘Nothing to thank me for. You look after that girl of mine, Nick.’

‘With my life, Charlie.’

‘Fine words,’ my father said, ‘but you’re not a bad lad. I’ll say that for you.’

That was five-star praise from Dad. It was the full tick of approval.