The Trouble with Polly Brown (40 page)

Will placed his glass of lemonade to one side and came to sit down beside her, as he showed great interest in all she had to say.

First she spoke of some of the unmentionable things that were taking place most days behind the castle walls, events such as the one she had just experienced when she was forced to spend most of the night sleeping in the homemade coffin. Will was naturally aghast that such things should ever take place. Polly was glad to finally have someone who listened to her. She was also relieved to see that he did not even attempt to justify her uncle's actions by suggesting they were in any way normal. Instead, he manifested genuine outrage that Polly and all the other children were being subjected to such harsh and cruel treatment.

“What about his own children? Does he punish them in the same way?”

“Don't be silly. Of course not!”

“You said once that his children live totally separate lives from all the foster children, and this included attending different schools. So do any of them ever step in and say anything?”

“Well, no. Sometimes they are not even around when things happen, but Will, you have to understand that the youngest one, Jeremy, is less than a year old. Then there's John, who is only seven. Now, Joseph, well, he is eleven. Then there's Jake, who is thirteen; Alan is fourteen, nearly fifteen; and the eldest is Andrew, and he is sixteen years old. He goes to a private school that is some distance from home, and so he only comes back for the odd weekend break, as well as the school holidays.”

“All right, Polly, but what about the rest. Do they mingle with you?”

“Not really, because they live in a different wing of the castle, so their lives are very different from ours, even down to eating very different food at mealtimes. Yes, they are the really lucky ones,” she sniffed.

“Polly, we need to get you and the others some help,” he insisted, coughing out loud as his strained voice spasmodically began croaking with emotion.

Polly placed a hand over his. “Will, don't be daft. What I told you is for your ears only, and so must remain a secret, never to be shared. I have in the past been seriously punished for disloyalty, so if any of this ever got out…Trust me, Uncle Boritz is on the friendliest terms with the whole wide world.”

“Now you're speaking crazy!”

“Well, anyone who is anybody,” she said, giving a resigned sigh. “For sadly, anyone who reaches into our lives or has any connection with us immediately becomes his new best friend. This includes the police force, as well as the headmaster of both junior and senior schools. So Will, tell me straight: where in the world can I turn for help? Even Dr. Glumchops is his golfing partner, and he comes without fail to the castle once a week to socialize and enjoy a traditional afternoon tea with Uncle Boritz. So it goes without saying that anyone who cares to visit the castle will find their name and phone number written into his private address book pronto. That's always how it works,” she rather despondently stated.

“What about the social services? They surely have a duty of care to you all.”

“What social services? Believe me, Will, when I tell you that I have hardly ever seen anyone from their department. It's as if they have forgotten that we even exist.”

“Utterly disgraceful! In fact, it's deplorable,” was all Will was capable of muttering to all he was being told.

There were times when, to be honest, he truly wanted to stop her in order to challenge her truthfulness and recollections, because much of what she spoke of seemed utterly beyond belief. However, something prevented him from going down this path, and this was surely because in the short time he had known Polly, he had come to believe that she was an unusual person of deep integrity. That is why he had chosen to invest in her alone; he knew with all his heart that she was very different from the crowd.

“Will, I want to leave the subject of the castle and go on to tell you about something else that you might find even more far-fetched, if not quite unbelievable.”

Will nodded, as once more he picked up his glass to take a long sip of lemonade.

“Will, when I was truly at my lowest ebb, I met a couple of very likable tramps. One of the gentlemen was called Hodgekiss; the other, Ralph. They invited me to take a dangerous journey and come join them for tea in the most wonderful kingdom that you could ever imagine.”

As Will availed himself to listen to tale after tale, he suddenly found himself feeling slightly uncomfortable, but even though it took everything he had, he knew he must remain calm and collected and give her the freedom to express all that she felt she needed to.

Finally, he interrupted her.

“Polly, if this so-called place truly exists, then how come no one has ever heard of it?”

“Oh, but they have. It's just that most who have been there keep it to themselves for the simple reason that it all seems so ridiculously implausible that such a place could truly exist,” a wide-eyed Polly insisted as she placed her glass to her mouth to take a long sip of lemonade. “But listen to me, Will. I have two friends, Justin Kase and Justin Thyme, and if I was to introduce these lads to you, they would surely confirm most of what I am telling you, for the simple reason that they too tried to climb Piadora. However, they refused to go with our guide, preferring to make the dangerous expedition alone, without any professional help. As a result of their stupidity, they had a terrible accident that landed both of them in Hope in Your Heart Hospital.”

Polly didn't even stop to catch her breath, as tripping over her words she raced on excitedly as she allowed her very dramatic story to continue unfolding. “And it was only because of Dr. Loveheart, as well as dear, sweet Dr. Darling, that the lads came through their terrible ordeal unscathed and—”

“Whoa there. Hold on, Polly, and for goodness sake do yourself a favor by taking a deep breath, will you?” Will demanded, as he was now finding it virtually impossible to keep a straight face.

“Dr. Darling? Dr. Loveheart? Are you kidding me? Next you'll be telling me about another doctor named Dr. Sweetheart!”

“No, Will, you're just not listening to me. There was no Dr. Sweetheart on the mountain; just Dr. Darling and Dr. Loveheart. I'm not kidding, for both doctors were absolutely wonderful and so awfully kind. Then there is Aazi. As soon as a letter finally arrives from him, you will know for certain that I am telling you the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

“Calm down, Polly. You really do have my undivided attention, but you must understand that when you tell me that your climb up Mount Everest was just the practice climb, you must surely realize that this is all getting very hard to swallow!” he stated, giving a small but very telling grimace.

“I know it is, Will, but I promise I would not lie to you. Our guide, who went by the name Sir Eggmond Hoolari, was quite the madman, and to be perfectly honest, this verbose gentleman almost drove me to the cliff of complete despair, for he was so unbelievably stupid and arrogant.”

Will listened on without uttering another word because he felt physically sickened, as though he were sinking in quicksand. Therefore to interject and question her very absurd story any further would be utterly futile. She was, he believed, so convinced of her story that black could be white, and she'd readily and willingly believe it.

“Will, he even abandoned me on the mountain when he found there was not enough room for everyone in the helicopter and they needed to get Aazi to the hospital as quickly as they possibly could,” she spluttered as once more she began tripping over her words.

“What? Polly, you cannot be serious! This professional climber, along with a bunch of nurses and doctors, left you, a child, to die alone in the freezing cold on a mountain?”

“Yes, he did, Will. And believe me when I say that I nearly did die. I mean, after he placed the stretcher with Aazi in the helicopter, there really was only room for a few more, and that's why he left me. I promise you with all my heart that all this is perfectly true.”

Will swallowed hard. For the first time since he first set eyes on her in the school corridor, he was finding this latest incredulous story just far too difficult to digest, let alone believe.

“Polly, I long to believe you; really, I do. But your story gets more and more fanciful with each and every word you utter. So tell me you're just playing me for the fool, and I will understand.”

“Stop it, Will, for I am being serious. I need you to believe me; really I do. Look, if I introduce you to the two Justins, who are such good friends—and Will, believe me when I say they are truly inseparable—I know that they will readily confirm and so validate my story. Then will you believe me?”

“Well, I guess I'll have no choice other than to try and believe you, and trust me, Polly, when I say that I really do want to believe you,” Will nervously replied, feeling momentarily distracted as he tried and failed dismally to come to terms with all the craziness he was being asked to swallow down and fully believe.

If the truth were to be known, he sorely wished that today of all days he had not invited her back to his house. Then maybe, just maybe they could have carried on as normal. But now after her very disturbing revelations concerning Sir Eggmond Hoolari, Mrs. O'Brien with her school for princesses in training, Piadora itself—oh, as well as Hodgekiss and the lovable vagrant Ralph—well, he was left seriously wondering if there was even the slightest possibility of resuming their friendship with any sense of normality.

As he sat back and studied her facial features afresh, Will felt numbed, as well as lost for words, for he sincerely believed that she had unwittingly given him every reason under the sun to end their friendship, or at the very least put it on hold. He already had a slightly demented mother, as well as a seriously depressed brother; therefore, he felt in no position to take on any further heavy burdens. So, sadly, in that moment he felt incapable of dismissing these new concerns regarding Polly's credibility and, alas, her mental stability as well.

Polly excitedly rambled on with her remarkable story, all the while remaining completely innocent and therefore oblivious to this latest, fresh crisis she had just caused.

“That's settled, then. Tomorrow I will find both boys, and we can take it from there. But for now, Will, I need your complete attention, as we need to concentrate fully on my homework before I have to rush back to the castle,” she stated brightly as she then hurriedly opened her exercise book to begin.

True to her word, the next day after school found Polly racing over toward Will, who was nervously standing alone by the school gates. The reason for his agitation was simple: should this be the occasion for him to tell Polly that their close friendship was over, or should he just leave for home and let Polly work out the reason for herself? The hideous turmoil he felt inside left him feeling both sad and confused.

“Will, I've finally located both boys, and as always, they are together in the café at the train station. So come on. Let's race over to the station and catch them before their train gets in.”

Will, in his endeavor to bring this nonsense to its natural finality, nodded his head in agreement.

Minutes later and despite being out of breath, Polly and Will burst into the café. Polly rushed over to where two boys were seated, and, in spite of the fact that they were in the company of two females, she overexuberantly began to greet them and explain to Will which was Justin Kase and which was Justin Thyme.

Both boys were taken aback by her. However, Polly, never one to concern herself with small courtesies, continued to get straight to the point. “Hi there, guys. I need a quick word with you both.”

Both Justins appeared pretty annoyed with her. “Not now. Can't you see we're busy? So buzz off,” Justin Kase rudely whispered in a voice loud enough for her and Will to hear.

“Yes, all right. But boys, I need you to meet my good friend, Will,” Polly anxiously continued.

“Yes, yes. We'll talk to you both later if we must, but for now leave us alone, for we've just met these lovely girls, so don't mess it up for us,” Justin Thyme muttered through clenched teeth.

Will could clearly see that her sense of timing was drastically out and tried hard to coax Polly to leave the boys well alone and come with him, but Polly was having none of it.

“Boys, please tell Will about Sir Eggmond Hoolari and how you guys went ahead of us to climb Mount Piadora,” she begged.

The boys continued to ignore Polly.

“If nothing else, please tell Will about your accident,” she breathlessly pleaded. “Look, Justin, you've still got a scar from your terrible head wound,” she stated, pointing at Justin's Kase's deeply scarred forehead.

Neither boy appeared the slightest bit amused by Polly's refusal to leave them alone, and they continued on chatting amongst themselves, oblivious to her. After all, Will thought, they had tried hard to be reasonable, and they had made it quite plain that they were too busy to talk, for they were at a very critical stage in their chat with two extremely gorgeous girls.