his wife.
‘Tomorrow we’ll go out in the sail boat and have ourselves a picnic,’ she said. ‘It’s really nice out on the lake this time of the year.’
In the swimming-pool the quads were having a wonderful time.
‘Honestly, how those girls do enjoy the pool,’ said Auntie Joan. ‘They’re having a whale of a time.’
‘Sure are,’ said Uncle Wally. He reckoned he knew why they were so peculiar. With a mother as dumb as Eva it was surprising they could talk. For the first time he was surprised to find himself feeling fond of them. They took his mind off his other worries.
But Eva’s thoughts were concentrated on Henry. It wasn’t like him to be out all the time. And he couldn’t have gone away. If he had, he would certainly have phoned to let her know. She didn’t know who to turn to. Besides, if anything had happened to him like he’d been knocked over or been taken ill, someone would have got in touch with her. She’d left her name and Auntie Joan’s address and telephone number on the cork pin board in the kitchen where no one could miss it and just to be on the safe side had given it to Mavis Mottram. Henry might not like Mavis or Patrick Mottram and they certainly didn’t like him–Mavis’s feelings amounted to loathing because, Eva suspected, she’d once made a pass at Henry and he’d told her where to get off–but even so Mavis would have been the first to let her know if anything serious had happened. She’d relish doing it. On the other hand Eva didn’t relish having to phone Mavis and ask her what Henry was doing. She’d only do that as a last resort. In the meantime she tried to console herself with the thought that the girls were learning so much and having such a good time with it.
She was unknowingly correct on both counts. Josephine and Samantha had retrieved the tape recorder from under the bed and on the excuse that they just wanted a quiet day playing music in their room asked could they borrow Uncle Wally’s earphones so as not to disturb him and Auntie Joan.
Uncle Wally jumped at the opportunity. ‘Make yourselves at home, feel free,’ he said enthusiastically, showing them his music workroom. ‘I built this sound system myself and though I do say it, it’s got to be the best this side of Nashville, Tennessee. Man, I doubt even Elvis himself had anything this powerful. I call it my music operations centre. With the equipment I got in here I can blast a boat out of the water with Tina Turner at three miles. And deafen a fucking…well, anyway a bear at five hundred yards. The way I look at it, girls, you got to have decibels, and I’m telling you the speakers I got installed in the grounds up trees and you name it, all water- and weatherproofed, are so powerful I could play a tape of a Shuttle launch and it would make more noise than the real thing. Did it for your auntie because she don’t like bears too much so I got this gunfire tape and I put it on a timing device so it goes off every hour we’re away. And I can vary it, too. Sometimes only every four hours and then three shots in a few minutes. I got a banshee sound, too, that don’t do intruders any good. Come over the gate or the fence and sensors in the ground pick up the intruder and all hell breaks loose. Tried it out one time on a guy who came to serve an injunction on me. He got through the gates OK and then I closed them automatically behind him and let this baby go full bore. Couldn’t tell he was screaming till I switched it off. Could see he wasn’t having the nicest time because he was trying to climb the gates to get out and running around like he was crazy. He dived in the lake in the end and I had to fish him out because he couldn’t swim. Couldn’t hear, either, by that time. I never did get that injunction. I reckon he lost it someplace like he lost his hearing for a while. Wanted to sue but didn’t get no place. No witness and bears don’t give evidence in court and besides, I’ve got influence in these parts. When I talk people listen to old Wally Immelmann and no mistake. Learn something, too.’
