The travellers had gone and come back. Maxwell had tried to feign some anger and frustration, but he knew as long as we stayed away from them and vice versa, no harm could come of it. Caitlin didn’t seem to be bothered, which helped the dichotomy that I was always feeling when the travellers were here. Part of me wanted to befriend them and didn’t see the harm in them, the other part of me had become fiercely protective over Saxby; I considered it my home, and Josephine, Caitlin and Chuck my family.
I felt happy and content this year, especially as Chuck would be visiting in a few days’ time and I hadn’t seen him since the end of last summer. He didn’t visit over Christmas and New Year as he had been skiing in Canada with family and friends, apparently. I had thought about sending a letter, but to ask Caitlin for his address would have been too embarrassing. But now the time had almost arrived to see him again, and I knew I now felt like a different sort of girl, more a woman than I had been when I last saw him, and I shuddered at the thought of what Chuck might make of me. He was almost a man now at sixteen, and he was never one to mince his words.
‘I’ve decided to put on a play,’ Caitlin announced suddenly.
‘What sort of play?’ I said as I swirled my toes in the pool.
‘Much Ado about Nothing.’ She said it as though I wouldn’t have heard of it. And she was right.
I shook my head, ready for her goading to come, but she hadn’t seemed to care this visit that I was not always on the same wavelength as her culturally.
‘It’s Shakespeare,’ she said.
‘Right.’
‘I don’t imagine you’ve heard of it.’ I felt the familiar sharp tug of shame at not being as well read as Caitlin. ‘It’s not Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet, but there’s a marriage in it and it’s funny and witty and sharp, and I think things need livening up around here, don’t you agree? I mean the most amount of excitement happened last year when the travellers arrived. It’s been frightfully dull since.’
I had to agree with Caitlin, although I was surprised to hear she had referred to the traveller chapter as exciting; it wasn’t how she had seen it a year ago. But it was another event that had cemented us together. Caitlin even laughed about it from time to time. I guess it went to show that she was maturing and growing, and I felt in that moment that I wanted to show my friend how I felt. I shimmied up to her and put my arm around her and leant my head on her shoulder.
She jumped at the initial intimacy as she always did, and then she seemed to allow my body to relax onto the weight of hers. I heard a click, and I turned around to see where the noise had come from. Caitlin must have heard it too as she swung around as well. Ava was directly behind us, about four feet away, standing next to a cluster of peonies with her camera in her hand, aiming it at the bush.
‘Mama, are you taking photos of flowers again?’ Caitlin strained to look over her shoulder.
‘Yes. You can use this one in your botanical class. Aren’t they, divine? There’s nothing quite like the peony flower, the way they are so closed up tight and then expand so dramatically. It really is a sight to behold.’ Ava aimed the camera at a large tight pink bud.
Caitlin turned back to me and whispered, ‘I really cannot believe that she thinks that I am as interested in botanical drawing as she is. It’s so not my bag.’
I laughed at how Caitlin had adopted one of my phrases. It was the sort of thing she would usually say out loud on purpose in front of Ava to really wind her up, but she knew her mother was quite taken with the painting and I think secretly Caitlin enjoyed it too. She had produced some exquisite pieces, and it seemed to be the one thing that both mother and daughter enjoyed. Maybe this was why Caitlin was reluctant to admit her interest to me. But as Caitlin had said to me a few years ago, when she told me her secret about being the sole heir to the estate and everything in it, old houses hold secrets, and I was fast becoming adept at sensing and knowing more things about this family. More so than they would ever know.
‘So, how will this play work?’ I ask, changing the subject.
‘Well, you’ll be in it, and the cousins and the twins. And Chuck. He and I will marry. You’ll be the bridesmaid,’ Caitlin said, as though it was the most obvious thing.
I felt my gut tighten, and for some reason I had an overwhelming urge to push Caitlin into the pool. Bridesmaid? Of course, Caitlin was going to be the bride and marry Chuck and I would just be on the sidelines. It was exactly how Caitlin worked; everything was orchestrated around her to suit her own agenda. And this play was just another example of how needy and attention-seeking she was. I couldn’t believe moments earlier I had thought that Caitlin was beginning to change and mature. But above all of that, I had a suspicious feeling that she was going to try and keep Chuck’s
