The Pride of the Peacock (36 page)

gay with Jeremy Dickson.

The game was the old English one which most people had ^ played before. I was one of those who had not. We did not indulge in such frivolities in the Dower House, but I imagined o the rest of the family must have had similar occasions in the Oakland days. Players were given a due to start with which j led them to the next; they kept their clues which were ^ written on small pieces of paper and the first to collect the g entire set was the winner.

The first was traditionally easy to give everyone a start and ^ interest in the game.

It was something like:

g “You have come to pay a call ^ Take a drink beside the wall.”

This meant, of course, that it was the hall where callers j, would come on their arrival and there was a large pewter punch bowl on a table close to the wall. The second clues o were in this.

Then the real hunt began.

We found the second in the drawing-room and the next led us upstairs and it occurred to me that on occasions like this when there were so many people in the house, it could have been possible for one of them to have come upon the hidden Green Hash. How ironical it it had been lost through a aA treasure hunt. I thought of the remark that any opal found in this hunt must be lucky for the one who found it because he or she had been led to it by luck.

I “How are you getting on with Wattle?” asked Ezra. v “Very well.”

She’s happy, I think. There’s something very special about that little filly, Jessica. 8 y “I know it.”

“Bright as a button. All there, as they say. That’s our Wattle.” y “She still remembers you.” - a She’U remember me till the day she dies. Faithful creatures, horses. That’s more than you can say for some human beings, v, eh? “

n I looked at him sharply, wondering whether he was refert ring to Isa. “” You have a way with animals. That’s perfectly dear. Even v the peacocks on the lawn seem to be aware of you. In a mild it way, of course, because they can’t think very much about w anything but themselves. ” n He laughed.

“I always have had this. Was born with it.

Funny. 1 was never much to look at. I could never make out why Isa fancied me in the first place. Mind you, when I came out here I had big dreams . everyone has. I was going to find the crock of gold.

”

“Well, you’ve done very well, haven’t you?”

“I know my job, and there’s nothing I’d rather work with than opals.”

Then you’re fortunate. It’s not everyone who finds satis faction in his work. Where are we going? “

“Into the gallery. There’s bound to be something in the gallery.”

“I suppose so, but I expect others will think the same.”

We opened the door. There was no one there. Six candles flickered in their sconces. It looked eerie and remarkably like the gallery at Oakland Hall. My eyes went to the spinet at one end and I thought of how my mother used to pretend to be a ghost and play the spinet and then hide when the servants came.

“It looks as if it ought to be haunted,” said Ezra.

“But I don’t suppose it’s old enough for that. Why are those drapes placed at intervals around the room?”

That’s how they are at Oakland. There the walls are partially panelled and the drapes hang where there is no panelling. It’s quite effective.

”

“Can you play the spinet, Jessica ?”

“A little. I had lessons when I was a child. My aunt Miriam taught me.

I was not very good. “

“Play something now.”

I sat down and played a Chopin waltz as well as I could remember it.

“Hello! This place is haunted then.” It was Joss’s voice. I swung round sharply for he and Isa had come into the gallery.

“Why,” he went on, ‘the ghost is Jessica. “

“Why did you think I was a ghost?” I demanded.

“I didn’t. I don’t believe in them. But Ben used to say in his sentimental moments that he used to fancy he could hear the spinet being played and he’d like someone who used to play it at Oakland to come back and play for him here. He had strange fancies sometimes for such a practical man.”

“He always said he had an open mind about everything,” said Ezra.

“Yes.” went on Joss, “Ben was prepared to believe anything if it could be proved to him, so he believed that if he built a gallery just like

the one at Oakland and put a spinet in it, his ghost might come.”

^ “How are you getting on with my husband?” asked Isa with j: a hint of mischief in her voice.

Tolerably well,” I replied.

“We’ve solved three so far. How are you getting on with mine?”

“More than tolerably well,” she replied.

“Come along, joss. t I want that opal.”

y “It won’t be worthy of your collection,” he told her. p Then I shall ask you to swop it for one that is. “

I said to Ezra: “We should be going. I don’t think there’s , anything here.”

We went out. Joss and Isa had disappeared and shortly j] afterwards we found ourselves at the top of the house in a j) section which was unfamiliar to me. The rooms here were smaller and there was one which was furnished as a sitting-j, room. A lighted oil lamp stood on the table on which stood a pot of dried leaves and a wooden workbox with the lid q open. A piece of needlework lay on the table with a needle case cottons and scissors. A door leading from this room was half open and I looked out on to a narrow terrace v bounded by a low wall. We were at the very top of the house.

“I believe these are the Lauds’ quarters,” I said.

“Sounds rather holy,” answered Ezra with a chuckle. a “LAUD,” I spelt out.

“I don’t know whether we’re supposed to be here.”

“Isn’t where you’re not supposed to be the very spot where I you’re most likely to find the vital clue ?” v “I shouldn’t think so. The Lauds are so unobtrusive. I doubt whether Mrs. Laud would have allowed any dues to be placed in their apartments.” y “Nevertheless we’ll look round.”

“I’m interested in this little terrace,” I said.

“I had no idea v it existed.” a I stepped out on it and looked up at the sky where the Southern Cross shone down reminding me that I was far from v Home, where no one would be missing me very much-and n I thought, with a trace of bitterness, no one here cared either. ti I looked over the side of the terrace wall to the sheer drop v below. We were indeed very high. v Then I heard voices. Mrs. Laud was speaking and I stepped il back into, the room. Ezra was standing at the table and Mrs. v Laud was at the door. D She was saying: “I had no idea anyone was here.

There’s nothing up here, you know. I wouldn’t have dreamed of letting them put clues here. Oh, there’s Mrs. Madden. “

“I’m sorry we intruded,” I said.

“Oh no, it’s not that. But there simply isn’t anything here.”

Then we’d better get on,” I said.

“We’ve wasted our time, it seems.”

Mrs. Laud laughed apologetically.

“It’s of no importance. I was just startled when I opened my door and saw a man in the room.”

Ezra apologized in his hearty way and we went downstairs.

“You’ve got a treasure in that woman,” he said.

“I remember old Ben’s saying what a manager she was. Mind you, he’s done a lot for her children … brought them up, you might say. She’s very grateful, is Mrs. Laud. I’ve heard her say it again and again.”

“I don’t know what we’d do without her.”

“And Jimson’s good. The way he can juggle with figures just takes your breath away. It’s rare to find people out here who can do that. Most of them want to do the exciting things … but to find someone who really likes figures … that’s a godsend. We thought we were lucky to get Paling but Jimson beats him … as we discovered after the buggy accident.”

“Do you know the daughter?”

“Ulias. Why, yes. Sweet on Jeremy Dickson if you ask me. I reckon they might well make a match of it I don’t know. Ulias seems to blow hot and cold.”

“Does she? I thought she liked him.”

“Well, I reckon it’s just a bit of coyness or something. It would be nice to see them wed. Married’men are much better in the town. They get more settled and stable.”

“I can hear sounds from below,” I put in.

“I believe they’ve got a winner.”

I was right and delighted that it was the little fair-haired woman and her partner-the one who had left her new baby in the charge of her pregnant sister.

Joss made me stand with him to present the prizes.

“Don’t forget,” he whispered to me.

“You own half of this now and everyone must be made to realize it.”

The fair-haired woman came up with her partner, the opals were presented and everyone crowded round to examine them.

Joss said to me: Tactful of you not to win. “

“You too,” I answered.

“But did this please your acquisitive friend ?

“My acquisitive friend was forced to accept the inevitable.”

“I wonder if she will demand another Harlequin as compensation

His eyes met mine-a little stormy, a little mocking and veiled.

“I

wonder,” he murmured.

10.

SATURDAY NIGHT

^ , The next morning when I went down to breakfast Joss was i, alone in the dining-room. He asked how I had slept after last night’s revelries. I told him very well and trusted he had done j, the same.

“It gives you an insight into one of our traditions here. It’s q ” Ben’s idea to keep the workers happy. They’re far away from the bright lights of . a big city so we have to make their entertainment. ” ^ ” When is the next occasion? 2 “My dear Jessica, there are occasions once a week. Saturday nights are regular. It’s time you attended a Saturday night.

I must introduce you to them. ” ^ The prospect of being with him delighted me and I must have looked eager.

There’s no time like the present. We’ll go next Saturday. ” I That day in the office an incident took place and I did not’d realize until later how very disturbing it was. I overheard raised voices coming from Joss’s office and as I passed Joss and Ezra came out. I had never seen Ezra look angry before, y but then his large face had completely lost its benignity. It made him look quite different. Joss looked fierce and stem.

v They both acknowledged me rather curtly as though they a were not in the mood to talk to me at that moment.

Later when Joss and I were riding back to Peacocks I said w to him: “You and Ezra seemed at cross purposes this morning.” n “It happens now and then,” said Joss lightly.

“We don’t ti always see eye to eye. Ezra’s a good man but he’s not always v practical. There’s always trouble about the houses in the v town. Those who have been living in the calico tents are i< naturally anxious to get them when they fall vacant. Ezra v had promised one to a man he liked but I’ve given it to n someone who is a much better

worker and who has been with us longer. Ezra had the unpleasant task of telling his man he’d have to wait a bit.”

“So that was it.”

Joss looked at me quickly but he said nothing. I was thinking : Ezra can stand up for himself then. Was it really about the dwelling house, or had he perhaps told Joss that he was getting tired of seeing him with his wife?

The next time I saw Ezra he was his beaming hearty self so I thought no more of the matter until later.

Saturday had come and it was dusk as Joss and I rode into the township.

“Saturday night at the camp,” said Joss. There’ll be revelry. Oh, not what you’d call revelry. No masked balls and powdered footmen, I do assure you. “

“You’ve no need to reassure me. I am not expecting them, nor am I accustomed to them. Didn’t I tell you that I was brought up in a Dower House and though the family had seen Better Days, I was only with them in the worse ones.”

“What a mercy!” He surveyed me ironically.

“Now perhaps we shan’t disappoint you so much. Saturday night has to be seen. The week’s work is over. Sunday is a day of rest, but not for the gougers, who have to do their washing and clean their homes then, but there has to be revelry before the work begins again.”

“What sort of revelry?”

You’ll see. “

As we approached the township I saw that outside it a bonfire was burning.

“We’d rather have it in the centre of the town,” Joss explained, ‘but it’s too dangerous with so many wooden buildings. A wind in the wrong direction and the whole town would be ablaze. We’ll take the horses in and leave them at Joe’s and then we’ll wander out to the bonfire.

They’re starting to cook and it’s a communal feast. No stranger is turned away. You’ll find a few sun downers coming in on Saturday nights. “

I sensed the atmosphere of excitement as we rode through the town to the blacksmith’s forge and came away on foot.

Joss took my arm and we went past the wooden shacks and tents. Outside the children were dancing and calling to each other and the elderly were seated watching them.

“Supper will be in that large tent over there,” Joss told me.

“It’s kept for Saturday nights. Roast pig, I believe, and there’ll be beet and mutton.”

wno provides me iood/ The Company. It’s part of their wages. They look forward 3 to Saturday nights all the week. Ben always believed that h incentives make people work harder and so do I. “

“So it’s not for charity.” 0 “Not a bit of it. That’s Madden policy, as you’ll discover.2 You’re a little calculating, aren’t you ?” 1 “We’re in business and it’s got to be successful. If it wasn’t, v what do you think would happen to these people? They might S find places elsewhere, some of them. Many would starve and some would die of despair.” ^ “And you like seeing them enjoy themselves ?”

“Of course I do. It means they’re contented. We’ll get a ” better day’s work out of them than if they have grievances. “

” ” Why do you always present yourself as the hardheaded business man? “Jl He turned me round to face him and his face glowed in the firelight.

“Because that’s what I am,” he said. 0 “You look like a demon in this light.”

Tve often thought they might be more exciting to know than the angels. I’m sure you’ll agree because you’re not v exactly angelic yourself.