The Trouble with Polly Brown (95 page)

“Oh, and before you leave, James, I too have something for you,” Polly said.

She suddenly produced a paper bag she had deliberately kept hidden away in her canvas shoulder bag that she had carried around all day, except during the party.

“Here, James. These are for you.”

“What's in the bag?”

“Take a quick nose and see for yourself.”

“Luverly jubbly! Wow, six sticks of sugary rock to get my teeth into!”

“Well, mind you clean your teeth thoroughly after eating them, else you'll have plenty of new cavities to deal with.”

“There you go again being my over-bossy sister.”

“Oh, I'm sorry. It's just force of habit,” she said, breaking into a generous smile.

“I know it means you truly care, so thank you, Polly. It's really kind and thoughtful of you.”

“Well, I promised you I'd get you some rock, didn't I?”

“Yes, and this time you kept your word,” he reminded.

“I have never once intended to do otherwise,” she quipped.

“Well, once again, thank you, Polly,” he said as he reached over to give her a tender, brotherly hug.

Lady Butterkist, who had been standing to one side stroking her pooch, moved forward and quietly announced that it was time for James to get in the car, as she had promised his guardians that he would not be late getting back.

“Polly, you need to let go of James. There's a dear, for Giles has to get him home at the agreed time. Otherwise I'm amply sure there will be fireworks, and lots of them!” she gently reminded.

Polly was reluctant to let go of her younger brother.

“James, please hold in there, for I will be back soon, and this time we are going to stand together. All right?” James nodded his head and then tried to break free of her clasp.

“Polly, I've got to go,” he said, looking more than a little downcast.

“Take care,” Polly quietly whispered as James made himself comfortable in the backseat of the old jalopy. The car began to slowly move down the gravel path, and James quickly stuck his head out of the back window to give her a final wave.

“Polly, please come home soon,” he loudly shouted as he then sat back on the seat. Polly could see him wipe tears from his eyes as they pulled away.

She watched until the car had completely disappeared from sight, and then she went back into the manor house to find a quiet corner, a place where she could privately read the handful of letters she had desperately longed for and had taken what seemed like an eternity for her to finally receive.

Finding herself that highly desired quiet corner, she slunk down onto the floor and tightly closed her eyes, as over and over she promised herself that she must not shed a further tear this day. So much for promises, for as she read letter after letter she could only resort to shedding more tears, for the letters made her laugh, and they also made her cry.

So, she determined to write him another letter the very next day. In this letter she would try her best to explain all that had taken place and why suddenly she had stopped all meaningful correspondence.

She was most happy to hear that he had done as she had specifically requested by licking off the splodge of chocolate on the bottom of each letter she'd sent, for he confirmed the chocolate to be truly delicious. He then went on to tell her that he had considered doing likewise; only as chocolate was in short supply in his region of the country, he was intending to end each letter by squashing a tasty roasted beetle or grasshopper perfectly cooked on an open fire, but then knowing Polly as he did, he wisely came to his senses and concluded that she would feel far to squeamish to even give these little African delicacies a try. He also felt concerned by a certain letter sent by her that assumed he wore no clothes. He went on to inform Polly that in some ways she was correct in her thinking, for indeed, there were many tribes in the forest that wore very little in the way of garments, but his tribe wasn't one of them.

Polly, of course, was very relieved to hear this.

She allowed the tears to flow freely as he privately shared a large number of heartaches he had been forced to face since returning from Piadora, and he freely admitted that there had been many times that, like her, he had wanted to give up, for they had him no longer believing in Piadora or anything else associated with it. He also broke the news to her that since arriving back at the village, his eyesight was now deteriorating rapidly with each and every month that passed by. There was some talk of taking him to see a specialist eye doctor in a nearby town, but they needed to save a lot of money first if this was ever to happen.

“I need another miracle,” he wrote.

Polly wept at that sad piece of news. “Oh, Aazi, why do I ever complain about my life when you too have the most unbearable struggles to overcome?” she sobbed.

Polly slipped the letters back into the envelopes, and with her eyes closed, she held them close to her heart.

“Aazi, I will always love you. And we will see other again, and you will know immediately who I am, blind or not blind,” she whispered as she stayed for a while in the darkened room to calm her restless spirit and dream once more of Piadora.

Chapter Forty-Three

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END

M
ANY WEEKS LATER
and Polly was once more called to go and see Lady Butterkist in the drawing room, this time with Lucinda.

“Girls, come and sit down, and then make yourselves comfortable,” she said as she patted the comfortable sofa beside her.

With the girls both seated she began. “I have nothing but the deepest admiration for the both of you.”

“Thank you, Lady B.,” they happily replied.

“Both you girls have exceeded all my expectations in just about everything you have put your hand to. And, judging by the way you relate to the staff, as well as all the other young adults, I perceive that both of you are developing some very close and abiding friendships. This is most touching and rewarding for me to observe. I cannot even begin to tell you just how proud I am of both of you. Aunt Bessie also informs me that both of you have caught up with schoolwork, and so you are on target, proving my theory that you not only have pretty faces but you're both highly intelligent as well.

“However, that said, I feel this is the perfect time to tell you that I will be going away for a week or so, as I have a few very important things to which I must attend. When I return, it will almost be time to bring this holiday to a close, and then sadly for all, we must head back home. Polly, you, my dear, will be returning to the castle. And as for Lucinda, well, you, my dearest, will have to be ever so patient with me. I have spoken with your parents this very morning, and as of yet they have not come to any decision as to whether they are able to have you home. If at the end of the day their answer is a firm no, then Lucinda dear, you are going to need to be very brave, as I will be left with no other choice but to deposit you back at Hellingsbury Hospital.”

On hearing this latest ghastly piece of news, Lucinda immediately collapsed to the floor. “Oh no, Lady B. Please don't send me back there. I beg of you,” she cried.

Polly instantly dropped down beside her, and with an arm around her friend and tears in her eyes, she looked up and begged Lady Butterkist to go and visit Lucinda's parents and persuade them to have her back.

“Lady B., don't they realize how awful that hospital is? Please don't let this happen. There must be something you can do,” she wailed.

“I'm sorry, Polly. I promise you that I am doing all I can on Lucinda's behalf. I too will be bitterly frustrated if I am forced to take her back, but I will have no other option, other than to fulfill my original obligation.”

“Obligation!” Polly cried in utter dismay.

“Yes, obligation, and watch yourself, Polly dear, for once more you're repeating me, something I find rather irritating to say the least.”

“Oops. Sorry.”

“Apology accepted. Now, listen to me. I promised to ensure that on Lucinda's return she would be brought back to the safety of the hospital with its specialist team of doctors, although having been introduced to some of them, I personally am left completely at a loss as to where some of their so-called specialist skills truly lie,” she muttered. “And in Dr. Ninkumpoop's case, I believe it to have been more on the golf course!”

“Lady B., you of all people are able to do anything and everything! So please think of something,” Polly begged.

“Look, girls. I will continue to put pressure on Lucinda's parents, but in the meantime I need both of you to keep on track and have some faith. Believe me when I say that nothing is set in concrete, so you need to keep your hopes up by not allowing yourselves to go downhill,” she wearily cautioned.

“Yes, Lady B. We promise that we will try our utmost,” Polly assured her.

“Yes, remember, it's not over until the fat lady sings, besides which, I still have a few undisclosed cards up my sleeve. So, I will leave you girls alone while I go to make some tea,” she quietly stated as she reached for the door handle and quickly disappeared.

“Oh, Polly. What am I to do?” Lucinda despairingly bleated.

“Honestly! At this exact moment I have no idea, except to say we must do as Lady B. instructed and hang on in there.” Polly tried her best to encourage her friend as she remained on the floor hugging Lucy as she attempted to comfort her.

“Polly, you know that they will lock me away forever in one of those awful padded cells, and then I will go horribly mad,” she wept.

“No you won't, Lucy. I'm certain Lady B. will never allow that to happen to you again,” Polly said as she tried to reassure her very dear friend.

“Polly, I know at present you want to help, but you wait, in a few months' time you too will surely have completely forgotten me. And then what?”

“Don't say such things, Lucy! How could I ever forget or abandon you? It's never going to happen. Look, Lucy, I promise if the worst comes to the worst, and you are sent back to the hospital, I will sneak out and come visit you as often as I am able. If when we meet up you're down in the doldrums, I will do all within my power to once more make you laugh. I will also bring you special little treats. You have my word.”

“Promise?”

“Yes, I promise, Lucy, but we are getting a little carried away with ourselves, for as of yet we know nothing of how the matter will fall, and Lady B. has given us her assurance that she will keep on trying.”

“I hope she will,” Lucy moaned.

“Lucy, although at the moment everything seems hopelessly bleak, I know for sure that Lady B. will not leave things as they are, for it's simply not in her nature, if you know what I mean. So let's try and trust her, shall we? Surely you agree that she is much too stubborn and bighearted to just walk away from this latest problem.”

“Hmm, never a truer word spoken,” Lucy said as she quickly began to brighten up.

“So Lucy, let's just try and enjoy the remainder of our time together,” she enthused as she gave her dear friend an encouraging hug.

The next several days turned out to be very precious, as both girls sought to make their last days together really count. They raced each other up hills, and then with arms spread out like the wings of an eagle, they pushed against the wind as they soared and then swooped downhill toward the valleys below. They also paid regular visits to dear Boxer to whisper endless sweet nothings in his ear, as well as shower him with tasty pieces of apple and carrot and occasional sugar lumps they had sneaked from Aunt Bessie's kitchen storehouse. They also took Lassie the Scottish border collie for plenty of long walks over hill and dale as they took it in turns to throw large sticks for him to chase after. They also saw to it that Lassie got her fair share of cuddles, as well as the odd terribly nice treat.

Many a day they chose to walk barefoot through cold, rippling waters as they chased scores of minnows and tadpoles on their journey downstream, and they made each other fragile daisy chain necklaces and weaved colorful flowers into each other's hair. Lucy seemed obsessed with picking posy after posy of wild woodland flowers, which she would then conscientiously arrange in small glass vases before placing on top of Polly's bedside locker.

Polly, in turn (with Aunt Bessie's blessing), sneaked upstairs with plate after plate of gooey chocolate cake for them to secretly share as they tried to ignore all nagging and cumbersome burdens, preferring only to bask and wallow in their gloriously deep and intimate friendship.

“Oh Polly, remember that the day after tomorrow is the day that Lady Butterkist will return bearing either good or terribly bad news, and in truth I can hardly bear it, really I can't,” Lucy wailed.

“I know, Lucy. Then shortly after that we will be saying our final good-byes. I, for one, can hardly handle that,” Polly admitted.