half-drowned, but as it looked in Anna’s time: fresh and alert, inhabited and inviting, windows and doors open, chairs on the terrace and the garden lush and flowering.
There was a strange silence as Dad and Lorelei Swan stared at the picture. ‘That’s lovely, Elbow Room,’ said Dad at last. ‘That’s the house, is it?’
‘It’ll make a gorgeous memento,’ said Lorelei brightly. ‘When we build the new convention centre, you can hang it in your office to remind you of what used to be there.’
‘ Used to be there?’ said Mo.
‘You know we’ll have to knock the old place down,’ said Dad, his eyes still fixed on the picture.
Eloise heard someone gasp. Her heart thudded in her ears.
‘Knock it down ?’ said Mo. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘The site is wonderful,’ said Lorelei Swan coolly. ‘But the building is a mess. It’s not worth trying to save it. The cost of converting it would be astronomical. The plumbing alone—’
‘But it’s beautiful,’ said Tommy. His eyes and Eloise’s met across the kitchen. ‘And it’s so old.’
‘That’s exactly why it’s so impractical,’ explained Lorelei with a patronising smile. ‘Much simpler to clear it away and start all over again.’
‘Such a shame,’ said Tommy’s father quietly. ‘Is there no value in age?’
‘Apparently not,’ said Mo. Her eyes flashed. ‘Stephen, when I gave you the house, there was no question of demolishing it. You said—’
‘Plans change, Mo.’ Dad laid Eloise’s drawing on the table. ‘It’s called flexibility. You have to go with the flow.’
Lorelei Swan linked her arm with Dad’s. She said to Mo, ‘I understand how you feel. You have an attachment .’ She made it sound like a disease. ‘But now we’ll always have Eloise’s lovely picture to remind us.’ She raised her glass of champagne. ‘Happy Christmas, everyone!’
13
T he Durranis prepared a delicious meal, fragrant with spices, but Eloise barely picked at her food. She heard Dad’s jokes and Lorelei’s titters and Mo’s sarcastic remarks as if through a fog. She stirred her dessert with a spoon and couldn’t eat a mouthful. And all the time she felt as if something inside her chest were screaming and hammering to get out.
But part of her still couldn’t believe that it was really going to happen: that Dad was going to knock down the house. She kept expecting him to wink at her and say, just kidding! It was the kind of thing Dad would do.
But he didn’t.
Once he leaned across to Eloise and said in a low voice, ‘That was an amazing picture you drew, El Niño. I can’t believe you drew that just from memory, from that one day we went there . . .’ He was thinking it out as he spoke. ‘You can’t have been back to the house. You couldn’t have gone with Mo.’ He laid down his spoon and looked at her intently. ‘You haven’t gone back there by yourself, have you?’
Eloise stared at her plate. Conversation around the rest of the table died away into silence, and suddenly everyone was watching her. Eloise tried to hold herself tightly, to not give anything away. But Dad knew.
‘Elephant Ride, you mustn’t do that. You can’t go roaming around on your own. How many times have you been there? More than once?’
Lorelei Swan pressed her hand to her bosom. ‘You can’t let them out on their own ,’ she told Mo and the Durranis. ‘It’s not safe .’
‘Rubbish,’ said Mo. ‘The streets aren’t any more dangerous now than when I was a child.’
‘How would you know?’ Dad narrowed his eyes.
‘When was the last time you were out on the streets? If they’re dangerous enough to keep you inside, how much more dangerous is it for a twelve-year-old girl?’
‘I can’t keep her locked up, Stephen. What did you expect when you left her here? If you wanted her watched twenty-four hours a day, you should have kept her with you.’
‘All I’m asking for is a little common sense, a few sensible
There was a strange silence as Dad and Lorelei Swan stared at the picture. ‘That’s lovely, Elbow Room,’ said Dad at last. ‘That’s the house, is it?’
‘It’ll make a gorgeous memento,’ said Lorelei brightly. ‘When we build the new convention centre, you can hang it in your office to remind you of what used to be there.’
‘ Used to be there?’ said Mo.
‘You know we’ll have to knock the old place down,’ said Dad, his eyes still fixed on the picture.
Eloise heard someone gasp. Her heart thudded in her ears.
‘Knock it down ?’ said Mo. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘The site is wonderful,’ said Lorelei Swan coolly. ‘But the building is a mess. It’s not worth trying to save it. The cost of converting it would be astronomical. The plumbing alone—’
‘But it’s beautiful,’ said Tommy. His eyes and Eloise’s met across the kitchen. ‘And it’s so old.’
‘That’s exactly why it’s so impractical,’ explained Lorelei with a patronising smile. ‘Much simpler to clear it away and start all over again.’
‘Such a shame,’ said Tommy’s father quietly. ‘Is there no value in age?’
‘Apparently not,’ said Mo. Her eyes flashed. ‘Stephen, when I gave you the house, there was no question of demolishing it. You said—’
‘Plans change, Mo.’ Dad laid Eloise’s drawing on the table. ‘It’s called flexibility. You have to go with the flow.’
Lorelei Swan linked her arm with Dad’s. She said to Mo, ‘I understand how you feel. You have an attachment .’ She made it sound like a disease. ‘But now we’ll always have Eloise’s lovely picture to remind us.’ She raised her glass of champagne. ‘Happy Christmas, everyone!’
13
T he Durranis prepared a delicious meal, fragrant with spices, but Eloise barely picked at her food. She heard Dad’s jokes and Lorelei’s titters and Mo’s sarcastic remarks as if through a fog. She stirred her dessert with a spoon and couldn’t eat a mouthful. And all the time she felt as if something inside her chest were screaming and hammering to get out.
But part of her still couldn’t believe that it was really going to happen: that Dad was going to knock down the house. She kept expecting him to wink at her and say, just kidding! It was the kind of thing Dad would do.
But he didn’t.
Once he leaned across to Eloise and said in a low voice, ‘That was an amazing picture you drew, El Niño. I can’t believe you drew that just from memory, from that one day we went there . . .’ He was thinking it out as he spoke. ‘You can’t have been back to the house. You couldn’t have gone with Mo.’ He laid down his spoon and looked at her intently. ‘You haven’t gone back there by yourself, have you?’
Eloise stared at her plate. Conversation around the rest of the table died away into silence, and suddenly everyone was watching her. Eloise tried to hold herself tightly, to not give anything away. But Dad knew.
‘Elephant Ride, you mustn’t do that. You can’t go roaming around on your own. How many times have you been there? More than once?’
Lorelei Swan pressed her hand to her bosom. ‘You can’t let them out on their own ,’ she told Mo and the Durranis. ‘It’s not safe .’
‘Rubbish,’ said Mo. ‘The streets aren’t any more dangerous now than when I was a child.’
‘How would you know?’ Dad narrowed his eyes.
‘When was the last time you were out on the streets? If they’re dangerous enough to keep you inside, how much more dangerous is it for a twelve-year-old girl?’
‘I can’t keep her locked up, Stephen. What did you expect when you left her here? If you wanted her watched twenty-four hours a day, you should have kept her with you.’
‘All I’m asking for is a little common sense, a few sensible
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