added, “I am very happy.”
He didn’t look it.
“And I have a surprise for you,”Ali added.“Tonight we are all going on a trip—to Cairo, where your mother can visit all her cousins. Afterward we’ll go back to Amman.” He looked at his daughter.
“Tonight? But it’s so soon!”
“You can just pack one case.Your mother and I decided that we should all go on a family holiday, and with Rashid and Firyal here it seemed like the perfect time. After your big Western party.” He smiled at her. “It was our surprise for you, Helen. We didn’t want you to get too sucked into your friends and their lifestyle. You do want to go back for a visit, right?”
“Of course!” Helen said. Back to Jordan? She hadn’t seen her childhood home for years. She thought of all her friends, Fatima, Sayeeda, little Rahma . . . wondered how they’d grown up.“We’re really flying out there? Tonight? You mean it?”
“I do.” He grinned. “I know you always wanted to go back there.” And Baba put on his solemn face. “Maybe once you remind yourself what our life was like in Jordan, you will wish to get married. . . .”
Helen shook her head.“I want to go back to Jordan, Baba, but that’s about all.”
Ali reached up to the mantelpiece and patted the envelope that sat there.“I have the tickets and the passports,” he said.“First class.You know, Helen, one thing that matters in this life is staying close to your roots.”
“I totally agree,” she said. Did that mean he was going to give up the whisky?
But she didn’t say that. It was a nice moment—no need to spoil it.
“Will you excuse me?” she asked Ahmed.“I want to go and see my friend Sally. I’ll be back this afternoon, for the ceremony.”
“No later than noon—your mother has a special dress for you to wear,” Ali told her.
Helen kissed him on the cheek. “I promise.”
The cab dropped her out front. Green Gables was already immaculately clean—Helen could hardly believe it. An army of servants had descended on the place in the night—even after a few hours, you’d never know there had been a party there at all—apart from a few hoofprints on the grass where they’d had the camel rides. And Helen suspected they would soon be gone, too.
Wow. It was astounding what money could do.
She rang the bell, eager to see Sally. Maybe they could get a ride in one of Sally’s father’s cars over to Malibu, see Jane. She had a teenager’s eagerness to relive her night of triumph. And just wait till they were back at Miss Milton’s on Monday morning! The gang of three would become a gang of twenty -three—at least.
Helen finally felt like she fit in.
A moment later and the door swung open—Richard, the second butler, opened it.
“Good morning, Miss Yanna.” All the staff here knew Helen by name. “Please come in—Miss Lassiter is in her bedroom.”
“Thanks, Richard.” Helen half ran up the stairs, feeling as light as thistledown. She knew the way, third on the left at the top of the sweeping marble stairs. She hammered on the door.“Sally! You sleeping? It’s Helen. Let me in!”
“Just a moment.”
Helen blinked; she could hear that Sally was crying.
Why? Last night had been perfect. Some drama with a boy after Helen had left?
“What’s up?”
Sally opened the door, red-eyed, tear tracks streaked down her face, and all Helen’s thoughts of reliving the party, flying off to Cairo, all evaporated.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Sal? Are you okay?”
“It’s Jane.There’s been . . . an accident.”
Helen’s stomach turned over. “What kind of an accident . . . is she dead ?”
“Not her. Her father. He fell out of a top-floor window in his house in Washington. . . .”
“Oh, my God.”
“The British secret service came . . . took her away. Took her to Washington. She called me before she left.”
Sally shuddered as she spoke. She would never forget the bleakness, the desolation in
He didn’t look it.
“And I have a surprise for you,”Ali added.“Tonight we are all going on a trip—to Cairo, where your mother can visit all her cousins. Afterward we’ll go back to Amman.” He looked at his daughter.
“Tonight? But it’s so soon!”
“You can just pack one case.Your mother and I decided that we should all go on a family holiday, and with Rashid and Firyal here it seemed like the perfect time. After your big Western party.” He smiled at her. “It was our surprise for you, Helen. We didn’t want you to get too sucked into your friends and their lifestyle. You do want to go back for a visit, right?”
“Of course!” Helen said. Back to Jordan? She hadn’t seen her childhood home for years. She thought of all her friends, Fatima, Sayeeda, little Rahma . . . wondered how they’d grown up.“We’re really flying out there? Tonight? You mean it?”
“I do.” He grinned. “I know you always wanted to go back there.” And Baba put on his solemn face. “Maybe once you remind yourself what our life was like in Jordan, you will wish to get married. . . .”
Helen shook her head.“I want to go back to Jordan, Baba, but that’s about all.”
Ali reached up to the mantelpiece and patted the envelope that sat there.“I have the tickets and the passports,” he said.“First class.You know, Helen, one thing that matters in this life is staying close to your roots.”
“I totally agree,” she said. Did that mean he was going to give up the whisky?
But she didn’t say that. It was a nice moment—no need to spoil it.
“Will you excuse me?” she asked Ahmed.“I want to go and see my friend Sally. I’ll be back this afternoon, for the ceremony.”
“No later than noon—your mother has a special dress for you to wear,” Ali told her.
Helen kissed him on the cheek. “I promise.”
The cab dropped her out front. Green Gables was already immaculately clean—Helen could hardly believe it. An army of servants had descended on the place in the night—even after a few hours, you’d never know there had been a party there at all—apart from a few hoofprints on the grass where they’d had the camel rides. And Helen suspected they would soon be gone, too.
Wow. It was astounding what money could do.
She rang the bell, eager to see Sally. Maybe they could get a ride in one of Sally’s father’s cars over to Malibu, see Jane. She had a teenager’s eagerness to relive her night of triumph. And just wait till they were back at Miss Milton’s on Monday morning! The gang of three would become a gang of twenty -three—at least.
Helen finally felt like she fit in.
A moment later and the door swung open—Richard, the second butler, opened it.
“Good morning, Miss Yanna.” All the staff here knew Helen by name. “Please come in—Miss Lassiter is in her bedroom.”
“Thanks, Richard.” Helen half ran up the stairs, feeling as light as thistledown. She knew the way, third on the left at the top of the sweeping marble stairs. She hammered on the door.“Sally! You sleeping? It’s Helen. Let me in!”
“Just a moment.”
Helen blinked; she could hear that Sally was crying.
Why? Last night had been perfect. Some drama with a boy after Helen had left?
“What’s up?”
Sally opened the door, red-eyed, tear tracks streaked down her face, and all Helen’s thoughts of reliving the party, flying off to Cairo, all evaporated.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Sal? Are you okay?”
“It’s Jane.There’s been . . . an accident.”
Helen’s stomach turned over. “What kind of an accident . . . is she dead ?”
“Not her. Her father. He fell out of a top-floor window in his house in Washington. . . .”
“Oh, my God.”
“The British secret service came . . . took her away. Took her to Washington. She called me before she left.”
Sally shuddered as she spoke. She would never forget the bleakness, the desolation in
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