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Authors: Rachel Hore
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from the kitchen, “I put some bedding out. Find yourself a towel in the bathroom cupboard.”
“Thanks.”
With more than Claire and Summer in it, the cottage felt crowded, but Claire, who bought it two years ago,when the Star Bureau started to come into profit, had made the best of its quaintness, staining and varnishing all the beams herself and painting the lathe and plaster walls a soft China white. As Jude picked up her overnight bag and mounted the stairs she noticed something new. “These collages on the landing,” she called down, “they’re lovely. Are they from the shop?” There were two bright, almostmystical scenes of trees and stars made of bark and painted paper, the detail drawn in pen and ink.
“Do you like them?” Claire replied. “Summer’s got a friend called Darcey. Her uncle makes them. We took some for the Star Bureau and I couldn’t resist doing a deal for a couple of extra for myself.”
Summer’s room was decorated fit for a fairy-tale princess. Pale plastic stars dotted the ceiling.Jude knew they glowed green-white in the dark. Claire had painted the walls with shy woodland creatures that seemed to peep around the vertical beams with large gentle eyes. Under the eyes of a fawn, Summer sat cross-legged on the floor, playing with a painted plywood doll’s house. Jude dropped her bag on the mattress Claire had laid out and knelt down next to Summer to see properly. The house,she was astonished to realize, was an exact replica of Blacksmith’s Cottage, down to the chimneys and the window boxes.
“Look, this is me,” Summer said, showing Jude a wooden doll dressed in an outfit rather similar to the one she now wore. “And this is Mummy.” The doll wore a replica of one of Claire’s long cotton skirts and tops and tiny dangling earrings.
“And this is Pandora.” The chinacat had been painted with her real-life counterpart’s exact black-and-white markings. Summer made them all dance through the doll’s house. The two dolls had jointed limbs and Summer could sit them on chairs or, in the case of the little girl, make her kneel on the floor.
“They’re amazing. Where did you get them from?” Jude asked, picking up a little kitchen chair to study it properly.
“Euanmade them for me. He’s Darcey’s uncle.”
“Did he make the pictures on the staircase, too?” Jude asked. Whoever the talented Euan was, he had clearly become something of a friend.
“Mmm,” Summer replied vaguely, lost in her game. “Now you go to sleep,” she told the little girl doll, laying her on the bed in the replica princess bedroom. “Or you won’t enjoy school tomorrow because you’ll be tootired. Sweet dreams, my darling!”
Remembering what Claire had told her, that Summer’s dreams were anything but sweet, Jude reached out a hand and stroked the girl’s hair. Should she say something? But now Summer had moved the Mummy doll downstairs and was making her feed the cat. The moment had passed.
* * *
“Have you ever been inside Starbrough Hall?” Jude, now changed into jeans and long-sleevedT-shirt, was watching her sister make supper.
Her sister, stirring a pan of risotto, shook her head. “No, just glimpsed it from the road. What did you say you’re doing there?”
“I’m valuing a collection of books and scientific instruments. They once belonged to an amateur astronomer. Look, I’ll do that.” She took the saucepan for the broccoli side dish from Claire to fill from the tap.
“Thanks,”Claire muttered. “So is it valuable, this stuff?”
“Some of it, yes,” said Jude, placing the pan on the stove. “But it’s really interesting, too. This man, Anthony Wickham, he lived at the end of the eighteenth century and I think he built the folly in the forest. He used it for stargazing. And when I went to see Gran last night, she mentioned the folly, too. So that’s how I got myself in sucha mess just now. I thought I’d go and look for it. Have you seen it?”
“I
“Thanks.”
With more than Claire and Summer in it, the cottage felt crowded, but Claire, who bought it two years ago,when the Star Bureau started to come into profit, had made the best of its quaintness, staining and varnishing all the beams herself and painting the lathe and plaster walls a soft China white. As Jude picked up her overnight bag and mounted the stairs she noticed something new. “These collages on the landing,” she called down, “they’re lovely. Are they from the shop?” There were two bright, almostmystical scenes of trees and stars made of bark and painted paper, the detail drawn in pen and ink.
“Do you like them?” Claire replied. “Summer’s got a friend called Darcey. Her uncle makes them. We took some for the Star Bureau and I couldn’t resist doing a deal for a couple of extra for myself.”
Summer’s room was decorated fit for a fairy-tale princess. Pale plastic stars dotted the ceiling.Jude knew they glowed green-white in the dark. Claire had painted the walls with shy woodland creatures that seemed to peep around the vertical beams with large gentle eyes. Under the eyes of a fawn, Summer sat cross-legged on the floor, playing with a painted plywood doll’s house. Jude dropped her bag on the mattress Claire had laid out and knelt down next to Summer to see properly. The house,she was astonished to realize, was an exact replica of Blacksmith’s Cottage, down to the chimneys and the window boxes.
“Look, this is me,” Summer said, showing Jude a wooden doll dressed in an outfit rather similar to the one she now wore. “And this is Mummy.” The doll wore a replica of one of Claire’s long cotton skirts and tops and tiny dangling earrings.
“And this is Pandora.” The chinacat had been painted with her real-life counterpart’s exact black-and-white markings. Summer made them all dance through the doll’s house. The two dolls had jointed limbs and Summer could sit them on chairs or, in the case of the little girl, make her kneel on the floor.
“They’re amazing. Where did you get them from?” Jude asked, picking up a little kitchen chair to study it properly.
“Euanmade them for me. He’s Darcey’s uncle.”
“Did he make the pictures on the staircase, too?” Jude asked. Whoever the talented Euan was, he had clearly become something of a friend.
“Mmm,” Summer replied vaguely, lost in her game. “Now you go to sleep,” she told the little girl doll, laying her on the bed in the replica princess bedroom. “Or you won’t enjoy school tomorrow because you’ll be tootired. Sweet dreams, my darling!”
Remembering what Claire had told her, that Summer’s dreams were anything but sweet, Jude reached out a hand and stroked the girl’s hair. Should she say something? But now Summer had moved the Mummy doll downstairs and was making her feed the cat. The moment had passed.
* * *
“Have you ever been inside Starbrough Hall?” Jude, now changed into jeans and long-sleevedT-shirt, was watching her sister make supper.
Her sister, stirring a pan of risotto, shook her head. “No, just glimpsed it from the road. What did you say you’re doing there?”
“I’m valuing a collection of books and scientific instruments. They once belonged to an amateur astronomer. Look, I’ll do that.” She took the saucepan for the broccoli side dish from Claire to fill from the tap.
“Thanks,”Claire muttered. “So is it valuable, this stuff?”
“Some of it, yes,” said Jude, placing the pan on the stove. “But it’s really interesting, too. This man, Anthony Wickham, he lived at the end of the eighteenth century and I think he built the folly in the forest. He used it for stargazing. And when I went to see Gran last night, she mentioned the folly, too. So that’s how I got myself in sucha mess just now. I thought I’d go and look for it. Have you seen it?”
“I
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