Charis (3 page)

Charis had done well at school. So well that she’d completed her
studies a year early and won herself a place at Oxford, reading history and
following in her father's footsteps. She still loved music but thought she
would never be as good a pianist as her mother. She used her music, both
playing and singing, as a solace to her loneliness. She found she could express
herself and lose herself in it, but wanted to use it for pleasure and not a career
as her mother had done. But just when it looked as though life was going to be
good to her, she returned home and another bombshell was dropped.

She was met by the news that Mildred was suffering from terminal
cancer. Mildred, healthy, was unbearable to live with. Mildred, ill, was far
worse. She wanted – demanded – to go to London where she felt she would get
better specialist treatment. She couldn't afford it on her allowance so Charis
must take her. Even though Charis offered to arrange it all and pay the
expenses for her, she was still expected to go with her and look after her. She
ranted and raved, she bullied and tried to make Charis feel guilty by saying
she had dedicated her whole life to taking care of Charis and her mother before
her. On and on she went until finally Charis felt she had no choice but to give
in and take her, postponing her entrance to Oxford for a year.

Paul had kept a London home, in St. John's Wood. When his parents
died, the house in the Lake District, near Keswick in Cumbria where he’d grown
up, had been sold. With his share of the proceeds he had put a deposit on a
house, and had been fortunate to pay off his mortgage with the royalties from
his first few books. He and Charis would live there on their frequent visits to
London while he was still alive and it had never been sold. Instead, James had
arranged for it to be rented on a long lease. As luck would have it, the lease
was recently up and the house was empty, except for the basement flat which was
occupied by the Chandlers.

Sam and Eve Chandler were an older couple who’d lived in the flat
for as long as Charis could remember. Sam owned a little second hand book shop
which Charis had often visited and loved to potter among the books. Eve, Yvette
really, was French. She and Sam had no children and had doted on Charis when
she was young but they hadn't seen her since her father's death over nine years
before. They were delighted to see her again and helped her and Mildred get
comfortable in their new home.

Pretty soon life settled into a routine. Charis realised that she
was no nurse, so arranged for regular home care for Mildred. She spent her time
taking Mildred for walks in her wheelchair, or for doctor visits or hospital
appointments, reading to her, and running the household. She cooked and cleaned
and shopped and had very little time for herself. Sometimes she managed to find
time for her music, an occasional concert or playing quietly to herself on the
piano. And once or twice she treated herself to a visit to the Victoria and
Albert Museum or the Tower, bringing back memories of the wonderful times spent
with her father. Mildred had been given six months to live but the six months
came and went and then a year had gone by and she required twenty-four hour
nursing care, which Charis arranged. By then Mildred was too ill to go for
walks or need much attention from Charis, so she began to have time on her
hands. She knew that Oxford was now out of the question so, hiding her
disappointment, she resumed her musical studies. For months she’d been
e-mailing Henry, begging him to come home and see his mother. All Mildred
wanted and talked about was her son.  Finally, after they’d been in London for
almost eighteen months, he came. He was as unpleasant as ever, and he seemed to
be watching her, as though sizing her up for something, but then he’d look away
if she turned to face him or caught his eyes so that she was even more
uncomfortable than usual in his presence. But it cheered Mildred up and that
was all that mattered to Charis. Mildred, happy to see her son, was much more
bearable than when Henry was not there. He stayed a week.

When Mildred died, Charis was filled with relief. It made her feel guilty
but she knew she was justified. In all that Charis had done for her, not once
had Mildred said thank you. She behaved as though Charis was her servant and
demanded more and more of her. Henry came home for the funeral but not until
Charis had made and paid for all the arrangements, with James' help. Two days
later Henry had gone again and that, too, was a relief. To start with, the weight
off her shoulders felt   so great that Charis wandered around almost in a daze.
No more Mildred to boss and bully her around – she was now free to do whatever
she chose. One of the things she decided to do was learn how to drive, and even
though she didn't have a car, and wouldn't as long as she lived in London, she
thought it was a good thing to know how to do. When she received her drivers'
licence she was proud of her achievement and felt very grown up.

After a while she realised the house was too big for her. She
approached James with the idea of buying another house. She could never sell
the St. John's Wood house but she could lease it again and it would give her a
good income…not that she needed it. The Meadow Lea Hall estate was pretty much
self-sustaining even before the money that came from leasing the house. She had
the money her father had left her, plus the royalties from his thirty-seven
books which were still popular and selling well even more than ten years after
his death. And, as well, every year or so the rights for filming another book were
bought. She had plenty of money. James agreed to her request and she set about
finding a house of her very own.

After looking at dozens of houses, she finally found, and fell in
love with, a mews house just a couple of streets away from the river in
Chelsea. It was in quite a dilapidated state and with the help of an architect
friend of James, who had also known her father, she decided on a complete
renovation, including underfloor heating and solar panels on the roof at the
back of the house which fortunately faced south. While the work was being done
she stayed in the St. John's Wood house and continued with her music studies.
There was a lot for her to do; choosing colours, flooring and tiles, and
furnishings. When the house was finally finished, nine months later, she was
very pleased with the result. Before the St. John's Wood house was leased
again, Charis signed the basement flat over to the Chandlers. The day she moved
into her Chelsea house she felt that at long last she was ready to start her
new life.

*****

The e-mails from Henry had begun within a few weeks of Mildred's
death. At first Charis tried to ignore them. He wanted her to go and visit him
– he had no way of showing his gratitude for all that she’d done for his mother
and he’d like to show her some of the work he’d done, some of the beautiful
artefacts he’d found. He began another dig, and then on to another, and still
the e-mails kept coming. When they became more insistent, she finally responded
and said she was too busy to go, totally involved with getting her house
finished. Then she had exams to take and couldn't leave.

Her final exam was early in May when she was twenty and she’d run
out of excuses. As though Henry somehow knew this, he sent her an airline
ticket to Cairo via e-mail, with an open-ended return date. He’d moved to a new
site – again – and was excited about the things they were starting to find. He
really wanted to show his appreciation. “Please come.” He'd be busy but she'd
be free to come and go as she wished. She would have comfortable accommodation
in the home of the wealthy businessman that he was staying with. She could
spend just one day there, a week or more - whatever suited her. The ticket was
for Wednesday morning.  It was already Monday. She called James and went to his
house for dinner to discuss it with him and his wife Helen.

James had married rather later in life than usual, less than three
years ago, and he and Helen had recently become the parents of twin baby girls,
Charlotte and Caroline. Helen's mother, Grace, a widow, had moved in with them
to help with the babies, and the four of them discussed the invitation at
length. They finally decided that she should go. Charis thought it would be the
only way to stop Henry bothering her. She was still afraid of him but told
herself she was a big girl now and she had a return ticket. James suggested she
might want to arrange her flight to come home as soon as she arrived in Cairo,
which seemed like a good idea to Charis. She spent some time with Helen talking
about what kind of things she would need to take with her before she went home.

Charis had been overjoyed when James and Helen got married. Helen
had been a top photographic model in her twenties. In her thirties she’d
started a model agency and had been very successful. In her forties she’d met
and married James. She was still stunning; tall, with beautiful auburn hair,
flawless skin and large hazel eyes. She’d begun a new career soon after she and
James were married, becoming a TV presenter with her own show called “Woman's
World”, a daily half hour live magazine show with guests and topics that were
of interest to women of all ages and life styles.  Charis had once been a guest
when they were talking about books and authors, and had been there to talk
about her father and his work. It had been a very successful segment and she’d
enjoyed the experience but decided she wouldn't really want to repeat it. Helen
had often helped Charis during her time looking after Mildred by giving her a
place to visit and get some respite, and despite their difference in ages, they’d
become good friends.

James had always been one of the people that Charis knew she could
trust. Although unable to do much to protect her from Mildred's dominance, he’d
done what he could to protect her home and her inheritance. The Pattersons were
also people that she’d come to rely on; Marjorie, the cook and housekeeper at
Meadow Lea Hall, and her husband George, the gardener and handyman. They had
retired after a lifetime of service to her family when the house was leased and
Charis left for London, and she'd had a farm cottage renovated for them. It was
George who’d taught her much about the gardens and she’d come to love going with
him to choose shrubs and flowers to plant and helping to take care of them.
Both of them had been a refuge from Mildred during school holidays and done
what they could to protect her from the abuse that Mildred had heaped upon her.
She’d spent a lot of time with them or on the home farm with Stephen and Sue
Ridley and Lady, her loyal dog, who reached the ripe old age of fifteen before
she had sadly, recently died.

*****

When Wednesday morning came, Charis was up early, showered and
dressed by seven a.m. She’d spent the previous day making sure her house was
clean and tidy and packing the things she’d decided to take. She was determined
she would only be gone for a few days so would not need a lot of clothing –
some lightweight trousers and a few tops and tunics, plus one dress in case
there was an evening ‘do’ at the wealthy business man's house. Underwear,
sandals, and a light jacket which she would carry – all done! Apart from
getting herself ready, all she needed to do was strip and re-make the bed, and
put the other sheets in the washing machine ready to wash when she came home.

The taxi was due to arrive for her at seven thirty. She went around
her house making sure that all the appliances were switched off, except her
fridge and freezer of course, and safe to leave for a few days. When the taxi
arrived she was ready. A final check to make sure she had her passport, her
ticket, her phone and credit card, then she opened the door and began her
journey to Cairo.

Her flight was due to leave Heathrow at 11 a.m. She’d given herself
plenty of time, allowing an hour to get to the airport in case of traffic hold
ups, but everything went smoothly. She managed to pass through the security
check quickly and easily and had plenty of time to relax before her flight began
to board. The plane left the gate right on time, taxied out to the runway,
gathered speed and soared into the air. Charis watched as the ground fell away
– the plane banked, turned and headed east. The patchwork green fields that was
England got smaller and smaller and soon they were flying over the channel, the
white cliffs left behind and heading towards France. Despite her qualms and
misgivings about this trip, Charis began to feel excited. She'd never been
beyond Europe before. School trips had taken her to Venice and Florence, to
Paris and Bruges. Cairo sounded so exotic and she anticipated seeing the
pyramids, the sphinx and the Nile. She’d never been to an archaeological site
before either, not even one in England, although she’d been to several Roman
ruins and been interested in the things that had been recovered, buried for centuries
in the ground. It had all intrigued her, perhaps because of her father's
involvement in writing historical novels. Maybe these few days in Cairo would
be a good experience after all.

The flight was uneventful. Charis wasn't interested in watching the
in-flight film, some American cops and robbers thing, so instead put on the
headphones and listened to some music. She wasn't really hungry but ate because
the food was there and it helped to pass the time. They were due to touch down
at 4:30 p.m. Cairo time. The plane landed and was kept waiting on the tarmac
for fifteen minutes. She presented her passport in immigration, picked up her luggage,
cleared customs and walked into the terminal. She couldn't see Henry anywhere
but as she looked around she saw a very tall impressive looking Arab holding a
sign that said ‘Charis Ainslie’. She walked up to him and introduced herself.
His name was Abdul and spoke very good English. He apologised for Henry not
being there to meet her but said he'd had an unexpected emergency come up and
that he’d meet her at the house of their benefactor in an hour or two where
there was a room prepared for her. Tomorrow, after she’d had a good night’s
sleep, Henry would take her to see his work in progress. Thinking it would be
good to freshen up after her travels, she followed Abdul to the car. He carried
her bag and put it in the boot. He opened the door for her and they began the
hour and a half drive to their destination.