Silver Wattle (46 page)

‘Your stepfather is in Austria. That’s already been confirmed.’

‘I know,’ I said, a tremor in my voice. I was beginning to see how astray my imagination was leading me.

Freddy squeezed my fingers. ‘Poor darling,’ he said, kissing my hand. ‘You’re exhausted.’

At the end of May, Mrs Swan’s mother, who lived in the southern highlands, suffered a turn. Mrs Swan and Mary planned to travel there to look after her and needed Robert to accompany them. With Klara so close to term, and with it still unconfirmed whether she had consumption or not, it was decided that she had best stay in Sydney. So it was with great reluctance that Robert left her to travel with his mother and sister.

‘I’ll call you every day,’ he assured her. ‘And I’ll be back before the baby is born. Grandmother has these turns occasionally, but always pulls through. She’s as strong as an ox.’

Klara had convinced herself that Milosh was in Europe, but I saw the apprehensive look in her eyes. ‘We will never leave each other alone,’ I promised her.

While the Swans were away, Klara stayed with me and Freddy. If there had not been a question mark over her health, then having my sister back with me would have been perfect. One morning, Freddy, Klara and I breakfasted together on the terrace before Freddy left for work.

‘The garden is so lush now,’ said Klara, admiring the camellias with their red flowers, the white-blossomed paperbarks and the blueberry ashes that had shot up in height in the last month. Lights had been installed around the garden and pond so that we could have parties in the summer.

My eye fell to a lilly-pilly that was dappled with new crimson leaves. I recognised it as one of Freddy’s tortured topiaries; I’d had Rex plant it in the ground and it was growing into a handsome tree. It’s been set free, I thought. I remembered what Robert had said about me and Freddy being good for each other, and I realised that Philip had set me free too.

‘I’d better be going,’ said Freddy, taking one last sip of tea and leaning across the table to kiss me. ‘I have clients to visit this morning and then I’m going to drop by Tilly’s Cinema to discuss another venture with your uncle.’

I wished Freddy well and turned back to my breakfast. A feeling I could not understand gripped me. I stood up and rushed out to the hall. He was gathering his coat and hat from Regina and he turned to me and smiled. ‘What is it?’

I rushed forward and flung my arms around his neck. ‘I forgot to return your kiss,’ I told him, and pressed my lips to his.

That evening, before dinner, Klara played the piano in the drawing room. It was unusual for us to be in there; we usually spent our evenings in the sitting room. But she had an urge to play music and I was happy to indulge her.

‘It is just as well I am so tall and have long arms,’ she said, with a smile. ‘Otherwise I would not be able to reach the keys.’

I remembered Ranjana’s prediction that Klara was carrying twins. Despite her illness, Klara had put on weight. She was no longer lanky, she had a full chest and her face was round like a peach.

I heard the telephone ring. A few minutes later, Regina appeared to say that Freddy wished to speak with me. Our normally healthy maid looked peaked in the face.

‘Adela, is that you?’ Freddy said when I picked up the receiver. He sounded flustered.

‘What’s wrong?’ I asked.

‘There’s been a fire at the cinema. They’ve just managed to put the flames out now.’

‘My God! Uncle Ota? Ranjana?’

‘Nobody was hurt, but the projection room and our film supply is gone. The police are here. They want to make a report.’

‘Do they think it was deliberate?’

‘We don’t know yet. Apparently there have been extortion attempts on cinemas lately. But I think it was an accident. It was only the projection room. If it was extortion surely the office would have been set alight as well.’

Freddy was right. It was not unusual for films to catch on fire. That was why Uncle Ota had installed safety equipment in the projection and storage rooms.

‘Listen,’ said Freddy, ‘Ota, Ranjana and I are trying to sort out the mess and the police won’t let us go until they’ve made their report. Esther is at Watsons Bay looking after Thomas. Are you and Klara all right there? I’ve called Robert. He’s already on his way back to Sydney. He’ll be there first thing in the morning.’

I looked into the drawing room. Klara was still sitting at the piano reading some music. ‘Yes, we are fine.’

‘Hopefully we can wrap all this up in a few hours,’ said Freddy. ‘But don’t wait up for me.’

I rang off and went to find Regina. I told her Freddy would be delayed, so not to keep his dinner.

‘Very good, madam,’ she said in a hoarse voice.

‘Are you unwell?’ I asked her.

Regina looked embarrassed. ‘I have stomach pains,’ she said. ‘A pedlar came to the door with cream buns this afternoon. I should not have purchased them. The cream must have turned sour.’

‘Go to bed,’ I told her. ‘I can serve the dinner myself. Doctor Fitzgerald is coming tomorrow to visit my sister. I will ask him to examine you too.’

‘Thank you very much, madam,’ said Regina. ‘Goodnight.’

I watched Regina walk up the stairs to her room. When I returned to the drawing room, I found Klara asleep on the sofa. I picked up a blanket and spread it over her. Klara’s pregnancy had made her a heavy sleeper and I knew I had no hope of rousing her to send her to bed. I had not drawn the curtains yet and I stopped to admire the moonlight on the garden. The news of the fire had unsettled me, and I would not be able to sleep until Freddy came home. I selected a book from the library and settled next to Klara by the dying fire.

Just after eleven o’clock a breeze rose up and whistled around the walls and rattled the doors. I heard a bang upstairs that sounded as if it might be coming from Freddy’s and my bedroom. I wondered if Regina had left a window open. I laid my book on the table. The house lights went out. It was not uncommon for us to lose power if there was a strong wind and the wires crossed each other. I would leave it to Rex to fix the problem when he arrived in the morning. I groped around for the oil lamp we kept on the bureau and found it. Then I felt along the mantelpiece for a match to light it.

Klara sighed and rolled over, tugging the blanket over her face. I shut the door behind me. She would have to stay there for the night. I did not want her stumbling about in the dark.

The lamp cast only a small circle of light but it was enough to find my way upstairs. I put my hand to the banister and listened for the banging window again, but heard nothing. Regina must have risen and closed it. I reached the landing, pushed open the door to our bedroom and lifted the lamp towards the window. It was shut, with the latch fastened, but the script notes I had left on the side table were scattered about the floor.

I held the lamp higher and gasped. The drawers to my dressing table had been upturned and the contents strewn about the room. A sickening feeling clenched my stomach. A fire? A thief? All in one night?

I rushed into the hallway. Regina’s room was on the same level as our bedrooms but further along. I decided to fetch her, then wake Klara, put them both in the car and drive to Esther’s house. If the window was locked, the thief may still be somewhere in the house. I crept in the direction of Regina’s room. Suddenly the door to Klara’s room flew open and a figure stepped out. In the lamplight I saw that the intruder was holding the gold and diamond chain Robert had given Klara as a wedding present. He turned in my direction.

‘Take whatever you want,’ I told him. ‘Take it all. I won’t stop you. I won’t look at your face. Just take it all and go!’

The intruder hesitated a moment and then his laugh shattered the silence of the house. I knew that laugh. I lifted the lamp higher and my blood chilled when I saw this figure’s pale hair and skin. I was looking at a ghost.

‘Just like you to think that I want your cheap jewels,’ Milosh sneered.

I staggered backwards, my heart thumping in my chest. I stared at my stepfather, not able to believe my eyes.

‘Regina!’ I called, my voice weak. ‘Regina! Lock your door and call the police!’

Milosh laughed again. ‘I don’t think your Spanish maid will be waking up tonight,’ he said.

The lamp wobbled in my hand and I almost dropped it. Milosh stepped forward, yanked it from me and placed it on the hall table. I caught sight of the knife in his hand. The truth dawned on me. He intended to kill us and make it look like a robbery.

He grabbed my wrist and twisted it so painfully that I dropped to my knees. I caught a glimpse of his face. The thin-fleshed forehead was the same but his eyes had a strange glint to them. He did not look like the cool, calculating man I had known in Prague. My mind raced to make sense of the situation. How could Milosh be here when Doctor Holub had assured us that he was in Austria?

‘Where is your sister?’ he asked, pressing the knife against my back.

I was determined not to look in the direction of the drawing room. I struggled against Milosh’s grip and he slapped me in the face. The sting awoke me to my senses. Milosh had not found Klara so far and Freddy would be home soon. If Milosh had looked through the drawing room window any time in the last few hours, he would have assumed only I was sitting there. He could kill me right now, but waste another hour searching for Klara. Our house was large and had twelve bedrooms altogether. Time was what Milosh did not have and what I needed to gain. My stepfather was physically stronger than me but I had not forgotten his weakness: his incessant need to boast.

‘They will know it is you,’ I baited him. ‘The person who has the most to gain is always the first one suspected.’

‘Oh?’ replied Milosh. ‘In a city where extortion, kidnapping, robbery and the murder of rich wives is rife? Besides, everyone thinks I am in Austria.’

‘Klara saw you at her concert.’

Milosh laughed. ‘And you proved her mistaken.’

A chill passed over me. Milosh must have been eavesdropping on our family to know that. I remembered the spider. Had he been in the house before?

He dragged me to the staircase. I was sure he was going to throw me down the stairs, but his desire to show off got the better of him.

‘What fools you people are,’ he said. ‘I learned the trick from you. Weren’t you supposed to be in America? My wife has a cousin who owes us a favour. He travelled to Vienna with her and is posing as me. Who in Austria would be any wiser? When I am finished here, we will simply move back to Prague. After all, by that time we will have a house waiting for us there and money will no longer be a problem. Now, where is your sister?’

I shivered. This was not the remote man I had known, conniving to get what he wanted. He was taking pleasure in what he was doing. My terror gave way to a sense of sadness. It is over, I thought. Klara and I are going to die here. The child she cradled in her belly would never see the light. I remembered my sudden urge to kiss Freddy that morning. I must have known I was bidding him farewell.

And then my grief gave way to anger. I would not let Milosh harm my sister.

With the sense of surrealness I had felt when I kicked the man with the broken glass to save Uncle Ota, I jerked my elbow back into Milosh’s ribs. He let go of me and fell back. From the ‘crack’ of air he spat out, I realised I had winded him. I raced down the stairs with one thought in my mind: I had to get Milosh to chase me. I had to get him away from Klara.

I reached the bottom of the staircase and turned in the direction of the kitchen. I heard Milosh’s footsteps in pursuit. I opened the door to the sitting room, which was empty and dark, and screamed out: ‘Klara! Come with me!’ I ran into the kitchen, slammed the door behind me and locked it. My shaking hands struggled with the catch of the door to the garden. I heard Milosh coming down the hall. I turned the catch and rushed out into the darkness just as I heard him hurl himself against the kitchen door. It was not a sturdy lock and I knew he would soon be through and after me. I launched myself at the camellias, making as much noise as I could. Branches scratched at my face, ‘Klara, quick, this way!’ I shouted.

‘You won’t get far!’ I heard Milosh say. ‘You stupid bitches!’

I dropped to my stomach and hid behind a rock near the pond. My plan had worked: Milosh thought Klara was with me. Through the blades of the reeds, I saw him standing on the kitchen step and holding up the lamp. There was a dark streak down the side of his face: blood. He must have knocked his head when he fell backwards. Klara would wake up with the commotion. I had to keep him pursuing me. I picked up a stone and threw it as hard as I could in the opposite direction. It thudded against the fence. Milosh turned towards the sound and I realised that he could not see anything beyond his lantern.

I am safe, I thought. For the moment.

Then, like a flash of lightning, the garden lights came on. So the wires had not crossed at all; Milosh had tampered with the fuse box. I pressed myself low into the ground. Freddy, come home, I prayed, knowing that under the lights my hiding place would soon be discovered.

I lifted my eyes to see where Milosh was now. A blow crashed down on the back of my head. I lay dazed in the mud for a few seconds, then touched my head and felt a warm, sticky trickle. Blood. From the corner of my eye, I saw Milosh’s leg near my face. He grabbed my hair and pulled my head up, but at the same time dropped the knife. It fell into the pond with a splash. As he reached for it I bit his arm as hard as I could. He hit me across my face again, then grabbed me by the shoulders.

‘It will give me more pleasure to kill you with my bare hands,’ he said coldly. ‘Out of the three of you, you were always the one I hated most.’

He was so calm. It was more terrifying than if he had raved at me like a lunatic. Yet surely he had lost his mind? Greed had driven him mad. I opened my mouth to scream but produced only a gasp. Milosh gripped my head and pushed my face into the water. I tried not to inhale, but could not stop myself. I swallowed mouthfuls of mud. I reached behind my head and struggled with his hands, taking in more water in doing so. Something was pressing down on my back. His knee?