Page 15 of See the Stars

‘It was a great stew,’ said Berti.

‘Plenty more,’ said Sheila, getting to her feet.

‘I’m so sorry,’ said Jennie, also getting up. ‘I’ll clean up the mess. Berti, I have asked you several times not to feed the cat at the table.’

‘It wasn’t my fault. You practically pushed him off,’ said Berti, clearly aggrieved. ‘That’s why the bowl was spilled.’

‘I’m so sorry,’ said Jennie again.

‘It’s fine, isn’t it, Mum?’ said Eddy, his voice strained.

‘Of course,’ said Sheila.

‘Where’s your mop?’ said Jennie. ‘I’ll—’

‘You sit down,’ said Sheila, protective of all kitchen chores. ‘I’ll do it. Would you like another bowl of stew, Berti?’

‘No,’ answered Jennie for her son. ‘I think we’ve caused enough drama. Haven’t we?’ She made to ruffle Berti’s hair. He moved quickly out of her reach. ‘We’ll head off in a minute.’

‘Please have more!’ said Eddy, a slight panic rising in his voice. ‘It’s so nice to see you again.’

‘I don’t see what difference me having more stew makes to you,’ said Berti. ‘But it is delicious. At home Mum makes me eat lentils.’ He pulled a face. ‘And sometimes, kale.’

‘Here you are,’ said Sheila, looking pleased with the compliment. A new bowl was already in her hands. ‘It’s nice to have a growing boy to feed again.’

‘No more for the cat,’ said Jennie, her voice firm, although she did help herself to more potatoes. Berti and Basalt both looked at her. ‘I mean it,’ she said. ‘Or we will have to leave.’

Eddy bit his lip. ‘I have an idea,’ he announced. ‘Maybe, Alice, if Berti stops messing around with the cat, you could show him Grandpa’s old telescope after dinner? Jennie told me earlier that he likes rockets.’

‘It’s hardly a rocket,’ said Berti. ‘But yes, I would be interested.’

‘I don’t know . . . ’ began Alice. The shed was her space. Hers and her grandfather’s.

Eddy gave her a pleading look. ‘Then Jennie could stay too,’ he added. ‘She’s just told me that she’s not a nurse any more. She’s a yoga teacher.’ He nodded at Alice, clearly willing her to say yes.

‘I’ll stop feeding the cat if I get to see the telescope,’ said Berti. Basalt meowed at the betrayal.

‘The telescope isn’t working,’ said Alice. ‘I need some new pieces.’

Eddy looked to Matt for help. ‘I bet you could fix it,’ he said. ‘With that engineering degree of yours. You always liked that kind of thing.’

‘Not any more,’ said Matt.

‘Matt doesn’t like anything any more,’ said Berti brightly. ‘Except beer. And lying in bed all day with the curtains closed.’

‘Your uncle has been through a lot,’ said Jennie. They all looked at Matt, who was concentrating now on his bread roll, breaking it open as if he expected to find something valuable inside.

Alice couldn’t bear the awkwardness. ‘I’ll take you to the shed after dinner,’ she told Berti. ‘But don’t get too excited. Like I said, the telescope isn’t working.’

‘Broken machines are one of Berti’s favourite things,’ said Jennie. ‘He’s very good with them,’ she added, pride in him resurfacing. She turned to Eddy and smiled at him. ‘That was a very thoughtful suggestion,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’

‘You are welcome,’ said Eddy, smiling back.

‘Perhaps I can fix it,’ said Berti. He started methodically cutting his potatoes into sixths.

‘It’s a very delicate piece of equipment,’ said Alice, feeling protective. ‘But I’ll show it to you if you keep the rest of your stew away from my cat.’ She looked at her brother. He owed her one.

‘It’s a deal,’ said Berti.

Basalt sat down and proceeded to clean his bottom with his tongue, as if he knew that he had been doubly betrayed.

Alice and Berti stepped outside. Twilight was fading, the last streaks of purple in the sky blackening as their side of the earth spun away from the sun.

‘This is nice,’ said Berti, his voice appreciative.

‘It’s good to be outside, somewhere quiet after a loud dinner.

’ He seemed to have forgotten that much of the noise had been caused by his exploits.

‘It is,’ agreed Alice, looking up at the sky. ‘Back in London, I have a balcony, but it’s nice to be in a proper garden with more space. And it is great seeing here.’

‘What?’ asked Berti. ‘You must have seen here before.’

‘It’s how astronomers talk,’ explained Alice. ‘It means that the visibility is good. No light pollution, clear skies.’

‘Great seeing,’ repeated Berti, clearly banking the phrase.

They paused a moment, each relishing the silence.

Alice looked up. Pinpricks of light punctuated the twilight sky.

‘Look,’ she said, a little reluctant to intrude on Berti’s thoughts but also keen to share the sky with him.

‘There’s Venus.’ She pointed. ‘It’s a planet, but it’s known as the morning star and the evening star. ’

‘I wish people wouldn’t be so imprecise,’ said Berti, looking up. ‘It creates unnecessary confusion.’

‘It does,’ said Alice.

‘Can I see the telescope now?’

Alice hesitated, then put the key in the shed lock. She took a breath and opened the door. She could share this with Berti. She felt like he’d understand.

‘Come on in.’

He followed her in, then stood still, transfixed. He hadn’t even seen the telescope yet; he was staring at the bookshelves. ‘It’s like a library,’ he gasped. ‘What are all these?’

‘Those are my grandpa’s logbooks,’ said Alice, feeling a flash of pride. ‘Every time he observed something interesting in the sky, he made a note of it.’ She hesitated. ‘Do you want to have a read?’ she asked him, feeling generous.

‘No thanks.’

‘Oh,’ said Alice, feeling rejected. ‘Why not?

‘One is missing.’ Berti started tapping his fingers together.

‘How do you know?’

‘The dates,’ he said.

‘There’s a hundred books here!’ said Alice.

‘Ninety-eight,’ said Berti. ‘Number ninety-seven is missing.’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ said Alice. She took an early one out, from before she’d even been born. ‘Here, you can look at this one.’

Berti glanced at the book. ‘But one is missing. I don’t want to read any of them if they’re not complete.’ He sounded upset and looked as though he might leave the shed.

Alice ran her fingers over the leather cover of the logbook she’d selected.

‘It bothers me too,’ she admitted. ‘And it bothered Grandpa that he’d lost one, very much.

’ She thought for a moment. ‘But perhaps think of it like the Kuiper Belt,’ she said, feeling inspired.

‘We have discovered some of the objects at the edge of the solar system, but we know there are more that we haven’t found yet.

Our knowledge is incomplete, but it doesn’t stop us looking. ’

‘Good point,’ Berti said thoughtfully. His finger-tapping stopped. ‘It makes me think of Planet Nine.’

‘Planet Nine?’ asked Alice, surprised that he’d heard of it.

‘It hasn’t been found, but the strange orbits of nearby objects suggest it’s there.’ He reached out and tentatively took the book from Alice’s hands.

‘I don’t think many teenagers understand theoretical orbits,’ said Alice. ‘You really are quite something. Even if you don’t have the best table manners,’ she added with a laugh.

‘I know,’ said Berti. He turned his attention to the book, sitting down to open it.

‘This is magnificent!’ he said as his eyes scanned the pages.

‘Like a treasure trove. As well as rockets, I like space history. This is like getting the source documents directly.’ He stopped reading and abruptly stood up.

‘I’m going to start at the beginning,’ he told her, carefully replacing the book he was holding.

‘In 1979. And study every single record.’

‘It might take you a while,’ said Alice, pulling out the very first book and carefully handing it to him. ‘I think my grandpa would have liked you,’ she added.

‘There’s no point speculating,’ said Berti, sitting down again and opening the book. ‘He’s dead.’

‘Don’t mince your words,’ said Alice, amused despite herself.

She left Berti to it and went outside. She tilted her face up to the sky and took a moment to look at the constellations, imagining what it would be like when the telescope was fixed.

‘Hey.’

Alice jumped. ‘You startled me,’ she told Matt, who had appeared beside her.

‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘I had to get some fresh air. Your brother is hitting on my sister again. It’s like the last fifteen years never happened.’ They both looked at his stick for a moment. ‘Except they did,’ he added.

Alice bit her lip. ‘What happened to your leg?’

‘No one told you?’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘I’m not even gossip-worthy.’

‘I haven’t been around here much,’ she said apologetically.

‘No,’ said Matt. ‘Me neither. Not when I could help it.’

‘You can’t help it now?’ she asked.

‘Getting out of here is not so easy any more.’ He gestured to the stick.

‘You can still go places.’ She thought of the boy she used to know who wanted to explore the world. ‘You’ve just been slowed down a little.’ She looked back up at the sky. ‘We both have.’

‘You can still walk unaided,’ he said.

‘I’ve been slowed down plenty,’ Alice replied. She turned her gaze away from the sky and found herself looking into Matt’s eyes. For a moment, she felt like he could see right into her soul.

He nodded. ‘Perhaps you have,’ he said, his voice soft.

‘Hey!’ Berti broke the moment as he came out waving one of her grandfather’s books. ‘Your grandpa saw a new comet here!’

‘Suspected comet,’ said Alice, coming back to herself and looking at the logbook. It was from 1980. ‘It was too cloudy to confirm the next night. That kind of thing happens a lot.’

‘Come on, Berti,’ said Matt. ‘It’s time to go home.’

‘I don’t want to go,’ said Berti, going back into the shed.

‘We’re all tired,’ said Matt. ‘It’s bedtime.’

‘You didn’t get up till midday. And you haven’t done anything all day except eat dinner.’

‘ Your bedtime,’ said Matt, ignoring him. ‘No arguments.’

‘I want to look at the logbooks some more.’

‘Home,’ said Matt. ‘Now.’ He glanced at Alice. ‘Good to catch up,’ he said.

‘You two have barely spoken,’ pointed out Berti, finally coming back out of the shed.

‘Nice to see you again,’ said Alice. ‘It’s been so long.’

‘We only met yesterday!’ said Berti.

‘I think she meant me,’ said Matt.

‘But like I said, you two have barely spoken. And you haven’t been particularly nice either. I did most of the talking at dinner.’

‘It’s always good to see old friends,’ said Alice. She looked at Berti. ‘And make new ones.’