Page 105 of The Missing Sister

‘I’m not sure I want to get into an argument about gender politics just now, Jack.’ Ally knocked back another gulp of wine.

‘You mean, you might end up slugging me over the head with that wine jug?’

‘Hopefully it wouldn’t be that dramatic, but after years in male-dominated environments, I certainly have a few things to say. Yup,’ she agreed with herself and Jack poured her another glass of wine.

‘Well, it’s worth adding that my mum brought me up to have complete respect for the opposite sex, i.e. you lot,’ he grinned. ‘She taught me how to cook pasta, a roast and make a tuna salad – she said those three dishes would see me through any occasion.’

‘Is she a good cook?’

‘She’s certainly nocordon bleu, but a legend at managing to produce a big pot of something tasty for large numbers from what’s left lying around. Because of where we live, we can’t just run round the corner to the local shop, y’know? She’s fanatical about leftovers being eaten up – probably something to do with her childhood. These things usually are, from what little I know about psychology.’

‘I...’ Even though Ally was genuinely interestedbeyondgaining information on his mum, she still felt guilty for probing. ‘Do you think she had a tough childhood?’

‘As I said, she doesn’t talk about it, and I don’t think any kid is interested in listening to the ’rents going on about their past. Now my dad is gone, and I can’t ask him any more questions, I just keep wishing I had.’

‘Same here,’ Ally agreed as bowls of crudités and olive oil were placed on the table from anonymous hands above them. ‘I can’t tell you how many questions I’ve got now for Pa.’

‘From the sound of things, you had a pretty idyllic childhood.’ Jack offered her a bowl of crudités.

‘Yes. We had just about everything we could ask for. A loving mother figure in our nanny, Ma, Pa’s full attention whenever we needed it... and each other. I look back now and almost feel it wastooidyllic. I think that’s why Pa sent us all to boarding school when we were thirteen. He wanted us to know what the real world was like.’

‘You’re saying boarding school is the real world?’ Jack queried. ‘I mean, to get you there in the first place, your dad would have had to pay. Places like that were only available to the elite and still are, aren’t they?’

‘Yes, you’re right, but mine didn’t include any home comforts. It’s a bit like being in a learning prison that you have to pay for, and you certainly get to know what humanity is like if you’re living with it twenty-four hours a day. You have to learn to fight your own battles, without any kind of support from your parents.’

‘So the rich go to boarding school to know what it feels like to be deprived?’

‘I think that’s a bit of a sweeping statement, but in essence, yes. Would I have wanted to go to a state-run school and be able to go home to my family every night? No matter what was on the table for supper or what kind of house we lived in? When I started boarding, I would have done. Then as I settled down to it and became more independent, I started to realise how privileged I was. The school offered me all sorts of extramural opportunities I’d never have had at a state school.’

‘Actually, my mum boarded too and said it was the making of her for the reasons you just mentioned, even though she hated it at first. I wonder what you’ll do with your own kids when they come along?’

Jack was looking her right in the eye and Ally could feel a blush rising in her cheeks. Turning her head away and concentrating on her crudités, she shrugged.

‘I’m not sure,’ she replied lamely.

After a fantastic main course of wild boar, which no one round the table questioned the provenance of, given that shooting was illegal at this time of year, Ally went to the nearest bathroom and expressed some of the milk in her breasts to relieve the pressure and risk of leaking.

After washing her face in cold water, she stared at herself in the mirror.

‘Remember what Ginette said,’ she whispered, ‘and just enjoy. Tomorrow, you’re gone.’

‘I must head for bed,’ Ally said after coffee and a glass of delicious, if unnecessary, Armagnac. ‘I have an early start in the morning.’

‘Okay, I’ll walk you home, shall I?’ offered Jack.

Having said her goodbyes, left promises to all that she would return and told Ginette she’d see her early tomorrow morning to settle the bill, she and Jack walked down the now moonlit path to hergîte.

‘If I was going to buy something here, I think thegîtewould be almost perfect,’ she commented.

‘Apart from at harvest time, when it would be pretty noisy. Plus, you’d have loads of sweaty grape-pickers peering in through your windows first thing in the morning. And spiders creeping in to join you from the vines.’

‘Sell it to me, why don’t you?’ she smiled. ‘I was just thinking how picturesque it looked in the moonlight. I wouldn’t mind the spiders, after once finding a rat on my mattress on board ship. It must have scuttled in whilst we were in port and had decided to join us for the onward leg.’

‘Wow! I guess even I’d have a problem with that. What did you do?’

‘Admittedly, I screamed and one of the boys came to my rescue,’ Ally laughed.

‘Don’t worry, I’d have done the same, but you’re a hardy lass underneath that delicate exterior, aren’t you?’