Page 21 of The Missing Sister

‘I’m jet-lagged from the flight here, but it’s great to be at Atlantis and see Ma, Claudia and Ally. And how are you, Miss Global Superstar?’

‘OMG, Maia! I never, ever expected the kinda feedback I got from my speech. It feels like every newspaper and TV channel in the world wants to speak to me. Mariam – remember my assistant? – has had to hire a temp to help her. I’m... overwhelmed.’

‘I bet you are, but at least it’s for all the right reasons, isn’t it?’

‘Yeah, it is, and Stella – my grandmother – has been great. She’s been dealing with a lot of the charity stuff. From what she said, we’ve already had enough donations to openfivedrop-in centres, and there’s also been tons of charities offering me seats on their boards to act as a spokeswoman and stuff. Best of all, UNICEF have been in touch to ask if I’d consider becoming a global ambassador for them. That made Stella real proud, which was nice.’

‘That all sounds fantastic, Electra! It’s no more than you deserve. You’re a true inspiration to those who are struggling like you have. Just make sure you don’t end up relapsing under the pressure.’

‘Oh, don’t worry, I won’t relapse. This is happy pressure, not sad, if you know what I mean. I feel... exhilarated. And Miles has also been great.’

‘Miles... isn’t he the guy you were in rehab with?’

‘Yeah, and, well... we’ve become real close over the past few weeks. In fact, I was thinking that if he can spare the time, maybe I’d bring him along with me to Atlantis. He’s a superhot lawyer, so I can just send him into battle when I need to fight my corner against all you sisters.’

Electra chuckled, and it was a blissful, natural sound that Maia hadn’t heard from her in years.

‘If any of us can fight our corner in this crazy family of ours, then it’s you, Electra, but of course he’s welcome. I think everyone’s bringing someone with them, except Ally. Her brother Thom can’t come as he’s on tour with the Bergen Philharmonic.’

‘Well, at least she has Bear.’

‘She does, yes, but she’s feeling pretty low at the moment.’

‘Yeah, I got that from the phone call we had recently. Never mind, we’ll all be around to cheer her up and do some babysitting. So, is this just a call to see how I’m doing, or was there a reason for it?’

‘Both, actually. Did you read the email Ally sent to you, Tiggy and Star?’

‘I didn’t. As I said, I’ve been inundated. Even Mariam hasn’t been able to get up to date yet. What was it about?’

Maia explained as succinctly as she could the events since Georg’s surprise visit to them on the night of the Concert for Africa.

‘...So we now know that Mary-Kate’s mum, more commonly known as Merry, has apparently flown on to Toronto. She has the emerald ring with her, which Georg told us is the proof we need to identify the missing sister. We’re still waiting to see if we can get an address for Merry over there, but if we can – and I’m sorry to ask you this when you’re so busy – could you possibly spare a day to fly up to meet with her? It’s only an hour and forty minutes to Toronto from NYC, so...’

‘I’m sure I could, Maia. In fact, I’d actually appreciate a chance to get out of the city right now. I’ll bring Mariam with me; she’s great at getting information out of people.’

‘Okay, well, that’s fantastic, Electra! I just hope we get to find out where she’s staying and then I’ll be in touch.’

‘Do you think this really might lead us to the missing sister?’

‘I don’t know, but Georg seemed certain about this information.’

‘Wow, wouldn’t it be incredible if we could get her to come lay the wreath with us? That would have made Pa so happy.’

‘Yes, it would, and with your help, we just might. Now, I’m sure you have a busy day ahead of you, so I’ll let you go. Congratulations again, little sister. What you did – and want to do – is incredible.’

‘Gee, thanks, big sis. Let me know if you get that address and see you soon!’

After ending the call, Maia left the house and walked across to enter the Pavilion, closing the door behind her. Although she had chosen to sleep in her childhood room in the main house to be closer to Ally, her old home here – where she had lived alone for so long as an adult – had been kept clean and aired by Claudia. And it was where she, Floriano and Valentina would stay when they arrived. She went into the bedroom and opened her underwear drawer. Feeling around at the bottom of it, she drew out what she was looking for, then stared at it.

Yes, it was still there. Secreting it back in the drawer, Maia walked to the bed and sat down. She thought about what Ally had said earlier; about how she felt guilty because she was low at a time when she should be happy. This was partly true of her too just now, because something she’d wanted for a long time had finally happened. Yet at the same time, it had produced a metamorphosis inside her brain, which seemed determined to drag up painful events from her past...

As she forced herself to stand up, she decided that she was glad she had some space from Floriano, some time to work out her thoughts and feelings before she spoke to him.

‘There’s no rush,’ she whispered as she looked around her at the rooms she had lived in for so long. Being back here, where she now acknowledged she’d hidden herself away from the world like a wounded animal, made tears prick her eyes. Atlantis had been such a safe, secure universe where day-to-day problems were few. And just now, she only wished she could recapture that feeling, and that Pa was still next door, because she was scared...

As the rain lashed against the windows and a wind howled through the valley, I finally gave up on the lyrics to a new song I’d been trying to compose on the keyboard. Yesterday, Fletch and I had worked together in the sitting room as a storm raged outside.

‘We could do with a fire, mate,’ Fletch had said. ‘Winter’s here.’