Page 236 of The Sun Sister

‘Well, let me know when you’ve decided, okay?’

‘I will.’

As she led Stella down the steps to the waiting car, Cecily felt almost tearful as she watched her wave to her new friends.

‘Bye bye, see you soon,’ Stella called.

As they drove off, Cecily knew that she’d do all she could to make sure her beloved daughterwould.

The next morning, Cecily woke up, her head and heart aching from a dream of Bill. She dressed quickly and crept downstairs, not wishing to wake the sleeping house. It was still dark outside, with only the first glimmers of dawn touching the sky, and she wrapped herself tightly in her coat and fur muffler and walked towards Central Park. Her ankle still feeling delicate, she cleared some snow off a bench and sat down facing the famous Alice in Wonderland statue, dressed in a white gown of frost. The park was quiet, with only a few haggard pigeons pecking fruitlessly at the slush on the ground.

Cecily hugged herself, feeling a little like she too had fallen down a rabbit hole since she had arrived in Manhattan. She watched her breath visible in the frigid air, now a novelty to her after being so long in the heat of Africa. Here, the Manhattan-Cecily could barely remember the feeling of being too hot, and the other Kenya-Cecily felt almost like a dream self, an imposter. She wondered what Bill was doing right now, whether he was still on safari. When she called, he never answered the home telephone, and at Muthaiga Club, Ali said he hadn’t seen thesahibsince Christmas Day.

Stella’s destiny lay here; she felt it deep in her bones. Yet if she stayed with her in New York, she would be leaving Bill behind in Kenya. Her home and all it entailed...Paradise Farm, Wolfie, Katherine...Would Lankenua choose to stay on with her here? She could not ask a mother to leave her son behind.

Perhaps, as she’d said to Rosalind, all she could do was to tell Bill she was delaying her return for a while – he could hardly complain after the years she’d spent trapped in Kenya, and neither was he making any effort to keep in contact with her. At least an extended stay here would give them a chance to try their new life out for size without making any firm decisions.

Back at the house, Cecily ducked into her father’s study. She could hear footsteps in the kitchen and the corridors as Evelyn took the morning coffee tray upstairs to her parents and lit the fires. Cecily took a fountain pen and some paper out of her father’s desk and began to write.

Dearest Bill,

Happy New Year! I hope you celebrated it wherever you are. I was sorry not to be there with you. How were the Christmas festivities at Muthaiga Club? When I called to speak to you on Christmas Day, Ali mentioned that you had gone out on safari. In fact, I have tried to call you on numerous occasions at the farm and Muthaiga since, so I’m resorting to writing. I am taking your absence as a good sign that you are keeping busy and not consumed in hermit-hood whilst I’m gone.

How are Bobby and Katherine? Is her pregnancy progressing well? Stella misses Michael a great deal.

Christmas here in New York was sombre, given Kiki’s death. I can hardly bear to think of Mundui House standing empty without Kiki in it.

I have been taking solace in getting to know my nieces and nephews, and growing close to my sisters again. I have also had a wonderful time exploring Manhattan with Stella and, in truth, the time has gone so fast that I’d like to stay on a little longer. After all, I have been away for seven years! I hope you don’t mind, Bill. It’s just such a long journey and I have no idea when I might come back again after I leave. You are, of course, welcome to join me here any time you choose. Mama and Papa would love to meet you and I would like to show you my city, as you have shown me Kenya.

I will let you know when I am booking a passage back.

I hope all is going well with the farm, and please send my love to all, and to you especially, of course. I miss you.

Please write back or call me. I worry about you!

Cecily xx

As she was addressing the envelope, the door to the study opened and her father walked in.

‘Hello, Cecily,’ he said. ‘You’re up early, honey.’

‘Yes, I just wanted to write a letter to Bill.’

‘Ah, of course. You must miss him, but you’ll be reunited in a few weeks, won’t you?’

‘Actually,’ she said, tapping the envelope against her palm, ‘I’ve decided to stay on here in New York for a while longer, if that is okay with you and Mama, of course.’

‘You don’t even have to ask,’ Walter beamed. ‘That is wonderful news. Now, come have breakfast with me, and we can do theNew York Timescrossword together.’

Stepping out of the study with her father, Cecily dropped the letter on the silver dish in the hallway to be posted.

Stella began school the following Monday, wearing her favourite plaid dress, her hair styled in bunches like her new friend, Harmony. Archer drove them to Brooklyn, and Stella bounded out of the car and up the steps to the front door. Cecily had given Stella her old leather school satchel and had filled it with pencils and erasers, as well as a bag of chocolate cookies Essie had made for her to share with her classmates.

Rosalind ushered them into the classroom and Stella ran to hug Harmony, who offered the desk beside her. Cecily stood at the back of the room and watched Rosalind begin the class. She saw Stella’s eager face listening to every word Rosalind spoke.

From then on, a routine began. Every weekday, Archer would drive Cecily and Stella to Brooklyn to both begin the school day at nine o’clock. Cecily and Rosalind took it in turns to use the schoolroom to teach their different subjects, with the other sitting downstairs preparing lessons and marking up the children’s work.

Cecily found she absolutely loved teaching – it took a little time to find her confidence, but once she did, the children responded to her firm but gentle style. After Archer had driven them home, Cecily would walk with Stella through Central Park, where the little girl would chatter happily about all she had learnt that day. In the evenings, they would curl up together in Cecily’s bed and read a book, and when she fell asleep on her shoulder, Cecily would lift her up and tuck her into her bed in the room next door.