The Midnight Peacock. Katherine Woodfine

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СКАЧАТЬ glad to see you. Now, hurry inside and get warm. Charlie will bring up your trunks and Tilly can unpack for you. You’ve missed luncheon but Nanny will have something ready for you in the Nursery.’

      ‘Oh, but I don’t need any help,’ said Miss Leo eagerly. ‘I’m quite used to looking after myself now, and being independent.’ But catching Tilly’s expression, she added swiftly: ‘Though actually, it would be nice to have Tilly help me. I’m rather tired after the journey.’

      As she came up the steps and through the doors, Tilly saw that Miss Leo was staring all around her, quite as if she was seeing Winter Hall for the first time. She couldn’t imagine why, for it wasn’t as if anything had changed. The big hallway looked exactly as it always did, with the grandfather clock and the portraits on the panelled walls. The door to the Ballroom was open: Tilly noticed Miss Leo peep through at the big Christmas tree that the maids had decorated the day before, with all the usual ornaments, and little red candles. They ought to have waited until Miss Leo came home to do that, Tilly thought. Miss Leo had always loved helping to dress the Christmas tree, and it had always been her job to place the fairy doll in the very top branches. When she had been very little, Tilly had once cried because she wanted to be the one to do that: Ma had scolded and threatened a spanking, but Miss Leo had looked astonished and then put the fairy doll straight into Tilly’s small hands.

      Now, in the hallway, they could hear the sounds of the family at luncheon in the Dining Room. Miss Leo hesitated for a moment, as though wondering if someone might come out to greet her. But the voices and the clink of china went on without interruption, and Miss Leo blew out a faint little sigh, and began to trudge up the stairs. Her shoulders hunched, and all at once, she looked smaller and younger again.

      Tilly ran up the stairs after her. ‘I’m so glad you’re back,’ she whispered.

      ‘I wish I wasn’t,’ said Miss Leo in a flat voice. ‘But I am awfully glad to see you, Tilly. Let’s go upstairs – I’ve got heaps to tell you.’

      The railway station was noisy and smoky, and damp with melting snow. Porters with trunks swung by, whilst gentlemen in bowler hats hurried for their trains and messenger boys pushed their way through the throng, with brown-paper parcels tucked under their arms. Everyone seemed to be in a terrific hurry, and for a moment, Sophie was buffeted amongst the crowd. Then she caught sight of Lil, waving to her excitedly from beside the station book stall, and a moment later, Jack emerged from the ticket office and strolled over to join them.

      Sophie couldn’t help smiling at how effortlessly he seemed to swing through the crowd. Like his younger sister, Jack was tall and good-looking. He had dark hair, which had a habit of flopping over his eyes, and a remarkable ability to charm everyone he met. Today, he was wearing a thick overcoat and carrying a small suitcase, as well as a little leather case that Sophie supposed must contain his painting things – for like Leo, Jack was studying at the Spencer Institute of Fine Art.

      He grinned at her in welcome. ‘I say, this is a lark, isn’t it? Splendid that you could come!’

      Sophie found herself blushing. Jack had made no secret of the fact that he thought her a fine girl, and when he smiled at her, she was conscious of feeling excited and embarrassed and flustered in a way that was not in the least like her usual self. She was rather glad that Lil was chattering away, insisting that they make a stop in the Refreshment Rooms to buy some chocolate for the journey.

      Together, they made their way to the platform, and clambered on to the train, where they found themselves an empty compartment and settled down.

      ‘I do like train journeys,’ said Lil, peering out at the steamy station platform as though she were willing the guard to blow his whistle, so the train could be on its way. ‘And I’m glad we’ve got our own compartment. It’s so much nicer being able to talk properly without having to worry about being quiet and minding our manners for strangers.’

      But the words were scarcely out of her mouth when the door to their compartment opened, and someone else came in – a small, elderly lady, with white hair, a pince-nez on a long, glittering chain, and a velvet hat with a bunch of very purple violets in it. She smiled around at them all benevolently, as the guard blew his whistle, and the train began its slow chug out of the station.

      ‘Excuse me, young man, would you put my suitcase up into the luggage rack please?’ she asked in a high, quavering voice. Jack smiled charmingly, and did as she asked, whilst Lil made a face at Sophie. So much for their own private compartment!

      ‘And might I trouble you for that corner seat, my dear?’ the old lady asked Sophie, clutching a white lacy handkerchief in a thin, lace-gloved hand. ‘I mustn’t travel with my back to the engine. Oh, thank you. How kind.’

      Sophie politely moved seats, allowing the old lady to position herself into the corner. She carefully set down an enormous carpet bag, before removing a succession of articles from inside it. First was a novel in a yellow paper cover, then a small tin of lozenges, marked ‘for coughs’, then some complicated-looking knitting, a little brown medicine bottle, a lacy shawl, an illustrated magazine, and finally, a packet of hairpins. She then systematically returned all the items back into the bag, with the exception of the magazine and the tin of lozenges, which she opened, releasing a sickly medicinal aroma into the compartment.

      ‘H-hem,’ she coughed, before popping a lozenge into her mouth.

      Lil was staring in obvious fascination. Sophie guessed that she was already picturing this old lady as a character in a play. ‘Where are you travelling to, ma’am?’ she asked in a polite tone.

      ‘I’m going to Alwick, dear,’ the old lady replied.

      ‘Oh – that’s where we’re going too,’ said Lil, trying to sound bright and cheerful, but her voice falling a little flat at the news that their new companion would be with them for the whole of their journey.

      Resigning themselves to the inevitable, they all settled down quietly. Lil pulled out her Theatrical News, and Jack took a small sketchbook and a handful of pencils out of his pocket. Meanwhile, Sophie opened a book – a collection of Montgomery Baxter tales, which Billy had loaned her – but the boy detective’s intrepid adventures did not really catch her attention. Instead, as the train gathered speed, rattling and bumping its way through the London suburbs, she stared out of the window as streets and the untidy backs of houses gave way to a landscape of bare trees and empty fields. It was a long time since she had been out of the city, and she found herself gazing at the black silhouettes of birds swooping against pebble-grey clouds and rough brown hedgerows, dusted with glittering frost like sugar on a cake.

      The light was already ebbing out of the day, the sky heavy with the promise of more snow to come. Their compartment was only dimly lit and it was quiet too, with no sounds but the rattle of the train, the scratch of Jack’s pencil and the occasional soft flicker of pages turning. After an hour or more had passed, Sophie heard a decorous little snore, and glanced over to see that the old lady had nodded off to sleep over her magazine, her pince-nez still perched on the end of her nose.

      They felt more able to talk in low voices after that, and Lil passed around the packet of chocolate, which had got rather warm and squashy from being in the pocket of her coat. Between them, the two girls quickly told Jack all about Miss Pennyfeather’s mysterious letter – and their plan to pay a visit to Colonel Fairley.

      Jack listened with great interest. ‘Do you suppose this fellow was someone your father knew in the Army?’ he asked.

      ‘I suppose so,’ said Sophie. ‘I know he had a lot of Army friends – they used to come and visit us sometimes. But СКАЧАТЬ