Page 211 of The Moon Sister
She took out a silver key from her skirt pocket and moved towards the wall along the corridor. She inserted it into a lock on a wall panel, turned it, then tugged at the small latch underneath the lock. The panel slid back to reveal a teakwood door, then she pressed a shiny brass button to the side of it, which set off a whirring noise.
‘I can’t believe I never noticed this was here in the summer,’ I said as we waited for the lift to arrive. ‘And why did Pa have it come up to the attic floor when his bedroom is on the floor beneath?’
‘He wanted to be able to access every floor in the house. Before last spring, it was an old service hatch,’ Ma replied as the lift announced its presence with a soft clunk and she pulled the door open.
Ma and I were both slim, but it was still a squeeze inside. Like the outer door, the interior was fashioned from polished wood. It reminded me of the type of lift one saw in grand old hotels.
Ma closed the door and reached for one of the brass buttons. As the lift started to descend, I noticed that there were four buttons inside, yet to my knowledge, there were only three floors in the house.
‘Where does that one go, Ma?’ I indicated the last button.
‘Down to the cellar. It’s where your father stored his wine.’
‘I didn’t even know we had a cellar here. I’m amazed me and my sisters didn’t find it when we were exploring. How do you get to it?’
‘By the lift of course,’ Ma said as it came smoothly to a halt. We emerged out of another similar wall panel, tucked away along the back corridor that led to the kitchen.
‘Now, Tiggy, I will take my coat and boots from the cloakroom and we shall go outside.’
As Ma left me, I walked through to the entrance hall, puzzling over what it was she’d said in the lift that had rung the warning bell of a lie. Opening the wide front door, I breathed in the glorious smell of pure, fresh air to try and boost my brain.
It must have worked, because I suddenly thought that, surely, if the lift was the only way to access the cellar, it must have been there long before last spring, when Ma had said Pa had put it in, or how else would Pa have got down to his wine cellar before that . . . ?
Ma joined me and we stepped out into the bracing but gloriously crisp afternoon. I decided not to mention the lift conundrum, for now at least.
‘It’s odd,’ I said as we walked along the path that led to the lake, ‘even though the terrain and climate is similar to Kinnaird, it smells so different here.’
‘Do you think you will return to Scotland once you are fully better?’ Ma asked.
‘I don’t think so. The job isn’t what I thought it would be.’
‘I thought you were very happy there,chérie. Is it the shooting that has scared you?’
‘No, that was just bad luck. I’m sure the poacher was aiming at Pegasus, not me. As a matter of fact, Ma, that letter you gave me was from a wildlife reserve in Malawi, inviting me to London next week to interview for the position of Conservation Officer.’
‘Malawi? London next week?’ Ma eyed me nervously. ‘You are not thinking of going, I hope?’
‘I would like to attend the interview, yes. Africa’s a longtime dream for me, Ma, you know it is.’
‘Tiggy, you are recovering from a serious heart condition. To go off to Africa is just . . . well, that is sheer madness! What would Charlie say?’
‘Charlie’s not my keeper, Ma.’
‘He is your doctor, Tiggy, and you must listen to him.’
‘Actually, I’ve just written to him to say that I’m going to transfer my care to Geneva. It’s far easier than flying to Scotland.’
‘Yet you will consider flying to London, then possibly Malawi?!’ Ma narrowed her eyes. ‘Tiggy, what is going on?’
‘Nothing, Ma. Anyway, we’ll discuss it later. How’s Maia?’
Ma took the hint. ‘She is very well. It is so wonderful that she has found happiness. I am hoping that there might be wedding bells soon.’
‘She’s going to marry Floriano?’
‘She doesn’t say for definite, but it is my feeling she is eager to make babies of her own while she is still young enough to do so.’
‘Wow, Ma, the next generation . . .’
