Page 80 of The Moon Sister
‘It is Beryl’s night off so the half-wit serving girl was brought in to heat me up some soup,’ was Zed’s disparaging reply. ‘Even your curry sounds better than that.’
‘Er, thanks. Well, no harm in you trying some. And I’m starving.’
‘Can I do anything?’ he asked.
‘The fire probably needs stoking,’ I said, and as he wandered out of the kitchen, it crossed my mind that he most likely didn’t know how to stoke a fire. He probably had a minion to do it for him.
‘So where did you go to university?’ I asked him, for want of anything else to say, as we sat down to eat.
‘At the Sorbonne in Paris. I only realised a couple of nights ago why your name was familiar to me. I was there with your sister, Maia.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes. We saw each other for a while actually. Nothing serious, but I do remember her telling me about her five adopted sisters with the strange names. I finished university and she had another year to go, so we lost touch.’
‘She’s never mentioned your name to me, but then she wouldn’t. She’s a very private person.’
‘So I remember. Sweet girl though. And incredibly beautiful of course.’
‘Yes, out of the six of us, she is known for that.’
‘And what are you known for?’
‘Oh, I’m the flake.’ I grinned. ‘They call me the “spiritual” sister.’
‘You mean you are a witch?’
‘If I am, I’m as white as the snow outside. It’s part of my problem actually. I don’t want to ever hurt anyone’s feelings,’ I said pointedly.
‘Now remind me, am I right in thinking that Electra is one of the D’Aplièse sisters too?’
‘She’s my baby sister – the youngest. Are you saying you know her as well?’
‘Our paths have certainly crossed socially in New York at charity events and such, yes.’
‘She does a lot of that kind of thing. Do you?’
‘I used to. It was fun, so why not?’
‘It’s exactly the kind of stuff I hate,’ I grimaced. ‘Big spaces full of vacuous people air-kissing each other, so they can be photographed and appear in magazines.’
‘Hold on, Tiggy.’ Zed put up a hand. ‘You cannot tar everyone with the same brush.’
‘I can, to be honest. Electra is empty and shallow these days and I reckon it’s all to do with the celebrity scene she lives in.’
‘Maybe it is not about the place, but the company,’ Zed suggested.
‘As a matter of fact, my life just now isallabout the place, and not company,’ I smiled.
‘Well, like you say that you hate celebrity parties, I could not cope with the isolation up here. I fully admit to having a short attention span and the patience of a devil, rather than a saint. Being at Kinnaird is about facing my fears: limited internet, kilometres from the nearest town and no social scene or people, except you, of course, Tiggy. And at least you are excellent company.’
‘Thanks, even if you make Kinnaird sound like it’s some kind of ordeal. I mean, you’re not exactly roughing it, are you? The Lodge is beautiful and thereisinternet, however patchy.’
‘You are right,’ Zed agreed. ‘I am a spoilt brat. Now, tell me how your father is? Maia talked very fondly of him.’
‘Sadly, he died last June. We all adored him, and his loss was a big blow.’ For once, I actually stopped myself going into my spiel about feeling that he wasn’t dead – I simply couldn’t imagine Zed having a spiritual bone in his body.
‘I am sorry for your loss, Tiggy. My father died recently too,’ Zed said quietly. ‘Technically it was cancer, but having never had a day’s illness in his life, soon after he was given the terminal diagnosis, he took himself off on his yacht and committed suicide.’
