Page 40 of The White Octopus Hotel
“Thank you, Liesl,” Mrs. Roth replied.
She poured them each a cup, then placed the teapot in the middle of the table and said she’d shortly be back with their food.
Mrs. Roth nodded after her and said, “Liesl’s another one of the family. Tristan’s wife. A nice girl. Do try the tea.”
Eve looked down and was surprised to see the liquid was an inky black colour.
“The hotel’s own blend,” Mrs. Roth told her. She raised the cup with slightly shaking hands to take a sip. “So, have you been enjoying your stay? And the hunt, of course?”
“Very much. The hotel is remarkable.”
“Yes, the White Octopus is a very special place. It’s not for everyone, but I’ve always been happy here. Happier than I would once have thought possible.”
“Have you lived here a long time?”
“About forty-five years now.”
“You must know so much about the place,” Eve prompted. She didn’t have time to take tea with old women unless doing so unearthed useful information for the scavenger hunt.
“I expect I know one or two of its secrets by now,” Mrs. Roth agreed.
“Including where to find a sheet of writing paper?”
“It’s almost all gone, I’m afraid.” Mrs. Roth reached for her teacup again. Her hands really were trembling quite badly, and Eve tried not to wince at the thought that she might spill the scalding-hot tea all down herself. “You’re not the only guest with something in their past they wish to change,” the old woman went on. “Anna has the last sheet locked away in a drawer.”
“So it could be the prize? For the scavenger hunt?”
Mrs. Roth regarded her for a moment. “It could,” she agreed. “If that’s what you truly want. My advice would be to seek a different treasure, however.”
“Why’s that?”
“What’s done is done. No one should live in the past.”
Liesl returned just then to set their cake plate on the table. Between the loops of pearls and crystals were the most extraordinarysugar sculptures. There were octopuses like the one Eve had received upon arrival, but there were also shoals of fish, delicate fronds of seaweed, turtles with lacelike shells, and sparkling white jellyfish.
“Here we have smoked salmon sandwiches,” Liesl said, indicating the bottom tier. “And on the other two we have a selection of pastries and some of Mila’s sugar creatures.”
“They’re almost too beautiful to eat,” Eve said once Liesl had gone.
Beyond Mrs. Roth’s shoulder, she could see her younger self showed no such concerns and was eagerly piling the sugar animals onto her plate.
“Mila is very talented,” Mrs. Roth said. “She’s the hotel’s sugar artist, you know.”
Eve remembered Alfie telling her that his mother was the sugar artist, back when she’d first arrived in Room 27. He’d also said that his father was a mixologist, so she guessed that meant Mila must be married to Harry.
“But enough about our family,” Mrs. Roth said. “Tell me about yourself and where you’re from.”
Eve gave a brief account. Already, she was starting to wish she hadn’t agreed to this. Mrs. Roth had told her nothing about the hotel she didn’t already know, and time was wasting.
“And how did you first hear of the White Octopus?” Mrs. Roth asked, selecting a lemon tart topped with a sugar seal.
Eve’s eyes slid towards Jane, who was now wearing a nervous expression as she watched her daughter munch through the final cake.
“My mother brought me.” Eve looked back at Mrs. Roth. “When I was small.”
“Ah.” Mrs. Roth dabbed at her watery eyes with her napkin, then folded it neatly upon the table. “And are you close, the two of you?”
Eve shook her head. “Not really. I…ruined her life, I think. That’s why I need the writing paper. To put it right.”
