Page 41 of The Pearl Sister
‘Was it . . . poisonous?’
‘The huntsman spider? No. They occasionally give you the odd nip, but mostly they’re as friendly as you like. Just great, ugly things who do a good job of keeping the insect population under control. Those are nothing compared to what you come across in the Northern Territory where I live. The outside “dunny” – a privy, as you would know it – teems with them, and some of themaredangerous. I’ve had to suck the poison out of a couple of my drovers before now. Nasty creatures, those redbacks.’
Kitty, her heart still pounding, but her senses returning to her at last, decided that Drummond took great pleasure in shocking her.
‘It’s a different life out there,’ he said, as if he were reading her thoughts. ‘A matter of survival. It toughens you up.’
‘I’m sure it does.’
‘Well, I’ll leave you to get some further rest, given it’s only five thirty in the morning.’ He nodded to her and walked towards the door. ‘And by the way, Miss McBride, may I ask if you always sleep in your chemise? Mother would be horrified.’ With a grin, Drummond left the bedroom.
* * *
Three hours later, over a breakfast of freshly baked bread and delicious strawberry jam, Mrs McCrombie produced a large package and passed it to Kitty.
‘For you, my dear,’ she said with a smile. ‘Your mother asked me to keep this until Christmas. I know how homesick you have been, and I hope this may ease your longing for Scotland.’
‘Oh . . .’ Kitty held the heavy package in her hands. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, but she blinked them back.
‘Go on, open it child! I have been travelling with it for weeks now, wondering what is in it!’
‘Shouldn’t I wait until tomorrow?’ Kitty asked.
‘The German tradition is to open our gifts on Christmas Eve,’ replied Edith. ‘Even though we save ours for eventide. Please, my dear, go ahead.’
Kitty tore open the brown paper and pulled out various items, delight bubbling inside her. There was a tin of her mother’s famous homemade shortbread, ribbons from her sisters along with drawings and cards. Her father had sent a leather-bound prayer book, which Kitty returned to the box without even reading the inscription inside.
She spent the rest of the morning offering her domestic services, showing the black kitchen maid how to roll pastry then dole out the mincemeat that Mrs McCrombie had brought with her into the small pastry shells. Goose was on the menu tonight apparently, and a turkey sat in the cool room for tomorrow’s Christmas Day feast. In the burning heat of the afternoon, Kitty sent up messages of love to her family waking on the eve of Christmas, and thought of her sisters, who would be so excited for the events of the next two days. As her body was still exhausted from its alcoholic battering yesterday, she took an afternoon nap and woke to a knocking on the door.
‘Come,’ she said drowsily, and watched as Agnes entered the room, bringing folds of turquoise silk hung carefully over her arms.
‘’Tis from Mrs McCrombie, miss. ’Tis a Christmas present and she said you’re to wear it tonight for dinner.’
Kitty watched Agnes hang the garment on the outside of her wardrobe. It was the most beautiful dress she had ever seen, but she worried that she would not be able to raise her arms in it for fear of patches of perspiration appearing beneath her armpits.
The family gathered in the drawing room at five, where Kitty was introduced to the famous Mercer matriarch, Grandmother Alicia herself. Alicia was not at all what Kitty had been expecting – rather than having the perpetual look of disapproval that defined Edith, Alicia’s plump face was wrinkled into congenial folds, within which her blue eyes twinkled with mirth. It was sad, Kitty thought, that she was unable to conduct much of a conversation with her as Alicia spoke mainly German, despite having lived in Adelaide for many years. Andrew translated Alicia’s apologies for her limited English, but the warm touch of her hands was enough to tell Kitty that she was welcome in what was originally Alicia’s own home.
She marvelled at how the twins switched so confidently between languages, as they conversed with the assembled company in both German and English. She was also touched that everyone had sweetly included her in the present giving. There was an ivory comb from Edith and Stefan, tiny seed pearl earrings from Andrew, and from Drummond a handwritten note tied up in a package.
Dear Miss McBride,
This note is to tell you that your real Christmas present is stowed at the bottom of the wardrobe in your bedroom. I promise it is not a live spider.
Drummond
She watched his amused expression as she read it, then pulled out a sky-blue ribbon and smiled. ‘Thank you, Drummond. The colour is quite beautiful, and I will use it to trim my hair for dinner later.’
‘It’s to match your eyes,’ he whispered as any attention on their conversation was diverted by the presentation of Edith’s Christmas gift from her husband.
‘My dear, merry Christmas.’ Stefan kissed his wife on both cheeks. ‘I hope it is something you will like.’
Inside the box was a truly glorious pearl, strung on a delicate silver chain. Its smooth opalescent surface gleamed richly in the last rays of the fast-sinking sun.
‘Goodness,’ said Edith, as she let her sister fasten it around her neck. ‘More pearls.’
‘But this one is special, my dear. The best of this year’s haul. Is it not, Andrew?’
‘Yes, Father. T. B. Ellies himself declared it so, Mother. None larger has been found in the seas off Broome this year.’
