Page 11 of The Missing Sister
‘So that’s your mum too?’ CeCe pointed to the photo.
‘Yeah, that was her graduation from Trinity College in Dublin,’ Mary-Kate nodded.
‘She’s Irish?’
‘Yup, she is.’
‘So, you really don’t know how long she’ll be abroad for?’ Chrissie asked.
‘No, as I said, the trip is open-ended; Mum said that not having a deadline on when she had to return was part of the treat. Although she did plan out her first few weeks.’
‘Sorry to hassle you, but we’d love to meet up with her and ask her about that ring. Do you know where your mum is now?’ said CeCe.
‘Her schedule’s stuck to the fridge; I’ll go take a look, but I’m pretty sure she’s still on Norfolk Island,’ Mary-Kate said as she left the room.
‘Norfolk?’ frowned CeCe. ‘Isn’t that a county in England?’
‘It is,’ said Fletch, ‘but it’s also a tiny island that sits in the South Pacific between Australia and New Zealand. It’s a beaut place, and when MK’s mum’s oldest friend Bridget came here to visit a couple of years back, they took a trip there together. Her friend liked it so much, she decided to up sticks from London and retire there.’
‘Yup, Mum’s still on the island, according to her fridge schedule,’ Mary-Kate said as she reappeared.
‘When does she leave? And how do we get there?’ asked CeCe.
‘In a couple of days’ time, but the island’s only a short plane ride from Auckland. I know that the planes don’t fly every day, mind. We’d have to find out when they do,’ warned Mary-Kate.
‘Shit!’ CeCe murmured under her breath. She glanced at Chrissie. ‘We’re meant to be flying out to London late tomorrow night. Have we got time?’
‘We’ll have to make time, won’t we?’ Chrissie shrugged. ‘I mean, she’s just down the road, compared to coming all this way back from Europe. And if the missing sister can be identified by this ring, then...’
‘I’ll check flights to Norfolk Island, and Queenstown to Auckland, ’cos it’d be faster to fly than drive,’ said Fletch, standing up and moving to a long wooden dining table covered in papers, magazines and an old-fashioned fat-bottomed computer. ‘It might take some time because the internet around here is dodgy, to put it mildly.’ He tapped on the keyboard. ‘Yup, no connection at the moment,’ he sighed.
‘I saw your brother in that photo. Is he in New Zealand at the moment?’ CeCe asked Mary-Kate.
‘He is normally, but he just went off to the south of France to learn more about French wine-making.’
‘So he’s gonna take over the vineyard from your dad?’ Chrissie clarified.
‘Yup. Hey, are you guys hungry? It’s way past lunchtime.’
‘Starving,’ both Chrissie and CeCe answered at the same time.
After the four of them had put together some bread, local cheese and cold meats, they cleared space on the dining table and sat down to eat.
‘So where do you guys actually live?’ Fletch asked.
‘In the Alice,’ said CeCe. ‘But my family home is called Atlantis, which is on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland.’
‘Atlantis, the mythical home of Atlas, father of the Seven Sisters,’ smiled Mary-Kate. ‘Your dad really was into his Greek legends.’
‘He was, yeah. We have this big telescope that still stands in an observatory at the top of the house. By the time we could talk, we knew all the names of the stars in and around the Orion and Taurus constellations by heart,’ said CeCe. ‘I wasn’t interested, to be honest, until I came to the Alice and realised that the Seven Sisters are goddesses in Aboriginal mythology. It made me wonder how there could be all these legends about them literally everywhere. Like, in Mayan culture, Greek, Japanese... these sisters are famous all over the world.’
‘The Maori have stories about the sisters too,’ Mary-Kate added. ‘They’re called the daughters of Matariki here. They each have special skills and gifts that they bring to the people.’
‘So how did each culture know about the other back then?’ Chrissie questioned. ‘I mean, there was no internet or even a postal service or telephone, so how can all the legends be so similar without there being any communication between people?’
‘You really need to meet my mum,’ chuckled Mary-Kate. ‘She doesn’t half ramble on about subjects like that. She’s a total brainbox – not like me, I’m afraid. I’m more into my music than philosophy.’
‘You look like your mum, though,’ said Chrissie.
