Operation Eiffel Tower (18 page)

In less than a minute, she was back. She was wearing the dress. It was made from some shiny fabric that shimmered in the late afternoon light. Mum smiled at the look on his face. ‘I haven’t worn this in ages,’ she said, a bit embarrassed. ‘It doesn’t really fit any more.’

Jack shook his head. ‘You look lovely,’ he said.

‘Oh.’ Mum’s face flushed a bit pink.

‘Come on,’ Jack said. ‘It’s time.’

‘Time for what?’

‘You’ll see. You don’t mind, do you, Auntie Joyce?’

Auntie Joyce grinned. ‘Lord, no. You look beautiful, Caroline. Go with your boy.’

Outside the launderette, Mum froze. She could see Dad sitting in the carriage. Jack rested his hand gently on Mum’s back and eased her forward.

‘Jack, what’s going on?’ she whispered.

Dad’s face was stern and silent.

Ruby and Billy had climbed up to sit next to the driver. Lauren was tucked into a corner on the front seat, looking over her shoulder at Mum.

‘Oh, God. Ruby,’ Mum said. ‘Ruby!’ She ran forward, her arms outstretched, reaching for Ruby. Mum lifted her down from the driver’s side and held her close, her arms wrapped tight around Ruby’s back. ‘Oh, Ruby.’

‘It’s OK, Mum. I’m OK,’ Ruby said.

‘I was going to get you. I was going to bring you home,’ Mum said. She lifted her face out of Ruby’s shoulder. ‘What’s she doing out of hospital?’ Her voice was thin and fierce. She was looking at Dad.

‘It isn’t Dad’s fault,’ Lauren said.

‘And you’re still grounded! I told you to be sensible! It was the very last thing I said.’

‘Mum, I know. Get in, please,’ Lauren said.

Mum looked at the carriage, at the empty seat next to Dad. She looked down at Ruby, who smiled up at her. She sighed. ‘I don’t understand,’ she said.

‘You will,’ Jack replied. ‘Come on, get in.’

Mum seemed to be making a decision. Jack held his breath, willing her to agree.

She nodded quickly, then lifted Ruby back up next to the driver.

Billy clapped his hands as Mum climbed into the carriage.

Finally, Jack swung himself up into the space next to Lauren and the ride was under way again.

‘Where are we going?’ Mum asked.

Dad shrugged; he didn’t know either.

‘Paris,’ Jack said simply.

Chapter 36

It felt a little bit like being a real family again, Jack thought – all of them riding in the back of a horse-drawn carriage like the tourists did. Except that Mum and Dad sat at opposite ends of their seat, neither of them looking at the other. Dad looked out toward the sea. Mum stared straight ahead, at the back of Ruby’s neck. She held herself stiffly, as though she was made of cardboard.

‘Nearly there!’ Lauren said.

The carriage swung across the road and pulled up outside William’s World of Wonders Golf Tour.

‘Golf??’ Mum barked.

Dad looked confused.

‘Paris,’ Jack said.

‘The Eiffel Tower,’ Lauren said. ‘Dinner for two in the most romantic place on earth. Come on.’

Jack, Ruby and Billy piled out after Lauren. Dad stepped down. He looked at Mum and then held out his hand to help her down. She ignored it. She sat in the back of the carriage and sighed.

‘Lauren, kids,’ she said. ‘This has gone far enough. Your dad and I have split up. We’re not getting back together. We’re not having dinner. I want to go back to work right now.’

Jack looked at Mum sitting so rigid in the back of the carriage. He looked at Dad, who was confused and embarrassed. He looked at Ruby and Billy and Lauren – they looked worried.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go
.

‘Mum,’ Jack said, ‘you’ve had your say. We know what you want. You want a solicitor and a clean break. Dad, you want to see us, but you don’t know when or where or how. We
all
know what you two want.

‘But do you know what we want?

‘Do you?’

Mum bit her lip. Her eyes looked as shiny as the outside of the carriage.

Jack took a deep breath. ‘All we want is for you two to talk. You might never be friends again, but you’ll always be our mum and our dad and that means you have to talk to each other whether you want to or not. You can’t sulk and ignore each other and row whenever it suits you. That is not how it’s going to be. Mum, you have to get out of this carriage right now. And you have to eat dinner together, even if you don’t want to. You
have
to. Because that’s what we want and it’s time to listen to us now.’

The last few words stumbled out in a rush. Lauren squeezed the top of his arm, just to tell him that she was there with him. Ruby clapped her hands and even Billy looked pleased.

Mum slowly lowered herself out of the carriage.

She stood in her red dress, with her eyes shining. She held on to the side of the carriage as though it was her support. Then she let go and walked towards them.

It was a short walk to William’s World of Wonders. Dad was in front, with Jack and the others in the middle, and Mum came last. Jack checked over his shoulder once or twice, just to make sure that she hadn’t turned back. She hadn’t. She was right there. He sighed with relief.

The sign on the gate said
Closed
, but it wasn’t locked. Inside, the course was deserted. There was just the sound of the water rushing over the Niagara Falls and, further away, the warm whispering of the sea and a busker playing guitar to the last of the tourists on the beach.

Jack peered into William’s shed, but he wasn’t there. All of his newspapers and junk were on the floor – the table must be by the Eiffel Tower.

Dad looked at Jack, his eyebrows lifted –
What now?

Jack nodded. ‘This way.’ He led them down through the Wonders. Each one seemed to shine in the early evening sunlight; the glow from the face of the Sphinx was like a smile encouraging him, the roar of Niagara was like a crowd applauding, the Statue of Liberty seemed to look on in admiration.

And then, there it was.

Paris.

The Eiffel Tower. Dark and mysterious against the pink and orange sky.

A table, laid with a tablecloth and candles, shining cutlery and sparkling glasses.

Two chairs, set close together.

Fairy lights strung in the hedges around the green.

It was like walking into the picture they’d seen in Lauren’s magazine.

At the edge of the green Mrs Khalid stood next to William, waiting for them. Jack ran over, his smile as wide as the miniature Grand Canyon. ‘Thank you,’ he whispered. ‘It looks perfect.’

Mrs Khalid nodded. ‘William did the lights, I did the table. Not bad, is it? I hope they’re hungry. I’ve got a hot-water bottle in the cool box, keeping everything warm. But they should start soon.’

Mum and Dad stood looking on. They stared at the table and the candles and the lights, but they didn’t look at each other.

‘Sit down,’ Lauren said, pointing at the table.

‘Paris, eh?’ Dad said uncertainly. He lowered himself into a chair.

Mum sat down next to him, but stared at the empty plate in front of her without saying a word.

Mrs Khalid fussed over the plastic containers in the cool box, pulling out one after another and setting them on the table. ‘There you are,’ she said. ‘Pierogi – dumplings, they’re vegetarian – and klopsiki – meatballs in tomato sauce! Some bread here, for dipping. There’s szarlotka for pudding – that’s apple pie. Just help yourselves.’

There was a pause. Mum twisted her napkin in her hands.

‘Well,’ Mrs Khalid said, ‘we’ll leave you to it. Come on, William; you were going to show me how to get my swing right.’

Mrs Khalid slipped her arm through William’s and tugged him away from the green.

The family were left alone.

No one spoke.

Jack heard the angry screech of a seagull somewhere along the beach.

‘Did you bring batteries?’ Lauren whispered. ‘For the CD player?’

‘Batteries? Was I supposed to get batteries?’

Lauren clicked her tongue against her teeth. ‘No music. There’s no music.’

At the table, Mum and Dad seemed frozen.

Lauren shot one last glare at Jack, then walked over to her parents. ‘You have to open the lids and put the food on your plates,’ she said. ‘And when you’ve done that you have to talk to each other. Pretend you’ve just met or something.’

Dad reached out and pulled the lid off one of the boxes.

Mum dropped her napkin over her lap.

‘Good,’ Lauren said. ‘We’ll be sitting on the wall over there, if you need anything.’ She pointed to the wall that marked the edge of the World of Wonders; it dropped down to the beach on the other side.

Jack took Ruby’s hand. Lauren picked up Billy and balanced him on her hip. They walked away from the Eiffel Tower, leaving Mum and Dad alone.

They sat down on the wall, facing out to sea. Jack drummed his heels against the rough stones. It was a long drop down on to the sand. He put his arm round Ruby and held her close. Her arm felt thin and he remembered that she had been in a hospital bed just that afternoon. She leaned against him and sighed.

‘Are they talking?’ Lauren asked.

Jack twisted round and looked back. Mum was holding something white and glistening on the end of her fork. Dad was sipping from his glass.

‘It doesn’t look like either of them are saying anything,’ Jack said. ‘Or eating the pierogi.’

‘Did Paul say anything about this? About negotiating when no one will talk?’ Lauren asked.

Jack thought back over Paul’s emails. Had he ever mentioned silence at the negotiating table? ‘I don’t think so,’ Jack said. ‘He hasn’t been a soldier for very long. He just said that people don’t listen when they’re angry. That it’s too noisy inside their head for them to listen to reason. Are they still too angry, do you think?’

‘They’re not shouting,’ Ruby whispered against his shoulder.

‘That’s true.’

Lauren glared at the sand and chewed the edge of her fingernail.

‘It’s romantic enough, isn’t it?’ Jack asked. ‘I mean, it’s got everything the picture had, hasn’t it?’

‘Yes, except for music,’ Lauren said scornfully.

‘Well,’ Jack said, ‘even if I had remembered the batteries, the picture in your magazine had a violin player – a real, live person playing romantic music. Not a rubbish CD player.’

Lauren looked at Jack. She was still for a moment, her eyes open wide. Jack wondered if she was going to start a fight with him. Then she grinned. ‘Jack, you’re a genius. Wait here.’

Lowering herself carefully, she dropped down on to the sand, then raced away as far as the steps with the ice-cream van at the top. There was still a small crowd of people there, enjoying a stroll along the front. They had stopped to listen to the busker.

Jack could just see Lauren talking to the busker, though they were too far away for him to hear what they said.

Then Lauren led the boy down the steps and on to the beach. He held his guitar up, away from the sand, but he followed Lauren.

It was clear that they were arguing the whole way. Eventually, they both stood on the sand below Jack.

‘This is Jared,’ Lauren said. ‘Remember him? He was the one who wouldn’t let us be statues on his bit of the front.’

‘Hi!’ Jack said. Next to him Ruby lifted her hand in a wave, but she was too sleepy to speak.

‘Jared is going to go and play for Mum and Dad,’ Lauren said.

‘Not for free, I’m not,’ Jared said hotly.

‘You owe us!’ Lauren said. ‘If you hadn’t kicked up such a fuss that day on the beach, we might have raised enough money to send them to the real Paris. And then they might have stayed in love. And not split up. You owe us big time, Jared!’

Jared stood stunned.

‘Do you know how to play “Love Me Tender”?’ Jack asked.

‘Elvis Presley?’ Jared sounded dazed. ‘I know the tune. It’s quite simple, really; it’s only got four chords. But I don’t know the words.’