‘
Everything’s
old. And there’s nothing to
do
at Nanna’s. She sleeps most of the time.
And she’s
really
deaf - she wears those hearing aids that squeal all the
time.’

Sarah laughed.
‘Well, we’ll just stop at the Library on the way down so you can pick out a few
books to take with you.’

‘Yeah, I
guess,’ Jessie said, looking away into the distance.

‘C’mon Jess,
cheer up,’ Sarah said as she gave Jessie an affectionate punch. ‘You know I
can’t do anything about it; it’s the agreement. And besides, it’s only for a
week.’

‘A
week
,’
Jessie moaned.

She knew she
was lucky to have Sarah, and that Sarah was happy to look after her. When their
parents had died in the car accident last year Jessie worried that she and
Sarah would be separated, and that Jessie would be sent to live with Nanna,
permanently.

But Sarah, who
at 21 was ten years older than Jessie, had been allowed to remain in the family
home and be Jessie’s guardian, on the condition Jessie went to Nanna’s for all
school holidays.

And things had
worked out pretty well, considering.

The problem
was that Nanna lived on a farm, miles from anywhere and she didn’t even own a
car. There were no shops within walking distance, in fact, there wasn’t
anything within walking distance and the television only had two channels.
Jessie knew that once she arrived she would be a prisoner, again.

‘Hey! Sarah
calling Jess!’

Jessie snapped back to the present, ‘I was just thinking.’

‘Well you can
think all you want in the car, kiddo. I have to drive you down to Nanna’s this
morning and be back this afternoon for my flight. Let’s go.’

Jessie took
one last longing look around her bedroom, grabbed her duffle bag and followed
Sarah out to the car.

Nanna’s
crumbling old timber house sat at the bottom of a long, winding dirt drive.
Jessie remembered the last time she had been here Nanna was waiting for her new
kitchen to be installed. Perhaps now Jessie wouldn’t have to push through
cobwebs every time she took a plate out of the cupboard.

Sarah drove
carefully down the drive, steering to avoid hundreds of tiny potholes. Nanna
was standing on the verandah smiling and waving at them as Sarah parked the
car.

‘I don’t know why she doesn’t have a proper driveway put in,’
Sarah remarked as they both got out of the car, ‘I know it doesn’t get used
much but if there’s ever an emergency …’ Sarah sighed. ‘Well, anyway, let’s
just go in.’

Nanna walked briskly to the car and hugged them both. She
looked much the same, her grey hair pulled back in a bun, dressed in jeans, a
long sleeved red checked shirt and boots. Over her clothes she wore a long dark
blue apron.

‘Oh, it’s so
good
to see you girls,’ she yelled, ‘just in time for lunch, too.’

Jessie winced.
Why did Nanna always have to yell?

A fragrant mixture
of beef, vegies and herbs was gurgling away on the stove as Jessie took her bag
inside. ‘The kitchen looks nice, Nanna,’ she said as she walked over to sniff
at the pot.

‘Yes, it’s
certainly an improvement – do you like my new benchtops?’

Jessie dragged
her eyes away from Nanna’s casserole and looked at the dark laminate bench tops
that looked remarkably similar to their granite ones at home.

‘They’re
lovely, Nanna,’ said Sarah as Jessie took her bag up the hall, ‘it’s all really
lovely.’

‘I can never
get this hearing aid to do what I want,’ Nanna said, as she fiddled with her
right ear. ‘That should be right now,’ she said a little more softly this time,
‘Well, how is everything?’

‘We’re okay,
Nanna. Jess is doing pretty well at school now, passing all her subjects. We’re
coping a bit better.’ Sarah’s eyes started to mist up and she turned away.

‘I miss them
too,’ Nanna said, ‘especially your mum.’

Sarah nodded
and changed the subject, ‘and Jess brought lots of books to read this time, so
she won’t get in your way.’

‘Get in my
way?’ Nanna laughed. ‘I want her to have fun, and I always look forward to
having Jessie here, Sarah, I so enjoy her company.’

‘Wow,’ Jessie
said as she sat down at the table, ‘you can smell that casserole all the way up
the hall.’ And as Nanna finished scooping a large serving into Jessie’s bowl
she picked up her spoon and took a huge mouthful.

‘Yeow,’ she
exclaimed, dropping the spoon. She could feel the casserole burning all the way
down her throat.

Sarah laughed.
‘You know Jess, it’s always a good idea just to taste it from the edge of the
spoon first.’

Jessie nodded
and stirred the thick steaming mixture in front of her, hoping the air would
cool it down; it looked so inviting she had just wanted to dive straight in and
try it.

Jessie
understood that Sarah needed to study at night and didn’t always have time to
cook. At home ate lots of toasted sandwiches and takeaways and only
occasionally Sarah made a stir-fry, usually straight out of a jar.

But here
Jessie helped Nanna pick her own vegies and she knew Nanna cooked everything
herself. That was the one good thing about staying at Nanna’s – the food.

‘That was
great, Nanna,’ Jessie said as she spooned the last of the gravy from her bowl.

Nanna smiled.
‘How about a cuppa?’

Sarah put her
spoon down and looked at her watch. ‘I’m sorry Nanna, but I’m going to have to
run – I’m due at the airport at 7pm.’ Pulling a piece of paper out of her
shoulder bag she passed it to Nanna and said, ‘here’s my mobile number again.
And remember, if I don’t answer just leave a message.’

‘Of course,
love,’ said Nanna as they all rose from the table. ‘Perhaps next time you could
stay a little longer?’

Sarah smiled,
‘I’ll do that, when I come back to pick Jessie up.’

Jessie and
Nanna watched as Sarah’s car disappeared up the drive in a cloud of dust.
Jessie wiped a tear from her eye as she followed Nanna back into the house.

CHAPTER 2

‘Well,’ said Nanna, ‘would
you like to come and see my vegie garden? It’s a lot bigger than last time. I
even planted some broccolini, sweetie. I know you prefer it to broccoli.’

‘Sure Nanna,’
Jessie replied, ‘I’ll just change my shoes.’

This time as
she wandered up the hall Jessie noticed a large painting that hadn’t been there
the last time she stayed. She stopped and looked up at it.

‘Is this a new
painting, Nanna?’

‘No Jessie,
that’s a very
old
portrait,’ Nanna said as she sidled up to her. ‘I did
a bit of a cleanup in the loft and found it up there, hidden behind an old
chest. There’s just something about it, I don’t know what exactly, but I
thought it deserved to be seen,’ Nanna said, her voice fading for a moment as
she too stood staring at the portrait.

‘So,’ she continued,
‘I decided to bring it down and clean it up. It belonged to your grandfather
you know. I remember when he put it up in the loft all those years ago. But I’d
forgotten about it.’

‘Who are those
people, Nanna?’

‘Well,’ Nanna
said, as she pointed to each person individually, ‘this one here is your
grandfather Fred, he’s quite young there, about Sarah’s age I would think. And
that’s his younger brother Harold. The other two are their parents, your
great-grandparents.’

‘Wow, it
is
really old, isn’t it?’

‘Yes it is.
Your grandfather would be seventy-five now if he were alive, and if he was
about Sarah’s age in this portrait, then that would make the portrait … oh,
over fifty years old.’

‘Wow,’ said
Jessie again, ‘did you know pop’s parents?’

‘Yes, I knew
them well. They were English you know, came to Australia just before Fred, your
grand … pop - was born. This was their house, Jessie, and then it became pop’s
after they died.

‘What about
pop’s brother?’ Jessie asked, as she stared into Harold’s eyes, mesmerized by
how sad they looked.

‘Well, he’s a
bit of mystery really. Just up and left one day – very odd it was.’

‘Mmm,’ said
Jessie, ‘are there any more old portraits around?’

‘None that
I’ve found, although I did find a collection of very old photograph albums up
there in the loft.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes, you
might want to take a look while you’re here. Mostly they’re of Fred and his
brother, but there’s some of Fred and me, around the time we were married. Why
don’t we dig them out tomorrow?’

Jessie nodded
enthusiastically. At least now she would have something to do.

The television
was blaring as Jessie walked into the lounge room after dinner and her bath.
Nanna was asleep in her favourite armchair with her mouth slightly open. Her
hearing aid was on the coffee table beside her and soft gurgling noises were
coming out of her mouth. Jessie turned off the television and curled up into
Nanna’s big old lounge chair.

Earlier at the
library, Sarah had told her to be quick, so Jessie had simply chosen four books
at random from the upper primary school section. It really didn’t matter what
she read, Jessie just loved to read. Now she looked at the covers and chose one
with really bright pictures of people and things from Ancient Egypt. The book
was called ‘Cairo Jim’ and after a quick glance at the information on the back
cover, Jessie settled down to read.

Other books

The Wild Duchess/The Willful Duchess (The Duchess Club Book 1) by Renee Bernard

Just a Kiss Away by Jill Barnett

MOSAICS: A Thriller by E.E. Giorgi

Flood Warning by Jacqueline Pearce

Owning Destiny (Forsaken Sinners MC Series Book 4) by Shelly Morgan

An Irish Country Love Story by Patrick Taylor

Return of the Last McKenna (Harlequin Romance) by Jump, Shirley

Summer Winds by Andrews & Austin, Austin

FLAME (Spark Series) by Cumberland, Brooke

Jude (Beautiful Mine #2) by DeLuca, Gia