A Second Chance (65 page)

Daisy had woken up properly at her
grandfather’s approach. She held out her arms, demanding to be
picked up by him. Amy passed her across to Frank, who jiggled her
on his lap with well-practised ease. ‘Gan-gan-gan,’ Daisy crowed,
an all-purpose word she was currently using for all three of her
grandparents.

‘She was asleep when Beth and Dave went off,
but they hadn’t been gone two minutes before she woke up,’ Amy
said. ‘I know I should leave her to go back to sleep on her own,
but…’ She smiled and shrugged.

Frank nodded knowingly as Daisy nestled
against him, gurgling away to herself. ‘You hardly want to miss a
minute of them when they’re this age, eh? It goes by quick
enough.’

‘Yes, it does.’

Frank declined her offer of a cup of tea,
though he seemed in no particular hurry to leave. They sat together
watching Eddie and playing with Daisy, who was delighted at the
attention. They talked idly, about the weather and the children and
the small happenings of the valley, and then they let conversation
lapse, easy enough in each other’s company to be as comfortable
with silence as with speech.

The buttons on one of Eddie’s sleeves had
come undone, Amy noticed, and he seemed in danger of getting the
loose sleeve tangled in the reins. ‘Come here a minute, Eddie,’ she
called. ‘Come and say hello to Uncle Frank.’

Eddie wheeled the horse skillfully, slid
from its back and clambered over the fence to run the short
distance. ‘Hello, Uncle Frank,’ he said, wriggling with barely
suppressed energy as Amy held his arm to straighten his sleeve and
fasten the buttons. ‘Did you see me jumping?’

‘I sure did. That’s pretty good, Eddie.’

Amy patted the cuff flat and released
Eddie’s arm. ‘There, that’s better.’

‘Can I do some more riding now?’ Eddie
asked, poised to run off.

‘All right, just for a bit. Give Granny a
kiss first.’

Eddie complied readily, giving her a wet
kiss on the lips. He kissed Daisy, too, for good measure, then
scampered back to the paddock. He mounted the horse from the top
rail of the fence, and was soon off again.

‘He’s the image of Mal, eh?’ Frank said,
following her gaze.

‘Yes, he is.’ Amy touched her fingers
against her mouth, where Eddie’s had so recently been pressed. ‘Mal
would never have done that, though,’ she murmured.

‘He’s a good kid.’

‘Yes, and I’m very lucky to have him. He’s…’
She smiled at Frank. ‘Lizzie thinks I’m silly when I say this, but
it’s as if Eddie’s my second chance with Mal. I can make a better
job of it this time.’

‘I don’t see that you did anything wrong
last time. You’ve no need to blame yourself over what happened to
Mal.’

Amy did not bother to argue. She had done
the best she could for Malcolm, and her warm heart had conspired
with her strong sense of duty to induce a fervent love for her
wayward son. But duty had always upheld the larger part of that
love. It was not like that with Eddie. Loving Eddie took no effort
of will.

‘I’ve been given a second chance with all of
them, really,’ she mused. ‘Davie coming back after being away all
that time. Sarah finding me.’ A warm glow crept through her at the
wondrous memory. ‘And now getting Eddie. I’m so very lucky. It’s
just that I never thought I’d have to choose between them.’ Amy
came to herself and felt a rush of embarrassment; Frank’s easy
company had made her speak more freely than she had intended.

Frank looked up from watching Daisy clutch
at his finger. ‘What do you mean, choose between them?’

‘Oh, it’s not like that, really. But Sarah
wants me to go back to Auckland—and I’d been all set to last year,
once Beth was well enough to manage. But I can’t now. Not with
Eddie to look after.’

‘You could leave him with Beth and Dave,
though. They’d do all right.’

Amy shook her head. ‘No, I couldn’t. They’re
a bit young to look after a boy Eddie’s age. Well, Dave is,’ she
amended. ‘Anyway, I couldn’t leave Eddie, not with him losing his
mother. I promised I’d look after him. It wouldn’t be right to dump
him on Beth and Dave, and have him think I didn’t want him.’

‘Mm,’ Frank said, a noncommittal sound that
might have conveyed agreement or simply a disinclination to argue.
‘Ah, well, Sarah will understand, I’m sure.’

‘I haven’t exactly told her,’ Amy confessed.
‘About promising Eddie I wouldn’t leave him, I mean. I’d hate him
to think he was a… well, a burden. He’s not, really he isn’t.’

Frank nodded thoughtfully. ‘You know what
Lizzie would say about that?’

Amy smiled. She could almost hear Lizzie’s
voice. ‘She’d say Sarah wouldn’t tell Eddie anything of the sort,
and
I’m
not about to, so where’s the sense worrying about
it? I should just get on and explain it all to Sarah.’

‘Yes, that’s about it.’

They sat in silence for several moments
before Frank spoke again.

‘The thing about Lizzie,’ he said, ‘is that
she’s usually right.’

*

Nothing could be simpler, Sarah declared in
response to Amy’s next letter. Of course Amy could not leave Eddie,
and there was no reason in the world for her to do so. She must
bring him to Auckland with her.

The thought of Eddie, bursting with all the
energy of a healthy five-year-old boy, set loose in Sarah’s calm,
well-ordered household made Amy wonder if it would be quite such a
simple matter as Sarah supposed. But with that small concern set
aside, the idea was beguiling.

She wrote back at once, thanking Sarah
warmly. She would bring Eddie for a visit, she told Sarah, and they
would see how they all got on. That was as much as Amy was willing
to let Sarah commit herself to.

That evening, she tucked Eddie in then sat
on the edge of his bed. ‘Eddie, you’re going to Auckland with me
soon,’ she told him. ‘Next month, it’ll be. We’re going up to stay
with your Aunt Sarah. You can take your nice book and show her how
well you can read it.’

Eddie considered the matter. ‘Can Daisy
come, too?’

Amy shook her head. ‘No, Daisy’s too little
to go on a big trip like that. Just you and me. We might take Daisy
another time, when she’s bigger.’

The answer seemed to satisfy Eddie. ‘Has
Aunt Sarah got a horse?’

‘Yes, she has—she’s got a sort of buggy, and
she has horses to pull that. I don’t know if you could ride them,
though,’ Amy added, careful to be honest with the little boy.
‘Perhaps you could. We’d have to ask. But Aunt Sarah’s got a lovely
big house, and a nice garden with trees to climb, and you might
even be able to go out on a sailing boat.’

‘And we could come back here if we got
bored?’

‘No, not straight away. We’ll be staying
there a little while. And I know you’ll be a good boy for me at
Aunt Sarah’s, and not go making a fuss if you don’t like things.
But yes, we’ll come back here if you really don’t like it in
Auckland after you’ve given it a proper try.’ She leaned down to
kiss him goodnight, and wondered to herself if Eddie had inherited
her own tendency to seasickness.

*

There was no risk that Amy might find
herself dwelling on painful memories during this voyage. She was
far too busy seeing that Eddie did not slip overboard, trip up any
unsteady passengers, or just get something dropped on him as he
darted around the boat, utterly sure-footed and blessedly untouched
by nausea.

It was a relief when the boat drew up to the
wharf at Auckland, though with the increased activity on deck Amy
had to keep a close grip on Eddie. She held grimly to his hand as a
human tide carried them along towards the gangplank, and trusted
that Sarah would manage to see them through the crowd.

Sarah was there and waiting. She swept up to
them, slipped her arm through Amy’s, sent the coachman off to
collect their luggage, and guided them to one side of the crowd,
all within moments.

‘Sarah, this is Eddie,’ Amy said as soon as
they were safely out of the crush.

Sarah moved to stand in front of Eddie, and
lowered herself to his level in a graceful motion.

‘Hello, Eddie. I’m your Aunt Sarah. I’m very
pleased to meet you.’ She extended a hand, and Eddie shook it. Amy
watched the two of them sizing each other up. There was not the
slightest physical resemblance, but something of the same keen
observation showed in each pair of eyes.

‘Granny said you’ve got a horse,’ said
Eddie.

Sarah laughed. ‘As it happens, I do. Come
and meet the carriage horses.’

She gave Eddie only a few moments to pat the
horses before bundling him and Amy into the carriage and taking her
own seat at Amy’s side. Eddie knelt on the seat to look out at the
bustling city. He had been briefly awed by the noise and crowds on
the wharf, but now he stared with interest from the safety of the
carriage at the tall buildings and the traffic, pedestrian and
horse-drawn.

The journey to Sarah’s seemed shorter this
time. The carriage drew to a halt, and Eddie tumbled out without
waiting to be helped down. When Amy took his hand she found that he
was gazing up at the house, his mouth open.

‘Are we staying here?’ he asked in a smaller
voice than usual.

‘Yes, we are,’ Amy said, giving his hand an
encouraging squeeze. ‘This is Aunt Sarah’s house.’

He let her lead him inside, his eyes wide as
he stared at his surroundings. Both the maids that Amy remembered
from her previous stay were there to greet them, bobbing curtseys
from the side of the passage, then disappearing in the direction of
the kitchen.

‘I’ll show you to your rooms,’ said Sarah.
‘I expect you’ll want to freshen up. The luggage will be brought up
shortly.’

They followed her up the stairs, Eddie still
allowing his hand to be held. Stairs were a novelty to him; he had
never tried anything closer to them than the few steps up to the
verandah on the farm. Amy saw him casting a speculative look at the
banister rail; she tugged at his hand to get his attention, and
shook her head firmly.

‘You’re in your old room, of course, Amy,’
Sarah said. ‘I’ve given Eddie the one next to yours. It’s small—I
believe it may have been intended as a dressing room—but I think
it’ll do for now.’

The room was somewhat larger than Eddie’s
bedroom on the farm, but small enough to be cosy. There was a bed
with a yellow coverlet against one wall, a set of drawers against
the opposite wall, and a wooden chest near the foot of the bed. A
connecting door led through to Amy’s room, which was just as she
remembered it. Fresh flowers had been placed on the dressing table,
hot water was ready in the jug, and clean towels had been laid out.
And when Sarah opened the wardrobe door, Amy’s lovely dresses were
all hanging there, just as she had left them.

‘You see?’ Sarah said, brushing her fingers
lightly over the tops of the hangers. ‘I knew I’d lure you back if
I held these to ransom for long enough.’ She parted the dresses to
show the red velvet gown. ‘I’m determined to persuade you to wear
this one before too long.’

Amy smiled at the sight of the lovely
things. ‘I’ll pull them all out later and try some on. Not right
now, though,’ she added as she watched Eddie, who was showing signs
of becoming restive. His uncharacteristically subdued manner had
soon passed, and now he was prowling around the room, looking for
something more interesting than dresses. This house, unlike the one
on the farm, was full of things that might not survive a
five-year-old’s attention.

‘You must be tired after that long trip,’
Sarah said. ‘Would Eddie like a sleep, do you think?’

Amy did not give Eddie the chance to voice
the rebellion she saw in his eyes. ‘I shouldn’t think so. I think
he could do with a run around, if that’s all right?’

‘Of course,’ said Sarah. ‘We can go into the
garden—I’ll have our afternoon tea brought out there. But wouldn’t
you like to get changed first, Amy? I know how stale one feels
after being on the boat all that time.’

Amy looked down at her creased and
travel-stained dress, her elegant surroundings making it look all
the more drab. The thought of washing away some of the grime of the
journey and changing into one of her pretty dresses was tempting.
But a glance at Eddie, who was lying on the windowsill and leaning
out as far as he could, made her reconsider. She put her arms
around his middle and tugged him back inside. ‘I’ll be all right
like this for now,’ she said.

Sarah looked at the two of them and appeared
to guess Amy’s thoughts. ‘I think Eddie can come outside with me
and leave you to freshen up. Come along, Eddie.’

Eddie went readily, not a trace of shyness
as he skipped out of the room ahead of Sarah. A moment later, Amy
heard the muffled thump of his footsteps bumping down the carpeted
stairs. She quickly slipped out of her cotton dress, washed, and
changed into the first tea gown she found in the wardrobe,
wondering as she moved about the room just how Sarah and Eddie were
getting on.

She went downstairs and out the front door,
and found Sarah at the base of the tallest tree in the garden,
looking up. Amy followed her gaze, and saw Eddie’s legs dangling
from a high branch.

‘I suppose this is all right?’ Sarah asked
uncertainly. ‘He told me he climbs trees all the time on the
farm.’

‘Yes, he’s like a cat for climbing,’ Amy
said. ‘He’s never fallen from very high up.’

‘Oh, good,’ said Sarah. ‘Because I know he
has to be kept busy. I took advice, you see—I’ve never really had a
great deal to do with boys before. The general opinion seemed to be
that the more one finds for them to do, the happier everyone is. Mr
Kendall was particularly strong on the subject—he has two sons, so
he ought to know. He told me boys are bursting with energy, and if
one doesn’t tire them out by channeling it into harmless
activities, it will come out in less desirable ways.’