Daisy in the Mansion Read online

  Mrs Bailey took off her gloves and folded them into her handbag. ‘Now, let’s begin,’ she said.

  Daisy’s waist and height were efficiently measured, then Joan wrapped a tape measure around her head to check her hat size. Next her feet were measured, then she was made to stand in a changing room while Joan and an assistant brought in item after item for her to try on. Daisy slipped on petticoats, bloomers, dresses and jackets and showed each item to Mrs Bailey, who would give a nod or shake her head.

  What must it be like to own so many clothes? Daisy wondered, staring at her reflection in a pretty blue flowery dress. How would anyone decide what to wear every day? She slipped on a soft blue velvet jacket and stepped out to show Mrs Bailey.

  ‘Oh yes, that’s just lovely,’ Mrs Bailey said, looking up from her cup of tea. ‘We’ll take that.’

  ‘Please, Mrs Bailey, you’ve bought me enough,’ Daisy said as she ran her fingers over the soft velvet. Anyway, she thought, I won’t be around when the weather gets cool enough to wear it.

  ‘We’re almost done, dear,’ Mrs Bailey said. ‘Just a few pairs of gloves and a couple of hats, and you’ll be quite the young lady.’

  Daisy went back to the changing room and stared at her reflection. I’m still me, she thought. I might look like some spoilt rich girl, but I’m still me inside. And the worse I behave, the sooner Edith and I will be able to find our families. No use wondering what might have been.

  Within a few hours she was sitting on the end of Annie’s bed describing each of her new dresses in minute detail. Annie sat up in bed and hugged her knees joyfully.

  ‘Oooh, how lovely. You’ll have to decide which one you want to wear on Christmas Day,’ she said, and her eyes shone with excitement. ‘Mummy always organises a wonderful feast for Christmas lunch and everyone gets terribly dressed up.’

  Daisy felt a cold bolt of fear. Christmas was getting close and soon after Flora would be sent to boarding school. Time was running out.

  ‘PSST Daisy, Daisy wake up!’

  Daisy shook her head, and stirred in the soft bed. ‘Who’s there?’ she said in alarm, her eyes struggling to make out anything in the dark room.

  ‘It’s me, Lizzie,’ a voice answered. ‘I’m just going to turn on the lamp.’

  There was a loud thud, followed by a muffled giggle.

  ‘Oh dear, I think I’ve knocked it over,’ Lizzie whispered, and tried to control her laughter. ‘Give me a sec.’

  Light flooded the room and Daisy sat up in bed trying to shield her eyes from the glare.

  ‘What on earth are you doing, Lizzie?’ she said. ‘It’s the middle of the night.’

  ‘I know,’ Lizzie said, and picked the lamp off the floor. ‘That’s what makes it so exciting! I’ve come to take you on a cheer-up mission. I thought we’d explore the attic. I’ve never been up there, but I hear it’s crammed with delightful stuff. Then we’ll sneak into Annie’s room and have a midnight feast and tell her all about it.’ Lizzie held up a basket. ‘I’ve got chocolate cake, a bottle of lemonade, some shortbread and a slab of caramel fudge. Nothing like a bit of fudge to cure the blues.’

  Daisy leapt out of bed. ‘That sounds wonderful,’ she cried and grabbed her new dressing gown.

  ‘Follow me – oh, and let’s take your candle.’ Lizzie opened the dressing table drawer and rummaged for matches. ‘Here we are,’ she said and lit the small candle. ‘Let’s go.’

  She opened the door and Daisy followed. The house was silent and dark. It’s so spooky, Daisy thought as she crept along the corridor trying not to be scared by the ghostly shadows the candlelight created.

  Wind whined through the hall and somewhere a door slammed. Daisy jumped and a bolt of cold adrenalin shot through her. She hurried to keep up with Lizzie.

  ‘There’s a little stairway at the end of the hall,’ Lizzie whispered. ‘Mind you don’t trip in the dark.’

  Daisy held tight to the wooden banister as they climbed the steep, curving stairs. I wonder if there are chests of jewels and gold in the attic, or maybe a secret passageway to a hidden tower where a tragic princess has been locked up? Daisy thought.

  They reached a small door set in the wall and Lizzie tried the handle. ‘It’s locked,’ she said.

  Daisy’s heart sank.

  ‘Lucky I brought the key,’ Lizzie said with a grin and passed Daisy the basket and the candle as she searched her pockets. ‘I know I put it here somewhere,’ she said, and patted at her clothes. ‘Ahh, here it is.’ She slid the key into the lock and the door creaked open noisily.

  A strong smell of dust and stale air rushed at them. Daisy held the candle in front of her and wild shadows leapt to life on the walls.

  ‘Go on,’ Lizzie urged, so Daisy stepped nervously into the room.

  There were large trunks stacked in one corner, shelves groaning with dusty books, several tea chests, threadbare armchairs, a lamp and an old baby carriage.

  ‘Isn’t it marvellous,’ Lizzie breathed. ‘I want to look at everything.’ She ran toward the row of trunks but tripped over some newspapers and fell face-first onto the dusty floor.

  Daisy rushed over to her. ‘Are you all right?’

  ‘Fine and dandy,’ Lizzie said, and pulled herself up with a laugh. ‘Just a bit of a clumsy clot. Now let’s be having a look in those trunks, shall we?’

  She pulled open one of the lids and they peered inside. Layers of creamy satin were covered with soft tissue paper. ‘Ooh, I think it’s a wedding dress,’ Lizzie exclaimed, and gently ran her fingers over the fine beading on the material. ‘We’d better not touch this one.’ She closed the lid and went to the next trunk. ‘This one looks more interesting – look, Daisy, there’s a bunch of old cards here, and some beautiful necklaces.’ She pulled out a handful of beads, which glowed amber and red in the candlelight.

  ‘How pretty,’ Daisy said and looped the necklaces over her head.

  She noticed a photograph of a chubby baby sitting on her mother’s knee. On the back was written, Annie 1923.

  ‘What a cute baby she was,’ Daisy said and passed the photo to Lizzie. Daisy rifled through more photos in the trunk. There was Annie as a smiling toddler with golden curls, and in a tennis dress at about six.

  ‘She looks so different now,’ Daisy said. ‘It’s hard to believe it’s the same girl.’

  ‘Dear me,’ Lizzie said as she looked at the photos. ‘You’d never have thought that sickly little wisp of a thing barely holding onto life ever looked so healthy.’

  Daisy felt a little wave of shock, hearing her fears spoken out loud. ‘Do you really think she could die?’ she asked, dropping the photos back in the trunk.

  ‘I’m no doctor,’ Lizzie said. ‘But I reckon she’s got worse even in the time I’ve been here. Oh how romantic, these are Valentines sent by Mr Bailey to Mrs Bailey,’ Lizzie sighed.

  ‘We shouldn’t read those,’ Daisy said, and put the flowery cards back into the trunk. ‘Let’s get back to Annie.’

  They put everything back in the trunk and shut the lid, but before they could leave the attic the candle suddenly blew out leaving them in deep darkness.

  Lizzie screamed in shock.

  ‘Shhhh,’ Daisy hissed, ‘You’ll wake the whole house.’

  ‘So what?’ Lizzie said. ‘You want them to think you’re terribly naughty anyway.’

  ‘Yes, but it will be bad for you,’ Daisy said, and groped around for the door. She banged her shin on something hard and cried out in pain.

  ‘Now who’s the noisy one,’ Lizzie laughed. ‘Oh, here’s the door, over here.’

  Daisy crept toward her voice, her hands out in front of her. She felt Lizzie’s arm and held on tight.

  Together they edged slowly down the stairs and were soon back in the main corridor.

  Daisy knocked gently on the door. There was no answer, so she slowly opened it. ‘Annie,’ she whispered. ‘Annie, wake up.’

  Lizzie flicked on a lamp and Annie sat up, lookin
g confused and rumpled. ‘Oh, goodie, are we having a midnight feast?’ she asked.

  ‘How did you know?’ Daisy said with surprise.

  ‘What else could it be in the middle of the night, and with that big basket, which I’m certain must contain delicious treats,’ Annie said, pointing.

  ‘You’re quite the brain box, aren’t you?’ Lizze laughed. ‘Now let’s spread all this out on the bed and get stuck in. Me and Daisy have had such an adventure and I’m sure you’ll want to hear all about it.’

  ‘Ooh, yes please,’ Annie said as she rubbed sleep from her eyes.

  Daisy noticed how tired and unwell she looked. ‘Are you sure this is all right?’ she asked Annie. ‘You don’t look too good.’

  ‘I am feeling particularly poorly,’ Annie said with a sigh. ‘I so miss going on adventures. But I would rather hear about yours than lie here all alone.’

  ‘All right then,’ Daisy said. ‘But if you get too tired we’ll leave straight away.’ She took a bite of the rich, gooey chocolate cake and wondered if she had ever tasted anything quite so scrumptious in all her life.

  There was a sudden bang at the door and Mrs Bird rushed into the room, her eyes flashing with anger. ‘Aha!’ she cried. ‘I knew there was something dreadful going on. I can smell mischief a mile away.’

  ‘Well, you are in the room next door,’ Annie said, ‘and that’s not quite a mile, is it?’

  Daisy had to put her hand over her mouth to stop from laughing out loud.

  ‘You two there, get out of here at once and leave this sick, sick girl alone.’ She slapped at Daisy and Lizzie.

  ‘Stop it,’ Annie cried, and struggled to sit up. ‘They’re just trying to cheer me up.’

  ‘Cheer you up my foot!’ Mrs Bird exploded. ‘What a lot of nonsense. What you need is silence and no interruptions, or you might never get better.’

  Daisy quickly threw all the food into the basket and jumped off the bed. She stared at Mrs Bird in dismay. The old hag’s eyes were flashing with something that looked like glee. She wants to make Annie’s life more miserable, Daisy thought. She and Lizzie rushed from the room, leaving poor Annie with her angry nurse.

  DAISY sat on the end of Annie’s bed reading her a story. She looks even sicker than normal, Daisy thought. I hope she’s not getting worse.

  ‘I’m just going to take a break for a minute,’ she said to Annie, and went to the windows, which were covered in heavy curtains. ‘Would you mind if I opened these up?’ she asked.

  ‘I’d love it,’ Annie said in a tired voice, ‘but Mrs Bird says the darkness is good for me.’

  What nonsense, Daisy thought. She flung the curtain back and Annie covered her eyes against the sudden sunshine. ‘Oh – sorry Annie, I should have done that more slowly.’ Daisy went over to give Annie a hug. She was growing so fond of Annie that she felt as if her heart was being squeezed every time she came to see her locked in her sombre room.

  ‘It’s fine, Daisy – it’s just so thrilling to see the sky again. Maybe we’ll see an angel flying by, or maybe even a hot-air balloon with some adventurers setting off to see the world.’

  Daisy grinned at her. She’s got a wilder imagination than mine, she thought.

  ‘Can you see the pond down in the garden?’ Annie asked. ‘Are the ducks around?’

  Daisy craned her neck. ‘Oh yes, I see them! Oh, there’s a little family of ducklings.’

  ‘How sweet,’ Annie said, her eyes shining. ‘I’d love to hold them. I imagine they’re so cute.’

  ‘They’re very cute,’ Daisy said. ‘Now, are your pillows comfy? Can I get you some water before I go?’

  ‘Everything is perfect, thank you, Daisy, though if you could make this awful pounding in my head stop I would be quite pleased.’

  Daisy waved her hands theatrically over Annie’s head. ‘Abracadabra, headache be gone,’ she said in a deep voice.

  Annie laughed with delight. ‘I think it’s helped a little,’ she said, flashing her tiny teeth, which looked like a dainty row of pearls.

  Mrs Bird came into the room, and stopped in shock when she saw the drawn curtain. ‘Haven’t I told you to stop meddling?’ she growled at Daisy.

  ‘Annie likes the sunshine,’ Daisy said.

  ‘Stuff and nonsense,’ Mrs Bird blustered. ‘I know what’s best, not you, you street urchin! Just because they dress you fancy it doesn’t change who you are.’

  Daisy felt like screaming at the horrible woman, but she didn’t want to upset Annie. She gave the little girl a warm hug and whispered in her ear. ‘I think at night Mrs Bird turns into an ugly black crow and digs for slugs in the garden.’

  Annie giggled merrily and hugged Daisy hard. ‘Come back soon,’ she whispered.

  ‘I’ll be talking to Mrs Bailey about your outrageous behaviour – once again,’ Mrs Bird shouted as Daisy left the room.

  Daisy turned back and poked her tongue out at the nurse and waggled her hands in her ears. Daisy could hear Annie trying to stifle her laughter.

  In the corridor, Lizzie rushed up to Daisy and forced two crumpled envelopes into her hand and scurried away without a word.

  Daisy grinned with delight, and ran to her room. She chose the letter with the messier handwriting and tore it open.

  ‘Dear Daisy,

  We’re so happy to hear you’re in a safe place, and a mansion no less; how very posh! But we have some terrible news. An old friend of your dad’s visited your aunt and uncle. He’d come across your dad living in a town on the border. But Daisy, oh, we’re so sorry! He told your Aunty May that your dad was hurt in an accident and is stuck in bed in an empty hut in a town where the doctor only visits every few weeks.

  Your dad asked the bloke to check up on you girls when he got back to the city, because he’s worried that he hasn’t heard from you.

  Poor Flora was so upset. But your Aunty May said it was just as well that Flora was going to Sydney for school because she said who knows what will happen with your dad. We wish we were there to give you a giant hug. Can we come to visit you at the fancy mansion?

  Love, your friends, Mabel and Elsie xxx

  Daisy stared at the letter in shock. Oh, Dad! She couldn’t bear the thought of him being injured and all alone. I have to find him and make sure he’s okay, she thought in desperation.

  She felt as if the ground was shifting beneath her, and she had to take a deep breath to steady herself. She quickly read the letter again; he’d been living in a town near the border. Well, that was something – at least she had some idea of where he was at last. She scrunched up her face in confusion. But it doesn’t make sense, she thought. Why did he say he was worried about not hearing from them when he was the one who hadn’t written to tell them where he was?

  As she puzzled over that, she opened the next envelope, which was from Edith.

  Dear Daisy,

  It’s been so hard being here without you and Freddy. I thought I’d go mad when I didn’t hear from you, but then your letter came, thank goodness.

  I have been so miserable. With every day that passes I’m more sure that Freddy has forgotten who I am, and that means I really am all alone in the world, especially without you. Please do come back. Please help me.

  Edith

  Oh gosh, thought Daisy, her mind spinning, her stomach dropping. She doesn’t sound like herself at all. Poor Edith and poor Dad. I have to get out of here now. Daisy ran her hands through her hair and tried to collect her thoughts. She would need to come up with something really dreadful to make the Baileys send her back today. Something completely shocking. She put her hands on her hips and looked about the room. Her eyes fell on the huge wardrobe over in the corner. She suddenly snapped and her fingers rushed to the dressing table to pick up a large pair of scissors.

  ‘These will do nicely,’ she said to herself, as she ran a finger along the sharp blades.

  She flung open the door of the wardrobe, where all her new dresses hung in a rainbow of soft p
astels. Her hands were shaking as she took out the first dress and sat on the edge of her bed. This was a truly terrible thing she was about to do. And the Baileys had been so nice. And poor, dear Annie, stuck with that awful Mrs Bird . . .

  Daisy took a breath and imagined her dad injured and alone in the middle of nowhere. She had to do it. The scissors sliced through the soft fabric easily. Daisy felt hot and sick and excited all at once as she quickly cut the beautiful dress into ribbons. She took another dress from the wardrobe and started cutting. Soon a pile of lace and satin lay about her feet like streamers at a fete.

  Daisy didn’t stop until every dress was reduced to shreds. She didn’t think about what she was doing. She thought about Edith. She thought about Dad and Flora, the farm, Jimmy and Amelia and how badly she wanted them all back.

  Finally the wardrobe was empty. Daisy dropped the scissors onto the floor and fell back on to the bed feeling exhausted.

  Oh my goodness, she thought to herself. What have I done?

  ‘Daisy, lunch is . . . oh my!’ Lizzie stood at the door, her mouth wide with shock. ‘What? How? Did someone break in and do this?’ Lizzie asked in a stunned voice and went to check the window. ‘Someone must have climbed in through the window. Are you all right, Daisy?’

  Daisy shook her head. ‘No,’ she said, her voice lifeless and flat. She sat up and looked at Lizzie. ‘It was me, I did it.’

  Lizzie clapped her hand on her mouth and her eyes bulged. ‘You never, but, but . . . oh you never. I never thought you could be so cruel, Daisy Sanderson.’

  Daisy did feel cruel. But Dad suddenly felt so close, as if she could almost reach out and touch him. She couldn’t weaken now.

  ‘I’ll have to tell Mrs Bailey, you know that,’ Lizzie said. ‘Otherwise I’ll end up in trouble, too.’

  ‘Yes, go and get her.’ Daisy nodded. She felt numb all over.

  Lizzie backed out, still staring in horror at the shredded pile of dresses.