She made it sound so appealing there had to be something wrong with it, and sure enough, as they passed through the beautiful light-filled folding-door paradise of the warm kitchen upstairs and descended into the basement, it became apparent.
There were three tiny rooms ahead of them, obviously once used by servants, and a bathroom with a shower but no tub.
Behind them was a large utility room full of all the rubbish most people had to fit into their real houses – ironing boards, washing machines, wellington boots, winter coats. No wonder their house could look tidy, thought Carmen crossly, when you could just throw all your stuff down the stairs.
‘And you’ll be next to Skylar so you two can get along!’
‘As the hired help,’ said Carmen.
Sofia sighed. She was doing her best, but it never seemed to work with Carmen.
‘Look,’ she said. ‘It’s just a couple of nights. Just to help me, that’s all. Sometimes I get in late. And some mornings.’
‘Well, I might get in late,’ said Carmen. ‘What is this job anyway? Mum just said retail.’
That was not remotely true, but Carmen hadn’t really been listening. Also, Sofia hadn’t been a hundred per cent open with her mother about how bad things were at the shop in case Carmen went off on one and refused to come.
‘It’s a bookshop,’ said Sofia. ‘One of my clients owns it. Mr McCredie. Needs someone to help him over Christmas.’
‘Well, that sounds okay.’
‘You like reading, don’t you?’
Sofia had never been a bookworm like Carmen: she had studied hard and read textbooks, and now she liked interior design magazines, whereas Carmen followed her heart and read books wherever her interests took her; about space, history, romance, anything she felt like, alighting from one to the next like a butterfly.
Carmen shrugged.
‘So,’ said Sofia. ‘Okay,’ said Carmen. ‘What is Skylar studying?’
‘Something arty? Not sure.’
‘She seems very … organised.’
Sofia was in no mood to discuss Skylar after a hit-and-miss trail of previous au pairs had spent their days crying with homesickness, ransacking the fridge, smoking in their rooms, flirting with Federico and actually stealing.
‘She’s great,’ she said. ‘Please don’t fall out with her. I really need her.’
Carmen was about to snap back that she didn’t fall out with anyone, but thought better of it on the grounds of it not being strictly true.
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I’ll be good.’
Sofia smiled.
‘You don’t have to be good,’ she said, the way she’d done when they were both small and Carmen was in trouble again. ‘You just have to look good to the grown-ups.’
Which was peace of sorts, and enough for their mother when Sofia called to tell her all about it, and which lasted slightly less than twenty-four hours.
Well, thought Carmen the next morning, as she woke up in the strange quiet dingy room and looked around. Supper had been difficult: Phoebe had refused point-blank to eat the couscous and everyone had silently blamed Carmen after the whole crisps incident, then Sofia had encouraged Pippa to play her bassoon, which she had, loudly and uncharmingly, and encouraged Phoebe to sing, a suggestion which was met with as much enthusiasm as the couscous, while Jack repeatedly kicked the expensive Shaker kitchen table leg and Carmen had thought she would just go to bed early before she caused any more trouble.
And now she was starting work. At a new job. Cor.
Perhaps it would be all right. A lovely bookshop where people came to sit and read and it was quiet and she could drink tea and grab a copy of something good and sit quietly in the corner until somebody needed her.
That would be all right, wouldn’t it? It would be nice. Bit of light dusting. It would be easier than haberdashery, with its wedding rush and bridal lace fretting. Books were hardly a big deal. Plus young Mr McCredie, as Sofia had called him, was apparently ‘nice if a bit quiet’. That didn’t sound too bad. He couldn’t possibly be worse than Mrs Marsh, that was for sure. Carmen had wanted to ask how old he was exactly, but didn’t want Sofia getting that simpering look she got when she got all excited about Carmen’s love life and lied about how much she liked Carmen’s boyfriends when it was obvious that anyone less than Federico, with his immaculate hair and manners and job and tailoring, she considered basic scum. The fact that occasionally Carmen had dated fairly basic scum didn’t help either. Hey: there was a lot of scum about. That was just the law of averages.
She went up to breakfast – the two younger children were sitting at the table: Jack in a pair of little old-fashioned pyjamas with buttons, and Phoebe in a fussy nighty. Her hair stuck straight out and she wore a menacing expression that in someone slightly older would have inspired Carmen to bring them a coffee.
Carmen asked how to get to work and Sofia frowned and said you walked, that’s how you got about the city; the buses only went to weird places and the tram only went to the airport and nowhere else at all.
‘Nowhere else?’ said Carmen, perturbed.
‘Nowhere else at all.’
‘Huh. What about a bicycle?’
‘How good are you at riding bicycles up steps?’ said Sofia.
‘Can I borrow your car?’ said Carmen, looking out at a bunch of leaves swirling down the street in a high wind.
‘A car?’ said Sofia. ‘In central Edinburgh?’ She sounded like Carmen had suggested getting to work on a dragon. ‘They’ll kill you.’
‘Who?’
‘The … traffic wardens.’ Sofia looked suddenly anxious, as if even saying their name might summon them. ‘Don’t risk it. I beg you.’
She turned away and went to the annoyingly spacious and well laid out cupboard under the stairs where she retrieved for Carmen a massive engulfing expensive padded parka.
‘Try this.’
Carmen glanced down at her well-worn leather jacket.
‘I’m okay.’
‘I mean it. You’ll freeze.’
‘I’ll be fine,’ said Carmen, looking at Google Maps.
‘Go up the steps here and then along and then down the steps there,’ said Sofia. ‘Or you could go round the castle and up the castle steps.’
‘I don’t want to go up any steps,’ said Carmen. Sofia smiled nicely. ‘Do you want me to make you a packed lunch?’
‘No, thank you.’
Carmen would have loved a packed lunch but she wasn’t going to give her eight-months-pregnant sister even more of a reason to get up and prove herself effortlessly more competent at everything.
‘I’ll find my way. Don’t fuss! And I can make packed lunches!’
‘Yes, please,’ came a little voice by her side. ‘I like Nutella sandwiches.’
Sofia gave a loud strangulated laugh before casting a worried glance at Skylar, who was cross-legged on the rug meditating quite obtrusively.
‘Ha, as if we would ever have Nutella in the house.’
‘I had it at a party once,’ said Phoebe in a wistful tone as if describing a paradise lost. ‘I will never forget it.’
Carmen wondered if buying them all enormous jars would do as Christmas presents.