So I take her somewhere I’ve never taken anyone before except Gaynah. I take her to my secret dugout.
I’m nervous she might not like it. Rudy is so loud, and everything is so big to her that maybe my hideout will be a let-down. I have nothing to worry about, though, because when I show her, she jumps up and down, screeching.
‘Is it your secret hideout? Like a cave where you keep hidden treasures?’
‘Um… not really.’
‘Oh, are we pirates with stolen gold and we have to hide it before the gun-shooting soldiers come after us?’
I can’t help but feed into her imagination. ‘No, it’s from the plantation owner in the big house behind the banana grove. There’s treasure on that land and it’s ours. He stole it from us. We need to get it back.’
Her eyes widen. ‘Eighteen hundreds role play. I love it.’ She clasps her hands together and paces outside the dugout. ‘How will we get the rest of the gold and our freedom? We must get the gold. Then we must burn his house down. We can’t have him coming after us. Which way to the evil owner?’
I stare at her blankly. I don’t know anyone evil. But I do know someone with a big plantation house that fits in with her game. Eldorath.
Three generations of our family have lived in that house on the hill. When the British left, the owners abandoned it, and Eldorath and Papa’s great-grandfather, who used to work on the land, took it over. Now Eldorath lives there by himself.
Rudy is insistent we play the game, so I play along, for now.
We gather supplies from the kitchen: a bottle of water, some leftover ackee and salt fish from breakfast, and some coconut drops.
I don’t tell Rudy no one goes to Eldorath’s house except Papa. I don’t tell her that my heart is beating superfast and my legs feel wobbly at the thought of going there.
Chapter Eleven
Papa never talks about the day he left the house on the hill. All I know is he left and never went back except to visit Eldorath. Sometimes he says he’s going to trim the trees because the last time he went, the branches were too long. Other times he says he’s going to tidy the garden because if he doesn’t do it, no one will. Then there are the times he doesn’t say why he’s going. He just goes, and when I ask if I can go with him, the answer is always the same: ‘Not today.’
I try to put Rudy off going to Eldorath’s house because I don’t want to get in trouble with Papa.
‘Are you sure you want to do this?’
She lays a gentle hand on my shoulder as we stand in the middle of the banana grove. ‘Dearest sister,’ she says, still pretending to be a rebellious girl from the eighteen hundreds, ‘it is our duty. For Papa, Mama, and for our country.’
I’ve noticed that when Rudy plays a game, she takes it seriously.
I sigh, turning away from the river and looking through the trees towards the hill. Luckily, Uncle Albert is nowhere to be seen.
‘I wish I had worn my petticoat dress and my bonnet,’ she says. ‘Then I could have looked the part.’
‘You really have one of those?’
‘Mm-hmm. It’s baby blue with white trim. My mum bought it for me at the vintage market.’
‘Your mum is nice.’
‘She is. She works a lot, so I don’t see her very much back home.’ She sighs like an adult who has the world on their shoulders. ‘Maybe we can stay here and then I might see her more.’
She falls silent and I have to turn to make sure she is still with me. ‘You OK?’
She forces a smile. ‘Mm-hmm.’
We reach the end of the banana grove and stop. The hill continues upwards into thick forest, but we take a break and have a drink of water. Rudy stares at the view in awe. We can see the entire banana grove from here, and in the middle of it all I see Calvin and Gaynah heading our way.
Great. Mama probably told them that we were down here. What do they want, anyway? I’m really not in the mood for Calvin and his wannabe sidekick, Gaynah.
I shove the bottle of water in my backpack and nudge Rudy. ‘Let’s go. My so-called friends are coming.’
‘Should we wait?’
‘No,’ I snap. ‘Don’t you remember what they did? They laughed at what you were wearing at the river.’
Rudy looks taken aback. ‘They did?’
I bite my lip. ‘Also, what about last night?’
‘But that was the adults,’ she says. ‘And whatever they did to you, Clara, maybe they’ve come to say sorry.’
She’s wrong. ‘They haven’t come to say sorry.’
‘How do you know that?’
Because I know them.
Calvin reaches us out of breath, Gaynah a little behind him. ‘Where are you two going?’ he says between breaths. He points down the hill. ‘I thought you were at the river, but…’
‘What do you want, Calvin?’
Gaynah has reached us now, and she won’t even look me in the eye.
Calvin searches for some story they have concocted together.
‘Sorry,’ he says, ‘about last night. My dad, he gets a bit much sometimes. You know that.’
I glare at Gaynah, but she stares at the ground.
‘Right,’ I say, turning towards the hill. ‘Thanks for coming. See you around.’ I begin the climb into the forest, Rudy hesitantly looking behind her as she walks alongside me.
‘Where are you going?’ Calvin calls after us.
‘We’re looking for loyalty,’ I snap, ‘and real friends. I heard they’re out here somewhere.’ I take Rudy’s hand and pull her away.
Rudy is quiet for the next ten minutes, which is unlike her, so I guess she is mad at me. I feel a little guilty for upsetting her, but having Calvin and Gaynah follow us to Eldorath’s is not my idea of fun. Mama and Papa have been clear: I’m not supposed to go there, so I definitely don’t want those two tagging along.
We plough through the trees. There are no paths to follow, but I reckon if we keep going forward, we are bound to find it. It’s hard to miss. After a while I can see that Rudy is struggling to keep up. I suggest we take a break by a small creek that weaves down the hill. She is grateful and smiles for the first time since we left Calvin and Gaynah.
We sit in the dirt and share Mama’s leftovers and the last bit of water.
‘You’re so lucky, going where you want whenever you want,’ Rudy says. ‘In London, I can’t go anywhere by myself. My mum wouldn’t allow it.’
Going places by myself isn’t something I’ve ever thought about. Sycamore Hill is home, all of it. From our backyard to Ms Gee’s house, to the fort to the river. It’s all home. The only place I know I’m not allowed to go is Eldorath’s house.
‘It’s home.’ I shrug, drinking some water. ‘It’s not like going into the city—everyone knows me here.’
She stares into the distance, filling her mouth with cookies. ‘I think your hideout might be the best thing I have ever seen. The next best thing is the fort, and maybe this will be our third best thing.’
I smile weakly. ‘Mm-hmm.’
After we eat, Rudy comes to life. She wants to know how we are going to extract the gold, and should we set fire to the land before or after?