‘Hello,’ replied the girl, looking puzzled. ‘Who are you?’
‘I’m an old friend of your mother’s. Are you enjoying the ballet?’
‘YES!’ she gasped. ‘Isn’t it beautiful? I want to be a ballet dancer when I’m grown up and dance on my own in the Great Barn and up in the Circle for all the people to watch.’
‘Spoken like a true Stonewylde child,’ he said, smiling at her. ‘I wish my little girl could be the same.’
‘Do you have a little girl too?’
‘Oh yes, she’s a bit younger than you, almost five. Like your sister Bluebell.’
‘You know about her?’
‘I know everything about you all,’ he replied. ‘Every detail. And now, I was wondering if you’d like to go over to that lady there and buy us all a nice ice-cream?’
Sylvie tried to remonstrate but was smoothly over-ridden, and Celandine was despatched down the aisle clutching money.
‘How did you know we’d be here?’ she hissed as soon as the child had left. ‘Why are you doing this? And if you don’t remove your hand now I shall get up and leave! I mean it, Buzz.’
Chuckling, he slid his hand off her leg and kissed his own fingers where they’d touched her.
‘Mmn! You didn’t complain last time, did you Sylvie? Not when I came to visit you in hospital?’
Her mouth dropped open and the warm theatre spun crazily around her. Her vision went black around the edges and there was a fizzing noise in her ears. Buzz gently leaned her forward to bring her head down and she felt the blood rushing back. Sylvie struggled to sit up and remove his hands from her shoulders. She turned to face him, still white with shock.
‘Was that real?’ she whispered in horror. ‘I thought it was a dream.’
‘Oh yes, Sylvie, it was very real. I relive it every single night as I lie in bed with my wife, wishing that it were you and not her beside me. It was real alright – I remember the pattern on your nightdress, the restraints, the apricot-coloured roses by the bedside. I remember every single tiny detail. It was such a very … intimate experience.’
She blushed scarlet and hung her head in misery. She felt horribly sick and couldn’t believe this was really happening. How on earth had he known they’d be here in this theatre and in these very seats? She looked over towards the aisle suddenly remembering her daughter whom she should be looking after, not neglecting because of this unwelcome ghost from the past.
‘Celandine’s fine. Look, she’s coming back now with the icecreams. What a dear little girl she is.’
‘Please, please leave, Buzz. This is meant to be her special treat and you’re ruining it.’
‘Hardly! She’ll only feel it’s ruined if you make a fuss and start complaining – that certainly would spoil it for her. So sit still and be quiet. You know you’re enjoying it really.’
Celandine nipped along the row, so pretty in her lemon coloured dress with her white-blond curls flowing down her back, and handed out the tubs of ice-cream. She gave Buzz the change, looking at it in bemusement.
‘I gave the lady the note for the ice-creams and she said I must take these as well, so here you are. Thank you very much. I’ve never had an ice-cream like this before. Only the frozen juice-lollies we have in the summer when it’s hot. I love these little cups and these tiny spoons tucked into the lids. Can we take the spoons home, Mum? Bluebell would love them. Isn’t this wonderful? Oh!’
She tasted the cherry and vanilla ice-cream and closed her eyes in ecstasy, her excited chatter silenced for a moment.
‘You’re not eating yours, Mum. It’s lovely! Do try some.’
‘I’m not hungry, Celandine. You can have mine if you like. Sit down, now – the second act’s about to start.’
‘Not leaving then?’ asked Buzz, his pale blue eyes gleaming.
‘Of course we’re not leaving!’ retorted Celandine. ‘There are still two more acts, Mum said, and I wouldn’t leave for the world. This is the best thing I’ve ever done in my whole life!’
Buzz’s lips stretched into a broad smile.
‘One of my best things too,’ he said smoothly, his hand sliding across as the lights dimmed.
Sylvie spent the night on the alien hotel bed in sleepless despair. Next to her Celandine slept soundly, exhausted from the multitude of new experiences she’d had that day, and Sylvie tried hard to keep her crying silent and still. Eventually