The Blue Book

The ninth chapter. Rickety high rock, back and forth goes the whining clock.

                                                                      
There was a thud from upstairs that mercifully pulled me from my very much twisted dream where I'd been standing on a rickety, high rock that swept from side to side. The walls around me had looked as if they were the inside of a mountain, like a giant cave which was painted in shades of red and orange. I had a sense of fire from below, but I never actually saw it, it was more like I could feel it was there. Perhaps dream-me needed an explanation to why there was red all over the place, then there was this girl. A rather tall girl that was standing with her back towards me but no matter how hard I pulled at her dress or how resilient I tugged at her hand she remained where she was like a statue literally set in stone. And the pillar of stone never stopped rocking from side to side in a manner that reminded of a mother and her babe but this was far less pleasant and much more horrific. I knew that I, or the dream-me had known her story while I was still asleep although now that I was waking up, her background scurried off over the floor and vanished into the precious tapestries, waiting for me to shut my eyes so that it could be brought to light again. I saw no point of it, though. If I was forgetting her story as soon as I woke up I saw no reason to why I would participate in this nightmare in the first place.  This vision was really no dream at all and if it was it was a bad one.
I must have imagined it, but I could have sworn I heard the girls' hushed voices whispering in panic. Dressed in my modern two-pieced sleeping clothing I rose and put my palms against my not-so-very-young but still viable legs, looking back at Mrs. Bremner, looking at her, completely cloaked in the night's lightless air I reminded myself not for the first time that I am indeed one lucky bastard. Mrs. Bremner had in the eyes of simpletons been considered pretty but plain and had before me been inquired to give a handsome gentleman her hand in marriage. The ones who'd wanted to be the one to be asked in her stead had called it a joke, the mothers of those who'd wanted to be in her stead said it was a scheme to make their daughter work harder for his attention, the gentleman's comrades said he was drunk when he asked her and the gentleman himself stood his ground and promptly assured anyone who asked that he was in love with her. She'd been kind to him and told him she appreciated the struggle he was going through due to the horrors he'd seen, but that to be wed would be a life long contract neither of them had the power to break. He said he loved her and I believe he believed that but mostly he probably thought she could redeem him somehow. Marrying her would be a way of earning forgiveness.
I saw no Helen of Troy in her and still to me she was utter perfection. I married the person I trusted the most and I in simple terms married my best friend.
'Please stay asleep.' I asked of her as I stood up and grabbed our lamp/speaker she'd insisted we'd buy for us.
'But why? Do we really need such new inventions?' I'd wondered while bending down so I could have a proper look at it on the shelf in the shop where she'd dragged all seven of us to inspect this modernity. When I said this, she'd smiled and looked into my eyes and said, 'You're a funny man, Charles. You're a little late to call it a "modernity" or a "new invention".  I've saved for a while but it's nothing luxurious.' I hadn't known that this was something she'd considered for a while so instead of putting up a fight I turned to the girls and said 'We shall have ourselves  an electric speaker- lamp!' They'd smiled and exchanged happy glances, shaking their heads at how poorly updated I was. Naturally I'd heard of it, I've read a book or two, but I didn't see why regular torches wouldn't suffice like they always had. And now we have a lamp which is run by something I didn't really understand but made a homey buzzing noise every morning we woke them up. The electricity and sound surrounded me with a gloria bigger than the torches ever could. She was right. Again.
I threw a quick look at her just because I wanted to but my eyes betrayed me and I lingered by the doorframe simply gazing at her until a familiar thud snapped me out of my harmless lunacy.
My steps weren't exactly subtle therefore before I reached the last step of the stairs the panicked whispers were silenced. I waited for minutes and considered going back downstairs and give sleep a second chance, but both the thuds and the nightmare kept me frozen on the spot. Then it started again, the low mumbling and frenetic questions, none of which my ageing ears managed to capture, but one; 'what do we do?'
My girls have always been sensible, they wouldn't stay up in the early hours for nothing. Something must be wrong. Something must be frightening them. I bursted in with little to none compassion for the poor wooden door and found three out of four of my girls in the same room, including two others I most certainly had not welcomed into my home. A different sound than the thuds, together with a terrible headache and shards of glass raining over my head puzzled me to no end. What...
'Dad!'Agneta's horrified voice interrupted the ringing in my ears. 'Blast! Judas and the devil, what are you doing here?'
'The thuds.'I explained. Five intense, glaring pair of eyes were directed towards the two figures who I certainly not had invited.
'Who are you?' One of them asked.
Clearly he didn't have all that much to cheer for between his ears since Agneta only seconds ago had said 'dad' to me. He stood by the old orange-yellow bureau that faced Agneta's and Christina's bed where sheets, blankets, quilts and various pillows in various shades of yellow in  subtle and bright colours were messily left behind higgledy- piggledy. Every single object in this room had been with great concern picked out by the expert in the field, no one less than Mrs. Bremner. She chose the stuff based on number one; quality. Number two; judged by the 'as-less-hideous-as-humanly-possibly-scale'. Number three; colour. Number four; money. Number five; if I or/and the girls a) could stand it or b) actually, against all odds, wanted it. You'd be surprised by how good she had become at it. Agneta and Christina had agreed on yellow. Marta and Edith chose green, and Virginia who previously slept in the Green room asked to move into the guest room that were before empty and gathering dust twenty-four months a year. It was now all covered in white furniture and white fabrics. The White room. I and Monica slept in a mixture of all that, including ordinary wooden furnishings.
'Didn't you hear? I'm Judas and the devil. Who are you?'
'Is this him?' The second asked Christina.
'Yes, it is, and this was not supposed to be how you were introduced.' Agneta was only this frustrated when something she had planned carefully got smashed into nothing, much like that vase I got for her.
'Well, it is now.' The first said. 'Sir, we apologise for the intrusion, and the glass vase that just got smashed in your head, it was really pretty, but we would like a word about your orchestra.'
'A name first, perhaps?
'Apologies, Mr. Bremner, my name is Mulk. And she's Johannesson.'
Johannesson bowed slightly  and smiled carefully.
'Kristina, what is this?' I inquired and held a hand against where the vase had hit.
'Well, Johannesson plays and Mulk sews. Father, this is what you needed, isn't it? Didn't you ask the elder Mr. Mulk to help with the costumes? Now the younger Mulk is here and I've seen him sew. He's good at it.' Christina promised me.
'Which is all very well, but could Mr. Mulk be so very kind to explain what he's doing in your room? And why are you all awake? And how did this start?' Mulk remained silent for some reason and understanding flew across both Johannesson's and the girl's faces. Mulk who had seemed only seconds ago keen on presenting the cause of their presence to me dodged my face and instead found our yellow carpet extremely intriguing indeed.
'As to why we're in your daughter's room, we'd like to keep that to ourselves, however, we are in a great dept to all your daughters and we hope sincerely that you in some weeks time can trust us when we tell you, that all five of them will be protected from harm if we can help it.'
I saw the sincerity in him, in both of them. What had my girls done for these two? What could inspire protectiveness such as this? What did they do to earn companions like the two youths in front of me?
'I'm confused.' I said. I said the same thing the other Mr. Mulk had said to me when I had asked about the costumes for the orchestra.' But this will be all the puzzlement for tonight.' Turning to Agneta; 'you get these two a pillow each and a blanket, preferably without moths any other interesting sleeping companions, you keep yourself out of this room and my daughters while they're in their nightshirts and I will go back to my happy place without tailors, musicians and lasses who never do as I advise. Goodnight to you all.'
Johannesson looked for a fraction of a second as she were on her way to protest, but Edith kindly silenced her.

*****

'Have you seen this?' Marta exclaimed and slammed her cup in the table, as usual. Edith confusedly raised her head to see where all the fuzz came from, as usual, Agneta and Kristina kept to their corner with pen and paper under their noses with their cups next to them, as usual, and Virginia had gone already, as usual. Osgar Mulk and Lara Johannesson sat and conversed with Edith and occasionally (alright, fine, frequently) made her smile, which was unusual.
'Hush girl, our neighbours are furious with us as it is.' Monica scolded Edith discreetly.
'I'm sorry, but have you seen this?'
'No, dear, I haven't, I never do, because you always snatch the paper from under us before we have a chance to so much as read the headlines on the front page.'
'Okay, I'm sorry, but...'
'Have I seen it? No, I haven't. Will you show me?'
'What is it?' I asked and raised a spoon of porridge. Apparently I did it very ungentlemanlilike and received a not so discreet reprimand from Monica who mouthed; we have guests.
'It's fine, Mrs. Bremner. We've never been all that sensitive by nature, have we, Lara?' Said Mulk and tried another one of his careful smiles. I wondered whether he was careful in his way, and that's just the way he smiled, or if he had smiled a lot before but never gotten a response and now made them more subtle, or if he wasn't used to smiling and had began to try this apparent token of gladness recently. I actually found myself quite fond of that smile after a while.
Osgar was at the moment preoccupied with making Edith laugh so hard that she spit out her tea.
'Edith!' Monica and I cried in unison.
'Judas! Apologies, mum, you should... You should have heard it.' Her hand was placed on her stomach as if in pain but the bright look on her face proved the exact opposite.
'All six of you, you'll have to hurry, Charles, you have the notes and the plan?'
'Monica, my saviour, I have it all.'
'Don't go all dramatic on me now, Charles. Edith, no time for the big news in the paper, later darling. Kristina, by the seven seas, comb that hair of yours or I'll cut it, Edith, your bag?'
'Shoot, I forgot!'
'Edith...'
'It's done, as always. Ma, we do this every time!'
'I'm aware. Agneta, your tea has gone cold. Again. How about you try and drink it, just once?'
'No time. Pap, I'll come by the hall tonight, I want to hear you. And I'll pick up Virginias' pants on the way, she's been stalling longer than ever this time. Does anyone need anything since I'm at the tailor?'
'Well, I do.' Osgar said. 'If I am to do those costumes I'll need a great many things.'
'Another time, Mulk, I have to ask my people what they think first. I'll need funds. And ideas.'
'Alright. Can we join you?'
'I assume you'll have nothing better to do. Please. However, we were supposed to leave six minutes ago.'
'Oh.'
'No worries, I'm the man with the key. Technically the man with the key is never late.'
'Just go, old man.'Monica sighed and hugged me quickly.
'Lara, Osgar, I'm sorry, it isn't always like this.' Marta excused.
'Oh, actually it is.' Agneta smiled and poured her cold tea in the sink.
'Agneta, that's a wretched waste of excellent tea!'
'I know, I always forget it.'
'Stop forgetting, then.' Monica proposed.
'Mulk, Johannesson, you're with me. 'C'mon.'
'You'll be excellent, love, just remember!' Monica called after me.
'Always remind them to always bow after the last tune.' I agreed. 'Don't run off to the library, Monica, not tonight, I've a surprise. I'll make it up to you, just keep tonight clear.'
I wasn't positive that she'd heard me since we were really running late and both Osgar and Lara had started picking up their pace which I tried to keep up with.
'I can't be late for my anniversary, now can I?'