Temporal Exploring 101 - Deep Future

IV.17 Berkeley girl

That Friday afternoon Lord Kerrington's chauffeur James picked us up after school and drove us to Kerrington Manor in one of those big black limousines.

Natty and I were pretty excited. We had visited Nancy's family over the weekend several times before, but we had never stayed for an entire week. For starters, it meant that we had to pack clothes and stuff for seven days, so we actually had to carry suitcases this time.

Upon arriving we were greeted not only by Lord and Lady Kerrington but also by Nancy's little sister Liz.

"Are you going to stay at home for the entire week, too, Lizzy?" Natty asked her.

"Nah, they don't have a midterm break at my school. It is like, totally unfair," Nancy's sister complained. "Isn't it, Sneaks?"

From the sleeve of her blouse peeked a tiny rosy nose, followed by the little head of an adorable  white rodent with red eyes. We all watched Lizzy's white mouse Sneakers  cautiously come forward to greet the visitors.

"Don't worry about it. A year from now, you will be enrolled at St. Albert's too and enjoy your midterm holidays just  like the rest of us." Nancy reached out and tousled Lizzy's hair affectionately.

Her sister shoved her Nancy's hand away. "Stop that, will you?" She scowled. "Everybody around here treats me like I am a little kid."

"That's because you still are a little kid, sis," Nancy commented as she deftly sidestepped to narrowly avoid a well-placed kick aimed at her right shin.

On Saturday afternoon, James drove us four girls to London so we could pick up Nancy's cousin Madison at Heathrow Airport. The flight from San Francisco was due to arrive at 5:30 p.m. As it turned out we were early.

When the plane finally had landed, we were waiting at the gate, closely watching the crowd of disembarking passengers.

"That's her over there!" Lizzy was shouting and pointing excitedly. "Here, Maddie! We are here!" She waved both of her arms.

The girl she had been addressing focused on Nancy's little sister, grinned and waved. Wearing faded blue jeans, a leather jacket and the most extraordinary pair of sunshades I had ever seen, and carrying what looked like a guitar case over her shoulders, she looked like the epitome of cool as she fought her way through the crowd to meet us.

"Lizzy!" she exclaimed, hugging the other girl. " And ... oh my god, Nancy, is that you? You have grown. Lizzy, you too. How come you both have grown so much?"

"What did you expect? It's been almost four years since the last time we met." Nancy laughed. "I must have been what? Thirteen, or even just twelve years old?"

"Alright, that sort of explains it." Madison smiled.

"These two are my friends from school, Natty and Cathy," Nancy introduced us to her cousin. "They are going to spend the holidays with us."

"Guess what, Cathy comes from the States too," Lizzie blurted out.

"That's good to know," Madison observed, tongue-in-cheek. "That means I won't feel quite so alone among all you bloody Brits."

"Hey!" Lizzy shouted, in mock outrage.

"As I recall, your parents moved to San Francisco when you were four years old, Madison," Nancy retorted. "This does not exactly make a Yank, or a Californian or whatever."

"Well, I do feel like a Californian and that's what counts, or leastways it ought to be what counts in this case," her cousin insisted. She turned towards me. "So, where are you from, Cathy?"

"Omaha, Nebraska," I cautiously replied.

"Right." Madison smiled. "You don't exactly sound like a Nebraskan, though," she added. "How long have you been in the UK?"

"Less than a year. Our family moved here when my dad got a teaching position at the Math Department at the University of Aberdeen," I went through the familiar spiel of my made-up background story. "Anyhow, I have been working real hard to stop sounding like a bloody foreigner here."

"I bet you did. Well, you did a pretty good job," Madison commented, as she scanned the crowd of people surrounding us. "So where is James? Or did your dad finally hire a new chauffeur, Nancy?"

"Dad hiring somebody to replace James?" Nancy laughed. "That is so not going to happen. Not in a million years."

"Well, if James will manage to live that long," her cousin quipped.

"He will have to," Nancy insisted. "You know my dad. Anything else would be completely unacceptable. Anyway, James is waiting outside, at the car park."

Natty had been studying Madison with obvious fascination. "Is that actually a guitar, in there?" she now asked, pointing to the guitar case affixed to a belt slung over the other girl's shoulders.

"There was one inside last time I checked," Madison confirmed. "Judging from the weight of that thing, it must be still in there."

"So did you learn to play the guitar, Maddie?" Lizzy asked.

"Sure. I taught myself how to play, more or less, with the help of a couple of my friends," Madison told her. "I am not terribly good at it yet, but I can play several songs written by Bob Dylan and by Joan Baez and others, which comes in handy when you are on a rally or sitting around a campfire and stuff."

"Songs of Bob Dylan, truly? You can play them? Oh my god." Natty was beside herself. "Could you teach me to play them?"

Nancy's cousin nodded. "Sure, if we have got the time."

My roommate was grinning like an idiot, at this point. "But did you ever see him like, at a concert? Dylan, I mean?"

"Actually, yes, I did. He gave a concert at Berkeley, just a month ago. At the Greek Theater."

"Wow. Which songs did he sing? Were there any of the new ones, you know, from Highway 61 Revisited?"

Nancy cleared her throat. "Let's start to walk over to the parking lot, shall we? We should not let poor James wait that long."

When we arrived at Kerrington Manor a few hours later, it turned out that Madison remembered the names and faces of quite a few other members of the staff as well – such as the cook, the butler, and at least two of the maids – with the notable exception of Nancy and Lizzy's governess, the formidable Ms Cavernough.

"When I was here a few years ago, I think I met your predecessor ... Ms Lensworth, was it?" she commented when introduced to Ms Cavernough.

"Indeed, you are right, Madison," Nancy's mother confirmed. "Dear old Ms Lensworth. I had almost forgotten about her."

Nancy made a face. "As I recall, she wasn't very endearing when it came down to business, was she now, Lizzy?"

"No, not endearing at all, if you ask me," her sister agreed.

"As I do recall, she was doing her job admirably well, girls. She kept the two of you in line, which by itself was a tough job. Still is, I daresay," Lady Kerrington observed. "Which brings me to an important point. Your dad and I are going to spend three days in London. We shall leave later tonight. As usual, Ms Cavernough will be in charge. I expect you girls to behave and follow Ms Cavernough's orders. Incidentally, this goes for you too, Madison. Your mum explicitly asked me to keep an eye on you." She focused on her daughters and her niece. "Is that understood, girls?"

"Yes, Mum," Nancy agreed, and "Yes, Mum", her sister echoed.

"Of course, Auntie," Madison added, with a smile.

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A / N : Lord and Lady Kerington will visit London for three days, leaving the five girls in the care of the governess. What could possibly go wrong? :-)

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