Du rose prophecy, p.16
Du Rose Prophecy, page 16
Bodie wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and Hana caught a flash of the little boy she had adored, hidden away in there somewhere still. It gave her hope. Before Vik’s death they were close but her late husband’s affair with a colleague wrecked that as the teenage Bodie struggled to keep his father’s awful secret. “This might shock you then,” Bodie said with far too little warning, licking butter from his thumb. “Alan Dobbs is dead.”
It was a stupid thing to say to a woman fresh out of major heart surgery. Hana’s cup dropped from her hand and smashed on the wooden floor, the tea spilling through the grooves between the floorboards into the storeroom below. Leslie appeared immediately, hunting the killer of her best china but distracted by the colour of Hana’s white face. “Radio Mr Logan!” she called back over her shoulder as she rushed towards the stricken woman.
“What?” A kitchen worker poked her head into the room and retreated quickly.
“No!” Hana struggled for control before they completely over-reacted and called the air ambulance again. She took deep breaths and clutched at the thing in her chest, anticipating the promised electrical impulse. Her whole body tensed in fear, her face a mask of dread. Nothing happened. Bodie was on his feet, his eyes betraying a mixture of guilt and terror.
“What did you do?” Leslie growled at him. Her bristling body said she wanted to tell him to get out, but daren’t. Instead she turned her back on him.
“I’m fine - I am really,” Hana said, pushing Leslie’s hands off her chest. She feared the old woman was about to lay her on the ground and perform CPR and desperately didn’t want that. Hana wondered fleetingly if the person performing resuscitation also had to take their teeth out. It made for an incongruous scene of muddled teeth and body parts and she almost laughed.
“It didn’t go off!” Hana exclaimed, drawing in a noisy breath and alarming everyone even more. “I was sure it was going to – my heart was doing the Mambo, but it didn’t go off.” She thought for a moment about the pacemaker in her chest wall and then her face dropped as hysteria pitched her into misery. “Oh no, what if it’s a broken one?”
Leslie leaned forward and took Hana’s face in her strong brown hands. Hana could smell the coleslaw she made earlier. “It didn’t go off, cos it didn’t need to,” she said lovingly and Hana exhaled a long, slow breath.
“You really think so? Mine’s not a broken one?”
“Na, kōtiro, never. You sit here and I’ll get more tea.”
“Don’t get Logan,” Hana called, her voice sounding strangled as Leslie bustled out of the room, her bottom wobbling under her uniform.
“Too late,” came her muffled response.
Now the soap opera was over, Phoenix began to grizzle in her chair. Bodie tried to get her out but couldn’t work out the straps. Leslie plonked the teapot on the table and added a fresh cup for Hana, before retrieving the baby and carrying her off. She shot a look of irritation over her shoulder at Bodie as she talked to the baby. “Let’s get your face and hands wiped in Leslie’s kitchen,” she told her.
Bodie looked miserable, his shoulders drooping as he remained standing. “I might as well be on my feet when Logan takes a swing at me,” he muttered. He half hoped he would. He deserved it.
“Please can you pour me some tea?” Hana asked and the Bodie obliged, rushing in case Logan flew in the door and took him by surprise. Best not to be playing ‘mother’ when the Māori decked him. Hana shakily added a couple of sugars, spilling most of it on the table and sighing in exasperation at herself.
“Here she is! All clean!” Leslie brought a squirming Phoenix back in. Hana held her arms out and sat the little girl on her knee. The child made sucking sounds and rubbed her eyes and Hana pushed her shirt up and unclipped her bra. Latching on, the soft baby eyelids closed and the fidgeting ceased. Until her father burst in the door.
Logan pushed the fire door so hard the automatic closer groaned against the explosive force it was made to resist. A horrid clunk issued from inside the mechanism. “What the hell happened?” Logan asked, his voice surprisingly soft as he knelt by his wife. He looked ashen, subdued memories surfacing with awful clarity.
“Where’s Jas?” Bodie’s tone was sharp. He tensed as he saw the quad bike draw up in front of the hotel spitting gravel behind it and waited for his stepfather to unleash his fury. Logan ignored him. The Māori kissed Hana on her temple and acknowledged the curious grey eyes peeking from underneath her shirt. Little legs kicked momentarily as Phoenix was at first startled by the noise and then reassured by the presence of her capable father. “Where’s my son?” Bodie asked again, concerned Logan might have abandoned him in the middle of the bush.
“With Tama!” Logan said through gritted teeth and Hana admired the control in her husband’s voice, clearly the product of maturity.
“I’m fine,” Hana whispered, enjoying the sense of strength which came with her husband. “It was a bit of a shock that’s all.”
Logan looked hard at his stepson. “What was?”
Bodie took a deep breath and swallowed. “She had two shocks actually. She was so cool about Amy being pregnant, I thought she’d be fine about Alan Dobbs’ death.”
Logan’s jaw dropped and he stood up, his face showing all the incredulity he felt. “Alan’s what?”
“Erm...dead.” Bodie shifted on the spot and bit his lip. “It happened at the start of the school holidays. I did try to phone and let you know.”
Logan shook his head. “This is stupid! He can’t be dead. What are you talking about?” He turned his anger on Bodie and the young man dropped into his police officer role, recognising a familiar reaction to bad news.
“I’m sorry, but it’s true,” he replied, keeping his voice low and soft.
Alan Dobbs was the deputy principal at the school Logan worked at. He was Hana’s boss for a decade and a half before she left to have Phoenix and she spent most of the time avoiding his booming voice and quick temper. But Logan got on well with him, forming an easy relationship and defending him against criticism. Alan Dobbs was kind to the English teacher when Logan started at the Waikato Presbyterian School for Boys the previous year. “I should call his wife,” Logan said, running his hand over his face. “She must be devastated.”
“What happened?” Logan asked and sat down on the seat next to Hana with a bump. He reached for her hand and she noticed his fingers shook slightly.
Deciding he was probably safe for the moment, Bodie sat down again, leaving a safe distance between himself and Logan. He reached over and poured himself a cup of tea, but then pushed it across to his stepfather, trying to show compassion for a change. Logan accepted it and drank it black. “It was during the first week of the holidays,” Bodie said. “His wife said the alarm company called him in to deal with an alarm sounding in the main building. When he didn’t return home she drove down to look for him and found the school locked up but his car still there. She drove to Angus’ house and he went back with her and unlocked the school. They found his body at the bottom of the main flight of stairs behind the reception. The medical examiner said his injuries were consistent with a fall...but they’re not so sure now.”
“What are you saying?” Logan asked and Bodie started to look shifty. Logan’s eyes flashed with danger and he shifted in his seat. “What do you mean?”
“I can’t tell you too much at the moment; I’m not allowed. But we’re looking into it possibly not being an accident.”
“Murder?” Logan said with feeling and ran his hand over his face. “No! Poor Alan.”
Bodie started to relax a little more. Logan’s shock seemed to have overshadowed his concern for Hana, now he could see she was ok. Unfortunately, for a policeman his instincts were certainly letting him down.
“So was that all you came for?” Logan snapped. “Act like the angel of death and spread a little unhappiness in your wake, or was there a particular reason?”
Bodie got to his feet quickly. “I should probably go.”
Hana held her hand up, irritated. “No!” she cried. “I’ve had enough of this. We’re going to sort this out once and for all. I can’t take any more. I love you both but you can’t even be in the same room as each other!”
The room went silent as the two stubborn men refused to speak. Hana slapped the table with the flat of her palm and the sleeping baby jumped. “I feel like I’m qualified to join the United Nations as a peacekeeper; I’m always refereeing between you two and I’m fed up of it.” She glared at Bodie, beginning with him. “I know it’s been hard for you, accepting someone else in Dad’s place, but Logan’s a good husband and I love him. He’s been kind and generous to you and Jas. Why can’t you accept him, for my sake?”
Bodie sat down and leaned back against his chair. He looked uncomfortable, physically and emotionally. “I don’t know,” he said, his voice laced with a sullen quality. “It’s just that Logan’s involved with people like the Triads, I guess. It made me look bad when he rang me after Boris was attacked. They took my phone and had it analysed like I was a criminal. I thought I was going to be fired!”
“I said sorry for that!” Logan complained. “And it was me who got locked up in the bloody cells on a jumped up charge, not you. I thought we’d reached an understanding and then...” Logan glanced sideways at the little girl who dozed on her back across Hana’s thighs. “It’s because of Phoenix, isn’t it?” he asked, realisation crossing his face.
Bodie squirmed and looked set to deny it, but with both sets of eyes on him, one green and one grey, he knew he couldn’t lie his way out. “No, it’s not her fault. She’s just a baby. But you’re a family unit and I’m on the outside. Mum doesn’t need me anymore. I feel like I keep losing ground everywhere – Dad, Mum, Father Sinbad. Now if I’m not careful, I’ll lose Amy too. She wants to rip my head off all the time. It’s not like I got her pregnant all by myself; she did have a part to play in it.”
“You put yourself on the outside,” Hana protested without guile. “We want to include you but you act up all the time. Calling Logan ‘the spare’ was just plain mean. It made me angry. He’s helped you out financially and I’ve lost count of the times you’ve happily dropped babysitting Jas on him in the last couple of months when it suited you. You’re behaving like a brat, Bo and I’m done with it. We’re not a resource for you, I’m your mother and you seem to have forgotten that small fact.”
“I’m sorry.” Bodie looked contrite, a man clinging to a sinking raft. “I wanted things to stay the same, but they didn’t. I know it’s not your fault.”
“You mean you wanted me to stay alone,” Hana said softly. “That’s not fair.”
Bodie kept his eyes facing the table and Hana shook her head, knowing she was wasting her time. Logan squeezed her fingers and warned her to stop and she bowed to his wisdom as he changed the subject.
“So Jas is getting his wish then?” Logan asked and Bodie looked confused. Logan smirked. “He told me a few months ago he wanted you two to hurry up and get married. He wants a little brother so he can start forming his own squadron.” Logan tried to keep a straight face at the thought of Jas commanding a group of marauding toddlers and trying to get them to do drill. “He’s promoted Izzie’s babies to second lieutenants recently, so there’s a vacancy.”
Bodie rested his arms on the table with a bump, looking miserable. “What if it’s a girl?” he asked, as though any prospective daughter might be slighted in his son’s pretend army.
“I don’t think he’s sexist,” Logan replied, openly grinning. “Elizabeth’s a two star general and Phoenix is already a sergeant, so I think he’ll be an equal opportunities employer.”
The point was wasted on his stepson. “Isn’t a two-star general from the American Army?”
“I think she’s been seconded over,” Logan replied, no longer able to remain serious. He eyed his stepson, his grey eyes crinkling in mirth. Bodie relaxed and leaned back in his chair.
“Sorry for slagging you off,” he said to Logan and the older man nodded, accepting the apology and aware it was all he was likely to get. “Does this mean you’re not going to punch me out?” Bodie ventured a smile.
“No,” Logan answered, his face serious. “You still upset my wife.”
“When’s Alan’s funeral?” Hana asked, slapping Logan’s thigh under the table. There was a prolonged awkward silence and Bodie shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
“Erm...sorry, it was last Friday. I texted and rang you, but you didn’t pick up...obviously because of Mum being so sick.”
Hana exhaled sadly and covered her face with her hand. “Oh, Logan I’m so sorry. It’s just something else my stupid heart attack robbed you of - a chance to wish your friend goodbye.” Her head sank lower until her forehead almost touched the table.
“Me aha koa,” Logan whispered and kissed her temple. No matter.
In Hana’s opinion, nobody did death as well as Māori. To be denied the opportunity to pay his respects was a big thing for Logan. On a professional level, there was no doubt Alan Dobbs was irreplaceable. He was Angus’ right-hand man in no uncertain terms.
Hana’s legs went to sleep under the weight of the baby. She shifted in her chair, relieved some sort of equilibrium had been achieved between the men but desperate to get out of her seat. “Do you think we could put Phoe in the pram for half an hour?” she asked Logan quietly and he nodded and leaned across to peel his daughter off his wife’s legs.
He got her over his shoulder and was about to stand up when the door burst open again and Jas and Tama appeared. Tama looked concerned and Jas elated. Tama went straight to Hana and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, burying his face in her neck. “I was so scared, Ma. What happened? Are you ok?” His grey eyes looked red rimmed and Hana stroked his head.
“I’m fine, idiot!” Hana kissed Tama’s soft dark hair, seeing Bodie’s body stiffen with jealousy.
“I’ve been promoted to commander in chief by that soldier!” Jas shouted into Bodie’s face and clambered up onto his knee. “Dad, Dad, David’s a real soldier with medals and stuff. I saw them in his rucksack. He’s got a big metal cross on a ribbon and real, live dog-tags.” The little boy said ‘dog-tags’ in a whisper as though talking about the Holy Grail. Bodie smiled, until Jas started on the inevitable track. “Can I have dog-tags? Can we get some for me? Please can we?”
A sensation of exhaustion washed over Hana’s head and spread down her body, robbing her of the last dregs of energy. The thought of her bed upstairs on the first floor was a definite draw card. She settled for the red sofa in the family room instead, with Phoenix dozing in her pram by the French doors and Jas next to her with his school reading book. The three men hung around for a while and then went for a wander outside, Logan in struggling with being confined indoors.
Jas read in a halting monotone, pushing his finger across the lovely pages about an elephant family, whose mother couldn’t seem to get even five minutes peace without a child disturbing her. He looked up at his grandmother and tapped his temple in a deliberate movement. “Guess what?” he said, frowning at Hana’s shake of the head. “I bet you know,” he informed her boldly, “Mum doesn’t think I do but I heard her and Daddy shouting. She’s got a soldier in her tummy. It’s my new sergeant major called Freddie.”
Chapter Twelve
“Eat up, son. We’ll go home after dinner,” Bodie told Jas as the child faced a sumptuous dinner in the guest dining room. Jas felt like a prince with his grown up chair and his china cup and saucer. Bodie engaged Logan in a conversation about the beef herd which roamed the mountain, feigning interest as his stepfather talked statistics, a twinkle in his grey eyes as he made it deliberately boring.
“Everything ok, Jas?” Hana asked her grandson quietly, noticing the sad set of his lips.
“I miss my kindergarten dreadfully,” he replied and her brow creased at the sorrow in his voice.”
“Eat your dinner, Jas,” Bodie interrupted, drawing breath before attempting to reroute Logan onto politics. Jas sighed and tucked into his food.
“I hate school. Everyone at kindy loved my stories about Poppa Logan and all the wonderful things my family got up to. At big school, nobody cares.”
“I suppose it’s a different environment so you can’t expect it to be the same,” Hana soothed. She glanced sideways at her son, his voice jovial but raised as he provoked Logan with a political viewpoint which penalised entrepreneurialism and farmers. She sighed, hoping it didn’t end badly.
“Every Monday they do ‘show and tell’ on the carpet,” Jas whispered. “But I haven’t been picked for weeks now, not since I listed all Daddy’s favourite swear words in alphabetical order. He said all of them when he was trying to fix the shower.” Hana bit her lip and swallowed.
“You listed all of them?”
Jas smiled with pride in his eyes. “Yep. I thought Mrs Whatsit would be impressed with me, being able to sort out all my letters and phonics so well. But she told me off and now won’t pick me. And nobody wants to know about my special army members either.” He pouted, mirroring his father’s sulky gene. Hana popped a carrot in her mouth, playing a game which stopped Logan worrying about her but avoided indigestion at the same time. Jas watched her chew and continued with his whispered rant. “When the babies are all bigger and can do a proper karate chop, the doubters will be sorry! I just need to stop Elizabeth smiling such a lot. She has to have a mean face to be a war hero. She’s way too smiley!” Jas sighed as he thought about school – it gave him a pain in his tummy and Hana watched in concern as he rubbed at a spot near his belly button.
“Tell me about your teacher,” she whispered across the table and saw her grandson’s pupils dilate. His lips turned downwards. “She hates me,” he said in a small voice. “Mummy collected me in the police car to do showings off but it didn’t work. She put the sirens on because my girlfriends used to squeal and giggle but now the girls won’t talk to me because it woke Jacinder’s baby sister up in the pram. So Mrs Whatsit complained to the principal and now Mummy has to leave the police car outside the gates.”
