Hester's Story Read Free Page B

hard for her, Hester realised, to say anything without mentioning the longest night, 21 December, which was the anniversary that neither of them ever referred to. They managed very well for the most part and the past remained the past, but the dreams were something over which Hester had no control.
    For night after night, her sleep would be untroubled, but then, prompted by who knew what, the nightmares would come back; the ones from which she woke with tears still wet on her face. Could you cry in your sleep? Evidently you could. Whatever effort you made to put a terrible experience behind you, however hard you sealed it off in a compartment labelled do not talk about, ever; do not acknowledge existence of ever , what you were trying to forget was still there. She had arranged to hold the Festival at this time of year precisely so that she could have all her wakingthoughts taken up with that, and now here came the news of Adam’s death to throw her plans into confusion. He had been in New York. Hester had no proof of course, but she was quite sure that he spent every year from November till January in the States precisely so as to be somewhere far away when the anniversary occurred, and thus less likely to think of her.
    Hester shook her head. ‘Let’s not dwell on it, Ruby. There’s work to be done. It’s going to be a good season, I think. We’ve got a wonderful company coming.’
    She stood up and reached for a list which had been half-hidden behind Siggy’s curved back and read aloud to Ruby. ‘Carradine Ballet Company: Hugo Carradine, Claudia Drake, Silver McConnell, Andy French, Nick Neary, Ilene Evans, and Alison Drake (Ms Drake’s daughter).’
    When she’d read the names out, Hester smiled at Ruby, doing her best to appear normal, wanting more than anything for things to go back to where they were. She had no desire to mention her feelings. If I talk about the Festival, she thought, then Ruby will humour me. She’ll know I don’t want to talk about Adam. She took a deep breath.
    ‘It’s going to be interesting,’ she said, ‘to see how Claudia Drake will react to being in the same company as Silver McConnell. Claudia’s very temperamental, they say, and she’s forever in the newspapers. The photographers adore her. But Silver is by all accounts the new sensation. She’s just done Odette/Odile – the best for years, the critics said. They compared her to me. My Swan Lake in 1959. Do you remember that?’
    ‘Of course,’ said Ruby. ‘How could I forget the most famous Swan Lake of the last fifty years?’
    ‘You’re biased, Ruby! But thank you. In any case,Hugo Carradine was lucky to get Silver McConnell. As I told Jemima Whatsit, it’s probably only because we have such a short run that she was able to accept the part. We’ve got a very starry lot all round this time. Nick Neary’s the one who made such a sensation in La Bayadère last year, do you remember?’
    ‘The beautiful creature? Yes, I remember him. Too pretty for his own good. He’ll be conceited, I shouldn’t wonder. They don’t have to work so hard if they’re handsome.’
    ‘He’s a good dancer, though. Very energetic, and technically excellent too.’
    ‘It’s going to be a tremendous success, this year, I’m sure. There’s quite a lot to get ready in Wardrobe before their costumes arrive. I’d better go and make a start on it, if you’re sure you’re all right.’
    ‘You go on, Ruby. I’m perfectly all right. I’ll stay here for a while.’
    Ruby was at her happiest when she was up in Wardrobe. She’d always had what Hester thought of as magic hands. She could take a piece of fabric and turn it, at will it seemed, into almost anything. She could mend a tear completely invisibly. Stains disappeared from garments as though they’d never existed, and her iron nosed its way into ruffles, flounces, and the most difficult of shirts and left nothing but perfection in its wake. Now she organised the wardrobe for