The Lost Sapphire Read Free Page A

Didi this morning, and he’s mad keen for us to get there.’

2
The Abandoned House
    It was a short drive from Dad’s apartment, across the Yarra River to Didi’s retirement unit in Hawthorn. After the bustling chaos of Richmond, it seemed serene and quiet in the back streets.
    Dad knocked on the door and then used his key to enter the apartment. Marli followed him into the room. Her grandfather was sitting in a wing-backed chair by the window, reading a letter.
    â€˜Hello, Dad,’ said her father. ‘Look who I’ve brought to see you. It’s our gorgeous Marli-myshka.’
    As Didi struggled to his feet, Marli was surprised at how much frailer he looked from when she last saw him.
    Didi’s eyes misted up as he hugged her. ‘Let me look at you, Marli.’
    â€˜Hello, Didi,’ Marli replied. ‘It’s great to see you.’
    â€˜What a beautiful young lady you’ve become.’
    â€˜Hasn’t she just?’ Dad said proudly. ‘And very clever, too. Your mother sent me a copy of your latest report, myshka. It’s great to see you’re doing so well.’
    Marli laughed despite herself. ‘Actually, Dad, I think most of my teachers said, “Marli is dreamy in class and could do better if she focused.”’
    Dad grinned. ‘Just what my reports always said. The sign of a highly creative mind.’
    Didi gazed at Marli as though memorising her features. ‘Well, she would be creative. It’s in her genes. You know, Marli, you have a very strong resemblance to my mother, Violet Hamilton Peterson. The same red-gold hair – although her eyes were green, not brown. I have a photo of her around here somewhere. She was exceptionally creative, like you and your father.’
    Marli vaguely remembered her grandfather mentioning this when she was younger.
    â€˜I thought we’d go out to a café, Didi,’ suggested Dad.
    Didi assumed an air of great mystery. ‘First, I have a surprise to tell you about.’
    â€˜What is it?’ asked Marli.
    â€˜I’ve received a rather interesting letter,’ he confided. ‘Perhaps you could fetch it for me, please, Marli. It’s there on my desk in the buff envelope.’
    Marli found the envelope and brought it over. Didi extracted the letter with a flourish, and the three of them sat at the round dining table.
    â€˜It’s from Macdonald, Mackenzie and Blakeney – a firm of lawyers,’ Didi began.
    â€˜What do they want?’ asked Dad.
    Didi paused, reading the letter, then grinned broadly. ‘It seems we have just inherited an abandoned house,’ he announced theatrically. ‘A grand old mansion, in fact.’
    Marli leaned forward – an abandoned mansion sounded very intriguing.
    Dad raised his eyebrows in surprise. ‘Whoever would have left you a house ?’
    â€˜Ms Blakeney has been a little sketchy, but it’s the house where my mother, Violet, grew up, right here in Hawthorn on the banks of the Yarra,’ explained Didi. ‘It was called Riversleigh.’
    The name sent a little shiver up Marli’s spine. Riversleigh . Didi handed the letter to Dad, who quickly scanned it.
    â€˜Mmm. Nanna came from quite a wealthy family, if I remember correctly,’ Dad said. ‘Didn’t she have some kind of tragic childhood?’
    â€˜She did, but Mum wouldn’t talk about it very much,’ replied Didi. ‘There was some kind of falling out with her father. Albert didn’t approve of her marriage to my father, and she was effectively disinherited.’
    Dad stroked Marli’s cheek. ‘It’s hard to believe that a parent would disown his daughter.’
    â€˜My grandfather was very traditional, like many of his generation.’ Didi shook his head. ‘He truly believed that duty to king, country and family came before personal happiness. My mother was expected to make a brilliant society