‘We should have started weeks ago,’ Julia said, as she lolled in the doorway, looking around with undisguised distaste.
‘Well, I didn’t, so we’re gonna have to work like the clappers,’ Ester snapped again, then looked up to the chandelier, trying the light switch. Two of the eighteen bulbs flickered on.
‘Bravo, the electricity’s on as well,’ laughed Julia.
Ester glared around the room. ‘We’ll clean this room, the dining room and a few bedrooms. Then that’s it, we won’t need to do any more.’
‘Really,’ Julia smiled.
Ester pushed past her, wiping her dusty hands, and Julia followed her back into the hall, watching as she banged open shutters. One almost fell on top of her and she kicked out at it.
The dining room was in the same condition but with empty bottles and glasses smashed on the floor and littered on the table. Ester was flicking on lights, dragging back curtains, cursing all the time. But she seemed to deflate when she saw the wrecked kitchen, broken crockery and more smashed bottles. ‘Shit! I’d forgotten how bad it was.’
‘I hadn’t. I told you this was a crazy idea from the start.’
Ester crossed to the back door. She unlocked it, pushing it open to get the stench of old wine and rotten food out of the kitchen.
‘Must have been some party,’ Julia mused.
‘It was,’ Ester said, as she looked at the big black rubbish bags bursting at the seams.
‘Surprised the rats haven’t been in here.’
‘They have,’ Ester said, as she looked at the droppings.
Julia pulled a disgusted face. Ester became even more irate, pushing past her into the hallway.
‘Don’t just bloody stand there, help me.’ Ester stood in the darkened, musty-smelling hall — even the oak panels had lost all lustre from the damp that crept from every corner. She hadn’t realized just how bad the place was. When she and Julia had visited a few weeks earlier, there had been no electricity and they had arrived at dusk. Ester sighed: it had been some party, all right. There used to be one every night but she had not been able to see the last one through to the end. She had been arrested along with her girls. She reckoned most of the damage had been done by the few who were left behind or who had even returned when they knew she had been sentenced, come back to grab whatever they could. A lot of the rooms looked as if they been stripped of anything of value.
She had not bothered to come to see the damage before; she knew the bank held the deeds as collateral for her debts. She had dismissed the place from her mind until she got the news that Dolly Rawlins was going to be released. Then she had begun thinking — and thinking fast: just how could she use the old Grange Manor House to her benefit? Now she began to doubt she could ever get it ready in time.
Julia strolled to the back door and looked out into the stable-yard. The old doors were hanging off their hinges and even more rubbish and rubble were piled up.
Ester began banging open one bedroom door after another. Every room stank of mildew, and some of the beds were still as when the occupants had rolled out of them. In a few rooms clothes and dirty underwear lay discarded on the floor.
Julia walked up the old wide staircase, where there was more peeling wallpaper; her hands were black from the dust when she had rested them on the rail. On the previous visit they’d used candles to have a quick look over the place. Now, in daylight, it was even worse than Julia remembered.
Ester appeared at the top of the stairs. ‘Go and get the cases.’
‘You’re not serious, are you, Ester? We’ll never get it ready in time. This is madness.’
‘No, it isn’t. I’ve already laid out cash for a bloody Roller and a chauffeur so we’ll just get down to it, and the others will be here to give us a hand. There’s caterers, florists... I’m not losing cash I’ve laid out, so we just get started.’
Julia sat on the stairs and began to roll a cigarette. ‘So, you gonna tell me who you’ve invited for this celebration?’
Ester looked down at her. Sometimes she wanted to slap her — she could be so laid-back.
‘You don’t know them all. There’s Connie Stevens, Kathleen O’Reilly, and I’ve asked that little black girl, Angela, to act as a maid.’
Julia laughed. ‘She’s gonna be wearing a pinny and hat, is she?’
Ester pursed her lips. ‘Don’t start with the sarcasm. We need them, and they all knew Dolly.’
Julia looked up at her. ‘They all inside with her like us?’
‘Not Angela, but the others. And I don’t want you to start yelling but Gloria Radford’s coming.’
Julia stood up. ‘You joking?’
‘No, I’m not.’
‘Well, count me out. I can’t stand that demented cow. I spent two years in a cell with her and I’m not going to spend time outside with her. What the hell did you rope her into it for?
‘Because we might need her, and she knows Dolly.’
Julia began to walk down the stairs in a fury. ‘She reads aloud from the newspapers, she drove me crazy, I nearly killed her. I’m out of here.’
‘Fine, you go. I don’t give a shit if you do, but it’s a long walk to the station.’
Julia looked up. ‘Gloria Radford on board and this is a fiasco before we even start. She’s cheap, she’s coarse, she’s got the mental age of a ten-year-old.’
‘So, are you so special, Doctor? We needed as many of us as I could get, Julia, and I needed ones that were as desperate as us. Now, are you staying or are you going?’
Julia lit her roll-up and shrugged. ‘I’m leaving.’
Ester moved down the stairs. ‘Fine, you fuck off, then, and don’t think you’ll get a cut of anything I get. You walk out now, I’ll never see you again. I mean it, we’re through.’
Julia hesitated, looked back to Ester, standing at the top of the stairs. Her wonderful face, her dark eyes, now blazing with anger, made her heart jump. She knew she’d be staying. She couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing or touching Ester. She was in love with her.
‘I’ll get the cases but don’t ask me to be nice to that midget.’
Ester smiled, and headed back to the bedroom. The only person you’ve got to be nice to is Dolly Rawlins.’
Julia got to the front door. ‘What if she doesn’t come, Ester? Ester?’
Ester reappeared, leaning on the banister rail. ‘Oh, she’ll come, Julia, I know it. She’ll be here. She’s got nobody else.’
Julia gave a small nod and walked out to the car. She began to collect all the cases and boxes, then paused a moment as she looked over the grounds. There was a sweet peacefulness to the place. She was suddenly reminded of her childhood, of the garden at her old family home. She had been given her own pony and suddenly she remembered cantering across the fields. She had been happy then... it seemed a lifetime ago.
The bedroom Ester chose for Dolly was spacious, with a double bed and white dressing table. Even though the carpet was stained, the curtains didn’t look too bad, and with a good polish and hoover, a few bowls of flowers, it would be good enough. After all, she had spent the last eight years in a cell. This would be like a palace in comparison.
Julia appeared at the door. ‘You know, we could call the local job centre if they’ve got one here, get a bunch of kids to start helping us. What do you think?’
Ester was dragging off the dirty bed linen. ‘Go and call them. We’ll have to pay them, though. How are you off for cash?’