“You can stay the day, can’t you?” Natalie suddenly interrupts my thoughts. I look up in surprise and she smiles at me. “A long night calls for a lazy afternoon, don’t you think?” She starts clearing the table. “You can’t leave me alone with this hangover. Let’s watch old films.” I don’t have to be invited twice.
“When Rupert’s back we’ll go out for dinner, right?” Natalie suggests when I finally leave in the evening. I nod, trying not to show my anxiety. Tomorrow all her friends will be back, she won’t need me anymore. To hint at an evening out is easily done but to call is another thing. I climb into my car and the further I get away from the river the more unreal these last two days become.
Chapter 10
“Now tell me all about Scotland!” Natalie urges as soon as Rupert and Will enter the flat. Rupert slumps down on the sofa and pulls a face.
“Exhausting! Ruth tried all her tricks to convince Randolph and annoyed us all with her praise of Greg’s outstanding qualities.” Natalie gloats openly.
“Normally Ruth can do no wrong in your eyes, so it had to be pretty ghastly.” Her brother scowls at her.
“Rupert was clearly bothered by the way Ruth made goo-goo eyes at Greg,” Will giggles, shaking his blonde fringe from his eyes. “Yet another rival!” Rupert shoots the boy a dirty look.
“Anyway,” he resumes, “Randolph made short work of Ruth’s plans very early on by telling her that he doesn’t see Greg as a member of this family. He ordered Ruth to take Greg back before even showing him the camera obscura to check if it was his shadow there.”
“She tried to change his mind for hours but you know Randolph, if he makes a decision it sticks,” Will explains.
“What about Cassius? What did he say?” Natalie continues her interrogation.
“Nothing much. Ruth’s plan to make him jealous backfired and that enraged her even more.” Natalie smiles and pushes back her locks.
“Well, I didn’t like Greg from the start but you wouldn’t listen to me.”
“Someone who’s been an Arash for only a few years doesn’t have much experience, do they?” Will grins. “Is there any lunch or do we have to starve?” Natalie sticks out her tongue at him.
“Smoked salmon and a bottle of Pouilly Fumé are in the fridge, help yourself. Just because you were born in 1744 under the comet Klinkenberg-Chéseaux doesn’t give you the right to assume that you’re more intelligent than I am. My comet, Ikeya-Seki, was, after all, the brightest one in the last thousand years,” she huffs.
“That doesn’t mean that you’re equally bright,” Will laughs and Rupert smirks openly. How Will can get away with this mystifies him, Natalie would have killed her brother for this remark. But she just glares at Will and continues.
“While you were wasting your time, I found a new candidate, you know.”
“That was quick work!” Will shakes his head in wonder.
“Well, I don't think it was that fast,” Rupert interjects. ”Natalie’s been watching somebody for quite a long time but she’s been totally secretive about him. Nobody knows who it is.” Grumpily he gets up and heads for the kitchen.
Natalie sighs, now she has to spill the beans. She bites her lip and waits till Rupert returns with a large plate of salmon, the Pouilly Fumé, three glasses and a stick of French bread. The boys look at Natalie expectantly. “It’s a twentyone-year-old girl. Her name is Livia and I’ve been watching her since last September,” she begins. Will arches his brows.
“Why? I mean, what gave you a clue that she could be the one?” Natalie blushes crimson.
“I don’t really know. It was kind of a gravitational pull. First I always ended up where she lives without even knowing I was looking for her. Then one night I saw her. She was standing in front of her house kissing a guy. Since that night I’ve been watching her.” Saying the words out loud makes her realise how flimsy this explanation sounds. Rupert shoots Will a look.
“And that’s all? You just picked out the next best person without knowing anything about her?” Natalie takes a deep breath and stares defiantly at her brother.
“Well, how should one start then? How do you do it? When a shadow appears in the camera obscura Randolph tells us to keep our eyes open for a new family member. You meet someone and think, yes, that could be the one!” Her voice rises. “I’m taking part in the shadow hunt for the first time, remember! Rupert, you found me, tell me, how did you do it?” she challenges her brother. The tall boy shrugs.
“The first step is kind of intuitive, I give you that. Arash candidates do have a certain something, but then you have to ascertain the possibilities immediately by checking their date of birth. If they were not born under a comet, you can forget them, intuition or not. Have you checked with this girl?” Natalie takes her glass and sips the cold wine Will has poured.
“Not really,” she murmurs uncomfortably. “I mean, I know when she was born but I don’t know about the comet.” Will takes a bite of his salmon sandwich and suppresses a smile. Natalie is so sweet and scatty. “But you know,” Natalie continues breathlessly, “when I found her it was just as if I’d discovered a part of myself that’s been missing all the time.”
“Are you in love with her or something?” Rupert rolls his eyes, but Will leans forward.
“When is her birthday then?” Natalie smiles at him gratefully. At least he’s willing to give her a chance.
“On 19th February 1988,” she whispers, holding her breath. Will is a walking library with a photographic memory and the next seconds will decide Livia’s fate. No, wrong, not her fate, just the possibility of her fate, but whatever.
The seconds tick by. Slowly Will shakes his head. “None of the important comets came by on that date.” Natalie’s heart rate increases. Surely he can’t be right! Does she have to push Livia back into the loneliness she sensed around her right from the start? No way! Rupert looks at his sister, his face full of pity. Then Will gasps.
“Wait, this small one, the 110P/Hartley 3, was there on February 19th 1988!” Rupert wrinkles his brow, never having heard of this comet.
“Is that really a comet?” he asks doubtfully. “You haven’t just invented it for Natalie’s sake? You know that won’t work!” Natalie bites her lip as she waits for Will’s next words and her face floods with relief when he replies.
“Certainly not! What are you thinking of me! Hartley 3 was a small, unimportant comet, true, but it was there. The first requirement is fulfilled.” Natalie feels faint with relief.
“See, I was right all along,” she cheers.
“But that still doesn’t necessarily mean she’s meant for our family. Look at Greg!” Rupert objects and drains his glass.
“Can’t you give her a chance? Stop being so negative!” his sister hisses. “You don’t even know her yet. What’s more,” she adds mysteriously, “she has something else going for her, something that not even you can ignore.” Now she finally has their attention and Natalie smiles. Idly she smoothes the creases in her Marni dress. “Livia owns the ring, Randolph’s ring. I only know about it from what you told me but it has to be his because it’s so unique and I’ve seen her wearing it.” The room falls completely silent. Rupert looks stunned.
“You mean the ring that’s been lost for the last twenty years?” Will wants to make absolutely sure. Natalie nods.
“Yes, Livia must have found it somehow.”
“Unbelievable!” Will laughs delightedly but Rupert narrows his eyes and Natalie knows at once that he doesn’t believe her.
“Don’t look so doubtful, it’s true. I’ve seen it myself.” she tries to convince her brother. Rupert gets up and towers over Natalie so that she has to look up at him.