I could not shake the feeling I had of seeing Maud with Conroy. I never knew I had a jealous bone in my body, but here I am fighting a strong urge to go and snatch Conroy away from Maud and bring him back to stay with me! I sighed deeply, I really have been learning so much about myself these past weeks and it all started with Charmaine’s diaries. Speaking of which, I needed to go and catch up on my reading. I made myself comfortable on the bed and opened the diary. The last time
I read that Florence had put Charmaine’s Grandfather and father to work together. They both had to plan and put together Charmaine’s birthday party, working as a team! I chuckled at the notion of those two men working together, knowing that they hated and despised each other. Funnily enough, excepting for the first couple of days, Charmaine said that her father and Grandfather managed to put aside their differences for her sake and it was a joy to see them discussing what they both thought her party should be about. There was a time when Charmaine thought they would come to blows due to the disrespectful manner in which her Grandfather spoke to her father. Thanks to Florence’s swift intervention, however, this was averted. Stanley Wharbucks told Charles that he still believed that he was a liar and nothing he said would ever change his beliefs about him. He also called him a bumbling idiot and a nincompoop! Charles ignored all this until Stanley Wharbucks accused him of coming there to steal Charmaine's inheritance! Charles was livid and was rolling up his shirtsleeves, obviously to start a fight, when Florence stepped between them. She told them she was very serious about what she had warned earlier. If they continued to go at each other they would both be banned from Charmaine’s party and she did not care who started the quarrel! That’s when they settled down and started working together as they realised that Florence was not joking! Two days before the party Charmaine went to fit the dress that Florence had sewn for her. Charmaine said when she put on the dress she saw Florence wiping away tears from the corners of her eyes. When she asked her why the tears, Florence, sniffling, said that it was because Charmaine looked so much like her mother Charlotte when she was at that age. Florence made the necessary adjustments to the dress and Charmaine left the quarters and decided to go for a walk. She was walking in the direction of the bullpen when she heard a huge commotion coming from there so she began to run towards the sound. When she reached the bullpen she realised that it was the raucous laughter of the farmhands that she had heard. In between their laughter they were chanting, “Run Charles run! Beardedman a come! Run Charles run! Beardedman a come!” Charmaine said she saw her father being chased by the most ferocious bull on the estate! This bull was not to be played with and had gored many who thought they could conquer it! Brought back with him from one of his many trips to Scotland the bull Beardedman, so called because its body was covered with hair, was one of Stanley Wharbucks’ prized possessions. The farmhands found it funny that Charles was doing everything in his power to get away from Beardedman, even to be zigzagging across the bullpen with the bull chasing after him! To her consternation her Grandfather was also participating in the fun! He was practically doubled over with laughter! When he saw Charmaine he stopped laughing immediately, straightened up and gave instructions for someone to lasso the bull and return it to its stall. Charmaine said she was just about to give her Grandfather a piece of her mind when she noticed that her father was laughing too. Puzzled, she asked them what was going on? Charles, panting and obviously out of breath, said that Stanley Wharbucks had issued him a challenge that if he could outrun Beardedman then he could have the first dance with her on her birthday. “But what if you did not outrun him?” Charmaine asked. “Then I would have the first dance!” quipped Stanley Wharbucks to the laughter of his workers. Charmaine said she got so angry that she stormed off saying that there would be no dancing at her party!
I laughed till I cried. I could just imagine Charles running for his life and at the same time loving him for accepting the challenge because he wanted to be the first one to dance with his daughter at her birthday party. Charmaine said she heard that after she left both men shook hands as Stanley Wharbucks congratulated Charles for winning the challenge. From that day forth the men became the best of friends as they realised that there was nothing the other would not do to prove their love for Charmaine. I forced myself to finish the chapter, after all, tomorrow was Saturday. It was now the day of the party! Because Charmaine was never in favour of a birthday party she did not write much details about it. All she said was that Stanley Wharbucks and her father planned a great party. Most of the attendees were Stanley Wharbuck’s friends and the workers on the estate. Charmaine did not invite anyone from her school and was surprised by the ones who showed up. Knowing that it was her Grandfather who had invited them on her behalf she thanked them for coming. When it was time for the first dance Charmaine would not budge from her seat, because she had not forgiven her father and Grandfather for almost making her have a heart attack because of their stupid challenge! Florence begged her not to disappoint the men by being just as stubborn as them so she reluctantly got up from her chair and went to dance with her father. Halfway through the song Charles called Stanley Wharbucks and told him to finish dancing to the song with her. Stanley Wharbucks was so happy! His face beaming with delight he thanked Charles profusely and everyone burst into wild applause. Charmaine ended her diary by saying that it was truly a blessing to feel special and loved. Amen to that, I said as I closed the diary. I wondered about the contents of the other diaries that Reverend Julian had brought me earlier, I was tempted to get them and start reading but I contained myself plus I had Conroy for the weekend and the diaries would be such a distraction! I yawned, I was really sleepy so I turned off the light, said my prayers and went to sleep mouthing the words, "tomorrow,
No comments:
Post a Comment