Aunt Geta stood out a bit by being tall and fair, with an impeccable neatness about her, like a picture painted very strictly inside the lines. Grandma would approve of Aunt Geta, Hayley thought. But Aunt Celia was a blurred sort of person. Aunt Alice, who didnt seem to have any children, was like a film star, almost unreal she was so perfect. And the tall, calm Troy turned out to be the son of another aunt who had stayed at home in Scotland. Most confusingly of all, the slender brown lady, whose little pearl earrings echoed the curves of her long cheeks and the shine of her big dark eyes, turned out not to be an aunt at all, but Troys elder sister, Harmony. Since Harmony had been bustling about just like the aunts, setting the table and telling Tollie and the Tighs and Laxtons to behave themselves, Hayley supposed it was a natural mistake. But it made her feel stupid all the same.
Suppers ready, Aunt May announced, tucking her flying grey hair back into its uncoiling loose bun. You sit here, Hayley, my dear.
Everyone dived for the great table. Chairs squawked on the stone floor and the noise was louder than ever. Harmony and Aunt Alice raced to the kitchen and came back with bowls and casseroles and dishes,
while Aunt May bustled behind them with an enormous brown turkey on a huge plate. Aunt Mays hair came uncoiled completely as she put the bird down and she had to stand back from the table and pin it up again. Meanwhile Cousin Mercer came back from wherever he had disappeared to and set to work to carve the turkey.
Aunt May was the untidiest person she had ever seen, Hayley thought, sliding nervously into the chair Aunt May had said was hers. Aunt Mays clothes were flapping, fraying, overlapping layers of homespun wool, decorated in front by at least three necklaces and a lot of gravy stains. Her feet were in worn out fur slippers, and as for her hair! Remembering that Cousin Mercer had told her Aunt May was Grandmas eldest daughter, Hayley wondered how on earth Grandma had managed with Aunt May as a child. Grandma always said Hayley was untidy and spent hours trying to make the curly tendrils of Hayleys hair lie flat and neat. I despair of you, Hayley, Grandma always said. I really do! With Aunt May, Grandma must have despaired even more. Still, Hayley thought, looking from neat Aunt Geta to beautiful Aunt Alice, the younger daughters must have pleased Grandma quite a lot.
But Aunt May was kind. She sat next to Hayley and, while Hayley struggled with a plate full of more food than she could possibly eat, Aunt May explained that the Castle had once belonged to Uncle Jolyon, but now it was a guesthouse, except for this one week of the year. I give the staff a holiday, she said, and have all the family to stay. Even your Aunt Ellie comes over some years. And of course we have heaps of rooms. Ive given you the little room on the half-landing, my dear. I thought youd feel a little strange if I put you in with the other girls, not being used to it. Just tell me if youre not happy, wont you?
As Aunt May chatted on in this way, Hayley looked round the table and noticed that Cousin Mercer, sitting behind the remains of the turkey, was the only grown-up man there. All the family? she thought. Shouldnt there be some uncles? But she was afraid it might be rude to ask.
The turkey was followed by treacle pudding that Hayley was far too full to eat. While everyone else was devouring it down to the last few sticky golden crumbs, the rain got worse. Hayley could hear it battering on the windows and racing through pipes outside the walls. The Laxton cousins were very put out by it. It seemed that there was some game that they always played when they were at the Castle and they had wanted to start playing it that very evening.
We couldnt have played tonight anyway, Troy said in his calm way. Its too dark to see, even if it wasnt raining.
Then the Tigh cousins wanted to know if they could play the game indoors instead. The Laxtons thought this was a splendid notion and said so at the tops of their voices. We could use the big drawing room for it, couldnt we? they demanded of Harmony, who seemed to be in charge of the game.
No way, Harmony said. It has to be done out of doors. Well do it tomorrow, when the grass in the paddock has dried.
This raised such a shout of disappointment that Harmony said, We can do hide-and-seek indoors, if you like.
There were cheers. Aunt Geta murmured, Bless you, Harmony. Keep them organised till bedtime if you can and well let you off clearing the dishes.
So while the aunts cleared away the stacks of plates, everyone except Hayley rushed away into other parts of the house. Aunt May picked up Hayleys suitcase and showed her up a flight of stairs into a small white bedroom with a fluffy bedspread which Hayley much admired. There Aunt May drew the curtains which flapped and billowed in the gusts of rainy wind outside and then helped Hayley unpack the suitcase.
Are these all the clothes youve got, my dear? Aunt May asked, shaking out the other two floral dresses. These are not very practical or very warm.