Rachel shivered "That's horrible How old was she?" " About your age, round nine and a half." Nellie was still staring at something far away. "Normally she did whatever I told her, but this day ... well ...I said to paddle in the shallows but she slipped and fell, and because she was all wet, she decided to jump in and swim - right in the middle of the river where it was deep and the current was fast and dangerous- We were all alone - no-one else for miles. I couldn't swim, you see, and she was swept away before I could get to her. I stayed on for a while to mind the baby, but it wasn't the same. After that I left England and came to Australia. Her mother was one of the blue rinse set but very kind, and she kept in touch with me, but, well, I wanted to forget about it aIl. She wondered why I never wrote, I know, but... " Rachel felt tears pricking at her eyes. She felt colder than ever but a bit sleepy. "Never mind. Nellie," she said, then, forcing brightness into her tone, she ordered: "Tell me about some of your other children. Who was this little boy with the pussy cat?"
Nellie's eyes refocussed on the ornament. "This one? Oh. he was called Charlie. Quite naughty, he was. The family lived in Leura, on the Blue Mountains." Lifting the teapot, Nellie poured herself another cup of tea. "I used to take him out on bushwalks. He liked running ahead and hiding and then popping up like a Jack-in-the box to frighten me. I tried to cure him of it but it wasn't any good. Then one day we were going up a steep path to the top of a cliff and he ran ahead and c1imbed over the safety fence. I'd told him time and time again not to get over those fences but it was no use. As soon as he saw me rushing up the path, he hung over the chasm below with one hand to scare me. I reached over to grab him but .... He lost his grip and fell. It was a long way down. The cliff rescue people got him up eventually but it was no good, He'd broken nearly every bone in his body." Nellie picked up the teapot. "Have another cup, lovey?"
Rachel felt even colder and a little sick. It was as if she couldn't think properly, The dark corners of the huge room seemed to be closing in on her. Perhaps some more tea would wake her up. She pushed her cup over to Nellie. "Don't tell me any more horrid stories, Nellie." she said. "I hope the other bits of china are about something a bit happier " "I'm afraid not, lovey." Nellie picked up the remaining two ornaments and arranged them on the tablecloth so they were facing each other. "This one is Tom and this one is Micky. They were twins." she said, pointing to each in turn. "They weren't a bit like Charlie, they were spoilt rotten -- brothers and very greedy. Little pigs they were at their tea when they came home from school. They both went to Grammar College, but they were in the prep part -- they were too young to go into the big school in the city. "They lived at Belrose up on the North Shore. It's all bush up there. The family had a two storied house with a big swimming pool. No house in Belrose should be without one - they get terrible fires up there in all the heat of summer Mrs Hemmingway said their pool was really large so that if the house was in danger from a fire the fire brigade could fill their hoses out of the pool. Micky and Tom liked exploring in the bush and they liked catching small animals. They used to torture them. I told you the twins weren't like Charlie - they were cruel little buggers. But they were punished. Yes, they got what was coming to them. " One summer I was taking them for a walk in the afternoon when clouds came over and lightning struck a huge old tree behind us. When we turned to go back, the bush before us was blazing. I couldn't see clearly and I screamed at the boys to hold my hands and we would make our way down to the creek, but they disobeyed me. They ran off to the east and the fire swung round and I lost track of them. I went down to the creek myself and they got to me fairly quickly, but not the boys. At the inquest they said that something like a branch must have fallen on their heads as they had big bumps there. That's what had killed them, the branch, not the fire. It's strange how it happens, lovey, isn't it? Naughty children always suffer for it in the end."
Rachel felt heavy and dull, as if her legs and arms had been anaesthetised. She peered at the little ornaments through eyes which threatened to close at any minute. Why had she made Nellie angry last Saturday by running out on the busy road? Why had she taken all that money from Nellie's purse and spent it? Maybe ... something dreadful ... might ... a horrible thought seeped into her mind, just as the cold was seeping into her bones... "Nellie," she said thickly. "Did the twins die because of the branch or because of you?" Nellie sipped her tea. Her eyes, emerald green and cruel as a cat's, glittered in their rolls of fat. "Well," she said "That's clever of you, dear. Yes, it was really because of me. All of them were because of me. While Mary was swimming I pushed her head down under the water. Yes, and I held it there until she drowned. The river did the rest. And Charlie didn't lose his grip, I gave him a good strong shove. You guessed right about the twins. They wriggled round screaming for a while, but I got them both. Two good bashes to their skulls was all it took. "And now .. you're feeling sleepy, aren't you Rachel? ... You can hardly keep your eyes open ... I think it's dark enough now. You're going to have a little accident, lovey ... a little accident with a car in the dark ... Where are my keys? Ah ... you stay still, Rachel -- it won't be long now. Not long at all ..."