It was the next day before they found out why. Women came to clean and tidy the house, gossiping about Crystal as they went. The news soon spread through the objects in the house. Archie and Terri heard from some towels returned to the bathroom after washing.
The story of the jetboat accident was related with embellishments that bore no relation to the original incident. As told in the house, the driver had been drinking all night and turned up for the morning's work still drunk. He'd lost control of the boat and slammed it into the canyon wall. Crystal was very badly hurt.
Later they got something closer to the truth about Crystal's injuries: she'd been scanned at the local hospital and found to have broken ribs, severe bruising and concussion.
'Luckily for her,' the towel said, 'No spinal injuries but she's been flown to Australia for treatment. The doctors are worried about internal bleeding. That's all I heard except the youngest security guy, you know the really cute one, he's in trouble with the Palace for not looking after her.'
'Jeff not look after her?' Terri couldn't believe it. Nor could Archie. If Crystal had been hurt it wasn't Jeff's fault.
However, Terri and Archie had their own immediate problem, how could they get home? When the clean towels had been stacked on a shelf below them the woman didn't notice there was something that didn't belong to the house: Terri's bright cover. The woman just went about cleaning and tidying the room and then left.
A few days later new occupants arrived in the house, a family with children. Terri and Archie's bathroom was used by four children who had rowdy bubble baths and left the taps dripping.
'I so hate the drips,' Archie said, 'I can't sleep at night.'
'Me either. Oh Archie...I want to go home.'
Archie did too but how? No-one recognised them as Crystal's. As far as anyone was concerned they were just a hot water bottle and cover. They might be anyone's. The girl who had packed up the room would have found them he was sure, she'd been careful and taking her time but she'd been hurried and harassed and missed them.
Idleness and worry took their toll on Terri's usual good humour, she began to be unreasonable.
'Do something Archie, we can't stay here forever; we belong to Crystal. We have to get back.'
This statement, which was repeated often, was stating the bleeding obvious as far as Archie was concerned. He knew his duty was to serve Crystal but how could he? They were trapped.
Archie feared they would remain in New Zealand, forever: like a still life composition they lay on the shelf with the towels unused, feeling useless.
The atmosphere in the bathroom was becoming strained as the family's stay wore on. Many of the objects in the room suffered, some were broken as they were thrown about during the children's daily baths, Archie and Terri among them.
They had watched in horror as fine things were used as bath toys: delicate porcelain fish, shells and large coral that decorated high shelves were pulled down and thrown about. The coral shattered in brilliant pieces on the hard tiled floor. Shells were crushed under small feet as the children jumped in and out of the bath. But worse was to come.
One of the larger ones, a boy of about eight, naked and streaming with water, ran over to their until now quiet corner and dragged all the towels off the shelf. Archie and Terri went with them. Everything landed on the wet floor in puddles of foam where smelly sneakers and socks had been dropped.
The boy saw Archie and Terri and said to another,
'Hey, look at this, it'll make a great water pistol.' He then ripped Terri from Archie, her buttons flying off onto the floor landing among shards of broken coral, and threw her into the soggy heap of towels. Archie was dropped into the bath and held down. He felt himself filling with suds and water until his neck overflowed and the boy held him high above his head and squeezed. Water sprayed upwards in a fountain and fell on his companion's head. The children laughed.
From her place on the floor Terri could see Archie's small body mangled by small, unknowingly brutal hands until he was empty and then thrust back into the water, filled and squeezed again.
'I know they're completely unaware of what he's going through, but do they have to be so cruel?' she whispered as Archie's eyes became red and inflamed by the suds. Red welts began to appear around his middle where the boy's small fingers gripped. It was too much for Terri, she closed her eyes and prayed for it to be over.
She was left stranded on the floor when the children finally left the bathroom. She couldn't see Archie, he was still in the water, somewhere. She called but he didn't answer. No-one from the family came back to the bathroom that night.
Morning broke on a scene of chaos, the children's clothes in sodden heaps, toys and objects strewn about the floor. Cold water remained in the bath where some objects floated. A new woman finally came in quite early and began to clear up the mess. Terri woke from a fitful sleep to hear water gurgling down the drain from the bath,
'Archie's in there,' was her only thought.
At last she saw him; the woman held him upside down. Cold clammy water ran from his body into the tub. Without drying him the woman put Archie on the side of the bath where Terri could see him gasping and rubbing his arms to warm himself. He was chilled to the bone.
Before they could speak to each other Terri was scooped up with the wet towels and clothes and thrown into a chute in the wall. She felt herself sliding down and down until she landed hard on a black and white tiled floor. She lay there, chilled and exhausted. It appeared to be a laundry but Terri didn't care, any thoughts of a pleasurable bath in foamy water were far from her mind. She was cold, wet and miserable and pining for Archie.
Terri was thrown into a washing machine with the towels and endured the cycle with resignation. It was so far from her experience at Jessie's hands that it overwhelmed her and for the first time she cried. Wet tears streamed down her cheeks as she was taken out of the machine and dropped into a basket. After being carried outside with the towels she was turned inside out, pegged onto a wire line and left to bake in the sun. She hung there in silence, desolate, willing herself back to Archie and their life at the Palace.