Chapter 12
Amelia stumbled down the stone streets. It was only seven o’clock, but the sun seemed to be extra hot. She was walking determinedly towards the castle. It was only in the next village to where the band had played. The band, what fakes they turned out to be.
She had woken in the laundry room at about five. She had got up and gone to the kitchen for a drink of water, her mouth was dry and her throat was sore from shouting and singing. She went into the bar and looked for Star Strummer and the other guys, but there was no one there. She thought they must have gone to a hotel, and would be back to pick her up. She went to the door of the bar to look for them outside, but it was locked. The bar was still a mess from the night before with glasses everywhere. The carpet on the floor was dirty and littered. The best thing to do, she decided, was to clean herself up before they came. She went into the bathroom and washed her face in the delicious smelling soap. How bad her life had become, that she had had no soap. Her t-shirt still smelt like the ocean, and it was a delicious smell too. She did not hate the ocean that had fed her with its fish, or the beach that had provided her with lots of fish faced friends. She took off her t-shirt and shorts and washed all over. She washed her pants with soap and rinsed them out and put them back on. She looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was a bit wild, but she had no comb. She undid the plait and did it back up. This was the start of a new life. She was going to become a singer, loved by the whole country. She could dance as well. There were not many people who could sing and dance. She clicked her fingers above her head and did a dance in front of the mirror. She was definitely something else, she decided. She pushed open the door pleased by the soapy scent she smelt of. She was hungry. She wondered if she could find any bread in the kitchen, she was sure they wouldn’t mind, they were Star Strummer’s best friends, and she was with the band. She went into the kitchen and opened some of the cupboard doors looking. There were all kinds of tins and huge packets of rice and pasta. She should tell Star Strummer that his friend should take some food to West Beach for the children. She couldn’t find any bread, but found some biscuits, and took out a handful. She opened a big fridge and saw a big plate of fruit, papaya, mango, grapes, all cut into chunks. She lifted out the plate and put it on the table. She loved fruit.
Amelia was tucking into the fruit and biscuits when she found she was being grabbed by the shoulder
‘But who is this? A rat? Out, out, now, before I call the police.’
Amelia looked up to see a red faced fat man
‘But sir, I am with Star Strummer. I am with the band. I am Amelia. I am just waiting for him.’
‘I will not have a rat urchin in my bar get out!’ he shouted
‘But I am waiting for Star Strummer’
‘He went last night.’
‘But he will be looking for me. He said I was going to be his singer.’
‘Little girl, you must not believe fantasy. Do you think Star Strummer cares about some beach urchin? Is that where you are from the beach?’
Amelia nodded
‘Well you can get back there. We don’t like Street urchins in our bar. Your band look what they have done to my bar, look at the floor, it is like a load of pigs has been here.’
‘But sir he meant it, about me being a singer. I collect money for the band.’
The man paid no head and marched Amelia to the door. He unlocked it and threw her on the street, slammed the door and locked it afterwards.
‘Another disappointing set of grown-ups, thought Amelia, ‘another insult.’ She folded her arms and scowled, but she did not feel like crying. No-one was going to make her cry ever, ever again. Maybe Star Strummer was still here, but the car she had come in had gone. She was going to have to accept it, and when she was a great singer and they interviewed her and asked if she knew Star Strummer, she would say,’ who?’
How was she going to get back to West Beach? She thought of Prince. She wanted to see him and tell him all about how she had been betrayed. Raindrop had gone too, but at least she had said goodbye. Then she looked up from the ground she had been staring at and saw the castle to the right, near enough to walk to. Maybe this was meant to happen, and she would finally find her luck. She was glad that she had run into a good shoe man as the road was hot and hard, she would never be able to walk there in slippers or flip flops. She suddenly felt happy. She dug her hands into her pockets and whistled the chilli song. As she walked, it became clear that it was longer than she thought. Open trucks of workers whizzed by some of them shouted hello to her and this cheered her up. The road narrowed out and she came to a junction. One way led behind the castle to a village, the other was a rough path that seemed to lead to the castle itself. She decided on the rough coastal path. The sun was making her tired and she felt thirsty. She had a flash of doubt. What if she got to the castle and it all went wrong, they told her to go, and she was stuck with no water. She thought of her grandmother, she was hard, but what a sweet person. She could not be wrong about her meeting a prince. She carried on, falling a couple of times from the rough stones. Her knee spilled blood when she fell and she had to try and clean it with a leaf.
Eventually Amelia reached the castle. Her heart had been falling as she approached it as she realised it was virtually a ruin. There was no glass in the windows and the whole place seemed deserted. She walked up to it, and saw there was a little fenced off bit at the back with steam coming through the windows, but it hardly looked grand. She went through the huge stone door of the main entrance. Inside was majestic but eerie. A bird had got inside through an open window and was flying angrily around an iron ceiling decoration that must have once held a chandelier. The whole place was bare. It must have once been beautiful: there was a worn mosaic floor and ornate but crumbling pillars. At least it was cool. Amelia sat down on some steps that were at the base of a window that looked out to the sea. What had happened to the King and Queen that lived here? Maybe that was why the people were suffering, because they had no King. Or maybe the King and Queen had been too mean and wanted too much money for themselves, and the people had made them go. Maybe she would just live here, be the Queen of the Castle. Who was going to tell her to go? She wanted water, she was so hot. This wasn’t what happened in her dream. In her dream the castle was full of children and there would be a banquet feast to which she was invited. A lizard ran on the floor over her shoe and she screamed. The bird squawked loudly, and managed to find its way out of the window. She put her head in her hands and cried; sometimes she just wanted someone to look after her, someone to take her home, someone to get her some water. She was tired of doing it all for herself. Was it going to be like this for the rest of her life? The sobs came thick and hard, but she didn’t care. She had thought she was never going to cry again, but that was not true. She thought that she should walk back, and try and get a lift back to West beach, but she had no energy. She just rocked and cried, and looked at the ceiling until she fell asleep there on the steps near an old cannon pointed out to the sea.
‘What is the matter?’
Amelia was roused by this voice speaking to her. It sounded kind and elegant. She didn’t want to open her eyes and look. She couldn’t bear another let down, she kept her eyes shut and pretended to be asleep. She just didn’t want to know another lying grown-up who pretended to be your friend and then double crossed you.
‘Hey, hey, it’s alright. I am not going to hurt you. I heard you crying. I live here in the castle. This is my castle. I don’t want any people to be sad here.’
Amelia opened one eye and stared at the person speaking to her. It was a man with beautiful kind eyes and a smiley little face. He was a dwarf, smaller than Amelia herself in an elegant tailored shirt and trousers and intricately woven leather sandals. Amelia smiled at him. He wasn’t a story book prince but he had a kind presence like Raindrop, someone who looked like they would help her.
‘Who are you?’ she said
‘I am Don Oro. Who are you??
??
‘Are you the Don Oro?’
‘That depends what you mean?’
‘Are you Don Oro that owns West Beach and all the factories?’
‘That is me. Who are you?’
Amelia sat up and brushed herself off. What a tale this would be, that she had met Don Oro himself.
‘I am Amelia. I was from the City, but my grandmother died, and now I live on West Beach with my friend Prince. I sell sea shells.’
‘Oh what a pleasure to meet you. So why are you here and why are you so sad? Teardrops are unlucky for me.’
‘Do you have any water? I keep feeling thirsty and crying, and the more I cry, the thirstier I get.’
‘Come with me, come. Do not be afraid.’
Amelia followed Don Oro out of the castle main door to the back where she had seen the steam. He led her through a gate in the fence that had been locked to a little side door in a building that looked more like a chapel. He opened a door and led her in. Inside was very homely. There were lots of paintings of fruit and birds on the walls and sofas draped with greeny-blue embroidered cloths. He told her to sit on the sofa next to a sleeping puppy. She sat down and started playing with it, it was adorable. Don Oro came back with a glass of water which he gave to Amelia.
‘I like your paintings,’ she said.
‘Thank you. I painted them myself. That is what I do here.’
Amelia drank and tried to stop herself from speaking too much and too insistently about all the things she wanted to say.
‘What do you think of West Beach?’
‘I have not been there for twenty years since my father died. It broke my heart.’
‘What do you mean? You must come to West Beach and help the children. You are Don Oro. You could make it safe for the children.’
‘I was living in the country with my mother, but when my father died he left me in charge of this area. I thought a lot about West Beach. I was going to build a lot of chalets for all the people to live in, build new facilities for the fisherman, and expand the trade in the port. I went to West beach to meet the Mayor and the local business owners, but when I came they said,
‘Ah someone from the circus. I tried to talk to them seriously, but they picked me up and started throwing me backwards and forth. They were very cruel and called me many bad names. I fled here to the castle and never went back. Most of the time I spend with my brother in the country. He is tall, not like me, but he does not have my brain, and also he is blind He cannot manage all the factory accounts. My father always thought of me as a joke, he didn’t send me to school, but I looked at my brother’s books, I have three brothers. When my father came to test them on maths I shouted out the answers. Surprised, he tested me on the most difficult sums he could think of, and I got them all right. I have a brilliant memory. At a young age I started to read his business accounts, and soon took over from his accountant. He left all his businesses to me, saying my brothers just like wine and boats. But West Beach. I hate it. At the beach there were a whole crowd of people jeering and laughing at me. I said,’ ‘I am Don Oro’s son, Don Oro. I am here to bring change. I am the new owner, but they just laughed and taunted me. They did not believe me.’
Don Oro looked sad like he would cry. His voice was all choked up.
‘Don Oro, they were ignorant people. I am so sorry, but you must not let them stop you. It must be a sign that I have come here. You are a good man, you are not like the Mayor, and you can help us. We want to go to school, we want milk.’
Don Oro put his head in his hands
‘I am so sorry I am a coward. I just can’t stand taunting about my size. I have a man who works for me who does all my business. No one knows who I am. I will tell him to come to the beach.’
‘But you must come yourself, come with me. The people I know are kind; I will introduce you to them.’
‘I do not leave here. I am happy with my painting. I don’t like to feel sad. After they taunted me I was so sad I nearly swam out to sea and never came back, and I owe my mother more than that.’
There was silence for a while. Amelia could not help smiling at Don Oro’s face. It was so kind.
‘My grandmother used to live in West Beach when she was a child, that is why she sent me there. She said she once got a bunch of flowers from Don Oro, that must have been your father,’ she said.
‘That is interesting. My father only gave flowers to women if he thought they were like an Amphora.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘Like this.’ He pointed to a terracotta pot with handles. ‘People used to use them to carry water. It is an old saying from the country, when women used to carry them to give drinks to men in the fields, that a good woman is like an Amphora, she helps others. How do you help others?’
‘I help the other children; I buy them bread when I sell my shells.’
‘I will help you then. It would be lucky for me to help someone who is good. I have too much money. Do you have a guardian? I can give him a house for you to stay in, but not alone. It is empty, and no good to me. I have many houses. I can see you are a kind girl. You deserve to grow up unharmed,’ he said
‘I could ask the fisherman, or fisherman Papa. What I really want is a mama, someone who will comb my hair.’
‘Maybe my friend will find you a woman to help. Are there many homeless?’
‘For many the beach is their home, and the police don’t like us, and the town people talk to us like we are scum.’
‘Poor little one. Do you want a sandwich? Maybe I can make plans. I will call the Mayor; he doesn’t have to meet me in person. I have a building they use it as offices. Maybe I will make it into a children’s home. I will tell him to give it back to me. My father only lent it to him as a favour.’
Amelia clapped. Don Oro went away to make the sandwich. Amelia stroked the little puppy dog. Things had worked out really well. Don Oro wasn’t a prince, but he was a king of a man, and it could mean change for everybody. She paused a minute thinking about how she had recently been let down, but there was something honest about Don Oro. He was not a show off the way Star Strummer was.
Don Oro returned with a huge baguette filled with cheese. Amelia wolfed it down while he asked her questions about the beach, businesses, and who she had met. He wept as she told him about Jasper and Pinkie and Pearl.
‘You cannot stay here as I am not your relative and I only look after my relatives .People would not think it was right. I will look after you though. Bring your fisherman to see me, and I will give him keys to a house, and I will give him something for your food. Do you have money for the bus?’
Amelia shook her head. She didn’t want to leave Don Oro. She feared that he would disappear, that he was too good to be true.
‘Here,’ he reached in his pocket and took out five paper money and some ten coins. ‘You can take the bus at the top of the road. It comes in twenty minutes. You will make it if you are quick. Thank you for talking to me. I never normally talk to anyone. I heard you in the castle and I would normally have gone when I saw you were not hurt, but there was something about your face I liked. You remind me of my mother.’
Amelia smiled.
‘Are you really going to help us?’
‘Listen,’ he said. He picked up the phone. ‘I am dialling the Mayor’s office. Hello? May I speak to the Mayor? He is not there? Tell him this is Don Oro. I am coming to sort out all my affairs. I want the building on River Street back. Tell him to be prepared to hand it over within a month. I am coming to make changes. Tell him to speak to my lawyer Mr French at French and Partners. Good day to you’. He put down the phone and smiled. Amelia clapped her hands
‘Will it be a really nice children’s home with books? Will we have clothes?’
‘I will do all this. I will let my man sort it out. You must not tell anybody except your guardian about me, you must not tell anyone you have seen me or that I am a dwarf. I don’t want anyone to know. If you betray me then the deal
is off. You best hurry now before the bus leaves.’
Amelia really didn’t want to go, but realised she was on an important mission. She was about to get her own home. She wished that Raindrop hadn’t left, otherwise she could have been the one to look after her, but on the other hand, Raindrop had left her alone in a strange town, so maybe she couldn’t really be counted on. She felt like hugging Don Oro, but he didn’t have that way, so she held out her hand and shook his hand telling him over and over how thankful she was. He led her to the door, giving her a bottle of water and some grapes and apples in a bag. She walked up the path feeling that she had, after all, been turned into a princess.