Saskias , livre ebook

Title Page
SASKIAS
The Second Book In The Saskia Story
by
Ian Berry



Publisher Information
Saskias Published in 2013 by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
The right of Ian Berry to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998
Copyright © 2013 Ian Berry
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Any person who does so may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.



One
Friday evening. Saskia rang. Mobile phone so I answered as Saskia rather than Richie.
“Saskia, I’ve had a call from James. He wants to enlist our aid for a project he’s planning. Some sort of charity do apparently. Can we go and see them sometime tomorrow?”
“Shouldn’t be a problem. We hadn’t planned anything else had we?”
“Nope. Are you staying with me all weekend as usual?”
“Mm. If you’ll have me of course.”
“I’ll have to think about it.” She spoiled the moment by giggling.
“Ok. See you tomorrow.”
Saturday. I presented myself at Saskia’s. Her dad, Rob, answered the door. “Hello you. How are you today?”
“Very well thank you.”
Saskia appeared and gave me a hug and a quick kiss.
Rob watched all this with his usual tolerant smile. He loved Saskia and I was fairly sure he considered me the second daughter he’d never had.
“Are you going to make your own way to the Robinsons or do you need a lift? I’m going to the garage this morning so it’s no problem.”
“Thanks, Dad. That’d be great. Saves the legs no end.”
I knew she didn’t mean that as we could have flown there in only a couple of minutes. Saskia’s dad had no idea about our super powers - or about my curious background. To preserve the appearance of us being normal girls, it was easier to let Rob drive us. We were decidedly not normal girls, not after our unseen guardian we called simply Voice had done mucking about with us.
“Ok. Bus leaves in ten minutes.”
“Saskia, shall we blag some time in the Robinson’s pool? If we are, we’re going to need to organise quickly.”
“Right. Upstairs, quick. Just be a minute, Dad.”
We rushed upstairs to Saskia’s room, touching only about every third step. Two swimsuits and towels and stuff were pushed into a bag and we were downstairs again in only a couple of minutes. Being able to move at super speed helped of course.
Saskia’s dad was fine until we went over the bridge across the river. Then he went quiet and pensive, obviously remembering the car going off the bridge and into the river and us girls having to pull his unconscious self out of the water.
“Brrr. Don’t like that bridge.”
“Don’t worry, Dad. We’ll look after you, ehh Saskia?”
“No problem. Saskia and Saskia, the two-girl emergency service.”
“So I’m just going to dump you here, abandon you at the gate? Will you want picking up? Knowing you two you’ll persuade James to let you ride home in chauffeur driven comfort.”
“Yep. Chuck us out as you go past. If we’re not coming home for lunch we’ll let you know. What did we do before mobile phones?”
“Shouted a lot?”
We got out of the car giggling. We were still giggling when Jeeves, the Robinson’s butler, answered our ring at the door.
“Ah. Miss Saskia and Miss Saskia. You appear to be in a good mood today. It will match Mr James who is particularly ebullient this morning.”
“Jeeves, you need a licence to use long words like that. And before lunch too,” said Saskia.
“Hey, that’s my line” I said.
“Good though, isn’t it? I just nicked it and filed off the serial numbers.”
The most we could ever get out of Jeeves was a slight grin. In his case that was probably equivalent to rolling on the floor with tears streaming down your face.
“Mr James is in the morning room.”
“We know where that is. We’ll find our own way. You can go back to polishing the spoons or whatever you do in the kitchen. Save your legs a bit”
“Thank you Miss Saskia. Your concern for my welfare is gratifying.”
We left Jeeves and hurried to the morning room.
James was already there. “Hello, you two. How are you today?”
“Fine thank you. Jeeves says you’re ebullient. He does have a licence for long words doesn’t he?”
“If he hasn’t, I’ll see to it right away. Find a seat and I tell you what’s going on.”
We curled up in a couple of nice soft chairs and James continued, “Every year about this time Lydia and I host a charity auction and ball in aid of cancer research. Perhaps you didn’t know that’s what my father died of several years ago.”
“Oh, poor James. We’re both really sorry to hear that.” I nodded as Saskia spoke.
“Why, thank you girls. It’s good of you to say that. Anyway, each year we have a dinner and a little entertainment. I thought you and your friends might like to come and dance for us? If you can make the same impression on fat rich people as you did on Rob’s friends we’ll be in for a good evening. On second thoughts, I take back the bit about fat and rich. Rob will be there so name calling isn’t fair.”
“Hmm. The dancing isn’t a problem, I’m sure the girls will be up for that. I bet all their dads’ll be at your bash anyway.”
“You’re probably right at that but you’re plotting something else aren’t you. I can tell.”
“We-ell. If you don’t think it’s too tacky, Saskia and I think we might persuade the girls to sing as well.”
“That could be brilliant. Add a bit of charm to a scoffing and boozing do.”
“Give us chance to get ‘em together and have a go and we’ll see what happens.”
At that point Jeeves came in with some drinks and stuff. Putting it on the table he said, “Miss Saskia, I have made enquiries and can find no information on the requirement for a licence to use long words. Are you sure you are correct?”
All three of us goggled at him. James saw the joke first. He almost fell off his chair. “Touché Jeeves. I think that’s one to you for a change. Saskia and Saskia will have to try harder.”
“Oh, Jeeves, be careful. It might turn out you have a sense of humour after all,” I said.
Saskia said a little more seriously, “Jeeves, does it bother you that we continually try to make you laugh? If it does we will stop as of now.”
“Miss Saskia, it does not bother me at all. Besides, I know that if you succeed and I do burst out laughing, you will be instantly contrite and apologise - as you did with Milly in the swimming pool.”
James was still laughing gently, “Jeeves has definitely got you bang to rights young Saskia. I think he’s quite right too.”
Jeeves continued, “Having taken note of a bag containing what I take to be towels and swimming apparel I have taken the liberty of preparing the pool for use after your meeting with Mr. James. Will that be suitable?”
Saskia put on her best speaking voice, “Most suitable. Thank you very much.”
“It is my pleasure.” Jeeves withdrew.
“Far be it for me to keep you from a date with my swimming pool. Drink up whatever concoction Jeeves brought you and off you go. No, better still take it with you, go on, shoo.”
“We know when we’re not wanted.” With noses in the air we made for the door. As we reached it I heard Saskia whisper, “ Turn and grin . Make sure he knows we don’t really mean it”
“I’m sure he knows that, silly.”
“Nothing like making sure. Three, two, one, go!” This meant we both did the same thing at exactly the same time, then we skipped out of the door leaving James with a bemused smile on his face.
As we struggled into swimsuits Saskia said, “A cancer charity. I wish we could do more to raise money, more directly than just dancing and singing. Must give it some thought.”
“Do you think the girls will do it? And what about the singing?” I asked.
“I reckon we should try Scarborough Fair, you know, the one we sang together when Dad heard us. You said at the time there were more words that needed more voices?”
“There’s a version by Simon and Garfunkel which is known as Canticle. It has counterpoint lines in it, sort of in between the song lines. It’s a bit anti-war but I don’t suppose that matters.”
“Can we try it with just the two of us?”
“Ok. You sing the normal song - remember it? - and I’ll try to sing the counterpoint.”
We sang it right through and in true Saskia fashion it was perfect first time. The cat was out of the bag though, Lydia had heard the tail end of it as she came into the pool to see how we were doing.
“What are you two up to. That was beautiful. What was it and will you do it again?”
Dutifully we sang it again. “That’s Scarborough Fair isn’t it? I’ve never heard it like that before.”
As we sat on the edge of the pool we explained what we’d said to James. “We need to see if the girls can do it first.”
“Hmm. Don’t wait too long before you try them. The dinner is in a fortnight.”
Lydia didn’t know. The girls would be able to do it perfectly first go thanks to the Saskia magic, the ability to pass on experience by a kind of telepathy. All part, apparently, of our super powers.
Lydia was still speaking. Are you two staying for lunch? Milly’s cooking, probably burger and chips.”
We’d had Milly’s burger and chips before. No question. “We’d love to. I’ll need to ring Dad and let him know.”
“I’ll do that while you have an hour in the pool. Enjoy.” Lydia left to tell James what she’d heard, to ring Rob, and to put Milly on red alert in the kitchen.
An hour in the