Chapter 11
For the next few days, Meredith and the children fell into an almost comfortable pattern.
Oh, Kat was still picking on Mishka, and he was still whining about his bossy big sister, but it felt toned down from when she’d first arrived here.
In the cool of the morning they would play tennis and football.
Thanks to Kat’s urging, Meredith, donning a conservative one-piece black swimsuit that appeared to have never been worn, would enjoy a swim with Kat in the afternoon.
But Mishka refused to venture near the pool, saying he preferred to read in the cool quiet library.
On her fifth day at the estate, Meredith privately confronted him.
“Mishka, why are you afraid of water?” she asked firmly but gently from the library door.
“I’m not afraid.” His brow creased, and he buried his head even deeper into the reference book about reptiles.
“I think you are.” She looped a towel over her arm and sat by him. “And I bet you don’t know how to swim, do you?”
He just shrugged, head still down.
“Being afraid of the water must feel kind of terrible. Is there a reason you feel that way?”
He looked up with shining eyes. “Momma’s plane went down into the water.”
“Yes, I know that. And I’m so sorry. It’s very, very sad. But what do you think your mother would say about you being afraid of water?”
“I don’t know.”
“Kat told me that your mother taught her to swim.”
His brows rose. “She did?”
“Yes, which tells me she enjoyed the water.” She watched him as Mishka took in her words.
“Anyway, I was thinking it would be fun to take a day trip with you and Kat sometime. Mrs. Warner said I can use the Land Rover anytime I want. Since I’m a visitor in Austria, I wanted to see a few things, and I had hoped to do a day trip on the Danube. Have you ever done that before?”
He shook his head.
“Well, I’d love to do a river cruise, and I can just take Kat with me and leave you here with Mrs. Warner for the day, but I really wish you’d come too.”
“On a boat?” His eyes grew wide but not with excitement.
“Yes, on a boat. A big boat that’s safe, and there are life-vests to make you feel even safer. And it would be so much fun to go down the Danube River in Austria. It’s been a dream of mine.”
“On the river?”
“Of course.”
His lower lip protruded, and she knew that this wasn’t going to be easy.
“I was thinking, Mishka, that I can wait a couple weeks to take the river trip…if you agree to my idea.”
“What idea?”
“I will give you swimming lessons,” she said. “I’m a good teacher, and I know we could have you swimming in just a couple of weeks. The reward would be to go with us on the Danube River trip. Doesn’t that sound fun?”
His brow creased while he thought about her suggestion.
“You don’t want to live your whole life being afraid, Mishka.
And not knowing how to swim. Wouldn’t the boys at your school tease you for that?
A prince who’s afraid of water and can’t swim?
We will take the swimming lessons really slow,” she promised.
“And I’ll be with you every minute.” She looked intently into his troubled eyes. “Do you trust me?”
He barely nodded.
“Then, how about we just give it a try? If you really hate it, I won’t push you again.”
“Kat will tease me.”
“No, she won’t. I already told her my plan, and she promised to be nice.
” Meredith wanted to add “or what” but didn’t.
She’d threatened Kat a few minutes earlier that she’d no longer help her with her football or tennis skills if Kat made this difficult for her little brother.
She meant to enforce it too. “Let’s go find your swimsuit, Mishka. I’m sure you must have one.”
To her relief, he didn’t protest as she led him up to his room.
She talked soothingly the whole way there, telling him how much fun they would have together and how much he would love swimming when he learned how to do it properly.
“You may even become a better swimmer than Kat if you work at it.” She looked at him by his bedroom door.
“In fact, you have more of a swimmer’s build than she does. ”
“Really?” He studied himself.
“Yes, I think so.” She smiled. “Now meet me down at the pool, and I promise we’ll take it nice and slow.”
And when he got down there, after she gave Kat another stern warning, she did take it nice and slow.
They started by sitting on the side of the pool, just kicking their feet in the water.
Meanwhile, Kat watched from the other end of the pool with a slightly mischievous expression.
Meredith gave her the schoolteacher glare and hoped the girl was getting the message.
The farthest she got with Mishka was sitting on the pool step, waist deep in the water.
Thank goodness Kat had become bored and left by then.
“You’ve done great today, Mishka,” she told him as she slipped into the water.
“But I’m too hot in the sun and want to cool off a little.
” She noticed he looked a little pink too.
Hopefully she’d put enough sunscreen on him.
“You may want to cool off too. Just pretend you’re taking a bath.
” She stood up to show him the water level.
“It’s probably only up to here on you.” She held her hand to her chest. “Not over your head.”
He appeared uncertain, and she didn’t push him.
“Mrs. Warner told me that the reason there’s a pool here is because your mother loved to swim.
Did you know that?” When he shook his head, she continued.
“I guess your grandmother had it installed for her. According to Mrs. Warner, your mother practically lived in the pool whenever they visited here in the summer.” She continued to chatter at him, just rambling, and to her pleased surprise, he lowered himself into the pool and stood in the water with a somewhat frightened expression.
She went over and kneeled beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
“That’s great, Mishka. I’m so impressed. Does the water feel good?”
“It felt cold at first. But it’s okay now.”
She could feel the rigidity of his body and knew he was fighting back fear. “I’m so proud of you. You’re being very brave. At this rate, we’ll have you swimming before long. But not before you’re ready. Don’t worry. You get to set the pace.”
“Uh-huh.”
She reached for the pool noodle she’d set on the deck. “Want to hold onto this? Just to feel safer?”
“Okay.”
She handed him the noodle, staying nearby and floating on her back. “You’re going to be surprised at how fun it is to swim. Floating is like being in space because you become almost weightless.”
His brow creased. “I don’t think I can do that.”
“Not yet, but someday.” She made a mental note to herself to check the sports closet to see if there were any life vests that might help alleviate his trepidation.
After a few minutes she saw he’d begun to shiver, and she knew they’d done enough for one day.
Plus, she wanted to leave while he was still feeling comfortable to make tomorrow easier.
“Okay.” She reached for his hand. “I’m ready to go inside now. How about you?”
Clutching tightly to her hand, he climbed up the steps, and she followed him out. Wrapping the big towel around him, she praised him again for his courage. “You’re a brave boy, Mishka. I really am proud of you.”
“And Kat didn’t make fun of me.”
“That’s right. She kept her promise.” As they went inside, Meredith wondered how long Kat would keep her word, but she would remind her every day of the consequences if she didn’t.
In the meantime, she needed to think of a simple reward to thank Kat, which highlighted how little she really knew about the girl.
Sure, she loved sports. But what else? What really made her tick?
And what, besides her little brother, made her so angry?
Meredith had cared for the children just over a week when she began to wonder about their father.
Mrs. Warner told the children, as she served breakfast, that he’d called the evening before and apologized for being gone longer than he’d said he would be.
“Your father is delayed by unexpected business in Rotslavia. He’s not sure how much longer it will take.
” Mrs. Warner gave Meredith a sideways glance that seemed to suggest there was more to the story, so following breakfast, Meredith insisted on clearing the table herself and sent the children off to make their beds.
Although she doubted that Kat would comply.
“I think Mrs. Warner works too hard,” Meredith said as she stacked their plates.
“We should help her out once in a while.” When Kat started to whine about housekeeping, Meredith asked if she still planned on a tennis match later.
Fortunately, Kat seemed to get the hint.
The one thing Meredith knew Kat needed, perhaps more than anything, was a friend.
Despite the age difference, and the uphill battle, Meredith seemed the lonely girl’s best bet at the moment.
After the kids departed, she carried a loaded tray into the kitchen. “I know you don’t like help,” she quickly explained, “but I wanted to talk to you. I’m a little concerned that the children’s father has been absent for so long. Is that normal?”
“Not typically. Not for the summer holiday, anyway. Sometimes during the school year, since Kat goes to boarding school and Mishka is occupied with his day school, Master Spencer may take an occasional business trip. But not usually when the children are on holiday.”
“Do you think he’ll be here before long? I really feel the children need him.”
“He sounded uncertain.” She glanced at the door as she wiped her hands on a towel. “I don’t want the children to hear this, but there’s some unrest at home.”
“Unrest?”
“Yes.” She lowered her voice. “Political troubles. As you may know, the principality has neighboring countries that aren’t terribly friendly. Some believe Rotslavia should be under their jurisdiction.”
Meredith recalled the location of Rotslavia in the atlas Mishka had shown her. “Oh, yes, I’m not surprised. I read that it was considered part of Russia once, but wasn’t that a couple hundred years ago?”
Mrs. Warner shrugged as she hung a gleaming copper pot on the rack above the big stove.
“I don’t know much about historical dates, but I’m not sure such things matter to bullying countries.
Anyway, Master Spencer didn’t go into specifics.
He just said there’s been some concerns and that he needs to stick around and see about some things. ”
“Do you think it’s dangerous?” Meredith bit her lip. What if something happened to him or the country? What would Kat and Mishka do?
“I couldn’t say, miss. And truly, I’m not supposed to say too much. But I will say this. Rotslavia, although a member of NATO, scarcely has military defense.”
“I see.” Meredith frowned. “Do you think the country is unsafe right now?”
“Oh, no, no…I don’t think so.” She hung up a tea towel. “But there is instability in a lot of places. Times are always changing.”
“Right.” Meredith felt protective of Mishka and Kat. As irrational as it seemed, she didn’t like the idea of them residing in a tiny unprotected and unstable country tucked so near larger bullying nations.
“Anyway, I just thought you should know.”
“I do appreciate the heads up. And trust me, I won’t mention this to the children. No point worrying them.”
Mrs. Warner smiled. “Mr. Warner told me he saw you working with Mishka in the pool yesterday. He was quite impressed. He thinks the boy is getting close to being able to swim.”
“Well, that’s a ways off. But at least I have him holding his breath and floating face down. As long as I’m holding onto him. He won’t allow me to let go yet.”
“Just the same, that’s good progress.”
“I noticed Mr. Warner vacuuming the pool this morning. Is that one of his regular duties here?”
“No, not really. He used to manage all of it down there, but now he just takes care of the chemicals and temperature control. A pool man is supposed to come once a week to clean and maintain it, but the bloke canceled on Thursday, so Mr. Warner stepped in.”
“Well, if I can ever be of help down there, just let me know.”
Mrs. Warner reached out to squeeze her hand. “You’ve already been so much help to the children. I can’t ask another thing of you. And I told Master Spencer as much last night. He said to thank you too. We both think you are just what we needed.”
Meredith smiled. “Thank you. I’m glad you think I’m doing okay.”
“You’re doing much better than okay. I’ve never seen a governess or nanny get on with the children like you do. And, believe me, I know Princess Katerina can be a handful. I’ve had plenty of times when I wanted to paddle that girl.”
“I’m still trying to connect with her. I think she needs a friend. But it’s not always easy.” Okay, that was an understatement. Kat was the most difficult child Meredith had ever crossed paths with.
“She can be terrible prickly, I’m sure. But you keep it up, Miss Meri. You’ll get through to her.”
“I hope so.”
As Meredith excused herself, she more than just hoped so.
She silently prayed for God to help her to get through to the girl.
Kat had a log-sized chip on her shoulder.
And it wasn’t only against Mishka, although he was her favorite target.
Sometimes she aimed her fiery darts at Mrs. Warner, sometimes at Meredith, and she’d probably have kicked a dog if there’d been one handy.
By now Meredith had strong suspicions that Kat had been bullied at her school.
But that mystified her. Who would bully a princess that everyone knew was heir to the crown?
Or did such things not matter to everyone?
For all she knew, there could be unrest in more ways than whatever Master Spencer was handling.
The world in general seemed a wobbly place at times.