Book Two: Charlie
I was not in the best of spirits when I stepped off that blasted boat. I had discovered that I was just a wee bit prone to seasickness, much to my younger sister, Judith's, mirth. We boarded a train to London, which didn't have me feeling any better. Judith and I had come on a holiday to London with my older sister Frances, who was going to be going to a college there. When we stepped off the train, Frances hurried off heaven-knows-where to get us a cab. For my part, I sat down on a stack of newspapers, my head between my hands, trying to come to the realization that I was on land while Judith snickered at me from behind her hand. "Stow it!" I said roughly. Judith stopped at once. Not because of my exclamation, but because of the fact that Frances was coming back. "I've gotten us a cab. Charlie, are you all right? You look sick." "Not sick, downright green around the gills!" was Judith's comment. I chose to ignore it. "I'll be better soon now that we're off that thumping ship!" Frances led us to where the cab was waiting and we all got in. The first thing I noticed was how big it was. The second thing was that the cabby was asking Frances something. "Where to?" "Um.... Charlie?" she turned around to me. "Would you rather drop our things at my dorm first or would you rather look up Father's friend?" "Your dorm by all means! Drive on Jeeves!" and then I fell asleep.
I was awaked by Frances gently shaking me. "We're there." So I saw. The campus was a pretty place and her dorm looked to be one of the nicest in sight. I was startled by all the green. Everywhere I looked there was carefully trimmed grass. On every other dorm green there was a blossoming fruit tree. I slowly got out of the cab. Frances paid the cabby and we walked into her dorm, which looked more like the medieval castles in Nina's King Arthur fairytales than what I imagined a dorm should look like. Francis had a small room that she would share with a roommate that had not arrived yet. I was given one bed and Judith and Frances shared the other, as they did at home. After we got all of our things unpacked and put in drawers, we walked down to the bus stop and got on one headed towards Portland Place. This worthy establishment proved to be an immensely huge apartment building that was somewhat square in shape. "Who would want to live in this monstrosity?" asked Judith. She obviously shared my views on the subject. "You'd think everything taller than our barn was a monstrosity," said Frances, the beginnings of a smile playing on her lips. Sometimes Frances is so sweet, it scares me. "Nonetheless," I said, "who would want to live here?" "Father's friend Mr......" Frances paused and screwed up her face, looking at a name on a piece of paper, " Mr.... Parrot, no. Mr. Pirate? Ah, I've got it! Mr. Poirot." "Sounds French," I observed, leaning against a tree. "It most likely is." And without much further ado, Frances started into the building.
We took the elevator up seven flights. None of us had ever been in an elevator before, so it was a new experience. Judith made a somewhat uncouth remark about elevatorsickness, which I chose to ignore. When we reached number 1, Frances boldly knocked on the door. "Mais, enter then!" Frances tried the door and found it locked. "It's locked." "Dommage. Do not derange yourself. Just a little instant." I almost died laughing at his " Do not derange yourself," but Frances glared at me and I was immediately silent. Soon, a little man opened the door. He had an egg- shaped head, suspiciously jet-black hair, and, best of all, the hugest set of moustaches I had ever seen. "Ah, come in." We walked into the apartment. It was symmetrical even to the point that on the coat rack there was a grey coat on the right, a blue coat in the middle, and a grey coat on the left. I found this all dashed amusing. When we had all seated ourselves, Frances started to introduce us. "I'm..." "But wait! You will permit me to guess?" Frances offered no objection so he leaned back and closed his eyes. Judith rolled her eyes at me and I returned her gesture. We had always been sure that Father was a bit daft, but Frances idolized him so we never said so out loud. Either this clinched our suspicions, or we had wondered into the wrong apartment. Suddenly the little man started forward with a jerk. He said nothing, but grabbed Judith's arm, who was closest to him, and pulled her toward him. He kissed her once on each cheek and, to my horror, started towards me. "Now... look here," I protested, jumping up and putting my chair between he and myself. To my annoyance, he merely started laughing. "But of course! If you are who I think you are that action was not unexpected, Charlie." "How on earth did you know my name?" I asked. As if it isn't unnerving enough to have a lunatic Frenchman chasing you around a room, he has to know things you don't recall telling him also. "Well?" "Your father told me of course! Et maintenant Mademoiselle Hastings...." Frances giggled, much to my chagrin, and didn't protest when he embraced her in that frightening fashion of his. "Perhaps you'd better explain Mr. Poirot," said Frances. "I'm perfectly content to wait in the dark, but if you don't tell my brother what's going on soon, I think he'll die." "I see. But first: If you would please silence the little "T" at the end of my name, I would be most happy." Frances blushed and said that she would.
"Long ago I was at the height of my career in the Belgian Police Force. Early into the war, pardon, the previous one, I met a young soldier who was in my hometown with some of his comrades with arms." "In arms," I put in, but he didn't seen to notice. "He seemed to take an interest in the army, which is more than I must say for the rest of the group. That is what made him stand out. We soon became fast friends and shortly after that he was sent to France. Even more shortly après ca, I was cast out of my position and my country and sent to England. Fortunately I was allowed to stay, with some of my fellow countrymen, at a little cottage on the grounds of a tres riche lady and her family. One day I had gone to the post to send a little letter off. As I was entering, a young man collided with me in the most violent way. 'Ah! But he is rude!' I thought to myself, before I got a good look at him. What do you think he said Charlie?" I had been dozing, so his question took me by surprise and I said the first thing that popped into my head. "'I'm devilishly sorry,' I suppose." "Precisment. It was then that I recognized him as my friend the young soldier of before. He had left the front because of a grievous wound and he was most unhappy. Later he aided me with a case so complex, that it was a miracle that I solved it. After that he helped me with other little problems. During one of these he met a charming young lady right out of a comte des feys. She was accused of murder, but he fell in love with her none the less. In the end, it fell out that her sister was really the criminal." I straightened up. That sort of thing intrigued me. Frances, who still didn't guess where this story was going, whispered, "And then?" "Ben, boffe they were wed and moved far away. Four years after their marriage, a little girl was born." And he looked at Frances. He could no longer contain himself. "How goes it with mon ami Hastings?" Judith, who hadn't said a word the whole time piped up now. "Very much the same I daresay." "And a bit more so," I added. I was a bit surprised when Poirot aimed a sharp glance in my direction. Frances, always Father's girl, glared at me and told me to "stop being so silly." "Ah yes," said Poirot, paying no heed to Frances, "I miss even his powers of deduction." It was Judith's turn to snort; however Poirot didn't seem to pay as much attention to her. Instead, he turned to Frances. "I must now leave on a matter of great importance. It would not derange you if I put off our conversation to another time?" "No, of course not. How does dinner tomorrow sound?" "Magnificent! You may come here and then we may all depart. To a restaurant of my choosing, non?" "That sounds stupendous. We'll be here at seven tomorrow evening. Good- bye!" The little man ushered us to the door, and soon we were headed back to the dorm. "What shall we do for the rest of the evening?" asked Judith, who was gazing out Frances's window "I don't know what you're going to do, but I'm going to take a tour of the campus," said Frances. "Why don't you and Charlie go see a film? Or a play, better yet. You've never seen a real one you know." "Neither have you," I put in. "I think that Frances has hit upon something Charlie. Do you want to come with me?" "Might as well. I don't see what else I'm going to do." I said. Very soon Judith and I were headed downtown. In the end, we chose to go see a play that had just been translated into English from German, and was one of the most inexpensive. It was about the criminals of London. I enjoyed it immensely, though for the life of me I can't remember its name. Judith loved the music. She said it was all in the minor key, whatever that meant, and that it was so whimsical and sad sounding that she couldn't help liking it. We disagreed over the ending. I thought that it was wonderful that at the last minute, when the criminal was going to be hanged, the Queen reprieved him. Judith thought that it was an unrealistic ending with sappy music, and persisted in thinking so. We arrived at home rather late at night, so we tiptoed up, slowly got in our beds, and quietly went to sleep.
I awoke in the morning only to find that Frances and Judith had already gone out to breakfast. It was already ten o'clock. This knowledge caused me to shake myself and change the time on my clock, which was still on the ranch time. I then got up and showered. When I emerged, my sisters had already returned. Frances was very excited because of the tour she had taken the night before. She was blabbing on and on about it. When Judith finally got her to stow it, we went out to see the sights. At lunch none of us could stop talking about our favorite tour. Frances adored Buckingham Palace, Judith loved the tombs at Westminster Abbey, and I was partial to the Tower of London. For some reason when I told Frances that that was my favorite because of the fact that it must have been a challenge to escape from, she abruptly changed the subject. After lunch we wondered around until seven o'clock finally showed itself and we turned towards Portland Place. Poirot received us warmly and directed us towards a French Restaurant of his own liking. When we arrived there, he sent Judith and I ahead to get a table. He and Frances carried on a mysterious conversation that lasted until the food arrived. Judith and I were to return to Argentina the next day so, much to my embarrassment, Poirot began giving me tips on seasickness. "You must breathe in deeply, and then out deeply. Compris?" "Er.... yes." "Never, could I stand le mer. Do you, Mesdemoiselles, how do you say it? Have your seas of the leg?" Frances laughed, "Our sea legs? Yes, we've got them. It's just Charlie." "Ah."
The next day Frances passed me a letter to give to Father. "On no accounts open it, Charlie." "I see." We were standing on the dock, and already the sea was giving me unpleasant sensations. Judith was saying something, so I tried hard to pay attention. "We'll miss you Franny." "I'll miss all of you too," said Frances. "Say hello to the jungle for me Judith." "I will." "Look here," I said. "I don't want to break this up, but if we're not careful the ship will leave without us." "Oh Charles!" Judith groaned, but we got on the ship after all. We stood on the rail and waved as long as Frances was in sight. We were the last people left on deck. "One down," murmured Judith. "Four to go," and I was promptly sick over the rail. I spent most of the voyage like that. When we finally saw the coast of Montevideo, Uruguay looming up ahead, I was feeling awful. Judith practically dragged me off the ship and onto the train, and I remember nothing of the trip home. The warm air I had missed so much finally awakened me. All of a sudden I had a yearning for a mango. "Upsidaisies Charlie. Or do I have to carry you to the car?" "The car?" I asked vaguely. I noticed that we had arrived at the Pampas railway stop. I also noticed that Pedro was standing by a parked car, waiting to take us home. When we pulled up in front of the ranch, Mother and Nina came running out. Nina's first question was, "Where's Franny?" "She's at school," I said. Judith looked at the ground and said nothing. I was used to Nina ignoring me, I was a boy, but for Judith it was different. Judith had always wanted to have someone's love all to herself. She had especially wanted a little sister, but when Nina came, Frances scooped her up immediately and Nina preferred Frances, you could tell. Mother caught Judith's movement and hugged her. "I'm so glad you're back." Frances's departure left me thinking about my future. I thought that I would like to be a doctor. Therefore, I often ventured into the forest with Judith, who wanted to be a woman scientist, looking for species to analyze, or alynize, as Frances had so aptly put it years before. It was a year later. I was sixteen and Judith was fifteen. Nina's fifth birthday was a day away when Judith all of a sudden decided that we were all going on a picnic in the jungle. Judith had gradually been trying to get closer to Nina and now included her in all of our activities, much to my chagrin. We set out at about eleven, so the sun was already high in the sky when we finally decided to rest and have lunch. Nina was complaining about her aching feet, and if there's one thing I can't stand, it's a complainer. I therefore wandered off to ponder the meaning of life, or something of that sort. Pretty soon I was startled to here frightened girls' screams. I ran back to where they were. "Charlie, do something quickly!" Judith yelled, for standing there, large as life, was a jaguar. I said something unsavory and spat on the ground. The jaguar started circling them and licking its lips. It hadn't noticed me yet, and I preferred to keep it that way. I looked around for a rock or something, but all I had that was of use was a butter knife that I had put in my pocket for some incomprehensible reason that morning. I whipped it out just as the cat was ready to spring. "Yoo-hoo! Pussy! Puss-puss-puss-pussy! Over here you blasted feline!" The cat turned its head and looked me in the eyes. If I could, I would have taken back what I had just said and let my sisters be eaten, but it was too late and the cat was already flying through the air towards me. I jumped to one side and let it drop to the ground. I them hit it over the head with the handle of the butter knife. This however, did not have the desired effect, and instead of knocking the creature senseless, it caused it to hit me on the side of the face with its claws. I didn't think twice, but rammed the butter knife up to the hilt into the jaguar's chest. I half expected it to turn around and hit me again, but instead it fell stone dead on the forest floor. We were all frozen for a full minute. The silence was broken by Nina's sobs, which Judith tried to hush. I reached up to the side of my face that the jaguar had hit. It had started to sting and I couldn't see out of that eye. I soon found out why, for when I examined my hand I found that it was covered in blood. Judith was staring at me in a most uneasy way. "Charlie, would you like to use this napkin?" Nina had caught sight of me too and was silent. "What is it?" I asked. "Why are you all gawking at me?" Silence. "Let's go back. My d----- face is beginning to sting like h---. D--- it!" Nina opened her eyes wide." I didn't say that," I added. We began to walk home. My face didn't sting, on the contrary. A minute ago it had felt like living fire, now I couldn't feel it at all. By the time I arrived at home, I was seeing through a red haze. Mother met us at the door and sent Juana to get the doctor when she saw me. She sent Nina to get Father from the fields and then to stay there with Pedro. 'Ha!' I thought. 'If Frances were here she'd stop Nina from talking to Pedro. Now she can't do that.' While I was thinking these thoughts, Mother had me in the kitchen leaning over a pail of water, and she was washing my face. "What in the world happened?" "I killed the jaguar that was going to eat 'em." "Eat Nina and Judith?" "Yes. "Goodness. What did you kill it with?" "Your butter knife, I'm sorry, I forgot it." "That's OK. I'd probably toss it anyway. I'm just glad you're back with your head still in the right place Charlie." She hugged me and sat me down at the table to wait for Father and the doctor. I was glad that Mother hadn't exploded or something else. She had remained sane enough. Father on the other hand, was pacing back and forth the whole time that we were waiting for the doctor. Finally he appeared. "Dr. Paldito, could you take a look at Charlie?" asked Mother. The amiable practitioner took one look at me and began whispering to my Father. I wanted to hear what Dr. Paldito was saying, but I was beginning to feel lightheaded and before the good doctor could finish his sentence about loss of blood in the head, I was out like a light. When I woke up, it was dark, and someone was in my room. I can tell these things easily, because I have always had my own room and I know what an intruder sounds like. "Who's there?" "Not to worry. It is I." "Pedro! What are you doing here?" I switched on the lights. "Oh! Yours is worse than mine." "Your what? My what?" "Your face. What your scar will be. I take my hat off to you. When I killed my jaguar I was nineteen, and strong. The jaguar was also very small. But you, you kill a full grown cat with a butter knife!" "It wasn't full grown, I'm sure." "Ah! Excuse me but it was. Your sister, Judith, who knows the animals, says it was. So shall it be." "You said earlier about a scar...." "But yes. I overheard the doctor." "Tell me, does it look terrible? My face I mean." "At the moment, there is no face over there, but soon it will be whole again, and you can show off to the ladies. Yes?" "Yes."
One year later, I was completely normal again, with the exception of a thick red line, running down from my left temple to my chin, which Judith claimed was distinguished. At first, Father couldn't get over the fact that I had killed a jaguar "too." He kept saying, "...but thank heavens that's all for now," whatever that meant. Soon, he stopped worrying about me and started worrying about my mother. She hadn't been completely well ever since Nina was born, but now she was under constant surveillance by Dr. Paldito. One day I was out dissecting a dead bird I had found in the grasses when Judith came running out of the house. "Charlie, Mother's taken to her bed and I don't know what to do. Dr. Paldito's with her." "There's nothing you can do. Here, help me with this. I've got to practice for my test into Oxford Medical School." "Charlie, you don't seem to comprehend. Mother's dying!" I sat straight up. "They've sent for Frances and everything! She's taking a plane here for goodness sakes! She'll be here tomorrow!" I still couldn't believe it. My only consolation was that I was about to leave and wouldn't have to be around the place much longer. The next day, Frances arrived. She had changed. She had lost the tan that all of us sported after being out in the sun all day and, more surprisingly, she was pretty. If I hadn't been her brother I would say that she was drop-dead- gorgeous. None of those things presented themselves to any of us at that moment. She had to see Mother. We all got a minute with her that day, because the doctor said that it was possibly her last. I won't recount mine. It was too painful. Because, you see, at seven o'clock that night, my Mother left.
I was not in the best of spirits when I stepped off that blasted boat. I had discovered that I was just a wee bit prone to seasickness, much to my younger sister, Judith's, mirth. We boarded a train to London, which didn't have me feeling any better. Judith and I had come on a holiday to London with my older sister Frances, who was going to be going to a college there. When we stepped off the train, Frances hurried off heaven-knows-where to get us a cab. For my part, I sat down on a stack of newspapers, my head between my hands, trying to come to the realization that I was on land while Judith snickered at me from behind her hand. "Stow it!" I said roughly. Judith stopped at once. Not because of my exclamation, but because of the fact that Frances was coming back. "I've gotten us a cab. Charlie, are you all right? You look sick." "Not sick, downright green around the gills!" was Judith's comment. I chose to ignore it. "I'll be better soon now that we're off that thumping ship!" Frances led us to where the cab was waiting and we all got in. The first thing I noticed was how big it was. The second thing was that the cabby was asking Frances something. "Where to?" "Um.... Charlie?" she turned around to me. "Would you rather drop our things at my dorm first or would you rather look up Father's friend?" "Your dorm by all means! Drive on Jeeves!" and then I fell asleep.
I was awaked by Frances gently shaking me. "We're there." So I saw. The campus was a pretty place and her dorm looked to be one of the nicest in sight. I was startled by all the green. Everywhere I looked there was carefully trimmed grass. On every other dorm green there was a blossoming fruit tree. I slowly got out of the cab. Frances paid the cabby and we walked into her dorm, which looked more like the medieval castles in Nina's King Arthur fairytales than what I imagined a dorm should look like. Francis had a small room that she would share with a roommate that had not arrived yet. I was given one bed and Judith and Frances shared the other, as they did at home. After we got all of our things unpacked and put in drawers, we walked down to the bus stop and got on one headed towards Portland Place. This worthy establishment proved to be an immensely huge apartment building that was somewhat square in shape. "Who would want to live in this monstrosity?" asked Judith. She obviously shared my views on the subject. "You'd think everything taller than our barn was a monstrosity," said Frances, the beginnings of a smile playing on her lips. Sometimes Frances is so sweet, it scares me. "Nonetheless," I said, "who would want to live here?" "Father's friend Mr......" Frances paused and screwed up her face, looking at a name on a piece of paper, " Mr.... Parrot, no. Mr. Pirate? Ah, I've got it! Mr. Poirot." "Sounds French," I observed, leaning against a tree. "It most likely is." And without much further ado, Frances started into the building.
We took the elevator up seven flights. None of us had ever been in an elevator before, so it was a new experience. Judith made a somewhat uncouth remark about elevatorsickness, which I chose to ignore. When we reached number 1, Frances boldly knocked on the door. "Mais, enter then!" Frances tried the door and found it locked. "It's locked." "Dommage. Do not derange yourself. Just a little instant." I almost died laughing at his " Do not derange yourself," but Frances glared at me and I was immediately silent. Soon, a little man opened the door. He had an egg- shaped head, suspiciously jet-black hair, and, best of all, the hugest set of moustaches I had ever seen. "Ah, come in." We walked into the apartment. It was symmetrical even to the point that on the coat rack there was a grey coat on the right, a blue coat in the middle, and a grey coat on the left. I found this all dashed amusing. When we had all seated ourselves, Frances started to introduce us. "I'm..." "But wait! You will permit me to guess?" Frances offered no objection so he leaned back and closed his eyes. Judith rolled her eyes at me and I returned her gesture. We had always been sure that Father was a bit daft, but Frances idolized him so we never said so out loud. Either this clinched our suspicions, or we had wondered into the wrong apartment. Suddenly the little man started forward with a jerk. He said nothing, but grabbed Judith's arm, who was closest to him, and pulled her toward him. He kissed her once on each cheek and, to my horror, started towards me. "Now... look here," I protested, jumping up and putting my chair between he and myself. To my annoyance, he merely started laughing. "But of course! If you are who I think you are that action was not unexpected, Charlie." "How on earth did you know my name?" I asked. As if it isn't unnerving enough to have a lunatic Frenchman chasing you around a room, he has to know things you don't recall telling him also. "Well?" "Your father told me of course! Et maintenant Mademoiselle Hastings...." Frances giggled, much to my chagrin, and didn't protest when he embraced her in that frightening fashion of his. "Perhaps you'd better explain Mr. Poirot," said Frances. "I'm perfectly content to wait in the dark, but if you don't tell my brother what's going on soon, I think he'll die." "I see. But first: If you would please silence the little "T" at the end of my name, I would be most happy." Frances blushed and said that she would.
"Long ago I was at the height of my career in the Belgian Police Force. Early into the war, pardon, the previous one, I met a young soldier who was in my hometown with some of his comrades with arms." "In arms," I put in, but he didn't seen to notice. "He seemed to take an interest in the army, which is more than I must say for the rest of the group. That is what made him stand out. We soon became fast friends and shortly after that he was sent to France. Even more shortly après ca, I was cast out of my position and my country and sent to England. Fortunately I was allowed to stay, with some of my fellow countrymen, at a little cottage on the grounds of a tres riche lady and her family. One day I had gone to the post to send a little letter off. As I was entering, a young man collided with me in the most violent way. 'Ah! But he is rude!' I thought to myself, before I got a good look at him. What do you think he said Charlie?" I had been dozing, so his question took me by surprise and I said the first thing that popped into my head. "'I'm devilishly sorry,' I suppose." "Precisment. It was then that I recognized him as my friend the young soldier of before. He had left the front because of a grievous wound and he was most unhappy. Later he aided me with a case so complex, that it was a miracle that I solved it. After that he helped me with other little problems. During one of these he met a charming young lady right out of a comte des feys. She was accused of murder, but he fell in love with her none the less. In the end, it fell out that her sister was really the criminal." I straightened up. That sort of thing intrigued me. Frances, who still didn't guess where this story was going, whispered, "And then?" "Ben, boffe they were wed and moved far away. Four years after their marriage, a little girl was born." And he looked at Frances. He could no longer contain himself. "How goes it with mon ami Hastings?" Judith, who hadn't said a word the whole time piped up now. "Very much the same I daresay." "And a bit more so," I added. I was a bit surprised when Poirot aimed a sharp glance in my direction. Frances, always Father's girl, glared at me and told me to "stop being so silly." "Ah yes," said Poirot, paying no heed to Frances, "I miss even his powers of deduction." It was Judith's turn to snort; however Poirot didn't seem to pay as much attention to her. Instead, he turned to Frances. "I must now leave on a matter of great importance. It would not derange you if I put off our conversation to another time?" "No, of course not. How does dinner tomorrow sound?" "Magnificent! You may come here and then we may all depart. To a restaurant of my choosing, non?" "That sounds stupendous. We'll be here at seven tomorrow evening. Good- bye!" The little man ushered us to the door, and soon we were headed back to the dorm. "What shall we do for the rest of the evening?" asked Judith, who was gazing out Frances's window "I don't know what you're going to do, but I'm going to take a tour of the campus," said Frances. "Why don't you and Charlie go see a film? Or a play, better yet. You've never seen a real one you know." "Neither have you," I put in. "I think that Frances has hit upon something Charlie. Do you want to come with me?" "Might as well. I don't see what else I'm going to do." I said. Very soon Judith and I were headed downtown. In the end, we chose to go see a play that had just been translated into English from German, and was one of the most inexpensive. It was about the criminals of London. I enjoyed it immensely, though for the life of me I can't remember its name. Judith loved the music. She said it was all in the minor key, whatever that meant, and that it was so whimsical and sad sounding that she couldn't help liking it. We disagreed over the ending. I thought that it was wonderful that at the last minute, when the criminal was going to be hanged, the Queen reprieved him. Judith thought that it was an unrealistic ending with sappy music, and persisted in thinking so. We arrived at home rather late at night, so we tiptoed up, slowly got in our beds, and quietly went to sleep.
I awoke in the morning only to find that Frances and Judith had already gone out to breakfast. It was already ten o'clock. This knowledge caused me to shake myself and change the time on my clock, which was still on the ranch time. I then got up and showered. When I emerged, my sisters had already returned. Frances was very excited because of the tour she had taken the night before. She was blabbing on and on about it. When Judith finally got her to stow it, we went out to see the sights. At lunch none of us could stop talking about our favorite tour. Frances adored Buckingham Palace, Judith loved the tombs at Westminster Abbey, and I was partial to the Tower of London. For some reason when I told Frances that that was my favorite because of the fact that it must have been a challenge to escape from, she abruptly changed the subject. After lunch we wondered around until seven o'clock finally showed itself and we turned towards Portland Place. Poirot received us warmly and directed us towards a French Restaurant of his own liking. When we arrived there, he sent Judith and I ahead to get a table. He and Frances carried on a mysterious conversation that lasted until the food arrived. Judith and I were to return to Argentina the next day so, much to my embarrassment, Poirot began giving me tips on seasickness. "You must breathe in deeply, and then out deeply. Compris?" "Er.... yes." "Never, could I stand le mer. Do you, Mesdemoiselles, how do you say it? Have your seas of the leg?" Frances laughed, "Our sea legs? Yes, we've got them. It's just Charlie." "Ah."
The next day Frances passed me a letter to give to Father. "On no accounts open it, Charlie." "I see." We were standing on the dock, and already the sea was giving me unpleasant sensations. Judith was saying something, so I tried hard to pay attention. "We'll miss you Franny." "I'll miss all of you too," said Frances. "Say hello to the jungle for me Judith." "I will." "Look here," I said. "I don't want to break this up, but if we're not careful the ship will leave without us." "Oh Charles!" Judith groaned, but we got on the ship after all. We stood on the rail and waved as long as Frances was in sight. We were the last people left on deck. "One down," murmured Judith. "Four to go," and I was promptly sick over the rail. I spent most of the voyage like that. When we finally saw the coast of Montevideo, Uruguay looming up ahead, I was feeling awful. Judith practically dragged me off the ship and onto the train, and I remember nothing of the trip home. The warm air I had missed so much finally awakened me. All of a sudden I had a yearning for a mango. "Upsidaisies Charlie. Or do I have to carry you to the car?" "The car?" I asked vaguely. I noticed that we had arrived at the Pampas railway stop. I also noticed that Pedro was standing by a parked car, waiting to take us home. When we pulled up in front of the ranch, Mother and Nina came running out. Nina's first question was, "Where's Franny?" "She's at school," I said. Judith looked at the ground and said nothing. I was used to Nina ignoring me, I was a boy, but for Judith it was different. Judith had always wanted to have someone's love all to herself. She had especially wanted a little sister, but when Nina came, Frances scooped her up immediately and Nina preferred Frances, you could tell. Mother caught Judith's movement and hugged her. "I'm so glad you're back." Frances's departure left me thinking about my future. I thought that I would like to be a doctor. Therefore, I often ventured into the forest with Judith, who wanted to be a woman scientist, looking for species to analyze, or alynize, as Frances had so aptly put it years before. It was a year later. I was sixteen and Judith was fifteen. Nina's fifth birthday was a day away when Judith all of a sudden decided that we were all going on a picnic in the jungle. Judith had gradually been trying to get closer to Nina and now included her in all of our activities, much to my chagrin. We set out at about eleven, so the sun was already high in the sky when we finally decided to rest and have lunch. Nina was complaining about her aching feet, and if there's one thing I can't stand, it's a complainer. I therefore wandered off to ponder the meaning of life, or something of that sort. Pretty soon I was startled to here frightened girls' screams. I ran back to where they were. "Charlie, do something quickly!" Judith yelled, for standing there, large as life, was a jaguar. I said something unsavory and spat on the ground. The jaguar started circling them and licking its lips. It hadn't noticed me yet, and I preferred to keep it that way. I looked around for a rock or something, but all I had that was of use was a butter knife that I had put in my pocket for some incomprehensible reason that morning. I whipped it out just as the cat was ready to spring. "Yoo-hoo! Pussy! Puss-puss-puss-pussy! Over here you blasted feline!" The cat turned its head and looked me in the eyes. If I could, I would have taken back what I had just said and let my sisters be eaten, but it was too late and the cat was already flying through the air towards me. I jumped to one side and let it drop to the ground. I them hit it over the head with the handle of the butter knife. This however, did not have the desired effect, and instead of knocking the creature senseless, it caused it to hit me on the side of the face with its claws. I didn't think twice, but rammed the butter knife up to the hilt into the jaguar's chest. I half expected it to turn around and hit me again, but instead it fell stone dead on the forest floor. We were all frozen for a full minute. The silence was broken by Nina's sobs, which Judith tried to hush. I reached up to the side of my face that the jaguar had hit. It had started to sting and I couldn't see out of that eye. I soon found out why, for when I examined my hand I found that it was covered in blood. Judith was staring at me in a most uneasy way. "Charlie, would you like to use this napkin?" Nina had caught sight of me too and was silent. "What is it?" I asked. "Why are you all gawking at me?" Silence. "Let's go back. My d----- face is beginning to sting like h---. D--- it!" Nina opened her eyes wide." I didn't say that," I added. We began to walk home. My face didn't sting, on the contrary. A minute ago it had felt like living fire, now I couldn't feel it at all. By the time I arrived at home, I was seeing through a red haze. Mother met us at the door and sent Juana to get the doctor when she saw me. She sent Nina to get Father from the fields and then to stay there with Pedro. 'Ha!' I thought. 'If Frances were here she'd stop Nina from talking to Pedro. Now she can't do that.' While I was thinking these thoughts, Mother had me in the kitchen leaning over a pail of water, and she was washing my face. "What in the world happened?" "I killed the jaguar that was going to eat 'em." "Eat Nina and Judith?" "Yes. "Goodness. What did you kill it with?" "Your butter knife, I'm sorry, I forgot it." "That's OK. I'd probably toss it anyway. I'm just glad you're back with your head still in the right place Charlie." She hugged me and sat me down at the table to wait for Father and the doctor. I was glad that Mother hadn't exploded or something else. She had remained sane enough. Father on the other hand, was pacing back and forth the whole time that we were waiting for the doctor. Finally he appeared. "Dr. Paldito, could you take a look at Charlie?" asked Mother. The amiable practitioner took one look at me and began whispering to my Father. I wanted to hear what Dr. Paldito was saying, but I was beginning to feel lightheaded and before the good doctor could finish his sentence about loss of blood in the head, I was out like a light. When I woke up, it was dark, and someone was in my room. I can tell these things easily, because I have always had my own room and I know what an intruder sounds like. "Who's there?" "Not to worry. It is I." "Pedro! What are you doing here?" I switched on the lights. "Oh! Yours is worse than mine." "Your what? My what?" "Your face. What your scar will be. I take my hat off to you. When I killed my jaguar I was nineteen, and strong. The jaguar was also very small. But you, you kill a full grown cat with a butter knife!" "It wasn't full grown, I'm sure." "Ah! Excuse me but it was. Your sister, Judith, who knows the animals, says it was. So shall it be." "You said earlier about a scar...." "But yes. I overheard the doctor." "Tell me, does it look terrible? My face I mean." "At the moment, there is no face over there, but soon it will be whole again, and you can show off to the ladies. Yes?" "Yes."
One year later, I was completely normal again, with the exception of a thick red line, running down from my left temple to my chin, which Judith claimed was distinguished. At first, Father couldn't get over the fact that I had killed a jaguar "too." He kept saying, "...but thank heavens that's all for now," whatever that meant. Soon, he stopped worrying about me and started worrying about my mother. She hadn't been completely well ever since Nina was born, but now she was under constant surveillance by Dr. Paldito. One day I was out dissecting a dead bird I had found in the grasses when Judith came running out of the house. "Charlie, Mother's taken to her bed and I don't know what to do. Dr. Paldito's with her." "There's nothing you can do. Here, help me with this. I've got to practice for my test into Oxford Medical School." "Charlie, you don't seem to comprehend. Mother's dying!" I sat straight up. "They've sent for Frances and everything! She's taking a plane here for goodness sakes! She'll be here tomorrow!" I still couldn't believe it. My only consolation was that I was about to leave and wouldn't have to be around the place much longer. The next day, Frances arrived. She had changed. She had lost the tan that all of us sported after being out in the sun all day and, more surprisingly, she was pretty. If I hadn't been her brother I would say that she was drop-dead- gorgeous. None of those things presented themselves to any of us at that moment. She had to see Mother. We all got a minute with her that day, because the doctor said that it was possibly her last. I won't recount mine. It was too painful. Because, you see, at seven o'clock that night, my Mother left.