Peter had lunch with Edmund, and they spent the afternoon talking business with Eostre. Then, he headed for home, typed up his resignation letter and printed it out.
He was sitting in the kitchen chatting with Eostre when Ella got home from the beach.
They heard the front door open and close. Ella called out, “Dad, I’m home.”
He called back, “I am in the kitchen.”
She walked in, “Hi Dad, hi Eostre.” Then she gasped, “Eostre?”
Peter and Eostre looked at each other and laughed. Peter said, “Ella, I think you have been keeping a secret from me?” He tried to look stern, but it didn’t really work.
He continued, “Sit down, darling, you are very pink, and I understand that your bikini is ‘minimal’.”
She sat down, “Sorry, Dad, I know I should have told you…”
Peter said, “It is fine, I have been keeping a secret from you for much longer. Something you should have been told about, but there just never seemed to be the right time. Before I tell you about that, tell me about the bikini. Is it larger or smaller than a handkerchief?”
Ella looked at him, wryly, “Man’s handkerchief or woman’s?”
Peter turned to Eostre, “That small?”
Eostre nodded, and they both laughed.
Ella scowled at both of them, “I am going to get a drink, then you can tell me what you have been keeping from me, and I can tell Eostre what I think about her ratting on me about the bikini.”
She came back with a glass of water and sat beside them.
Peter said, “Eostre, let me start, then, the last part. Do you mind telling her all you told me?”
Eostre nodded, and in turn, they related their parts of the story. Ella listened, all the way through, intently, without saying a word. She sat afterwards, staring intently out into the garden. Tears ran down her face; she didn’t trouble to wipe them away.
After a long pause, which felt like an hour to Peter, but which Eostre had measured at just 247 seconds, she reached over to the worktop and took a tissue from the box there; she wiped her face. Then she turned and looked at Peter and Eostre. “I knew something was wrong with Vesna last night, it felt like when you are on the phone, the connection goes dead, you carry on talking, but there is no one there any more, the other person has gone. Eostre, you have been like a sister to me; I had not understood that you really are my sister. That was proved last night, I think, when we both felt Vesna die. Lastly, what you and Edmund propose doing, I would like that very much, if Dad agrees too?” She looked across at him, and he nodded his agreement.
He walked over to her and hugged her. Eostre said, “May I join you?” Ella nodded. Eostre disappeared, Ella said, “Dad, she is with us, in my mind now.”
Peter smiled. “Two for the price of one.”
Peter and Ella started work on dinner, Eostre sat out of the way, while they all talked.
Peter said, “Ella, I think you have probably worked out that I have not been very happy at work lately?” Ella nodded, and he continued, “Well, today, I asked Eostre to help me with writing a business plan for my own business. That plan got nowhere.”
Ella frowned and looked at Eostre, who smiled back at her.
Peter continued, “Instead, she showed me her share trading platform and the insane amount of money she is making and offered me a job. I have accepted. It is pretty much my dream job, Eostre and Edmund intend to acquire companies, and my job will be to maximise their performance.” He turned and looked at Eostre, “There is still a lot of detail to discuss, for example, do I work from home or do we need an office at this point. Also, it may involve quite a bit of travelling. As the work develops, I will need to visit companies to evaluate them before purchase and then later to help them achieve their potential. I will also need a car, I haven’t quite decided what.”
Eostre said, “Ferraris sound nice, very fast.”
“Not reliable, too flash.”
Ella said, “Porsche?”
“Reliable, too flash.”
This went on for a while, but in reality, Peter had already made up his mind, not flash, not extravagant, just the best tool for the job.
After dinner, Eostre said, Ella, there is something I would like you to do for me. It means a walk down to the beach, Peter, you can come too, if you like.”
Peter said, “Yes, a walk would be nice, it is low tide soon, isn’t it?”
Eostre replied, “Yes, that is the ideal time. Also, we will need to be up early to collect the results of the experiment.”
Peter said, “More fish, I liked the ones in Edmund’s tank, especially the extinct one.”
Eostre shook her head, “Not fish, a step up, if you can come early tomorrow morning when I collect them, you will see.”
Both nodded, “OK, that sounds interesting.”
A little later, they set off, Eostre nestled in Ella’s mind, directing them. They walked along the sea wall to a place south of the Deben estuary, where the sea was building up new banks of shingle. A lagoon, almost entirely closed off from the sea, had formed, with just a narrow neck on the outer edge where the tide filled and emptied the lagoon. Shuck bounded up, tail wagging, with what looked like a battered old football in his mouth. Peter and Ella patted him.
“Can you take the ball from him, please. Kick it out into the middle of the lagoon.”
Ella turned to her Peter, “Dad, Eostre says she wants me to kick that ball out into the middle of the lagoon.”
Peter cocked his head, “Eostre has clearly never seen you kicking a football.”
Ella nodded, “Not part of my skill set, tennis balls, yes, footballs no. Can you do it, please?”
“It doesn’t matter who kicks it, I will guide where it lands, I only want you to kick it so anyone watching does see a magic ball taking to the air.”
Ella said, “She says it doesn’t matter who kicks it, she will guide it. I would still rather you did it.”
Peter took the ball from Shuck. “This is heavy. What is in it?”
Ella listened to Eostre and said, “She says, it is a cocktail of biomass and reagents. The sea is a perfect source of additional minerals and chemicals, which the process requires, hence the location.”
Peter tossed the ball in the air and kicked it towards the centre of the lagoon. The ball dipped sharply under its own weight, but then flew on as if driven by a gust of wind, landing right in the centre of the lagoon where it sank out of sight.
Peter and Ella headed for home. Shuck padded along beside them, on their way back into the town. They passed the end of Edmund’s road, and Shuck gave them a small bark and headed for home.