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Take three ordinary kids – well, to be frank, two ordinary kids and one a little outside normal, if you know what I mean.
Put these three kids in a vacation home near a beautiful lake with an island, and throw in some boating on the lake and some model airplanes, and you have an idyllic picture, right?
Well, you would have, if everything was what
it seemed.
It turned out that nothing was what it seemed . . . but the kids did not know that until too late.
CHAPTER ONE
DARK CLOUDS IN A SUNNY DAY
The day was sunny, but Amber Vane’s mood was not. “What was all that with Mom?” she demanded of her brother. “Why shouldn’t we go to the club?”
“You mean all that about, ‘Maybe the pool’s not open?’ Yeah, weird. It’s bound to be open. Memorial Day was last week.” Casey, more easy-going than his twin sister, was more puzzled than angry. Amber, however, took a sharp swipe at a bush with her tennis racquet.
“It’s like she didn’t want us to go,” she snapped. “Of course, if Dad had got ours filled we wouldn’t need to go in the first place.”
“Yeah. What’s with that? We normally get our pool open way before anyone else. What’s the big problem this year?”
“Dad’s been strange lately,” brooded Amber. This was the real reason for her dark mood. She felt that something was wrong, and so did Casey. It was a cloud that cast a shadow over their sunny day.
Amber and Casey were strolling along Country Club Road. The trees that lined the road cast pools of dark shadow onto wide grass verges. To either side, low stone walls marked the boundaries of the great estates of Foxley Park. Far beyond the walls, behind lawns and flower beds, stood the mansions of the wealthy. Casey and Amber knew them all, for they themselves were part of this privileged world where money was king.
They arrived at white pillars that marked the entrance to the Country Club and entered the private lane that led to the clubhouse. Now, to either side, lay the rolling lawns of the golf course.
“It’s a drag coming here just to get a swim,” grumbled Amber.
“Well, there’s tennis, too,” said Casey. They were both dressed in tennis gear that was a crisp white against their tans.
“Just so’s Jeannie’s not here,” added Amber. “That would really spoil my day.”
“And that creepy brother of hers,” said Casey. “I don’t know who’s worse.” They were referring to Jerry and Jeannine Courant, the children of Charles M. Courant, who was currently President of the exclusive Foxley Park Country Club – which was where the Vane twins were headed.
“It’s because their parents are so loaded,” muttered Amber. “That’s what makes them the way they are.”
“We’re not exactly poor!” countered Casey.
However, they both knew there was a difference. Their father, George Vane, was an executive in someone else’s company. A top executive, it was true; a highly-paid one; but still an executive. Charles Courant owned not just one but a network of companies. He had executives working for him. He had big money. In the world of Foxley Park, that mattered a lot. They rounded a corner and the gleaming white clubhouse came into view. Amber’s stride faltered for a moment. “Oh no!” she whispered fiercely. “Would you believe it? There they are. Both of them!”
Jerry and Jeannine Courant saw the Vanes at the same time as the Vanes saw them. Jerry, at fifteen, was the oldest of the four. His sister Jeannine, aged thirteen, was the same age as the Vanes. There was no avoiding a meeting. After all, they were “friends” in the sense that they met fairly frequently, and their parents played golf together. But both Jerry and Jeannine had a sarcastic, cutting side; and they did not disguise the fact that they felt superior to everyone else. Generally, whenever they approached Jerry, Casey and Amber could tell that he was readying some smart remark, some “friendly greeting” that carried a put-down with it, all delivered with a wide grin so that he could quickly say, “Hey, just kidding,” if anyone took offence.
This time, it was different. When Jerry and Jeannine saw Casey and Amber they exchanged a look of surprise, and looked uncomfortable for a moment, though they soon disguised it.
“Hi, Jerry. Hi Jeannie.” Casey thought it best to get in first.
“Hi.” Jeannine responded brightly - too brightly, Amber thought - but Jerry said nothing for a moment.
He stood looking at them for a long moment before he said, “I didn’t think we’d see you here.”
“Why not?”
“Well….” He looked at his sister.
She said, “I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad you came.”
“Yeah.” Jerry’s expression still had an appraising look about it. “I’m kinda surprised, though”
“Why?”
“Well….it’s not as if you really belong here anymore, is it?” Although the sky remained as blue as ever, another shadow fell over Casey and Amber.
“What are you talking about?
Jerry gave one of the smiles he specialized in; a kind of smirk. He said, “Well, if that’s the way you want to play it. But they do have rules here, you know. You won’t get away with it for long.”
“Get away with what? What are you talking about?”
“Nothing. Nothing. Sorry I spoke. I’m surprised, though.”
“Surprised about what?” snapped Amber, exasperated and beginning to feel an uneasy upset in her stomach.
“Nothing. Nothing at all. Hey, we’re going to go see Dad. Come on, Jeannie.” The Courant children turned away from them and began to walk towards the clubhouse. After a few paces, Jerry turned and called back, “It’s okay. We won’t tell Dad anything.”
Casey and Amber watched them make their way across the wide area of the open-air pavilion restaurant, threading their way between the elegant chairs and tables, before disappearing into the building.
“What was all that about?”
“I dunno. Anyone would think we’d done something wrong.”
“Oh, forget them. It’s just Jerry up to one of his stupid games. We’ve got just as much right to be here as they have. Let’s go swim.” They turned left, made their way down some steps to the pool enclosure, and went into the changing area.
“Start of a new season,” said Casey, who loved to swim. “Let’s get our lockers sorted out.” They shrugged off the small backpacks which held their gear and went to where a staff member sat behind the desk. It was Alice, someone they knew well. They smiled at her, and she smiled back.
“Well, the two fishes are back,” she said. “All ready for the new season.”
“Hi, Alice. Can we get our lockers?”
“Sure.” Alice took the membership cards that Casey and Amber held out and laid them on the counter top. She took a locker key from the hooks behind her, and swiped its plastic tag through the machine on the counter. Then she took Amber’s card and swiped that. “Ladies first, huh?” She frowned. She swiped it again. Her frown deepened. “Funny,” she said.
“What’s wrong?”
“Let’s take a look at that card.” She held Amber’s card up before her face. “Well, that should be good,” she said. “It’s through December 31st this year.”
“What’s up?”
“It’s not taking the card,” said Alice. “These machines play up sometimes. Let’s try again.” Again she swiped and again she frowned. “Let’s try yours.” She picked up Casey’s card, and swiped that. “Nope.” She tried a second time. “There’s something screwy here,” she said.
“Why won’t it take them?” asked Amber.
“I dunno.” Alice held up Casey’s card and studied it. “Date’s good on this one too. But it won’t accept it. Don’t show you as members.”
“But we are members. Mom and Dad are members. We all are. You know us.”
“I sure do, but the machine says it don’t. Let’s take a look here. Something’s screwed up. I’m going to have to go into the system.” Alice tapped on the machine’s keyboard. “Okay now, here we are. Let’s see…..” Amber and Casey waited. “Well, that’s strange.”
“What is?”
“Well, according to this here, your membership was cancelled a month ago.”
“What?”
“Didn’t your Mom and Dad tell you nothing about this?”
“Nothing.” Such was their shock, that Casey found it hard to say the word.
“Well, I don’t know. Seems there’s been a mistake somewhere.”
“But, Alice, we are members. You know we are.”
“I know it. But this here machine’s saying something different. You’re gonna have to sort this out with your dad.”
“Can’t we swim, then?” asked Amber, in a small voice.
Alice looked at her sympathetically. “Look, honey, of course you can. It’s just . . . I can’t give you any locker keys. Not till this is sorted out . . . and it will be. Why don’t you just go ahead and have your swim and we’ll see about the lockers next time?”
Casey picked up their membership cards, and he and Amber moved away. “Do you still want to swim?” he asked his sister, quietly.
“I guess so. We can just leave our things in the changing room.”
“Should be safe enough.”
They went through to the changing room, got changed, and entered the pool. There were only a couple of elderly people in the water, which was still cold so early in the season. They swam for about fifteen minutes and occasionally wondered aloud to each other what could possibly have caused the problem with the computer.
When they got out, they changed, wrapped their wet costumes in their towels, and stuffed them into their backpacks. They picked up their raquets and balls and, as they usually did after a swim, made their way into the clubhouse restaurant, to get a hot chocolate. The man behind the counter knew them and greeted them with a smile. “Don’t tell me. Hot chocolate?” They nodded and grinned. Casey held out his card so that it could go onto the family tab. The server waved it away. “I’ll get that in a minute,” he said. When they came, the children eyed the thick chocolate drinks with their swirls of cream floating on the top. “Now I’ll get that.” He reached out for Casey’s card and swiped it. He frowned, just as Alice had done. “These are going on the Vane account, right?”
“Yes,” said Casey, again feeling a hollow in his stomach. He watched while the server swiped the card several more times.
Then, just as Alice had done, he said, “I’ll have to get into the system here.” He tapped his keyboard, frowning. Casey and Amber were suddenly and uncomfortably aware that there were a few people nearby, listening. “This account is closed.” The twins felt as though the server had taken a megaphone and announced it to the world. “I’ll have to ask you to pay cash.”
Casey felt the blood running into his cheeks. He turned to Amber and saw that she, too, looked embarrassed. “Did you bring any money?” he asked. She did not answer, but shook her head, almost imperceptibly.
The server shifted his footing, awkwardly, and placed Casey’s rejected membership card beside Casey’s elbow. He said, even more awkwardly, “Well . . . ” and made as if to reach for the drinks.
“Is there a problem here?” a voice from the side wanted to know. The children turned and, to their great relief (but also to their mortification) they saw Mrs. Moore, a near neighbor.
“There’s some kind of computer mess-up,” said the server, sensing that a way out was at hand. “I’m going to have to take cash for these.”
“Oh, then these are going to be on me,” said Mrs. Moore at once. She reached into her purse and came up with several bills. “I know these children very well. We’re old friends.”
They thanked Mrs. Moore profusely, and made small talk with her for a few minutes before she left them to themselves. Casey and Amber sat, crestfallen, at a table in a corner.
“I feel like a con man,” whispered Casey.
“We’d better ask Dad when we get back,” replied Amber, also in a whisper.
“It’s early yet,” said her brother. “Shall we hit a few balls before heading back?”
“Might as well.” They had brought their racquets with them, after all.
Finishing their drinks more quickly than usual, they made their way to the tennis court that stood behind the clubhouse. The single court was deserted. They opened the gate in the fence, went inside and put their backpacks down on a bench. When they began hitting the ball across the net to each other, they began to feel better.
It was not to last. As Amber stooped to pick up a ball that she had missed, she lifted her eyes to see two unwelcome forms approaching them – with racquets in hand. She knew that Casey had seen them also, for he groaned, “I don’t believe it.”
The two approaching figures were Jerry and Jeannie. They walked up to the fence and Jerry did not mince words. “Hey, we’ve come to play here.”
“We won’t be long,” called Casey. “We’ve only just got here.”
“You shouldn’t be here,” said Jerry. “We haven’t come here to wait. We want to play – now.”
“You can wait a few minutes,” said Casey. “We got here first.”
“Or we can play doubles,” suggested Amber.
Jerry’s face – never pleasant – darkened. “We don’t want to play doubles, and we don’t want to wait,” he said. “This court is for members. You’re not members anymore.” Again, the twins felt that hollow in their stomachs.
“Yes we are,” said Amber.
“That’s not what my dad says.”
“We’ve got our cards.”
“They don’t mean anything.”
“Yes they do.”
“No they don’t.”
“There’s been a mix-up.”
“No there hasn’t. Your dad cancelled your membership a month ago.”
“Funny he hasn’t told us.”
“Yes it is, isn’t it?”
“We’ve always been members.”
“Do you want me to go and get my dad?”
“If you like. Maybe he can sort it out.”
“All right.” Jerry turned and marched confidently towards the club house. The clouds that had been gathering over the twins grew darker still, although the sky remained blue for everyone else.
Amber turned to Casey. “What do we do?”
“Keep playing,” muttered her brother. “We got here first.”
“But what if there is something wrong?”
“There’s nothing wrong! Dad would have told us. It’s just some stupid computer glitch. I’m not being pushed out of here by those two.” He shot a dark glance from under his cap towards Jeannine Courant, who was standing with her arms folded and a look of hostile impatience on her face. “They don’t own the place just because their dad’s president.”
Despite his brave words, Casey had that queasy feeling again. As Amber and he knocked the ball back and forth they were acutely conscious that Jeannine was watching every move. After several minutes they saw Jerry reappear from the clubhouse – with their father. Charles Courant was a tall man, slender, in his late forties perhaps, and impeccably dressed in white slacks and shoes with the dark blue blazer that was the unofficial uniform of Foxley Park Country Club. The club’s impressive badge was sewn to the breast pocket of his blazer. His face was somewhat lined, and he sported a deep year-round tan that suggested expensive vacations mixed with visits to tanning beds at salons. His dark brown hair was thick but flecked with gray; but the gray might have been artificial, to convey a distinguished look. His stride was vigorous as he approached the fence and opened the gate.
“Now, what’s going on here?” he asked. Casey and Amber had no option but to lower their racquets and turn towards him.
“We’re practicing,” said Casey.
“We were here first,” added Amber.
Mr. Courant looked puzzled. “I’m surprised to see you here at all,” he said. “You know that this club is strictly for members only. Since you are no longer members, you have no right to be here, let alone using the facilities. You’re old enough to know the rules, both of you.”
“But we are members . . .” began Amber, but Mr. Courant cut her off.
“There seems to be some misunderstanding here,” he said. “And I don’t quite see how there can be. I have just checked the record. Your father terminated your membership over three weeks ago, and received a reimbursement of the unused fees. That means that you are not members.”
Casey and Amber were speechless. Mr. Courant saw how nonplussed they were, and became a little less abrupt. “Surely your father told you?”
“No,” said Amber in a small voice.
“Well . . .” Now it was Mr. Courant’s turn to be nonplussed. “I can’t imagine why he didn’t. Surely he must have told you something?”
“This is the first we’ve heard of it,” said Casey.
“That’s rather hard to believe,” said Mr. Courant.
“It’s the truth!”
Mr. Courant stared at them for a long moment, while the children shifted uneasily. You never quite knew where you were with Mr. Courant. He could be charming and kind . . . if he felt like it. He could also be supercilious and condescending and, on rare occasions, he could be downright nasty. Today, his mood seemed to be somewhere in the middle: more irritated than angry, but certainly not pleased.
“Well, if that’s what you tell me then I have to believe you,” said Mr. Courant, after the long moment’s pause. “But the fact remains you are no longer members of this club. As such, you are no longer free to use the facilities here. They are for members who have paid their dues. Now, Jerry tells me that not only are you using this court, which you no longer have any right to do, but that you won’t give way and let him and Jeannine use it.”
“It’s not quite like that . . .” protested Casey. Jerry gave an explosive sound of indignation from behind his father.
“No matter how it was,” Mr. Courant went on, “the fact is that Jerry and Jeannine have the right to use this court, and you don’t. So, I’m sorry, but you must give way and allow them the use of the court.”
Their cheeks burning with embarrassment, Casey and Amber picked up their stray tennis balls, went to the bench and picked up their backpacks. Mr. Courant’s eyes took in the swimming towels protruding from them. “And, use of the pool is out of the question too, I’m afraid.”
“Looks like they’ve been in already,” said Jerry quickly.
Mr. Courant frowned and continued. “I’d like to say you can stay and use the facilities, but that would hardly be fair to the members who have paid. I’m very sorry Amber, Casey, but I must ask you to leave and . . . I really think that you should have a talk with your father.”
The walk from the tennis court back to the clubhouse was very long and very humiliating. Amber and Casey felt the eyes of the Courants on their backs every step of the way
“I don’t believe it,” whispered Amber. “What’s happened?”
“I don’t know,” said Casey. He tried to keep his voice firm, but he felt rage and humiliation.
“It’s got to be a mistake.”
“Dad will make him apologize, don’t worry.”
“I don’t care. I don’t want to see him again. I don’t want to see any of them again. I don’t even want to come here again.”
“Dad will sort it out.”
“Anyone would think we were criminals.”
“That’s rich! Dad says Courant is the biggest crook going.”
The brother and sister comforted each other in this fashion as they passed beyond the clubhouse and retraced their steps along the private lane, between the pillars at the entrance, and into Country Club road. It was Amber who finally spoke the unspeakable.
“I suppose it is all a mistake?”
“It has to be.”
They continued mostly in silence until they arrived at Thorn Road, which was their road, and the driveway of their own house came into view. They saw a vehicle which they did not recognize turning out of it. As it passed them, another dark cloud entered their sky.
“Did you see that?” cried Amber.
“I sure did,” replied Casey. “What on earth is going on?”