A Future Not Good Enough

Ageless is silent for a moment.

Are you thinking about the future? asks Lavender.

Yes, says Ageless. How did you know?

Because I know the future, says Lavender.

But I'm thinking about the future now, says Ageless.

And I know what it is, says Lavender.

What is it? says Ageless.

You go home on the train, says Lavender. And you play the P game.

Wrong, says Ageless. And it's not just a P game. We stroll to Darling Harbour. We catch a ferry to Circular Quay. We visit the Rocks, and drink coffee while watching the stall holders try to sell intricately fabricated artefacts.

Shells? says Lavender.

Shells are not artefacts, says Ageless. We speak of the future. The children's daddy will soon be returning from Denmark, where it is winter.

It's not winter! says Lavender.

It is in Denmark, says Ageless. And there is good news. No doubt you already know what it is.

Don't tease her, says Kobo.

Never, my sweetness, says Ageless.

So, what is it? asks Kobo. A nice holiday somewhere, on an island?

Ageless is surprised that she's guessed it.

Yes, a week in Barbados, paid for by the Company, spouses included.

And children, says Lavender.

No children, says Ageless. So Butterfly and Fish will need minding. Jean is returning to Scotland, and can't do it. I offer to do it. The children's mother declines my kind offer.

Very wise, says Kobo.

She is hoping that Rabbie will do it, says Ageless.

And will he? asks Kobo.

O yes, says Ageless. He is only too happy. He tells her he once almost went to Jamaica.

What relevance does that have? asks Kobo.

Ill-starred relevance, answers Ageless. It seems he was struggling to run the family farm in Ayrshire, and when his friend Patrick Douglas offered him a position as overseer on a sugar plantation in Jamaica he jumped at the offer.

Wait a minute! says Kobo.

That's what the children's mother said, says Ageless.

Were there SLAVES on that sugar plantation? asks Kobo.

You echo her words exactly, says Ageless. And of course the answer was yes, there were slaves on the sugar plantation.

And did he not CARE? asks Kobo.

Apparently not, says Ageless. But he says he does now.

I'm not sure that's good enough, says Kobo.