As the afternoon turned to night, everyone in the group started chatting more and more with each other and getting more and more comfortable together. Cory had an unexpected love of Wattle which he expressed to Iris, after which the two start ravenously attending to each other’s words about flowering trees. Matthew and Andrew shared a dear love for VFL that I was well acquainted with - the two of them got engrossed in a battle of wits over which teams are superior. I conversed with Sybil about the importance of colour; for me in painting and for her in arrangement (and I felt a small bit of guilt in how well we were getting along). Rebecca, Alison and Mother are the only ones who haven’t yet spilled over into the living room. Unsurprisingly, they are all getting along, although a quick glance told me that the conversation had turned more grave and I decided to investigate.

“What did your parents say, Rebecca? Were they okay with it?” Mother all but hissed out.

Rebecca laughed softly. “They thought you’d be staying with us and keeping an eye on things. Somehow, I think that’s what most of our parents thought.”

My mother bites her lip.

“Don’t worry, mum! We’re all staying in completely different ends of the house and we’re only here for a couple of days. Is it so wrong for friends to want to enjoy the snowy mountains and each other’s company?”

Something I said seemed to upset my mother a little bit. “You know what people will say if they find out!”

“Mum, people’s opinions are changing. All we want to do is spend time together. That’s it. Nothing untoward. Nothing scandalous.”

My mother seemed to grapple with this a little bit, several emotions spilling across her face. Finally, she resigned herself.

“You must promise me, Walter. Ensure the utmost respect and decency at all times! No. Wine.” My mother stared me down fiercely. “And I’ll be back the day after tomorrow. I’ll stay on the final night.”

I nodded at her. It wasn’t exactly a problem to me, as I was genuinely not planning on doing anything I shouldn’t. The only other men besides us Crosses in the house are Cory and Matthew and I doubted they would be hard to wrangle if necessary. The wine, I couldn’t agree to, but she didn’t need to know about that.

“I promise,” I said.

“Don’t worry, Mrs Cross,” said Alison chipperly. “I’ll keep the boys in line.”

Mother laughed and sighed deeply. Having satisfied her worries on that particular topic, she changed the conversation to dinner.

“Walter, the turkey is nearly ready, will you get Andrew to help you set up the table?”

I agreed and returned to the living room to fetch him, but suddenly he wasn’t there and neither was Christina. I had half a mind to set the table up on my own for fear of walking in on something “improper”. That would require explaining to mother, however, so I decided against it. The most obvious place to look was the main hallway, so I started there.

As soon as I entered the dim room, lights not turned on as no one was using them, I heard Andrew and Christina’s voices and against my better judgement, I decided to sneak up and spy on them. They were huddled together near the entry to the south wing, discussing something in whispered voices.

“I just think they all hate me,” Christina complained and it was one of the few times I had heard her tone of voice express genuine human emotions. “None of those stuck up girls wanted anything to do with me! And your friends are even worse!”

“Christina, don’t say that,” Andrew instructed and I was surprised by how even and firm his voice was. “You don’t have to like them, you just have to behave yourself. I let you get away with a lot, you know. Your behaviour frequently makes me look bad but do I complain? No. Never. So for this once, all I ask is that you refrain from antagonizing the people around you. If you did that, maybe they’d start to like you.”

It made me feel uncomfortable to hear my brother be so unempathetic to his fiance but at the same time, I understood where he was coming from. I was lucky to have a well-behaved woman for a fiance but still - to care so little for her feelings? I came to the conclusion rather quickly that eavesdropping in this manner was a mistake, and sneaked back into the living room, then the kitchen and begin setting up the table on my own.

As I set plates and cutlery down, my mind races with thoughts, inspired by the conversation I had overheard. I think back to the time Alison and I had first met. I was surprised by how forward she was, how easily she spoke to me despite the fact that I was a man she did not know. At first I thought ill of her but eventually I came to understand that to simply be her adorable personality. She wasn’t afraid of anyone and I loved that about her. She did what she wanted but not in the vulgar way Christina went about it. She was a sweet and delicate woman who just so happened to know how to be herself when talking with others. The night of Andrew’s party when we met, we spoke for hours and hours, snuck off to go for a midnight stroll, looked into each other's eyes in the moonlight...

Clink.

I wasn’t sure how Andrew and Christina had met. I wondered what drew him to her? I wondered if she was more feminine and vulnerable behind closed doors, like I had overheard. No! I shouldn’t be thinking about this! I shouldn’t have even spied on my brother in the first place! But god, what must have happened to her to make her so willing to say the things she said? Why did Andrew put up with it so readily? Why did her parents? Teachers? Why had nobody straightened this out of her?

Tap.

I thought also of Sybil - she was also a strong woman. She didn’t want to put all of her attention toward finding a husband but her business was flowers. She spoke in a way you’d expect of a woman. She certainly wouldn’t say any of the things Christina said.

Shift.

What of Iris? Putting a deliberate mind to the issue, all of the women on this trip, including mother, were very strong. But none of them behaved like Christina.

Before I knew it, I had finished setting the table and I no longer had an excuse to stand there, weighing up my thoughts. Perhaps that was for the best though, they were becoming dangerous. Best not to judge too harshly. 

I returned to the kitchen and informed my mother that the table was ready and soon afterwards, everyone was seated and dinner was served.

Everyone quickly began to eat, not having eaten anything but plane food in the last 30 or so hours, we were all ravenous for something substantial. Mother had made roast turkey and vegetables, with a side of green salad. We all drank water as Mother was still concerned about us drinking wine despite the fact that we were all of age.

“This is amazing, Mrs Cross!” Iris chimed happily, the first of what would inevitably be many songs of praise. My mother was a fabulous cook. Perhaps most people say that of their own mother but in my case, it was the honest truth!

“Thank you, Iris,” she cooed happily.

“It really is delicious,” Jacob agreed and Mother seemed a little flustered.

“This gravy is better than what my mum makes!” Cory joined in.

Once dinner was finished, Mother finally, reluctantly, left. Jacob, who was going with her, seemed absolutely thrilled at the idea of leaving and I felt some guilt that I didn't try harder to get to know him.

Andrew and I watched from the foyer window as the lights of the car they were taking pulled backwards and then disappeared into small blips upon the pitch-black treeline. Finally. When we got back to the living room, it was with a bottle of wine in hand.

Alcohol had a way of loosening people up.

After a glass of wine or two, Andrew and Matthew decided they wanted to play chess but as that was a two player game, most of us couldn’t participate with them. Christina wanted to stay with Andrew to support him and watch the game and Cory had similar feelings for his friend, or perhaps he simply felt more comfortable with Matthew than with the rest of us, who he didn’t know as well.

Aside from those four, there were 5 of us left: Alison, Rebecca, Iris, Sybil and of course, myself. This meant that the girls and I were going to play monopoly! I retrieved the monopoly box from a cupboard in the section of the living room with the dining table and brought it to said table to unveil its contents. Some of us had never played before but as this game was often played by the Crosses and their partners at family gatherings, Alison and I had our own strategies and preferred tokens going into it.

“I’m the thimble!” Alison cried, snatching the piece up for herself as soon as the section of the box with the tokens in it was accessible.

I smiled at her, as this was her favourite piece and she was always so intent on using it. Some things never change!

I was less picky and I ended up with the boot. Rebecca took the canon, Sybil: the top hat and Iris: the iron.

“What do these pieces mean?” Sybil asked, unfamiliar with the game.

“They’re just a piece you use to keep track of your place on the board,” Rebecca instructed before goading Alison. “Prepare to lose, Ali!”

Goad successful! There was a twinkle in Alison’s eyes as her competitive spirit was awakened!  The woman I loved could become fierce and frightful when the victory of a board game was on the line!

“Ohoooh,” Alison cooed. “I’m gonna take you down specifically for that, Rebecca!”

Iris and Sybil seemed less enthused and watched on in slight confusion as the game was set up. Everyone was given their starting money and then we all rolled dice to determine the order we would play in. Rebecca went first!

“Okay!” She said, cupping the dice between two hands before rolling it. A 5! She lands on Reading Railroad. Will she take it?

“I’ll take it!”

The game became increasingly heated as, perhaps inevitably, Rebecca and Alison carved out a major lead for themselves. Rebecca owned all the railway stations and red properties, Alison owned all the orange and yellow properties. I owned all the green properties as well as Park Palace. Iris had gotten a hang of the game pretty well and owned all the purple and grey properties, half of which were sold to her by Sybil before she went bankrupt. The rest of the properties were owned randomly by one of the players with the exception of Boardwalk, which had miraculously been purchased by nobody.

Iris put up a decent fight, collecting money from the rest of us whenever we passed go but unfortunately she couldn’t stand up to the power of the later properties, monopolized by Alison, Rebecca and I. At one point, I strategically decided to sell her Park Palace in exchange for her purple properties when she was a lucky dice roll away from landing on Boardwalk but unfortunately she missed it and this exchange would eventually lead to her funds bleeding away before bankruptcy. Unfortunately it was Rebecca she sold Park Palace to before she went, not back to me, so I was also left disadvantaged.

Rebecca and Alison, laughing together like the world's smallest coven of evil witches, decided to team up against me, taking me out of the game so that they could have one last final showdown!

Finally, it was the moment everyone had been waiting for: best friend versus best friend! Who would win in this epic battle of luck and strategy? The game continued for many more rounds, taking so long that the others, having finished their chess game, came over to watch the final innings.

In the end the winner was.... Alison! Although only just. Alison was lucky enough to be the person to finally snatch Boardwalk but of course Rebecca wasn’t willing to give up Park Palace so the indigo properties remained without house or hotel for the entire game. It was through luck and attrition that Alison finally wore Rebecca down before grasping her well-earned victory!

“Whooo!” Everyone cheered upon Alison’s victory and she smiled the brightest smile in the world.