The Dragonfly Pool

It was a marvelously prosperous city; the shops were like museums, full of exquisite jewelry and high-precision watches and leather handbags; the pavements were wide and shaded by trees, and everything was so expensive that even Verity was not tempted to try to shop.

And keeping out of sight behind them marched the Countess Frederica.

They were walking down a particularly imposing street when Barney stopped suddenly in front of a notice set out on a wooden stand beside a big carved door.

SWISS GUILD OF CHEESE MAKERS, it said. And underneath: FREE CHEESE TASTING, FOLLOWED BY THE UNVEILING OF THE NEW PORTRAIT BY THE BRITISH PAINTER FERDINAND PONSONBY-SMITH, COMMISSIONED BY THE GUILD TO MARK ITS TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY.

The notice was in German, but when Karil had translated it Barney became very excited.

“I thought I recognized the name. Don’t you remember? It’s the picture Clemmy posed for. They said she had to be the Spirit of Cheese, and there was a row because the artist painted her as a lot of abstract cubes and the Cheese Makers were very upset and sent it back and he had to paint it again with Clemmy looking like herself. She charged a lot of money for modeling because she had really retired.” He turned to the others. “We have to see Clemmy unveiled.”

Not only Barney but all of them suddenly felt really homesick for Clemmy. She seemed to represent all that was best at Delderton: the safety, the art classes, the pancakes . . .

The unveiling was at ten o’clock, and it was half past nine. It really seemed as if it was meant that they should go.

The Swiss guilds are very important institutions. There are guilds of watchmakers and guilds of woodcarvers and guilds of yodelers—but the cheese-makers’ guild is perhaps the wealthiest and most important of them all. For where would the country be without its Emmental and its Appenzeller—and its world-famous Gruyère, that classic cheese which is so whole and perfect on the outside and so amazingly full of holes once it is cut.

The children found the imposing building just off one of the main boulevards, and they followed the people going in.

The cheese samples were laid out on a number of tables in the hall. There were little red-skinned cheeses and pale cheeses wrapped in silver foil and soft cheeses rounded into pats. All the cheeses were served with small biscuits and there was a bottle of sparkling water and some glasses on each table.

The Deldertonians set to. They were very hungry. Augusta had thought that there might be one kind of cheese she could eat without coming out in lumps, but when she got closer she decided to be sensible and just looked.

The room was very crowded—no one was rude or jostled but everybody was determined to taste as much cheese as possible in the shortest amount of time.

Karil had not eaten much so far on the journey, but the little nibbles of cheese were very inviting. He was wearing Borro’s blue jersey and a little color had come into his cheeks.

The Countess Frederica had followed them into the hall but stayed near the exit, hidden by a pillar. Needless to say, she did not stoop to tasting anything: nibbles were never eaten by the upper classes.

After about half an hour a bell rang and then a very prosperous-looking man with a comfortable paunch got on to the dais and said everybody was now invited upstairs for the unveiling of the new portrait.

They followed him into a large room. The blinds were drawn and the lights shining from gilded chandeliers lit up the busts of people who had mattered in the guild. Facing the rows of chairs was a wide platform, and the wall behind the platform was hidden by a black curtain.

Everybody filed in and sat down. Barney and Kit were on either side of Karil, then came Tally and Julia. The others were in the row behind.

A number of guild members came on to the platform and everybody clapped. Then the most portly member made a speech. This was in Swiss German, which even Karil found hard to understand, but it was obviously about the importance of the occasion.

Then everybody clapped again and two men came in from a side door. The lights went out, the curtains were drawn aside, and spotlights flashed on to the large painting which was now revealed.

And a great sigh, a kind of general “aah” of enthusiasm, came from the audience.

Because here was the absolute essence of all that was best and most beloved in their country.

On one side of the picture stood a dairy cow, white and plump and peaceful, with a splodge of amber on her flanks. On the other side, in a meadow studded with all the loveliest flowers of the Alps—gentian and rock roses and edelweiss—grazed two eager goats. But in the center stood a girl holding a golden globe and smiling—a great wide smile as though she was blessing everything in the world: the Swiss people, the mountains, the meadows, but most of all the Guild of Cheese Makers, who kept the citizens of their country so gloriously supplied with their favorite food.