The Inheritance (9 page)

Kate stared at her computer screen
as if willing it to inspire her.  This essay wasn’t going to write itself, but
she was finding it hard to concentrate.  Christmas had been and gone, so she
didn’t have that excuse for not focusing.  But her mind kept stubbornly
returning to last summer and the events surrounding her signing up for the
course she was now doing.  When she finally got home after losing the key to
the car last August, she and her father had had a long talk about her future.  She
had realised that she did want to explore other options apart from farm work
and so she’d decided to go along to the open evening at the local college.  Her
father was supportive of the idea, even though it would mean she’d be around
less on the farm. 

The main drawback was that the
college was the same one that Kate had studied at as a teenager.  It meant that
the place would be full of bittersweet memories, but that was too bad.  There
was no other option open to her if she was serious about returning to study.  As
she had prepared to leave for the open evening, her thoughts had returned to
what William, the man whose cottage she had sheltered in, had told her about
Steven.  For weeks she’d been going over her encounter with William in her
mind.  She tried telling herself that most likely it wasn’t the same Steven but
it was no good, the suspicion just wouldn’t go away.  She had a gut feeling
about it and Kate always trusted her gut feelings.

But why would someone like that
aggressive man have been looking for Steven?  He sounds like a criminal, Kate
thought.  The Steven I knew would never be mixed up with people like that.  She
tried not to think of what might have happened if that man had caught up with him,
refusing to think that he might be dead, although that would explain why he had
disappeared.  Perhaps he’d had to get away fast or face having to deal with the
man.  It was all so confusing and hearing what William had said made things even
more bewildering.  For once however Kate had had something to take her mind off
Steven’s disappearance.  She had decided that the open evening at the college
could potentially be a new start for her and studying would be something she
could get her teeth into. 

As she slowly began to write her
essay, Kate remembered her nervousness at returning to college.  She had told
herself not to be daft.  After all she was just looking around.  There was no
need to be nervy.  She recalled her anxiety, why she’d been so anxious.  The
college was the same one that she had attended with Steven all those years ago.
 It would be different this time though, she had reasoned with herself.  She
would be studying with other adults in the evenings.  Most likely the college
buildings would have changed; when Emma had attended she’d reported that they
were doing a lot of building work.  Still, she had known it would bring back
memories for her and had hoped she would be able to cope with seeing a familiar
place, a place she associated with Steven.

As she was sitting at her desk,
Kate was distracted again, recalling her return to the place where she’d first
met Steven.  No longer hungry, she stopped nibbling at a bag of crisps and
threw the rest of her crisp packet in the bin.  Lost in thought she gazed out
of the window at the branches of the trees swaying gently in the breeze.  In
her mind’s eye she saw herself sitting in the car on the night of the open
evening motionless, unable to move.  Calm down, she had told herself as anxiety
threatened to engulf her, it won’t be that bad.  When she could breathe more
easily she turned the key in the ignition and set off.  It was cold and
darkness had been settling in as Kate navigated her way along the winding
narrow lanes.

It was funny how she’d still
remembered the way to the college after all these years; she felt as though she
could drive it with her eyes shut.  She could vividly recall driving around the
area with Steven on a sunny summer’s day, with the windows open and the wind
ruffling their hair.  As she’d been driving along to the open evening, she felt
again the ache inside her when she pictured his smiling face and hoped she’d
always remember what he looked like.  She had a few photos of him, some of them
together, but they were wrinkly with age because she’d handled them
constantly.  And anyway a photo wasn’t the same as a clear memory.  She
desperately missed Steven and wanted to keep the memory of him alive.

All of a sudden, it seemed to her,
the college buildings had loomed up ahead and Kate slowed down making her way
to the car park.  She parked the car and got out, shivering as the cold air hit
her.  The lights of the college building on her right gleamed invitingly.  The building
looked modern and brand new, nothing like she remembered it.  It was a clear
night now.  Glancing at the sky Kate could see the stars glittering like jewels. 
She had pulled her scarf tighter around her neck and headed quickly for the
entrance.  Inside there had been a woman waiting to welcome her and tell her
where she needed to go.  The college was a lot larger than Kate remembered; it
was like a rabbit warren with so many flights of stairs, corridors and doors. 
But eventually she found the room she was looking for and taking a deep breath
she stepped in.

The room had been empty apart from
a woman standing by a display of information. Welcoming Kate warmly, she had asked
which course in particular she was interested in.

‘English literature,’ Kate
replied.  ‘I began studying it in my teens but I decided to give it up to work
on my father’s farm.’

‘Well it’s great that you’re
considering returning to study,’ the woman said.  She gestured to Kate to
follow her to a table covered in leaflets about the courses on offer.  ‘The
English literature A-level is completed over two years.  The first year is an
AS level course.  You would then progress to the A level the second year.’

Kate nodded.  ‘That would suit me.’

‘Good.  We’ve got a summary here of
the course, what’s involved, how many hours a week you’ll have lessons and so
on.  I’ll leave you to have a look but please don’t hesitate to ask me if you
have any questions.’ 

She had left Kate perusing a
leaflet as she welcomed other prospective students.  The course looked very
similar to the one Kate had been studying when she was a full time student
here.  It would involve studying some of her favourite authors which was a plus
and Kate felt her heart lift.  For so long the farm had been her entire world
and now there would be a new element to her life.  Who knew, she might even end
up studying for a degree.  She had been so engrossed in looking at the
information that when someone cleared their throat by her ear she was
startled.   Turning around she saw with surprise that it was her old English teacher.

‘Mr Astley!’ she said.

‘Please call me Martin,’ he replied
smiling.  ‘I’m sorry if I startled you.’

‘That’s all right.  I was a million
miles away looking at all this information.  How are you?  I’m surprised you
remember me after all this time; you must have seen so many students.  You’re
still teaching English here?’

‘Yes, I’m still teaching here for
my sins.  It’s good to see you, Kate.  I always thought it was such a shame
that you left.  You had or I should say have a lot of potential.’

Kate smiled, a little embarrassed. 
‘Thank you.  The course looks really great.  Will you be teaching some of it?’

‘Yes, I teach some of the units on
the course which include some Shakespeare plays.  I seem to recall that
Shakespeare was one of your favourites.’

‘You’ve got a good memory.  I’m
impressed!’ Kate laughed.

‘Well you don’t forget which
authors or playwrights a great student enjoys.  Anyway, seeing you reminded me
of Steven.  The two of you were inseparable if I remember rightly.’

Kate nodded feeling the warmth of a
blush spread across her cheeks.  

‘It was a long time ago,’ she
said.  ‘But I still miss him.’

‘I’m sure you do.  I’m sure many
people miss him.  He was a popular young man.’ Martin fell silent for a
moment.  Kate felt a little awkward.  What could they talk about now anyway? 
There was nothing else to say.  Then he continued suddenly, ‘You know the other
day I was remembering something Steven said to me once.  It confused me.  I’ve
thought about it time and again ever since, but I’ve never been able to work
out what he meant by it.’

‘Oh?’ Kate was intrigued.

‘I think I remember it because what
he said was so odd, but still nothing I could report to the police or that
would help in the investigation.  It was half time in a football match that
Steven was playing in and I was refereeing and he and I were sitting at the
edge of the pitch together.  Something seemed to be bothering him, certainly he
had something on his mind and he muttered, “I wish he was here to see this. 
Then maybe it wouldn’t have to be this way.”  I don’t have a clue what he
meant; when I asked him he told me it was nothing, he was being daft and he
went on and played the rest of the match.  His team won.  After that he behaved
as though nothing was wrong, but even so I could sense that things weren’t the
same with him as they had been.’

‘I wish I could have sensed that,’
Kate sighed.  ‘Then maybe I could have helped him.’

Martin shook his head.  ‘I have a
feeling that neither of us would have been able to help him.’

‘You think he killed himself?’

‘I don’t think so.  Obviously I
can’t be sure but his behaviour... it was something else I think.  We couldn’t
have helped him because it wouldn’t have been within our power.’

‘I think I know what you mean.’
Kate told Martin what William had said.  He nodded thoughtfully.

‘That’s interesting.  You say the
man was in the middle of nowhere, pretending to be selling something.  He got
aggressive when he thought this man William wouldn’t help him.  It all seems
very strange.  It’s plausible that he was after Steven.  But we mustn’t make
assumptions.  It could be that he intended harm towards Steven, but equally he
may have had nothing to do with him.’  Seeing Kate look sceptical he went on,
‘That doesn’t mean this isn’t a lead, Kate.  Your information could be very
helpful but we mustn’t get our hopes up.’

‘We?’ Kate asked surprised. 

Martin nodded.  ‘I’d like to help
you, Kate.’

‘Help me?’

‘Help you find Steven.’

Kate was surprised.  ‘That’s very
kind of you,’ she said slowly, ‘but it’s been eight years since he
disappeared.  If he was going to be found, surely it would have happened by
now.  And if you don’t mind me being frank, why do you suddenly want to help
me?  No offence, but you haven’t seen me or been my teacher for a long time. 
Why the sudden interest?’

Martin looked around him as though
surveying the room.

‘Would you mind if we had a little
chat somewhere a bit quieter, Kate?’ he asked.

She thought that his behaviour
seemed a bit odd, but Kate’s desire to try to piece together what had happened
to Steven got the better of her.  She followed Martin as he walked out of the
classroom and down the corridor to a small room where there were a few easy
chairs.  He switched the light on, gestured to her to sit down and shut the
door.

‘There’s something you should know,
Kate,’ he said.  ‘I was Steven’s guardian when he disappeared.’

Kate was shocked.  ‘Why didn’t you
tell me?’ she demanded.

‘Because I wasn’t allowed to.  The
authorities wanted to protect him; they thought he might be at risk of harm.’

‘So why didn’t the police look into
his situation, investigate to find out who might have wanted to harm him?’

‘They did all that they could but
it was no good.  It was as though he’d vanished off the face of the earth.’

‘That’s the way it seemed to me
too.’  Kate frowned.  ‘But surely if he was going to go somewhere and escape he
would have told us, told you at least.’

‘Well perhaps he couldn’t.  Perhaps
he ran out of time and had to escape from someone, maybe from this mysterious
man, fast.’

Kate had felt a wave of exhaustion
hit her.  It was as though she’d been holding her emotions in tightly and
needed to exhale to let them go.  Leaning forwards in the chair, she buried her
face in her hands.

‘Are you all right, Kate?’ Martin
asked gently.  ‘It’s a lot to take in, I know.  But if we consider all the
possibilities, we can piece together the evidence and perhaps discover what
happened to Steven, maybe even find him.  If that’s what you want.’

‘Of course I want to know what
happened to him!’ Kate said sharply, raising her head to look at him.  ‘Do you
really think I haven’t been through it all in my head a thousand times over,
where he went and what happened?  I desperately want to know the truth about
what happened to him, I always have.  But the fact is the police searched
everywhere they could and found nothing, no trace of him.  What makes you think
we could do any better?’

‘Because I think the police failed
to consider one strong possibility.’

‘Which is?’

‘That Steven hasn’t disappeared,
not really.  He’s living under the radar, certainly.  But it might be possible
to find him… Kate?’