Winds of Change (2 page)

She heard a car draw up outside and hurried to open the front door to let her brother in.

‘Where's Father?'

‘In here.' She led the way into the dining room.

Sebastian knelt beside the body. ‘Must have been a heart attack. Leave everything to me.'

While he made the necessary phone calls, Miranda wandered along to her bedroom and stared out of the window. It was a relief when the undertaker took away the body. Sebastian said he'd arrange the funeral and she nodded as she saw him out.

He stopped halfway down the path to call, ‘Don't touch anything, Minnie! I'll be round this evening to start on Father's papers.'

Then she was on her own. How long since she'd had time to herself? Too long.

With a tired sigh, she went to sit in an armchair and spent a lazy couple of hours with the latest book by her favourite author. No interruptions. No sharp rapping of a walking stick on the floor.

Bliss.

In the afternoon she did some gardening, another favourite pastime.

The phone rang at six. Sebastian.

‘I can't come round tonight, after all. Dorothy and I have a dinner engagement that's too important to cancel. Remember what I said. Don't touch anything.'

What did he think she'd do to her father's papers? She knew roughly how things had been left and that was all that mattered. Anyway, she didn't want to go into her father's bedroom again. Every time she passed the door, she kept expecting him to call out, wanting something.

She poured herself a glass of wine, found her library book and settled down for another quiet read. She didn't even want to switch on the TV. What she craved was peace and silence.

In England, Nikki Fox leaned against the kitchen door-frame, staring defiantly at her mother. ‘All right, so I'm pregnant. I wasn't going to tell you yet.'

For a moment the silence seemed to hum with her anger, then Regina snapped, ‘You stupid girl! Didn't I teach you better than that? Couldn't you at least have gone on the pill?'

‘I
was
on the pill. But I forgot to take the tablets with me when I went for that weekend in Brighton. I didn't think a couple of days without would matter.'

Her mother sank on to the bed, groaning. ‘We'll have to arrange the abortion quickly. You can't be more than six weeks gone, so it'll be a very minor procedure.'

Nikki stared down at her feet in the fluffy pink slippers. ‘I'm not sure I want to get rid of the baby.'

Another heavy silence while her mother looked at her incredulously.

‘Let's get one thing straight. I'm not having a baby here. I've done my share of child-raising with you. Without any help from your father I've built a career for myself – and got a life. I'm not going back to sleepless nights and a baby screaming its head off.'

Nikki swallowed hard. She'd guessed her mother would react like this, which was why she'd not said anything.

‘Who's the baby's father? Tim Whatsamajig'

Nikki shrugged. She did a lot of shrugging when her mother got a bee in her bonnet about something, because whatever she said was usually wrong. She wasn't sure about having an abortion, but she was very sure she didn't want to get married, not at eighteen.

‘I can't believe you've got yourself into this.'

She tried to think of an answer to that but couldn't. She'd asked herself the same question again and again.

‘We'll arrange for you to have an abortion. It's the only sensible thing to do. You're an intelligent girl, sure to get into university, with your whole life ahead of you. You did brilliantly in your AS grades, and you're right on course for top A Levels. There'll be plenty of time to have children later when you meet someone who—'

‘Mum, I just can't get my head around the idea of killing a baby.'

‘It's not a baby yet, it's a tiny blob.'

‘It's a baby. Its heart is beating already. I looked it up on the Internet.' She glanced at her watch in relief. ‘I've got to go to work now. I need to earn as much money as I can.' Thank heavens for fast food outlets! She might not enjoy the job, but the money did give her some independence. At the moment she was saving as much of her wages as she could . . . just in case.

‘I'll look into what we need to do,' her mother promised. ‘You'd better get off to work. You don't want to lose your job.'

Nikki left the house without another word. She knew she wouldn't change her mother's mind. She never had before, so why should she succeed now?

Would she change her own mind?

The phone rang and Regina hesitated before picking it up, not feeling like chatting to anyone. Then she looked at the caller ID. Her brother. What did he want? He never called just to chat. ‘Hi, Sebastian.'

‘It's Father. He died yesterday. I didn't ring you straight away because, given the time difference between Australia and England, you'd have been in bed.'

‘Well, it's not unexpected at his age. How did it happen?'

‘He dropped dead at lunchtime. His heart's been failing for a while. Luckily, he'd seen the doctor recently, so they don't need to do a post-mortem. I need to know if you're coming to the funeral.'

She hesitated, then sighed. She'd never forgive herself if she didn't attend. Bad enough that she hadn't seen her father for several years and had left his care to poor Minnie, who had definitely not had a good life. Unthinkable to miss the funeral.

‘Yes, of course I'm coming.'

‘You can stay with us, if you like.'

She hesitated. Sebastian wasn't a comfortable person to live with. He seemed to think that she was as meek as his wife and barked orders at her. ‘I'll probably split my time between you and Minnie, though that rambling old house of Dad's gives me the creeps. Is it still full of rubbish?'

‘Worse than ever. He was getting very strange; Alzheimer's starting, the doctor thought.'

‘What about the will? How are things left?'

‘I'll tell you when you get here.'

‘What's the big secret?'

‘Nothing you need to be upset about. You'll get your share.'

She put the phone down, chewing her thumb. Not a good time to be nipping off to Australia. But still, if Nikki was only six weeks gone, there was still plenty of time to sort out an abortion after she got back. She'd make it a quick trip, just a week or so.

She went on line and booked herself a seat to Perth, then began to pack.

The following day, which was a Saturday, Sebastian and his wife arrived while Miranda was having her breakfast and walked straight in without even knocking. She pushed her plate aside, losing her appetite completely at the sight of him.

‘I rang Regina,' he said by way of a greeting. ‘She's coming to the funeral.'

‘Oh, good. I'll get a room ready for her.'

‘No need. She's staying with us.'

‘But—'

‘Finish your breakfast. I'll start going through the things in Father's bedroom and sitting room. Dorothy will do the living room. We'll leave the kitchen till later.'

Did he think there were papers or valuables in the kitchen? she wondered. ‘I've nearly finished eating. I'll come and help you.'

‘It's not your job. I'm the executor as well as the main beneficiary, so it's up to me to make all the decisions about what's thrown out.'

‘What if I want to keep something?'

He looked round scornfully. ‘Most of this stuff's rubbish, but you can go through the discard piles afterwards, if you must. Anything valuable will be considered part of the estate, however.'

Her appetite gone completely, Miranda scraped the rest of her scrambled eggs into the rubbish bin as she listened to the sound of his heavy footsteps. In the living room Dorothy was opening and shutting cupboards and drawers. She and Sebastian were avid collectors of antiques and had been dying to get their hands on this house and its more valuable contents for years.

A door squeaked. Miranda recognized that sound and hurried along to her bedroom. Inside she found Sebastian opening a drawer.

‘What on earth are you doing in here? This is
my
room!'

‘I'm just looking at this chest of drawers.' He made as if to pull the drawer right out and she prevented him.

‘I don't appreciate having you go through my things.'

‘I need to check that it's a genuine antique. We'll have to catalogue all the furniture. This is about 1820, I should think. The wood's in excellent condition, mahogany, and that bow front is very elegant. I reckon it'll go for a couple of thousand pounds.'

She shoved the drawer back into its slot. ‘No, it won't. The furniture in here is mine, so are quite a few of the other good pieces in the house. You were working on that project over in Sydney at the time I got them and it was before you got interested in antiques.'

‘I didn't think they were particularly valuable.' He sounded as if he disliked the thought.

‘My mother's aunt said they were nice pieces, but I like them because they're attractive not because they're valuable.'

‘Your great-aunt wasn't wealthy and, anyway, I'm pretty sure I remember
this
chest of drawers from a long time back. Can you prove that it's yours?'

She stared at him open-mouthed. Did he really think she'd lie about this? The days of him browbeating her into doing what he wanted were over, and he wasn't getting his hands on her things. ‘I can easily prove it. I still have her will
and
her lawyer's letter to me
and
a list of what she left me.'

He scowled at her as he looked round. ‘Does that include everything in this room?'

‘All except my mattress. That was new last year. Father did pay for that, so if you want it . . .' She went and tugged at a corner of it as if to pull it off the bed.

‘Don't be stupid, Minnie. I hope you're not getting silly again.'

He looked at her smugly and she felt herself shrivel at the implications of that. He wouldn't. Surely he wouldn't do that again! ‘I'm telling you the simple truth.'

‘Well, I shall want to see your aunt's lawyer's letter. We have to do things properly.'

She recovered enough to say, ‘Good. You can start by using my proper name: Miranda. Now Father's gone, I'm going to use that. I never did like being called Minnie, just because I was a small baby.'

He let out a scornful grunt. ‘I couldn't think of you as anything but Minnie now. The name suits you.' He walked to the door with a last regretful glance at the chest of drawers, but popped his head back inside to add, ‘What about your mother's jewellery. That's too valuable to leave lying around. If you give it to me, I'll put it into the bank for you.'

‘That's not part of the estate, either. Father left it lying around and you didn't worry then.'

‘I'm just trying to help. I didn't agree with him on that. Keeping expensive jewellery at home in a rambling old house like this is asking for trouble.'

‘I've put it somewhere safe, don't worry. Father had it in his drawer. But there are two items missing, the most valuable: a diamond brooch and matching necklace. If I don't find them, I'll have to call in the police.'

There was silence, then, ‘Ah. Dorothy borrowed those to wear to a special function. I've got them at home in my safe. No need to worry about them.'

Miranda nearly gave in, because he was so hard to pin down, and as he'd said, the most valuable jewellery was safe, which was the important thing. But she was angry at the casual way he'd dismissed the idea of using her proper name, angry that her sister-in-law was using the jewellery without even asking her and found the courage to say, ‘I want them back. Straight away.'

‘There's a ball coming up. They go really well with Dorothy's blue dress, which is why father lent them to her.'

‘Then you'd better buy her some diamonds of her own. I want mine back.'

‘Don't be foolish. You never wear them.'

She was so angry, she forgot her usual fear of him. ‘That's not the point. You shouldn't have borrowed them without my permission. I want them back tomorrow.'

‘I'm busy all day. You'll have to wait till I have time to sort it all out.' He fixed her with that gloating gaze which always made her shiver. ‘You
are
acting in a foolish way today. What's got into you?'

When he'd gone, she collapsed on the bed, blinking away the tears. She'd tried to be brave and face up to her bully of an older brother, but as usual, he'd ignored her wishes. He might not hurt her physically these days, but he still continued to put her down and trample all over her. And he still continued to threaten her with her greatest fear. He didn't need to put it into words, only hint and she caved in.

She got out some yellow stickers and went round the house, putting them on her own pieces of furniture. She and Dorothy had sharp words about this several times. It appeared her brother-in-law had coveted these particular pieces for some time and had intended to have them moved out.

After that Miranda stayed mainly in her bedroom until her brother and wife left in the late afternoon. She made short forays to the bathroom or kitchen, glad that such an old-fashioned house still had locks on the bedroom doors.

They didn't call goodbye, so she knew Sebastian was seriously annoyed with her and she could expect some sort of retribution from him.

Well, she was angry too. Only, what good had that ever done her before?

When she bought her own house, she would look in a country town, as far away from her brother as possible. Or go to live in England, as Regina had. Her mother had been English and her father had made sure Miranda kept her British passport up to date, because he considered it a valuable thing to possess.

Miranda strolled along the street, intending to go to the corner deli for some bread and ham. But before she got there she gave in to temptation and took a detour through the small park, which was looking parched with the summer heat. It'd start getting cooler soon. February was the hottest month of the year, usually.