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  ‘We have offices in London, if that would be of any help,’ he said. ‘I will text you back as soon as possible with the time and date; it certainly will be within the next seven days. Is that acceptable to you?’ The lawyer asked.

  ‘Yes it is, but before you ring off, can you give some information about what this meeting is about Mr Macduff?’ Ellie felt her confidence surge gripping the stone again.

  ‘I cannot of course reveal too much detail, but I can reveal that you are the beneficiary of a will, and the inheritance is quite substantial. Will that do for now?’ he answered

  ‘Thank you, yes’ Ellie looked wide-eyed at Rowena.

  ‘I will contact you as soon I have dates and times. Until then, Mrs Monks, I’ll bid you goodbye.’

  ‘Goodbye Mr Macduff.’ Ellie breathed in deeply as she closed the connection.

  Ellie looked at Rowena. ‘After all that, I don’t feel like I want a bus tour, I really want to go somewhere quiet and talk this over, OK with you Ro?’

  The bus engine started, so they quickly chased downstairs before it moved off. The driver was a bit grumpy about refunding, but with a little persuading sold the tickets to disappointed tourists standing at the bus stop. They then rushed down the road in search of a quiet teashop. A small one near a beautiful sandstone crescent was ideal. It was off the beaten track and almost empty.

  ‘Look Ro, everything has happened so quickly today, I can’t seem to catch my breath. This latest thing, the inheritance, it’s so uncanny that someone had that advert circled, as if they knew I was going to be on that bus at that time. It’s crazy. Not just that Ro, all the other things too, they are seemed to be leading somewhere, none of them appear like accidents. Please tell me you think the same.’

  Of course Rowena had also been tracking the events, and that meeting with the old lady today confirmed to her that they were no coincidences. ‘But,’ she thought, ‘what could I say to Ellie?’ Rowena knew that she had to say something.

  ‘It does look a bit strange, and if you stretch your imagination, anything could be connected in some way, but I don’t really think that myself.’ Rowena then gave her a big hug, hoping that Ellie couldn’t read anything in her face, as she hated lying to her.

  Ellie drank up her tea, leaving the cake, ‘I’m ready to go back now Ro, and I feel all washed up.’

  They chatted in the car once they were out of town. Ellie said to Rowena, ‘I really don’t want to go to London to see Macduff’

  ‘Maybe Gary would go with you.’ Rowena bit her lip, ‘Sorry, I forgot about him being in Belfast. Well, I could go with you but I’ll need a bit of notice, the shop you know, no cover.’

  Ellie unconsciously held the stone for a moment as she was thinking of how to get out of the visit to London, when her mobile rang, interrupting her thought.

  ‘Mrs Monks?’

  ‘Hello, is that Mr Macduff?’ Ellie inquired.

  ‘Good news Mrs Monks, I felt that calling you to London would be a little unfair, so I have made arrangements for one of my colleagues in the London office to meet you in Salisbury at a day convenient to you. My colleagues name is Clive Jameson, please feel free to ring the number which I will text to you directly, and arrange it with him. I have instructed him personally, to comply fully with your requirements.’

  ‘Goodbye Mrs Monks.’

  ‘Goodbye.’ Ellie closed the line.

  ‘Wow Ellie! That was amazing. No sooner had you said that you didn’t want to go to London, and the solution happens.’ Ellie’s mobile bleeps with the promised number and she saves it with ‘Jameson London’ as the name.

  Rowena also noticed that Ellie was holding the stone just before the phone call, but again refrained from saying anything to her. As they reached Salisbury, Ellie turned down Rowena’s offer to stay the night, as she remembered that Gary was ringing her at nine.

  Ellie drove up the drive of the house, it was in darkness. On the way home she was recalling in her mind the amazing events of the day, and only when she had arrived, did she realise there was no one to greet her. As she opened the front door she remembered that the heating timer hadn’t been changed and the atmosphere was cold as well as empty. She put the coffee filter on the hob and waited for the heating to kick in. The two hours before Gary’s call would be enough for a good long soak and maybe something out of the freezer to put in the microwave for dinner. ‘Not too bad’ she thought to herself.

  Taking her clothes off to prepare for a bath, she glimpsed herself in the full-length mirror. In the reflexion she saw the stone and necklace for the first time. The stone was gently glowing in the dim light, her body felt the glow and, more than that, she felt her spirit lift with a good sense of anticipation. Maybe this is the moment that would change her life. She must be prepared; ‘life can be a wonderful thing, if you seize the opportunity.’ She mused. ‘The first thing though, is to recognise the opportunity.’

  As she soaked in the hot tub, she made a plan not to mention anything about the conversation with the lawyer as yet there weren’t any details to tell Gary, only the word ‘inheritance’, and that could be anything. ‘Anyway there’ll be plenty to talk about besides that,’ she thought.

  She glanced at the clock, eight thirty, and time to move. Dry and warm, she lounged on the couch, phone by her side and awaited his call. And he did ring, spot on time.

  ‘I’m on the eleventh floor of the Europa Hotel, darling.’ Gary started the conversation a little hesitantly, as he was well aware of the icy atmosphere between them when she drove off to see Rowena the night before.

  ‘I expect you’ve had lots of meetings with your boss, and things are going well,’ she said a little cynically, ‘how long are you going to be there Gary? I’ve got so much to tell you, and it’s not so easy on the phone.’

  The phone went quiet for a few moments. ‘I won’t be able to get back until a week on Monday darling. There’s so much to do, and you know that everything hinges on this working out. I’m really sorry though, do you understand?’ He asked, a little pleadingly.

  ‘I’m fine about it. I guess that deep down I expected it, considering what you’ve been offered. I don’t want you to spend a week over there being anxious about me not understanding, because I do understand.’ Ellie explained.

  ‘Thanks Ellie thanks a lot.’ He breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Honestly I have made them all aware how big this is for you as well. The great thing is, that they want to make it work too, so they will bend over backwards, I promise you that!’

  Ellie sensed the conversation had become more relaxed now that was out of the way, so she decided to break the main news.

  ‘Gary, I have had a phone call from some big shot lawyers in Scotland. They wouldn’t go into detail but there is something about an inheritance coming my way.’

  ‘What? I didn’t get that; did you say something about an inheritance Ellie?’

  ‘Yes, I did.’ She replied. ‘They wanted me to go up to Scotland next week, but I refused to go.’

  ‘Why?’ He asked

  ‘Why not?’ She laughed. ‘I told them that if they wanted to see me they had better make better arrangements. So they called back and agreed to meet me in Salisbury to give me the details! What do you think of that?’

  ‘What news Ellie? I think it’s just great, looks like it’s not just me, eh?’

  ‘And I’m so happy for you Gary, I really am darling’

  Gary’s spirits had lifted, way beyond what he had expected before calling her, what with having to tell her that he was going to be away for longer than he had originally said, but all the news from her had been good.

  ‘I love you Ellie, and I’ll ring you same time tomorrow. Any probs call me on the mobile.’

  ‘Love you too, bye.’

  ‘Bye Ellie.’ Then the phone went dead.

  Ellie was shattered. She remembered the jar of Belgian drinking chocolate in the kitchen cabinet and decided that was what she would take to bed with her. Winding down,
after the phone call, she put the empty mug on the bedside cabinet, and felt satisfied with her day. Gary was happy and so was she.

  ‘It’s time to settle down and get some sleep.’ She said to herself.

  After less than an hour of fitful sleep she awoke with thoughts going around in her head. She couldn’t shift them, so she puffed up her pillows and gave in to them. The meeting on Wednesday had suddenly become the main focus.

  ‘I am going to receive a substantial inheritance, or so the man said’ she said out loud. ‘Yes but who do I know, that knows me enough to leave me anything? I really don’t know anyone.’ She said.

  ‘The lawyer comes from Scotland, so the person must have lived in Scotland, and I went to Herriot Watt in Edinburgh. Did I meet any rich person when I was there?’

  ‘No.’ Her mind starts to wander from Scotland, and then to her parents. She was brought up in the beautiful town of Bradford on Avon. The house she lived in all her young life was a local stone-built, quite substantial three-bedroom property. Her mother had never worked, and dad only worked part time, as he was in poor health. She had never questioned the life before, but now, well, how did they afford that way of life? Many of her friends, whom she went to school with, were from wealthy parents, and they certainly didn’t work part time!

  She qualified to go to Herriot Watt University to read Mathematics and Computer sciences. There was no question of applying for any help, and whilst there she was able to rent a nice little flat in the suburbs of Edinburgh for the duration of her time there. Many of her fellow students were often short of funds and had to increase the student loans. But she didn’t even have one!

  ‘Come to think of it, who did I meet in Edinburgh whilst I was at University?’ She asked herself. She had led quite a monastic life in Scotland. During the day, when not in class, she would be at the park reading, or in the flat doing the same. There was this woman, who seemed a bit shabbily dressed and often sat on the same bench feeding the ducks. They often got to talk. It was just small talk. In fact Ellie felt sorry for her, and sometimes shared her sandwiches with her, ones that she had prepared at the flat.

  Sometimes when Ellie was looking at the ducks she noticed that the stranger was looking at her closely, and once she tried to stroke Ellie’s hair. She seemed so alone. Yet once she had noticed that a man who was sitting on the next bench somehow seemed to be looking at them and smiling. Ellie remembered what her name was now, ‘Mary, that’s it Mary.’ That’s the same one as my own middle name.’ She thought.

  She remembered the massive upheaval when, after she had qualified her parents decided to sell their house and immigrate to South Africa. Dad was nearing retirement and his health was deteriorating. His doctor recommended a warmer climate. They did ask if she would like to join them, and she declined. Gary was on the horizon, and she wasn’t prepared for the obvious changes South Africa would impose. Looking back though, they didn’t try too hard to get her to go with them. What was the real reason they were leaving? How could they afford to live there in the first place? Was she that selfish that she had never thought of this before?

  She had been very busy with her job, then the marriage. She realised there had been little contact with her parents. Of course she had invited them to her wedding, but due to dads health problems they couldn’t leave S.A. Finally, exhausted she dropped off to sleep.

  9: Zowie’s Friends

  Zowie

  Zowie’s bark had awakened Edmund out of a dream. It was a recurring one, chasing a dark figure down a wide street, which was flanked by very tall buildings, like skyscrapers. He seemed to be catching up to the cloaked figure when suddenly it stopped on the corner of the street, and looked around at him. The figure was wearing a hood and as he got closer still, he could detect a smile under it. An arm reached out of the cloak and pointed upwards. Edmund followed the direction of the long finger up the side of a huge wall of windows, so tall that it disappeared into the sky. The mouth underneath the hood began to speak, but he couldn’t make out what was being said. The face came up to him, and as it did, it contorted into a dragon’s head. Closer and closer, the huge mouth had a forked tongue, which looked like a whip!

  As he woke up and cleared his head, he looked around the small bedroom, the only upstairs room in the cottage. The sloping sides of the ceiling made the headroom quite low, but as usual in a cottage of this type it was quite warm even in the coldest winters, being thatched. The one inset window gave very little light due to the small glass panes that were very thick but not efficient at allowing light to get though.

  Zowie barked again. ‘All right girl, I’m on my way.’ He stumbled into the downstairs room. This room also was very dark and low ceilinged. He rubbed his hands together to generate some warmth. She stood looking at the front door, which they didn’t use that often, and was bolted as well as locked. Edmund struggled with drawing the bolt back as he heard an engine start. He opened the old door, just in time to see a little Suzuki Jeep disappearing down the lane, too far away to get the driver to stop now.

  He racked his brain to try to remember if he knew anyone owning that sort of car, but without success. The engine noise faded into the distance as he turned into the little porch way, and scanned for a letter or something the caller might have left behind. ‘Yes, there it is’ he thought. In the old broken latticework, which Edmund had guessed had once been used to support climbing roses or honeysuckle; someone had lodged a small calling card.

  Not in any hurry to read the card, he placed it on the small oak table and prepared some breakfast for the pair of them. Purposely taking his time to clear up, he let Zowie out for her run and then picked up the card.

  On one side there was just one word printed in heavy block capitals ‘VIZARDS’. The reverse side was blank, no message. Edmund turned the card over again and stared at the name. He knew what it meant, stage one had been performed.

  Suddenly he wanted to go out; down at the beach was where he wanted to be. It had been several weeks since his last visit to the beach. Christmas had come and gone, as well as a spate of heavy weather, quite nasty for this part of the world. Outside the cottage it was full of puddles and the ground was wet and soft, no good for a Morgan. The Toyota pickup was the order of the day.

  It was Zowie’s favourite vehicle, as when they were travelling, she would be on the flat tailback and loved to bark at any dogs that were being walked on the way. She would growl and bark especially at any big dogs. Edmund would smile to himself as he knew it was all bravado, as they couldn’t catch her, and she knew it too.

  It felt good to be out. Edmund rarely felt lonely, but the bad weather had made them a bit housebound for longer than usual, so it felt great to be on the usual route, and to get some fresh sea air again. Heading through Christchurch, Zowie began barking, she knew some of her pals would be there; Freddie and Indie the Bichon Frise twins, Murphy the black Labrador and last but not least, her best pal Mollie, another Border collie. Mollie was unusual for the breed; she loved to swim in the sea. Edmund could smell the sea as they approached the Overcliff Drive at Southbourne. He parked the pickup next to the small cafe near the zigzag path and the cliff lift.

  They walked past the cafe, which had beautiful views all around the bay as far as the Isle of Wight to the east and Swanage to the west. They walked down the zigzag and Edmund let Zowie off the lead about halfway down. She stayed at heel until they reached the bottom, and then Zowie first looked at her master, and with a single wave from him she was off to the water’s edge.

  About three wooden sea groynes ahead of them Edmund could make out a single figure with two tiny white specks moving around it. They were heading towards them, so in no time at all, the ‘boys’ as Ursula called them, were running rings around Zowie jumping, barking and madly excited to see her. ‘Happy New Year!’ Edmund shouted.

  ‘And to you too. We haven’t seen you for a while Edmund, I do hope that you are well.’ Ursula was in her seventies now, but still very fit. Her acc
ent was Austro Swiss, even though she had lived in the UK for over forty years, it was still strong. When they first met he mistakenly thought she was South African but she soon forgave him.

  After a friendly hug they started on their way. It took a little persuading to get Indy and Freddy away from Zowie, but in a few minutes they became tiny specs again. One quick wave and they were gone.

  About a mile along the beach, Edmund looked towards the cliff. Perched on the top, a little way from the edge, was a large brick and sandstone structure he knew as the Breakwaters, a large apartment block. He remembered that he had watched it being built in the late ‘90s. It was perhaps on the best site for views across the bay. It was to become his biggest project and a very important one too.

  Looking back at the sea, the waves were quite small, as the prevailing winds were from the north. He thought ‘every time I get to the sea it is always different, like the time I gave the stone to that girl, it was really rough then.’ People reminded him of the sea, expect calm and you get rough, and vice-versa, he never got what he expected. He was thinking about Ben and Vera, rich people in a yacht in Cannes. Who would have expected them to be as kind and generous as they were?