WUTHERING BITES

Chapter Fifteen: Shadows

Chapter Fifteen

Shadows

And here I sat, the daughter of such a woman. I was quite surprised, I admit, at the evident depth of affection between her and Heath and quite annoyed at how meanly Heath had spoken of my loyal, kind and loving father. It was hard to get over the disloyalty in my mother's letters, but I tried to justify my reading of them in the name of "research".

Greta walked into the kitchen light and she relayed to me the story of Kate and Heath's parting. As we sipped tea and I waited for my cousin Hinton to emerge so we could go and work at the studio like we planned...

This is what Greta told me:

'When Heath arrived home he was ignored by Harrison who had brought his new girlfriend with him. Heath was just counting down the days until he and Kate could go back to school. Harrison had other plans. He'd withdrawn the fees for both children for their final semester of school. They had no say in the matter.

Heath couldn't have cared less about boarding without Kate close by and Kate had never been academic. When we arrived back at The Hall, Heath discovered Kate in a heap, on the couch, crying over her father's old photographs. When I went in to take them some tea, they were huddled together so close; I thought no one would ever tear them apart. Heath was also distraught. Your grandfather had been the only adult (apart from me) to love him and take care of him.

When the news had arrived, the worst, Kate and Heath were left alone. Heath hugged Kate in the child's playroom while she wept and he unsuccessfully tried to hold back tears for the only man who had ever been a parent to him.

After, we all sat in the old playroom as the news from a television blared on in the background giving us all a good excuse not to talk. Repeat images of political unrest in other parts of the world were on replay in a documentary. It was an irony not lost on any of us, for it was obvious, our world within Hareton Hall was crumbling.

I agreed to stay on to try to protect the youngster Hinton and Harrison was seemingly civil to Kate throughout that week. He had more important plans to occupy his mind. We were stunned to discover he intended to install his new girlfriend Frances, as his wife, (they married at a registry office the following Saturday).

At first, Franny was warm towards Kate and barely civil to Heath, (taking her cue from Harrison). Once she'd married Harrison, she lost interest in everyone else in the house, including her younger brother, and took to going on long walks across the heath. Hareton Hall has that strange effect on people or maybe it was the revelation that her new husband wasn't all he seemed. Sometimes I'd hear him yelling at her in the night and would place my hands over young Hinton's ears. I thought it a blessing that Kate was to be sent away but it was mean of Harrison to cancel their fees for the final term.

Kate's older brother had made plans to conquer and divide the two younger "shareholders" as he thought of them. He'd never really been able to control Kate. Although there had been a vast inheritance left to both the younger Spencers, Harrison made sure that Heath's share was written off to various expenses. Heath and Kate were still minors, after all. The shares that remained were left to be invested in the family trust and managed by Harrison on behalf of the two teenagers.

Harrison insisted that Heath make his room in the basement and groom the horses every morning. Heath did so, happily in fact, preferring to be outside rather than anywhere near Harrison. I asked when Heath would be enrolled back in school but Harrison seemed to think that was nothing to be concerned about. I feared the worst; that he intended to throw Heath on the street the moment he turned eighteen the following week.