Will and Testament // Sequel to the Rosie Grey series

Chapter Seven

I apologised to Father the next morning, but I didn't mean it.

He, however, could not offer me the same courtesy and instead appeared to have completely forgotten about my comment at supper regarding his behaviour at the memorial. All I wanted was for someone to admit fault in making something that should have been respectful into a shouting match. Father should have known better than to stoop to Grandmother's level, but he didn't and fell prey to her and, most likely, what she wanted.

Just looking at Aunt Matilda during the supper told me all I needed to know about the reason they had invited themselves. It certainly didn't appear like she was shocked when supper spiralled out of control and Grandmother appeared glad that it happened. Clearly, their plan for inviting themselves into our house was to continue the mind games they were so keen on twenty-four years ago. Father never should have fallen for it.

Before I left for school, I pulled the newspaper out from under my bed. I read through it, the lines feeling familiar and somewhat comforting against a backdrop of chaos and uncertainty. All of the newspapers had arrived at the house in the last week with each one holding a new detail or a new piece of information about the sinking. Perhaps the most important came on the nineteenth as it detailed the failings in the lifeboats on the ship which had been the cause of such a huge loss of life.

I tucked the newspapers under my bed and left my bedroom to join Marsh who stood outside by the car. Father appeared not long after and we both climbed into the car with him sitting in the front seat and me in the back. The drive into the seat was quiet with nothing but the thump of the engine and the birds in the trees to distract me. When we reached school, I climbed out of the car and dashed inside where I was soon met by Evelyn.

"I spoke to Mother and she said you could come to ours on Saturday. If your parents agree, you can even sleepover and come to church with us, if you wanted," she said.

"That sounds like a good idea. I could do with getting out of the house.

"Why? Did something happen?"

"The supper last night. I don't know why Father even agreed to it, it was a complete disaster and I barely ate a thing. I felt half-starved when I woke up."

Evelyn furrowed her eyebrows. "It couldn't have been that bad."

"It was. I asked Grandmother why I had never heard of her or my aunt and Father thought I had crossed a line. Mother ended up telling me but not before I had left the table having only eaten the occasional spoonful of cream of barley soup."

"Oh. Well, at least it's over."

Miss Reid walked into the room and instantly silenced the conversations that were unfolding across the room. Although I did appreciate the added optimism from Evelyn, something a fair few people dismissed, I just couldn't feel the same way. Mother had stated that Grandmother and Aunt Matilda wouldn't be leaving until after the will had been read and we didn't know how long that would take. The family dispute was far from over.

I welcomed the distraction from the previous evening's events when Miss Reid started the class. The lesson gave me something to focus on other than my family's current issues and the lack of any mention of Grandfather over the passing days. It had been just over a week and yet neither Mother nor Father had mentioned him recently, the only person who had been Grandmother. It felt like they had forgotten him already, as though he didn't exist anymore.

When my great aunt Molly died, Uncle Christopher had told me that everyone grieved differently. I thought that this could be the same thing, Mother and Father grieving in their own way and just not outwardly showing it, but even if that were true they would have mentioned him. Even in passing, at least once, but they hadn't. Mother didn't even mention what I had said at supper when we spoke. It was like it never happened.