The Lauderhill Legacy

Chapter 2 - The Letter

"Okay, my Aunt Belinda." Walter began. "She was quite a woman from what I've heard. When she was eighteen she left home, took a train to the city and after a lot of disappointments found a job cleaning in a hospital. Those jobs paid very little in her day, and she could only manage by sharing space with several other members of the hospital cleaning staff. They pooled their wages for food and rent and apparently, made out okay – for a while."

"What happened?" Becky asked, wide-eyed.

"Well I heard, and I've seen clippings so I know it's true, Belinda left the hospital and joined a circus—"

"A circus! Was she a clown?" Tim blurted, getting a soft punch from his brother.

Walter laughed. "No, Tim, not a clown. Actually she was the assistant to the ringmaster, helping to introduce the different acts."

"How did she get that job?" Ryan wanted to know.

"I don't really know. Just the right place at the right time I guess. Belinda was a pretty determined young woman back then. She didn't stay long though; she took up with a young man named Reginald Fosterbill who was selling animal feed for a large company out west. They got married and had your Aunt Marcee's father, Grant."

"Where is Aunt Marcee's granddad now? Did he die?" Sarah asked.

"Your great-grandfather went away right after Grant was born," he said, turning to Ryan and Tim. "But I imagine he's gone now, that was a long time ago."

"Why did he leave?"

"No idea, Ryan." They exchanged a long look and Ryan finally dropped his eyes to his lap, then he seemed to have made a conclusion, and the cloud vanished from his face.

"How did she get so rich?" Becky asked.

"Becky! Don't be rude." Sarah blushed at her stepbrother.

"That's okay, Sarah. It's not a secret."

Walter drank some more of his beer and ate one of the small sandwiches. He stretched his shoulders and told them the tale of Wilson D. Pattervane, the man that Belinda cared for until he died and in return, inherited his fortune. Sounds from the kitchen adjacent interrupted the history lesson, and Walter ruffled Tim's hair, excusing himself.

In the kitchen, Walter's cousin, Marcee Hayes, was directing the culinary operations currently undertaken by a bevy of female relatives and neighbours. He paused in the entryway to admire the trim woman, as she efficiently dispatched the grey-haired servers with their snack-laden trays.

"You think you could close the kitchen and gradually ease this crowd out the door?" He asked when the room finally emptied.

"Walter! What a way to behave at your great aunt's wake." Marcee slipped a tiny cookie into her mouth, dusted her fingers, chasing it down with a large gulp of red wine.

"I see you're busy entertaining the next generation."

"They wanted to know about Belinda. Her checkered life is the stuff of exciting adventure to them."

"I suppose you mentioned the circus."

"Of course."

"And you enjoyed every minute."

"Like you're enjoying this circus." He moved to the sink and rinsed his glass. "It's going to take forever to clean this place out before we can sell. I just want to get started and get it over with."

"Good news and bad news then," she chirped, piling up dirty plates and cutlery on the sink board. "There is a buyer already quite interested and at a very acceptable price, but he needs to close before the end of the month."