Hide-and-Seek

Chapter 8

Back in the library, I was having another drink, still feeling stupid but relieved at the same time.

“Do you also think I’m a fool?” I asked the fox. It didn’t dignify me with an answer but kept staring at me. “It’s the stupid legal high. That’s what it was.” More unanswered staring.

Well, I could focus on making money again.

Like many families with big estates, we went through some tough times, but we did our best to hold on to our land for as long as we could. It took me a while to convince my parents, especially my father, who still lived in France, to consider the housing project, after our tenant who ran the pig farm died. The land had belonged to his side of the family for a few generations. The idea of having cottages full of strangers on our land didn’t sit well with my father at first, but he reluctantly agreed when I told him that it would be for the good of the local community because it would create some long-term jobs for the locals. I suspected, though, that the real reason was that they had given up on me getting into a meaningful relationship that could lead to forming a family and having children. Ergo, no need for a lot of land which wasn’t making any money.

Harry came in.

“Did you find what you were looking for, sir?” he asked.

“Yes, Harry,” I said, standing up. “I think I did.”

“Would you like to have some di

“I would actually. Could we make a sandwich or something?”

“I think we could do better than a sandwich, sir.”

“Sounds amazing. Will you join me, Harry?”

“If you wish, sir. I’m afraid the dining room is empty at the moment, though.”

“The kitchen will do just fine,” I said.

***

I decided to stay at the house for the rest of the weekend. I figured that once I was there, I might as well do something useful. I received a few inquisitive phone calls from Natasha who had tried to invite herself to the house. She had known that I had not visited the place in years and had gotten extremely excited at the opportunity to finally see the place. I had told her that there would be another chance and had promised to take her out when I was back in town. She hadn’t said much, but I had sensed that she had been disappointed.

I saw my mother was trying to call me but decided not to answer. I hadn’t been in touch with her for some time and I didn’t know how to explain why I had come to Maple Grove House. I wasn’t in the mood to make up some excuses and decided to call her back in a few days.

I spent most of my time walking in the park reminiscing about the good old days and checking the place I had intended to use for my construction project. The park with its old trees, wooden benches and neatly mown grass was as splendid as I remembered it. It almost made me reconsider for a minute what I was going to do with a sizable chunk of it. It also reminded me of the time when we were looking for Charlie and I felt a twinge of hostility towards it as if it was its fault that my brother had disappeared. In the end, I felt that bringing more people to this place would bring new life and positive energy. It had been deserted long enough. I wondered what my predecessors would think about all that, though. Would they turn over in their graves on the other side of the park? The thought made me smile. Perhaps for the heir who I was going to become one day, the right thing to do was to keep the place intact as it had been created by the previous generations. Somehow, I didn’t feel enough co

As for the house, it felt empty and cold without the people and things I remembered as being part of my childhood and adolescence. To feel a bit more comfortable, I asked Harry to have some of my clothes and toiletries delivered from town, and once I’d purchased some wine in the village, it almost felt like I was having a weekend out in the country. I almost felt like calling Natasha and inviting her over but decided against that.

Harry and Da

The subject of my brother never came up and was deliberately avoided whenever we were dangerously close to the dreadful event while talking about the past. Harry and Be

The weather was nice, and I asked Harry to set up a table outside. Be

“I say, Harry,” I started after the fish course. “The chest that was moved to the cellar. It’s empty. I seem to remember there were some old things in it. Do you happen to know what happened to the contents?”

“I’m afraid I can’t say that I do, sir,” he said, frowning as if trying to remember. “It’s been twenty-six years and we’ve moved quite a few things around the house, sir.”

“Do you remember where my father’s chest is? Had it been moved to France? I can’t seem to remember seeing it there.”

“Mr. Deschamps, your father’s late valet, was in charge of sending Mr. Montague’s belongings. I’m sure he took care of that. Should I look into it?

“He was quite old, Mr. Deschamps, and could have forgotten to do it,” Be

“Highly unlikely. Still sharp as a tack he was,” Harry said defensively.

I waved my hand. “No matter, really.”

Perhaps it was a sign to leave this whole business in the past and move forward. However, there was one more thing I could refresh my memory on. “Do you remember Susan the cook?” I asked.

“I certainly do.”

“Did we let her go or did she leave of her own accord?”

“Mr. Montague, your father, decided to let her go after we found out that there had been some rather valuable pictures missing from the house.”

“How come I don’t remember that?” I asked, looking through my glass.

“Your father, sir, did not want to make it public and it was decided to deal with the matter privately, even though, I must say, there was a considerable sum of money involved. In the end she had to go and take her son with her,” Harry said and finished his wine.

I looked at Harry. “Little J?”

“Right. He was a nice boy, but with a bit of a temper.”

“What happened to Susan?”

“They moved to the States and, if I’m not mistaken, she passed away a few years ago.”

“Do you know what happened to Little J?”

“I heard that he’d made quite a fortune across the pond,” Be

Harry stood up. “I heard that as well. Be

How come I’d never heard that?

Be

“Dessert, sir?” Harry asked me.

“Absolutely. One thing though. How did they know it was Susan?”

“Oh, we found the frame from one of the missing pictures in one of the pantries, sir,” he said and started to cut the cake that had come from the local bakery.

I put my glass down. “In the pantry? How did you know it was her?”

“She used it more than others, I suppose.”

“That’s an odd place to hide something valuable, don’t you think?”

“It is, sir.” Harry gave me a plate with a piece of cake. “She was lucky she wasn’t arrested, if I may say so,” Harry said. “It was very generous of your father to let her go without pressing charges.”

“How did she take it?”

“Oh, she was quite upset.” He nodded, and the corners of his mouth drew downwards. “She was a good woman and, to be entirely honest, we didn’t believe that she could’ve done something of the sort. She actually stayed for a time and helped us while we were all busy with the search.”

“Who did?” Be

“Susan Sha

“Oh, yeah.” Be

“Did they find what happened to the pictures?” I asked, trying to conclude the topic.

“To my knowledge, they never found out who’d done it,” Harry said.

“I suspected two drifters who worked at the estate at that time, but they had some sort of alibi,” Be

I put a piece of cake in my mouth and nodded to Harry approvingly, pointing to the cake. He smiled.

“By the way, Be

Be

The subject was successfully changed to gardening and house maintenance.