Chapter Thirteen
Linus
Katarina woke in the living room but she
did not feel refreshed. The girl stepped quietly past her sleeping cousin and
headed upstairs to retrieve her shoes. Much to her surprise, a shard of
sunlight was shining through the floor length window of the room. The storm had
subsided, leaving a wreck of mud and branches across the grounds of the
estate. The girl pulled on her jumper
and brushed her hair. The ancient brush looked like it had been passed down
through many generations of the Spencer family. Katarina discovered some
toothpaste in an old-fashioned bathroom. Upon scrutiny of her image in the
mirror, she changed her mind and decided to take a shower. Katarina leaned in
closely to the mirror, noticing the dark circles under her brown eyes, betraying
her lack of sleep.
‘Hello, how are you?’
The voice made her jump.
‘You might have knocked.’
‘Oh, no need to cover up. I’ve seen it all
before,’ Linus said breezily. ‘I work in a theatre – stage management. You look
as if you’ve seen a ghost.’
‘Is that meant to be a joke?’
‘Oh, you noticed it too…’
‘What?’
‘Last night, curtains moving, lights
flickering, noises in the dark…’ He made a strange horror movie noise and
laughed.
‘There was a woman…a stranger trying to get
into my room…’
‘Oh people have been saying stuff like that
for years…’
‘You’re not going to tell me…’
‘Oh, I’m here to tell you, it’s all true.
I’d never bring my friends home. Place is seriously haunted…’
Kat didn’t know if he was joking or not,
nor did she know what to say in response to Linus’ quick wit and even quicker
turn of phrase. She decided she had no choice but to run with it. She smiled -
at least it felt safer with another human being in the room.
‘But enough of the gloom and doom, I’m
interning in a theatre on the West End. I’ll get you a ticket to come and see
the latest show if you like. It’s pretty good. I also organise dance parties on
the weekends. Father does not approve, as you can imagine. What about you?’
‘I like music and…painting. I go to Art
College and take photographs.’
‘Cool.’
Linus held out his hand to Katarina, and
she shook it.
A boy with what could only be described as
wild hair and the appearance of an 80’s punk, smiled back at her in the mirror.
He messed his hair with his hands.
‘So, do you like my new look?’ Linus asked.
‘It’s…interesting but I never saw your old
one.’ Katarina replied.
‘You must be Kat, Heath’s niece, the one
we’ve never met. I have the illustrious honour of being Heath’s son. How is the
old man?’
‘Well, he’s not very…old.’
‘No, I know. But I’m guessing he’s still
pretty grumpy.’ He pulled a face. ‘I always try to get out of the house early.
Father hates the fact that I go off to Brighton with my mates every weekend and
can’t stand the thought of working in his stuffy financial firm. But he was so
young when he had me. Really, his idea of becoming a parent at this point in my
life is a bit of a joke… Mind?’ Linus took Kat’s tube of toothpaste.
‘I brought my own toothbrush,’ Linus said
reassuringly.
Katarina laughed.
‘Oh, I’m going to write down my web page. We
should stay in touch. Heath is sure to lose it at some point this morning, or
he might already be out with the horses. In any case, you’re going to want to
run away from this house and never return…just like all the women in this
family do...’
‘Surely, they didn’t all run away. Not all
of them.’
‘Yes, all of them,’ the boy said
regretfully.
‘I’m
sorry… I shouldn’t have…’
Linus quickly changed the subject.
‘Get dressed. We’re meeting Hinton for
breakfast; he likes to sketch in the cafe.
Sometimes I think he’s aiming to draw every nook and cranny in
Hampstead. He and I don’t really get on. So, it’ll be quite funny to turn up at
his favourite breakfast hangout with you in tow. He takes all his notes and
paper to draw people there. He’s obsessed with capturing their images. I’m sure
I can’t see any point in that…’ Linus said breezily.
Linus talked on and it was hard not to like
him, with his easy way and humorous take on the world.
Greta called upstairs, ‘and what would you
both like for breakfast?’
‘Nothing darling,’ Linus said theatrically.
‘I’m taking my cousin out. You’re welcome to join us,’ he added.
‘No Linus, I only popped in to drop off the
groceries,’ Greta said warily.
‘Bring you back one of those lovely frosted
buns from the French bakery for morning tea, then, eh?’ Linus said, dragging
Kat down the stairs with him.
‘Oh, have you said goodbye to your
father?’
‘Goodbye? We haven’t said good morning.
He’s out with the horses. Tell him I’ll see him tonight.’
Greta rolled her eyes.
‘And with a bit of luck,’ Linus said under
his breath, ‘he’ll be asleep by nine pm.’
Katarina laughed.
‘He was…quite the gentleman around me.’
‘Oh, that’s just because you don’t know
him… yet.’
‘I get the feeling our families never
wanted us to meet,’ Kat said as they walked down the sunny driveway, slippery
from last night’s hail storm.
‘Here, take these.’
Linus handed Katarina a pair of gumboots.
They both carried their shoes in their hands.
‘The calm after the storm… C’mon, I know a
shortcut,’ Linus said enthusiastically.
‘Near my house?’
‘Something like that,’ the boy said as they
walked through the sunken garden, across the heath, towards The Grange and past
the private, hidden glass conservatory that was tucked behind the Summer House.
‘My father used to come here… with your
mother, when they were children.’
‘I know,’ Katarina said. ‘I’m reading her
journal. I found it under the bed last night.’
Linus looked shocked. ‘Oh, that must be
another one,’ he said, reaching for the diary.
‘Not until I’ve read this one,’ Katarina
replied. ‘I’m only on page eighteen…but sometimes I think this is the place she
was happiest.’
Her cousin shrugged. ‘Just up ahead, past
the conservatory on our left, past the fancy house on the corner, is our café.’
Linus took Katarina’s arm and she suddenly
felt adopted by her cousin, like a new best friend.
Linus pulled a face as they removed their
muddy boots at the door of the café and replaced them with their own shoes.
‘There he is, sitting all sullen in the corner table. And in about ten seconds,
Hinton will… look up.’ As if on cue, that’s what happened. Linus and Katarina
laughed. Hinton didn’t smile. He scowled and hastily gathered his sketches.
Hinton was just as unwelcoming and
monosyllabic when they sat at the table with him. He’d already eaten a plate of
bacon which Kat thought was really unhealthy. Katarina ordered tea and poached
eggs with toast and Linus ordered muesli with strawberries and yoghurt. A jug
of blood orange juice was placed on the table and Hinton guzzled two glasses.
He then proceeded to wolf down a second breakfast of eggs (he left the toast on
the side) as he sketched the interior of the café, practically ignoring Linus
and Katarina, who couldn’t get over the difference in his personality from the
previous night.
As he looked up briefly from his sketches,
Hinton barely nodded. Nevertheless, Katarina, was in her element, surrounded by
new family. Her two cousins seemed to be far more interested in themselves and
their plans that her, but Katarina didn’t mind.
Hinton had an exhibition to prepare and Linus started chatting about the
play he was stage managing. When the sun shone through the window, Hinton
shifted from the direct light and began to get restless as he shuffled his
papers. Katarina was keen to get back to her mother’s diary, but was wary of
appearing (unlike her cousins) rude. Besides, it felt nice to be amongst what
were for all intents and purposes, her family.
As they finished their breakfasts and she
read the paper, Katarina noticed Hinton peering at the words on her page. She
looked up and sounded out the word, incandescent. Hinton looked away.
‘Do you wear glasses, Hinton?’
‘No,’ Hinton replied taking offence through
a mouthful of bacon. He chugged down the rest of his orange juice then began
gulping his coffee. His hunger seemed to have no end.
‘Oh, don’t mind him Katarina. Hinton always
wolfs down his food, don’t you Hinton?’ Linus said with a mocking smile.
Hinton raised an eyebrow, apparently used
to his cousin’s humour. Meanwhile it was obvious Hinton had woken up on the
wrong side of the bed, or couch as was the case the previous night. Katarina
tried to make small talk but Hinton stopped drawing, folded his sketches and
announced quietly that he had to go to college to work on his portfolio.
Katarina wanted to say, ‘I’ll come with
you,’ because she had planned to do the same, but she felt she didn’t really
know him well enough (except by reputation). From the way he was behaving it
appeared he would not want her to accompany him. Hinton got up so quickly, he
even left the scarf he was wearing, (her scarf, strangely enough), by her seat.
He didn’t want to give her an excuse to return to Hareton Hall.
After he left, Linus stirred his coffee as
he spoke. “Oh, never mind him, Katarina. He’s always more sociable in the
evenings. Take no notice. I’m glad we met. Besides, it’s obvious he likes you.
I would too if we weren’t related…’ Linus smiled dramatically.
‘Well, I suppose I should also be going…’
“Nonsense, you’re coming with me to
Portobello Road to buy new outfits before I go to my rehearsal. Then we’re off
to Camden town tomorrow and tomorrow night, in honour of having found you again,
we’re going to cook a feast and have some friends over for dinner. I have it on
good authority that father will be out.’
Linus opened up the newspaper and sure
enough, inside the lift out, there was a picture of Heath, in a dinner suit
standing with his most recent girlfriend. She was also a company director and
the daughter of a media mogul. Heath was announcing a charity ball that would
be sponsored by the family company, Heath
& Sons, that evening.
‘Mmm… sons,’ Linus mused, ‘how optimistic. I
think that means me… and Hinton, though I don’t think we were quite what father
was expecting.’
Linus leaned in close ‘You know Hinton can
barely read, don’t you? That’s probably why he left suddenly.’
Katarina looked surprised. ‘What? I thought
there might be something wrong with his eyesight…’
‘Oh, he sees clear as day; he can practically
see in the dark. It’s just that father was… well, he raised him to ride and
take care of the animals. He was home schooled by Greta when we realised
everyone was just going to make fun of him at regular school. It was terrible.
Keep this to yourself. Father hates it when I talk about the family publicly
but there’s always been a lot of tension between us,’ Linus stated
matter-of-factly. ‘I mean, he’s not exactly thrilled with my choice of…career
but at least I’m literate.’
Linus went beyond the insinuation that
Hinton was not. ‘Oh, he’s clever. It’s just that he has dyslexia and never
really had it diagnosed properly and now… he’s too embarrassed to ask for
lessons.’
‘Well, I was good at English at school.
Maybe I could help him. He seems so clever. It’s hard to believe he can’t
read…’ Katarina said.
‘Maybe… Hinton’s unsociable. I’ve tried and
he won’t talk to me. We just don’t really like each other, I suppose. I mean,
we’re not blood relations but we were raised together. Sometimes it’s just the
way things are…’
Katarina resolved in some way to help her
adopted cousin as she sipped her tea, constantly entertained by quips from
Linus.
When the waiter came and Linus, ever the
gentleman, reached for the bill, Katarina couldn’t resist…
‘By
the way, last night, I saw something… well, someone. It was a person, I’m sure
of it. A woman tried to get into the room as I slept. I didn’t see her face
clearly in the dark but…’
‘Is that why you screamed?’
‘Yes… ‘
‘Perhaps it was a nightmare. Being too much
in father’s company will do that to a person.’ Linus replied, always the joker.
‘No… I mean… a woman… I didn’t see her
face. I saw her hand reach through the window. It was so real, I could almost
touch her fingers…’
Linus shivered. He let the silence hang
between them for a moment until he spoke…
‘It’s her again.’
‘Who?’
‘C’mon, we’ll talk outside.’
Linus offered to pay the bill and they
walked out towards the tube station on Hampstead High Street.
‘I’m not sure it’s really my place to say
and I’m not exactly sure what you saw but…’
Linus glanced over at his cousin with a serious expression on his face…
‘Go on…’
‘Well, Father should have warned you… but
it looks like it’s up to me, as usual. Hareton Hall is a freak show.’
Katarina just looked at her cousin; she
didn’t know what to say. Of course, she hadn’t believed in haunted houses
before. But then, she had never confronted the possibility of their existence
until last night. She suspected some more answers might be locked inside the
cover of the diary she now kept. They
changed trains. The underground was semi-empty this morning. When the tube
stopped at Notting Hill, they walked to Linus’ car. He’d parked it outside the
station when he couldn’t drive home the previous night.
‘Jump in, we’ll go to the markets then I’ll
drop you home. Oh, I almost forgot, there’s an old school yearbook with empty
pages at the back that your mother wrote in extensively. I’d been putting my
stuff in storage, preparing to move into a flat in Bayswater but I took this by
mistake from the wardrobe. I was going to put it back but I think you might
like it. It’s in the back seat. I found it a while ago and kept it, so it
wouldn’t be amongst the things you already have. You could add it to your…
investigation. I was never terribly interested, to be honest, so I didn’t
bother reading it. I just flicked through the photos. Oh, but I wouldn’t tell
father. He’s very secretive about that part of his life, the part he spent
with… your mother.’
He reached in and handed Katarina the
package.
Kat took the album possessively and opened
a page that contained letters stuck into opened envelopes. They were undated
and the post stamp was unclear. Kate’s childish handwriting but sophisticated
language described a pre-holiday dance where Heath’s band was due to perform. I’m so excited for The Battle of the Bands, was
a sentence that stood out. Her mother had even stuck a small piece of the pink
voile from her dress on the page as a keepsake. Katarina ran her fingers over
the material. After the first ten pages, which were obviously written by her
mother, there was another letter signed by Heath.
‘Does your father know we have this?’
‘I doubt it,’ Linus said. ‘All of this was
so long ago. Most of it is undated but they must have been written over twenty
years ago - way back in the nineties. Anyway, father has no idea what is in
every nook and cranny of the house. Probably forgot he ever wrote this stuff.
It’s bizarre to read. Your mother must’ve stuck the letters in there. Hard to
believe people actually wrote letters
back then…’ Her cousin trailed off.
Katarina, finding them impossible to
resist, stuffed the notes in her bag.
As Linus turned on the ignition, Katarina
suddenly wished she was alone at The Grange to ponder her mother’s words in
detail.
