Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Luke
T he emergency meeting was set in Edward Hall’s kitchens. Everyone agreed that they needed to process what Luke had learned over food. Jason made them baked omelettes with their favourite fillings. They assembled around the metal table at the far end of the kitchen. Luke brought up the screen for the ancestry site and showed them Cynthia Turner’s name and two possible matches to descendants. It also showed a match to the father’s name but no indication she had married him.
“She kept that quiet,” Archer said.
“I wonder why?” Jason said.
Luke was still so angry he could barely speak, continuing to punch keys. Erica and Heidi didn’t have to haul their arses to Edward Hall at six in the morning, so Archer and Jason had left them sleeping. Luke had a mumbled conversation with Freya, who said she wasn’t feeling well enough to go to school, so he offered to personally go and see the head teacher to explain why she wasn’t coming to work. He had an hour to talk through his game plan with his brothers and then get to school, then he needed to seek out Cynthia and basically ask her what the fuck was happening and then get to his dreaded day job. All in all, Luke thought he had a shitty day ahead of him.
“Has it dawned on either of you what this means?” Luke said.
“She’s capable of love after all?” Archer ventured.
“Cynthia Turner, the eldest Turner in her line on the family tree, produced an heir,” Luke gritted out. “What we’ve been doing here is a waste of fucking time.”
Jason’s eyes widened. “What?”
“He’s right,” Archer said. “If she had a child and he or she is older than me, then they will be heir to the Turner fortune and Copper Island.”
“And that fucking sucks. I don’t have a job I trained for, and now I don’t have a legacy to work for. I don’t even know if I have a future with Freya. For all I know, nearly fucking dying was the only reason she slept with me,” Luke grumbled.
“How is Freya doing?” Jason asked.
“She’s been chirpier. She doesn’t want to go to work, so I’m heading to the school after this.”
“What is the name of the father?”
“Jonathan Cranford. There is no record of him ever being on Copper Island. I can’t find him on any electoral roll after 1970. This is the only place he pops up. I’ve applied to get the birth certificates of the two descendants, albeit one of them passed away at birth.”
“When was the other child born?” Archer asked.
“It indicates 1983,” Luke said .
“That makes them older than me. I was born in 1987. Is there a name?”
“No, I’ll need to get the birth certificate first.”
“This is huge,” Luke burst out. “All of this we’re working towards can be taken away in a flash once Cynthia dies and the heir rocks up.”
“Don’t you think he would be here by now? Don’t you think he would be living at Turner Hall?” Archer posed the question like the information wasn’t rocking their worlds.
“So many fucking questions. So many fucking secrets,” Luke shouted. “I am sick of this whole legacy bullshit. I just want a girl, a house and a job. I want to love all of them and live a simple life. If Cynthia lives as long as Grandfather, I am never going to see that. What is the point of staying on this island?”
Jason and Archer stayed silent as Luke roared through his thoughts. He muttered that he was calm, but somehow, the island had turned him into a jittery wreck.
“Why did Dad have to die?” he said, choking on the words. “Why couldn’t I have saved him? We wouldn’t be in this mess if I had.”
Jason and Archer took a step towards him, but Luke raised his hands.
“I feel like I’m going to lash out, and I don’t want that to be with anyone, especially you two. I’m going to clear my head and then get to the school. Freya said as long as I tell Mr Morris by eight, she won’t be in trouble.”
“All right, brother. You need to talk to either of us. We’re here for you. No matter what we’re doing. You hear me?” Archer said.
“I hear you, later,” Luke said, not looking at either of them .
Archer’s words nearly broke him. He’d spewed out his feelings, and his big brother was still there for him.
Taking the buggy to the town, he parked next to Heidi’s old house and let himself into Freya’s house. He bounded up the stairs and grabbed clothes he thought she would want if she wasn’t feeling well. Striding into the school, he ignored anyone looking at him. He was in too foul a mood to indulge in any pleasantries. The head teacher’s office was in the same place it had been when he was in school. He’d already spoken with Mr Morris after he found out he was bullying Freya, but he hadn’t stepped foot in the office. This time he wanted privacy to share what had happened with Freya.
He knocked on the closed door and then entered when he heard a barked come in from Mr Morris.
“What do you want?” Mr Morris said once he’d looked up from his papers.
The bespectacled man looked older than he was. Luke thought he should’ve retired years ago, but he was still hanging on at seventy for some reason.
“I’ve come to tell you personally, so nothing gets lost in translation, that Freya Riley won’t be in school today.”
“Why?” he clipped out.
“She was in an accident yesterday, and I think she’s suffering from delayed shock.”
“What are you talking about?”
“She nearly drowned yesterday. I had to save her, and it was touch and go for a few moments.”
“Likely story,” he scoffed.
“What?”
“I said likely story. I bet she’s lording it up at Turner Hall, being served breakfast by the servants. Her neatly ironed newspaper ready for her perusal. ”
There were so many things wrong with what Mr Morris had just said. Luke didn’t know where to start.
“She’s unwell. I would believe me if I were you.”
“You Turners parade around town like you own the place. It’s sickening.”
“We kinda do, Mr Morris. The Turners own Copper Island, but we never rub people’s faces in it. Cynthia rarely comes into the town.”
“Is that right? So you think you’ve never used your power to get your own way like now when you want to spend the day in bed with Freya and faking her illness.”
“I’d be very careful about what you say next, Dudley. I’m telling you the truth. I have no reason to lie to you.”
“What will you do? Eh? Kick me off the island like your grandfather did with Jonathan Cranford. Exile me so I can never return. Looks like history is repeating itself. Cynthia fell for the wrong man, and it looks like Freya is too. You’re rotten, all of you Turners. You make everyone’s lives a misery. My life would’ve turned out differently without Archibald Turner and his sanctimonious preachings.”
“What are you talking about? I’ve been back for two months. What did I do? Why am I getting lumped in with that man?”
“Your aunt fell in love with a teacher, but overnight he disappeared. Most people think he never made it to the mainland, as no one has ever heard from him again. Because Jonathan was ousted for daring to love Cynthia Turner, I had to take on his classes during the day and evening. Work all day, run home to my wife and kids for an hour and then go back to the school until after the kids were in bed. I bet you can guess how much my wife liked that. I did such a great job. They never replaced Jonathan, so I did two jobs for ten years for single pay. By the time I became a head teacher, my wife had gone and taken the kids. Your grandfather thought giving me the head teacher’s job was a reward for fixing the problem of one less teacher, but it was too late. I was already alone. So I have no respect for any of you Turners and will never think kindly of any of you. Your aunt is a horror, terrorising everyone who doesn’t agree with her, even from her stately seat up on the hill.”
Luke was so staggered by everything he’d just heard he wanted to sit down and neck a shot of brandy. Not daring to move in case Mr Morris wasn’t finished, he waited to be dismissed.
“I should go,” Luke said quietly after a few minutes. “Freya is unwell, and I need to make sure she doesn’t suffer from any delayed shock or have a virus from the cave she fell into.”
Luke spoke so softly he wondered if Mr Morris had heard. He seemed more slumped than when Luke had first come in. Not waiting for a reply, he heard a strangled sob just as he was closing the door.
Luke walked down the corridor, wondering what kind of damage the Turners had done to the residents of Copper Island and if he would live long enough to right the wrongs. He’d had enough for one day.
Cynthia could wait.
Luke sent a text updating his brothers and headed back to check on Freya.