Miranda’s Family

Chapter Eighteen

‘Who are you?’ the stranger asked in a harsh voice. ‘What are you doing here at the big house?’

‘I’m the new owner.’

‘Oh, are you? Can you prove that?’

Miranda might be quiet and polite but she was no pushover, Libby knew; she simply chose to face the world politely. So she didn’t intervene to help but waited quietly and watched her friend deal with the rude stranger.

‘Why should I need to prove it to you? More to the point, who are you and what do you want here at my house?’

‘I’m Selma Parnham.’

‘I don’t think we’ve met before?’

‘I was Miss Westerby’s housekeeper for three decades. Does that count for nothing? The lawyers must have told you about me.’

‘They might have mentioned, but so much has happened in a short space of time, my head has been all over the place.’

Selma Parnham breathed deeply for a moment or two, as if calming herself down, then continued speaking more normally. ‘The most important thing is that I’ve come for the box. I’d have taken it away and dealt with it before, as your great-aunt asked me to do if she ever died suddenly, but those fools of lawyers hired someone to change all the locks without even consulting me and removed my possessions from the house. Then the woman they’d sent to do that added insult to injury by refusing to let me come inside to retrieve that box.’

She was speaking in an arrogant way now, slowly and extra loudly, as if she considered Miranda too stupid to understand what she said otherwise. This surprised and annoyed Libby. She nearly stepped forward to join them and was itching to say something sharp about bad manners, but forced herself to hold back and wait a little longer. She could see that Miranda was also annoyed by the woman’s tone and would leave it to her to take the lead in this.

‘Let me get past, then!’ Selma ordered sharply, stretching out one hand as if about to shove the younger woman aside.

Libby had been standing to one side and realised she mustn’t have been noticed by the woman so decided it was time to move forward now and show her that her friend wasn’t here on her own. As Miranda pushed the woman’s outstretched hand away, Libby stepped out into the doorway to stand next to her.

Selma jerked back and let out a cry of shock at the sight of Libby then glared at her and snapped, ‘Who the hell are you?’

Libby smiled sweetly and didn’t move at all. ‘That’s none of your business.’

The woman grunted and turned back to yell at Miranda, ‘If you are the heir, you weren’t supposed to bring anyone here with you! Miss Westerby told the lawyers that. Why did they not pass the information on to you? She wouldn’t have approved of you bringing a stranger here.’

‘The lawyers didn’t say anything and even if they had, I prefer to make my own decisions about who I spend time with.’

‘You’re the senior female member of the family and you’re expected to live here quietly on your own, looking after the family’s long-time home and dealing with the finances of the trust, as she did. Eventually you should pass them both on to the next person in line. The family connections are listed in the trust records.’

‘But—’

The stranger interrupted, yelling loudly now as she continued her tirade. ‘That’s what the Westerby heir always does – except for begetting another heir at some stage – and even someone as stupid as you ought to be able to manage that because at least you’re not ugly.’

Both the women inside the house gasped in shock at this rudeness.

The visitor just waited, not taking even one step back. And when Miranda made no attempt to move out of her way, she yelled again. ‘Stand aside. I need to—’

However, Miranda continued to bar her way and this time she didn’t wait for the stranger to finish what she was saying but spoke loudly and slowly in her turn. ‘How I live or who stays here with me is none of your business now and you are not coming into this house again, whoever you are. If the lawyers haven’t given you access, then I won’t do so either.’

She wasn’t speaking in her usual quiet way now but in a sharper tone than usual, Libby noticed in approval, but as her friend was about to continue speaking, their visitor spoke even more loudly and rudely cut her off again.

‘Of course it’s my business. Your great-aunt knew her health was failing and her instructions were that if anything happened to her, I was to stay on here as housekeeper, keeping the place in order till you arrived so that I could show you how things need to be done. Those stupid lawyers dismissed me immediately, even before my mistress died, which they shouldn’t have done, but I’ve come back to finish what needs doing.’

‘Thank you but I shan’t need a housekeeper and I’ll do things here from now on as I see fit. My friend and I can look after ourselves and we’re perfectly well aware of how to run a house.’

‘Look, as I’ve just told you, Miss Westerby, as the heir, you are not supposed to bring anyone to live with you. And anyway, even if this woman moves in for a while, she won’t stay here. Outsiders never do. They don’t seem able to settle down in such a quiet place.’

‘I think that’s my business now, not yours. I was informed that my great-aunt’s housekeeper had already been paid off and given what was owing to her when it was clear the old lady wasn’t going to recover consciousness. I gather the lawyers have already told you your services would no longer be needed. I definitely don’t need any other help, so you really will have to find yourself a different job, Ms Parnham.’

‘I shan’t need to do that. I have a house in the village. I can’t stop you bringing her here but I know how things should be done, and it’s still wrong to bring in a complete stranger to mess the place up. I’ll be waiting to get my rightful place back when you need my help to sort out the mess you’ll get into. However, in the meantime, I still need to fetch the box down and deal with it straight away, after which I’ll stay in Fairford Magna.’ She gave Miranda a sneering look. ‘You’ll definitely need me before you’re through, mark my words. You can send for me when that happens and I’ll sort out whatever it needs to set things to rights again. The house comes first before my pride and it won’t welcome outsiders like her.’

Libby was furiously angry by now and intervened. ‘Are you deaf? How many times do you have to be told that your services here have been terminated before it sinks in that there is no longer a job for you here? There hasn’t been for several weeks and there won’t be at any time in the future.’

Libby didn’t need telling that Miranda had taken one of her rare dislikes to this female. She hadn’t taken to her either. There was something inherently nasty in her facial expression and scorn rang in her tone of voice, even though she knew nothing about the new heir.

The woman let out an angry sniff. ‘You mind your own business. You’re only her servant.’ She turned back to Miranda. ‘As I just said, if that’s what you’re going to do, I’ll take the box and deal with it now, which my poor mistress asked me to do if anything happened to her. Then I’ll leave you to get on with messing things up. I’ll be available later to sort things out, not for you but for her sake and for the family I’ve served all my working life.’

Miranda was puzzled as well as annoyed. ‘What box would that be?’

‘The one Miss Westerby wanted me to take away if she died suddenly. We’d been sorting out its contents, and as she said, they were private and nobody’s business but hers so I was to destroy them for her. I’d have done it straight away, which was what she really intended to happen, because we’d nearly finished sorting the contents out anyway, but she collapsed suddenly and they took her away. When I realised she wasn’t going to recover, I came back from the hospital and tried to do as she’d asked. But that nosey new lawyer had sent his wife into my room to pack my things without consulting me and dumped them outside. They wouldn’t let me come into this house again, even to do as she’d asked, and they threatened to call the police in when I tried.’

Miranda took a deep breath and raised her voice more loudly than usual. ‘And rightly so. I’ll say it again: your job was terminated weeks ago, so you have no reason to come into the house again. I’m surprised that you’re still trying to.’

‘I knew my mistress would want me to deal with the box for her. That lawyer said I wasn’t to go back inside the house – me who’d worked and lived here for over thirty years and they set the police to keep an eye on the place! The cheek of it!’

That surprised Miranda. ‘Did you live here too for all that time?’

‘Of course I did. I was her personal maid and housekeeper. Though after my brother and I inherited our own little house in the village, I stayed there occasionally to clean it thoroughly. But I was here most of the time. I kept to the housekeeper’s quarters when I wasn’t doing the housework because I knew my rightful place. You should make sure she does that too.’

Ms Parnham jabbed one finger in Libby’s direction and added scornfully, ‘She isn’t a Westerby, and your great-aunt didn’t encourage people other than family to stay in the main house, or even to visit it.’

The two women inside the house said nothing, only exchanged puzzled glances, not sure what to do about her.

Ms Parnham yelled suddenly, ‘Haven’t you been listening? How many times do I need to say it before I get through to you? I need to come in and get my mistress’s box. This woman shouldn’t come in at all unless she’s doing the housework. Only, she’s not needed for that even, not really. We always had a cleaner from the village who knows her way round and would happily come back to work here. This woman should be paid off.’

She glared at Libby then turned her attention back to Miranda and waited, arms folded, foot tapping impatiently as if expecting to be let into the house.

When no one spoke, she repeated her demand, speaking in an even louder voice than before and enunciating each word slowly and carefully as if the two of them were stupid. ‘I need – to come inside – to get the box.’

‘I don’t understand which box you’re talking about, let alone why anything belonging to my great-aunt should need dealing with by you now. It doesn’t belong to you, after all, and you haven’t worked here for several weeks.’

‘I didn’t say it belonged to me. It was Miss Westerby’s box and it contains the last of her personal things, which she’d wanted to destroy before she died. She knew she hadn’t long to live, poor lady.’

She suddenly tried again to push past them and when they wouldn’t let her into the house she yelled, ‘Miss Westerby has a right to have her last wish respected. Why are you stopping me? This has nothing to do with you.’

‘Where is this box?’ Miranda asked.

‘It’s in her bedroom, on the table next to the window.’

‘I saw a box there but it was a valuable antique!’ Libby exclaimed. ‘Far too valuable to be burnt – or given away to a stranger.’

Miranda nodded agreement. The two of them didn’t always need words to know what the other was thinking, had seemed to be on the same wavelength right from the start of their friendship, which was why they now considered themselves more like relatives.

She turned back to Ms Parnham and tried to speak politely, though she felt more like telling her to get the hell out and stay away from this house completely from now on. ‘Thank you for your offer to help us clear out the house, Ms Parnham, but we’ll deal with both the box and its contents when we clear that front bedroom out. The lawyer has made no mention of anyone taking things away, but I’ll have to check with him to see if he knows anything at all about this.’

‘But—’

It was Miranda’s turn to raise her voice. ‘There may be family things in that box that I’d prefer to keep.’

The woman shook her head, still scowling. ‘No! You can’t do that morally! They’re personal to my late mistress, I promise you, and getting rid of them is the last thing I can do for her.’

Her voice broke on that word and she had to take another deep breath and mop her eyes before she could continue. ‘Look, I gave her my word and if she hadn’t collapsed we’d have disposed of her things by now or at least she’d have had time to put it in the Will that the box was to come to me. She wanted the contents of the box burnt. They’re nothing to do with you.’

‘We have only your word for that, however, and I’d rather check what’s in the box myself before I do anything. I don’t know as much about my family as I should so the information this box contains could mean a great deal to me. You can be sure that if it’s only old papers that are of no value to anyone now my great-aunt is dead, I can dispose of them without your help.’ Miranda reached for the door handle. ‘I’ll have to get on with my day now. I’m rather busy.’

She was shocked when a man stepped forward suddenly. He must have approached the house without them noticing him and been standing to one side to keep out of sight.

He raised one clenched fist raised in a threatening manner. ‘Do as my sister says.’

He was about forty or so, of scrawny build and medium height only, but he had such a battered face that he must have been in a good few fights in his time. He definitely resembled Ms Parnham and the two women guessed who he must be even before he spoke.

The housekeeper said, ‘My brother Griff has come to help me.’ She gave Miranda a challenging look. ‘Now, please let us in. I know my way round this house so I can get the box very quickly. There is absolutely no need to trouble you with fetching it. I shan’t feel comfortable unless I keep my promise to my late mistress.’

She seemed to be holding her brother back with one hand as she spoke and he was definitely looking furiously angry.

When she took a step forward as if to come into the house, he moved to stand close behind her, scowling at them and said in a harsh voice, ‘I think you should let Selma do as Miss Westerby wanted, lady.’

Miranda didn’t attempt to move out of their way. ‘And as I just told you, the lawyers have said nothing to me about you or anyone else taking things from this house.’

He made a growling sound in his throat and suddenly shoved her out of the way, calling, ‘Go and get that box, Selma. This female has no right to keep it.’

As he put out one hand to prevent Miranda from moving back inside, his sister said in a flat, emotionless voice, ‘Sorry, miss, but I always keep my promises, especially to someone who’s passed on.’

While they’d been talking, however, Libby had surreptitiously picked up a heavy brass ornament from a hall table to one side of the entrance and she now stepped forward, surprising the male intruder with a sudden blow to the shoulder that made him stagger sideways, yelling in pain. Then she made sure he could see her holding the ornament in her hand as if about to hit him with it again and shouted, ‘Don’t you dare try to push your way in here or I’ll crack you over the head with this next time!’

While her friend was speaking, Miranda quickly grabbed Selma’s arm, taking her by surprise and shoving her backwards out of the doorway so that she had to clutch her brother to prevent herself falling.

As the two women struggled against the would-be intruders, Selma lost her temper completely and began screeching at them at the top of a very shrill voice, ‘Get out of our way! Move away!’

For a moment all hung in the balance, then an even louder man’s voice made itself heard from nearby. ‘Stop that at once, Selma Parnham!’

All four of them stopped struggling and turned to stare in surprise at the newcomer.

Griff Parnham clearly knew who this man was because he jerked backwards, glaring at him but stopping his attack. He opened his mouth as if to yell back then snapped it shut again and breathed deeply, tugging his sister away from the door.

Miranda sighed in relief because the chap who’d yelled and was just moving forward to join them was wearing a police sergeant’s uniform. Another tall man, not in uniform, was standing to one side, watching them with an air of faintly amused interest. He nodded to her and took a step closer, looking ready to join in and help if necessary.

‘You can either leave this minute, go right away from this house and stay away or I can arrest you and take you even further away,’ the sergeant told Griff Parnham sharply. ‘You do remember the conditions applied to your being released from prison early, don’t you? You’ll be on probation for six months – unless you break the rules in any way, minor or major. In which case you’ll go back inside quick smart.’

All hung in the balance for a moment, then Griff grabbed his sister’s arm and pulled her even further away from the doorway.

Miranda was close enough to hear what he muttered.

‘Give it up, Selma. For now, at least. Them papers aren’t worth me getting into trouble with the law again for.’

Her hearing being excellent, Miranda was close enough to hear his sister’s reply as well.

‘But I promised Miss Westerby, Griff. I promised her faithfully and I’ve never let her down about anything before.’

He put his arm round her shoulders and carried on moving away. ‘You did your best, love. You aren’t letting her down on purpose. Them women have got the police on their side, damn them. If you’re still set on getting hold of the box, you’ll have to find a lawyer and make a legal claim to it.’

When she didn’t move willingly, he gave her a jerk and repeated in a low voice, ‘It’s not worth me getting in trouble again with the law over a box of scruffy old papers that you were only going to burn.’

She was still hesitating and glaring at Miranda, then he tugged her arm again and this time she sighed and started to walk away with him. Just before they got into their car, however, she turned to scowl at them, the sort of look that said she wasn’t going to give up.

The other man, who hadn’t spoken yet, was now standing closer to the front door than his companion. He and the police officer hadn’t spoken but were clearly together. He gave the women a nod and quick half-smile, staying where he was.

They all watched the police officer follow the Parnhams along the drive towards where a shabby van was parked under one of the big trees, where it was barely visible from the house.

He stood near the vehicle, arms folded, watching them, clearly waiting for them to drive off.

‘I doubt those two would have made such a fuss if that box of old papers really was worthless,’ Miranda murmured.

Libby and the stranger both nodded at that.

‘I agree with you,’ he said. ‘I’m Ryan Sinclair, by the way, your new next-door neighbour. You can see my cottage across your grounds.’ He pointed. ‘That’s my cottage, the one closest to the village. And my back garden runs along your fence for about twenty metres.’

‘We’re both grateful for your help.’ Miranda rubbed her right leg below the knee. ‘That woman gave me a nasty kick and looked ready to do it again.’

‘I was glad to be of use. The police sergeant is my friend Col Barker, who is the law’s main representative in this district. He’ll no doubt join us again in a minute once he’s seen them leave.’

‘Pleased to meet you, Ryan. I’m Miranda Westerby and this is my dear friend Libby Tebbish.’

‘Ah. You’re the person who’s just inherited this house, Miranda.’

‘Yes, I am.’

‘Welcome to the village. Look, I know this sounds cheeky but once Col has seen those two nuisances off, if he and I can come inside for a few minutes, we can share some information about the general situation here. It may help you to ease into this village and the nearby district with fewer hassles. Only if you want us to, of course.’

‘What a kind offer! I’m sure it’ll be useful for us to find out as much as we can about the situation we’ve walked into.’

‘It could be, yes. Fairford Parva is an unusual little village, old-fashioned in some ways, and your family has probably lived here for longer than any other. And in this same house too.’ He looked along the front facade admiringly.

‘I’d be grateful for any information. Were you born here too?’

He shook his head and pointed to the cottage. ‘No. I bought that recently, which is how I came to notice the arrival of the Parnhams on your property. I knew their reputation as troublemakers and I’d seen my friend Col following them on the main road so I called him to suggest he come and investigate what they were doing.’

‘I’m glad he did.’

‘Yes. Good guy, Col. As I have a long, narrow back garden which borders one end of your land as far as that gooseberry bush, I’m your closest neighbour. I probably see more of what’s going on near the big house than certain local people realise. Those two had been keeping an eye on the entrance to your drive for a while from the main road and Col and I were keeping an eye on them, wondering why.’

‘Oh. Right.’ She was about to tell him about the box, but he looked as if he wanted to continue speaking and she decided that she’d wait till the sergeant returned and tell them both about it at the same time.

He gave her another of those lovely warm smiles. ‘I’m not usually a nosey parker but I confess that I’ve been keeping an eye on what’s been happening here because I’ve seen the Parnhams’ van parked on the verge of the main road nearly opposite your entrance and close to my front garden several times lately and for a surprisingly long time, up to two or three hours. I came to the conclusion that they were watching who went in and out of your drive, because yours is the only house there, and I couldn’t help wondering why.’

‘I’m glad you noticed and came to check.’

‘Col had popped in for a chat today and after you arrived we saw them drive partway up the side lane and leave their car then walk across to your house. We wondered why, since he’d already warned them to stay away from it. So we decided to come across and check that you were all right and they hadn’t been annoying you.’

He frowned and shook his head as if puzzled by the situation. ‘Previously they’d always driven away if anyone else actually stopped near them, so their recent behaviour seemed distinctly suspicious to us both.’

By this time the Parnhams had driven off and the sergeant was standing on a convenient chunk of rock watching their car vanish down the main road while speaking on his phone. After the call ended, he jumped lightly down and walked back towards the others. ‘All right if I join you?’

Miranda nodded. ‘Of course. Come in and I’ll see if I can find the makings for a cup of tea or coffee while we chat – that’s if you’d like one.’

Both men grinned and nodded vigorously, making approving sounds.

She cast a puzzled glance at the way they’d come, wondering if there was some gap in her fences. ‘How did you get here so quickly?’

‘We nipped across from my back veggie garden up the rough path at the side of your land.’

‘I didn’t know there was another path. It doesn’t show from the house.’ She stared across to the side, puzzled.

‘It’s hidden behind those bushes. I’ll walk down it with you as we leave, if you like. It was probably how the gardener brought his stuff in and out in the old days, and it’s still a useful shortcut if you want to walk into the village.’

‘Thanks. I’d appreciate that.’

It didn’t take them long to walk down the side of the grounds. The track was hardly visible, so it couldn’t get much use, she thought as they stood at the bottom and stared along towards the village.

‘It’ll make a pleasant little stroll,’ she said at last.

As they walked back up to the house, Col said, ‘You’ll hear the Parnhams’ car if they come back anywhere near here again in the daytime. I could have warned them about their faulty silencer but I thought it was more important today to get rid of them and anyway, the sound of it will let you know they’re around.

‘I hope you’ll enjoy living here,’ he continued. ‘Most local folk are very friendly, given half a chance, with one or two exceptions.’ His glance strayed towards the cottage at the rear of the block as he said that, but he offered no further personal information about whoever lived there.

‘Any advice on settling in will be welcome,’ Libby said.

In the meantime, she liked the looks of both these men and hoped they’d get to know one another better. They had fresh, open faces and looked you straight in the eye.