Chapter 5

Iris and James arrived just in time for their evening meal, although they were given ten minutes to dump their bags in Iris’s room, and freshen up, before joining the family for a quick drink before going to their dinner.

They were joined by the two doctors and Sheila, and by Jonathon Richards, and so there was a great deal of conversations going on even before they sat around the table.

Trudy sat down thankful that Matt was not there, and then dismayed when Jonathon sat beside her.

“My brother has taken to his room again,” Jonathon said sadly. “The headaches when they begin are intolerable for him; and so, all he can do is to try and sleep them off.”

“Migraines can be a terrible thing,” Dr Phillips sympathised.

Jonathon lowered his voice so that only Trudy could hear him. “I think we both know that this is not just a migraine.”

“As you suggested, Jon; I had my staff make up that back room for him,” Greg said suddenly. “The bed is a large one and he is a big man; but perhaps he needs something closer to the doctors?”

“There is no help for him I am afraid, the back room where it is quiet is probably the best thing for him.”

“I could prescribe him some painkillers?” Dr Phillips offered.

“Thank you but no, he tends to down a bottle or two of alcohol, when the attacks come, and will probably already be out of this world ... until tomorrow now, I would have thought. Our best course of action is to leave him in peace.”

“Yes,” Dr Phillips nodded. “I would offer to go and check on him, but as you say if he is in a deep sleep then disturbing him would just be cruel. Rest is usually the best remedy.”

Trudy sat and ate her meal in silence as the people around her chatted.

Knowing that Matt was upstairs and in pain, was almost her undoing.

She could not conceive of the idea of leaving him alone like that; he needed rest yes; but surely someone should stay with him; if only to let him know that he was cared about.

Tucked away at the back of the house – where no one else went, not even the staff had rooms back there it was so dark and depressing.

The meal finished and they all moved to the living area which also led out to the veranda.

Jonathon took Laurie’s arm and led her outside, so that they could sit and chat together.

“After all,” he smiled down at her. “We are family now, and so we should get to know each other better.”

Laurie cast a quick anxious glance at Michael, who smiled at her in reassurance, before she allowed herself to be led out onto the veranda by Jonathon.

As the evening wore on, Jonathon stayed out on the veranda and after a while he sent Laurie back inside, and he had her request Michael to pop out; then when Michael came back, he asked Iris if she would be kind enough to join his father out for a bit of fresh air, when she returned, she asked James to go out to Jonathon.

It seemed that Jonathon had taken the essence of his ceremonial hall, where he had held audiences and heard petitions; and relocated it to Greg Beaumont’s veranda.

Whilst out there he held meetings with just about everyone, and tonight he seemed to want to sit with all of Greg’s family; on a one-to-one basis.

Trudy had no idea what conversations were had out there, but she had already endured one of them; and so, she was so not about to be pulled out for another.

She yawned somewhat theatrically.

“Well, it’s been a long day and I for one am tired; so, I shall bid you all a good night,”

“Good night, Aunt Trudy,” Laurie smiled, and Iris stood up to give her a hug.

“We must sit and talk soon,” Iris murmured fondly.

“Yes, tomorrow perhaps?”

“That would be nice; you, me and Laurie ... we haven’t done that since I got married.”

Trudy sat in front of her mirror and brushed through her short-cropped hair.

She’d had it like this for so many years now, never wanting anything to make her look feminine or attractive; she deliberately hacked at her hair on a regular basis.

Now as she studied herself, she felt demoralised; she threw the brush down and turned away in disgust.

She pulled off her clothing as she walked to her adjoining bathroom and spent a good fifteen minutes simply standing under the running shower, before even bothering with the soap.

Half an hour later though, washed and wrapped in a soft, fluffy towel, she dropped back in front of the mirror.

“You are old before your time, my girl!” she muttered as she dried her cropped hair quickly using her fingers to comb through it.

Her hair was once her shinning glory and her one true vanity; and in truth it still held hints of that glory even if people just saw the jagged cut.

It was fine and soft like Laurie’s, and in her day, it had been longer still than Laurie’s.

Trudy dropped the towel and slipped into a little summer dress, light and easily discarded should the wish to shift come upon her.

She had claimed tiredness to escape from the room downstairs; but to tell the truth she was wide awake and humming with suppressed energy.

She glanced at her watch and sighed. It was growing past the midnight hour. She guessed everyone would be in bed or at least in their rooms by now.

The house and its occupants were settling down for the night.

And Trudy paced her room, trying to wind down too.

By one thirty she knew that she would not sleep tonight. Not until she had done what she needed to do.

With a little huff of resignation, she quietly left her bedroom.