Page 70 of The Silence of Hell

“My darling girl! I’ve waited twenty years for this!” Aunt Aggie cried, and I held onto her. Ronnie grunted, but we paid him no attention as he dumped Rik in a corner.

“Why did you pretend to be dead?” I exclaimed.

“Because someone had tried to kill me!” Aunt Aggie explained as she released me and cupped my face. She smothered me with kisses, just like she had as a child.

“Why? Who?” I gasped.

“The answer is in front of you,” Aunt Aggie said.

“Ronnie? No, he’d not harm you,” I muttered, shaking my head.

“You remember him now? About time, darling, I was starting to worry,” Aunt Aggie responded.

“He’s your eldest son, named for Uncle Ronald. He didn’t die but survived,” I murmured, working it all out.

“Yes. Ronnie survived, but he was severely brain damaged. Uncle Ronald and I did everything we could to protect him, including faking his death. We realised that as heir, Ronnie would be a target of the assholes in our family. Bad men like Rik there or your dad. They’d lock Ronnie up while claiming in his name and fleecing the estate and trust,” Aunt Aggie explained.

“And you needed me to look after Ronnie,” I replied.

“Yes. I was here one night when Rik broke in. He was demanding money and trying to steal. What he didn’t realise was I had a companion here, an old friend. She was upstairs with Ronnie and heard the commotion and called the police. Mavis shouted down that the cops were coming and scared Rik, and he shoved me down the stairs and broke my leg.

“Naturally, sweet girl, I had to leave hospital, and Rik heard about it. He came back a few weeks later and frightened Mavis, and she had a heart attack. It was then that I knew Rik wouldn’t ease up. So, I pretended Mavis was me and hid out here with Ronnie.”

“But Aunt Aggie, food, utilities, and so on,” I said, confused.

“Food was easy, I pretended to be Mavis and had groceries delivered to her house, which was a small cottage a mere ten-minutes away. Mavis had no family and lived alone, so nobody knew if I was her or not. Ronnie and I would drive to her place, clean it, and wait for the shopping, and then bring them back here. The utilities had been left on and were paid through the estate, so they weren’t a problem.”

“Aunt Aggie, that was no life for you and Ronnie!” I exclaimed.

“It was only meant to be for a few years until you turned eighteen. But you never came, and I realised that they’d hidden your inheritance from you! A few times, I dithered about writing to you, but I couldn’t risk exposing us. But we had a good life. It’s only the last few weeks we’ve been confined up here. Other than that, we had the run of the house and the grounds.”

“Why didn’t you come forward, then?” I asked, confused.

“Because of Rik, you were in danger. And honey, if he had discovered Ronnie, then he could have gone for custody of him,” Aunt Aggie explained.

“And now?”

“Well, he kidnapped you and intended to harm you, darling girl. That should put him away for a decent amount of time.” Aunt Aggie chuckled as Ronnie thumped Rik on the head as Rik stirred.

“You want me to look after Ronnie,” I said, putting Aunt Aggie’s plan together.

“He can’t ever be the heir. Your father, Janice, and Rik are all a danger to him. I love my son, and he would lead a miserable life under them. With you, Ronnie will be happy for his remaining years. He’s sixty now. Ronnie wants to roam the estate, play with his train sets, and ride in the cars. That’s all it takes to make him happy, Lavender. Spending time with him.”

“And that is something I can promise you. This is Ronnie’s home, and he’ll be happy. I won’t let either of you down. I swear on everything I hold dear, Ronnie will be happy,” I promised.

“Love you,” Ronnie cooed in a sing-song voice.

“Love you, back,” I replied, knowing it was true. My heart, as a child, had adored Ronnie. He’d watched over me. Now, it was my turn to watch over him.

“You should call your young man. No doubt he’s going frantic. You’ve been missing an hour,” Aunt Aggie said.

“I didn’t see your ghost, so what did I see?” I asked.

“The mirror was a two-way, so when a light flicked on behind me, you saw me. I wanted you to know you weren’t alone.”

“And the kitchen hallway?”

“Darling, did you forget there was a secret entrance there? Lavender…” Aunt Aggie tutted.

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