Page 60 of It Always Snows on Mistletoe Square
‘Eventually, yes. But not because of the bet. My father and Tannon made some other arrangement in exchange for him not taking the house immediately. But when Tannon eventually moved away from Mistletoe Square, he honoured the bet, and gave the house to my father, who was poor of health by then. Tannon worked in the city and had loads of money; he didn’t need any more houses.’
‘And you and Rudy?’ I ask, sensing there’s more as I sit down opposite Estelle.
‘Rudy moved on … ’ Estelle says sadly. ‘Not long after that night, actually. He was offered a job on a farm in Norfolk. Rudy had always wanted to live in the country, and he loved animals.’ She gives Alvie a stroke as he hops up onto her lap. ‘The offer came out of the blue, some distant relative if I remember rightly, but it was too good an opportunity for Rudy to turn down.’
‘Didn’t you see each other after that?’ I ask.
‘He said once he got settled, I could come and visit. We talked about us getting a little place in the country one day, but sadly that day never came … ’
Estelle looks over at the Christmas tree and the decoration of the three wise men.
‘I don’t know for sure, but I think my father had something to do with him leaving, because Tannon’s son, Teddy, told me some years later he had family in Norfolk too. An estate with many acres, houses and farmland on it … ’
I glance at Ben; he pulls a face.
‘Was that the arrangement your father came to with Tannon, do you think?’ I dare to ask.
‘To arrange the removal of the man I loved to the country in the hope I’d never see him again?’ Estelle asks, her eyebrows raised. ‘Yes, I’m in no doubt that’s what happened. Like I told you before, I detested my father – for many reasons – and that was one of the main ones.’
‘Oh, Estelle,’ I say, feeling for her. ‘That’s terrible.’
Estelle shrugs and hugs Alvie close to her. ‘He was an awful man. That wasn’t the only time I saved the house and my mother from homelessness. It was a blessing when he died. At least our home wasn’t at risk any more. It wasn’t long after that I married Teddy.’
‘Tannon’s son?’ Ben exclaims.
‘He wasn’t actually that bad,’ Estelle says. ‘He was a quiet man, but he was kind and he looked after Mother and me. And when he died in the Second World War, I became a widow in my twenties. But at least Mother and I had the house, and Teddy left me a generous amount in his will with which we could comfortably live.’
‘Did you ever marry again after that?’ I ask. ‘You were very young to be widowed.’
‘Sadly, that happened a lot back then. There were an awful lot of us young widows. And, no, I didn’t marry again. But more on that another night. This evening has quite taken it out of me. I think it’s time I retired to bed.’
She leans on her cane, Alvie jumps down off her lap and Angela hurries over to help her up.
‘I will see you both in the morning. Sleep well.’
‘And you,’ I reply. ‘Goodnight, Estelle.’
Ben and I watch Angela help Estelle out of the room and then we turn to each other.
‘Well … ’ Ben says, sitting down in Estelle’s vacated chair.
‘Indeed,’ I reply. ‘Quite the story again tonight. Except this one felt much more personal, didn’t it – to Estelle, I mean.’
Ben nods. ‘Do you ever wonder why is she telling us all this?’ he asks suddenly. ‘I know we’ve talked about this before, but don’t you get the feeling there’s something more going on here than simply recalling these stories for a book?’
‘I think we both know there’s something more going on, but what? What other reason could there be for Estelle to be telling us all these tales from her family’s past?’
Ben thinks about this for a moment. ‘I wish I could suggest something, but, really, I have no idea. If anyone else told me this was happening to them, I would think they needed help.’
‘I know. I’m so glad you’re here with me experiencing all this.’
‘So you don’t think you’re going mad on your own, you mean?’
‘Yes, there is that too.’ I smile.
‘You know I’ve been on some pretty odd first dates in my time,’ Ben says, leaning across and taking my hand in his. ‘But these trips into the past are something else.’ He gets up and sits in the chair next to me now, still holding my hand. ‘I’m still no closer to figuring out how they’re doing it. Are you?’
I shake my head. ‘I even tried not taking a drink tonight in case we were right and they were spiked with something. But that made no difference at all.’
