Chapter Sixty-One
"No? It's alright, don't worry about it...I still got some more people to try"
This was the phone call Leanna was listening into. Her father Liam was ringing some of his friends and whatnot. None of them really had the space because of children or the fact their house was not bigger enough for two extra guests. So she was sat with her arms crossed as she watched him put the phone down.
"I might have to try some of my old in-laws" Liam told her.
"No! No way am I going to share a house with a Stepney again!" Leanna complained.
"Well it's either that or a hostel"
This just made her groan as she turned away from him. Muttering insults under her breath, great she thought. Maya may be dead but she hasn't got rid of her family, her old step-family were still something she has to put up with. Liam rang up Ethan, he didn't know what that man was. He use to go round to his with Maya sometimes when they were married, she would sing his praises to high heaven. Not to mention that the house had enough space to fit in two more (now that Rosa has been relocated downstairs). So he had no reason to believe he was anything bad.
"Ethan...It's me, Liam"
"Oh...Hiya mate, what's going on?"
"Not much but I need somewhere temporary...Just for me and Leanna. I know it's a lot to ask but I don't fancy staying at Henrietta's, too many gnomes. While John's house is a pigsty, so how about it?"
"Yeah sure, why not...You are a friend, Leanna will have to have Maya's old bedroom though"
"Yeah that's fine"
"And you will have to kip on the couch, what use to be Rosa's room is now a snooker room. Sorry mate"
"Seriously? You know what...Kipping on the couch sounds fine"
"Rosa's in there"
"Not a problem, I'm a doctor. If she acts funny in the middle of the night, I can sort her out. I like Rosa anyway, she's quite amusing"
Leanna repeating..."She's quite amusing" under her breath, giving her father daggers while she mimicked his voice with bitterness. She been round to Rosa's before, when she was Maya's step-daughter; they would spend time there for a little while. Sometimes stayed over for a few nights. Henrietta and John didn't exactly know for they were distant with Maya when she was alive, where she went and what she did wasn't known to them. (and Ethan was hardly going to brag about it, the time for that passed). Liam put the phone down again after some more small talk...
"There we go then...Ethan is going to put up us for a few days. You get the spare bedroom" Liam informed the girl.
"I hate going there, it smells like one of your surgery rooms. Not to mention that Rosa and Ethan are boring. Why are we going there? We can cut off Maya's family surely"
"It's only for a few days...I just need somewhere to stay while I look for a decent new place. We done it before"
"Yeah but it made sense then because Maya was your wife...It doesn't make sense anymore!"
"Leanna, I tried everyone I could but nobody has any space. Ethan is a last resort, he's not my first choice. I know he's a bit strange and a bit thick but he's harmless"
Ethan was known as 'strange and thick but harmless' to everyone who didn't know him well. His mother Georgina and his great-grandmother Rosa got that impression. Liam and Leanna also had that impression. He wanted them to think that because then he would have no reason to worry, only a select few knew the truth (one of them already dead).
"He stinks too...So no wonder Maya liked him" Leanna remarked.
Liam just shaking his head with a small smile. She was very cheeky sometimes but usually she was right about people. She just seemed to see through people and see things other may not see or want to see. The girl just didn't like him, she thought he had something wrong with him (and she wasn't wrong). Though like her father, she didn't actually think he was anything harmful.
"Well be on your best behaviour...Besides, you like Auntie Rosa" Liam insisted.
"A...She's not my Auntie and B, I'm always on my best behaviour"
"Yeah, sure you are...Anyway, come on; we best make a move before Diane spots us again" Liam suggested.
...
Making her way to the farm was interesting. Henrietta has barely stepped onto the grounds when a rather large tractor came past. It was actually Nate as he stopped, his father's current lover he thought. She briefly looked up at him but decided not to engage in a chat, Cain didn't get on with him; she knew that much. He was that farmhand who cheated with his wife.
"You're wearing the wrong shoes to be walking on these parts" Nate simply remarked.
"I can manage...I use to do nature walks all the time" Henrietta insisted. Trying to make as little talk as possible.
Nate got all the gossip about her from Pete Barton (a friend of David's). So he just raised an eyebrow, she doesn't look like the type to enjoy hiking. She was clearly lost in these parts anyway, for 'Butler's Farm' pathway was on the opposite side of them. She was on the wrong twist.
"Well you are going the wrong way" Nate informed her.
"Am I? This isn't a trick is it?"
"No, you go to the path over there and keep walking up there. This bit is mine and Pete's bit you see"
"Oh I see...Well I never been round here before. Anyway, I shouldn't be talking to you should I? Cain wouldn't like it"
"Well I don't think it's very nice making his old woman make her own way there. Bit thoughtless isn't it? Anyway, just follow that path opposite us and then make the first twist. It's very easy"
She ignored his sly remark as she just gave him a nod. Making her way to the opposite path as he instructed. Nate watched her for a bit from his tractor, just making sure she went the right way. Driving off once she was out of his eyesight, the woman in question was now on the right corner. The farm soon coming into the view as she gave a slight sigh of relief, she wouldn't want to get lost in this cold weather. Cain was currently hanging outside talking to his half-brother Sam (who popped down).
"You're late" Cain simply remarked as he spotted her.
"You're lucky I'm here at all with your bad directions" Henrietta replied.
"You should see our farm. It's well better" Sam chimed in.
"You ain't got a farm Sam...It's a field with a few pigs at best" Cain insisted.
Making him just give a small tut, taking another swig from his cider can. Cain has actually told him about what Kim told him. He wanted some advice on how to let somebody down gently since that wasn't his usual style. It wasn't like him at all but he wasn't heartless, he has mellowed slightly.
"We have a pig farm, it's the same thing" Sam muttered.
"I use to go to the local farms here as a child, I believe somebody called Jacob Sugden ran it then" Henrietta spoke up.
"Oh, that was erm...Victoria's grandfather I think, that's going back a bit. When was that?" Cain questioned.
"The 60s"
"Bloody hell...Well no wonder you couldn't find it, it's been a while for you. Surprised you didn't fall into a ditch"
Henrietta just raised an eyebrow slightly. He wasn't wrong though she supposed, it's been a while. Though she use to live on the outskirts of Emmerdale as a child (when it was called Beckindale) she and her sister Georgina use to run through the village with other local children. Her mother claimed she had way too much ambition for a girl, she met city boy John Stepney in the mid-1970s and off she went into Leeds. She already had family there in the form of Rosa so it was an easy move.
"Yes I know...I'm surprised too" Henrietta replied in jest.
"So you grew up around here?" Sam chimed in.
"I lived in Robblesfield as a child but I use to like to come here when it was Beckindale. My mum and dad use to take me to the cricket matches"
"Yeah we use to go there...Use to drink in 'The Maltshovel' until they kicked us out" Sam explained.
This just made Henrietta laugh as she exclaimed..."The Malt! You were such a rowdy bunch, well your fathers and grandfathers were!"
"As fun as this memory lane isn't...I'm going in but you two carry on, I'm going inside to get warm" Cain spoke up suddenly.
Sam watching him go in as he took another long swig from his cider can. He didn't like talking about the past for obvious reasons. Yes he thought, the man he thought was his father growing up; Shadrach; was a 'rowdy one' alright.
"He doesn't like to talk about our Malt days" Sam quickly spoke up.
"Ah well we best stop then...It was nice talking to you anyway"
"You too, I best be off anyway"
She gave him a small smile before making her way inside and shutting the door. Cain was in the kitchen. Henrietta began instantly looking around the farmhouse, it's been years since she's been in one of these. For she has lived in the city of Leeds since she was eighteen, moving to Newcastle for a bit before moving back to Leeds but either way, she rarely visited the countryside after moving away from Robblesfield. Her daughter Maya having only lived in the countryside in her final year. They weren't country-folk really, her parents were the only ones who enjoyed the country life.
"You like it then?" Cain asked her.
"Yes, it reminds me of my childhood home...A wonderful place, I take it Moira's son won't be coming either tonight?"
"Who? Matty? No...He's staying with a mate"
"That's nice"
Small talk it would be then, this was going to be a rather long night Cain thought. First time a fling of his has ever gotten to the bored stage, that's for sure. For he would dump them before that usually.
...
In the other household, things were not much better. Liam and Leanna having arrived at Ethan and Rosa's with their suitcases. The house has not been updated in years, nor has it been cleaned much. Everything was just a mess, Ethan wouldn't clean up really. His idea of 'cleaning up' was stuffing things in the corner or inside a cupboard. Leanna getting out her perfume as she sprayed on purpose. Making Rosa give a small cough in the corner...
"Who's this?" Rosa asked in confusion.
"This is Liam and Leanna gran-gran...You remember them from the funeral?" Ethan replied to her.
"Funeral?"
"Yeah"
Liam quickly clearing his throat, he knew how to deal with Alzheimer's a bit better then Ethan. As he moved in his place, leaning down besides his old great-aunt-in-law. This was the same place Maya took Jacob all those months ago indeed. It seemed to where all the Stepney and their friends took refuge.
"I'm Liam and this is my daughter Leanna. We are just staying here for a few days until we get some place sorted. Alright?" Liam gently explained.
"Liam?"
"That's right"
"Maya's husband?"
This made him give a nervous laugh. Not wanting to confuse her anymore, the man just nodded as he said..."Yeah, you remember me a bit then; I will make you a cup of tea"
Ethan had made his way to Leanna during this, his cousin's old step-daughter. No, he would never do anything to her. Not because he suddenly has morals but just because it was Maya he enjoyed having control over. Her and his recent so-called girlfriend Kelly (the twenty year old who sometimes stays over). Though it does depend on his mood regarding her, he picked her up whenever he felt like it; like she was a doll.
"You got the spare bedroom upstairs" Ethan simply grunted to her.
"Does that stink too?" Leanna asked him with a fake big smile.
"Oi! The house doesn't stink, it's just a bit stuffy"
"A bit stuffy?! You could put a dead rat in here and not be able to notice!"
"Am I getting a bad Yelp review from you then?"
This just made her scoff as she shoved past him, he gave a little chuckle to himself after she left. Liam in the kitchen making a cup of tea, the cups were all dusty and whatnot. After Rosa's illness began about ten years ago, the house was no longer maintained very well. Ethan didn't look after it. Even a few years ago, it wasn't this bad. Liam just opened the curtains a bit to let light in.
"Are you okay?" Liam asked Ethan.
"Yeah...I just let the housework slip a bit"
"You really shouldn't do that...People like Rosa need a nice looking room to stay in, it's their only joy in life sometimes; to see what's right in front of them"
"I know...I will sort it"
Upstairs meanwhile, Leanna had entered Maya's old bedroom. It looked even older then the one she had at Henrietta's. The wallpaper was a dark green this time, the carpet was yellow but time has made it look rather dire too. Old children's books lined the sides as well as some old board games. Leanna noticed the bed has been slept in, it hasn't been touched since Maya and Jacob slept in there that one night so it looked the same. The photo album was still on top of the cupboard. It was still obviously a child's bedroom but it was an uncared for child's bedroom. Leanna found it looked rather sad, like something was missing. Besides the photo album, no photographs or cards were in here. Nothing but a few dusty books, games and a photo album.
...
TBC