Family Secrets
Setting the scene...
Its now 14 years on and we are in the year of 2018. Archie and Lexie moved away from Glenbogle 13 years ago when their son Duncan was born (yes they decided to name him after Duncan, Lexie's 'wee man'). Archie decided they needed to get right away in order to let Paul have a good start at being laird. Lexie had always dreamed of going to Australia so after some careful planning they decided to move there to Newcastle N.S.W. Archie and Lexie had decided to set up there own business of running on of the harbour side hotels and they had a beautiful home. Duncan grew up there, although Archie and Lexie had decided they weren't going to tell Duncan about his origins or of his father being the laird of Glenbogle back in Scotland, for fear it would confuse things for both Duncan and Paul back home and his wife Isobel and their children. Therefore Duncan grew up in Australia as if he had been born there, he developed an Aussie accent and knew nothing of Glenbogle. He knew his mother and father were from Scotland as Lexie still carried her strong accent with her, and Archie never adapted his to the Australian one, but he simply thought they had just immigrated over here. Molly came over once or twice, but apart from that Duncan didn't really know his grandmother, apart from what his mother and father had told him. Then 5 years later, Archie and Lexie decided they wanted another child and so they had a little girl named Shelley. Now in the year 2018, Shelley is 8 years old and has black hair like her father, with her mother's facial features. Duncan is 13 and the spitting image of his father Archie. There was a lot of sibling rivalry between the two, as Duncan had always been used to being an only child all the years before Shelley was born. And being the youngest Shelley automatically was thought of as the innocent one and could do nothing wrong, which often caused Duncan to have some hatred towards his younger sister. But would it be like this forever, if Duncan found out about his family secret?
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Start of the summer holidays in the month of December...
"Morning Sweetheart" Archie said coming down to breakfast to greet his wife. Lexie handed him a cup of tea. "Morning" she smiled. "Where are the kids?" Archie asked noticing that neither Duncan nor Shelley were around. "Oh Duncan took Shell down to the beach early this morning" Lexie said clearing away the breakfast dishes from earlier. "Oh of course, it's the school holidays now" Archie remembered "Yes we now have six weeks of them at home" she laughed, dreading it. "Still it will be nice, maybe we can spend some time together as a family," Archie commented while drinking his tea. "Right" Lexie agreed, kissing Archie on the cheek "I'm off to get dressed" "Ok then...Oh by the way I e-mailed Paul this morning" Archie said calling back to her. Lexie came back "Oh did you... what did you say?" Archie laughed, knowing that his wife was always interested in the goings on at Glenbogle. "Asked him how he was doing, how Isobel was and the kids. Oh and I asked him if he had heard anything from Duncan about the baby." Archie finished looking at his wife's excited expression. "I can't believe Duncan and Jess are going to have a baby," she laughed. "Well they had to get round to it someday" Archie laughed "Well tell me when he e-mails back," Lexie said taking a second attempt to go upstairs.
After a while Lexie came back downstairs. "So what do you want to do today?" Lexie asked coming back through to sit with Archie in the kitchen. "I was thinking we could go to King Edward Park, take some cardboard for sliding down the hills. We haven't done that since the kids were little" Archie said smiling. "Yeah sounds like fun," Lexie said making her self a drink. The back door opened and a soaking wet Shelley came in crying. Lexie turned her attention to her child. "Mummy" Shelley said crying and hugging her tight around her waist. "Duncan pushed me in the water" she cried. Lexie looked up at Duncan standing Guilty at the door. "She only went under for like a couple of seconds, I pulled her back up," he said quietly. "Arch, go fetch a towel" Lexie ordered Archie as he jumped up to go get a towel. "Duncan you know your sister has a fear of the water, why an earth would you do such a thing!" Lexie scolded. "I was only having a bit of fun," Duncan replied grumpily, as he ignored his mother and went out of the room. "Come here, your alright now, don't worry" Lexie said talking to Shelley and wiping her tears. Archie came through with a towel and wrapped it round his daughter, picking her up. "Come on, lets go get you a nice bath" Archie said taking her upstairs.
Duncan slumped down in front of the computer. "Stupid Shelley, always getting their attention" he said angrily to himself. He switched on the computer, and slammed the door shut as he heard his father singing a little song to Shelley as he carried her to the bathroom "Snow white, Snow white, Shelley is my little Snow white" Duncan could hear Archie singing to her. "Hmm Snow white, maybe I can get a poisonous apple for her to eat" Duncan said to himself, as the computer logged on to the e-mail. "Oh dad's been on here again," he said to himself, as he went to log out of Archie's account.
He scanned the page quickly as he hovered the mouse over the exit button. His eyes immediately went to a message from his uncle Paul. Paul often e- mailed his nephew Duncan, but this was a message between two brothers and Duncan couldn't resist his curiosity towards it, so without hesitation he clicked on the e-mail and started to read the e-mail.
Hey Arch,
Thanks for asking, yes Isobel and the kids are fine, and I hope Lexie, Duncan and Shelley are ok too. You will never believe what happened in Glenbogle today, well being the laird I had to attend the meeting in the village hall. Well you will never guess whom I saw there! Katrina! Yep, turns out she's back visiting Maureen for a while. Word has it she just got divorced, something about her husband not being able to keep up with her demands! (I'm not surprised, from what you and Lexie have told me about her) Turns out Maureen has been sending Katrina letters all this time, she knew all about me coming back to Glenbogle, you going with Lizzie to Nepal for months and leaving Lexie in charge of the house, and about you giving up your laird title and immigrating to Australia! Anyways Duncan tells me Jess is nearly to the end of her term now and should be having the baby soon! I bet Lexie is excited, I know how she gets about things like this.
Talk soon hopefully.
Paul
Duncan looked at the e-mail confused. Laird? What was that? And what was Paul on about him being a laird? Who is this Katrina woman and how come both his mother and father know about her? What is Glenbogle? Is it a place? So many questions went through Duncan's head; he was just about to read another e-mail when he heard a knock at the door. Quickly he turned the computer screen off. Archie came into the room, "Duncan, can you go and help your mother downstairs, we are going to King Edward" he asked waiting by the door. Duncan worriedly looked back at the computer screen, he hadn't realised he had only switched off the screen when he got up off the chair quickly to go and help his mother downstairs.
Setting the scene...
Its now 14 years on and we are in the year of 2018. Archie and Lexie moved away from Glenbogle 13 years ago when their son Duncan was born (yes they decided to name him after Duncan, Lexie's 'wee man'). Archie decided they needed to get right away in order to let Paul have a good start at being laird. Lexie had always dreamed of going to Australia so after some careful planning they decided to move there to Newcastle N.S.W. Archie and Lexie had decided to set up there own business of running on of the harbour side hotels and they had a beautiful home. Duncan grew up there, although Archie and Lexie had decided they weren't going to tell Duncan about his origins or of his father being the laird of Glenbogle back in Scotland, for fear it would confuse things for both Duncan and Paul back home and his wife Isobel and their children. Therefore Duncan grew up in Australia as if he had been born there, he developed an Aussie accent and knew nothing of Glenbogle. He knew his mother and father were from Scotland as Lexie still carried her strong accent with her, and Archie never adapted his to the Australian one, but he simply thought they had just immigrated over here. Molly came over once or twice, but apart from that Duncan didn't really know his grandmother, apart from what his mother and father had told him. Then 5 years later, Archie and Lexie decided they wanted another child and so they had a little girl named Shelley. Now in the year 2018, Shelley is 8 years old and has black hair like her father, with her mother's facial features. Duncan is 13 and the spitting image of his father Archie. There was a lot of sibling rivalry between the two, as Duncan had always been used to being an only child all the years before Shelley was born. And being the youngest Shelley automatically was thought of as the innocent one and could do nothing wrong, which often caused Duncan to have some hatred towards his younger sister. But would it be like this forever, if Duncan found out about his family secret?
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Start of the summer holidays in the month of December...
"Morning Sweetheart" Archie said coming down to breakfast to greet his wife. Lexie handed him a cup of tea. "Morning" she smiled. "Where are the kids?" Archie asked noticing that neither Duncan nor Shelley were around. "Oh Duncan took Shell down to the beach early this morning" Lexie said clearing away the breakfast dishes from earlier. "Oh of course, it's the school holidays now" Archie remembered "Yes we now have six weeks of them at home" she laughed, dreading it. "Still it will be nice, maybe we can spend some time together as a family," Archie commented while drinking his tea. "Right" Lexie agreed, kissing Archie on the cheek "I'm off to get dressed" "Ok then...Oh by the way I e-mailed Paul this morning" Archie said calling back to her. Lexie came back "Oh did you... what did you say?" Archie laughed, knowing that his wife was always interested in the goings on at Glenbogle. "Asked him how he was doing, how Isobel was and the kids. Oh and I asked him if he had heard anything from Duncan about the baby." Archie finished looking at his wife's excited expression. "I can't believe Duncan and Jess are going to have a baby," she laughed. "Well they had to get round to it someday" Archie laughed "Well tell me when he e-mails back," Lexie said taking a second attempt to go upstairs.
After a while Lexie came back downstairs. "So what do you want to do today?" Lexie asked coming back through to sit with Archie in the kitchen. "I was thinking we could go to King Edward Park, take some cardboard for sliding down the hills. We haven't done that since the kids were little" Archie said smiling. "Yeah sounds like fun," Lexie said making her self a drink. The back door opened and a soaking wet Shelley came in crying. Lexie turned her attention to her child. "Mummy" Shelley said crying and hugging her tight around her waist. "Duncan pushed me in the water" she cried. Lexie looked up at Duncan standing Guilty at the door. "She only went under for like a couple of seconds, I pulled her back up," he said quietly. "Arch, go fetch a towel" Lexie ordered Archie as he jumped up to go get a towel. "Duncan you know your sister has a fear of the water, why an earth would you do such a thing!" Lexie scolded. "I was only having a bit of fun," Duncan replied grumpily, as he ignored his mother and went out of the room. "Come here, your alright now, don't worry" Lexie said talking to Shelley and wiping her tears. Archie came through with a towel and wrapped it round his daughter, picking her up. "Come on, lets go get you a nice bath" Archie said taking her upstairs.
Duncan slumped down in front of the computer. "Stupid Shelley, always getting their attention" he said angrily to himself. He switched on the computer, and slammed the door shut as he heard his father singing a little song to Shelley as he carried her to the bathroom "Snow white, Snow white, Shelley is my little Snow white" Duncan could hear Archie singing to her. "Hmm Snow white, maybe I can get a poisonous apple for her to eat" Duncan said to himself, as the computer logged on to the e-mail. "Oh dad's been on here again," he said to himself, as he went to log out of Archie's account.
He scanned the page quickly as he hovered the mouse over the exit button. His eyes immediately went to a message from his uncle Paul. Paul often e- mailed his nephew Duncan, but this was a message between two brothers and Duncan couldn't resist his curiosity towards it, so without hesitation he clicked on the e-mail and started to read the e-mail.
Hey Arch,
Thanks for asking, yes Isobel and the kids are fine, and I hope Lexie, Duncan and Shelley are ok too. You will never believe what happened in Glenbogle today, well being the laird I had to attend the meeting in the village hall. Well you will never guess whom I saw there! Katrina! Yep, turns out she's back visiting Maureen for a while. Word has it she just got divorced, something about her husband not being able to keep up with her demands! (I'm not surprised, from what you and Lexie have told me about her) Turns out Maureen has been sending Katrina letters all this time, she knew all about me coming back to Glenbogle, you going with Lizzie to Nepal for months and leaving Lexie in charge of the house, and about you giving up your laird title and immigrating to Australia! Anyways Duncan tells me Jess is nearly to the end of her term now and should be having the baby soon! I bet Lexie is excited, I know how she gets about things like this.
Talk soon hopefully.
Paul
Duncan looked at the e-mail confused. Laird? What was that? And what was Paul on about him being a laird? Who is this Katrina woman and how come both his mother and father know about her? What is Glenbogle? Is it a place? So many questions went through Duncan's head; he was just about to read another e-mail when he heard a knock at the door. Quickly he turned the computer screen off. Archie came into the room, "Duncan, can you go and help your mother downstairs, we are going to King Edward" he asked waiting by the door. Duncan worriedly looked back at the computer screen, he hadn't realised he had only switched off the screen when he got up off the chair quickly to go and help his mother downstairs.