Chapter 16. All in the Family
Richard and William could in fact do nothing to Anne, nor did they intend to, they were going to visit her, encourage her to stand her ground and then tell her mother they spoke to her. It was not a lie.
Arriving at the apartment without phoning ahead, they had hoped she would be home, and she was. She was breathless and sweating when she opened the door. William and Richard looked at each other.
"Anne, you sly dog you!" Richard blurted out
"I am running, you dirty old man!" Anne shot back at her cousin, with a smile she opened the door.
Their aunt was right Anne had been redecorating and in their opinion it was a great improvement, not just redecorating but there were some renovations as well.
The whole apartment seemed lighter and more welcoming, or perhaps that was just the absence of their aunt and her aura of total unhappiness.
"Coffee, or something stronger?" Anne offered, sipping on a bottle of water.
"Coffee would be great, alcohol would just put me to sleep now" Richard said
William nodded in agreement "Yes, a coffee would be just the thing."
William had to admit that Anne was looking very good, she had picked up a bit of muscle and a bit of colour; the near death look she had had most of her life was no where to be seen.
Richard had obviously been thinking the same thing "Wow Anne, even for a cousin you are looking good!"
"Thank you" Anne said, a little shy, she was still not used to compliments, even if it was from her cousin.
"Your mother phoned, she says you have been doing unauthorised redecorating and it must stop." William said, his voice totally flat "I see no signs of any unauthorised decorating, in fact I think the decorating police would highly approve and authorise some more of the same!" a small grin appearing on his face. "In fact, I don't think I have seen a happier room than this one." He looked at round the room trying to remember exactly how it looked before. All of the old ball and claw furniture was gone, along with the horrific floral wallpaper that had been there before. The walls had been painted a soft yellow, almost white colour, the drapes were a slightly darker shade of yellow which popped up randomly around the room, as cushions or a vase or cleverly in the backing of the bookcase, where if he was not mistaken used to be a gigantic display cabinet filled with the most gaudiest knickknacks known to man. Tastefully arrange on the bookcase were some books, some picture frames, surprisingly some of the photos were of Aunt Catherine, in her youth; her late husband and Anne. Other photos were of himself, his cousin and other random family members.
A large vase of fresh lilies was on the new coffee table, Aunt Catherine never had fresh flowers in any of her dwellings. The sofa was dove-grey with two, not matching but complimenting grey armchairs looked comfortable and fresh, its predecessor was horrible brocaded affair, that sent up a cloud of dust every time you sat on it or move whilst you were sitting on it. It always made William think of dead people, perhaps it was the smell that hung around, that he always associated with his aunt, and dead people.
In the other corner was a treadmill, good thinking on Anne's part, it was not safe to run on the roads anymore. He actually did not know that Anne exercised at all. Good on her.
"A much-needed improvement, I think." Said Richard. I am not much of a décor guy, my apartment is proof of that, but this is really good, you have a great eye, Anne."
Anne had just returned with the coffee, she left as William was inspecting her changes, she was afraid they would scoff at her decorating attempts, so Richards comments really pleased her.
"Well, I had some time to kill, a lot of my friends here have full time jobs and I, well…I don't, and there is only so much reading and walking one person can do." She seemed a bit sad when she said that. "Did my mother say anything else other than to stop me in my wicked ways?"
William and Richard had always enjoyed their cousin when she was away from her mother, the problem was that she always ended back with her mother and being totally controlled.
William suddenly had a terrible thought, "Anne, where is your mother? I cannot recall her ever being away for more than two weeks, even when she has gone north."
"She said it had been years since she had done a proper inspection and inventory of the northern properties, she was planning to stop at all of them for at least a week at each, she has Barkley and Meyers with her. She said she would be away for about six months." Anne replied, William could see she was also thinking about it, "You are right, as long as I can remember it has never been more than two s anywhere, she hates travelling, she hates strangers…she hates people, especially ones she cannot control." Anne looked at her cousins "What do you think she is up to?"
"Anne, you do know that she does not actually own any of those properties. They are all yours, they are part of your inheritance from your father. Why would she be paying them so much attention?" William had always wondered that since Anne was over twenty one, in fact she must be at least twenty three, why she remained under her mother thumb.
"Oh, no I did not know that, mother did not allow me to go to the reading of my fathers will, she said it was not appropriate for young ladies." Anne was surprised.
"This apartment, this is also yours, so technically you can paint it black and stick the furniture to the ceiling, there is still nothing she can do; the body corporate might but that is another matter." William's sense of humour snuck out for a second.
"Mine? Really? Then why is she trying to stop me from decorating?" Anne asked. She suddenly gasped; stared at both of her cousins with a look of absolute dismay on her face.
"I am going to tell you something and you are going to have to believe that I am telling you the truth." Her face was serious, almost desperately serious.
"We're your cousins, we have hidden kinds of things from your mother, you know we are there for you?" Richard said, a little alarmed at this sudden change in Anne.
William nodded in agreement, he wondered if his uncharitable thoughts about his aunt were about to be confirmed by his cousin.
"When I started the renovations, I began by clearing out all those bizarre ornaments in the display cabinet. There were two bronze boxes, I thought they were old and vulgar tea boxes, they were heavy as if there was something in them. So, I opened them up and there was a bag of white powder in each one. At first, I thought it was talc, like the olden days' ladies used to use, but it was not, I don't know…not right, something was off. I tried to think if someone else had stayed here as mother guest or if we had workmen here when we were not present, but you know mother, that would never be. So I thought, who was here last? It was mother she came down two months before she started her trip north, but if it was…an illegal substance, why would mother have it? And why so much of it?" Anne seemed relieved to have shared this crazy story with them.
"Well, I suppose over the years anyone visiting could have waited until the room was empty and put it in there? And just not gotten around to collecting their booty?" Richard said, trying to imagine his aunt as an intrepid drug dealer, it was not working.
"That is what I originally thought but the display cabinet was kept locked, and the keys are with us, either my mother or myself. I also tried to pry it open with a knife just to see if it was possible without the key, but this was really made to keep stuff inside and unwanted people out. You have to have the key to open it." Anne explained.
William was impressed at Annes thought pattern, "Where are the bags now?" he asked.
Anne looked embarrassed. "I planted them" she said.
"Planted them?" Both Richard and William wondered if they had heard correctly.
Anne got up, unlocked the balcony doors, and pointed to a large pot with a tree in it, that was also new, in fact there was patio furniture and two more new pots with trees out on the balcony.
"I did not know what to do. I could not dump them in the trash, someone else might find them, like some kids or dogs or something like that, I did not want to try and flush it down the toilet or wash it down the drain in case they got blocked and I had to call a plumber. I got some extra thick plastic bags that seal, put them in bag, which I put in another bag and then I got the pots and trees and did some gardening. Even if I forgot about them, I am sure no-one would have accidentally found them. Mother hates spending time outdoors on the balcony and I would be tending the trees so quite safe."
"Quite clever." Richard said admiringly. "But I think you need a bit more of a permanent solution than that. I have some friends who will come for coffee and to help you garden, they will remove it for you and test it. We will take it from there. How does that sound?"
"Really , you can do that, and I wont get arrested for having…that in my house?"
"Yes, we can sort it out for you." Richard smiled at her relief. She was quite innocent in so many ways, all because her mother denied her a normal life.
"Anyways you and William have flirted enough now to satisfy even your mother, I am sure that is the real reason she sent us over" Richard teased both of his cousins, "It is late and we must go."
"When Anne and I drown you in the fountain out back, do not ask why!" William said.
Anne giggled at the thought. "Thank you so much for coming over, and providing me with a solution, it has been bugging me so much."
After closing the door, she realised how stressed out she was after finding those bags, she could not even tell Caroline, how could she explain how they got there or even guess at how they got there. It worried her; she was quite sure her mother did not put it there. It could not have been George because he was never alone at the apartment, and even when he was, he never even brought a toiletry bag, let along anything big enough to sneak that into the apartment.
Caroline's encouragement on the little bit of redecorating she had done, had encouraged her to do more; so far, she had done the lounge, balcony, bathroom and the kitchen. The last tributes to her mother bad taste were the two bedrooms, she was leaving her mothers room as is, terrified of finding anything else, she was going to take her time with her bedroom and make it something special. Know that she knew that the apartment was hers, she was not going to even try and hide that she was redecorating. The nosey old biddy from next door can make any excuse she wants, the next time she knocks on the door with a request for something, Anne was going to invite her in for tea. Then she would really have information to take back to mother, if that is what she was doing.
William and Richard were silent all the way down the stairs, to the car. They got into the car and William drove to drop Richard at his apartment.
As he parked the car, Richard said "About them bags, in Aunt Catherine's display cabinet, I really do not know what to think, perhaps it is powdered milk from the war, long forgotten."
"I wish, I know the two boxes she is talking about. They were empty when I was seven." William said.
"What? How on earth…?" Richard looked surprised, "Sherbet you put there when you were seven?" Richard really could not place his aunt as a drug dealer.
"No" William gave a short laugh, "As punishment for pulling Anne's pigtails, Aunt Catherine made me shine every object in that display cabinet, including the two boxes and they were empty. Seven-year-old me was vastly disappointed."
"I am going to send Denny and Carter tomorrow; they are good lads and will work well with Anne." Richard said, "the sooner the better, regardless of what is in those bags, Anne should not have to deal with it."
"I agree, I need to get home. We have a busy day ahead of us and I need at least four hours sleep. Night Richard, see you in the morning." William was suddenly tired and just wanted to get home. It had been an unusual day; since meeting the Bennet sisters they had all been unusual days.