The Inheritance

The large house on the outskirts of Southampton was bathed in morning sunlight. It was May 1913.

Billy woke and went over to the bedroom window.  He saw his mother, Anna, was in the yard, busy refreshing the outline of a large circle on the ground with a piece of chalk.

He washed his face and hands thoroughly, drying himself with equal care.  After dressing in some clean, loose-fitting clothes, he descended the staircase and saw that his three brothers were gathered around a window.

“She’s doing it again. Are you ready?” laughed Walter, the eldest.

Billy watched his mother for a few moments then went outside.

“Ah, Lily” said Anna.

Billy cringed.  When he was older, he learned that his mother ideally needed a young girl for her rituals.  With his only sister away at boarding school, she had decided some time ago that he would fit the bill.  He was eight years old, gentle and obedient.

Anna was dressed in a blue blouse, a long black skirt, black shoes, with a maroon and blue headscarf - the end twisted round to hang down over her right shoulder. Around her neck hung a circular, wooden pendant, the front surface of which was somewhat worn, though with a pentacle clearly visible.

Anna softly and slowly whispered some words to cast a spell, then performed a ritual designed to protect her family.  Billy patiently endured, remembering the animated conversation he had overheard the night before.  Although he could not fully understand, he knew his father, George, had a business problem and his mother had vowed to take matters into her own hands.

****

It was a cold night in February 1893. George and Andrew had settled around the fireside. Andrew was slightly older than George, cheerful and happy-go-lucky. George was twenty-two and just starting out.  

Towards the end of the evening, Andrew’s eighteen year old housemaid brought in some coffee.

“This is Anna”, he said. “She tells fortunes. For a lark, she gave me a reading and things are going fine, so maybe there’s something in it!” he chuckled.

As Andrew was speaking, Anna looked at George, holding his gaze. As she passed behind him, to pour his coffee at a little side table, he had to fight the urge to close his eyes and submit to the warm sensation pulsing through him.  He had flirted with girls before, kissed one or two, but this feeling was new.  Her dark brown eyes and slim figure only added to the attraction.

After they were alone again, Andrew felt moved to say: “Anna’s only been here for three weeks, but she’s already becoming indispensable.”

One month passed. George was in the throes of a property deal and was uncertain about it. One evening he suddenly remembered Anna and walked round to Andrew’s house.

Anna opened the door. “The master is out tonight” she said.

“It’s you I wanted to see.”

He wasted little time in asking Anna to tell his fortune. Taking him into a small room, she lit some incense and candles, asking George to think about his current problem as she laid out her tarot cards. Anna then took his hands in hers. She looked steadily into his eyes and said that she foresaw years of success for him.

Finally, she added, “You will give your heart only once.”

Although he was a little unnerved, Anna’s reading had made him excited about the future. He experienced the same physical feeling as before and for several nights afterwards, he could think only of her.

After his deal went through successfully, George wanted to share the news with Anna.  As luck would have it, he saw her in town one afternoon on the way back from his bank. They stopped at a small shop doorway. He felt compelled to put his hands round her waist then kissed her deeply. She responded and they stood together without speaking for several seconds.  

He stumbled over what he wanted to say: “I need to be with you…”

“I know” she answered gently.  Anna had imagined this moment and was sure that her heart would follow where her desires were leading her.

George and Anna were married four months later and it was not long before they started a family.  Andrew was a little unhappy to lose his housemaid and had some private doubts about the union but, not wishing to risk a valued friendship, voiced no objection.

George consulted his wife each time he needed to make a big decision. She accompanied him on site visits and met many of his associates, using her gift to warn him of anything untoward. George’s trust in her abilities became indistinguishable from his love for her.

Over the next twenty years, he built up a large portfolio, employing a number of sub-managers to support him. His standing in the business community rose and when he decided to become a freemason it seemed like a sensible next step. He tried and failed to persuade Andrew to join.  Andrew professed to be content with his lot; privately he found what he had heard about the society’s secret ceremonies rather amusing.

Anna was unhappy about George’s new social interest and the secrecy it required.

“If I cannot see these men, I cannot help you” she complained.

This remained an unresolved difference between them. George would sometimes be reluctant to mention names from his business life to Anna.  He knew her temper would be roused if she sensed a threat to her family. With his company now firmly established, he did not always want her to help.  Unknown to Anna, it was also becoming harder for him to ignore the fact that her beliefs were anathema to most of his associates.

Increasingly, the demands of George’s work led to him spending less time at home. In 1914, Southampton became the country’s main military embarkation port during the Great War. George’s company was awarded a large government contract for setting up and running permanent dining halls for the services. 

By this time, prosperity and a large family meant that they had moved to a quiet, affluent area, where the smallest difference in behaviour was noticed.  Anna became aware that some of the locals were wary of her and a few avoided making eye contact. Once, after leaving the tobacconist’s, she heard someone say behind her:

“Ooh, she’ll give you the evil eye, that one.”

Anna chose not to burden her busy husband with such minor transgressions. She knew there could be a price to pay for staying in one place for a long time, yet a seed of loneliness had germinated in her soul.

****

In 1919, Andrew agreed to his young cousin coming to stay with him, as a favour to the lad’s father. After travelling around Canada and trying various professions without finding his niche, Mark had expressed a desire to learn about the business world. 

Andrew introduced him to George and Anna and there was an immediate mutual rapport. Mark became a frequent evening guest at George and Anna’s.  He was handsome and good company, with plenty of stories to tell.  Once, George had come home to find him already ensconced, earlier than arranged. Mark made an excuse about having seen another friend in the area beforehand. Although the evening was enjoyable, George noticed that Anna was not only very quiet, but reluctant to say why.

Three months later, George returned home late in the evening and had barely had time to remove his coat when Billy thrust a piece of paper into his hand. The hastily written note, obviously in Mark’s hand, said:

Anna and I have fallen in love. We are leaving because we have to be together.  We never expected this to happen and hope everyone will forgive us one day.

“All her things are missing - she’s definitely gone” confirmed Billy.

George managed to cancel his appointments for a few days and tried to reassure the children.

When greater presence of mind returned, he called some contacts and attempted to find out where the pair had gone, but to no avail. As a starting point for a journey, Southampton was all too convenient and Anna had withdrawn a substantial amount from their savings account.

George allowed himself little time to recover from the shock.  Had he reflected, he might have realised that the uncertainty and lack of confidence from his youth had returned, leaving him prone to making bad decisions. Andrew was among the friends who tried to shake him out of his slump, only to realise they were fighting a losing battle with the whisky bottle.

Less and less involved in his work, within four years he had sold most of his interests, often on unfavourable terms. He was often seen in local pubs or in the backstreets of the city, looking for female company.

Six years after Anna had disappeared and with his savings dwindling, he boarded a train for Shrewsbury. He lodged with his uncle and struck up a relationship with a local barmaid. They had little more than a year together when he suffered a fatal heart attack. A small group of mourners attended his funeral, including his eldest son. Little mention was made of his earlier life.

****

Billy was one of the last to finish work. He and his fellow workers had been decorating a large country house for two days. As he was enjoying the refreshing sensation of a warm shower, he felt another body pressed against his and arms around his waist.

“That feels good” he said, without looking round.

A few minutes later, over mugs of tea, Roy said that he was going to an Odd Fellows friendship meeting that evening and asked Billy if he would like to join him.

“It’s not really for…what we just did” said Roy. “But you’ll have a regular reason to get out of the house and if you are ever in a tight spot, they might be able to help.”

It was 1933. Billy was now married, with a young daughter. With the little bequeathed to him by his father, he had bought a small house in the market town where his wife had been born and raised.  He rarely saw or heard from his siblings, who had dispersed around the country.  Lately, he had been feeling that something was missing, remembering what his father had achieved before his fall.

After attending a couple of meetings, Billy was initiated into the Society of Odd Fellows. He liked the feeling of belonging, the male company and the ceremonies.  His wife often pestered him for details, but to her annoyance he stuck firmly to his vow of secrecy.

Throughout their marriage, Billy had occasional dalliances with both men and women and became practised in the art of keeping a secret.  He was saved by his own desire to be a respected member of his community.  He made use of his gift for calm reassurance:

“What’s mine is yours” he often told his wife.

When he thought of his mother, Billy had mixed feelings. He had felt the pain of her desertion and resented its aftermath. Still, for peace of mind, he would have liked to receive the news of her which never came.  Later years gave him an amused detachment about her beliefs, yet he found pleasure in reading novels with an occult or supernatural theme.

If his wife sometimes had suspicions about his activities, she was neither able to find nor was ever presented with any evidence. Time gave her a feeling of security.

****

From her late teens, Billy’s daughter, Anne, had often felt that she could see how people’s lives would play out.  

As she grew older, she would occasionally have a vivid dream about someone in her social circle, before a traumatic event happened in their life.  Reports of these events often reached her some time afterwards, so it took her a while to put the pieces together. 

When Anne first gave family members an example, they quickly dismissed it as “just a coincidence”.

So being a practical person and not wishing to appear odd, she resolved to keep her “gift” to herself.