The Birth Of Eve (2 page)

As Eve pushed open her front door she was greeted by a small
kitten, bending down she scooped it up.

“Well where did you come from little one?” The tiny bundle
of fur snuggled into the crook of her arm. Eve could hear movement from
upstairs, it must be Sue, she was glad she hadn’t missed her.

Sue was Tara’s sister; she had come to stay and keep Tara
company whilst Eve was away. Sue was an extrovert, the total opposite of her
book worm sister. She lived life to the full, her wild pink hair and outrageous
style made her unique.

Eve loved Sue; she was a few years older than the girls. She
had been their role model at the care home; she was their protector and mum all
rolled into one. Sue and Tara’s ended up in care because their parents had a
volatile relationship.  The girls were removed from their care for their own
safety, they refused to be separated and so ended up at Holly Tree.

Sue had witnessed some of the violence; this had ultimately made
her tough. Tara however had locked herself away; losing herself in books to
drown out the screams from her mother. Once Sue had turned sixteen she had to
leave the care home and enter a hostel, but she had still always been there for
both of them.

“Hey Eve; I thought I would wait to say hello before I
disappeared back up north. How was your trip?”

“The whole thing was amazing thanks; working with
Christopher Novak was a dream. Where did this kitten come from is it yours?”
Sue grinned

“Another of Tara’s strays I’m afraid she found it behind the
bins at school.” Eve asked how the two of them had got along living together,
they were very different characters. Tara had OCD; Eve had adapted to her ways
and they fitted together nicely. Sue however was very untidy; luckily her
boyfriend was very understanding doing his own ironing and washing. Sue
believed housework was for down trodden women with no lives.

“I took Tara to stay with Joe and I at our flat over the Easter
holidays. Joe is now her number one fan, she alphabetised all his DVD’s,
organised his sock drawers and cleaned so much that the flat looked like a show
pad when she left.” They both smiled, Sue had planned that well, she could now
have a year off cleaning!

“I must head off; my train is in fifteen minutes, you look
exhausted too. Before I leave I have to ask; was Nathan Matheson as sexy in the
flesh? I am so jealous you got to see him” Eve felt the heat fill her cheeks.

 “Erm yes he is and actually you will never believe this but
he tried it on with me! But obviously I had to decline, didn’t want to be yet
another groupie! Seriously they follow him like flies on shit” Sue was standing
with her mouth gaping open

“Eve! Firstly I am not surprised he asked you out as you are
stunning, but girl you didn’t have to marry him or anything. Just please tell
me you saw him naked or at least had a quick fumble. There isn’t a woman alive
who would refuse that surely?” Eve shook her head and Sue pushed her jovially

“Jesus Eve you are one cold chick, an opportunity like that
and you didn’t grab him with both hands..literally” They both burst out
laughing. Sue grabbed her bags and hugged her warmly.

“Take care of my little boffin won’t you; she has missed you
like crazy. Now get some kip you look like shit!” Eve closed the door behind
her and went up to her bedroom. Sue was probably right; she should have tried
to at least get a goodbye kiss from Nathan.

Entering her bedroom it was obvious Tara had readied her
room for her. She had put a vase of flowers on her dresser and the place was
spotless. Unpacking just the essentials, Eve slipped her pyjamas on to catch up
on some rest, there was a mound of post on her bed but she would deal with that
later.

She switched her mobile on just to check there were no
urgent messages; to her horror there was a barrage of missed calls and
messages. Groaning she waded through them, nine were Nathan sending her smiley
faces and flirty one liner’s. The other sixteen were awful, some girl called
Sasha threatening her to stay away from Nathan.

 The fact this Sasha girl had Eve’s number  meant she had
got very close to Nathan’s mobile in the few short hours they had been apart.
She played back the first of her twenty messages, after listening to just the
first she deleted the rest. This Sasha was a whacko; she was full of poison
sending her death threats and foul mouthed abuse. Turning her phone off again
Eve decided her first job on waking would be to get a new phone number. Nathan
would then have no way of contacting her, or handing her number out to his
groupies.

Five hours later Eve felt rested and had a new number. When
she had switched her phone back on there were another fifty messages, but
thankfully the network kindly changed her over for free. The only person she gave
her new number to was her agent; she would tell Tara when she got in later.

Eve made herself a cup of tea and then sat facing the
mountain of mail. She began by sorting it into three piles; junk, bills and
important. There was one that puzzled her, it had been sent recorded delivery
and was from a solicitor in Northwich, Cheshire. Curious she opened it first,
after reading it she sat in silence her mind trying to absorb the information
it contained.

Eve’s father had apparently passed away a year ago; the
lawyers had found no trace of her mother or sister. Therefore Eve was the only
living relative, and so the sole beneficiary of his estate. She was required to
contact them immediately and make an appointment to see the solicitor to
discuss details.

Eve had only vague memories of her childhood home, it had
been a cottage near a railway, she wasn’t sure exactly where. The house felt
large at the time but who knows as a child everything feels big. Eve rang the
solicitor and arranged an appointment for Saturday; the day after tomorrow.
Folding the letter back up; she began working through the rest of the mail,
pushing her father to the back of her mind.

Tara was home at four and the two girls had so much to catch
up on; it took three mugs of tea before they ran out of gossip. Tara wanted to
know whether Eve had met the kitten yet;

“What do you think of Freud, our new addition to the
family?” Eve had forgotten about the cat and looked around for it

“Is it a he then?” Tara nodded “I haven’t seen it since I
woke” Just then she heard a scratching noise. The girls followed the sound to
Eve’s pile of dirty laundry in the basket. In amongst the clothes they found Freud
nestled in a pair of her pants. Eve chuckled as she tried to untangle his claws
from the lace.

“Great another man wanting inside my underwear” Tara frowned
at her with a questioning glance

“You said Nathan asked you out not that he wanted sex with
you?” Eve shoved her

“Don’t be silly it’s a turn of phrase, a joke you prude. Blimey
Tara you really can tell that you spend too much time with geeks and nerds. You
know nothing about the ways of the world” Tara smiled

“That’s the way I like it thank you, I would take a book
over a man any day of the week” Eve knew she meant that; Tara was a virgin and
probably would stay that way too; unless a male version of herself ever showed
up. Eve managed to free the kitten and they went back to the lounge where she
told Tara about her father’s death and the letter. Tara was as unemotional as
Eve, they had both disconnected from their respective families. Neither girl
would feel the loss of a parent,

“I will come with you if you like, just in case he left you
millions! No seriously if you want company I don’t mind tagging along.” Eve
nodded she would appreciate her being there; it was a big thing raking up her
past. Her father had been a nice man from what she remembered, however not nice
enough to look after his own daughter.

Eve thought back to the terrible day her parents had hugged
her goodbye. They appeared to be distraught but how could that be true if they never
came for her like they promised? She recalled her feeling of loss as Isabella
left her with the woman at Social Services and then walked away. Eve’s heart
had broken into pieces. She had spent the first three weeks away from home
living with her sister in a smelly hotel room. Izzy became more anxious as each
day came and went without news from their mother. One day Izzy broke down

“Eve I am so sorry it looks like we can’t go home, I can’t
get a job and take care of you. You need to start back at school in a weeks’
time and you have no school to go to. Eve I have phoned a lady who is going to
find you somewhere to live. She says she has a place for you now, I am going to
take you tomorrow and then as soon as things are sorted I will come back for
you.”

Isabella had been rejected too, there was no way a nineteen
year old could care for her alone. When it first happened she hated her sister,
but later in life she grew to understand that Izzy was left with no other
option. She wondered what ever happened to her. She had to go it alone all this
time too, Eve hoped she had found happiness somehow. The fact the Solicitors
couldn’t trace her made her wonder if she had moved abroad, it was certainly a
nicer thought than the alternative

Going home would perhaps give her some answers and closure; perhaps
this could be the start of something good for her. She wondered how her father
died, he must only have been in his late forties early fifties. The other
question was; what had happened to her mother? No trace the solicitor said, how
could that be? Answers were exactly what Eve needed, and Saturday couldn’t come
soon enough.

Saturday morning arrived and the two girls were sat in the
solicitor’s reception area. Eve was dressed in her usual multipurpose plain
black dress; Tara was fidgeting on the seat next to her. Northwich was a just a
small town but they had found it a nightmare to find a car park; the one way
system was ludicrous. Mr Dixon welcomed them into his office;

“Miss Purnell we are so glad to have finally found you, I
hope our letter didn’t cause you too much distress” Eve shook her head reassuringly
“good, that’s good; I realise that you have been estranged for some years. Now your
father passed away last January, would you like to know the circumstances at
all?”

“Yes I would like to know, just for curiosity, my father
sent me away sixteen years ago but I remember him as being quite young.”

 “He was actually only forty eight when he died, I am afraid
he had a history of drink and drugs. His eventual demise was related to his
lifestyle, the coroner specifies an overdose as cause of death. He felt it
wasn’t suicide, rather misuse of his quantities. The council took care of his
cremation, and costs have been taken from his estate and savings. The money is
substantially lower than it was, however there is still a good enough sum for
you to enjoy. Mr Purnell was the home owner, and there was no mortgage on the
property. The cottage and contents are all yours now; do you wish to see it
today at all?” Eve nodded enthusiastically;

“I guess if you have the keys I will go and take a look, is
it far away from here?” Eve was shaking, a homeowner was a nice thing to be,
but did she really want to own the one that caused her misery? The solicitor
fumbled around in his desk and handed her a set of keys

“The address of the property is on the key ring fob, it is
in a village called Acton Bridge. I recommend you put the code in your Sat Nav;
if you have one. It is a tricky place to find but only ten minutes or so up the
road.”

Driving in silence; the two women studied the roads as they
were guided to Acton Bridge. The village itself was small and quite rural; with
a church and two pubs it was picture perfect. The house was just as Eve
remembered, an end terrace cottage backing onto the railway. The station was
just behind their garden that’s where Izzy had taken her when they ran away.
They pulled into the small driveway in front of a garage and admired the house.
Tara was more excited than she was;

“Eve its lovely come on let’s explore” Turning the keys was
a strange feeling, her own home if she wanted, how odd. The door swung inwards
to the tiny hall; a staircase was directly facing them with a door on either
side, they entered the room on the left first. This room was currently the lounge;
it was a decent size with a large window, Eve didn’t recognise the sofas but
the gaudy carpet was definitely one she remembered. Through an archway was a
long galley kitchen, solid wooden units that were a bit battered but
serviceable. This room hadn’t changed at all she recognised the large range and
tiled floor. The furnishings throughout were very dated and the smell of smoke
and goodness knows what else burnt her nostrils.

Oddly Eve felt no tinge of emotion in the house, but maybe
it was because Tara was there. The room on the opposite side of the stairs was
a dining room with an open fire; she used to love it when her father lit the
fire. The smell of smoke and crackle of wood was comforting. At the back of the
dining room through a set of French doors was her mums pride and joy; her
conservatory. They were a fad in the ninety’s, anyone who was someone got a
conservatory. Eve looked out at the large garden; there was a decent sized
patio and generous expanse of lawn that was rather over grown. The place had
masses of potential, upstairs were three decent size bedrooms, a main bathroom
and a large master suite with shower room. Again the upstairs needed lots of
attention but the house itself was sound. Eve had only briefly peeked at the
bedrooms; she wanted to be alone when she went into her old bedroom. She knew
which one it was as she could see the shapes of the My Little Pony border
showing through the cream paint.

“What do you think Tara? Could you live here with me? Its
closer to your work too isn’t it?” Tara nodded looking quite excited

“Yes it would save half an hour on my journey easily, it’s
good for the motorways, and in fact it is great. I could help you decorate it
but we would have to spend lots of money on the bathrooms and kitchen don’t you
think?” Eve nodded her wages from the movie plus what her father had left could
do most of the work. She had a few weeks free now and could dedicate a lot of
time to making the cottage a home.