The Inheritance (2 page)

The first time he’d spoken to her,
she’d been by herself sitting outside on a bench having lunch as it was such a
nice day.  Her friends were all in class.

‘Can I join you?’ he’d asked
politely.

Kate was surprised that he was
paying her attention, that he actually wanted to sit with her.  She nodded
mutely, her mouth full of sandwich and he sat down opposite her.

‘My friends have abandoned me,’ he said. 
‘They’ve actually decided to go to class today, even though they usually can’t
be bothered.  I think they said something about a hot new French teacher.’

Kate nearly choked as she laughed,
but managed to swallow her food before saying, ‘I’m in the same boat as you. 
My friends are all in class too.  My name’s Kate by the way.’

‘Steven.’ He held out his hand. 
She shook it smiling, surprised at his politeness.  She hadn’t had that
impression of him from his behaviour with his friends.  ‘So do you live far
away?’ he asked.  ‘I know loads of people who have to travel a long way.  Some
parts of Cornwall are pretty remote.’

Kate swallowed her sandwich.  ‘I
live on a farm which my dad owns.  It’s about fifteen miles away, so it takes
about forty minutes to get here.’

‘That must be a nightmare on the
bus.’

‘Well I actually passed my test a
few months ago, so I can drive myself.  It’s not so bad,’ she said
nonchalantly.

Steven grinned.  ‘You’re one up on
me then.  I’m still learning.  Got my test in two weeks.’

‘Is it your first?’

‘No, my second.’ He frowned.

‘Oh.  Well don’t worry, for me it
was a case of third time lucky.’ 

‘Really?’

‘Yeah.  So don’t give up.’  Kate
checked her watch.  ‘Unfortunately I have a class in ten minutes and I don’t
tend to skive!’

‘Well see you around then,’ Steven
replied but he lingered.  ‘Would you... could we swap numbers?  I’d like to
finish our conversation sometime.’

Kate felt lightheaded and there was
a fluttering in her stomach.  Was this really happening?

‘Yeah sure, I’d love to.  Hang on,
I’ll just write it down for you.’ They exchanged pieces of paper.

 ‘OK, that’s great, Kate.  No rhyme
intended,’ Steven joked.  ‘I’ll be in touch.’

‘Fab.’ Kate winced at her
corniness, but Steven didn’t seem to have noticed.  He walked away but turned
to look back, giving her a small wave.  Kate waved back and watched him go till
he’d disappeared around the corner of the building.  She grinned.  He just
seemed so great.  How wrong about him she’d been.  What if this was her chance
for a proper meaningful relationship with a man?  Don’t jump the gun she told
herself, you’ve only just met him.  But she felt as though this could be
something special.

It wasn’t long before Kate was
meeting up with Steven on a regular basis.  At first it was on the college
campus; they’d meet in the canteen or in good weather they’d sit outside. 
After a while though they were more adventurous and would meet at the cinema or
go bowling together with some of their friends.  Although some of Steven’s
friends had melted away once they realised he was seeing Kate on a regular
basis, the rest of them were happy to go out with the two of them.  Even when
they were together but as part of a group, Kate never felt marginalised by
Steven, on the contrary she felt as though he was totally focused on her and making
sure that she was happy.

Things weren’t perfect between them
though.  Like any couple they would occasionally argue.  Much of that was down
to Steven’s guardedness about his home life.  He told Kate that his family was
a happy one, that his parents were divorced and he lived with his mother and stepfather. 
He said he had an elder brother who had left home.  He wouldn’t tell her more
than that.  They had an argument about it one rainy evening over a meal at a
restaurant.  Kate was trying to probe him a bit more about his family.  Steven
was having none of it.

‘I don’t want to talk about them,
Kate,’ he’d said scowling.  His face at that point reminded her of how she’d
first perceived him.  Conceited and stuck up. 

‘But surely it’s all right to talk
about them if you’re happy at home?’ Kate’s voice betrayed her impatience.  ‘And
you know it might be nice if I could meet them.’

‘Look, they’re nice enough.  My
brother’s left home like I said.  He’s a bit of a nightmare... What about your
family, Kate?  Why can’t I meet them?’

Why indeed.  That particular
argument had fizzled out but throughout her relationship with Steven, the
tension over their families had been there.  She’d wondered about this elder
brother of his, what did Steven mean by ‘a bit of a nightmare’?  But he never
mentioned him again.  She just had to accept that Steven didn’t want her to
meet his family and in all fairness she was reluctant for him to meet hers.  In
the end Kate never told her father or Emma about him.  To begin with she hadn’t
because she wasn’t even sure they were an item.  As time went on they became
serious about each other, but Kate still didn’t tell her family about Steven. 
She couldn’t bear to.  She and Steven had a wonderful relationship, but it
wasn’t perfect. 

Kate was paranoid that one false
move and the fragile bubble of her relationship with Steven might burst.  What
would happen if he met her family?  Would Emma shoot her mouth off and make him
run a mile?  Would her father be too enthusiastic and alienate him?  She knew
it was irrational, but she couldn’t help her misgivings about telling them or
Steven meeting them.  So she said nothing and Steven never met them.  When she
wasn’t at the farm however, she and Steven were inseparable, going everywhere
together so that it became quite an art to keep her family in the dark about
him.

Kate found that one of the great
things about Steven was that he was happy to listen to her.  She’d never really
had that before, someone she could talk to about her feelings, her life, what
it was like living on a farm, someone who wouldn’t be judgmental.  So Kate
would tell him that she enjoyed the work she did for her father on the farm,
although it was hard and that her sister could be difficult and refuse to help.

‘But I think she’s just going
through a phase,’ she’d said optimistically.

Wishful thinking, Kate thought now. 
She told him about how difficult she was finding it to study hard whilst also
trying to help her father with his work on the farm, work that she did in fact
enjoy, unlike Emma.  She’d also confide in Steven about her hopes and dreams,
what she really wanted in life, things she’d never told anyone before.  In his
turn he would tell her a little about his family and friends, what he really
enjoyed in life and what kept him going, but Kate could still never get him to
be completely open about himself and his background.

Over the months that followed, she
and Steven grew ever closer and soon they were more than friends.  Kate
realised that she was in love with him.  She felt a little ridiculous admitting
this to herself when she’d known him less than a year, but she couldn’t help
her feelings.  Steven told her of his feelings for her one day.  They’d gone
for a walk on the cliff edge by the sea.  It was a beautiful day and they could
see for miles, with the sea continuing on endlessly to the horizon and beyond. 
There was barely a cloud in the sky, and although it wasn’t warm – it was March
and there was a bracing wind – to Kate it was perfect.  As they followed the
cliff path, they talked and talked about many things; how they were finding
life at college and the workload, how Kate was coping on the farm and their
hopes and dreams for the future.  Then out of the blue Steven said to her,

‘You know I love you, don’t you,
Kate?’

‘Well… um… I thought you might but
I wasn’t sure…’ she said shyly.

‘How do you feel about me?’ he
asked a little hesitantly.

‘I really love you too,’ she replied. 
‘I’m not just saying that, it’s true, I mean it. I’ve known for a while now.’

They embraced and Steven kissed her
gently.  Kate was blissfully happy and felt her future life was assured with
this wonderful man.

And then it ended.   She had been
planning to tell her father and Emma about Steven as soon as she could but the
day after their walk he didn’t turn up at college and when she tried his
mobile, it said the number wasn’t recognised.  That’s weird, she thought
frowning as she paced around her bedroom anxiously.  Why would you go and
change your number without telling me, Steven?  For days and days she kept
trying to call him in case there’d been a glitch on the phone line, but every
time it was the same, the number was invalid.    

Kate’s anxiety only increased when
after a few days he still didn’t turn up at college.  The teachers tried to
contact him too. Where on earth was he? she wondered.  Was it something to do
with his nightmare of a brother?  She was desperate for news of him but there
was nothing.  She was unable to focus on anything and her college work began to
suffer.  The teachers looked at her sympathetically but could do nothing to
help.  Then after a week had passed with no news, the police got involved.  Kate
was in college when they came in and asked to speak to those students who’d
known Steven. 

‘Everyone, this is Inspector
Rowling and Sergeant Nicholls,’ their teacher Mr Wallis had announced.  Kate’s
heart sank.  ‘They would like to interview all those who knew or were close to
Steven.  Kate, you knew Steven very well.  Perhaps you’d better go first.’

Kate reluctantly followed the
policemen to an empty classroom set aside for the interviews.

‘Please sit down, Kate,’ Inspector
Rowling said.   She sank down onto a chair, her heart heavy in her chest.  The
two policemen sat down on the other side of the table opposite her.  Sergeant
Nicholls got out a pen and notebook.  ‘What can you tell us about your
relationship with Steven?’

‘I was… I am his girlfriend,’ she
began.  ‘I met him here at the beginning of the year… that is at the beginning
of the college year.’  She paused, feeling a sob catching at her throat.  The
policemen looked at her impassively, waiting for her to continue.  ‘We became
friends, then more than friends.  We went everywhere together; we were so
close… I don’t understand why he’s vanished; it’s just so out of character.  He
was… he is a very open person.’  She fell silent as she remembered his refusal
to discuss his family.  Then his words when they walked on the cliffs came back
to her.  He’d told her he loved her.  In spite of any family problems, why
would he just vanish like that?

‘So you can’t think of a reason for
his disappearance?’

‘No.’

‘He seemed perfectly happy to you?’

‘Yes, very.’

‘And as far as you know there was nothing
depressing him, nothing on his mind?’

‘No.  I can’t think of any reason
why he’d just leave like this without telling me.’

‘All right.  Can you tell me about
his family?  Did you ever meet his parents, for example?’

Kate shook her head.  ‘He said his
parents were divorced, he lived with his mother and stepfather and they got on
well.  He mentioned he had an elder brother who he said was a bit of a
nightmare.’

The policemen glanced at each
other.  What did they know that she didn’t?

‘So you didn’t meet any of his
family?’ Kate shook her head.  ‘Did he tell you anything else about his family?’

‘No.  That was about it.’  As she
spoke the words, Kate could see that Steven had been holding back a lot of information
about himself.  

‘OK, we’ll leave it there.  Thank
you for your help, Kate,’ Inspector Rowling said.  He and Sergeant Nicholls
stood up.  ‘Here are our contact details.’ He handed her a card.  ‘If you think
of anything else to tell us that may be relevant, or if Steven contacts you,
please let us know.’

‘Yes, all right.’

By the time Kate got back to the
classroom, the lesson was over and the room was empty apart from Mr Wallis who
gave her a sympathetic look.  Kate nodded at him as she grabbed her bag and
books.  She rushed out of the room wanting to avoid having to answer awkward
questions and desperate to be at home where she could think.

The police searched high and low
for Steven but to no avail; he was gone.  As the months went by with no word
from him, Kate racked her brain for memories of what he had actually told her
about himself, his family and personal life.  She remembered the little he’d been
willing to tell her about them and it had sounded like they were happy, but it was
all vague.  His brother.  He was the only clue as to what might have happened
to Steven.  What had Steven actually said about him though?  All he’d said was
that his brother was ‘a bit of a nightmare’.  That could mean anything.  It
didn’t necessarily mean he’d had something to do with Steven’s disappearance.  Kate
had told the police all she knew; they’d have to take it from there.

The police launched a missing
persons’ enquiry, but it went nowhere.  Kate was unsurprised.  In her mind it’d
been over the day she’d tried to call and it said ‘number not recognised’.  Although
she had kept trying to call him after that, she’d known in her heart of hearts that
he was gone.  She couldn’t explain exactly why she felt that; maybe it was because
it’d all seemed too good to be true.  As time went on and she went back over
their relationship in her mind, she realised that she’d barely known him.  Now that
he’d gone it was as if he’d never existed.