AllFreeNovel
Share Us
17
Lettie rolled over and groaned. Her bed here at the top of Driftwood House was comfy enough but sleep was eluding her.
She’d been woken by gulls screeching as a pale dawn spread across the sky, chasing away the shadows in her bedroom, and immediately her head was filled with worries and concerns: why did she feel guilty for taking a few days away from family responsibilities; why was she procrastinating when it came to looking for a new job; and, most pressing of all, did Iris, the great-aunt she loved and missed so much, really encourage a man she cared about to go to war when he didn’t need to?
There was something else Florence had said that was running on a loop through Lettie’s mind. Cornelius had wanted to leave the desk he made to Iris in the event of his death – the desk where he’d sat for hours writing poetry. Sit where I sat, darling girl, and all will become clear. Maybe the mysterious key fitted a lock in the desk, but how would she ever get to see it?
Lettie groaned again before swinging her legs out of bed and stretching her arms above her head. Rather than lying here, stewing in the thoughts going round her head, she would take an early walk into the village. There was something she wanted to do.
Lettie slipped quietly out of the house, her hair still damp from the shower. The grass was wet with dew and wisps of navy cloud were drifting across the sky. It was glorious out here, with the sun rising above the horizon and splashing the sky with a palette of pink and gold. The air was warm already and carried a tang of salt and sea.
Walking to the cliff edge, Lettie began to pick some of the bright wildflowers littering the grass. And, when she had a good bunch, she made her way down the cliff path, marvelling at the views across the rolling ocean.
Heaven’s Cove was empty of tourists, its narrow winding streets free of bustle and shops still closed, except for the newsagent’s. The newsagent waved at Lettie as she walked past and she waved back, feeling a flush of pleasure as if she belonged in this historic village.
Making her way along Weaver’s Row, Lettie saw the war memorial in the middle of the green, its stone glowing in the early morning sunshine. Delving into her bag, she found a pen, and an elastic hair tie which she used to secure the flowers together in a tidy bunch. Then, she pulled a piece of paper from the tiny notebook she always carried.
In loving memory of Cornelius Allford, a brave man who was and is loved,she wrote, before pushing the note through the hair tie and placing the flowers on the memorial plinth. They were a splash of colour against the pale stone.
Lettie bowed her head for a moment, thinking of the young man who had loved her great-aunt; the young man whose life was cut cruelly short. And she thought of the grief Iris and his family must have felt. A grief compounded for her great-aunt by being blamed for his death.
It was such a sad story, and one that felt unfinished. Both Iris and Cornelius were now gone, but the consequences of decisions made by them and in their name were still rippling down the decades, causing anger and pain.
‘It’s surely time to lay things to rest,’ said Lettie out loud, before looking around to make sure that no one had heard the weird outsider talking to herself. She was still alone, so she traced her finger across Cornelius’s name, etched into the stone. Quite how she was going to lay things to rest wasn’t yet certain but, the more she thought about it, the more she wondered if his old desk was important.
Lettie didn’t feel like going back to Driftwood House so she walked through the village, pausing at the quayside to watch fishermen unloading their catches, as gulls wheeled overhead. The acrid tang of fish followed her as she went past the castle ruins and Liam’s farm, until she reached the cove. The sun was now a brilliant globe, chasing away the night and painting broad strokes of gold and orange across the heavens.
It was really warm already and Lettie sat on the deserted sand, watching small waves break on the shore before rushing back to the huge body of water. She closed her eyes for a moment and listened to the cry of seagulls overhead and the soft whoosh of waves. She felt close to Iris here and could imagine her sitting beside her on the soft sand.
She would give Lettie a hug, followed, no doubt, by advice on her job dilemma. Her family would encourage her to apply for any sort of customer service work that might be available. Lettie could hear her mum’s voice in her head: You’ve got bills to pay so you can’t be picky. ButIris would say… What would she say? Follow your heart, Lettie. Be brave and do what you truly want to do.
Iris had known what Lettie truly wanted to do: study history while doing a job that took her into the world of the past. But that had never happened and now she was twenty-nine years old with too many responsibilities to veer from the path she was on. Unless she was brave. Was she brave?
Lettie opened her eyes and stared at the sea which had turned silver-blue as the sun nudged its way fully over the horizon.
Before she had time to change her mind, she pulled off her sandals and marched down to the waterline. The sea was calm and couldn’t harm her. Suddenly a wave burst onto the sand and a curve of bubbling water rushed towards her toes.
She stepped back, her heart hammering. This was pathetic. Of course she wasn’t brave enough to change the direction of her life when she didn’t even have the courage to step into the sea.
She stood, hands on her hips, looking out at the water, for ages, so lost in thought, she didn’t hear heavy breathing until it was almost next to her.
Startled, she turned around to see Corey standing, panting, bent over with his hands on his thighs.
‘I thought that was you. What are you doing here so early in the morning?’ he puffed. He was wearing black shorts and a pale blue T-shirt with blue trainers.
Lettie felt disorientated at seeing him suddenly appear.
‘I couldn’t sleep.’
‘Too much on your mind?’
‘You could say that.’ She hesitated. ‘I need to thank you for encouraging your gran to have a word with me.’
‘Hmm.’ Corey looked down and shuffled his feet into the sand. ‘From what I hear, that didn’t go too well. I hope she wasn’t too… unwelcoming.’
‘She made her feelings towards my great-aunt quite clear, but losing her brother when she was young must have been awful.’
‘It was.’
