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A salty breeze smoothed her flushed cheeks as she imagined her great-aunt playing here as a child, and wondered what had made her leave this place and never return.
Lettie had asked her mother years ago why Iris always changed the subject whenever growing up in Devon was mentioned. Her mum, faintly disapproving of her husband’s outspoken aunt, had pursed her lips and shrugged. But her reply:There were whispers of some sort of trouble or scandal,had only served to make Iris even more interesting in Lettie’s eyes.
Sitting on the grass, Lettie pulled an envelope from her bag and stared at the writing on the front of it:For the attention of Miss Iris Starcross, Driftwood House, Heaven’s Cove.
She held on to it tightly so it wouldn’t be snatched away by the wind and pulled out the sheet of paper inside. The paper, yellowed with age, bore the same curling handwriting in black ink as the envelope, and the briefest of messages:
Sit where I sat, darling girl, with the key to my heart and all will become clear.
What would become clear? Lettie had re-read the words so many times, she knew them off by heart. The mysterious letter had been carefully stowed in the lining of Iris’s handbag and Lettie had found it whilst clearing out her flat. This was the real reason she was here now, in a picturesque seaside village miles away from home.
She’d almost asked her family about the letter but it had seemed too personal to share, and they’d never been particularly interested in Iris’s life anyway.
Lettie sighed and gazed across the water. Brightly painted fishing boats were bobbing on the waves that sparkled like diamonds under the sun. It was truly beautiful here and Lettie already felt calmer being away from the constant buzz of London.
She knew what she wanted. She would stay at Driftwood House for a week or two, benefit from the break, and take the chance to find out more about Iris’s life in this tiny village.
Perhaps that would shed some light on the key around her neck and this mysterious letter. And maybe she could grant her great-aunt’s dying wish, whispered as she had passed Lettie the delicate key:Find out for me, darling girl.
