Legacy

The meadows stretched ahead, a sea of lush green grass slowly undulating as the soft breeze skimmed over it. Gina headed steadily downhill towards the brook where she often went for some quiet time. The gentle gurgle of the water, tipping over the rocks, soothed and calmed her when she was anxious. It had a hypnotic effect. On reaching her haven, Gina sat on a tree trunk that lay by the side of the bubbling water. It was too cold to sit for long but the need for peace was overwhelming. The emotions of the past few days surfaced and Gina began to cry softly. From a short distance away, dark eyes observed the young woman as she sat hunched, her shoulders shaking, letting her grief pour out. Those eyes had watched her every move since she had left the sanctuary of the house. They had been watching her for quite some time now. Observing almost obsessively as she strolled through the meadow or walked down to the village. Relishing the moment when they would finally meet. It was not time yet. It was too soon. He had plans to finalise and a couple deeds to expedite. Just to spice things up a little. The anticipation and excitement was building up, urging him to get on with it. No! The man stretched abruptly berating himself for his wayward thoughts. In the process of moving his body back to the crouched positon he had previously been in, his concentration lapsed and his booted foot landed on a twisted and brittle branch. A crack of a twig startled Gina out of her silent grief. The snap, so loud that it was still reverberating around the trees. She stood, turning to see if someone was nearby. As she expected there was no sign of any movement and Gina put the noise down to a squirrel or some other form of wildlife. They were in woodland after all. Rummaging in her jacket pockets, she located a tissue, wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. Looking at her watch Gina realised it was time to go back to the house as it would soon be going dark. The brief sojourn by the brook had been just what Gina had needed and she felt more composed, although she knew it probably would not last. She took one final look at the beautiful and calm setting that lay before her then turned and headed back across the meadow to the house. The man waited until Gina was well out of sight. He rose slowly from his crouched position. He had no choice! His muscles and limbs were protesting vigorously at their enforced inactivity. He was getting too old for all this creeping around but the buzz he was getting from his antics far outweighed all the sensible ideas that popped into his brain occasionally. As she walked through the long grass, there was a dawning realisation of how hungry she actually was. even though she had literally been force fed with sandwiches and cake earlier by Mary. She was looking forward to the chicken casserole that was simmering on the stove. At least dinner tonight would not be the endurance test she initially thought it would be. Everybody, including the Crofts, would be eating together. Safety in numbers. Nicola and Philip were going home after the will reading the following day. Katherine and George were staying until Saturday and Zach…. Well Gina had no idea when Zach would be leaving and she was not going to ask. She could just imagine the kind of response she would get for having the nerve to question his plans for the future!