A Tale of Deception

The warm air of summer diminished, as the cooler air from the north made its way over the inland northwest.

  September had begun, and Marty excitedly started school. A van from the academy drove up, every school day to the front door, to pick her up.

  At first she thrived at learning, as she always did, but under the tutelage of her new teacher, Mr. Stanley Overton, her enthusiasm waned, strained and eventually died. Sadly her teacher lacked the charitable traits of a good teacher, such as kindness, compassion and interest in his students. Mr. Overton was cold, unfeeling and short with his class, a learning factory with no heart.

  But, what destroyed her will for school the most was the cruelty of her classmates. She found it hard to fit in with her affluent peers. Not embracing the snobbishness she wasn’t use to, she first was teased and then ignored by them. Her grades suffered, and getting up to go to such a lonely and sterile environment was daunting. Only the desire to please her family and use the wonderful library at Drummond Hall, kept her going.

  September faded into October, with the vibrant colors of fall flourishing around the mansion, about the lake, and flowing into the mountains beyond, already capped in snow.

  The documents arrived from Lawrence & Fenway Diversified. Ann felt confident everything in Mrs. Drummond’s accounts were accounted for and verified, though some of the figures didn’t seem to add up, in her mind. Determining to research them further, she filed the inactive accounts and deeds away.

  Mrs. Drummond was pleased with Ann’s work, but more than that, a bond was forming between the two, that both of them cherished.

  Everyone in the house-hold was growing into a family unit, getting used to the daily routines, with fun and laughter from Marty, whose childish energy gave life to the old place and Mrs. Drummond giggled and sparkled with it. Marty’s affectionate nature warmed almost every heart in the house, and even Emma’s joy and excitement with school, brought happiness to the place. Only the hunt for the missing grandchild and Carla’s cold, hard disposition put a damper on things.

  Carla remained dedicated to Mrs. Drummond’s health and care, but she was always sulking in the shadows, watching. At least, that’s how Ann saw it.

 

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