Hidden (Marchwood Vampire Series #1) (9 page)

A skip of excitement dared to make itself felt in her chest.
She wanted to smile, but didn’t know if she could let herself.
There had to be a catch, well, there was a catch - moving to the
back arse of nowhere,
that
was the catch. She supposed she should at least
look at the details of this place.

She smoothed out the … well, it was practically a
brochure
. I mean, what
sort of house had its own brochure? Maybe, if she was lucky, it
would be in a lively part of the countryside, if there was such a
thing, or near a big town. She bounced down onto the sofa, picked
up the brochure and couldn’t believe what she was looking
at.

It was an aerial shot of a house, but it wasn’t a house, it
was a
mansion
set
in what looked like acres of gardens. Shock hit Madison. She’d had
a vague image in her mind of a house like a larger version of
Trevor and Angie’s terrace. She realised how far off the mark she
was, but then if her ancestor was a millionaire, of course he was
going to live in a place like that.

God, Trevor
would wet himself if he saw this. Madison groaned. She really
didn’t want to witness his excitement when he saw the brochure. How
was she going to deal with him and Angie?

She turned over the page and saw the house from the front, it
was stunning. She began to read: …
the
charming market town of Tetbury … ‘Marchwood‘, a period property in
excellent order … original features, nine bedrooms … games room ...
lavishly furnished … extensive grounds … woodland.
She looked at photographs which showed rooms not
dissimilar to the one she was currently sitting in. Maybe it
wouldn’t be so bad to live there. All that space. Me and Ben could
get bikes. We could get a dog, maybe even a horse. We could
definitely get one of those massive trampolines, Ben would love
that.

But one thing
she did know - she didn’t want Trevor and Angie to be there with
them, telling them what to do. Trevor acting like the Lord of the
Manor. It would be unbearable. How could she fix it so she and Ben
lived there alone? Her mindset had shifted and she realised she
might actually, really like to live there.

Think of the
freedom. And it wasn’t as if her school would miss her. She could
just leave without telling them and then she’d never have to see
any of her teachers again. Or maybe she could go back to school for
one more day just to wind Haggis up for the pure fun of it. Now
that would be good. She could wear all her most outrageous clothes
and snog some fit bloke right outside her window. Haggis would go
even more mental than before. But then again, could she really be
bothered with all that? Probably not. It just didn’t seem that
important anymore.

The comfort of
this room and the beauty of the house in the brochure had
completely seduced her. She and Ben could actually live like this
all the time. And, countryside or no countryside, there was no way
she was ever going to turn down the prospect of sixty one million
quid. I mean, who did she think she was kidding?

The problem
was, she had always been so used to fighting against everything
that came her way, she couldn’t break the habit. It was an
automatic reaction borne out of years of having to battle against
the system. Now, when something good actually came her way, she was
still fighting, not trusting that anyone else could really have her
best interests at heart. But how could she have even thought for a
second about turning down this opportunity for her and Ben?

She’d ask
Vasey-Smith how to go about sorting the Trevor and Angie situation.
If anyone knew a way, he would. And she could tell he didn’t
particularly like Trevor anyway. He’d got rid of him pretty
quick-sharpish, packed him off to the West End, no problem. Maddy
smiled, thinking of the wad of cash in the envelope - yes, Mr
Vasey-Smith knew Trevor all right.

She spent the next hour studying the photographs in the
brochure, trying to imagine herself in the rooms or walking in the
gardens. And then she looked, fascinated, at her family tree. Even
though her relations were no longer living, it felt amazing to know
she came from
somewhere
. These names on the paper were her ancestors and one of them
had actually left her everything he owned. It was nothing less than
a miracle.

She allowed
herself another small smile and hugged herself excitedly. This was
it, the start of her real life.

A light knock
on the door interrupted her thoughts and a young woman came in with
a tray. On it was a fancy chicken salad, some funny bread rolls and
some fruit and chocolates. Maddy was starving, she hadn’t realised
how hungry until she’d seen the food. She would speak to Mr
Vasey-Smith after she’d eaten.

Trevor, Angie
and Ben bustled back into the offices of Hamilton Blythe at 6.20pm.
A secretary showed them back up to the conference room where Maddy
and Mr Vasey-Smith waited. Their cheeks were flushed and they were
laden down with shopping bags.

‘
Mads, it was mint!’ Ben said. ‘You should’ve come, you’d’ve
loved it. We saw the Lion King. You’ve got to see it.’

‘
It was fantastic, love,’ Angie agreed. ‘Pity you had to stay
here.’

‘
That’s okay. Glad it was good.’

‘
So,’ said Trevor, rubbing his hands together. ‘What’s the
scores on the doors? We moving to the country? Any decisions been
made or what?’

Maddy’s nerves kicked in, but Mr Vasey-Smith had assured her
he would handle everything He worked for
her
now.

‘
Yes, a decision has been reached,’ the solicitor answered.
‘Madison has decided she would very much like to move to her new
home in Gloucestershire with Ben.’

‘
Nice one, Madison,’ Trevor smiled. ‘Let’s have a butcher’s at
our new place then? Where’s these details?’ He sat down at the
conference table and drummed his fingers on the wooden surface.
Everyone else was still standing.

‘
Mr Johnson, Madison and Ben will be moving to Gloucestershire
on their own. There are a couple of trusted retainers there who
will look after all their needs.’

‘
Now, hold on a minute …’ Trevor’s smile disappeared and he
stood up again.

‘
They’re just a couple of kids!’ Angie said, her face flushed.
‘They need us, we‘re their foster parents.’

Trevor put a hand on her arm. ‘I’ll handle this, Ange.’ He
turned to the solicitor and pointed to himself with his two
forefingers. ‘
We
are their legal guardians and there is no way they are moving
out of our care. Over my dead body, in fact.’

‘
Excuse me,’ Madison said. ‘I am still here you
know.’

‘
Maddy, this posh bloke is trying to get one over on us.
Thinks because he went to private school, he can treat people like
dirt. Well, we’ve put a roof over your heads for three years and if
you think you can walk out on us now you’ve got a ton of cash in
the bank … well ...’

‘
Trevor,’ Maddy replied. ‘It’s my decision, not yours or his.
No one’s trying to get anything over on anyone. I’ve had a pretty
crap life up till now and this is mine and Ben’s chance for a
better life.’

‘
Well thanks a lot!’ Angie exclaimed. ‘’Crap life’ is it? Me
and Trevor have tried our best. I know our place isn’t a fancy
house in the country, but at least we took you in and we’ve put up
with a hell of a lot. You’ve been quite a little madam to live
with.’

‘
I didn’t mean
that
,’ Madison took a deep breath.
‘I meant, I’ve got no real family or place of my own …’

‘
Let’s all calm down a bit.’ Mr Vasey-Smith
interrupted.

‘
Patronising git,’ Trevor muttered. Vasey-Smith ignored him
and turned to Ben.

‘
Ben, there’s a TV next door, would you like to
...’

‘
Yeah, that’d be cool.’ Ben leapt towards the door, eager to
be away from the shouting.

Trevor started
up again. ‘If you try to diddle us on this, we’ll sue you. Those
kids are legally our responsibility and you can’t decide anything
without our say so. I know what’s what! I‘ll sue you, I will!’

‘
You could try. But I wouldn’t advise it.’

A blue vein
pulsed angrily in Trevor’s forehead as he squared up to the
solicitor.

‘
Oh I am feeling so lairy right now. All your talk is winding
me right up.’

‘
Mr Johnson, please. Just listen for a moment. You might like
what I have to say.’ Vasey-Smith sat down at the table and gestured
for everybody else to do the same.

Angie pulled
gently on Trevor’s sleeve. He shrugged her off and sat down,
leaning back in his chair, his arms folded across his chest.

‘
Go on then. Talk your talk.’

‘
I have a proposition for you both.’ Vasey-Smith looked from
Trevor‘s red-cheeked scowl to Angie‘s wary, slightly scared
expression. ‘Madison has decided she and Ben will live in
Gloucestershire. But has insisted she would like to give you a gift
as a way of thanking you for the past three years. Now, I propose
you both have a good look around some estate agencies and find
yourself a suitable property. She would purchase this for you and,
of course, we would give you a generous lump sum towards its
maintenance.’

A thoughtful
silence followed. Trevor and Angie looked at each other. Their
sulky and wary expressions gone.

‘
This property,’ Trevor said. ‘It would have to be in keeping
with Maddy’s new standard of living. I mean, it couldn’t be any
shabby old dive could it? It would probably be a four bedroom
detached house in a nice part of town with a new car in the
garage.’

‘
Of course.’

‘
And the upkeep would probably be quite a lot for a property
like that.’

‘
Oh, I think the maintenance would be rather steep,’
Vasey-Smith agreed. ‘You’d probably need at least one hundred
thousand pounds to look after a property like the one you’re going
to own.’

‘
Probably more like
two
hundred thousand,’ Trevor said, staring hard at
the solicitor, who didn’t flinch.

Vasey-Smith’s
eyes narrowed and he fixed Trevor with a look that could have
melted stone. Maddy was unsettled by the mild-mannered solicitor’s
sudden change in character.

‘
I think one hundred thousand pounds will suffice,’ he said,
with steel in his voice.

Trevor paled
slightly and quickly recovered himself with a jokey smile. ‘Course,
course, you’d know best.’ He backed down straight away.

‘
What about social services?’ Angie asked. ‘We’re their foster
parents. Maddy’s sixteen and Ben’s only twelve. What about
school?’

‘
You don’t need to worry about any of that. As I mentioned
before, we are a powerful firm and with the kind of money Madison
has, we can solve any problems.’

While this
exchange had gone on, Madison had watched and listened intently.
Earlier, Vasey-Smith had already guessed at her feelings regarding
Trevor and Angie. She hadn’t had to say anything and his solution
had shocked her.

‘
This is how it will be,’ he had said. ‘I will offer them some
money to let you go without a fuss, they will accept the offer. I
will then get them to sign a document agreeing to the terms, so
they can never ask for anything from you or your brother ever
again.’

It was bribery
and she’d had a horrible feeling they’d accept it.

And now it
seemed Vasey-Smith had been proved right. On the one hand, she was
relieved it had all gone as smoothly as the solicitor had
predicted. But the other part of her felt sick with disappointment
that ‘money’ was all it took for Trevor and Angie to cast her and
Ben aside.

All that talk
of being their legal guardians, of them only being children was a
load of rubbish. They didn’t really care about Madison and Ben, not
when it came right down to it. Angie and Trevor Johnson had just
traded their foster children for a nice house and a shed load of
cash.

*

The train sped
east to west, grey to green, across the country. It raced towards a
new life in the unknown. But this time, the unknown didn’t produce
the bowel-watering terror Madison usually associated with change.
This time, she experienced a light, flickering anticipation mixed
in with a completely new emotion. Hope.

Ben sat next
to her, head down, immersed in some shoot-em-up game on his new
DSi. He’d been pretty laid back about the whole move, apart from
saying it would be a bit of a hassle having to start a new school
and leave his mates behind. He was adamant wherever Mads went, he
would follow.

To Maddy’s
relief, Vasey-Smith accompanied them on the journey. She hadn‘t
wanted to make the trip with her foster parents, but she was
nervous about travelling there on her own. It was daunting, moving
halfway across the country and Trevor and Angie would have only
made it worse.

The only time
she’d ever left London in her life, was when she was very young,
before Ben was born. Her mum had taken her to Brighton for the day.
She remembered sunshine, pebbles, splashing in shallow water and an
enormous swirly ice cream with a chocolate flake sticking out the
top.

Vasey-Smith
sat opposite them. He read a huge rustling newspaper and, apart
from some additional information relating to the house, he didn’t
try to make small talk. She was glad of the silence and the chance
to think.