Free 1 Aunt Bessie Assumes by Diana Xarissa Page A

seemed tiny as the two women inspected each other's lined and careworn
faces.
    “ I think it was Tynwald Day, about three years ago,
when I saw you last,” Bessie recalled.  “You mentioned then that you had
just retired.”
    “ You still have a great memory,” Bahey sighed.  “I
seem to forget everything these days.”
    Bessie ignored the
compliment.  “Didn't you say you'd purchased an apartment in Douglas?” she
asked instead.
    “ I did, indeed,” Bahey nodded.  “Mr. Pierce was
kind enough to help me save up for my retirement over the years.  Thanks
to him, I had enough to buy a little apartment outright.   It’s just off the promenade.  You
should come and visit me one day.”
    “ I'd like that,” Bessie told her.  There were so
few of her own generation left; she would quite enjoy
an afternoon of reminiscing with the slightly younger woman.  
    “ But you haven't come to waste time talking with me,”
Bahey shook her head.  “ It's kind of you come and
pay your respects; so few people do these days.”
    Bahey looked around as if
checking that they were alone.  “Lots of people ringing and calling around
to try to get the latest skeet, but no one who really cares,” she said, nodding
seriously at Bessie.  
    Bessie wasn't sure that she
qualified as someone who really cared, but she did feel that her visit was
motivated by the right reasons.  She murmured what she hoped Bahey would
take as an appropriate response.
    “I have to ask,” Bahey said
with tears in her eyes.   “You saw
the body; do you think Mr. Daniel suffered at all?”
    Bessie shook her head.  “I'm
sure it was quick,” she told the younger woman, patting her arm as she spoke.
 
    “I'm sorry,” Bahey said,
wiping her tears with the back of her hand.  “I never married, never had
children.   Mr. Danny and Mr. Donny
always felt a little like my own boys.  I'm sure Mrs. Pierce would forgive
me for feeling that way.”
    “Of course,” Bessie soothed.
 “You must have been pleased when Daniel found a wife, then?” she asked
suggestively.
    Bahey scoffed.  “She has
them all fooled, the Pierces, but I can see through her.  She didn't
really love Mr. Daniel; she was just after his money.”
    “And now she's got it,”
Bessie said.
    “Not if Mr. Pierce and Mr. Donny
have anything to do with it,” Bahey whispered.  “Oh, they still seem to think
she’s wonderful, but they’re businessmen first.   They don’t think Miss Vikky should
inherit everything after just a couple days of marriage.   They're hinting that they might contest
the will unless Miss Vikky takes a small payoff and goes away quietly once all
the fuss has died down.”
    “Really?” Bessie shook her
head.   “I guess I should be glad
that there was never enough money in my family to cause these sorts of fights.”
    “Aye, mine either,” Bahey
shrugged.   “I got a little bit of
money when me mum and dad passed on, but I let my sister have everything
else.   I was across and being looked
after by the Pierces well enough.   Now that I’m back on the island, she’s given me some of me mum’s old
furniture to make my apartment feel more like home.   It’ll all go to her son anyway, when I
go, but at least we never had to fight over it.”
    “I remember your sister as
well,” Bessie said.   “She was a
school teacher in Foxdale for many years, right?”
    “Aye, she’s still there.   Foxdale don’t suit everyone, but she
seems to like it.   Her husband
passed about nine years ago, but she reckons she’s happy enough on her own now
that her boy is grown and gone.   But enough of this reminiscing .   You’ll have to come and visit me soon so
we can catch up properly.   You came
to see the Pierces.   Come through to
the great room and I’ll let Mr. and Mrs. Pierce know that you’re here.”
    Bessie followed Bahey down a
long corridor from the garage wing into the main house.   There was so much to see that it was
hard for