Free Charlie's Dream by Jamie Rowboat Page B

townhouse that she shared with a succession of artist lovers, friends and, of course, her beloved brother Shamir. As the war became inevitable, she travelled South with a small group of brilliant young painters to live in a tiny village called Nanserre.
    "Hello sleepyhead," said a voice, pulling her out of her daydream. It was Marie, and she was crouching down beside the bed with a small wooden tray in her hands.
    "I wondered how long it had been since anyone gave you toast and coffee in bed," said Marie, as Gemma propped herself up on an extra pillow.
    "My darling girl, you are a marvel." she said with a grin.
    "I'm sorry about the quality of the china, but it was all I could find," said Marie.
    "I know, there's very little in the cottage any more. I tend to camp here nowadays. The time when I lived here on a regular basis has long since gone and now it's somewhat run down. When my friend George Colney died some years ago, I retreated here to grieve. Since then, it's always been associated with that period to me and I've pretty much stopped coming here."
    "I know that name, Charlie's parents bought the Croft from him just before he died. I remember them mentioning him."
    "Yes, that's right, he was tremendously kind to them about that. He was under a lot of pressure from his sons to take a higher offer for the land, made by a developer who wanted to subdivide it. He was offering almost double what they could afford, but George could see how much the old barn meant to your parents. His sons have never forgiven me, they were convinced I turned George against them in the matter."
    "And did you?" asked Marie, timidly.
    "No, I didn't need to. George was very much his own man, he made a fortune by his relaxed attitude towards money and by always doing what made him feel good. He was amazing in so many ways, although his family could never see it. They were too consumed by their greedy anticipation of what they would inherit when he died. At one stage, they tried to have him declared unfit to control the family fortune, in an attempt to stop his philanthropy. Even though he was the one who had created all of their wealth."
    "So, what happened?" asked Marie, incredulously.
    "Hah, in the end, he asked the whole family quite innocently to meet him at their solicitor's office one morning in June. Then, with the lawyer adjudicating, he challenged them all to an IQ test, which he won with a score that registered him as a near genius. After that, he gave them all a piece of his mind about their intentions and signed his entire estate over to the local orphanage right in front of them. His family were horrified, I'll never forget it."
    "So you were there, but why?"
    "Moral support."
    "So, what happened next?"
    "Humph," said Gemma, before going quiet for a second. "He died the next day. We'd gone to dinner at his favourite seafood restaurant in London to celebrate his eighty-second birthday. It was a tiny place, called Manzies, with sawdust on the ground and amazing fresh fish from the markets. It was hidden down a laneway behind Leicester Square, George just loved the place. He finished his meal, gave me an eternity ring that he'd found in an antique store in Covent Garden, signed the cheque and dropped stone dead from a heart attack right in the middle of the restaurant. His sons were utterly outraged. They tried to contest the will of course, but in the end they were left with their homes and nothing else, and the local orphanage will never have to look for patrons ever again."
    "It sounds like he really loved you," said Marie tenderly.
    "Yes, he did and I loved him a great deal too. You know, we were lovers and friends for nearly thirty years, but he never knew the truth about me."
    "Really? That's incredible, but what about his wife, wasn't she around?"
    "No, she died giving birth to his second son, an occurrence which was a lot more common in those days."
    "Did he really know nothing about your life? Didn't you find it hard to keep it