Flicking through the diary, the first few entries seemed really boring, so I skipped through and opened it at random to see if there was anything more interesting in it.
19th May. If force of will could keep someone alive, I’d live forever. I’ve fought this terrible disease for a long time and I still want to be here, but I can feel my strength fading. I want nothing more than to reach out to Libby, but I made a promise to my brother and I am nothing if not a man of my word. I know better than most what happens when you break your vow to the dead. I can only hope that she will understand when she learns the truth about her heritage.
25th May. The traditional town summer fayre approaches. I hope I will be well enough to fulfil my duty – it would not bode well if a Fortune failed to preside over the festivities.
1st June. Thank goodness I was able to take part in the fayre! I fear it will be my last one. What will Libby think when it is her turn to ride the goat?
Whoa! Ride a goat? What kind of weird traditions did they have going on in this place?
If they think they’re going to get me on the back of one of those creatures, they’re in for a rude awakening. Not going to happen in a million years!
8th June. The spirits are growing louder, no doubt because they can sense I will soon be joining their ranks. There are worse places to spend your eternity, I suppose. I can only hope the rituals will keep me going for long enough to put everything in place for Libby’s arrival. She deserves better.
23rd June. Maybe my brother had the right idea. Maybe I should have followed him, left this town to its inevitable fate.
18th July. I went for a walk in the mountains today. Looking down on Lashire Bluff, I couldn’t regret my choices, no matter how much pain they’ve caused me over the years. There are days when it is harder to be a Fortune, but at times like these, I feel like the luckiest man alive.
No doubt Rose will be cross when she discovers I’ve disobeyed doctor’s orders to go out for so long, but I refuse to lie in bed and wait to die. I want to feel the sun on my skin, the breeze ruffling my hair. I’m going to be dead a long time. Let me live while I still can.
That was the last entry. Even though my uncle had held out against the cancer which finally took him for a few more months, he must have decided he didn’t want to use any of that time writing.
Flipping through to the back of the book, I discovered there was a little pocket in the cover which contained a few more documents. I pulled them out and gasped when I found what could only be a photo of my dad and uncle when they were young. They were virtually identical, the only difference being that Uncle Gregory was around ten years older than my dad. My uncle had his arm around his brother and the two of them were smiling at the camera, happiness radiating out from both their faces. Going by the background, it looked like they were standing in front of the mansion.
Which meant my dad knew what he was turning his back on when he walked away from his family. It must have been some argument to make him give up all that money and paint houses for a living.
The rest of the documents were letters my uncle had written to my dad, all in envelopes marked ‘return to sender’. Reading through them, I could feel my heart breaking. They all said similar things – begging my dad to come home, telling him he needed to bring me here to prepare me for what was to come, saying he was being unfair to deny me my heritage.
The ones written after my uncle’s cancer diagnosis were even worse. A couple of them were tear stained as he reminded my dad of his obligations that went ‘beyond family’. He pleaded with him to let me come visit so he could ‘train’ me in the ways of Fortune.
This was all too weird.
“Miaow!”
I jumped as Shelley suddenly leapt onto the bed, landing on my feet. He started kneading at them, purring loudly.
“You know, you’re right,” I said. “It is time for us to get some sleep. Come on, then.”
I lifted up the blankets, patting at the bed for him to get comfortable with me. He crawled underneath the covers and curled up in his usual spot next to me.
I put my uncle’s diary on the bedside table and clapped my hands to turn off the lights.
Yes, the lights were sound activated. I was that lucky.
***
Shelley was gone by the time I woke up next morning, no doubt gone to see if Rose was around to give him some food. If I wasn’t careful, I was going to end up with a very fat cat with the way she’d been spoiling him with fresh meat instead of shop-bought cat food.
Throwing on some clothes, I went downstairs to see what was for breakfast. I was getting used to seeing Rose’s smile first thing in the morning. However, when I went into the kitchen, it was deserted.
Pouting a little, I checked the cupboards until I found some cereal.
Careful now, Libby. You’re getting spoilt already. You’re more than capable of making your own breakfast!
Splashing some milk over a bowl of cornflakes, I took it out to a conservatory at the back of the house I’d discovered yesterday. It was a little chilly in the winter air, but there was a blanket draped over a chair, and I wrapped it around myself before settling into a chair looking out over the valleys.
As I ate my breakfast,
