Chapter 30
“Your last address in London was…117 Stephenson Avenue, South Ken, SW7, is that right?”
“As much as I remember, yes” William replied, nodding
“Were you aware that your parents had just sold that property and had in fact bought a much bigger house in Holland Park?”
“No, I didn’t – I suppose they thought I was too young to comprehend really”
“Of course, well, they’d signed the title deeds, and the transaction had gone through, and because of who your parents were, they were able to pay cash for the new house. Your mother had just landed the most prestigious cosmetics contract of the time, a million pound deal for Chique, and of course, as she’d won that, well, the rest followed suit. She was still the muse for the House of Germaine clothes, but offers were coming from right, left and centre, from Bootique shoes, LovelyLegs hosiery, Parfams du France to Sol Midas sun tan products to name but a few.”
William nodded, frowned and said
“Wow! This is sure a lot to take in…I’m sorry, can you give me a moment please!” After a minute or so reading what Mr Pearlman had just said, he was trying to think back as a child – did he even have an inkling about what his mother was?
“I don’t remember my mother being a top model” William was trying to think…it was hard, so far back, so long ago – he couldn’t even remember his mother’s face now. He vaguely remembered a time when they went to Trafalgar Square…people were taking photographs – but that’s what everyone did there, fed the pigeons and had their pictures taken…
Mr Pearlman smiled, and showed him a photograph of one of his mother’s most famous poses, modelling a House of Germaine shiny mac and knee length boots, twirling round an umbrella with a big daisies on it
“Oh yes – the very famous Chelsea Blue! Um, you weren’t aware of this fact?”
“Er…um huh…n-no, um, she…she was just mum to me…” William said with a shrug, dragging his eyes off the picture before putting it back on the desk.
“Well as it was unsure of what to do, there was nobody to instruct us as to what to do with the property, but your parents Wills left everything to each other, then to you and any other siblings that happened to come along. So, we leased it out, a short lease of 15 years, we knew that once you’d reached the age of eighteen that the hunt would be on for you so you could claim your inheritance”
William nodded
“The amount accrued, with interest and after our fee is…” he wrote down a figure on a piece of paper and slid it across the desk. William reached for it and nearly died on the spot when he saw the amount, his eyes popped and he thought that there had been a mistake with the decimal point and the noughts…he blurted out,
“There- there must be some mistake!”
“I’m sorry - there’s no mistake Mr Campbell, I can assure you of that, and our fees are very modest considering some solicitors charges!”
“No I, sorry I mean, well surely, rent for a house, even after all this time – it’s a ridiculous amount!”
Mr Pearlman took off his glasses and smiled
“Mr Campbell, properties in that area, one of the nicest in London, then and now I hasten to add, can fetch £6000 rent per calendar month easily, it has 6 bedrooms, six bathrooms, five reception rooms, large fully fitted kitchen, large secluded garden – properties there are selling for upwards of five million pounds, indeed the gentleman who is renting it at the moment is the manager of a Swiss clearing bank in the city”
“Oh god!” William felt his head swim and the colour drained from his face
“Oh dear I’ll get you some – er, Geraldine…Geraldine!”
The secretary came rushing into the office, Buffy put her arm around William
“Will, you okay?”
“Get Mr Campbell some water will you please?”
“Certainly sir!” The secretary dashed off and Buffy was rubbing Will’s hand. William for his part didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, be sick or pass out!
“Here you go” Buffy took the proffered glass of water off the secretary and gave it to Will, who too three big gulps.
“I’m sorry, all this must have come as a bit of a shock to you!”
“A BIT!! William said incredulously – here was I thinking I might come away with a couple of thousand pounds for the house in South Ken, and – and then I get told this – I’m a potentially sitting on a property worth five million pounds!” he took another gulp of water before putting it on the desk.
“Only if you sell it! Personally I would wait a while, there’s a property boom at the moment, wait another six months and you could get another million I’m sure!” Mr Pearlman said brightly.
“Oh good god!” William rubbed his forehead, he didn’t know whether to laugh out loud or not!
“Shall I give you a little while to mull things over, so to speak?”
“Um, yeah, if you wouldn’t mind – this is all too much for me to take in properly!”
“Certainly, I’ll just be…” he pointed a finger to the door and Buffy nodded
When he’d closed the door Buffy said
“Wow…I know they said you’d got a house coming to you, but this!”
“Tell me about it! And my mum, Chelsea Blue…I knew her as mum, other people knew her as Susan Campbell, and my dad as Mickey Campbell………god wait until I tell mom and dad this!”
After five minutes of trying to come to terms with his news, they called Mr Pearlman back and after signing various forms, William said that he would indeed hold onto the property for a little while longer, but gave the solicitor instructions to put it o the market if the housing market looked like crashing.
After an hour and a half, they left the solicitors stunned, but totally happy.
“So what shall we do now?” Buffy asked
“Well, first I’d like to pop back to the hotel and get these put in the safe (he held up his documents folder that had become MUCH thicker) and then……would you mind if I …um…if I went to see where I used to live?” Buffy shook her head and said,
“Of course not, I’d love to see it too”
They got to the tube and went to the appropriate station. Buffy loved the tube. When they emerged from the station, it was all new to William, there was a dual carriage way, and they had to use a subway to cross. William stopped and took a breath, then stood at the top of a residential road, called Stephenson Avenue. Buffy looked at William. He was having a little difficulty keeping his emotions in check. Buffy put her arms around him. He cuddled her up and rested his head in her neck. She didn’t say anything, she didn’t really know what to say, so she just held him.
He raised his head and said,
“Walk with me?” Buffy smiled and slid her hand into his, then bringing her other hand over so she was holding his one hand with both of hers, giving him a little encouraging squeeze. The walked for about 75 yards, and he stopped outside a house, with a huge tree outside the drive.
“This it?” Buffy asked quietly.
“Yes…117 Stephenson Avenue…I wonder who lives there now?” As if in answer to his question, an Asian woman opened the door, pushing out a buggy with a toddler in it; she was followed out by two children a girl and a boy, both below the age of 10. They ignored the couple and carried on up the road. A car turned into the drive next door. William looked at it and smiled – he knew the occupant!
“Oh my gods…Mr Samuels!” William said. An elderly man got out of the car.
“Mr Samuels…It IS Mr Samuels, right?” William went halfway down the drive. The man was older than William remembered him, he was now white haired, but he still had the clipped little moustache and friendly eyes that William remembered.
“Yes…can I help you, do I know you?”
“I don’t know if you remember me, I’m William Campbell, actually, Campbell-Summers now, I used to live here years ago, my parents were killed in a road accident”
“Oh good lord! You’re um, I’m sorry, I’m terrible with names, Sue and Mickey’s lad!”
“That’s right, I’m William, I was five”
“I remember…it was so sad…Margaret and I often wondered what happened to you”
“I went to America, I was adopted, by Buffy’s parents… This is Buffy, by the way” The man shook Buffy’s hand and pleasantries were exchanged.
“So, are you here on holiday?”
“Yes…doing the touristy things, you know” The front door opened, and an elderly lady said,
“Is everything alright, George?”
“Yes dear, do you know who this is?” She came closer to the edge of the step and peered at William, a frown/smile on her face. She peered at William for a second or two, went to shake her head no, and then she said,
“OH!” Her hand flew to her mouth for a second or two, and then she said,
“It’s Billy! Billy Campbell! Oh my goodness, oh come here!” She pulled William into a hug. She had tears in her eyes. William was also struck by the emotion of it all and felt his own eyes well up. He blinked and squeezed his eyes shut for a second or two until the lady gently pushed at his shoulders, smiling up at him
“Well look at you, all grown up…I’d know those blue eyes anywhere…we often wondered what happened to you, didn’t we George? - Honestly, where are my manners, keeping you outside, come in, come in - have a cup of coffee” standing back she threw the door open welcoming them.
“Um…are you sure, we don’t want to be any trouble” William looked at Buffy. She looked up at him and smiled, nodding.
“Not at all…come in” Smiling, they both went in. The house was immaculate.
“Come on through to the den…would you like tea, or would you prefer coffee?”
Over drinks, William explained what happened.
“We tried to find out what happened, but we drew a blank, Social services either couldn’t or wouldn’t tell us anything, and the house remained untouched for weeks. We had to get onto the police in the end, because stuff was piling up, mail and papers, wasn’t it George”
William sat there nodding, it was strange hearing about things after all this time, things he wanted to know but never knew who to ask – Joyce had told him everything she knew.
“You were such a good baby! We used to baby-sit when you were tiny, but then when you were a toddler, out eldest Christine, do you remember her, that’s her there (Margaret pointed to a photograph on the wall) used to look after you if your mum and dad had a function to go to. Of course your mother was a full time fashion model, beautiful she was, not like the gaunt moody looking stick-insects you see today! And your dad, playing for Chelsea was famous being a footballer”
“Yes, I’ve only just found out about who my mother really was – to me she was just mum – not the model ‘Chelsea Blue’ that everyone else knew her as!”
“She was very pretty…I didn’t like it when they used to make her put all that black stuff around her eyes, all that make-up, she didn’t need it, she had a natural beauty, a radiance that could light up a room, didn’t she George?”
“Oh yes…but as she used to say, it was like a mask to hide behind – at least with no make-up on she could go un-noticed at the supermarket! I tell you what, excuse me for a moment…” George Samuels stood and disappeared upstairs, and then he came back in carrying a photo album. He showed William photos he’d never seen before.
“This was when there had been a storm, and an old horse chestnut tree had blown down in the gale, see, it had demolished half the brick wall at the front of our garden…this was the photos of the council men cutting the tree up, and this… yes, this is the local newspaper cutting…and I think… yes, that’s you, look, can you see, at the top of your drive?” He handed William the photo.
“Oh yes, it’s me, from the back, you can see my hair sticking up, as usual!” He passed the snaps onto Buffy. It was William as a toddler.
“And this, was our other claim to fame, besides knowing your parents, do you remember the group, Mud? Well, that was the drummer, his mum lived over the road and one day he turned up to visit her in this big stretch limo… that’s him signing an autograph for your mum” William swallowed.
“Oh gods…I d-don’t have many photos…I was only allowed to come back to the house once after the accident, and I didn’t receive any personal stuff until I was 12… Ah, now that was…oh, what’s his name…” William had closed his eyes trying to think.
“Harry Bradshaw’s lad, Keith” George said, looking over Will’s shoulder.
“That’s it…I remember once, we climbed a tree together, and couldn’t get down!” William said grinning
“He’s in the navy now, out in the Gulf”
“Is he?”
“And what are you doing?” William explained.
“Harvard huh, well, you need brains for that eh?” George said, and William smiled.
“Our Christine married a sheep farmer, she lives in New Zealand, we’re hoping to go and see her later on this year, we’ve been saving our pennies up, we’ve got a new great grandson to see haven’t we love?”
“Oh yes, we’re dying to see little Casey – he’s our first great grandchild, we have five grandchildren, Christine’s got three, all sons, and Geoffrey our son who lives not far away in Essex, he’s got a garage and petrol station, he’s got two girls!”
“Very nice…I remember your Geoffrey…we got into trouble when we ate all the raspberries in the garden – do you remember that?” William asked, smiling
“Of course, you two were always best pals getting into scrapes!” All this time George had been sorting through the snaps, and giving William a biggish pile he said,
“Here, I know these are before you were born…they were at a street party for the queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977, that was your mum, and that was your dad…I think his hair was nearly as long as your mums!”
“Oh my gods, look at those pants!” William was laughing at the wide bell-bottomed ‘loon’ trousers his father was wearing, and the platform heels too!
There were several photos, of his parents.
“They couldn’t have been married very long…dad had his trial for Fulham in 1977, then he played for Arsenal for 3 years then he went to Chelsea. Then lastly he played for Watford, only second team mind, but then he had to give up because of a recurring knee injury.” William said.
Buffy asked if she could go to the toilet. Margaret Samuels said ‘certainly’ and showed her the way. When she got back, William was saying how everything had changed.
“Yes…very few of us ‘original’s left now…do you remember Mrs Brown, who used to live two doors down that way from your house, she used to have a big white poodle that she used to show, so it was always puffed and crimped up…pom-pom tail and top of it’s head?”
“Vaguely” William said
She left last year, gone into a nursing home. And after your tragedy, the house was empty for 18 months, a dentist bought it, he was Australian, very nice couple, they stayed for about five years, they sold it to a young couple, who had to give it up, couldn’t afford the mortgage, then the people who have it now, the Gupta’s bought it”
“Yes, I saw an Asian woman with three children earlier” William said.
“That would be the daughter visiting. Meena, that’s the elder woman baby sits while her daughter goes out to work”
“The only other people you might remember, is Stan Hardcastle, he used to own the newsagents on the corner? He sold up, it’s a Londis convenience store now…” William went to hand back the photos, saying that they’d better be going, and thanking them for the tea.
“You keep the photos”
“Are you sure?”
“Sure”
“Thank you! That’s very kind of you”
“Here we are, pop them in this, keep them clean at least. Mrs Samuels gave William a used envelope to put them in Oh, and before you go………” she went into another room, they could hear her opening a cupboard, a few seconds later she was back.
“Do you remember him? – Bun-bun…you wouldn’t sleep without him when you were little…I found it on the path the day the council came and emptied the house” She pressed the little grey fur toy rabbit into his hand.
William, in his minds eye saw a blurred face, and a soft voice saying to him, “here’s Bun-bun, now you go to bed like a good little boy for mummy”…
“Th-thank you!”
“You’re very welcome – oh I’m so pleased to know what happened to you after all this time!” Margaret reached up and kissed William on the cheek.
“You’ve grown into a fine young man, and your mum and dad would have been very proud of you, I know”
For the second time that day William felt himself close to tears. They thanked the couple again, and after promising to keep in touch, they left. They got back to the hotel.
“That was really nice of them to give me these, wasn’t it?” Will said, leafing through the photos.
“Yes…anyway, bathrooms free”
But William didn’t hear her, he was ‘miles away’ on sensory over-load, lost in a reverie that he learned so much that day about his birth-parents.
Buffy sat next to him, and stroked his arm. William looked at her and smiled and said,
“Sorry, miles away”
“That’s alright, I understand” She smiled and William homed in and gave her a kiss
“Right then, in approximately…(he looked at his watch) three and a half hours, I’m taking you out!” Buffy grinned and hunched her shoulders with excitement
“Where to”
“Ah, now, THAT, would be telling” he kissed Buffy’s nose and then went into the bathroom for his ablutions.
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