Belle frowned. “Now and then, but not with any fierce need to go. It is a lot of work to run this place, but I can make a living here. I don’t have many animals, but I like having a place where I can keep them.”
“Aye, ye do have all those things.”
“And I don’t really know if there is a place I might like better than this.” She turned toward him, crossed her arms, and studied him closely. “Why do you ask?”
“Just curious. Ye have relatives all round but ye live alone. Most women dinnae seem to much like that.”
“I have Abel.”
“Most days, aye.”
The front door slammed open, then shut loudly. Belle frowned as she heard someone come stomping toward the kitchen. When her auntie marched in and hurled herself into a chair, Belle tried not to look too startled by the woman’s arrival. Something had really upset her aunt and Belle was not sure she wished to know what it was.
“Something wrong, Auntie?” she asked as she put a pot of coffee on the stove. “Where is Abel?”
“Your cousin Rafe came by and they are out riding. They are not the problem. Your uncle John has arrived with his whole family.”
Things became a little clearer then, as her aunt really did not like her brother-in-law or his wife. “Has he come for his usual summer visit?”
“No. He has come to claim the house.” Mary nodded at the stunned look on Belle’s face. “Fortunately, he announced that after Rafe and Abel left. Seems my Thomas never made a will or changed his father’s. Since Tom has died, the will still states the house and land pass to his brother.”
“But he left a wife and sons.”
“Should have written a new will, his own will. I talked to someone who deals in such things and he says that without a written record changing it, the will is still in effect. I suspect John discovered that and knew his brother had not made a will. So he grabbed his prissy wife and his four sullen children and came right on over. Brought all their belongings too. Cluttered up my barn with them. I was, of course, expected to provide food and drink while they all rested from the ordeal of traveling ten miles.”
“What about his own home?”
“He is already trying to sell it. Even suggested I might want to buy it since I will now need a place to live. I was still in shock, watching his wife inspect my home, but even then, I knew I never would. He has priced it three times higher than what he paid, yet I know for a fact he has not put any money into it.”
“Ye need to find a good lawyer,” said Geordie.
“I suppose I should. They might be able to find something that will block this move. Waiting until he dies won’t help. If he still claims my house and has written a will, it will go to his wife and kids. I cannot abide sharing a house with him and that woman.”
“Then come stay here. Just make sure your leaving the house will not cause you to lose ground in an argument over the place.”
“It appears most everyone in the area kens the rules of the will for this property and all about the Amplefords, as well as how all the properties are connected. Does that nay aid ye in your claim?”
“It might, but John may well plan to fight it out in a higher court, and that would be in a town where people don’t know about us. And he never really showed that much interest in my house but coveted this one.”
“Which, from all I have heard, is verra weel protected.”
“My home has many of the same protections, but this comes down to what happens now while I and the boys still live. That requires the will Tom ne’er wrote.”
“Well, you can come here every single day so you don’t have to deal with him and we will find you a lawyer. You might also look through any papers Tom left behind. There might be something in them that will help you, maybe even show what his ideas on the matter were.” Belle briefly hugged her aunt, then sat back. “And if things get particularly bad, you can even stay a night or two.”
“That would be good. I will have to tell the boys before they stop in and find John and his family settled in. That could bring on a fight I don’t need. And it isherI cannot deal with. I really believe it is her who is pushing this. John knew exactly what Tom wanted. That woman just wants to be closer to the town and have a chance to be part of the society.”
“We have a society?”
Belle smiled when her aunt laughed, and then moved to pour the woman a cup of coffee. She set it down in front of Mary and pushed the jug of cream and pot of sugar closer to her. Then she filled up her cup again and served Geordie before sitting down.
“I think I put a box of Tom’s papers in the closet,” Mary said. “I didn’t look through them, just packed them. Tried to do it neatly and go drawer by drawer, but never looked at them. At the time it hurt just to look at his writing.”
“Would they have exchanged any letters about this? Ye live so close to each other, I cannae see why they wouldnae just visit to talk, but ye can never be sure. Some planning for it could have been done.”
Mary frowned in thought and nodded. “Tom would have consulted with my brother. He saw Noah as so much smarter than him. He would definitely have discussed it with him. Unfortunately, I forget much of the year before Tom died as he required so much aid, and all of my days were taken up with nursing him and knowing none of it was going to help.”
“So, we go through all of my dad’s papers. There is a big desk upstairs in what he called the study room. Then there is a smaller desk in the infirmary along with a small filing cabinet. A lot of paper to go through, though we can set aside the patient files.”
