Too Many Secrets

by Adele Broadbent

  When we finally reached the shack, a red four-wheel-drive was parked outside. Isaiah stopped at the edge of the clearing when he saw the CYF emblem on the side.

  Michael Ford leapt out and ran over. ‘Are you all right? What happened? Can I help?’ Oscar waved him off as he went to steady him.

  ‘Everyone’s fine,’ said Mark trying to smile. I saw him looking from Isaiah to Michael. We were supposed to be looking after Isaiah—and he falls through a rotten floor.

  ‘You’d better come in,’ said Mark.

  Mum remained in fuss mode, making everyone cups of tea. Oscar gave in and let her look at his leg. There was nothing broken but it was turning purple already. He swore he wasn’t going back to hospital and he’d look after himself, thank you very much.

  Mark motioned Michael to sit down. ‘We weren’t expecting you so soon,’ he said.

  Mr Ford smiled. ‘I wanted to see how Isaiah was getting on. We have a registered foster family ready for him in the city.’ He looked over at Oscar’s leg. ‘Maybe now is a good time?’

  ‘No!’ Isaiah leapt to his feet.

  ‘He doesn’t want to go,’ I blurted. ‘He doesn’t have to go.’

  ‘Becs,’ Mum began.

  ‘It’s true!’ I cried. ‘Tell them, Oscar. Tell them what you told me.’

  Oscar stared at the table in front of him. For the first time since I met him, he looked old. It was like he’d even shrunk a little. His shoulders drooped and his head bowed lower. ‘She’s right.’ Everyone leaned forward to hear him. ‘I should’ve sorted it long ago.’ He looked up at Isaiah. ‘I’m sorry, boy. It didn’t matter before. You were here with your family, then it was just the pair of us. It didn’t matter then. But I see it matters now.’

  Even though Isaiah knew, he waited to hear it from Oscar.

  ‘I’m your papa’s uncle, Isaiah. You are my blood. I am Oscar Herrick.’

  Chapter 94—Becs

  Mum’s hands flew to her mouth, turning to gape at Mark. He stared at her for a second, then back at Oscar. ‘What does that mean?’ asked Nick.

  ‘He can stay, Nick,’ I said. ‘Isaiah doesn’t have to go.’

  The social worker didn’t stick around for much longer. He spoke to Isaiah, then asked Mum, Mark and Oscar more questions, filling in more forms, and then left.

  ‘But why?’ Mum asked Oscar when he’d had gone. ‘Why did you hide your identity for all these years?’

  Oscar sighed. Totally not Oscar. He never sighed, he barked everything. But this was a different Oscar. Oscar Herrick. He looked up at Isaiah and spoke as if the rest of us weren’t even in the room.

  ‘When my mother left, I was a little younger than you are now. We’d been very close. I suppose it was living out here. It was isolated back then too, but we had grand dances and parties with visitors filling the bedrooms for weeks at a time. But often it was just my mother, father, brother and me. And the servants, of course.’

  Servants! Wow! Scruffy old Oscar had grown up with servants, I thought, trying to imagine it.

  ‘But when Mother left, the house died. There were no parties, or dances. No visitors at all. It was like living in a tomb.’

  I gasped. Isaiah shot me a look and I knew to shut up about what we’d found.

  Oscar shook his head. ‘Father took to the drink and I left as soon as I was old enough. My little brother, your papa’s father, Isaiah, left too, and I never saw him again. You look so much like him, though.’ I glanced at Isaiah. He grinned. Learning about his family wasn’t all bad.

  ‘Eventually I returned,’ continued Oscar. ‘Somehow I couldn’t keep away. But I could never bring myself to live in the house again. I never forgave my mother for what she did to us.’

  No-one knew where to look. Nick’s bottom lip quivered as she snuggled in beside Mark.

  ‘I gave up any legal rights to Herrick House long ago,’ said Oscar to Mark and Mum. ‘Being a Herrick in this area would’ve caused too much trouble. And that’s not what I came back for. But I never believed my nephew would sell it.’

  ‘He didn’t,’ said Mark. ‘Not legally anyway. That’s what my trip home was about.’ He turned to Isaiah. ‘Legally, Herrick House belongs to you.’

  Isaiah sat stunned. ‘But how could that be?’ he whispered.

  Mark nodded. ‘It is your inheritance. Herrick House was supposed to be kept in trust for you until you were twentyone. Your father had no right to sell it.’ He put his arm around Mum. ‘Which puts us in a bit of a predicament really.’

  We all listened as he explained to Isaiah how we’d borrowed from the bank to buy the house to restore it, then sell again. Isaiah listened, frowning and nodding as Mark went through it all. ‘Your family has disappeared with the money,’ said Mark. ‘We’re not blaming you, Isaiah. None of this is your fault. But we could lose everything.’ Mum stifled a sob, and Nick looked from one face to the next, totally lost.

  Isaiah looked from Mark to me, then reached into his pocket. ‘Will this help?’

  Chapter 95—Becs

  The necklace!’ I cried. Isaiah lay it on the table and rubbed his sleeve across it. The emeralds gleamed out of the dust.

  ‘Where did you get that?’ Oscar asked, reaching for it. He held it up. ‘Where did you get this?’ he asked again, louder this time.

  Isaiah’s eyes filled with tears. What could he say? A lump swelled in my throat when he turned to look at me.

  ‘We’ll have to show you, Oscar,’ I said, hardly more than a whisper. ‘Your mother didn’t leave. She’s been here all along.’

  Mark drove off in the ute with Oscar to pick up his crutches. It would make things easier. Not that any of it was easy. Isaiah waited in silence. We finally set off together, back to Herrick House and its secrets.

  Mark’s ladder was where we’d left it and, with Isaiah’s help, Oscar climbed back down into the collapsed cellar. The rest of us watched from above as Isaiah cleared the wood from the tiny door.

  ‘Cool!’ said Nick moving towards the ladder. ‘A secret door. Can I see too?’ I shot Mark a frown, shaking my head. Mark put a hand on her shoulder. ‘Not yet, Nick.’

  Isaiah reached up for the torch, then moved to open the door. Oscar followed Isaiah inside.

  Waiting for them to come out again was murder. Sorry, bad choice of words. Seeing their faces as they did come out was even worse. Oscar was white, his eyes glazed. Isaiah’s eyes were red and puffy. He wiped his eyes and asked us to come down.

  I didn’t think Nick should see but Isaiah asked again. ‘There have been too many secrets with this house. With my family. Please do not have any in yours.’

  Mark led her in after he’d seen the secret for himself. She emerged as white as Oscar.

  ‘I’m truly sorry, Oscar,’ said Mum when we were all outside on the veranda.

  Oscar gazed back inside at the portraits on the wall. ‘All those years,’ he said. ‘I was mad at my mother but I blamed my father when she left. And all along, he’d done much, much worse. His drinking wasn’t sorrow. It was guilt.’ He turned away and looked out over the front drive in silence. Mum pulled me and Nick away and we left Isaiah and Oscar on their own for a bit.

  When we went back to them, they were sitting on the front steps of the house. ‘What would you like to do now?’ asked Mark. ‘We don’t have to do anything straight away if you don’t want to. It’s a huge shock. We’ll leave it up to you.’

  Oscar rubbed his eyes, then looked up at us. ‘The boy is right. There have been too many secrets. I’m no fan of the authorities but I think we should tell the police and do things right in this family for a change.’

  ‘If you are certain?’ Isaiah asked.

  ‘As certain as that necklace is my mother’s,’ he muttered.

  Chapter 96—Becs

  The next day, Mark, Oscar and Isaiah went to town to see Constable Ritchie. He returned with them to interview Isaiah and me about finding the bodies. (Were skeletons still called bodies?)

  Over th
e next week, Herrick House quickly filled with police, and fences of plastic tape stopped us from going anywhere near it. Someone from a news programme even turned up but Mark got rid of them. Oscar kept to himself for a few days and one day after visiting him, Isaiah asked to speak to us all.

  ‘Oscar is fine. His leg is mending again and he has stopped using the crutches.’ Which meant he was being stubborn. Isaiah smiled when I rolled my eyes.

  ‘While I was there,’ he said, ‘we discussed what Papa has done. It is not right that he deceived you. We have decided how to repay you.’ He lifted the necklace from his rucksack and laid it on the table. It had been cleaned and polished and the deep green stones glowed as the light hit them. ‘Oscar wishes that you have his mother’s necklace to pay for Papa’s lies. He hopes it is enough.’

  ‘No!’ said Mark and Mum together. ‘This belongs with you and Oscar,’ said Mum.

  ‘Please,’ came a voice from behind us. ‘I insist.’

  Isaiah’s head shot up. ‘Mother!’ He scrambled out and around the table. We turned to see a woman with open arms.

  Chapter 97—Becs

  They cried and laughed and hugged so much we all ended up bawling. Even Mark wiped his eyes. Not that he’d ever admit it.

  ‘You came back. You came back,’ said Isaiah over and over.

  Michael Ford appeared at the back door and saw us all blubbering. He laughed. ‘I thought this would be a happy reunion.’

  Mark made the cuppas this time while the mums talked. Isaiah couldn’t take his eyes off his mother. It was like he didn’t believe she was really there. I couldn’t help staring either. She was gorgeous. Her long dark hair was like Isaiah’s but her eyes were a deep green. She was tall and slim with beautiful hands. I would never have believed she’d lived in the bush all that time.

  She held Mum’s hands across the table. ‘I don’t know how to thank you. Thank you so much for having my son in your home.’

  ‘You’re most welcome,’ said Mum. ‘It is a pleasure having him as part of our family.’

  Isaiah’s mum held his hand. ‘Leaving you was the hardest thing I have ever done. When you chose to stay, I asked Oscar to look out for you. But I worried so. I didn’t know when I could come back.’

  ‘Where are my brothers and sisters?’ he asked. ‘Are they all right?’

  She smiled. ‘They are all well. Just like you, they have grown so much.’ When he frowned, she knew he was thinking about his father. ‘Your papa is fine too, son.’

  She turned back to Mark and Mum. ‘My husband is pleased you are working on the house.’

  Isaiah frowned. ‘But Papa hated the house. I do not understand.’

  ‘It wasn’t always that way, son,’ she said. ‘Well before you were born, we moved here from the city.’

  ‘Papa lived in the city?’

  ‘Yes.’ She smiled at Isaiah’s surprise. ‘Your papa loved the city. He was a very well-respected barrister.’

  ‘A fancy lawyer,’ whispered Mark to Nick’s confused look. She nodded and gazed back at Isaiah’s mum.

  ‘But he worked too hard,’ she continued. ‘An important case went wrong and the stress made him very sick. When he was released from hospital he was told to rest or he would have another breakdown. We came out here to help him get better.’ She looked up at Mark again. ‘We were going to do what you have done and refurbish the house with his family name. Start a new life.’

  She sighed, turning back to Isaiah. ‘When we arrived and people learnt we were Herricks, they hounded your papa with stories of his grandfather’s madness. He tried to ignore them but the more he ignored them, the more they taunted him. He avoided people and town more and more until he hardly went there at all. Eventually he wouldn’t even go in to collect his medicine.

  ‘One afternoon he came back from the house acting very strangely. He couldn’t sleep and hardly spoke for days. No matter how much I pleaded with him, he wouldn’t tell me what was wrong. I was well on my way with you and suddenly he refused to go to the house any more. He spent all his time looking after me, and then you when you were born.

  ‘He began telling me his own stress and sickness had come from his grandfather, and started blaming him for everything that had gone wrong in his life. No amount of reasoning would convince him otherwise, but I learnt if I left it and didn’t speak of the house, he seemed to stay well.’

  Isaiah nodded. ‘So when people were talking about it again and my brothers and sisters began asking him at home—’

  ‘It started all over again,’ finished his mum. ‘But even worse. I’m sorry, son. I know he treated you badly but he didn’t mean to. He has a good heart when he is well. Herrick House was to be his saviour, but it became his curse. And now finally I know why.’ She hugged Isaiah to her when she saw his tears.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ said Mum. ‘Your poor husband.’

  ‘No. Don’t be sorry,’ she said. ‘Not only have you given Isaiah a home, you have given my husband the key to getting his life back. Finding his grandmother and freeing the secrets and guilt of his family has freed us all. Now my husband can heal.’

  Chapter 98—Becs

  Knock knock?’ Michael Ford appeared at the back door. I hadn’t even seen him leave the room. ‘I thought you were missing someone so I fetched him for you.’

  Oscar limped into the kitchen. He smiled. ‘Hello, Lily.’ Isaiah’s mum swept up and hugged Oscar just as tightly as she had Isaiah.

  After talking all day and waving goodbye to the social worker after dinner, we all went back inside. Mark lit the lamps and we sat around the kitchen table.

  ‘Thank you for a lovely meal,’ said Lily. ‘I know how hard it is to use that wood stove.’ She smiled at Mum. ‘It has a mind of its own.’

  She glanced over at Oscar, who gave her a nod. ‘We have discussed it again this afternoon and still wish for you to have the necklace. I am ashamed at what my husband has done, but it is something we cannot repay. If you will accept the necklace, he can stay in the hospital until he is better and you may return to your home in the city.’ She held Isaiah’s hand. ‘But I understand if you wish to speak to the police about pressing charges.’

  Mark came to stand behind Mum. She smiled up at him. ‘The police won’t be necessary,’ said Mark. ‘What’s important is your husband gets well and Isaiah’s inheritance is safe. Thank you. We would like to accept your offer.’

  Oscar gave his usual nod and Isaiah hugged his mum.

  ‘Well, Nick?’ said Mark. ‘What do you think, Becs? We can go home. You can go to Ascot with your mates and things can go back to normal.’

  ‘Or…?’ said Mum grinning up at Mark.

  ‘Or we could stay here for a while and finish the house for Isaiah? The necklace is more than enough for that too. You could go and board at Ascot if you like, Becs?’

  My mind whirled. This is what I’d waited to hear for months. They all stared, waiting for my answer. Just then, the morepork made his call out in the dark, the little bird that had taunted me on the first night we’d arrived. It felt like a lifetime ago. A different life altogether.

  That was before we grew our own veges and I nurtured swan plants and monarch butterflies and learnt all the native bird calls of the area. Before I made a new friend and discovered a new ‘normal’. I smiled over at Isaiah, who stared at me with his big dark eyes. ‘That’d be awesome, Mark.’ Isaiah’s face dropped.

  I winked across at him. ‘But maybe next year? I think you need all the help with the house you can get.’

  Copyright

  HarperCollinsPublishers

  First published in 2010

  This edition published in 2010

  by HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited

  PO Box 1, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140

  Copyright © Adele Broadbent 2010

  Adele Broadbent asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be r
eproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.

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  National Library of New Zealand Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

  Broadbent, Adele.

  Too many secrets / Adele Broadbent.

  ISBN: 978-1-8695-0856-2 (pbk.)

  ISBN: 978-0-7304-5094-8 (epub)

  [1. Runaway children—Fiction. 2. Friendship—Fiction.

  3. Secrets—Fiction] I. Title.

  NZ823.2—dc 22

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