Chapter 30: Leaving the Past Behind

Two generations ago Adam Slade arrived in Sunset Valley to start a new life.  Not just for himself but for those that would follow him - he dreamt of establishing a family legacy.  Having acquired one of the finest properties in Sunset Valley, Adam built a solid foundation that his son, Brandon, expanded and handed down to his daughter, Cleo. But Cleo, the third generation Slade in the Valley, is learning that her family's story actually started elsewhere ... and the foundations that Adam had laid might not be as sound as was thought.

In this chapter the consequences from the first meeting of the Slade and Fisk families are finally revealed ...

"And that was when Walter Fisk's life came apart." Garett sighed.

"He returned home shortly after Anna had finished reading the newspaper reports. She confronted him about the story. Perhaps he should have lied and tried to front it out, deny everything – isn't that what cheats do?" Garett looked pointedly at Cleo, but she knew it wasn't a question she was expected to answer.

"But he didn't," Garett continued, "he admitted that he had been seeing this woman, Wanda. He tried to explain that it was just a one-off, that he truly loved Anna and Lewis, that he would do anything to make it up to them."

"But Anna was having none of it. There was no reason why he would cheat, he had everything he could want right here. What could he possibly find appealing in a woman from the Swamplands? The very idea made her skin crawl."

"What truly shocked her was that Walter had brought this woman into their house and exposed their son to his sordid affair. For that alone she would never forgive him."

"The more he tried to apologise the angrier she got. And when he claimed, as truthfully as it may have been, that he knew nothing of Wanda's criminal connections her rage exploded. Walter would bear the bruises from that afternoon for many days."

As impatient with his rambling story as she was, Cleo sensed that Garett was finally getting to some sort of point, one that he hoped would explain away his own recent actions. She could see the moisture starting to glisten in his eyes, and his voice was breaking, but however emotional he was getting she was certain there was nothing he could say that would excuse his actions.

"When Lewis returned home from school the tension between his mother and father was palpable, just by the way they looked he knew it was bad, but it was his mother who was particularly upset and when she saw her son come into the house she just rushed outside; on the verge of tears."

"Sensitive to his mother's emotions, Lewis followed Anna out, but she wouldn't let him near until eventually she composed herself enough to instruct the boy to collect his favourite things - they were going to stay with his grandparents for a little while."

Garett paused, clearly struggling to control his own emotions.

"On that same day Anna left Walter, forever."

"Walter's business was intimately involved in many city projects so any suspicion that he had criminal links was bound to bring the police to his door. Sure enough, just moments after Anna had left a police car pulled up outside their home and Walter was arrested on suspicion of corruption and money laundering."

Garett paused again, to make sure that he still had Cleo's full attention.

"I can't tell you exactly what happened in the swamp lands, but I can make a pretty good guess considering what we know Wanda, Sinbad, and Adam did after Walter was arrested."

"I don't know if Sinbad had any genuine feelings for Wanda, but he must have thought she was useful to him. He was seen spending time on Bayou Gulch; he probably spent several nights there, convincing Wanda to keep to his plan."

"His 'office' on Riverside Road closed within days of Walter's arrest. He and Wanda Slade suddenly left town, I don't think it took much to convince her, Wanda probably wasn’t much more than a simple plaything for him, paying her attention and offering a share of his ill-gotten gains was all she seemed to be interested in."

"Was she bothered about leaving her son, Adam, behind? Somehow I doubt it. Did your grandfather ever mention his origins in Twinbrook? No? I didn't think so."

"Sinbad Rotter had it all planned out. He was getting a huge payout from his 'associates' and used that to keep Wanda sweet and onboard. But, you know what his masterstroke was? Having nearly half of that pot sent into Adam's own account. I don't doubt he and Wanda expected to come back and collect it but, as it turned out, they never did."

"And can you imagine that conversation Cleo? You beloved grandfather and his mother sat down one morning after she had destroyed Walter Fisk, somehow she would explain away this enormous sum of money Adam was suddenly going to have. How she and Sinbad were leaving Twinbrook to set up 'business' in some faraway place?"

"Newly graduated and about to make his way in the world, this kid from the swamps now had money to burn. And his mother was going to run off with her latest fancy man, to be honest, he probably expected it would have happened anyway."

"I would like to think that she had a moments doubt over what she was doing, but, y'know, I really don't."

"So, there it is Cleo. That fabulous piece of land you live on, that impressive mansion you now own, bought not through skill, or enterprise, or even simple hard work, but by the proceeds of fraud and deception. More than that; a deceit that destroyed not just Walter Fisk's business but also his family. My family!"

Realising that his story was coming to its conclusion, Cleo asked the question she had been waiting to get an answer to: "OK, so you're related to this 'Walter Fisk'? He lost his business, which is sad, but it happens ...”

"It happens!" Garett snorted. "Walter Fisk was my great-granddaddy, and he didn't just lose a business; his reputation, his family, was stolen. Sinbad Rotter was just a front-man, behind him was a corrupt cabal conspiring to take over ever major government contract not just in Twinbrook, but the entire county. The very criminals who were paying off Rotter were sat on the committees that handed out the city contracts. They weren't satisfied with a back-hander from the companies they employed, they themselves had bought companies they could give the work to ... they would get very penny the council paid out."

"But it wasn't just planning committees, they had influence over every aspect of life in Twinbrook, so my great-granddaddy had the papers, the police, the courts, everyone ranged against him. They wanted him destroyed."

"The police 'found' evidence of criminal conspiracy; the papers turned his foolish affair with Wanda Slade into a catalogue of debauchery and corruption. He had to sell the business for next to nothing but, worst of all, he never saw Anna again, and didn't even see his own son, Lewis – my grandfather – more than half-a-dozen times after they had left."

"Such was the shame my great-grammy felt she divorced Walter and reverted to her maiden name, Krist."

"Right," Cleo guessed she knew what this was all about now, "so you're after revenge for what happened to your great-grandfather, I understand that, but why my family? Weren't they just pawns in this, just like yours?"

"Sure, that's the simple view." Garett continued, "but I have made it my mission to repay everyone who played a part in that setup, that they get what is due to them. Do you know what happened to Anna and Lewis when they left Walter? Do you think life was easy for them? It was not! The Krists were not a wealthy family, far from it; they were barely any richer than the Slades back in Twinbrook and even if she would have accepted any of it, Walter's fortune was in his business, when they took that he had nothing to give anyway."

"My granddaddy, Lewis, never recovered from the shock of his parents splitting up, and even though he took his mother's maiden name, Krist, everyone around Twinbrook knew who he was, it was all over the papers, and no one ever gave him a chance."

"But, somehow, he made a living and got himself a wife; they had two children, Joanne and Oliver, and he was creating a life for himself when Joanne was murdered in a dirty backstreet by some addict. It tipped him over the edge; he died drunk and destitute at only 53 years old. But out of that, losing his sister and father, Oliver, my father, grew stronger; he'd heard gossip about what had happened to Walter and vowed to find the truth."

"Can you imagine, though, what that takes, one man against every power in the town? But he did it, he unearthed the truth, there were trials of some of the few old men still alive and he even traced Sinbad and Wanda. They had ended up halfway across the country in a place called Moonlight Falls. Sinbad died in a gangland shoot-out and Wanda, well, no one was quite sure, but they reckon she was attacked and killed by a pack of wild animals."

"The last piece of the puzzle was Adam. While my family was struggling in the gutter of poverty and disgrace, Adam Slade had escaped to Sunset Valley, using the spoils from my family's disgrace to make himself even richer and provide his family with a luxurious lifestyle mine couldn’t even dream of!"

"But the struggle to find the people who had destroyed my great-granddaddy took its toll. Even when he could find work, his constant focus on finding out what had happened always got him into trouble, constantly moving house, changing job, he gave up everything to clear our name and give me a future."

"We suffered, Cleo Slade, because of what your family did, we have suffered because someone broke into our family and ripped it apart – and by giving you a taste of that I can finally close this chapter and start restoring the honour of our name."

"Is that it? Revenge for something that happened generations ago? Is that what this is all about!" Cleo screeched; her normally placid features twisted by rage. A rage borne of anger at being deceived into having feelings for Garett, guilt for what she had done to Pascal, and what this would do to Danielle.

"Even if what you say is true, my grandfather was as much an innocent in this as yours. Just because ... just because some of the money was dumped on him ... how dare you blame him for what this Sinbad and the council did! You came here to wreck my life because a young man tried makes the best of what life handed out to him?"

"How dare you!"

"You speak of 'honour' Garett, there is nothing honourable in what you have done here. Whatever torments your family have been through is no justification for inflicting this on us after all this time."

Deflecting Cleo's verbal and physical assault Garett smiled tightly at her. "Oh, you can rationalise your distance from what happened in Twinbrook however you like but let's take it back to first principles - every action has an equal and opposite reaction or even an eye for an eye. This isn't simply revenge; this is 'just' retribution."

He paused, as if to say something more but, instead, Garett turned and started to walk away from Cleo.

The moment Garett turned his back on her, Cleo felt suddenly limp, the tightness in her stomach, across her chest and back released and she almost fell, crumpled, to the ground but she somehow had strength enough in her legs to keep herself upright. The rage at him she had felt just a few moment earlier turned into a crushing sadness; Yes, he had done this, deliberately inveigled his way into her family, but she had let him. If only she had been stronger, faithful ..."

Leaving the cemetery Garett took one final look back at the woman he seduced into betraying her family, a family he had ripped apart just as her great grandmother had done all those years ago. For the briefest of moments he felt sorry for her and, most especially, young Danielle; for what would follow from today. But then his thoughts turned, as they often did, back to the desperate, destitute, and squalid last months of his own father's life and knew that he would not, could not, have done anything else.

He didn't know what the future held for him, but Garett Fisk, son of Oliver, grandson of Lewis and descendant of Walter Fisk of Twinbrook was finally able to leave the past behind.


Authors Note: and so we conclude the "Generation 0" back story, so now, we can rejoin the legacy story where we left off all those months ago! :-)

Chapter 31: Expecting and the Unexpected

Chapter 24: Back to Twinbrook

Our story began with Adam Slade arriving in Sunset Valley to start a new life and a lasting legacy, a Slade dynasty that would be at the heart of the town's life. Time has passed, and that original vision has been handed down through Adam's only son, Brandon and then on to the third Slade generation, Cleo and Carl.

In this chapter Garett introduces Cleo to her own past ...


Cleo was not in any mood to see Garett. In her mind he had played her and her brother, he had wormed his way into their family and cold-bloodedly ripped it apart. But...

But the photograph that he had sent to her, of her grandfather in Twinbrook, posed questions she had no answers for. Garett, of all people, was claiming that he knew something of her family's history, was it possible that he really did know why Adam had come to Sunset Valley? So why, then, would he play such games with them now?

With her head full of confusing questions, Cleo made her way to the Pleasant Rest graveyard to meet with Garett as he had requested.

"Ahh Cleo, I'm glad that you decided to come, so I assume you recognised the photographs?"

"Yes, one of them. Is that really my grandfather? Why would you have a photo of him, and why is he in Twinbrook?"

Garett smiled, "As I thought, you know nothing of your history. How simple it must be to be fresh and new in this world, unencumbered by a difficult past. Well, today is the day when you learn about your family's past, your family's secret past."

Cleo was not enjoying Garett's gloating, "Look, Garett, if you have something to say, just say it, after what you have done I'm not in the mood for riddles."

"What I have done?" Garett repeated, amused by her choice of words.

Abruptly his tone changed, the smile leaving his face. "Do you recognise any of the graves Cleo? Do you know any of these people or their stories?"

Cleo frowned at him, glancing quickly at the nearby gravestones. "No, I can't say that I do."

"No," Garett continued, "you have your smart, expensive, memorial garden on Summer Hill, isolated and separated from all the others here. These are not the graves of rich people Cleo; their families did not have the means to build large mausoleums or anything like the grand gravestones you have erected. But every one of the people buried here has a story that can be traced back for generations. Generations of history, not always honourable, but a history that informs the people they leave behind."

Cleo was getting ever more impatient, "That's all very well but what has that got to do with me, or my family?"

"Because, Cleo Slade, when your grandfather arrived in Sunset Valley, it wasn't to create a new life for himself but to hide his past and what his family had done. He didn't want anyone to know his story, the part he had played in ... well, no, let me start at the beginning."

"That photo is indeed of your grandfather, Adam Slade, with his mother, Wanda." Garett began his story ...

"Adam's father had run off soon after he was born, Wanda was only a girl herself when she got pregnant and wasn't what you'd call a 'good mother'."

"When she moved out of her parent's place, they could only afford a shack down on Bayou Gulch, a run-down, partially abandoned, area on the edge of the Twinbrook Marshes."

"To keep the boy amused while she was out partying and getting drunk, Wanda had picked up this stray dog to serve as a surrogate parent."

"Adam would have spent more time with that dog than with his mother."

"Unlike his mother, Adam, was a pretty serious kid. He did well enough at school – he actually went, which is more than his mother had!"

"Seeing as they didn't have much in the way of income the boy kept a little vegetable plot by the side of the shack. From what they say he didn't socialise much with other kids, preferring to stay at home with the dog or tending to the garden."

"His mother, on the other hand, spent as much time as she could away from their home."

"The story goes that one of her favourite hang-outs was one of the down-town gyms. She'd managed to get hold of a membership card and would spend hours on the machines or in the bar finding gullible men to spend money on her."

"It was at the gym that she met Sinbad Rotter. It was that meeting that has led us to situation we now found ourselves in ..."

Chapter 25: Sinbad's Offer

Chapter 23: Photographs

Our story started with Adam Slade arriving in Sunset Valley to start a new life, not just for himself but for the many generations that would come after him and to create a lasting legacy. In time Adam passed that legacy on to his only son, Brandon who, in turn, handed the dream on to his children, Cleo and Carl.  Cleo is now raising her heir, Danielle, but, for now, the Slade story is still with the troubled third generation.

In this chapter Cleo hears from Garett and receives a surprising package ...


In the longest week of her life so far, Cleo had begun to settle into a routine with Danielle. It was tough and she hated leaving her young daughter in the care of a babysitter but there was a pretty good nursery system in Sunset Valley so good quality day care was easy to find.

Carl and Malia had set off on their grand adventure, although the plan had changed somewhat. They had found there was a like-minded community of travellers and adventurers in the resort town of Hidden Springs, so they have leased a small place which will be their base for their trips abroad.

Pascal had arrived safely back in Champs Les Sims, and his father had left a message to say he was OK, but there was no news on when Pascal might come back to the Valley.

-- * --

Having fed and dressed Danielle Cleo was about to start her normal week-end chores when her phone rang. It was not a number she recognised.

"Hi Cleo ..."

It was a voice she knew instantly.

"Garett!"

Before she could frame a response, he implored her, "Hi, don't hang up. I have something important to tell you, something that will make you understand."

"Understand?" She could hardly believe he would have the temerity to think he could excuse his behaviour. "What is there to understand? You deliberately screwed up my relationship with Pascal, and with Carl. There is nothing you can say."

In contrast to Cleo's anger, Garett remained entirely calm and even in his tone. "I think, Cleo, that your problems with Pascal were not all down to me. You had a choice too."

Garett's apparent composure only served to further infuriate Cleo. "That was for me to deal with, you went out of your way to blow it all up and destroy my whole family!"

"Ahh, yes, that would appear to be what's happened, and now, now, I want you to know why. It is important to me for you to understand. I want you, Cleo Slade, to know where you came from and then you will understand everything."

"Where I came from? What are you talking about? I know exactly who I am!"

"No Cleo," Garett continued, "I don't think you do, not at all." He paused, briefly, "Check your mailbox. You will find two photographs, one of which I think you will recognise. Then come to the Pleasant Rest gardens at two o'clock this afternoon and I will explain and then, then, you will understand."

And the call was disconnected.

Cleo's anger at what Garett had done or, more accurately, what she and Garett had done was replaced by a feeling of unease, what could he tell her that would make sense of what he, they, had done?

She hurried down to the mailbox, there was a single unaddressed envelope. She ripped it open and found two old, faded, photographs as Garett had promised.

The first was of an apparently wealthy family. Well dressed, in front of a large, elegant, house, a small mansion you might say.

But, as much as she studied their faces, Cleo could find no clue as to who they might be.

Frustrated she turned her attention to the second image.

The photograph was faded, the paper worn, but there was no doubting who she saw.

Her left hand moved, involuntarily, across her mouth, as questions flooded into her mind.

She turned the paper over, in clear, even, hand-writing was a single word: "Twinbrook"

This was her grandfather, Adam, as a young man, but what was he doing in Twinbrook? And what was his relationship with the other family?


Chapter 24: Back to Twinbrook

Chapter 22: Crashing

In the beginning there was Adam Slade. Arriving in Sunset Valley to start a new life, not just for himself but for the many generations that would come after him, to create a dynastic legacy.  Adam passed that legacy vision to his only son, Brandon. Now the Slade dynasty is in the hands of Brandon's children, Cleo and Carl.  As yet unaware of her destiny is Cleo's daughter, Danielle.  But, for now, the Slade story is still with the troubled third generation.

In this chapter everyone learns something of the truth and decisions are made ...


It was the most uncomfortable night Cleo and Pascal had ever endured, neither slept, however much they tried they could only think about Cleo's terrible confession. That she had slept with Garett.

They both rose early from their unsatisfying slumbers and sat together in the main lounge in the hope of finding a way to deal with the crisis in their relationship.

Cleo could hardly look at Pascal, if he knew the full extent of her betrayal she feared that she would lose him forever.

Pascal tried to make sense of what he had learnt last night. "Cleo, I just don't understand it. I thought we were happy, that you had all that you needed. What could he give you that I couldn't? What would be worth losing what we have?"

Cleo wasn't sure she understood it herself. "I wish I could tell you Pascal, I really wish I could. There was something about him that, somehow ... I don't know ... it was as if he could fulfil a need I didn't know I had, a need that I couldn't resist."

"Oh, that doesn't make sense! Did he hypnotise you? Was it a drug?"

"No, nothing like that. I can't even make that excuse, I wasn't drunk or drugged. I knew what I was doing but somehow, at the time, it didn't seem wrong ... oh Pascal, I can't excuse it, I was weak, and stupid. Stupid because I always knew, before and after, that it was you I loved. You."

"Weak!" This was not a word Pascal associated with Cleo, "But you are one of the bravest and most confident women I have ever known, it is something I always loved about you, that you were in charge of your life, that I felt honoured to be part of it."

Cleo struggled to hold back the tears. "I know, but that is only one part of me, I still needed you to give me the confidence to be strong, I knew that if I failed you would be there for me, unconditionally."

"And I was, Cleo, I was, and thought I always would be, for as long as we lived. But that wasn't enough was it? You needed more, you needed Garett?"

"No, that's it, I don't, but when I was with him, sometimes I thought I did ..."

"A friend from school, someone you hadn't seen in years ... how could that happen? You don't meet someone after so many years and just fall into bed ... or I thought you didn't!"

Cleo was horrified, what was he saying, that she'd had a string of lovers? "How could you even think that! I have not slept around, there was only him, please believe me."

"And yet, how soon was it after he moved in here? How long did it take Cleo? There is more to this than you are telling me."

She knew he was right, it didn't add up that she would fall into Garett's arms so easily, not if she truly loved Pascal. How had she got herself into this mess? There was only one way out of this, only one way that she could possibly forgive herself, although it might mean Pascal never could; she had to tell him the whole truth.

"Alright, I know I have let you down, I have let myself down," Cleo leant forward and, glancing quickly at Pascal, she could see the anger, and the hurt, in his eyes. This was going to hurt him even more, she couldn't look at him as she hesitatingly told him of her history with Garett.

"I first met Garett when, he was our babysitter for Carl, and I suppose I developed something of a crush on him, a lot of the girls did. He was seeing a girl at my school and she was always showing him off to impress us – he was very cute and we were very impressionable."

"If you remember, after our first week-end here, the local paper had a photo of me from one of the house fires I attended. Well, he said he saw that and arranged a sort of date in town and, and, he told me he loved me.  I was that little girl again, the boy I had a crush on had said he loved me ..."

Cleo paused as the memory of how she felt on that date with Garett replayed itself. She had 'chased' Pascal and it had been quite exciting to have a man 'chasing' her.

She looked to Pascal again, briefly, he held his hands out as if trying to weigh up an invisible object – the object in question being the point of Cleo's, so far, inconsequential story.

She continued, "And then he kissed me. I loved you then Pascal, just as I do now, but there was something different about him. I don't know, maybe it was like the sense of danger, the adrenaline rush, I had become used to at work. I think I knew he was 'dangerous' and somehow ..."

"Well, a couple of months later, he turned up here, at the house. Everyone else was out ... and ... well he's a very charming man ... one thing led to another and ...", Cleo stopped, brushing away the tears welling up in her eyes.

"All this time?" Pascal broke his silence, barely able to contain his anger. "All these years; you have been sleeping with that man! How could you deceive me for so long?"

He suddenly stood up, turning away from Cleo for a moment before turning back to ask, with the brutality, the coldness, of a man whose whole life was being torn apart. "So, tell me Cleo, is Danielle even mine?"

"Of course she is. Please believe me, I am not having an affair with Garett, I have known him for years and, yes, I have slept with him, but it has only been a very few times. He is not my lover, he never could be. You are the man I love and Danielle is ours."

"You tell me that now, but how can I believe you when you have lied to me for all these years." Pascal pulled free of Cleo’s grip, "I don’t know if I can trust you again."

"Look, I spoke to my father last night, and my mother is not well, so I think it is best if I go back to Champs Les Sims to help care for her."

"Of course, I understand Pascal, but what does that mean for us? We can't just leave this, we need to sort this out together. If not for us, then for Danielle."

"I don't know Cleo, I could perhaps forgive you one mistake but now you tell me that this has been going on for as long as we have been together ... I am not sure that I will be able to. I need some time to work out what to do. Now, I have to get ready to get to the airport."

He did not need to pack much for this trip back to his parent's home; it was not long before Pascal was ready to leave.

"Pascal, I know I have hurt you, but please know that I did not mean to, that I love you with all my heart and will do anything to make it up to you."

"I want to believe that ma chérie, but once trust is broken ... I am not sure it is possible to get it back."

Holding Danielle ever more tightly, as if to ensure that she would lose no one else today, "Please give my love to Gerard and Edith, I hope she gets well soon and please, please, call me when you get there."

As Pascal turned and walked to the waiting taxi, Cleo whispered softly to herself, "I am so sorry my love, please don't let this be the end."

-- * --

When Carl awoke that morning, neither Cleo nor Pascal were anywhere in the house. Nothing too unusual in that of course; Cleo could be out on a job and Pascal was often visiting garden centres and the like these days. Though there was no note as to when they would be back or to say who had Danielle, but they knew he had plans today so he assumed that they had everything organised.

-- * --

It was quite late in the afternoon when Carl returned home from his day out with Malia. Danielle was playing in her room and he could hear Cleo shuffling around in the main bedroom. She had obviously heard him too as she called out to him as he got the main landing, "Carl? Is that you? Hold on a moment, I need a word."

Carl was quite surprised to see his sister dressed in one of her night shirts, she was always smartly dressed, even when just lounging around at home.

"Carl, I need to tell you something ... about me and Pascal."

"You mean, like how you got rid of Garett?"

"No, Carl, well, not exactly. We had an argument last night, it was about Garett, and, well, Pascal has left."

Carl was confused, why would Pascal leave after they had thrown Garett out? "What do you mean 'left'? What's that got to do with Garett?"

"I have done something terrible, and I'm afraid Pascal might never forgive me, but I want you to know the truth so when people start talking you won't listen to the lies and gossip."

"OK sis, you're proper worrying me now, what has happened?"

"Garett told Pascal that I had been sleeping with him and ..."

"What! Why would he?"

"Because I had."

"What the ...! Oh, right, it all makes sense now, why you were so pissy with me yesterday; you'd already got your claws into him!"

"No Carl, it wasn't like that."

"You knew I had feelings for him, ever since mum died, and then you turn on your charms and get him into bed, what the hell sis, you already had Pascal?"

"No, I've known Garett since you were a baby, I'd been seeing him long before mum died ..."

"Oh crap, this just gets better and better! You were with him even before Pascal moved in here."

"Oh, no, oh ... this is so messed up, it wasn't ... we weren't, we weren't lovers."

"Right, so he was your bit on the side for when you got bored with Pascal?"

"Carl, please, let me explain, it was just the once, twice, with Garett, I was young and confused, and you know what he's like, he's too easy to fall for."

"Yeah, like that's an excuse, someone's nice to you so you have sex with them! I really thought you were better than that."

"I am Carl, I am, it was one mistake, that I have to live with for the rest of my life, and now I think I may have lost Pascal, I don't know if I could cope if you hate me as well."

"You don't have any right to judge how I feel, you have brought this on yourself. I'm not going to hate you for sleeping with Garett; but for what you have done to this family … I don't know if I can forgive you. I gotta get outta here."

With that Carl zipped up his jacket, pulled the hood over his head, and ran out of the house.

-- * --

The following morning Carl rang Malia, inviting her over for a chat.

When he greeted her at the door Malia could see that something was wrong. He kissed her as warmly as ever but as broadly as his mouth smiled at her, his eyes were not smiling, they looked red and puffy.

"Are you OK babe? Looks as if you didn’t sleep last night?"

"Umm, no, I'm OK Mal, but I had a fight with Cleo last night that kinda freaked me out."

"Cleo? You had an argument with Cleo, but you two are so close?"

"I know, that's what kills me. I thought I could trust her with anything and now I find out that she's been lying to us."

"What would she have to lie about? She's as straight as they come surely?"

"Garett, she'd been sleeping with Garett. Pascal found out and now he's gone."

"Oh my ...!"

She could see that fighting with his sister had really upset Carl, and there was probably not a lot she could say that would help him feel any better.

But actions can be as significant as words, she moved in closer to him, so that he knew she understood he was hurting and was there to support him.

"I am so sorry to hear that babe, I really wouldn't think she could do anything like that."

Carl put his arm around Malia, drawing her close, "Thanks Mal, I know anyone can make a mistake, but I think this has been going on for years, for years she's been lying to us ..."

"Carl, you know what we were talking about yesterday? Perhaps now would be a good time, just get out of this situation for a while?"

"You think so? I don't know, you may be right, but could I do it to Cleo, I mean, Pascal has left and I don't know when, if, he will be back. And there's Danielle."

"I know, but maybe you both could do with some space. Otherwise you'd be rubbing up against each other all the time and just constantly repeating the arguments."

"Yeah, maybe, but it feels like I'd be running away, and what would that solve?"

"I'm not suggesting that you abandon Cleo, but having distance between you might give you that time and space to deal with this without fighting about it."

Carl, thought for a while, feeling the warmth of having Malia close to him, how comfortable he felt with her at his side and how much he hated fighting with his sister.

"Do you know something Malia Norwood? I do believe I love you."

-- * --

Cleo had gone out to buy supplies, so Carl and Malia had to entertain themselves for a few hours until she returned, when they told her about their plan.

"Hey sis," Carl began, "Mal and I have been talking and we've decided that it's best if you and I give ourselves some 'space'; so we’re not always arguing over this business with Garett."

Cleo’s heart sank; she knew what people meant when they said they needed 'space'.

"Look, you know I've had some success with my books, well, the publisher has said that it would help if I had some more 'real world' experience - it would make them even better."

Cleo was confused, "'Real world experience', what does that mean? You're only young, where are you going to get 'real world experience'?"

"Travel. I want to travel, we want to travel. See more of the world, see more of life than we could here in the valley."

"Ahh, OK," Cleo was feeling a little happier, "you want to go on holiday somewhere, some place exotic?"

"No, more than a holiday, we want to travel the world, while we're both young and free of responsibilities, see as much of it as we can."

"Travel the world?" Cleo was taken aback by the idea that her brother could be leaving her, "how long for?"

"We don't know, I reckon several months at least, maybe a year ..."

"A year! How are you going to afford that?"

"Mal and I have worked it out, we've both got family savings we can use to start with, and we reckon we'll get by on working locally in some places where we want to stay longer. Besides which I can always call on my share of this house if we ever get really stuck."

Cleo knew that finances weren't really going to be a problem. They were both young and fit, and could quite easily find some sort of work almost anywhere. But the thought of losing her brother as well as Pascal was too much to take in.

"And when do you plan to do this?"

Carl looked at Malia, who nodded encouragement, "Now, as soon as we can get tickets. We'll see Malia's parents tonight and then I want to be off."

There was little point in arguing with him, they had clearly made up their minds and, to be honest, Cleo couldn't face another argument like the one they'd had last night.

"But, sis," Carl wanted to reassure her, "I don't want you to think that we are running away. Sure, I'm still angry but you're my sister and I love you. So, wherever we go, I want you to know that I will always keep in touch with you, I don't want to lose you forever, but I think having some time apart will help us get over this business without arguing all the time."

And so, Carl and Malia kissed Cleo and Danielle goodbye and set off to see Malia's folks and, from there, start on their grand adventure.

Cleo held Danielle close as they waved the young couple off, as the taxi disappeared from view, she turned back into the house, locking the front door behind her, "Just me and you now, doll, we've still got each other."

But once alone in her room, Cleo collapsed onto the floor, she couldn't stop the tears rolling down her cheeks as the events of the last couple of days sank in.

"What have I done? What have I done, how can I cope, here, on my own with Danielle and this huge house ..."

She didn't hear her door swing open, and the small, hesitant footsteps as Danielle came in to see why her mother was crying.

"Mummy? Mummy hug?"

Chapter 23: Photographs