Alice-Miranda Keeps the Beat by Jacqueline Harvey

Author:Jacqueline Harvey
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780143786047
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia

Tabitha Crowley hobbled up the path, cursing her choice of shoes. She’d have to remember to wear sensible ones given the walk between the two campuses. She was about to duck upstairs to change into some flats when Hephzibah Fayle appeared in the hallway.

‘Excuse me, dear,’ the old woman called, bustling over to her. ‘This came for you and had to be signed for.’ She held out a large brown envelope. ‘I hope you don’t mind, but I thought it was easier than sending the poor man away only to have to return tomorrow, especially as it looks as if it might be important.’

Tabitha caught sight of the logo in the top-left corner and drew in a sharp breath. She wasn’t fond of official documentation. In her experience, it never brought good news. ‘Thank you,’ she said, taking the envelope.

‘Please join us for supper on Sunday, dear,’ Hephzibah said, her blue eyes shining. ‘I’m going to do a pork roast with crackling and baked vegetables. It’s Mr Pratt’s favourite.’

Tabitha nodded absently, her mind elsewhere. She thanked the woman again, then powered up the stairs to her flat, opening the envelope before she had unlocked the door. The letter was from the solicitor’s firm Brown, Brown and White. Tabitha scanned to the bottom of the page, barely believing her eyes. She read it again, slowly this time. According to Mr Brown, they hadn’t been able to locate her for the reading of the will, which made sense as it took place while she was moving to Winchesterfield.

Tabitha stared at the number, counting the zeros over and over. It hardly seemed real, having scrimped and saved every cent she could since her parents’ accident. It had happened during her last year at school and it always surprised her that she’d not only completed her final exams, but had excelled in them. Her mother and father had endured an up-and-down life, financially speaking. Her father, Anthony, was a wheeler and dealer and had invested heavily in the property market right before the biggest crash since the Great Depression. Her parents had lost everything and it was only because her mother, Tripp, had paid her school fees years in advance that she was able to keep her position after they died. But Tabitha was a pragmatic soul and not prone to melodrama. Besides, her parents had left her in boarding school from the age of nine while they pursued the next deal and the next after that. She’d learned to be self-sufficient. They loved her – that was never in doubt. She just didn’t suit their schedule or lifestyle.

So, while Tabitha missed them, life had gone on. She’d been far more upset when her great-aunt had passed away recently. It was Aunty Verve who had made sure that she always had somewhere to go for the holidays, who she spent Christmases with and from whom spectacular gifts would arrive on her birthday.

But this was completely unexpected and more than she would ever need. A single tear spilled onto her cheek.

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