The Secret Letter by Kerry Barrett

Author:Kerry Barrett [Barrett, Kerry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2019-11-14T17:00:00+00:00

Chapter 27

Lizzie

Fiona Willoughby was an energetic woman in her late sixties. She lived in a large house that was full of family memories. I liked her immediately. She showed us into the kitchen and made tea. In the garden, an older man with shaggy grey hair – her husband I assumed – was planting bulbs with a small boy wearing wellies, while a slightly bigger boy dribbled a football round the two trees at the bottom.

‘We’re on grandparent duty today,’ she said fondly, following my gaze out of the kitchen window. ‘Do you have children?’

‘I’ve got a hundred of them,’ I joked to deflect any questions from my personal life.

‘Of course, you’re a teacher – you mentioned that in your messages.’

She handed me a mug of tea, and then gave one to Paula.

‘We both work at Elm Heath Primary – it’s the school that was founded by Esther Watkins,’ I said. ‘But like I explained, the council are planning to close us down and we think the school should stay open.’

‘We’re desperate for it to stay open,’ Paula said.

Fiona nodded.

‘We’re trying to find out as much as we can about Esther so we can prove the school is of special historical interest.’

‘Well, I’ve dug out all the bits and pieces I’ve got about the suffragettes,’ Fiona said. ‘It’s all in the lounge – come through and I’ll show you.’

We followed her into the large lounge that ran the length of the house. Two faded but pretty sofas, a coffee table and the television, were at the front end of the room, while the other end was lined with groaning bookshelves. There was a wooden dining table, with several boxes stacked on it and that’s where Fiona took us, gesturing that we should sit.

I pulled out a chair and sat down opposite her, with Paula next to me.

‘Agnes was my great-grandmother,’ Fiona began. ‘I don’t remember her unfortunately but my mother was close to her and she told me stories.’

‘About the suffragettes?’

‘About everything, but the suffragettes in particular.’

Paula leaned forward. ‘We’re organising a rally,’ she said. ‘We’ve been inspired by the action they took and we decided we weren’t just going to sit around talking.’

‘Perfect,’ Fiona said. ‘Deeds not words.’

‘Exactly.’ I was pleased she understood.

I pulled out my own bundle of research.

‘We found lots of information about Esther starting the school,’ I said, laying out some papers on the table. ‘She’d been to prison, I discovered, so obviously the education authority weren’t keen to let her open a school. I imagine they didn’t think she was a very good role model. But she gave them references from your Agnes, and from a policeman called Joseph Fairbanks, and she also wrote what sounds to be a visionary letter, spelling out her aims for the school, and she won them over.’

Fiona smiled. ‘How clever.’

‘We really want to find that letter,’ I said. ‘But it wasn’t in the council archive.’

‘I can’t imagine it’ll be here, but we can have a look,’ Fiona said. ‘Shall

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