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Everyone would be a much better
person if loved. A novel which deals with the lack of love and its
consequences.
Evil can come in the shape of a little deprived boy. Out of pity and
eagerness to help, you can take him into your life without noticing,
at first, the damage that your good intentions have just set in
motion... if only Aphelandra had spoken about what she knew and
feared, maybe her family would still be happy, she would still have
a brother and she would have spared all the suffering to her younger
cousin Lillie: a lonely girl living in a far away boarding school in
Dorset and whose parents are divorced. The only happiness Lillie can
enjoy is the moments she spends with her cousins, uncle, aunt and
grandmother during the holidays, when she can join them at Kupton
Hall, their home in Minstrelford, Northumberland. Lillie is a lovely
girl of thirteen, eager to please, when Oliver creeps into their
lives. She is the perfect innocent creature upon whom evil would
prey. Who could even imagine what hides behind the beaming smiles of
four young people in an old photograph taken at Lillie's birthday
picnic by the lake on a late September afternoon!
By the time Justin made his appearance on
Lillie's birthday, they were packing away the picnic. He came, as he
had told Dinah he would, to take the last photograph on his roll of
film. He meant to capture a likeness of his favourite, to place in
his wallet when he returned to university.
Just why Aphelandra Lee-Simmons, three years his junior, should be
such a favourite with him, Justin did not know. He was captivated by
her as one is by a charming puppy, which is as likely to lick your
face with affection as to bite your hand with excited perversity. He
admired her character as well as her prettiness. She was witty,
out-spoken, generous in an off-hand manner like her father, and
impetuous; she could also be irritatingly provoking and there were
times when she angered him with her cynicism, which he deplored in
one so young. He enjoyed teasing her in a light-hearted, patronising
young man to exasperating girl-child way and she responded with
taunts and blushes of annoyance, not embarrassment. Like a fond
older brother, he had always felt the urge to protect her from her
youthful follies and had never understood how her family had ever
been able to punish her severely. When Affle smiled at him, her blue
eyes gazing levelly into his, daring him to be annoyed with her,
Justin forgave her anything.
Approaching the picnic spot, he easily picked out Affle's voice from
the medley of others. She was arguing with Curtis and being
reprimanded by her father. Nothing changes, Justin thought with a
grin. He was keenly anticipating her look of pleasure when she set
eyes on him, comfortably assured in the knowledge that she returned
the affection he had for her, but he would have been less complacent
had he known the warmth of that affection.
Affle would have welcomed more ardent kisses and embraces from
Justin than the peck on the cheek and quick hug he usually
administered as a form of pleasant duty whenever he came to say
goodbye to her for a long period or when there was a gathering of
their respective families on special occasions. Then he had to kiss
and be kissed by all the females. (…)
There is something about Oliver Wenston that persuades people into
acceptance of what they do not understand. Curtis would rather
please his sister on this matter than tackle his devious friend, yet
Curtis is basically brave and honest and remains uneasy with the
pact he has made with Affle.
“Lillie and Oliver are back,“ Dinah informs them, returning with
three very desirable stones, which she shares out. “One last throw
and then I'm going to take the last photo, no the one before the
last, the penultimate.”
This she does. She lines up Affle, Curtis, Lillie and Oliver against
a background of the lake and spent rhododendron bushes and orders
them to smile, which they do, even though at that moment not one of
them is happy. Lillie, whose hand is firmly in Oliver's, has been
crying. He has exacted some kind of vengeance from her in the woods
for going off in the boat with Aidan and leaving him on shore,
where, after all, he preferred to be, but Lillie does not know that.
Curtis is worried because he believes that Oliver is an arsonist,
even though Oliver has hotly denied being any such thing and has
actually put the blame on him. Should he confide his suspicions to
his father and risk Oliver's anger? How annoyed would Lionel be to
discover that his son had taken up smoking? Curtis is going to make
an effort to stop, partly to show Oliver that he can and partly
because he does not want to upset Alicia, who always gets everything
out of proportion and will imagine his being carried off by some
dreadful disease every time he clears his throat.
Affle is anxious for Justin to turn up and worried that he will not
come after all. She is wrestling with her conscience as well. Should
she tell her father about Curtis and Oliver? Perhaps she should just
mention the smoking and forget about the fire, assuming that it was
an accident. Surely it is unlikely that either of them will be as
careless again and burn down Kupton Hall while they are all fast
asleep in their beds.
“Tea time,” Alicia calls gaily, her own problems momentarily put
aside for the benefit of her small niece, whose birthday treat it
is.
Dinah shouts again, “Smile!” The group rises to the challenge and
she hurriedly presses the button on the camera.
This is the snapshot. The one that Oliver is to produce many years
later as proof of how happy the four of them were when they were
young.