Changing Seasons. Winter IV, part 3

Winter IV, part 3 The fact that the strangers couldn’t get the car any further down the drive was a source of great satisfaction to Bess and Tom – and an equally great source of irritation to the intruders “…for visitors they ain’t,” Old Tench muttered to Bess, and she agreed. “No proper driveways,” Mr Greystone grumbled to Mrs Hardside. “And yet more bikes! What is it with these people? Are they some kind of eco-freaks?” “There’s nothing wrong with my hearing,” Bess said tartly. “Who are you calling freaks? And the reason we all have bicycles is that the nearest gas station is either Newborough or Hillside, depending on which way you’re travelling. How’s your fuel gauge looking?”
“And might I be inquirin’ who you are and what you want?” Old Tench added. “Got to have been Maddie Portland.”
Mrs Greystone was not happy with what she was hearing. It was almost as if everyone in the place was reading off the same script.
“Maddie Hatter as is now, but back when she was at school with us…” The stories came out far too fluently to be anything but true.
“Member that time she was stealin’ from Ludo Meither’s lunch pail..?” “Your Mary never did find her nice blue hair ribbons, did she? Miss Kirk knew what she was like too – notice how Maddie was never in charge of collecting money for anything”
They were well away, the two of them, raking up stories from Maddie’s past. Mrs Hardside decided to go on listening for a while though.
“Maddie Hatter is a theivin’ lyin’ troublemaker and allus has been. She’s had her knife into Marcus and Annette since they got here, ‘cause he’s the spit and image of his great-uncle James, an’ James Winter saw straight through her attempts to catch him. Don’t know why Frank an’ Honey can’t see through her, ‘cause the rest of us sure can.” Old Tench was genuinely angry.
“That Clara? She’s Annette’s sister and there ain’t no-one here goin’ to tell you any different. You just go an’ have a word with your ‘informer’, an’ while you’re at it, ask her about all them lies she told at school…” The doubts were finally beginning to set in. Frank was thinking hard. That morning, as they were getting up, he’d said casually to Honey, “Did you ever buy any magazines from Minnie?”
“Did you see that classic car one? I would have loved to have bought that for you. It’d be nice to be able to afford the extras like magazines. Maybe one day…” No evasiveness, just his open-hearted Honey.
“Be nice to have some curtains too.”
“In our dreams! Even if I just bought fabric and we looked after Patience’s children while she made them for us – we still couldn’t afford it. And now Honey was beginning to sound bitter. He let the subject drop. He’d kissed Honey goodbye before she left for school. “Let’s go out to Leo’s place tonight, you and I,” he suggested and watched her smile. They’d talk about this at Leo’s place. Out of the house and out of earshot of Maddie. Maddie had announced that she was going to the library after lunch. After the lunch that he had prepared and would obviously be clearing up after as well. She was carefully dressed and made up, and Frank had a feeling that she was hoping to meet Old Tench there: Maddie usually did go to the library in the afternoon, he’d know that. Once she was out, he’d sat down and looked through Honey’s household accounts, set out in her clear primary-school-teacher handwriting.
“I checked with Minnie at the beginning,” she’d said to him, when they were trying to work out where the money had gone, "and we were spending about a third to half of our income.”
He could see the fluctuations – the weeks that had been just food and the weeks where they’d needed toilet paper, toothpaste, soap or bleach as well. He could see when Maddie had arrived and the food bill had gone up. And he could only see a couple of contributions from Maddie towards that as well. So where had it all gone? He went upstairs to Maddie’s room – and the door was locked as usual. And suddenly that really irritated him. This was his home! His and Honey’s home! And they were being locked out of a room in it. Was it that she didn’t trust them? And that was an insult in itself. Or was it that she was hiding something from them? Well, a door wasn’t the only way into a room. Up the ladder, onto the roof of the bay, and he could get in through the window. The catch could be slipped back easily enough with his penknife, but Maddie probably wouldn’t even have bothered to lock the window in the first place. The blinds that he’d just climbed in under – yes, Maddie had more-or-less paid for those and he’d put them up for her. The rug, the bed, the chest of drawers and the wallpaper he recognised. But five pairs of expensive curtains? The magazines? The chocolates? That hadn’t been Honey buying those, had it? That had been Maddie, lying to Minnie as she bought them. Telling Minnie Honey wanted them. Frank felt his anger rising. No wonder Maddie had been so keen to lock them out. What else had she been buying? He pulled a drawer open and then paused for a moment. Should he be looking through Maddie’s things? But he surely couldn’t trust her to give him an honest answer. And there it was. Her savings passbook. He looked inside and saw that she’d got it updated the last time she’d gone into Newborough. “I do have a very small income,” she’d told them. “Naturally, the business all went to Stephen’s children…”
Frank could barely restrain himself from ripping the book in half. Maddie’s monthly income was more than Honey earned in a year! And Maddie had given them next to nothing. And stolen Honey’s savings. Mrs Hardside and Mr Greystone pulled up at Maddie Hatter’s address on to an interesting scene.
“Recognise that lot? And don’t give me ‘how dare I go into your bedroom?’ This is my house and Honey’s house. Not yours. Like I asked, do you recognise that lot? All those things you’ve bought with Honey’s earnings, Honey’s savings. You lying, cheating…” Mrs Hardcastle watched closely. She’d had her suspicions about everyone else, and about the way that Clara had always seemed to have gone somewhere else before they arrived. But this was genuine anger. And this – presumably – was the stepson everyone said had welcomed her in. “And who are you?” Frank snapped as she came over to him. She recited her piece.
“Clara? Nonsense. She’s Annette’s sister. And who gave you the idea that she wasn’t..?” His voice died away as he put two and two together. “This was you, wasn’t it? You’ve never liked Clara – probably because she saw straight through you. Well I can see through you now. You are an evil, scheming, mischief-making greedy busybody. You took my father for all he had, and dumped him when you found out he wasn’t going to inherit any more. My grandparents saw through you as well, didn’t they? You are not welcome in my house one moment longer.” “But…but…what do you mean? Frank, you can’t…”
A slight sense of satisfaction crept over Mrs Hardside for the first time that day. She’d known there was something not quite right going on – and here it was, right in front of them. As long as this young man didn’t look like he was going to get physically violent, she’d let him carry on a bit longer.
A little further up the road, half a dozen children were mounting their bikes and riding off together. The school day had obviously ended. She wouldn’t want to live in this no-gas-station, no-phone-signal dump, but she could see why someone might want to. And there were obvious signs of growth and revival everywhere. A very pretty young blonde woman had coming running down from the school towards them. She’d obviously heard the shouting.
“Frank? What’s going on?”
“Want to know where all your money went? All your earnings? All your savings? She – that liar there – spent them on herself. Despite her monthly income being more than you earn in a year, she had to steal from you!”
Mrs Hardside decided to put her oar in. This woman had wasted a lot of their time, and there’d be a mountain of paperwork to fill in afterwards as well.
“Yes. Mr Tench and Mrs Preston did tell us that you were known to be a thief while you were at school,” she said dryly. “Maddie Portland wasn’t to be trusted, they said…” And then everyone who knew Honey got the surprise of their lives. “Portland? Portland! You told me ‘you didn’t have long to live. It was hereditary…’ All the Portland women in the graveyard lived into their nineties. They never had a thing wrong with them! You – you scheming, lying toad!” Sweet Honey had been transformed into a raging tiger. “And you were quite happy to leech off us for – what? The next twenty years or so? I thought people as nasty as you only existed in stories. You’re a real wicked stepmother, aren’t you?” And with a resounding crack, Honey – of all people! – slapped Maddie across the face. And then burst into tears and ran into the house. “She – she hit me!”
“You lied to her. You stole her earnings and her savings. What do you expect? A bunch of thank-you flowers? And if that stuff of yours isn’t gone from here in half an hour, I’m burning it all.” He meant it. They could all tell that.
“But – but what can I do?”
“Walk to Newborough for all I care. No-one here wants you.” “Don’t worry,” Mrs Hardside said. “We’ll take her to Newborough for you. As long as she can pay the fare. In advance. I think we’ve got a few things to discuss on the way. Haven’t we?” “It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s okay. She’ll be gone in ten minutes. By the way, you were amazing! I so wanted to do that myself – slap her lying greedy face.”
“You don’t think it was awful of me?”
“No. Not at all. Like I said, amazing. I – um – did do something a bit bad though…”
“What?” Honey perked up a little: Frank’s tone of voice told her that it wasn’t too dreadful.
“I’ll show you…” “We need a new door. I kicked it off its hinges…” But Honey wasn’t really listening.
“Where did those curtains come from?” She knew what they must have cost, roughly.
“Your earnings,” Frank said, dryly. “I’ll get Minnie to sell them on – she’ll know where to do that. We don’t want them, do we?”
“No. They’re totally not us.”
“And we’ll redecorate in here straight away.” Christmas holidays, and this room looked like it belonged to them now. Okay, it still didn’t have a door.
“I was just so angry,” Frank had said. “How dare she steal from you? I wanted her and her stuff out of our house at once – so I went back out of the window and came in and kicked the door off its hinges before ramming all her possessions back into those cases of hers.”
“You mean you didn’t carefully fold all of her clothes?”
“Like heck!”
They’d spent most of the money they’d got from the sale of the curtains and other stuff on paint and lighting. Frank had rewired upstairs completely. Downstairs – they’d do that next year. Which started tomorrow! “Have you enjoyed this Christmas then?” Frank asked a little anxiously.
“I’ve loved it,” she replied enthusiastically. “The weddings…”
Amber and Rafe, Lucie and Leo had had a double wedding in Newborough with everyone invited (and a crèche for all the babies and toddlers), and then gone away on (separate) honeymoons.
“Getting all that painting done: I know it was work in a way but it was so satisfying to do; no Maddie in the house…”
“Good. Well, seeing as we’re standing under the mistletoe…” Honey didn’t need asking twice! “Oh, I’ve got another present for you,” Frank said. “It’s only a small one…let me just get it out of my pocket.” “Honey, will you marry me?” Bess Preston had been right. “Why haven’t you asked Honey to marry you?” she’d said, rather forthrightly.
“We – we talked about it once, b-but she said she had reservations…” Frank had stammered in reply.
“I bet those reservations were Maddie Portland-shaped. Now she’s out of your lives for good, ask Honey again. That girl loves you: I can see it in her eyes.” “I know it’s New Year’s Eve, but there’s no rule that says we can’t go to bed early, is there?”
“None at all,” Honey said, pulling him closer. “None at all.” “Best New Year ever,” Clara said. “They’re never going to come here looking for me again. Ever. You guys were all amazing!” The five of them had all eaten a lovely meal, toasted the New Year and each other, and were sitting in the afterglow of a great evening before they sloped off to bed.
“Good job I took Blake off fishing,” Caleb said. “He’d have made old Ironside – sorry, Hardside – suspicious for sure. I’ve never known such a gullible guy.”
“Don’t be too hard on him,” Marcus said. “That old bat nearly tricked Tom Tench as well.”
“Yeah, I suppose so. But he is a bit soppy – day-dreaming about rebuilding that farmhouse, messing on with those dreadful pumpkins…” Caleb didn’t have a lot of patience with inefficient methods! He was going to be a very good winemaker one day, Marcus thought. New Year’s Day. And he was starting this year knowing that he’d made a total fool of himself. Oh, everyone was being very kind and forgiving about it to his face, but the fact remained that he’d been taken for a ride. And his crops were pathetic. And he hadn’t got anywhere towards building the house of his dreams. Has his brother been right when he’d told Blake he was just one of life’s losers?
No-one else would be up this early on New Year’s Day. He’d go for a bike ride on his own. He wouldn’t have to meet anyone or face them. He stopped at the church and wandered in to see how things were going on in there. And then he wished he hadn’t, because it reminded him of Clara and what had so nearly happened to her. What could he do? He’d have to leave here – but now he had nothing at all to his name. “I’m such a failure,” he said out loud.
And then he really really wished he hadn’t gone into the church because a ghostly figure drifted up to him and said, in a decidedly unghostly and rather tart voice, “Well, what are you going to do about that then?”

Blake and his house were made by Jessabeans. Link here for Blake
https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9352926
and here for the house
https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9352888
which I tweaked slightly to fit in with the landscape and the story.

Caleb and Chris were made by Suzses, for BreeMiles for the Homebound Holiday Gift Exchange 2020 Link here: https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9432116

Frank, Honey, Maddie and house were made for me by Hidehi as a lovely gift.
I’ve tweaked them slightly to fit the scenery of Two Lakes, so if you’re going to play them, they won’t look quite like this. I’ve tweaked Maddie’s personality too…
Link here for the house:
https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9351879
And for the family:
https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9351878

The engagement ring in the box was by Sandy at ATS3, as were a lot of other little details. Anything dilapidated was probably by Cyclone Sue at TSR

Changing Seasons. Winter IV, part 2

Winter IV, part 2 “See Mary, I guess what I’m askin’ myself is what would you be thinkin’ bout this? Maddie’s lonely, and I kinda wouldn’t mind some company myself. Ain’t the love I felt for you, but what I’m wondrin’ is, should I settle for this? I’d be makin’ someone else real happy, just like you did me…” Old Tench paused. Maddie’s illness and absence from the scene had made him realise what it was that Maddie wanted, was almost angling for. Was that so wrong? “What do you think, Mary? What would you be sayin’?”
And he could have almost sworn that he heard a voice saying, “Go and ask Bess Preston about it.” Except that when he turned round there was no-one there. But the advice seemed good – so he acted on it. I ran. As hard and as fast as I could to the one person I knew I could rely on. “I thought I could trust people! I thought I was safe here!” The tears were running down my face. “I thought I’d found a home. And now…” And then my feelings really got the better of me. “Addie, I’m going to have to leave. And…” I couldn’t get the words out for the tears.
“Tell me what the problem is,” she said, incredibly gently.
“…And the letter said, Dear Mrs Hatter, Thank you very much for your information…They’re coming. This afternoon. To look for me. To take me away. How could Marcus do this? How could he tell her? He was the only one who knew where I came from. I thought he was my friend…”
My tears overflowed again. I had loved him and Annette and their children. Big and stupid mistake, obviously.
“I need to leave. Now. And they’re going to be hot on my heels.” Great Aunt Adelaide did that thing where it was like she was looking right through me, could see my hurt, my sense of betrayal.
“Don’t run from,” she said. “Run to. Run to the friends here who will shelter you, do love you. Bess Preston is here – go to her. Now. Quickly. She’s more than capable of thinking up a plan. Tell her the story – she knows what Maddie Hatter-nee-Portland is like. Ask her to hide you.” “You are loved and wanted here. This community will protect you. Trust me.” And a little ray of hope began to pierce the darkness. Great Aunt Adelaide was totally right. And I’ll say this for Bess – she was quick off the mark. Got my story as soon as I could pant it out. “The letter says they’re coming this afternoon? Right, we’ll hide you here. But we need to get everyone telling the same story. Thank goodness for Frank’s telephone system. Quick. Inside with you while I make some calls.” “Go use the bathroom and wash your face too while you’re at it.”
Bess was already talking as I went upstairs. Old Tench was there too, but I didn’t even say hello to him. I was so afraid, I could barely climb the stairs. And as Bess started telling Annette what was going on, his face changed as though he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. Except that Bess wouldn’t lie. And neither would I.
“…I don’t know what Marcus was thinking about, Annette, letting Maddie know where Clara came from, but we haven’t got much time. Here’s the plan…” Annette stared at the telephone in disbelief. Social services were coming for Clara? Today? Bess had a plan – but they hadn’t got much time. She needed to get hold of Marcus. Now. She’d settle for beating him up later on for telling Maddie about Clara. Patience was just Having A Few Words with Hope – “No. You threw your food everywhere, Hope. That’s naughty. You’re going back in your high chair. Sitting at the table is only for sensible children.” and Barnabas was looking incredibly virtuous – when the phone rang. “So. The story is, Clara is your sister. And Maddie is a delusional old bat – I mean, sorry, an elderly lady who might be on the fringes of developing Alzheimer’s. And Honey and Frank – we can’t tell them about this! – can just be the loving and well-meaning relatives who haven’t quite grasped what the rest of us can see quite clearly in Maddie. Or are in denial about it. They probably will be shocked by what Maddie’s done, so they won’t have to act that part.” “And why is Hope in her high chair and not in her booster seat?” Euan made his voice sound stern.
“She threw her food on the floor,” Patience said sternly. “Euan, we’ve got a problem…” Rafe and Leo had gone up to one of the upper floors to discuss what to do with the space there. What they were actually discussing now was the news that Amber and Lucie had brought up to them.
“So if we all keep saying, Clara was here, and then she said she was going on to…I reckon we can keep then driving round in circles,” Lucie said.
“Until they run out of gas,” Amber said vengefully. Rafe had never seen her so upset. “And then they can walk to Newborough to get some.” “No,” Rafe said, thinking about things a bit more calmly. “We want them out of here as soon as possible. But convinced that Maddie’s a liar. Until they’ll run out of gas unless they head for Newborough straight away.”
And Leo – his calm, level-headed brother – was furious. Leo didn’t lose his temper often, but when he did, it was a long time before he calmed down.
“How could anyone be so despicable? And how had she found out about Clara’s past? Who had told her? I want a few moments alone with him or her…”
Rafe exchanged looks with Amber and decided that they’d both just slip away quietly and let Lucie try and calm Leo down. If anyone could calm him down, it would be the self-contained Lucie. “Leo, it’s okay. We’ll all keep Clara safe. We won’t let anything happen to her.” Amber was pretty upset too, Rafe realised. They’d gone down to the floor below, to Lucie’s studio, and among Lucie’s sketches on the walls were Clara’s paintings too, done with such joy.
“We all know Clara had a past she was running away from.” Amber’s voice was choked. “But whatever it was, she’s turned her life round, found somewhere she feels safe, somewhere she can call home. We can’t let her lose it.”
Rafe looked at Amber’s evident distress: of all of them, Amber had probably known, or deduced, the most about Clara’s past. They’d talked a lot, and Amber could see further into people’s characters than most. It was part of what made her a good writer. He didn’t want Clara hurt – and he didn’t want his tender-hearted Amber hurt either. “It’s okay, it’s okay. We’ll sort this out. If I have to smuggle Clara out of here disguised as one of my sculptures, we won’t let anyone take her away.”
And Amber’s trembling body was safe within the circle of his arms. Strong arms, Amber realised. Strong and well-muscled from the sculpting, but also strong with protectiveness and …love? Then they got a bit distracted from the problem at hand… “Thanks, Luce. Thanks.” Leo felt his rage subsiding, felt Lucie’s calm presence pull him back to shore.
And then he looked at her face as he reached out to touch her cheek in gratitude and saw something there that Lucie normally kept well-hidden. “Luce. Lucie. Lucie, do you…could you…” She looked back at him, all her normal poise and reserve gone. “Lucie…” Words failed him again. Blow using words! Leo went for action instead, and the dusty, grubby room was suddenly the most beautiful place he had ever been. Because Lucie was kissing him back, answering the question he hadn’t managed to ask out loud. They’d come straight to Marcus and Annette’s house. No stopping at Minnie’s to ask the way. Maddie must have sent them a map as well. Annette’s heart was banging hard against her ribs as she answered the knock at the door. And Marcus didn’t much like what he was seeing through the window. “We’ve come for Clara Hayes. We know she’s here.” The sheer rudeness of it got Annette’s back up. Marcus was noticing how intimidating the man meant to be. Act like they’re being totally unreasonable. And threatening, Annette told herself. How would you react to a stranger saying this? Phone the police, of course, but that’s not possible. Indignant, I think. I wish we hadn’t sent Chris and Caleb over to warn I’ve-got-no-phone-yet Blake to say nothing. Angry, I think, Annette. That’s your tactic. And the boys will be back very soon.
“I don’t know who you are or where you’ve come from, but nobody turns up on my doorstep and says they’ve come to take my sister away!”
The man actually flinched at the fury in Annette’s eyes. Marcus put Sarah Jane down on the playroom rug and joined Annette outside. Closing the door firmly behind himself.
“What exactly do you mean by all this?” Gosh, this guy was big.
And there was Chris back, just in time. He wouldn’t have minded seeing Caleb as well, but the two of them were probably enough.
“Chris. This guy has just turned up and said he’s come to take Clara away.”
The menace in the air was suddenly palpable.
“Perhaps we should have presented our credentials first,” the woman said hastily.
“I am Mrs Hardside and this is my colleague, Mr Greystone. We are from Grisburg social services and…”
“Have we got a problem here, Marcus?” With Chris at his side, Marcus felt much happier. Annette could handle that old bat no problem. “I don’t care if you’re from the Emerald City of Oz!” Annette was on form. “You come here, demanding my sister, frightening my children, threatening their Aunty Clara…” “Tickla! Where Tickla?” Mary couldn’t have timed her yells better. “Want Tickla!”
Annette swallowed her amusement. Once Mary started yelling, nobody was going to be able to hear anything over her.
“It’s all right, darling. Aunty Clara will be back later.”
“So she’s out. Phone her and tell her to come back right now.”
“That would be difficult. There’s no phone signal here.” Marcus said that really mildly, but with great pleasure.
“What? Then where is she?” Gosh this old bat didn’t give up easily. “We have reason to believe you are harbouring a young person wanted by the police for questioning…” “I’m sorry, but this is still private property. We’re nowhere near ready to open the gallery yet. You’re at least a year too early. I’ll have to ask you to move your car off our property.” Leo’s plan was to wrong-foot them from the start. It worked. Mrs Hardside actually stammered a little. They’d learnt from their previous mistakes as well. She presented their credentials straight away. And played the ‘you are obliged to co-operate with us’ card. Heavily. “Rafe,” Leo said, as Rafe banged away with far more force and aggression than he normally used. “There are some people here claiming that Annette’s sister is actually a dangerous criminal wanted by the police in Grisburg.”
Which wasn’t quite what they’d said, but Leo wanted to make it sound as ridiculous as possible. “Really? How interesting.” This was the Rafe who had been feared in financial meetings for his intelligence and tenacity. And you’re just a thug, he thought, looking at Mr Greystone. Brought along to be muscle. I can take you down.
“And just what is this wild claim based on? I’m sorry, but this looks very fishy. You turn up with credentials that might well be forged for all I know, trying to get your hands on a seventeen-year-old girl…”
Behind Rafe’s back. Leo was playing good cop. They’d done this before… “I’m sure you can see how suspicious this looks. And we have no way at all of verifying your claims without driving into Newborough. I think we all – as a community – have a right to ask just what brought you here.”
“We are acting on information received,” Mrs Hardside said grudgingly. “Information received?” Amber said, coming into the room just in time to hear the last comment. “No-one here would make up lies like that, just to cause trouble. We’re all too busy for one thing, and not that stupid for another. Well, apart from Maddie Hatter of course, who doesn’t do anything and has a very tenuous grip on reality – Leo, I said to Honey that they should get the doctor to her, but she’s still not happy about doing that.”
The name had hit home, though Amber and Leo pretended not to notice. “They’re heading this way now.” For the moment, Bess had hidden Clara in the old attic room. “They’ve been to everyone, backwards and forwards across the place, and everyone’s told them the same story: you’re Annette’s sister and Maddie Hatter is a confirmed liar/losing her marbles/has a grudge against Marcus and Annette because she was in love with Old James Winter and he turned her down (that was Artie’s contribution). Now I get to see what I can add. And it will be a pleasure to put a spoke into her interfering wheel. I’ll take the ladder away when I’ve gone down it, you drop the hatch back into place, and no-one will know that you are here.” “Mind you keep clear of the window,” Bess added, as she headed down the ladder. Clara watched her go and got ready to put the hatch back into place. Old Tench was out there waiting for Bess. “I’m in with you on this,” he said grimly.
“You sure?” Only a few hours ago he had been saying that he thought Maddie had changed from the person they were at school with. “You know what I’m going to be saying.”
“Nothin’ but the truth. Ain’t no call for her to go doin’ that to Clara. That Clara, she never hurt no-one here, and helped plenty. Reckon as Maddie Hatter is still Maddie Portland under it all. Should’ve listened to Artie and I feel right shamed that she took me in. I’m with you.”