Fire of Caveat - Part 11

It was a rainy day, the wind was blowing from the north-west, bringing the cold with it. The sea was covered with splash after splash of small wave, looking like horses coming in from the ocean, their white mane blowing in the wind.
Trish and Alice were standing close to each other holding hands. They silently stood by his grave.

“In loving memory of
Carlton Anthony Walsh
Beloved son, brother and farther
05-06-1972/17-03-1995”

Alice grabbed onto her daughter; “he was a good person Trish; all the Walsh men are.” She started crying softly: “I know I made a mistake, I know your dad was punished for my sins. I also know the best thing that came out of all of this was you. You are dear to us my child.”
Trish held her mom tightly; “I know mom, I know. It’s okay….”
“Barney treated you as if you were his own daughter, from the day you were born. The day he found out about you; the look in his eyes, his love for you, his attitude towards you, nothing changed my dear, nothing….” She took out her handkerchief to wipe her eyes: When your uncle, Johnathan told us to leave, he was heartbroken. He loved his family so much.”
“I was unaware of the money he took. I thought your uncle gave him the money. I was heartbroken for what I did to him. For his family dishonouring him, for your dad’s death. I was devastated.”
“It’s okay mom. It’s over now. Dad was sad, upset, he went through a bad time. I was too small to remember much of all the drinking and the fighting. I’m glad he never rejected me. He knew it wasn’t my fault and he stayed the dad I needed him to be. At least he sobered up, started a decent company. In the end we were a great and happy family. He insisted I knew about my dad and he only told me good and kind things about him.”
Trish sighed: “I wish we came back before uncle Johnathan and aunt Marlyn passed away. It would have been nice if they could amend things before that tragic accident happened.” She cleaned her throat: “Mom, did dad mention to you, that he thinks, their accident was no coincidence?”
Alice looked down at the flowers she put on Carlton’s grave and nod in acknowledgement: “Yes, he did, but who would do such a grievous deed? Wanting to take the life of such good people? For money? What else? The company? It has been in their family for generations.”
She smiled; “If that snooping old Bethal’, conscience didn’t get the better of her and she wrote to me, we would probably never found out that they passed away.”
“You know,” she said to Trish, her thoughts miles away: “Till the day she wrote me, I think only Marlyn and Bethal knew they were cousins. Maybe uncle Johnathan knew, but he was a man of few words.”
She put her arms around her daughter’s shoulders: “Come child, let’s go for coffee and a nice piece of cake, we both can do with something hot.”
Trish looked at her mother and laughed: “Coffee? I need something stronger than that!”

Barney was sitting in the bar of the hotel. He was drinking a double brandy with ice. He didn’t join his wife and daughter to visit his brothers grave. He doesn’t have the guts to do it.
Not yet, till this day he blames himself. He should have handled things differently when he found out about Alice and Carlton. The fact that Trish is Carltons child. If he didn’t blame Jolene, if she didn’t lose her mind, in rage. Maybe then his brother would still be alive….
He orders another whiskey…….

Next time…. a little bit of this and a little bit of that….