There
was the sound of another gunshot just before Charmaine and the Butchers reached the
main house. They could hear Stanley Wharbuck shouting, “Take another step
mister and the next one will not go over your head but through your @##%*
heart. Charmaine was taken aback. In all the years she had been on the
estate she had never
heard her Grandfather swear! The Butchers, on the other
hand, always spoke about her Grandfather's nasty temper and of the many times he swore at
them when they did not carry out his instructions in a timely manner. A stranger was standing on the steps to the main house with clenched fists as he stood confronting Stanley Wharbucks. “I am not leaving here
until I see her!” said the stranger. “Who is this? What is happening Grandpa?”
asked Charmaine. The stranger swung around at the sound of her voice.
“Charmaine?” he asked hesitantly, moving towards her. “Get away from her!”
shouted Stanley Wharbacks as he raised his rifle to fire it once again. The stranger
turned and looked Stanley Wharbucks squarely in the eyes and said, “Go ahead and
shoot me, kill me if you will, but how do you think Charmaine will feel to know that you killed her
father!” “My who?” gasped Charmaine as she swooned and fell to the ground. When
she came to, Charmaine was lying on her bed in her room and her Grandfather was sitting in the chair by the window. When he heard her
groan Stanley Wharbucks jumped to his feet and came to stand by her bedside. He
held her hand as she asked him what had happened and how did she reach in her
bed? He told her that she had fainted on the steps and he was the one who had
lifted her up and taken her to her room. He was just about to send for the
Doctor when he heard her groaning, he said. “Grandpa, who is that man that you
were arguing with? Is he speaking the truth? Is he really my father?” asked Charmaine. Stanley
Wharbucks said he was not sure who the man was but he said he could show him
proof that he was her father. Charmaine got up from the bed and said, “I have never forgotten the sound of my
father’s voice and how he cried when he was leaving me. Grandpa, this man seems
like a stranger to me but his voice sounds like the voice of my father.”
Stanley Wharbucks hugged her and they both began to cry. It was if a weight was
being lifted from both their shoulders. After a while Stanley Wharbucks regained his
composure and handed her his handkerchief to wipe her eyes. “He says his name
is Charles Whitmore. He’s waiting in the study hoping that you will talk to him.” Charmaine
opened her eyes wide! Whitmore! All these years she had been calling herself
Charmaine Wharbucks! Stanley Wharbucks started to laugh and when Charmaine
asked him what was so funny, he said that he always swore that anytime he saw
her father he would kill him. Charmaine told her Grandfather that as far as she
was concerned he was the only father she knew and no stranger could just walk
him and claim her as his daughter! Stanley Wharbucks was surprised at this
statement. “But didn’t you just say that he sounded like your father?” he asked
her. “Yes, but I may be wrong, it was so long ago!”’ Charmaine replied. Stanley
Wharbucks said, “Well he says he has proof that he’s your father, do you want to talk to him to hear what he has to say? When he saw you lying on the ground he began to cry that he could not bear to lose you just when he found you again!"
Before Charmaine could reply there was a knocking on the door. It was Florence, all flustered. She said that the Butchers had told her that Charmaine’s father was here so she came to see for herself. Stanley
Wharbucks rolled his eyes and said, “those darn sissies!” Florence said that
even though her eyes were a bit dim with age, she believed that she would be
able to recognize Charmaine’s father. She turned to Stanley Wharbucks and asked him if he had
kept the letters that Ben had given to him on the day when her father left
Charmaine on the estate. Stanley Wharbucks muttered that he was planning to
give Charmaine the letters on her eighteenth birthday. Charmaine started to ask
what letters but her Grandfather said after the meeting with Charles Whitmore
he’ll talk to her about the letters. “Let’s go, he has been waiting for
sometime now.” They left the room and went to the study where Charles Whitmore
was waiting anxiously.
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