Charmaine wrote tearfully about the embarrassment she felt at the way Stanley Wharbucks treated Charles. The stains of her teardrops were evident on the pages of her diary. She always knew that her Grandfather had a dark side but his vitriolic behavior towards her father was unforgiving! Charles left with Florence but Charmaine decided to wait until her Grandfather returned to the room. When he returned to the study she
confronted him about his appalling behaviour to Charles. Stanley Wharbucks said nothing. He calmly took out his pipe from his top pocket, filled it with tobacco leaves and lit it. Charmaine, from she was a little girl, had always been fascinated by her Grandfather’s nightly 'pipe smoking preparation' ritual. He would use this fuzzy wire ‘thingy’, that she likened to a caterpillar, to clean out the stem of the pipe and then blow into it. He would then pack the bowl of the pipe with the tobacco and then light the tobacco. When he lit the tobacco its rich scent would fill the entire room. She loved the smell of the tobacco! She had overheard him telling PawPaw that the tobacco came from the island of Cuba and that it was very expensive. Maybe that was the reason why he only smoked his pipe once per day, thought Charmaine at the time. Stanley Wharbucks looked Charmaine squarely in her eyes and told her that if she did not like what he had done she could always go and stay with Florence too. The almost eighteen years old Charmaine said she got so mad that she shouted at him, “I used to be so afraid of you Grandfather but I am not afraid of you anymore!” Stanley Wharbucks took a couple puffs on the pipe before responding to her. He said, “Afraid of me? I did not know that I had horns on my head!” “You are nothing but a big bully!” screamed Charmaine as she ran from the room. By the time she reached the confines of her room the tears were already streaming down her face, she threw herself across her bed and wept. She heard her Grandfather’s footsteps as he approached her door, but he must have sensed that she was in no mood to speak to him so he continued walking towards his room. She fell asleep crying into her pillow. When Charmaine woke up the next morning she was still angry with her Grandfather and did not feel like getting out of her bed, but she made the effort to get ready and presented herself in the study because she really wanted to hear the rest of Charles’ story. When she reached the study Florence and Charles were already seated there. She wondered where her Grandfather was. Two hours passed and Stanley Wharbucks had still not made an entrance into the study. It would be just like him to keep them waiting! Florence asked her if she had seen her Grandfather any at all that morning? Charmaine began to get worried when Florence asked her that question. What if something had happened to her Grandfather during the night? What if he had died in his sleep? She jumped up out of the chair and ran from the room with Florence running closely behind her. When they reached Stanley Wharbucks’ room they both hesitated to open the door. They confessed afterwards that they were scared, not knowing what they would find in the room. Florence slowly opened the door and peered inside the room. “He’s not inside here!” she exclaimed. Charmaine pushed the door wide open. Stanley Wharbucks’ bed was still made up, obviously it had not been slept in the night before! His pipe was in the ashtray, still smoldering, and the faint scent of the aromatic tobacco lingered in the air. Charmaine turned to Florence and said, “Grandpa did not sleep here last night!” “How can you be so sure?” asked Florence. “Can’t you see that his bed has not been slept in?” asked Charmaine. Florence said that she was going to check the bathrooms and the other bedrooms in the house. Charmaine then decided that she was going to look around the estate to see if her Grandfather was probably taking care of any of the animals. Stanley Wharbucks was known to pull an all-nighter and stay up with a sick cow or bull, or horse, to ensure that it regains its strength, as he trusted no one when it came to the health of his animals. A healthy animal meant healthy meat for his clients and his reputation was very important to him. On her way out she stopped at the study to let Charles know what was happening. He said he would join her in the search for her Grandfather. They checked the stables and the barns and there was no sign of her Grandfather. The workers on the estate said they had not seen Stanley Wharbucks that morning and they were just about to come to the Main House because they had not receive their instructions for the day. Stanley Wharbucks was all about punctuality and persons arriving to work on time. Many a worker had been severely reprimanded for coming to work late, so Charmaine could understand the workers’ consternation about his lateness. It was so unlike Stanley Wharbuck to be late. Charmaine did not want to alarm them by saying that he was missing so she told them that her Grandfather had left early to go to Montego Bay and he would be back soon. She also told the Overseer to just ensure that the animals were all fed and okay. He was already used to Charmaine passing on instructions from her Grandfather to him so he told her he would do that right away. She and Charles returned to the Main House. Florence was on the verandah waiting on them. She said she had searched the entire house and Stanley Wharbucks was not there! Where was Stanley Wharbucks and what could have happened to him!
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