Read Online The Inheritance by Elaine Jeremiah - Free Book Online Page B

now was not Rebecca’s parents’
home as she’d assumed, but the ‘pad’ that her father had bought for her as a
twenty first birthday present.
    ‘He wanted me out of his and Louisa’s
(that’s my stepmother) hair.  That bitch!’ she said, a dark scowl clouding her
face.  ‘It was all her fault.  She never did like me and the feeling is
mutual.  I just know that if it wasn’t for her he would have let me stay with
him, maybe even given me the house, which makes this place look like a poky
bedsit.  But never mind.  Living here has taught me to be independent and enabled
me to meet different and interesting people like yourselves, which I never
would have if I had stayed with Daddy.  And anyway, so many people in the world
are far worse off than me.  I’m thinking of starting my own charitable trust to
help those less fortunate than myself.  Maybe you could help me, Emma.’
    Emma was surprised.  She shot a
glance at Natalie who gave an almost imperceptible shrug. 
    ‘Me?  Um… yes, if you like. I don’t
know that I’d have the right experience though.’
    ‘Nonsense.  You’d be perfect.  In
terms of mixing with… different people you’ve seen so much more of the world
than I have, I’m not ashamed to admit it.’
    ‘Thank you,’ Emma replied, trying
not to laugh.
    They had finished the sandwiches
and drunk the last dregs of tea in their cups.  Emma felt exhausted for some
reason and really wanted to leave.  But Rebecca got up and crossed to the other
side of the room, picking something up off the antique-looking bureau.  It
looked like a cigarette case.  Emma didn’t mind smoking occasionally, but only
at specific times.  In the past it had usually been sitting with her friends on
a cliff top looking out across the sea at a spectacular sunset.  Right now she
wasn’t in the mood, but it didn’t look as though she’d have much choice. 
    Rebecca opened the case and offered
one to Natalie who took it without a word, then picked one herself.  Finally
she offered one to Emma who saw what was in the case and shook her head firmly. 
She had smoked joints a few times before, but decided a while back that she
didn’t want to again and had gone off them.  She really couldn’t stand the
smell for one thing, but also she didn’t like the way they made her feel, all
spaced out and woozy.  The effect on her when she’d had a lot to drink was bad
enough.  Emma knew her limits.  She would draw the line at taking a more potent
drug.  
    ‘They’re spliffs,’ she said flatly. 
‘I don’t smoke cannabis.’
    Natalie rolled her eyes.  ‘Oh come
on, Em, it’s just a bit of weed.  It won’t hurt.’
    Emma felt uncomfortable.  What
could she say?  She decided to make up an excuse. ‘It’s just that with drugs
one thing leads to another and…’
    ‘Oh that’s simply not true,’ Rebecca
said sitting down again, the case still open in her hand.  She took out a joint
and lit it.  ‘Cannabis is a naturally occurring plant and there’s no real harm
in it.  It just makes you feel happy and mellow.  Come on, why don’t you give
it a try?’
    Emma shook her head uncertainly.  She
glanced at the clock on the wall.  They’d only been here an hour but she was
desperate to leave.  Maybe if she just took a puff or two Rebecca would be
satisfied and let them go.
    ‘All right,’ she said reluctantly. 
Rebecca handed her the case and Emma took a joint and lit it.  She inhaled the
smoke and felt it go down her lungs, trying not to cough.  The three of them
sat in silence for a while.  Emma’s mind drifted.  She could feel the cannabis
starting to take effect.  Instead of thinking about leaving, she thought about her
friends back home and how they would envy her fabulous life here.  
    Then her mind wandered even more
and she thought about Meredith.  What if she had never died but had left and
Emma’s father had deliberately concealed the truth?  It could be a