The Nightam Family

Chapter 5: William Nightam 2

William had not expected the situation to end up like this. His wife had behaved perfectly during the meeting, which was more than he could have expected. Still, she had not yet answered him about her whereabouts this morning. He’d asked her, naturally, because it was his right to know. But she hadn’t told him. Perhaps she hadn’t understood him, William wondered, she’d only learned English a while ago. Or perhaps she didn’t want to answer. And now again, she was gone. ‘Taking a walk’, she’d said, but William doubted if that was all there was to it. Still, it was getting dark again. He cursed the night and the early nightfall that came with it.

In the distance, he saw a figure walk. His first thought was that it was a ghost. Then he wondered if it was Anna again, how unlikely that was. She’d already been walking around this morning and she usually didn’t haunt the place more than once a day. So it was someone else. William approached the figure and saw that it wasn’t Anna.

‘Good Morning Joshua,’ he greeted his nephew. It surprised him to see Josh walking alone, without his son.

‘Good day, uncle Will,’ Josh answered with a wide grin. Josh was the only person who’d call William “Will”, just as William was the only person to call Josh “Joshua”. Josh would criticise William for being too uptight, while William would tell Josh he was too loose in his mannerisms. But today William wasn’t feeling anything for the usual jokes. He’d gotten an idea by seeing Josh.

Josh was a young man, eager to be of help to his family. It was natural that Josh would feel this way, after the fiasco regarding his wife. A few years ago, a woman had infiltrated the Nightam family. Josh, still mentally a child in the eyes of the family, had hidden the woman, despite Mortimer’s request to bring her to him. Only Josh could know for how long it was that she’d stayed with him, but she was already highly pregnant when she was found. Josh told the family it was his child she was carrying. The woman and he were quickly married, to avoid any more shame on the family’s name. Not even a month later, the woman had given birth to her son, Mortimer Jr. Jr., and died during childbirth. There were of course rumours regarding her cause of death. It was said Mortimer’d had a hand in it. Still, none of these rumours were voiced. Josh should consider himself a lucky man, for Mortimer had allowed him to remain in the family despite this grave offense against the family name.

So naturally, Josh was willing to do anything to regain the trust of his family. It was a shame, in William’s eyes, that Josh had not confided in him. William could have helped his poor nephew, although Josh would never admit it. Still, there was something William knew only Josh could do. For a few moments, he had considered using the newfound privileges to hire a detective from the outside world, but someone inside the family would be better. There was a smaller chance of painful family secrets leaking out if it was an insider. And everyone would notice an outsider. Indeed, Josh was perhaps a better choice.

‘Say Joshua,’ William smiled, ‘could you listen to me for a while?’

‘Of course,’ Josh laughed. William started walking towards the family park; there would be nobody there to spy on them.

The park of the family was outside of the circle of houses and only accessible through the road opposite the large mansion. Because of that, it had since its creation been a favourite place for the family to speak about private matters. It was a beautiful park, although the darkness was now masking it. William sat down on one of the benches, hidden from sight by a tree but still with a good view of the entrance. Josh sat down next to him.

‘You see..’ William started, searching for the right words. He couldn’t tell his exact suspicions, but at the same time he’d have to make his request clear. It was a fine line he had to tread.

‘You see, Joshua, I got married recently,’ he started. Josh nodded.

‘I know, you’ve become even more uptight,’ Josh interrupted William’s thoughts.

‘I’m not uptight. Either way,’ William decided he couldn’t be distracted now, ‘I’d like you to find out if she’s happy here. You know, if you’d follow her around for a while... I’m sure you’ll find a subtle way to do it.’

‘You wanna know where she’s going,’ Josh stated, ‘think she’s cheatin’ on you?’

‘I never said that.’

‘Will, you’re so obvious!’ Josh laughed, ‘but I’ll do it. Put in a good word for me to old Moretime though.’

William nodded.

‘Don’t tell anyone I asked,’ he said.

‘Of course not!’ Josh got up and walked away, leaving William alone in the darkness of the night.