Winters' Tales

The Name Of Newham.

ROUGHLY 24 YEARS BEFORE THE EVENTS OF 'DEATH AT SCARLET LEAF'

On October the 8th, the great estate of  Winterhaven, situated somewhere on the west coast of Britain, seemed to have secured itself as property of the  Beckett family for the eighth generation. Lady Lucie Beckett had given birth to her first child, a boy who they named Charles Edward.

Throughout his youth, Charles Edward Beckett attended four separate boarding schools, each eventually expelling him for various wrongdoings which mainly involved climbing into places where he shouldn't. (Namely the kitchens)

By the time he had survived his first six years of education at various long-suffering establishments, Charles Edward had two younger siblings; a sister four years his junior, and a brother five. Each child was strong, healthy, and incredibly similar; sandy brown hair which was always a little unruly, all on the smaller side, and with the most captivating sea green eyes, inherited from their mother.

It was the summer of his thirteenth birthday when Charles Edward first met the boy who was to become his best friend. His name was Robert Newham, a simple country child, one of a huge family, five older brothers and a younger sister, and they were the children of a blacksmith who had emigrated from Ireland, and now lived in the village nearest to Winterhaven. By the time that summer was up, Charles Edward had decided irrevocably that he was 'not going back to whatever prissy little boarding school my parents have demanded I attend this time', instead insisting he was going to go to the village school with his new best friend.

After many extensive arguments, and after Charles had run away from the newest boarding school three times in a single week, his exasperated parents agreed reluctantly to not only pay for their own son's education but also for Robert Newham's. At the school they  eventually attended, one Elmtree Comprehensive, they met a young boy also there on someone else's money. His name was Simon Harvey, and the three became fast friends, and remained so throughout all of their school careers.

They left school at eighteen, still thick as thieves, and, while Harvey returned to his own home, the other two boys returned to the village where they had grown up. Charles was preparing to take over the estate from his parents, while Robert trained to be a blacksmith like his father.

This in itself was fraught with difficulty-at least on one side. Charles's relationship with his parents had never really improved, and they constantly battled over what the young man was to do with his life. He had no interest in running an estate, as he remarked constantly to Robert on an almost daily basis, after escaping his house and his duties for the blacksmith's shop through windows or unlocked kitchen doors whenever he had the opportunity.

Robert would always merely nod patiently and continue to focus on his work.

Indeed-this fraught situation worsened upon the introduction of  a potential marital union between Charles and the daughter of one of his father's old club friends. Charles burst into Robert's blacksmith on that day, in a sheer flaming temper.

"It's not fair!" he spat, striding in without a knock, as Robert sighed heavily, putting his work to one side and dusting off his hands.

"It's called the privileges of birthright" he replied soothingly.

"Privileges my arse!" Charles snapped sourly, leaning on the furnace, finding it too hot, and leaping away with violent swearing.

"That is hot, you know" Robert commented quietly.

"I know that, you block."

"Then why'd you lean on it?"

Charles sniffed, moving away, before frowning.