I moved to work in Southport almost a year ago now as I wanted a fresh start. I had trained as a maid in Cornwall but had got offered a great position in a large house called Beachside Estate, which sort of gives away its location.
It is a beautiful place. it really doesn't look like somewhere you'd find in England, more like Spain or Greece. The beach had gorgeous golden sand, not those horrible pebbles you sometimes get, and the brilliant blue sea. On my afternoons off I do like to go to the beach and just take it all in.
I hadn't always wanted to a maid you know. I wanted to be an artist in my younger years, well I am still young now as I am only eighteen. But my family was much too poor to support a proper education for myself, and they wanted me to become a maid. They thought it was the proper profession for a girl in the 1930s, which I guess is right. I'm not a bad maid, I think I'm actually quite good, but I would much rather be doing something else. I guess I don't have much choice though.
I do like my employers though, Mr and Mrs Barnstable. Mr John Barnstable made his fortune from his directing career, but he is now retired. He also now produces films with his wealth when he thinks it's worth his while, and his son runs that for him. It's called Barnstable Productions, very original I know.
His wife Beatrice Barnstable is his second wife and she is a good twenty years younger than him. She seems affectionate towards him but it would not surprise me if she had another fellow in secret, she seems like that sort of woman.
Mr Barnstable has two children, both from his first wife, called Megan and George. They are both married and live in the estate with their partners. Megan's partner Samuel was a teacher, but Mr Barnstable practically forced him to give it up. He said that "It wasn't right for any Barnstable to be just a lowly teacher," and that "If he wanted to marry his daughter he would have to join the company."
Mr John's son George now runs company. His wife Christine was a widower to a very rich man from Scotland, and his marriage pleased his father greatly.
They all seemed quite content, quite cheerful on September the twenty first, which is why it was such a shock to me to find Mr John Barnstable lying dead on his bedroom floor in the afternoon.
YOU ARE READING
The Breakfast Murder
Short Story- completed short story - Alice works at Beachside Lodge as a maid, and is completely shocked when her employer, Mr Barnstable, is lying dead in the afternoon. Cause of death: his breakfast.
