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Chapter Four
The Meeting
The next morning, the children sat down to a late breakfast with grandma. All the elders had their breakfasts and left for work. Aunt Margaret was feeding a fussy baby Raymond.
"Grandma, who owns both the Brightwell mills?" Asked Jasper, curiously.
"It was jointly owned by two friends, Franklin Brighton and Bradley Wellington. After their death, now their sons jointly own them. They don't get along and are at each other's throat for as long as I can recall," said their grandma.
"Do they live here at Smithville?" Asked Daryll.
"Yes, Bradley Wellington's son, Edward lives here at Fairbanks road, but Franklin Brighton's son, Francis has disappeared into thin air overnight. No one knows where he went. Everyone says he committed suicide after his wife's death, but no one knows for sure, " said grandma.
The children looked at one another. They needed to talk. After a delicious breakfast, they thanked their grandma, kissed Raymond, and went upstairs to Nicholas's room to talk.
"Let's go to Fairbanks road and meet Edward Wellington. What do you say?" Asked Daryll, looking at everyone.
"Yeah, let's go," said Skylar, excitedly.
"But what do we say to him?" Asked Diana
"We could request him to again start the Brightwell mills," suggested Nicholas.
"Ok then, let's search for Fairbanks road on Google maps and go there," said Jasper as he took out his mobile phone from his pocket and started searching.
"Here, this is Fairbanks road. So we take this route. See?" Said Jasper showing the route on his mobile with his index finger.
"Yeah, let's go," said Daryll and they all trooped out to get their bikes.
They rode for around fifteen minutes and reached Fairbanks road. Jasper asked a man who was watering his plants in his front yard, the direction to Edward Wellington's house. He gave them an odd look and pointed in the direction of a huge mansion at the end of the road.
They thanked him and rode on, stopping in front of huge wrought iron gates.
"How do we get in from here?" Asked Diana, perplexed.
"Wait, I think there's an intercom system here," said Daryll checking the pillar on one side of the gate. He got connected through and informed that they had come to meet Mr Edward Wellington. The call was disconnected.
They waited patiently for ten minutes. "Should we call again? Will they open the gates or not?" Asked Skylar, impatiently.
"Let's wait for five more minutes. Then I'll call again," answered Daryll.
The gate suddenly opened and a man with a big moustache stood behind it to escort them inside. "Come this way," he said gruffly, leading the way to the wooden front door of the mansion.
He ushered them inside and made them sit in the reception room before disappearing inside. The mansion looked clean but sparsely decorated. It might have seen better days with lavish decorations. A door opened and Edward Wellington came out. He seemed to be in his late forties. His tall lanky figure strode towards them while his piercing black eyes took in each and every one of them minutely.
"I'm Edward Wellington. What can I do for you, children?" He asked in a booming voice.
The children introduced themselves one by one. "Sir, we came to discuss the Brightwell mills actually. Yesterday we visited some of the families whose only source of livelihood were the Brightwell mills. With the mills closed down, they are now barely surviving, sir. We have come here to request you to start the mills again," said Jasper.
"It's not in my hands. You know my partner is missing. I need his approval and signature to start. I don't have enough funds also. I'm selling the stuff from my house to survive. The mills were my only source of livelihood. My health condition has deteriorated and I'm unable to start any new business, " said Edward Wellington, his eyes clouding with sadness.
"Isn't there any other way?" Asked Daryll.
"If funds can be arranged along with the permission to reopen the mills, only then I can start the mills," he said, frankly.
"You are wasting your time children. There's a lot more than meets the eye," he said, getting up. The children got up too, disappointed.
Just then a man came into the room but the moment he saw the children he went out. Jasper saw him clearly. Nothing could escape his keep power of observation.
"So, do you visit the mills often?" Asked Jasper, curiously.
"No, I've not been there for the last ten years. After Francis's disappearance, the place makes me sad. I'm helpless and unable to start it all on my own. So what's the point in going there?. No one's been there. They're locked, " said Edward Wellington.
Edward Wellington saw them off to the main gates of the mansion and then walked dejectedly back. The children climbed onto their bikes and rode home. They parked their bikes and went upstairs to Jasper and Daryll's room.
"It didn't produce any result," said Skylar dejectedly.
"Did you see the man who came into the room when we were leaving?" Asked Jasper, excitedly.
"No, why?" Said Nicholas, curiously.
"He's the same man that I saw at the window of the mill at Wellington Creek," said Jasper with round eyes. All the others stared at him with open mouths.
"But Edward Wellington said that no one's been there for the last ten years. Then what was he doing there?" Said Daryll, deep in thought.
"Yeah, in fact in Brighton creek also there were signs of people frequenting the place, " said Nicholas.
"So the question is are people living here illegally or is something really going on there that Edward Wellington didn't wish to disclose, " said Jasper.
"There's one way to find out. Let's keep watch and see what is really happening, " suggested Skylar.
"It's dangerous. So we will take turns to keep watch. We will watch the Brighton Creek mills first. Let's search for a good hiding spot first. Then we can fix a date and take turns to keep a watch at night," said Jasper and they all agreed.
It was already lunchtime and everyone went downstairs to eat the delicious food that was waiting to be devoured.
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Featured picture: Tom Hanks as Edward Wellington
