The Perfect House

Chapter 26: . . . and continues

Bobba continued with his verbatim report:

Well, that was all very nice, but Frosty had let Thorn off the hook. It would be difficult for me to revert to the previous topic without appearing rude.

I needn't have worried, old Baines wasn't letting Thorn get away with it.

"Roberto, tell us about the involvement of your mother's family in Pentan."

"It goes back a long way, sir. The Pendergasts and the Tandys were the original two families to settle in that area, hence the name Pentan for the little town. The Tandys are long gone, and soon the Pendergasts will be gone too."

"The Pendergast property was situated on the West side of the town and I visited my grandparents regularly as I was growing up. From about the age of seven or eight, I used to take my best friend, Florian, with me. Adele knows Florian now."

"Of course," Adele acknowledged with a smile.

"Florian and I used to have a wonderful time, racing around the farm on mountain bikes, and later dirt bikes, running through the big house being nuisances. Nan really did indulge us . . . up to a point."

"Grandfather died about seven years ago and Nan sold off most of the pastoral land. She didn't want to run the farm by herself; there were no sons, and the daughters weren't interested. There had been a son, the second child, in fact, but he had died as a baby."

"Anyway, on the advice of Uncle Thomas - Aunt Thelma's husband, as you would know, Mrs Baines - Nan retained all the higher ground around the ridges. Uncle Thomas is involved in property development and is very experienced."

"Just over three years ago, Nan passed away and the three girls inherited the house and the remaining land. Again following Uncle Thomas' advice, they sold the house - it has been turned into a conference centre and boutique retreat - but held onto the rest of the land."

"About six months ago, Uncle Thomas decided that the time was ripe. He has undertaken the development of that remaining land - he's dubbed it Ridgeland - on behalf of the three sisters. The project is being funded internally, so I'm afraid that, despite what Mr Thorn has suggested, there has been no opportunity for outside investment."

"I saw my uncle a few weeks ago; he is very happy with the way it's going, and says that the project is already a success."

"How very interesting," Baines observed in a bland voice that somehow seemed to carry a tone of menace.

Poor old Thorn, he hardly said a word for the rest of the meal.