LESLIE
Leslie was born in the early 1940’s. In her teens her parents were killed in a car crash and she went to live with her great-aunts Margaret and Violet Sills in the village of Newcombe. She attended high school in a nearby city where she met Junee McKnight. The two loners became good friends. After high school, Leslie enrolled in hairdressing school and Junee went off to university. After Leslie’s graduation and with the help of her aunts, she purchased a small store, renovated it and set up her hairdressing shop.
About six months after opening her business, a feral tomcat wandered into the alley behind her shop. Leslie invited him in and named him George. At the end of the day, he left by the back door only to return in the morning. One morning when Leslie went to let George in, he wasn’t there. She never saw the cat again. Several months later, lonely, Leslie adopted a female calico cat she named Lucy. When Lucy died years later, Leslie, now fond of calico cats, found and adopted another calico she also named Lucy. The pattern of adopting female calico cats called Lucy was established.
Leslie led a peaceful, predictable life. Her routine consisted of going to her shop six days a week, having Sunday dinner with her aunts and the occasional visit with Junee. There were no men in her life.
Leslie was a plain-looking and plain-speaking woman. She was a short, slightly plump young woman with absolutely no interest in fashion. Leslie often wore navy serge slacks, flowered print blouses sewn by Aunt Violet and, like her aunts, wore sensible black oxford shoes. This was in contrast to the statuesque, beautiful Junee who shopped at high end boutiques.
When Tony Charelle entered the lives of her aunts, the quiet and gentle women became fearful and anxious advising Leslie to keep her distance from him. It was only at the very end of her life that Leslie truly understood what he represented and how dangerous and terrifying the creature truly was. Why he confided his history and future plans absolutely made no sense to Leslie. Thankfully, she died before the full extent of his power was unleashed on humanity,