Читать книгу The Tarnished Necklace - Trish Inc. Duffin - Страница 17

Peter lay there quietly, trying to move as little as possible as it even hurt to breathe. Andrew had made a more suitable bed for him in a side room. This room was much better. It was darker, quieter and therefore easier on his perpetually pounding headache. Every time he opened his eyes there was always one girl seated beside him to offer him a sip of water or soup. Joanne and Alice had quickly offered to take turns sitting beside him. They always rushed to their mother when he needed help, was choking, being ill, starting to shake with shock or burning with a temperature.

Most of all Peter appreciated Maria’s company. Sometimes he felt horribly dizzy, his face went numb and he felt like his body and soul were separating. The feel of her hand in his gave him something to focus on. She stopped him floating away, she became his anchor. That was sometimes the scariest part, when he felt like a storm driven ship being dashed against rocks, his anchor lost in the seas. His dreams were wild and didn’t leave him when he woke up. He was aware of Maria’s voice, soft voices in quiet conversation, damp cloths on his head, cool drinks in his mouth and young girls calling out “Ma!” when he found himself struggling for air. What dominated his life was pain in all its diverse forms: he had sharp stabbing pain in his ribs, his head alternated between vice-like grips to a blinding pain, his stomach produced an odd deep throbbing pain, and his collar-bone simply ached. Then of course there were the superficial wounds and they felt like hot coals.

He briefly cracked one eye open, squinted and slightly tilted his head. That was good, that movement usually made him feel he was getting kicked in the head by a horse - this time it merely made him dizzy. He waited for the world to stop spinning before reopening his eyes. Maria was sitting there, quietly reading a book. His movement made her glance up and a smile crossed her lips. She looked awful, clearly sleep deprived. “How long have I been here?” whispered Peter, his voice rough. This was the first full sentence he had spoken since his attack.

She leaned forward and quietly whispered back. “Three days.”

The house was quiet and had the feeling of being in the early hours of the morning. The only visible light was a candle flickering beside Maria’s book. Peter wrinkled his head in concentration. Three days? There were such large gaps in his memory that he couldn’t make the sums add up. Three sunsets, three sunrises, he couldn’t remember one. He licked his lips and Maria brought a glass of water to his mouth, which he carefully sipped. “Why am I here, what happened?”

A frown crossed Maria’s drawn face. “Can’t you remember?”

Peter lay there, trying to think back. A faint smile came on his lips, “I can remember kissing you.” Maria blushed - even in the dim light of the candle her shyness over that memory was evident. Peter wanted to escape from his chains of pain so looked her in the eye. “Move closer,” he whispered. Maria looked at him suspiciously but inched a bit closer. Peter quietly sighed, “To be exact, would you please kiss me?”

Maria looked at him, trying to figure out exactly where she could kiss and settled on the least bruised part of his lip. He moved his face and caught her lips. It was good to have one part of his body that felt good. She moved back and he gently smiled, “Thank you, I needed that.” His eyelids fluttered for a second before he fell back to sleep.

Maria yawned, she couldn’t stay awake any longer. That request for a kiss said that the battle was going to be won. Now she could rest. She pulled a blanket up over her shoulder and shifted her chair up towards his head. She laid her arms on the bed beside his pillow, one hand resting on his shoulder, before laying her head down and falling into a deep sleep.

Andrew and Susan were the first up as usual the next morning. Susan got the fire going and Andrew looked in on the patient. Maria was fast asleep, her head still pillowed in her arms. He tiptoed out and beckoned to Susan to come in. She came through and they both looked at their daughter and neighbour, before tiptoeing out again. Andrew put his arms around Susan’s waist and looked out the window, his face pressed against the back of her head. “Correct me if I am wrong, but I think those two are definitely more than just friends.”

Susan turned in his arms and looked up at her husband of twenty years. “It looks like it doesn’t it.”

Andrew kissed her forehead and thought for a second. “When did you first suspect something?”

His question made it obvious he was only just beginning to suspect a blossoming romance. “Do you remember the day Peter escorted Maria home from choir practice for the first time? asked Susan. “They went raspberry picking on the way home.”

Andrew thought for second, “Oh yes, they came back together looking rather happy.”

“Well ever since then I have noticed lots of little things that reminded me of when we first met. Peter teasing her,” continued Susan. “Her blushing whenever she sees him. How he has a special smile just for her. How she gets all tongue tied around him and how so many of our conversations seem to include him.”

Andrew grunted - obviously he must walk around with his eyes closed. He slipped his arm away so they could get on with their early morning chores. “Well, if Peter wants to court Maria I won’t say no,” he said before heading out to milk the cow.

The sun was well up before Maria came out. She looked tired but her face was happy. Susan looked over to her exhausted daughter. “Happy birthday darling.”

Maria looked up in surprise. She hadn’t been keeping track of the days, it was 11^th of October. “Oh, it’s my birthday!”

Susan sat down beside her with a cup of coffee on hand. “Sorry dear. We had been planning to get you a special gift and make a celebration of it, but what with all that has happened,” her voice trailing off as she glanced through to where Peter was.

Maria reached over for her mother’s hand and her voice dropped to a confidential whisper. “Don’t worry ma, I have received a present.” Susan looked her quizzically and Maria continued, “Peter woke up long enough to ask for a kiss then thanked me for it before going back to sleep.”

Susan smiled, the joy was fairly obvious on her daughter’s face. “Out of curiosity young lady, is that your first kiss from him?” she asked with a twinkle in her eye.

Blushing at this question Maria looked up into the ceiling before scrutinising her fingers. “No, it isn’t. He kissed me last week when we had our picnic.”

“So he kissed you, you didn’t kiss him then, perhaps I should have a strong word with him,” teased Susan.

Maria snapped her eyes up, her cheeks a flaming red. “Oh, please don’t, oh Ma, you wouldn’t! The truth is, I kissed him back.”

Susan laughed and patted her disconcerted daughter’s hand. “Sweetheart, I was just teasing you. I was beginning to guess you two were quite fond of each other.” At that she got up and kissed her daughter on the head. “Happy birthday. How about you relax today and we have your favourite meal tonight?”

Maria spun in her chair, her face all lit up. “Thanks Ma. May I go and see Pa now?”

Her mother nodded. “I suggest you freshen up first my darling, you slept in your clothes. Then have breakfast. Your sisters are all outside, I’ll get Joanne to watch over Peter.”

Maria quickly made herself more presentable, then ate her breakfast. She went in to check on Peter before leaving. His face looked different this morning. Normally it was pinched in pain with a faint sheet of sweat beading his brow. This morning the frown was gone and his face was cool to touch. He was clearly getting better. She headed out to the fields to find her father.

To her horror she encountered Jasper on the way. She knew he was working on their farm. Her father had mentioned how Jasper didn’t know one end of a scythe from another, how he was always complaining about his sunburn, blisters, sore muscles and how hard the work was. Jasper had never come near the door of their house though, so it was a bit of a shock to encounter him in the fields.

She stopped, unsure what to do. She felt anger growing within her. Normally she was even tempered but at this moment in time that character trait was fast disappearing. Jasper approached her. Since that day in the doctor’s surgery Andrew had barely spoken to him with the exception of telling him what to do. Andrew had then totally disregarded his pleas for consideration to be given with regard to his sore muscles and blisters. This whole penance thing was beginning to rankle with him, especially when it was Peter’s fault for reneging on his word.

He started to speak to her. “Maria...” he didn’t get any further words out, her face was like thunder.

She walked up to him and looked him in the eye. “Jasper did you, or did you not have a fight with Peter?” she asked with a steady voice.

Jasper paused and wondered how much she knew. “What has he told you?” he asked with a sneer on his voice.

Her voice shook now, was it anger or tears? It was hard to tell. “He hasn’t been capable of talking,” she replied.

Jasper’s smirk grew. “We had words and then he lunged at me.”

His smirk was rapidly taken away when Maria slapped him hard across the face. “You’re lying Jasper, I don’t know how I know, but you are lying. I never want to see you again, don’t you ever come near me!” At that she turned around and stormed off.

Jasper rubbed his face. He had dreamt of her slapping him after he kissed her, but never dreamt of being slapped in the face when he hadn’t!

Maria saw her father in the distance and sped towards him, not stopping until she threw her arms around him. Andrew held his daughter close. He had spotted her in the distance and had seen her slap Jasper. “Happy birthday darling,” he muttered before squeezing her tight. She looked up, tears still glistening in her eyes but a smile on her lips. Andrew resumed working. “How is the patient?” he enquired.

“What would you say if I told you he woke up, asked for a kiss, smiled and said thank you before going back to sleep?” asked Maria, a little unsure of her father’s reaction.

Andrew turned to look at his daughter, it was hard to accept she was a woman now, no longer a little girl. “I would say he was a very sensible young man.”

Maria laughed, “That’s good, because he did. His temperature has gone down and he doesn’t look as if he is in so much pain this morning. I think he is getting better.” Her joy showed clearly on her face. The next hour was a peaceful time. Maria had more or less been in the house for the past three days. She had been constantly on the edge of exhaustion caring for Peter as much as possible, as well as helping her mother in the kitchen. She missed being outside in the warm autumn sun. It was good to feel her fear start to trickle away with the sun on her back. It was also good being with her father as she enjoyed working alongside him.

The two of them headed back to the house. Andrew was in need of food and water. This was also the time he would check in on Peter and help him if needed. This time he was awake and staring at the ceiling. He smiled weakly when Andrew peeked in. Andrew sat in the chair recently vacated by Joanne.

“How are you?” he asked quietly.

Peter slowly moved his head sideways. Not wanting to jar his head or make his ribs protest he spoke in a voice barely above a whisper. “Better, still very sore though. How is the harvesting going?”

Andrew chuckled quietly. “Jasper, Ezra and John are working in the fields. They are obviously town boys and haven’t a clue what they are doing, but the work is getting done. They are suffering and so they should.”

Peter wrinkled his brow, “Why are they working for you?”

Andrew looked down at him, “How much do you remember?”

Peter looked up at Andrew. Maria had asked him the same question hours earlier. He had been struggling to remember when Andrew walked in. His answer was slow in coming, almost hesitant, as the memories were blurred. There was a long pause before he replied. “I remember going to the lake with Maria, I caught two fish. I teased her and she pushed me in.”

Andrew chuckled, “Well, that explains why you were so wet when we found you. What else can you remember?”

Peter thought back over that day, it was hazy. At that point Maria walked in and sat down on the edge of the bed. She laid her hand in his. He turned his wrist and covered her hand with his before looking back to Andrew. “I remember coming back. We were holding hands. Maria left.” His memory was very hazy now, just static images. He struggled to make sense of them. “I heard them behind me. They were drunk, whisky bottles were in their hands. Jasper spoke to me.” Peter paused, trying to fight through the fog and then he recalled the words. “He said ‘I thought we had an agreement,’ then he threw the first punch, I didn’t see it coming. I don’t know what happened after that. I guess it became a brawl.”

His face was tired and his voice was the barest whisper. He looked over to Maria, his eyelids beginning to droop. Then his eyes opened wide. “Maria what exactly did you write in that letter?”

Andrew looked over to his daughter. Maria tried to remember. She had quickly scrawled the letter before giving it to her father. “I wrote that I hadn’t been honest with him and didn’t return his affection. Then I wrote something like I didn’t want him to waste further time on me. Pa, what did Jasper say when you gave him the letter?”

Andrew was growing confused, “What letter are you two talking about?”

Maria sighed, sometimes her father seemed half asleep. “Do you remember me giving you a letter the other week when you went into town? I said you must give this letter to Jasper when you went to the store.”

Andrew searched his mind. He recalled Maria giving him a letter as he harnessed the horse and putting it in his pocket. Then he went to the store to get twine and sacking. Stanley served him that day and then his friend Raymond came into the store. Andrew remembered leaving the store with Raymond and they had a drink together. Then he left. He realised he never gave the letter to Jasper. He turned to Maria. “I’m sorry my love, but I didn’t see Jasper and I never handed the letter over. I guess I lost it. I’m sorry. I had completely forgotten about it.”

Maria pushed her chair back and buried her face in her hands. Peter closed his eyes in resignation. He was so tired, his body was aching with fatigue but he forced himself to remain awake while they figured this mess out.

Maria summed it up. “So let me think through this. Jasper wanted to court me and asked you to back off.”

Peter nodded, ouch, bad idea, that hurt.

“Then midweek he came here and asked me to go for a buggy ride with him. I was bottling that day and was covered in juice so he suggested Sunday.”

Susan by then had come in and joined the group.

Maria continued, it was all getting a little clearer. “I lied to him and said I was going to visit a sick friend. Well that much became true didn’t it, talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy. Then I went out to you, asking you to rescue me. You told me to be upfront with Jasper and tell him the truth. So I wrote the note and gave it to you Pa. However Jasper didn’t get the note and so thought I was with a sick friend. On Sunday we went fishing and had a picnic. Jasper must have seen us, felt we had lied to him and got angry. Oh, you don’t think he was spying on us do you?”

Peter was struggling to stay awake at this point, but he spoke quietly, “So he saw you with me and thought that I wasn’t keeping my word. Combine jealousy with alcohol and this is what you get.” At that he yawned. He was glad to get that all clarified. His eyelids gave up the fight. He fell into a deep sleep, completely unaware of an upset father and daughter seated beside him, each feeling guilty.

Susan looked at both of them and suggested they come out and have a good talk, which they did. Tears were shed, apologies were made, hugs were given and Maria forgave her father. Peter was the major victim but he was sound asleep. Later that evening everyone gathered around the table celebrating Maria’s 19^th birthday. Her mother had prepared her favourite meal. Then the best gift of all. Her father helped Peter out to the table and he joined them for a few minutes. He looked hungrily over at the chicken. Susan said ‘Doctor’s orders’ before giving him only mashed potato and gravy and denying him the more solid food. She did allow him to have a bite of apple pie with custard and that cheered him up. Then Andrew helped him up and back into his room but not before Peter claimed a birthday kiss.