Leaving The Woods
By Auburn Red
Summary: On the eve of WWII, Maurice, Alec, and Georgie Hall-Scudder come to strong disagreements and concerns about Maurice's health are called into question.
Disclaimer: As previously stated, I do not own these characters except Georgie. Maurice and Alec belong to E.M. Forster and Merchant-Ivory.
Alec Scudder turned the wireless off. "That's it then, I've had my fill of the news," he said to the other two occupants in the sitting room. His lover of almost thirty years, Maurice Hall looked up from the book that he was reading. Alec couldn't help but notice how pale he had been looking lately. The doctor's prognosis rang in his head, but Maurice dismissed it. He didn't want to bring it up. "Last thing I want to hear is more politicians."
Maurice and Alec's son eighteen year old, Georgie rolled his eyes as he glanced up from his examination book. He had been a scholarship student at a high school and was planning on attending university. Alec sometimes wondered if that boy spent more time with his nose in a book and head in the clouds than he should.
"You would want to hear more if the Germans were knocking at our door."
"But they're not, are they," Alec countered. "So there's no use in worrying about it now is there?"
Maurice nodded. "Besides Chamberlain wants to negotiate with that Hitler. He doesn't see the point in dragging this country into another war."
Georgie put down his exam book and paced the floor. "Negotiating with Hitler is like a sheep trying to negotiate with a wolf. He can baa all he wants but that still doesn't mean that he's not going to get eaten."The dark haired young man pointed at his adopted fathers as he spoke. Maurice stifled a grin. Even though Georgie was neither of their sons by blood, it amused him how many mannerisms that Georgie picked up from his fathers particularly Alec. The two often gestured and moved about when they spoke, two pockets of energy that could not be contained by words alone. They also could be very verbal and obstinate when they had opinions. Especially in times like now when they were constantly at loggerheads. George held up a nearby newspaper pointing at the headlines."He's been through Austria, Poland, Belgium, part of France. He devoured all of Germany. How soon before he comes up here?"
"He may not if we don't give him a reason to," Maurice said.
"He certainly won't if we take the fight to him," Georgie said, his blue eyes blazing "The Nazis must be stopped before they come up here."
"It ain't none of our business what goes on down there," Alec argued. "We should leave them as is."
"Have you heard some of the things out of Germany and all over Europe," Georgie reminded them. "Tighter restrictions on Jews, illegal arrests, confiscations. People being taken to Ghettos, rounded up, and shot. Some are being carted off and never heard from again."
"I'm sure most of it is exaggerated," Maurice said trying to assure his hot-tempered son. Like many young people, he had strong ideals.
"Is it?" Georgie said. "You heard about the Night of Long Knives? You realize that in Germany you and Da could be killed for simply walking down the street hand in hand?"
The two were silent for a few seconds looking at each other and their son. Alec casually filled his pipe before he spoke. "You mean as compared to here in good Ol' Blighty where we would just be arrested or separated."
Maurice put a hand on his son's shoulder. "There are people like that everywhere, Georgie, even here. We can't declare war on people for being ignorant and stupid. That's all Hitler and his Nazis are just foolish and ignorant people."
" 'Sides if you are so worked up about the Germans why don't you go enlist?" Alec jibed.
"I have," Georgie said standing looking straight at his fathers.
Maurice and Alec gaped at their son. The only sounds that could be heard were the clock ticking and Maurice's book that fell from his lap to the ground below. "What?" Maurice asked hoarse and dry not believing what Georgie told them.
"I enlisted in the army," Georgie answered. "I went to the recruitment office and well I volunteered." He smiled sheepishly so much like the small child that he once was.
"And when were you going to tell us," Alec retorted sharply. "When you came home in a pine box?"
"I haven't received my orders yet," George replied. "I haven't even taken the physical examination yet. I may not get in. I was going to wait until I knew for sure."
Maurice and Alec exchanged glances. Georgie was in good tip-top physical condition. He would certainly pass. "But Georgie, why volunteer?" Maurice asked. "They haven't even begun conscription yet."
"I'm not going to wait until they make me go," Georgie replied. "If I'm going there, I want it to be because I decided to be there."
"And university?" Maurice asked. "I thought you had your heart set on it."
"Well I did and I still do," Georgie answered. "Maybe I can go afterward, I don't know. If we rally the troops, it could be over by Christmas."
"Where have I heard that before?" Alec snorted. He stood next to his son, his arms on his hips and doused his pipe. "You got it that war makes you some sort of hero! Its that school that's done it to you."
"Not this again," George said under his breath.
"They give you those ideas and you think that you ought to be like the rest of them," Alec said. "But you're not. You letting it get in your head."
"I know I'm different from them," George said. "Every time I open my mouth, I know that I sound different. Every time I come home, I realize that I come home to a cottage in the woods and well, how many other young men have been brought up by two men? But it has nothing to do with the people at school, it has everything to do with me and with you, both of you. I want to protect the two of you. If the Germans did invade and I did nothing to help stop them, I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you. I want to fight for you."
"You don't need to fire a gun and shoot a German to fight for us," Alec said. "There are more important ways to fight." He glanced at Maurice who blushed.
"Is that why you didn't fight in the war?" George asked.
His fathers held each others' hands. Maurice turned to their son. "We moved to resist the draft. We had just been living together and we didn't want to be separated."
"Plus whats the point of fighting for a country that would put us in jail just for being who we are," Alec said. Their foreheads touched. "We also fought to keep you."
Georgie smiled. "That's how you are and I understand that. I love it here and I love all that you have done for me. I will always consider the woods my home and you both will always be my parents but I can't stay in the woods forever. I want to go out and explore new things, see other places and what better way to do that than to fight for a cause I believe in?"
Maurice smiled, his eyes filled. "Georgie, I still don't know that I agree with you, but I know that you will be a fine soldier." Georgie hugged his white haired father.
Alec fumed and left Maurice's side. Once again he was angry, angry at this country for blinding his boy with ideals. Time to hit him with a dash of reality. "A fine soldier indeed. Just like all the others who went before you were fine soldiers and they came home blind, with missing limbs, half their faces blown off, or their senses gone! Those were the lucky ones some didn't come home at all! They came in boxes, shot, blown up, and in pieces!" Alec at first didn't notice Maurice rise from the sitting room until he heard his gasp and saw his backside heading towards their bedroom door and slam the door shut.
Alec winced and rubbed his forehead. "Christ, I forgot!" He lowered his head in shame.
Georgie approached his father. "What did the doctor say?" he asked. Maurice's health had become a delicate issue.
Alec crossed his arms. Georgie looked down at his shoes ashamed that he even brought up such an emotional topic. "The doctor said that he has an irregular heart beat," Alec said. "They think its some sort of reaction to emotional distress and maybe the smoking but they ain't sure about that."
"Is he going to-?" George asked but couldn't finish even the thought.
Alec shrugged. "They don't know. For now they think he's just tired."
"He works too hard," George said. "He needs his rest."
"I know that and you know that, "Alec agreed. "He should know that." He thought of that golden now white-haired creature who had been by his side for 20-odd years. Most people to look at them would have thought that Alec was the stronger of the two, but he knew in his heart of hearts that the opposite was true. It was Maurice who was the strong one. He believed in love when Alec thought that it didn't exist and wasn't possible for someone like in the beginning, Maurice insisted on doing more than his share of the hard work to make their small household run and wouldn't take that he initially couldn't as an answer. He drew a frightened infant into their family circle, welcomed him with open arms and made Alec believe in the love of fatherhood. Maurice made the light shine in the dark corners with an encouraging word or a gentle gesture, always with some idea of where they could move to or an extra way to live below their means, often doing without necessities, such as food, for himself so Alec and George could have them. He held the two men in his life together when disagreements sometimes boiled over to near explosions. Maurice Hall was the pivot around which the whole household moved. Alec Scudder could not lose that strength, he just couldn't. "We ain't going to talk about this anymore tonight alright?" Alec asked.
"Of course not," Georgie answered.
"I'm going to go talk to him," Alec said.
"Alright," George said. "I'm sorry for everything I said."
Alec held up his hand. "Like I said we aren't going to talk anymore about it."
"Goodnight then," George replied.
" 'Night," Alec answered and he walked to the bedroom to join his life partner.
Alec crept silently into the bedroom. Maurice practically had collapsed on the bed, and now lay immobile, his head turned towards the pillow. He didn't acknowledge Alec enter until he spoke. "I'm sorry, Morrie. You know I didn't mean that. I just got so riled up. He'll be alright, Morrie. I didn't mean it."
"I know you didn't," Maurice said facing his lover. His face was stained with his tears. "I just worry about him. You were only saying what I was thinking."
"I just thought that he was smarter than that, smarter than to fall for their glory speeches," Alec said.
"Maybe it has nothing to do with their 'glory speeches'," Maurice answered.
"Well what else could it be," Alec countered. "He starts off as a normal kid, adventurous, bright, sometimes too bright, I'll admit. Then he goes to that school and he changes. He stays away during the week, starts talking like them, dressing like them, acting like them."
"-Acting like I used to be," Maurice reminded him.
Alec looked squarely at his companion. It had been so long since Maurice had left that upper middle class life that it was almost a distant memory.
"I didn't mean you in particular," Alec said. "But George may be different than you were. You fell in love with some gamekeeping lug who doesn't know when to put a sock in it or how to rub two bob together, and who never deserved you," Maurice laughed at Alec's self-depreciating attitude. " You saw me for the man inside. But George might not be made of the same stuff that you were. Next thing you know he'll start getting uppity, thinking that he's too good for us, the old men who brought him up. He'll forget who he is."
Despite the tears and the gravity of the situation, Maurice couldn't resist a laugh.. "What?" Alec asked confused on what could be so funny about this situation.
Maurice smiled. "You don't fool me for a second, Alec Scudder. I can see right through you. You just want your shadow back."
"My shadow?" Alec asked even more confused.
Maurice nodded. "Remember when Georgie was little and he used to follow you everywhere, hunting, fishing, trying to cut wood like you?"
Alec chuckled at the memory. "I remember the Lil' Mite tried to pick up my axes. He never could but he kept huffing and puffing at it."
Maurice smiled too. "I used to call him your shadow. Sometimes I felt envious how much he wanted to be like you."
"Now he wants to be like you," Alec answered glumly.
Maurice shook his head. "No, he wants to be like himself. You just want him to be a child forever, but he's not. He's grown up."
Alec's eyes filled. "I admit, I do miss him being our little boy running around without a care. He used to grab one of our legs and wouldn't let go so he'd just dangle there, or we'd pick him up and spin him around and there he'd be, laughing." Maurice nodded remembering as Alec continued. "I do miss that."
"I know you do as do I," Maurice said. "But he's not that little boy anymore. He's a man and part of that is growing up and leaving home. He is looking for his place in the world. Did it ever occur to you that he's exactly the person that we wanted him to be? We always broght him up to make his own decisions and be his own person. Now he is and part of that is sometimes doing things that are dangerous. Georgie's right, he can't remain in the woods forever."
"I will if you want me to," a voice answered. Alec and Maurice looked up at their son who stood by the open doorway. "I'm sorry for arguing with you, Da, Maur."
"It's nothing son," Alec said. "I'm sorry for what I said too." Maurice nodded wordlessly.
"Da, I don't think I'm too good for you or Maur," he said. "I never will. Anyroad, its not definite yet. I can turn down the examination. There's still time," Georgie asked sitting next to Maurice on the bed. "I can stay here. If that's what you want."
Maurice and Alec exchanged a glance. "Aye, that is what we want." Georgie shrugged, but Alec continued. "But it don't matter what we want. All that matters is what you want or need so if you feel like you have to go fight, you go do it then. You're a man now, you go be one."
Georgie tried to maintain a cool composure but the 18-year-old felt tears coming to his eyes. He tried to hold them in but instead sobbed. "A man shouldn't cry like this you know." He said.
"Who says," Maurice asked as he hugged his son tightly. Alec then enveloped the other two in a large bear hug.
A month later, George Hall-Scudder stood outside the cottage in the woods in his full military uniform. Alec and Maurice stood next to him. Georgie held his duffle bag to the side. "Do you have everything that you need," Maurice asked. "Did you pack your shaving kit?"
"Five times," Georgie laughed.
"You have plenty to eat on the train," Maurice continued.
"Yes, Maur, I do," George said growing annoyed with his father's constant badgering. He exchanged a look with Alec who also rolled his eyes.
"And you will be sure to dress warmly? Germany can get very cold at night," Maurice continued. "And be sure to write as soon as you get there?"
"Maurice, Maur," Alec interrupted. "If he don't go soon, he's going to miss his train."
"I know, I know," Maurice said. "I'm sorry." He looked him up and down. "You come back soon."
George embraced his fair haired father. "Make sure that I have two das to come back to, Maur," Georgie said. "You take care of yourself and you know what I'm talking about. Try to get some rest, that's an order."
Maurice smiled. "I will." Tears threatened to come out as George gave a strand of Maurice's hair a tug like he did when he was smaller.
George laughed, his grin a wolfish leer "Cheer up, I'll come back with a bevvy of ladies impressed at the hero with the medals."
Maurice laughed but could not say anything his heart was too full. He turned away so his emotions wouldn't spoil such a moment.
Alec turned to his son. "He don't care if you come back with medals. He just wants you to come back." Alec didn't add, and so do I. Georgie knew without him telling. He gave his son a tight bear hug which George returned. "Take care, Mite."
"You too," George said. He looked around the Greenwood that had been their home for the past few years. "The woods seems to be getting smaller." It had been cultivated and many people lived in homes nearby. Sometimes it seems that there were less and less trees every day.
"That it is," Alec agreed. "But it will be here when you get back."
"I know," George said holding his fathers by the shoulders.
"You will always have a home to come back to," Maurice promised.
George held his breath and stood at attention. "Well I'm off," he said. "Good-bye, Da, Maur. I love you both."
"We love you too," the fathers said to their son. George then waved again and headed to the dirt road towards the outside of the woods. Maurice and Alec waited until the young man could no longer be seen on the horizon. Maurice sniffled. "I didn't think it would be this hard to say good-bye."
"I know it is, Morrie," Alec said. "But there he goes. You did good."
"We both did," Maurice agreed. "And I wouldn't have changed a thing."
Alec held Maurice by the shoulders and led him back in the house. "Nor would I, Maurice, nor would I."
The End