Authors Note- I have just passed the 100,000 word mark. As celebration of reaching this mile stone I have posted the next chapter. A huge thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed this story. This is dedicated to the wonderful mi_ladydragon for her unfailing support and excellent beta skills.

Heart and soul – Part four – Secrets and Lies – Chapter 56

Day two

Ianto held the cloth scarf he wore around his neck in front of his nose as he surveyed the ruin in front of them. It had been a three room daub and wattle dwelling, with a thatched straw roof of some kind. It had been the first actual building they had come across. They had strayed from track they had been following and taken off cross country choosing a direct route which meant they missed any dwellings along the way until now.

They had smelt the destruction a long time before they had seen it. It was the sweet cloying smell of death mixed with smoke. The remains of several bodies possibly all members of the same family were inside the cottage. One a young man had tried to make his escape but he had been run down and trampled to death. Another a much older man had been hung over the branch of the nearest tree and his body swayed in the stiff wind.

"I thought this was a time of feudalism, where the peasants were beholden to the lord of the manor who in return protected those on his manor?" Owen queried sadly.

"Who would do this and why?" Ianto asked as he looked around at what looked like a productive small holding.

Owen shook his head as he indicated to Ianto help him lower the body from the tree branch.

"With all due respect, we need to keep moving," John insisted.

"Are you suggesting we just leave him hanging there?" Ianto asked him.

"It's tragic, but they're all dead, and the dead don't care." He stopped as he saw the look of determination on both Owen's and Ianto's faces.

"Well we do, the least we can do is cut down the body, and lay it to rest with the others in the cottage," Ianto told him in disgust

John watched in frustrated annoyance then realized there was no moving them on until this has been done and went to assist them.

"Fucking disgusting," Owen commented as they cleared the second body from the track and laid it alongside the other bodies in the cottage.

"Bleeding hearts," John commented as they kicked in a wall covering the bodies.

"If nothing else they are together and we did the decent thing," Owen told him as he saw John roll his eyes.

Searching around for a source of water to refill their water bladders, Owen came across a small well. A sniff told him it had been fouled and looking down he determined another body lay at the bottom. He returned to the others shaking his head and saw Ianto had found a flat round of blackened burnt bread which he added to John's pack.

"Let's get moving then," Ianto indicated sadly without another word and they took off west once more.

Several hours passed and the sun climbed from late morning to mid- afternoon. Owen wiped his face clear of sweat. Ianto had now stripped down to jeans and tee shirt and had managed to find a way to pack everything in one bundle. Unlike himself who looked like some mad gypsy on wash day with articles tucked to his belt and pack as he has stripped off. The going was not rough, mostly part moor land interspersed with tree filled valleys. They had followed a mixture of rough tracks and open grass land cutting across country keeping west at all times.

In un-typical fashion for this part of the country the weather was excellent. It was an early autumn day without a cloud in the sky and if you ignored the stiff breeze it was almost perfect. They had come across several other minor dwellings and structures but had skirted by them, keeping out of sight as best they could. To their relief none appeared to have suffered the fate of the earlier one. What was a surprise was the absence of people it was clear from the heavily laden fields that this was the time of harvest yet they had not met a single a soul. The only face they did see startled in terror and ran off.

He looked at Ianto's back and something registered, "Ianto you're limping are you ok?" Owen asked him.

"I'm fine," Ianto replied not looking back as he continued to stride ahead.

Owen continued to observe and noted they were coming up to a small track that cut across a stream it had been at least an hour since they had last stopped to rest. "John," he called ahead to John who turned nodded and after looking at his wrist strap indicated they should stop.

They made their way to the stream and dumped their packs on the bank under several trees. Taking the scarf from around his neck Ianto dipped it in the water and wiped his face. Wetting the cloth again he tied it around his neck.

Returning to his pack he took out the remaining bread and small pieces of cheese from his pack and shared it equally amongst them. Owen took the time to fill up their water bladders from the clear water in the steam. Ianto sat down his head on his knees but took the water bladder when offered and took a deep drink.

"Is the last of the bread?" John asked.

"Yep, except for the burnt loaf," Ianto told him not looking up.

"How many miles?" Ianto asked him.

"To go or how far we've come?" John asked him

"Both," Ianto and Owen replied together.

"19 today yesterday 18 total 37 miles," he told them. "Approx. 69 to go." "There's still several hours of daylight left we can burn up a few more miles."

'That means if we can average 23 miles a day we should make it," Ianto commented quietly conserving his strength.

"Reality check," Owen interjected as he saw John and Ianto looking at him, "From now on our energy is going to wane, so far we've been running on adrenaline. We've pushed ourselves to the limit and we're running out of food and the weather's been good. We're beginning to suffer dehydration and I bet the two of you have as bad a headache as I have."

"So what are you suggesting Owen?" Ianto asked him

"We need to buy and or exchange something for food because to keep going we need calories, as higher an intake as we can manage, fat and carbohydrates should do it ," he saw them both nod in agreement and start to rise.

"Ianto feet," he ordered before Ianto could stand.

"No, Owen," Ianto told him.

"I need to see them, I know you're in pain because I've been walking behind you for hours, now get them boots off," he told him his tone leaving him in no doubt to his order.

"I can cope," Ianto advised "And we are wasting time we have to keep moving Jack…" he told him, "we must keep moving," he said with urgency.

'This is from the man who wanted to waste time to bury the dead?" John added sarcastically.

"It was the right thing to do, "Ianto told him sternly.

"Ianto we will lose time if you can't keep up," Owen told him bluntly ignoring John's comment.

"I will crawl there if I have to Owen," Ianto told him categorically, but then saw the stubborn look on Owen's face and John's crossed arms and knew he had lost the argument.

Moving with extreme reluctance Ianto removed his boots then peeled off his right sock. Owen let out an expletive as he saw the heel of his right foot rubbed bloody and raw. He pulled over his pack he took out his medical kit.

Ianto sat stoically as Owen worked cleaned up the wound and applied some cream.

"How is Jack doing?" Owen asked quietly as he worked.

Ianto closed his eyes for several moments as they saw the blood drain from his face. "Not good," he told them.

"Look there is something you should know about Jack," Owen began to explain.

"It's ok, I know that he can't die, I mean he can die he doesn't stay dead, John told me," Ianto said to the shocked look on his face, "and the rings have given me a kind of knowing, so even if he hadn't told me I would have figured it out by now anyway…," he stopped himself not wanting to share the true cost of each death Jack experienced and the scars it left on his being as he now understood it.

"So why all those bloody conversations of don't tell me any of Jacks secrets, we had?" Owen asked him.

"We didn't know if Gray could monitor any of conversations in the Hub and I could only block so many in case he was and got suspicious we were up to something," John replied.

"Like a double blind, double cross," Owen added shaking his head.

"Yeah something like that," John replied as Owen indicated to Ianto to hold a wound pad on his heel while he fixed it into place.

"And if he was listening and thought I was being all stubborn not wanting to know, then it was a small advantage we had because it was something we could possibly use," Ianto shrugged as he told him.

"This is one dangerous game you're both playing," Owen told them both.

"This is no game Owen, two people's lives are at stake: Ariana and Jack's," Ianto interjected angrily, "Jack might not be able to die, but he is in terrible shape mentally. You should know they've dragged him out again and have given him another beating and from the sensation it was his hands this time. Right now he's curled up into himself and there's a lot of darkness in his mind. I can feel he's hanging on by a thread , he's trying with all his strength to hold on, but he's slipping away."

"Was that when I saw you stagger?" Owen asked him as he worked.

"Yeah," Ianto replied as he flexed his hands, "I didn't feel the pain but the sensation was horrible, best way I can describe it would be soul shock," he tried to explain as he began to pull his right sock carefully over his heel so as not to dislodge the pad.

"You're ok with all this? " he asked curiously trying to recover from the knowledge that Ianto knew Jack's big secret as he packed away his kit.

Ianto eased his boot back on, "Jack can't die Owen, but he's had no life. He's had no one to care or really give a damn about him beyond work for a long time. The bottom line is I sense Jack's been a member of the living dead for decades and he's been just going through the motions, not that he has much choice as he. So you tell me if that's living?" Ianto stood easing his foot inside the boot.

"But Jack can never grow old; I mean have you thought about the implications?" Owen asked him concerned Ianto did not fully understand.

"When I found out, I had to do some serious thinking and then I realized that life only exists in the now and the purpose of life is to live. So if Jack and I can live in the now giving of each other fully in each moment then that's all I ask. And when I die Jack will carry with him the knowledge that he was loved unconditionally, just the way he is. Because of that he will live a better life and continue to make the most of every moment, so his existence will be life affirming. " He stopped realizing how much he had said.

John looked at him in a new light, "Jack is a very lucky man," he said wistfully as he watched Ianto pick up his pack.

"Well what I want is a life for and with Jack and with every passing moment that life is slipping away," Ianto told them both.

"Wow that is some insight," Owen commented as they began to stride out.

"Yeah the rings are mind blowing and I have a feeling they are just warming up," Ianto admitted honestly as Owen set back into his walking pace behind Ianto noting his walking had eased.

Stepping in beside him Owen went over the conversation, and he recognized there had been fundamental change in Ianto.' Yes' he told himself 'Ianto could be still be reticent about himself, but when it came to Jack, he was an unstoppable force.' Owen had never known a previous time when Ianto had spoken so forcefully on any subject.

He wasn't sure if this was the effect of the rings or the Henge but found his friendship had deepened and he looked in admiration at the man who had forged himself out of his tragic history. Or maybe he concluded this was who Ianto always was and he was only seeing it now. For a fleeting moment he felt sorry for Gray, and wondered if he had any idea of the force that was marching towards him God help Gray, he thought God help any who had hurt Jack when Ianto got his hands on them.