A/N: I'm ba-ack! Everyone run for cover, quick! Seriously, though, I
would appreciate any thoughts on my story. I apologize if Katie's accent
comes and goes. It's difficult for me to remember she's Irish sometimes.
On a side note, I have to say that my head is getting very big with all the
compliments my faithful reviewer meg is showering me with. I was having a
very bad day when I got your last review, meg, and it made me feel better
to know that you looked forward to my updates so much. I hereby dedicate
this chaper to meg, who put me in a good enough mood to write it.
The reception Katie and Pat received was nothing short of ecstatic. Katie was swamped by four small boys, who Pat guessed to be her nephews. A small young woman was not far behind them. She was very dainty, much shorter than Katie, and her coloring was completely different. She had golden- brown hair and a darker complexion than Katie's. But her eyes were the same incomparable green, bringing Pat to the correct conclusion that she must be one of Katie's sisters.
When the initial onslaught had been survived, Parker and Hilary were able to join their wives. Introductions were made between Pat and the young woman, who turned out to be Maeve. Maeve, after greeting her sister, showed herself to be of a rather shy nature. Pat noticed she wouldn't even make eye contact with Hilary. The four boys were Katie's nephews, as Pat had thought. Patrick and Seamus, ages six and three, were the youngest of Eamon's three children. His oldest, ten year old Donovan, was at home with his parents. Breena's youngest child, two year old Danny, was also there. His parents had taken his two older sisters into the nearby town. Then, there was three year old Aidan, Taryn's youngest.
Maeve, it seemed, had been left in charge of this small brood while Katie's parents and two other sisters took everyone else into town. In truth, Maeve looked more than a little relieved that Katie had arrived. Being the youngest, she didn't have a great deal of experience with children, and four small, rowdy boys definitely were not her cup of tea.
It wasn't long before the travelers returned and the onslaught began all over again. When everyone had greeted Katie and Parker, Katie began the introductions.
"Pat, Hilary, I'd like you to meet my family. These are my parents, Sean and Keelin Plum. My older sister Breena and her husband, Joseph. Of course you've met their son, Danny. These are their daughters, Eileen and Arianna. And, of course, my younger sister, Taryn, and her oldest boy, Brendan. Everyone, this is Hilary Gordon and his wife, Pat. They're visiting from Canada."
Sean Plum immediately caught the name. He fixed Pat and Hilary with his eyes (now Pat knew where Katie got that unusual color) in disbelief. His wife, as small and dainty as Maeve, handled things a bit differently. Her hazel eyes lit up with amazement.
"Hilary Gordon and Patsy Gardiner," she repeated. An incandescent smile, Katie's smile, spread across her face. " 'Tis glad I am that ye both came to yer sinses and married. Aunt Judy knew ye wud someday."
At first, Pat was shocked, but her sense of humor quickly came to the rescue. No doubt Judy had written them that Pat was too blind to see how much Hilary truly meant to her. She smiled back at Keelin Plum and extended her hand in greeting.
"My husband and I are very glad to meet you, too. We never dreamed we'd be meeting any of Judy's relatives on our honeymoon."
"Your honeymoon, is it? What a stroke av luck. Sean. Sean, don't be after starin' at our guests. 'Tisn't polite."
Sean looked down at his wife, which nearly required him to look at the floor. As the couple began to banter good-naturedly, Pat found herself being ushered to a seat by Katie. Once she was comfortable, she allowed herself to get a better look at these people who were Judy's family.
Keelin Plum was obviously proof of the old saying, 'Don't judge a book by it's cover'. She was little, probably not much over five feet tall. And her figure, despite her age and having borne five children, was remarkably trim. Her hair was as black as Katie's, though threads of silver could be seen in the pinned up tresses. A casual observer would say she looked gentle and kind, slow to wrath.
In truth, the more even-tempered half of this marriage housed itself in the 6'4" frame of Sean Plum. He was one of those men that was 'larger than life'. This gentle giant of a man had fallen in love forty years ago with a firecracker of a girl. That situation had not changed. As Katie later told Pat, Sean was always the voice of reason, the last to get angry. It was Keelin who often lost her temper and, as children, Katie, her sisters and her brother had always known which parent would get upset about something they had done.
In this way, however, Sean balanced his wife. Just as she balanced out his shyness and his tendency to keep to himself. Pat wondered absent-mindedly which parent Katie took after the most. Obviously, Maeve was her father's daughter. Taryn seemed to take after him as well, though Pat couldn't be sure. She stood quietly with her two boys in one corner of the room, watching her parents with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
Pat had a flash of insight at that moment. She was looking at an unhappy young woman. Pat chided herself. What right had she to make assumptions about this woman? They'd only just been introduced. But she had a nagging feeling that she was right. She resolved to ask Katie about it later and then busied herself with little Bryson, who had just climbed up in her lap.
THREE HOURS LATER:
Pat, Hilary, Katie, and Parker had escaped the madness of the Plum household for a while. The children remained behind, none to eager to join their parents on a 'grown-up' walk. Katie was showing her new friends around her childhood haunts. At the moment, Hilary and Parker had gone up ahead so Parker could 'show Hilary something'. Both wives knew that the something must be a house that Parker deemed architecturally brilliant. But Pat didn't resent this competition for Hilary's attention too much at the moment. She wanted to ask Katie about her sister.
"See that little cottage over there?" Katie pointed to a very small home. It was whitewashed, like most houses Pat had seen during their walk. But the door was painted an emerald green, something Pat hadn't seen yet.
"That's where Taryn lives," Katie informed her.
It was the opening Pat had been waiting for. She desperately hoped that she wasn't about to offend her newfound friend.
"Katie, do you mind if I ask you a question?"
Katie gave her a small smile, a rather sad smile actually.
"What is it you want to know about Taryn?"
Pat, despite her misgivings, continued her quest for knowledge.
"It's not that I want to be nosy. And if you say it's none of my business, I'll completely understand. But, why does your sister seem so unhappy? She hardly said a word all afternoon. And I didn't think it was because she was shy."
A small sigh escaped Katie's lips. Pat wondered for a moment if she had gone too far, but Katie answered.
"Oh, she wasn't always that way. Taryn used to be more like our mother, actually. She loved to laugh, loved to dance. Aven I had a hard time kapin' up with her."
"What happened?" Pat asked softly.
"Well, ye have to know more about Taryn to understand. She was a bit av a flirt while we were growin' up. Oh, nothin' disgraceful, but just enough to kape the boys goin' crazy."
Pat hid a smile. Now, why did that sound like someone she knew? Katie continued, defending her sister.
"Av course, I couldn't blame her. She's so exquisitely beautiful. Don't you agree?"
It was true, Pat had to admit. Taryn looked like the fairies Pat used to imagine as a child. She was just a hair taller than Katie's mother, with the same dainty build. Her hair was light brown in color, with several hints of gold and red and her complexion was as creamy as Katie's. Taryn's eyes were hazel, with glints of green in them and they were surrounded by thick, black lashes. Pat reflected, though, that they had held deep sorrow in their depths, even when Taryn smiled or laughed.
"I guess I'm just a proud sister," continued Katie. "I always felt closer to Taryn than I did to the rest of my family. But I'm babbling along now. Let me tell you the full story."
Katie slowed her walk and Pat did the same, realizing Katie didn't want to catch up to Hilary and Parker before her story was finished.
"We began to worry about Taryn around ten years ago. Taryn was seventeen and beginning to worry us. She had no interest in going to the university, though she's one av the smartest people I've iver met. And the thought av marriage didn't seem to appeal to her, either. She was perfectly happy with things as they were. I suppose the boys around here were content, too. She jist didn't seem to have any direction."
Pat nodded her head in understanding. Rae had been the same way not so long ago. She, too, had worried about her sister.
"Anyway, not too long after she turned eighteen, Taryn seemed quieter. Av course, by this time I was married and living in England. But I visited as often as I could manage and there were letters and the occasional phone call. Aven I could see the change in her. We all thought it had somethin' to do with Colin McRae, one av her more serious 'beaus'. You should've seen my parent's faces when Liam Findlay asked them for permission to marry Taryn."
"Who's Liam Findlay?"
"Liam and Eamon grew up together. They were the best av friends. And we had all thought that Liam and Breena had a bit av a romance at one time. But it turned out that Liam had loved Taryn all along. And she loved him. All you had to do was watch her whenever he was around. I recognized the way she looked at him. And Liam treated her like a queen. Anythin' she wanted was given to her. They married in 1935, just before Christmas, and set up housekeeping in that house with the green door."
"What is he like?"
"Liam was tall, almost as tall as my father. He was very handsome, too. Most av the girls around here practically threw themselves at him. He had fair hair and bright blue eyes. His skin was tan and he was very strong. I remember that about him the most. Liam was incredibly strong. Av course, he was a shipbuilder. So was his father, actually. Liam's father worked on the "Titanic". I mean, he was part av the crew that helped to build it."
"You keep saying was, Katie. What happened to Liam?"
Katie's trip down memory lane took a much more sorrowful turn at this point. Pat saw her blink back tears before she continued.
"Liam is dead, Pat. He and his father had gone to Dublin for some reason. I can't remember the reason now. All I remember was getting the phone call from Mother and then getting home to Taryn as quickly as I could. Liam and his father were in an automobile accident. It had been raining all day, the roads were very slippery. The car they were in collided head on with another. His father lived for a few hours, but Liam was killed instantly."
Pat was silent. What would she do if something like that were to ever happen to Hilary? Her heart went out to Taryn. It just wasn't fair to have the person you had planned to spend the rest of your life with so cruelly ripped away from you.
"That was four years ago. Taryn was six months along with Aidan at the time. I think, if it hadn't been for Brendan and Aidan, she never would have found the strength to go on. She loved him so much. We all did."
"I'm sorry if I've upset you with all these questions, Katie. I really had no right to pry."
"Oh, don't be ridiculous," came the reply. Katie began wiping tears off her cheeks. "You're family now, Patsy Gardiner Gordon. You always have been. I think Taryn will be alright. She has her boys. They give her a reason for being. She loves them fiercely, you know."
The two women continued walking in silence. The story of Taryn and Liam had affected both of them greatly. As they crested the top of the next hill, Pat caught sight of Hilary and had to will herself to not run up to him and shower him with kisses. Katie seemed to be thinking the same thing, only about Parker, of course. At any rate, both men found themselves on the receiving end of some welcome affection from their respective wives. As they made their way back to the Plum house, Pat reflected how truly blessed she was to have Hilary and she prayed that would never change.
A/N: I know this chapter was a bit depressing, but you needed some background about Taryn. Also, at the end of this post, I'm putting something on that has nothing to do with either 'Pat of Silver Bush' or L. M. Montgomery. If you have a problem with what I'm going to say, then I feel sorry for you. There isn't much I can do in cases like this, but I will have something to say about it. It's too important to me.
In Loving Memory of Johnny Cash, the Man in Black, whose songs touched a nation and it's people. We know we're with your beloved June now. In Loving Memory of John Ritter, who was taken from this world far too soon. You gave us the gift of laughter and, for that, we are eternally grateful. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of two incredibly gifted and very loved men.
The reception Katie and Pat received was nothing short of ecstatic. Katie was swamped by four small boys, who Pat guessed to be her nephews. A small young woman was not far behind them. She was very dainty, much shorter than Katie, and her coloring was completely different. She had golden- brown hair and a darker complexion than Katie's. But her eyes were the same incomparable green, bringing Pat to the correct conclusion that she must be one of Katie's sisters.
When the initial onslaught had been survived, Parker and Hilary were able to join their wives. Introductions were made between Pat and the young woman, who turned out to be Maeve. Maeve, after greeting her sister, showed herself to be of a rather shy nature. Pat noticed she wouldn't even make eye contact with Hilary. The four boys were Katie's nephews, as Pat had thought. Patrick and Seamus, ages six and three, were the youngest of Eamon's three children. His oldest, ten year old Donovan, was at home with his parents. Breena's youngest child, two year old Danny, was also there. His parents had taken his two older sisters into the nearby town. Then, there was three year old Aidan, Taryn's youngest.
Maeve, it seemed, had been left in charge of this small brood while Katie's parents and two other sisters took everyone else into town. In truth, Maeve looked more than a little relieved that Katie had arrived. Being the youngest, she didn't have a great deal of experience with children, and four small, rowdy boys definitely were not her cup of tea.
It wasn't long before the travelers returned and the onslaught began all over again. When everyone had greeted Katie and Parker, Katie began the introductions.
"Pat, Hilary, I'd like you to meet my family. These are my parents, Sean and Keelin Plum. My older sister Breena and her husband, Joseph. Of course you've met their son, Danny. These are their daughters, Eileen and Arianna. And, of course, my younger sister, Taryn, and her oldest boy, Brendan. Everyone, this is Hilary Gordon and his wife, Pat. They're visiting from Canada."
Sean Plum immediately caught the name. He fixed Pat and Hilary with his eyes (now Pat knew where Katie got that unusual color) in disbelief. His wife, as small and dainty as Maeve, handled things a bit differently. Her hazel eyes lit up with amazement.
"Hilary Gordon and Patsy Gardiner," she repeated. An incandescent smile, Katie's smile, spread across her face. " 'Tis glad I am that ye both came to yer sinses and married. Aunt Judy knew ye wud someday."
At first, Pat was shocked, but her sense of humor quickly came to the rescue. No doubt Judy had written them that Pat was too blind to see how much Hilary truly meant to her. She smiled back at Keelin Plum and extended her hand in greeting.
"My husband and I are very glad to meet you, too. We never dreamed we'd be meeting any of Judy's relatives on our honeymoon."
"Your honeymoon, is it? What a stroke av luck. Sean. Sean, don't be after starin' at our guests. 'Tisn't polite."
Sean looked down at his wife, which nearly required him to look at the floor. As the couple began to banter good-naturedly, Pat found herself being ushered to a seat by Katie. Once she was comfortable, she allowed herself to get a better look at these people who were Judy's family.
Keelin Plum was obviously proof of the old saying, 'Don't judge a book by it's cover'. She was little, probably not much over five feet tall. And her figure, despite her age and having borne five children, was remarkably trim. Her hair was as black as Katie's, though threads of silver could be seen in the pinned up tresses. A casual observer would say she looked gentle and kind, slow to wrath.
In truth, the more even-tempered half of this marriage housed itself in the 6'4" frame of Sean Plum. He was one of those men that was 'larger than life'. This gentle giant of a man had fallen in love forty years ago with a firecracker of a girl. That situation had not changed. As Katie later told Pat, Sean was always the voice of reason, the last to get angry. It was Keelin who often lost her temper and, as children, Katie, her sisters and her brother had always known which parent would get upset about something they had done.
In this way, however, Sean balanced his wife. Just as she balanced out his shyness and his tendency to keep to himself. Pat wondered absent-mindedly which parent Katie took after the most. Obviously, Maeve was her father's daughter. Taryn seemed to take after him as well, though Pat couldn't be sure. She stood quietly with her two boys in one corner of the room, watching her parents with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
Pat had a flash of insight at that moment. She was looking at an unhappy young woman. Pat chided herself. What right had she to make assumptions about this woman? They'd only just been introduced. But she had a nagging feeling that she was right. She resolved to ask Katie about it later and then busied herself with little Bryson, who had just climbed up in her lap.
THREE HOURS LATER:
Pat, Hilary, Katie, and Parker had escaped the madness of the Plum household for a while. The children remained behind, none to eager to join their parents on a 'grown-up' walk. Katie was showing her new friends around her childhood haunts. At the moment, Hilary and Parker had gone up ahead so Parker could 'show Hilary something'. Both wives knew that the something must be a house that Parker deemed architecturally brilliant. But Pat didn't resent this competition for Hilary's attention too much at the moment. She wanted to ask Katie about her sister.
"See that little cottage over there?" Katie pointed to a very small home. It was whitewashed, like most houses Pat had seen during their walk. But the door was painted an emerald green, something Pat hadn't seen yet.
"That's where Taryn lives," Katie informed her.
It was the opening Pat had been waiting for. She desperately hoped that she wasn't about to offend her newfound friend.
"Katie, do you mind if I ask you a question?"
Katie gave her a small smile, a rather sad smile actually.
"What is it you want to know about Taryn?"
Pat, despite her misgivings, continued her quest for knowledge.
"It's not that I want to be nosy. And if you say it's none of my business, I'll completely understand. But, why does your sister seem so unhappy? She hardly said a word all afternoon. And I didn't think it was because she was shy."
A small sigh escaped Katie's lips. Pat wondered for a moment if she had gone too far, but Katie answered.
"Oh, she wasn't always that way. Taryn used to be more like our mother, actually. She loved to laugh, loved to dance. Aven I had a hard time kapin' up with her."
"What happened?" Pat asked softly.
"Well, ye have to know more about Taryn to understand. She was a bit av a flirt while we were growin' up. Oh, nothin' disgraceful, but just enough to kape the boys goin' crazy."
Pat hid a smile. Now, why did that sound like someone she knew? Katie continued, defending her sister.
"Av course, I couldn't blame her. She's so exquisitely beautiful. Don't you agree?"
It was true, Pat had to admit. Taryn looked like the fairies Pat used to imagine as a child. She was just a hair taller than Katie's mother, with the same dainty build. Her hair was light brown in color, with several hints of gold and red and her complexion was as creamy as Katie's. Taryn's eyes were hazel, with glints of green in them and they were surrounded by thick, black lashes. Pat reflected, though, that they had held deep sorrow in their depths, even when Taryn smiled or laughed.
"I guess I'm just a proud sister," continued Katie. "I always felt closer to Taryn than I did to the rest of my family. But I'm babbling along now. Let me tell you the full story."
Katie slowed her walk and Pat did the same, realizing Katie didn't want to catch up to Hilary and Parker before her story was finished.
"We began to worry about Taryn around ten years ago. Taryn was seventeen and beginning to worry us. She had no interest in going to the university, though she's one av the smartest people I've iver met. And the thought av marriage didn't seem to appeal to her, either. She was perfectly happy with things as they were. I suppose the boys around here were content, too. She jist didn't seem to have any direction."
Pat nodded her head in understanding. Rae had been the same way not so long ago. She, too, had worried about her sister.
"Anyway, not too long after she turned eighteen, Taryn seemed quieter. Av course, by this time I was married and living in England. But I visited as often as I could manage and there were letters and the occasional phone call. Aven I could see the change in her. We all thought it had somethin' to do with Colin McRae, one av her more serious 'beaus'. You should've seen my parent's faces when Liam Findlay asked them for permission to marry Taryn."
"Who's Liam Findlay?"
"Liam and Eamon grew up together. They were the best av friends. And we had all thought that Liam and Breena had a bit av a romance at one time. But it turned out that Liam had loved Taryn all along. And she loved him. All you had to do was watch her whenever he was around. I recognized the way she looked at him. And Liam treated her like a queen. Anythin' she wanted was given to her. They married in 1935, just before Christmas, and set up housekeeping in that house with the green door."
"What is he like?"
"Liam was tall, almost as tall as my father. He was very handsome, too. Most av the girls around here practically threw themselves at him. He had fair hair and bright blue eyes. His skin was tan and he was very strong. I remember that about him the most. Liam was incredibly strong. Av course, he was a shipbuilder. So was his father, actually. Liam's father worked on the "Titanic". I mean, he was part av the crew that helped to build it."
"You keep saying was, Katie. What happened to Liam?"
Katie's trip down memory lane took a much more sorrowful turn at this point. Pat saw her blink back tears before she continued.
"Liam is dead, Pat. He and his father had gone to Dublin for some reason. I can't remember the reason now. All I remember was getting the phone call from Mother and then getting home to Taryn as quickly as I could. Liam and his father were in an automobile accident. It had been raining all day, the roads were very slippery. The car they were in collided head on with another. His father lived for a few hours, but Liam was killed instantly."
Pat was silent. What would she do if something like that were to ever happen to Hilary? Her heart went out to Taryn. It just wasn't fair to have the person you had planned to spend the rest of your life with so cruelly ripped away from you.
"That was four years ago. Taryn was six months along with Aidan at the time. I think, if it hadn't been for Brendan and Aidan, she never would have found the strength to go on. She loved him so much. We all did."
"I'm sorry if I've upset you with all these questions, Katie. I really had no right to pry."
"Oh, don't be ridiculous," came the reply. Katie began wiping tears off her cheeks. "You're family now, Patsy Gardiner Gordon. You always have been. I think Taryn will be alright. She has her boys. They give her a reason for being. She loves them fiercely, you know."
The two women continued walking in silence. The story of Taryn and Liam had affected both of them greatly. As they crested the top of the next hill, Pat caught sight of Hilary and had to will herself to not run up to him and shower him with kisses. Katie seemed to be thinking the same thing, only about Parker, of course. At any rate, both men found themselves on the receiving end of some welcome affection from their respective wives. As they made their way back to the Plum house, Pat reflected how truly blessed she was to have Hilary and she prayed that would never change.
A/N: I know this chapter was a bit depressing, but you needed some background about Taryn. Also, at the end of this post, I'm putting something on that has nothing to do with either 'Pat of Silver Bush' or L. M. Montgomery. If you have a problem with what I'm going to say, then I feel sorry for you. There isn't much I can do in cases like this, but I will have something to say about it. It's too important to me.
In Loving Memory of Johnny Cash, the Man in Black, whose songs touched a nation and it's people. We know we're with your beloved June now. In Loving Memory of John Ritter, who was taken from this world far too soon. You gave us the gift of laughter and, for that, we are eternally grateful. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of two incredibly gifted and very loved men.