4 Exile

The following morning, when Virgil awoke he was surprised to see Scott dozing in a chair beside the bed, his feet propped up on the bedcover. Hearing his brother stir, Scott opened his eyes. "Scott? What are you doing in my room?"

"Oh, I woke up early and came to see how you were doing. I must have nodded off again."

Virgil looked at his brother, not sure whether to believe him or not. He had vague memories of  a restless night, and of hearing Scott's voice in his sleep. "You don't have to mollycoddle me, Scott. I'm not seven years old any more." After their mother's death, Virgil had suffered from nightmares for several months, and had frequently ended up crawling into his elder brother's bed for comfort and reassurance.

"No, I know you're not," replied Scott, "but you're still my kid brother, and I still want to look after you."

"Maybe you should start looking after yourself a bit more for a change" snapped Virgil, "then I wouldn't have to worry about you quite so much!"

"So you're blaming me for what happened in Italy? Thanks a lot!" and with that Scott turned and headed for the door.

"No, Scott, that's not what I meant!" Virgil called after him, but Scott had already gone. Virgil sank back on the pillows, running his hand through his hair. Great! Yesterday he had reduced Tin Tin to tears, now he had upset Scott. At this rate no-one on the island would be speaking to him by the end of the week.

That day John noticed that the tension in the Tracy household had, if anything, increased. Scott and Virgil seemed to be avoiding each other, and if they were in the same room, seemed to be glaring at each other and keeping conversation to a minimum.

That night Scott knocked on Gordon's door. "Gordon, could you bunk in Alan's room tonight? I'll sleep in yours, so I can be on hand in case Virgil needs me again."

Gordon readily agreed – he could do without another night's drama like the last one.

Scott always was a light sleeper, and he was woken several times that night by noises from Virgil's room, but each time Virgil sank back to sleep at the sound of his brother's reassuring voice. This time Scott made sure he was not there when Virgil woke up.

The following morning Jeff found himself waking up early, and thought he would go and check on how his middle son was doing. From something his mother had said the other day he gathered that the boy was having trouble sleeping. No-one else was stirring as he moved quietly past the rooms belonging to his mother, Scott and John and headed for the stairs. He had offered Scott and Elizabeth the use of the Round House after their marriage, but Scott preferred to stay in the main house, to be on hand if a rescue call came in.

 Jeff had been aware of the tension building up recently. Scott had been in what his brothers tended to call one of his 'black moods' for the last week or so. Normally Virgil was the one who could bring him out again, but Virgil was in no state to help anyone else at the moment.

Jeff arrived at Virgil's door, and was surprised to find it locked. The boys did not usually lock their doors, respecting each other's privacy. However, their father had an over-ride command for all the doors, and keyed it in.

As the door opened, the first thing he saw was Scott, asleep in a chair beside the bed. Weeks of concern for his sons suddenly boiled over into anger. He went over and shook his eldest son by the shoulder. Scott opened his eyes to see his father standing over him, wearing an expression that did not bode well. "Scott!" his father said, his voice a fierce whisper, "I want to talk to you outside, now!"

Scott followed his father out onto the landing. "How long has this been going on? No," he said, as Scott opened his mouth to reply, "don't bother with the excuses. I thought you seemed tired lately. Go back to bed now – I don't want to see you before midday. I'll get John to cover for you." With that he turned and headed for the lounge, not bothering to check if Scott was obeying.

When Ruth Tracy came into the lounge a couple of hours later, she found her son sitting behind his desk. "Mother, I've decided to send Virgil to England until he's fit to return to duty. I've called Penny and she's more than willing to have him. I can't have him upsetting this household any longer." He gave her a brief run-down on what he had found that morning.

"Jeff, is that really fair? You know how close those two are. It would be cruel to separate them like that! How do you think Virgil will feel, if you pack him off like some disobedient child?"

"It's the only solution I can see, Mother. I'll speak to him before he goes, try to get him to understand. If Scott's spending nights sleeping in a chair in Virgil's room, then he's not going to be rested. If a rescue call comes in and Scott makes a mistake because he's tired - " Jeff let the sentence trail away. He looked at his mother, despair in his eyes. "I nearly lost one of them in Florence. I can't risk losing another."

Ruth put her hand on her son's shoulder. She was one of the few who knew the toll it took out of him, constantly sending his sons into danger.

            -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------