MY MOTHER'S SON
Later that evening, Lucas and the rest of the family tried to sit down at the table and have a family dinner together. Of course Kristen, Bridger and Ben were there also.
Henry had only made an occasional appearance to serve the meal before retreating again to the kitchen. Carmel had made loud generalised statements about servitude staff knowing their proper place and their duties. Henry had taken this as a hint that she was talking about him. Although he felt a little more than annoyed, for Lucas's sake and that of his guest's, Henry decided it best to bite his tongue for the time being and saying nothing.
The meal hadn't gone as planned though. Everybody sat in resounding silence for the majority of the time. The silence was only interrupted by the nail-raking voice of Carmel as she spoke to Wally about his short- comings and to Beryl her sister about why she let Wally do half of the things he done. When Carmel had run out of things to say about the hired help and Uncle Wally, she started on Cynthia.
Lucas's had sat through most of the meal, hoping that a mouthful of food would prevent him from saying something he shouldn't. When it came down to Carmel talking about his mother though, Lucas had finally had enough. He didn't see why he had to play this false masquerade of liking the woman just because he was back in her presence.
"And so as you know Cynthia was hopeless with a lot of things..." Carmel was saying out loud.
"You know Aunt Carmel," Lucas said as he got to his feet and picked up his plate and cutlery, "You don't know a damned thing about my mother and what she was like so shut the hell up." he said with annoyance in his voice and with a firmness that even surprised himself.
Everybody at the table was almost sitting with their mouth agape. None of them were angry at him. Most of them had wanted to tell Carmel the same thing, but were just too chicken to do it. Lucas was the last person they thought would say something.
There was a tiredness though and a sadness in his facial expression on Lucas's face that said a thousand words.
"I'll eat in the kitchen with Henry, Captain" Lucas now said to Bridger as he started to walk towards the kitchen door "the company is much better too" he added, looking directly at Carmel when he said it. He was sick of playing polite and nice. He didn't owe her or anybody else an explanation.
"Well I never" Carmel began to stammer after her initial shock of the boy's outburst towards her.
She looked across the table at Uncle Walter though and her expression quickly turned to a frown of displeasure when see saw a grin from ear to ear on the man. He had loved every minute of Lucas's comment and laughed quietly at the gumption he had finally showed towards his overbearing Aunt.
Kristen and Ben had to bite down on their tongues at Lucas's words. They too felt that the woman had deserved everything she got but they were a little worried about the frustration that was beginning to show on Lucas too. They had noticed his tired expression and they knew that he was keeping his emotions too close to himself and not opening up to anybody. He needed to let it hurt if he was going to begin the healing process.
Bridger and his companions had excused themselves not long after Lucas's departure to avoid any more ugliness. Ben and Kristen excused themselves to go to their rooms after a long day. They knew that tomorrow was going to be a rough one on everybody in the house, but more so on Lucas and they wanted to make sure that they were well rested enough to be there for him when he needed it.
Bridger now walked quietly up to the kitchen door to see how Lucas and Henry were doing. When he reached the door, instead of seeing an angry or sad looking teenager, he heard laughter from both Henry and Lucas coming from the other side. When he opened the door slightly, he was able to hear bits and pieces of the conversation that was going on.
They were reminiscing about days gone by when Lucas had lived in the house and times had been much happier. He heard them share escapades that the two of them had had running about the house and playing games together, only to get raked over the coals by Cynthia or Lawrence about the noise or mess that they were making.
Henry certainly had a positive effect on Lucas during this difficult part of the teenager's life. He was glad that Lucas had someone else to turn to outside of the SeaQuest crew. It helped too that Henry was been around when most of the bad stuff happened.
Bridger knocked lightly on the kitchen door, wanting to alert them to his presence before he invited himself into the room. He didn't know if he would be intruding on the conversation or not and loved Lucas enough to respect his privacy and need to talk to other people sometimes.
"Oh Hi Captain" Lucas greeted Bridger as he took a seat at the table. The teenager didn't know if he should be worried that the Captain would be mad at him or not. He didn't feel he had to apologize for anything that he had said or done, but he was a bit nervous all the same.
Bridger could see the uneasiness on the teenager's face as he looked nowhere else but the table in front of him for a few seconds. Bridger decided the best way to show Lucas that he wasn't upset about what had happened at the dinner table was not to mention it at all. He decided just to try and carry on a general conversation and forget all about it and hopefully Lucas would too.
Lucas now decided to tell Henry about the conversation that he and Bridger had earlier on the balcony of his room. "Henry I want to try and dig around a bit while I am here and try and find out what happened to mom." he said bluntly.
Somehow Henry knew the subject would crop up anyway, he just hadn't expected it this early in proceedings. "You know that the police department are carrying out an investigation of their own" Henry started to say, not wanting to persuade his young friend that such things were better left alone to other who knew more about it.
"And you think that they are doing an adequate job Henry?" Lucas now demanded of Henry already knowing the answer before he asked the question. "I've been here a day and I haven't seen anybody here asking questions about what happened or trying to find out mom's killer."
"They were here Lucas. A Captain Jacobson is heading the investigation. He was here with a tribe of cops sifting through everything for fingerprints and clues. They took your mom's night clothes and all the bedding for testing for evidence. They were very thorough as far as a I could see. I could ring him if you like and get him to update us on what he has found so-far with the investigation." Henry explained.
"I know what you are trying to do Henry, and although a feel like punching something right now, I know that I can't just go off on my own. But I don't want somebody else to find the guy and tell me who done it. I want to find out who it was and then ask why they did it. I owe my mother that much as a son." Lucas said as he rubbed tiredly as his eyes.
"I think it's all time we called it a night Lucas" Henry said gently, genuinely worried that Lucas was going to burn himself with his quest to search for his mother's killer. "We still have a lot of emotions to deal with tomorrow" he added, knowing that the next day was going to be particularly difficult on the teenager.
"Yeah" Lucas agreed, recognizing the signs of fatigue that were in his muscles. He had barely slept since receiving the first telephone call and it was all beginning to catch up on him.
"Goodnight all" he said, not worrying about talking further about any of the arrangements for tomorrow. At the moment he didn't really care. He would deal with everything as it came.
Bridger gestured good night to the tired young man and both he and Henry remained seated at the table as they watched the teenager head out of the kitchen and upstairs.
"He's really holding everything in at the moment" Henry now said with concern etched in his words. "I don't know how he is going to cope tomorrow. I know he is going to be upset but I have to be honest that I am worried about him."
"Yeah, he hasn't been sleeping very well since we left the island," Bridger replied, filling Henry in about some of Lucas's reactions to the news before they had come here. "We just all need to be there for him if he needs us. All this animosity between him and Carmel isn't helping any though."
"Oh hopefully tomorrow she will be too busy worried about showing herself off to the guests at the wake and telling them about how she has been there to make sure that everything runs smoothly. She will be too busy with her own reputation and self-pity to worry Lucas too much. I doubt she will even be that upset that it is her sister that is being buried tomorrow. That's just the kind of person she is." Henry said, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.
"How many people are you expecting at the funeral and the wake?" Bridger now asked, out of curiosity and an overwhelming urge to make sure that things didn't get too out of control tomorrow.
"Oh not too many more than are here in the house tonight Nathan" Henry replied. "As you might have guessed, Lucas will be the first to admit that his mother wasn't exactly Miss Popularity with some people. There are a few that would probably say that it was the best thing that could have happened."
"But you know, I lived with that woman over the years, through the good times and the bad. When she first moved in with Lucas's father Lawrence, you couldn't have found a nicer, friendlier woman than Cynthia Holt. When she found out she was expecting a baby, even Lawrence seemed genuinely pleased. Everything seemed to be okay in the family up until Lucas about six years old. That's when Lawrence found himself having major financial difficulties through bad mismanagement and large stock losses at this company World Power."
"That's when he started drinking and coming home and taking his frustrations out on his family. At first it was just Cynthia he would yell out about her frivolous spending and how her passion for a luxurious lifestyle was sending him broker by the day. After a while though, the yelling and physical abuse was just part of the norm. So much so that Cynthia just took it as a routine day. That's when Lawrence decided to turn his frustrations towards Lucas. Cynthia didn't cringe anymore when he wheeled his fist at her or shouted in her face. Lucas, who was six, turning seven at the time did however cringe at the mere presence of his angry father. So much so that there were times that he was just frozen to the spot due to his fear of Lawrence. That made him not only a vulnerable target because of his age and his fear, but an easy one because Lawrence's fists easily reached his little body when he lashed out." Henry said with a mixture of both sadness and anger in his voice.
Henry now looked at Bridger and saw a question forming on the Captain's face as he listened to what had happened to Lucas's family over the years. Bridger had heard the explanations and tales of what had happened on numerous occasions. This version though was by someone else and a different opinion all together about the abuse. No matter how many times he heard the same story, it never got any easier to listen to it and not get angry at Lawrence or feel incredibly sorrow and pity for Lucas who had bore it all in silence for many years.
"I can see it written on your face Captain. Don't worry I am not offended at all. I know your dying to ask if I knew it was happening, why didn't I stop it? I would be offended if you didn't ask it" Henry said as be came to the realisation that Lucas had found a truly great friend in Captain Bridger of the SeaQuest.
"Did you?" Bridger found himself asking, not making judgment on the man or his actions of the day.
Henry now stood up and lifted his shirt to show a long scar that extended from his left side all the way down his chest towards his lower abdomen. The scar was at least ten centimetres long and that was the part that could be seen by the naked eye. The scar continued on underneath Henry's trousers for a few more centimetres. It looked as though it had been caused by a sharp instrument such as a knife. It would have needed many stitches to seal the long gash and would have been terribly painful at the time.
"That's from the first time I tried to stop Lawrence from hitting Lucas" Henry said. He put his shirt down and lifted his foot up onto the chair and lifted his trouser leg. As Bridger looked at the left leg, it was possible to see a deeper more permanent scarring pattern from knee to ankle, signalling that the leg had been badly broken at one point in time.
"That was the last time I tried to shield Lucas from Lawrence. Took six months to be able to use my leg probably without crutches again. Not that I wouldn't have done it. But with Lawrence there was just no reasoning with him. He didn't seem to understand that he wasn't allowed to do that to Lucas or his family. After I was able to leave the hospital, Cynthia moved out with Lucas on her own. I came with her and we came here to live in this place."
"I am sorry for the injuries you received, but truly thank you for trying to help Lucas Henry" Bridger now said, genuinely awed by the man's sacrifice for someone who needed his help.
Bridger now looked at his watch and noticed the late hour. He knew that he would need to get some rest himself too if he was to be ready for Lucas tomorrow. "Well, I'll call it a night Henry."
"Goodnight Nathan" Henry responded, thankful that he was able to talk to someone who cared as much about Lucas as he did.
Nathan had briefly stopped by Lucas's door on his way to his own room, and even held his hand up ready to knock before entering. He held back though on second though in case the boy was asleep. He didn't want to disturb what rest the teenager was getting at the moment. He wanted to check to see if his was alright. He tried turning the door handle and was a little surprised to find it locked. He told himself that the boy deserved some privacy and time to himself. He was pretty sure that the boy would be safe in his own room for the night. He then went to his own room and quickly found himself asleep.
Lucas had heard the footsteps outside his bedroom door and had even guessed that it was the Captain in the hallway. That's exactly the reason why he had taken the precautions to lock the door when he entered the room earlier. His emotions were all over the place. When he had come from the kitchen and talking to Henry about the investigation into his mother's death, all of the raw anger that he felt had turned into a pool of tears and frustration as soon as he had locked the door behind him. He had laid on his bed, waiting to see if the crying would help him fall asleep.
An hour and a half after Lucas had heard Bridger's footsteps in the hallway, the teenager opened the doors to his balcony and stepped out onto it, knowing that sleep wasn't going to come easily that night if at all. He sat down on a chair and started thinking about the times he had spent with his mother. Trying to work out why they had drifted so far apart over the years. Was it all his father's fault that they didn't talk. Was his father to blame for his not visiting or even writing a letter to her . Somehow, as much as he tried to lay the blame on his father, the voice inside his head kept reminding him that he was an adult now and capable of making decisions himself. He could make the decision to visit his mother when he was on shore leave and he could make the decision to write a letter or send a letter, hell even make a phone call once in a while. But he didn't make any of those decisions.
As the night wore on into the wee hours of the morning, Lucas found less and less fault in his father's role in all of this and more and more on him as a failing son. He knew his mother had drank heavily after the divorce from Lawrence. And she had said good riddance to Lawrence the day he was locked up behind bars. She had even told Lucas in the past that he was just as responsible for some of the abuse that he had endured over the years.
Whether or not that was true was a question he had been asking himself the day he signed on SeaQuest. But all the answers and questions in the world didn't make up for him not making the time to try and repair things between him and his mother. If it took him to make the first move or make the first contact, then why didn't he? Was he so ashamed of his family that he just shunned them all. He should have made more of an effort, even it wasn't successful the first few times. He should have kept trying and trying. Now he would never get that chance and such a realisation almost tore his heart out.
It was all of these thoughts running through his head that kept his brain ticking over until those wee small hours of the morning. He walked back inside from the balcony, barely unaware that so much time had pasted. He had been so caught up in his memories that the hours seemed to be only minutes. He looked at the clock on the wall across the other side of the room and saw that the hands showed 5:30am. He would have about an hour an a half before he would have to get up and start making preparations for the long day ahead.
He sat down in one of the arm chairs beside his bed and promptly fell into a deep sleep. It was about an hour later when a sharp knock at the door startled him awake. The door was still locked from the inside.
Lucas slowly got to his feet and answered the knock to find his SeaQuest friend Ben Krieg standing at the door. He was too tired to even manage a half-genuine smile at the man this morning.
"Boy Lucas you really look tired" Ben said as he stated the blatantly obvious. "Didn't you sleep very well last night?" he now asked, unaware of the thoughts from the night before.
"Not really" Lucas answered in a uninterested tone of voice. "Let's go and get some coffee" he now said, trying to deflect attention from himself. He knew he was going to get a chewing out from Bridger and Kristen about how tired he looked, and probably Henry too he told himself.
Whatever comments Kristen and Bridger had on the ends of the tongues this morning, quickly fell away as Lucas walked into the dining room and headed towards the coffee pot. They could see the fatigue and the results of a mostly sleepless night but thought today was not the time to chastise the teenager. Hopefully if the funeral didn't carry on too long Lucas would be able to rest later on in the day before the wake.
The rest of the morning before the commencement of the funeral seemed to go by in a haze for Lucas. He scarcely remembered talking to Henry and Bridger about what his wishes were in regards to his mother's resting place.
They had gotten to the church service a lot earlier than everybody else so that Lucas could view his mother if he so wished. The undertake had made sure that all best make-up processes had been carried out that Lucas wouldn't even notice the injury that caused his mother's death. She was supposed to appear as though in an eternal sleep rather than being dead.
Lucas hadn't really made up his mind whether or not he wanted to see his mother before they sealed the coffin. As he arrived at the church he had assured Kristen and Bridger that he was emotionally up to the challenge.
As he approached the back of the church though and he came nearer to the room where his mother's coffin lay, the emotions hit him full force and he found himself pausing before the entering the doorway. He barely felt his knees give way as he sank to the floor as he tried to hold back the tears.
Bridger and Henry were there to support him in his weakness though. Kristen and Ben made the pathway clear as the teenager was lead out into the open for some space and fresh air to regain his composure.
At the service itself, Lucas sat in between Bridger and Kristen with Henry and Ben close by if they were needed. A few people got up to say some words about Cynthia's life. Most of it of course about the good parts. Lucas himself had planned to get up and say something for his mother, but when it came to do it his legs felt like jelly. He just gave a long sigh and laid his head on Kristen's shoulder as the tears flowed down his face. Kristen was more than happy to put a comforting arm around his trembling shoulders. She couldn't help but cry tears of her own, not for Cynthia so much but for the wonderful young man she was leaving behind.
Ben and Henry had tried to keep the stream of well-wishers and mourners for Lucas to the absolute minimum. Lucas could briefly remember shaking the hands of a few people as they left the church service.
When the church service was over it was them on to the cemetery and a brief grave-side service to lower the coffin and say the final goodbyes.
Aunt Beryl had been as upset as Lucas during some part of the services. Uncle Wally was there to support her. Aunt Carmel stood beside her husband Carl with a stoic look on her face.
Just as the final prayers were being read by the minister, Lucas's attention was distracted from the proceedings by the appearance of a black Mercedes. He watched intently as the car pulled up some distance from the actual service. Two people, a man and a woman could be seen getting out from the vehicle and walking towards the small gathering beside Cynthia's grave.
Bridger had not known anything was wrong at first. He had his arm around Lucas as he stood beside the teenager. Kristen and Ben stood on the boy's right side for support. As soon as Lucas recognized who the pair were, Bridger could feel the boy's shoulders tense up.
Lucas leaned back towards Henry "Who the hell invited them Henry?" he demanded, not able to hide the contempt from his voice.
"I don't know Lucas, I am sorry, I didn't know they would be here" Henry replied.
Before Ben or Henry could move to stop the pair, they had already approached the gathering and were now only a few feet from Lucas. Kristen didn't recognize either of them and nobody had said who they were just yet.
Something about the woman's features though sent a shiver up Bridger's spine. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but it was almost as if he had seen her somewhere before.
"Lucas, I am so sorry about your mother's passing" the woman now said as she attempted to put her hand on the boy's shoulder. Lucas however was not having a bar of this woman anywhere near him and pulled away violently, causing Bridger to take a step back in order to maintain his balance.
"Tsk Tsk, you still don't hold a grudge against me do you Lucas?" the woman asked with an air of sarcasm in her words.
"You are not welcome here so get out" Lucas shouted back angrily not wanting to hear anything she had to say.
Before anybody could react, there was a resound slap as the woman's hand struck the side of the boy's face.
Lucas lifted his hand to the reddened area but refused to display the utter shock that he felt at the physical blow he received.
Both Ben and Bridger were about to demand why the woman had struck him but Henry shook his head briefly at both of them signalling that everything was under control.
The woman herself now seemed to show her own shock at what she had done. "Lucas...I am sorry...I don't know what came over me" she began to say.
"Hitting people just runs in your family" Lucas said back through clenched teeth and then walked away from the entire group, not wanting to say anything more to her or even give her one more second of his time.
"We will attend the reading of the will tomorrow" the woman coolly told Henry and then turned around and headed back towards the car with the man. The fellow had not said a word during the whole episode nor tried to introduce himself to anybody.
"The vultures are out already" Carmel could be heard to say a little too loud as she showed her own dislike of the woman. With Carmel it was just assumed that she didn't like very many people at all.
But Lucas's reaction had been a total surprise and a little worrisome.
"Let's head back to the house Beryl" Carmel now said as she tried to walk away from the tense situation. Beryl nodded at Uncle Wally signalling that she too wanted to head back.
That just left Henry, Ben Kristen and Bridger standing beside Cynthia's grave with the minister. He too had been a little left in the dark by the appearance of the man and woman. Lucas was standing a few hundred metres away beside a few other headstones in the cemetery. The minister bid his goodbyes to them and headed over towards the boy, happy enough for the service to be completed.
"Who was that woman and why did she hit Lucas?" Ben now asked Henry. The question was on everybody's lips.
"Her name is Amanda. His name is Jerry. She is Lawrence's sister." Henry replied, knowing that the crew wouldn't take long to make the connection.
Bridger now nodded his head as it struck him why the woman had looked so familiar. She looking very much like her brother, even down to the hair colouring and the facial features. No wonder Lucas couldn't stand to be around her. Every time he looked at her all he saw was his father.
Kristen looked over towards Lucas and saw that the minister had already walked away. The teenager was now standing on his own looking back towards them around the grave.
The workmen were standing nearby waiting for everybody to leave before they started filling in the grave. Kristen wanted Lucas to be away from that if possible. She didn't think that that was something that he needed to see.
"I should really go and get things ready for the wake" Henry now said.
"I'll go and talk to Lucas" Ben offered, dead parties not really being his scene. He didn't know why they had parties for dead people. It seemed like such a silly idea. Normally he wasn't one to knock back a party invitation but these sort of parties just left him feeling uncomfortable.
"We can go and help you Henry", Kristen offered, indicating her and Bridger. The Captain looked to the teenager and felt that he should be there for Lucas but then seeing the almost pleading look on Ben's face to get out of being involved in such things, nodded his head in agreement. Given the circumstances maybe Ben was the best person for Lucas to be with right now.
Ben headed off towards Lucas whilst Bridger and Kristen followed Henry back towards the house.
The workman now moved in and began the task of filling in the giant hole. Ben made sure that Lucas was well out of view while that was all happening.
An hour or so later, Ben suddenly appeared amidst the preparations for the wake. Bridger and Kristen were helping Henry to lay out the plates of food before everybody arrived.
"Where's Lucas" Bridger asked. He hadn't even heard Ben or him come back from outside.
"Upstairs in his room, that's why I came to see Kristen. I think she should take a look at him for a minute." Ben said with concern in his voice.
Kristen and Bridger immediately excused themselves for a few minutes and headed up the stairs to Lucas's room. When they got there, Ben carefully opened the door and they all went inside.
Upon entering, everybody made sure that they were extremely quiet. They could see Lucas stretched out on his bed, apparently sleeping.
Ben pulled Bridger and Kristen away from the bed for a few seconds to explain what had happened since leaving the gravesite.
"We went back to the grave after the workmen had finished covering in the hole" Ben said. "At first we just sat there in silence. He didn't say anything and I just waited for as long as he needed me."
"After a while he started to feel a bit cold. I told him to come inside so we did. He wanted to use the back door to avoid everybody. I just thought you should look him over Kristen. He looked so tired and distressed out there just before. I am just worried about him." Ben said honestly.
Kristen smiled at Ben's openness. It didn't take a genius to work out that Ben cared for Lucas just as she and Bridger and Henry did. She now walked over towards the bed to try and gauge if it was just emotions that was wrong with Lucas.
She felt a lump rising in her throat as she gazed down at the sleeping figure. His blond hair was fanned out on the white pillow as he slept. His face was free of all worry and sadness at the moment, almost untouched. It was slightly red from his crying but no other unnatural shades of colour that Kristen could see.
She put the back of her hand to his cheek to feel for warmth and was relieved when she felt a normal skin temperature. Lucas mumbled something incoherent at the touch to his face and now turned over on his side and fell into a much deeper sleep.
Bridger busied himself with taking the boy's shoes and socks off while Kristen loosened the tie around his neck and removed his suit jacket. He hadn't awoken during any of their administrations.
Once they were sure that he was comfortable enough, Kristen draped a warm quilt from the bed over his sleeping form and the three of them left Lucas to sleep in peace.
When they were in the hallway again, Kristen informed them that there was nothing wrong with him that a nice long sleep wouldn't fix. She made a note to tell Henry and the others not to disturb the teenager until he woke on his own later on.
TO BE CONTINUED ................... LOTS MORE TO BE ADDED - THE ELFY STUFF TO COME SOON. STILL TRYING TO INTRODUCE THE CAST OF CHARACTERS. I THINK THAT'S ALL OF THEM. NOW TO DO THE WHO DONE IT BITS AND WHY THEY MIGHT HAVE AND SO FORTH...........
I STILL HAVEN'T GOT MY URGE TO WRITE YET AND THAT'S WHY I HAVEN'T FINISHED THE XMAS STORY FINISHED YET - MAYBE IT WILL BE XMAS IN JULY - WILL TRY TO UPDATE AGAIN SOON....
JULES
Later that evening, Lucas and the rest of the family tried to sit down at the table and have a family dinner together. Of course Kristen, Bridger and Ben were there also.
Henry had only made an occasional appearance to serve the meal before retreating again to the kitchen. Carmel had made loud generalised statements about servitude staff knowing their proper place and their duties. Henry had taken this as a hint that she was talking about him. Although he felt a little more than annoyed, for Lucas's sake and that of his guest's, Henry decided it best to bite his tongue for the time being and saying nothing.
The meal hadn't gone as planned though. Everybody sat in resounding silence for the majority of the time. The silence was only interrupted by the nail-raking voice of Carmel as she spoke to Wally about his short- comings and to Beryl her sister about why she let Wally do half of the things he done. When Carmel had run out of things to say about the hired help and Uncle Wally, she started on Cynthia.
Lucas's had sat through most of the meal, hoping that a mouthful of food would prevent him from saying something he shouldn't. When it came down to Carmel talking about his mother though, Lucas had finally had enough. He didn't see why he had to play this false masquerade of liking the woman just because he was back in her presence.
"And so as you know Cynthia was hopeless with a lot of things..." Carmel was saying out loud.
"You know Aunt Carmel," Lucas said as he got to his feet and picked up his plate and cutlery, "You don't know a damned thing about my mother and what she was like so shut the hell up." he said with annoyance in his voice and with a firmness that even surprised himself.
Everybody at the table was almost sitting with their mouth agape. None of them were angry at him. Most of them had wanted to tell Carmel the same thing, but were just too chicken to do it. Lucas was the last person they thought would say something.
There was a tiredness though and a sadness in his facial expression on Lucas's face that said a thousand words.
"I'll eat in the kitchen with Henry, Captain" Lucas now said to Bridger as he started to walk towards the kitchen door "the company is much better too" he added, looking directly at Carmel when he said it. He was sick of playing polite and nice. He didn't owe her or anybody else an explanation.
"Well I never" Carmel began to stammer after her initial shock of the boy's outburst towards her.
She looked across the table at Uncle Walter though and her expression quickly turned to a frown of displeasure when see saw a grin from ear to ear on the man. He had loved every minute of Lucas's comment and laughed quietly at the gumption he had finally showed towards his overbearing Aunt.
Kristen and Ben had to bite down on their tongues at Lucas's words. They too felt that the woman had deserved everything she got but they were a little worried about the frustration that was beginning to show on Lucas too. They had noticed his tired expression and they knew that he was keeping his emotions too close to himself and not opening up to anybody. He needed to let it hurt if he was going to begin the healing process.
Bridger and his companions had excused themselves not long after Lucas's departure to avoid any more ugliness. Ben and Kristen excused themselves to go to their rooms after a long day. They knew that tomorrow was going to be a rough one on everybody in the house, but more so on Lucas and they wanted to make sure that they were well rested enough to be there for him when he needed it.
Bridger now walked quietly up to the kitchen door to see how Lucas and Henry were doing. When he reached the door, instead of seeing an angry or sad looking teenager, he heard laughter from both Henry and Lucas coming from the other side. When he opened the door slightly, he was able to hear bits and pieces of the conversation that was going on.
They were reminiscing about days gone by when Lucas had lived in the house and times had been much happier. He heard them share escapades that the two of them had had running about the house and playing games together, only to get raked over the coals by Cynthia or Lawrence about the noise or mess that they were making.
Henry certainly had a positive effect on Lucas during this difficult part of the teenager's life. He was glad that Lucas had someone else to turn to outside of the SeaQuest crew. It helped too that Henry was been around when most of the bad stuff happened.
Bridger knocked lightly on the kitchen door, wanting to alert them to his presence before he invited himself into the room. He didn't know if he would be intruding on the conversation or not and loved Lucas enough to respect his privacy and need to talk to other people sometimes.
"Oh Hi Captain" Lucas greeted Bridger as he took a seat at the table. The teenager didn't know if he should be worried that the Captain would be mad at him or not. He didn't feel he had to apologize for anything that he had said or done, but he was a bit nervous all the same.
Bridger could see the uneasiness on the teenager's face as he looked nowhere else but the table in front of him for a few seconds. Bridger decided the best way to show Lucas that he wasn't upset about what had happened at the dinner table was not to mention it at all. He decided just to try and carry on a general conversation and forget all about it and hopefully Lucas would too.
Lucas now decided to tell Henry about the conversation that he and Bridger had earlier on the balcony of his room. "Henry I want to try and dig around a bit while I am here and try and find out what happened to mom." he said bluntly.
Somehow Henry knew the subject would crop up anyway, he just hadn't expected it this early in proceedings. "You know that the police department are carrying out an investigation of their own" Henry started to say, not wanting to persuade his young friend that such things were better left alone to other who knew more about it.
"And you think that they are doing an adequate job Henry?" Lucas now demanded of Henry already knowing the answer before he asked the question. "I've been here a day and I haven't seen anybody here asking questions about what happened or trying to find out mom's killer."
"They were here Lucas. A Captain Jacobson is heading the investigation. He was here with a tribe of cops sifting through everything for fingerprints and clues. They took your mom's night clothes and all the bedding for testing for evidence. They were very thorough as far as a I could see. I could ring him if you like and get him to update us on what he has found so-far with the investigation." Henry explained.
"I know what you are trying to do Henry, and although a feel like punching something right now, I know that I can't just go off on my own. But I don't want somebody else to find the guy and tell me who done it. I want to find out who it was and then ask why they did it. I owe my mother that much as a son." Lucas said as he rubbed tiredly as his eyes.
"I think it's all time we called it a night Lucas" Henry said gently, genuinely worried that Lucas was going to burn himself with his quest to search for his mother's killer. "We still have a lot of emotions to deal with tomorrow" he added, knowing that the next day was going to be particularly difficult on the teenager.
"Yeah" Lucas agreed, recognizing the signs of fatigue that were in his muscles. He had barely slept since receiving the first telephone call and it was all beginning to catch up on him.
"Goodnight all" he said, not worrying about talking further about any of the arrangements for tomorrow. At the moment he didn't really care. He would deal with everything as it came.
Bridger gestured good night to the tired young man and both he and Henry remained seated at the table as they watched the teenager head out of the kitchen and upstairs.
"He's really holding everything in at the moment" Henry now said with concern etched in his words. "I don't know how he is going to cope tomorrow. I know he is going to be upset but I have to be honest that I am worried about him."
"Yeah, he hasn't been sleeping very well since we left the island," Bridger replied, filling Henry in about some of Lucas's reactions to the news before they had come here. "We just all need to be there for him if he needs us. All this animosity between him and Carmel isn't helping any though."
"Oh hopefully tomorrow she will be too busy worried about showing herself off to the guests at the wake and telling them about how she has been there to make sure that everything runs smoothly. She will be too busy with her own reputation and self-pity to worry Lucas too much. I doubt she will even be that upset that it is her sister that is being buried tomorrow. That's just the kind of person she is." Henry said, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.
"How many people are you expecting at the funeral and the wake?" Bridger now asked, out of curiosity and an overwhelming urge to make sure that things didn't get too out of control tomorrow.
"Oh not too many more than are here in the house tonight Nathan" Henry replied. "As you might have guessed, Lucas will be the first to admit that his mother wasn't exactly Miss Popularity with some people. There are a few that would probably say that it was the best thing that could have happened."
"But you know, I lived with that woman over the years, through the good times and the bad. When she first moved in with Lucas's father Lawrence, you couldn't have found a nicer, friendlier woman than Cynthia Holt. When she found out she was expecting a baby, even Lawrence seemed genuinely pleased. Everything seemed to be okay in the family up until Lucas about six years old. That's when Lawrence found himself having major financial difficulties through bad mismanagement and large stock losses at this company World Power."
"That's when he started drinking and coming home and taking his frustrations out on his family. At first it was just Cynthia he would yell out about her frivolous spending and how her passion for a luxurious lifestyle was sending him broker by the day. After a while though, the yelling and physical abuse was just part of the norm. So much so that Cynthia just took it as a routine day. That's when Lawrence decided to turn his frustrations towards Lucas. Cynthia didn't cringe anymore when he wheeled his fist at her or shouted in her face. Lucas, who was six, turning seven at the time did however cringe at the mere presence of his angry father. So much so that there were times that he was just frozen to the spot due to his fear of Lawrence. That made him not only a vulnerable target because of his age and his fear, but an easy one because Lawrence's fists easily reached his little body when he lashed out." Henry said with a mixture of both sadness and anger in his voice.
Henry now looked at Bridger and saw a question forming on the Captain's face as he listened to what had happened to Lucas's family over the years. Bridger had heard the explanations and tales of what had happened on numerous occasions. This version though was by someone else and a different opinion all together about the abuse. No matter how many times he heard the same story, it never got any easier to listen to it and not get angry at Lawrence or feel incredibly sorrow and pity for Lucas who had bore it all in silence for many years.
"I can see it written on your face Captain. Don't worry I am not offended at all. I know your dying to ask if I knew it was happening, why didn't I stop it? I would be offended if you didn't ask it" Henry said as be came to the realisation that Lucas had found a truly great friend in Captain Bridger of the SeaQuest.
"Did you?" Bridger found himself asking, not making judgment on the man or his actions of the day.
Henry now stood up and lifted his shirt to show a long scar that extended from his left side all the way down his chest towards his lower abdomen. The scar was at least ten centimetres long and that was the part that could be seen by the naked eye. The scar continued on underneath Henry's trousers for a few more centimetres. It looked as though it had been caused by a sharp instrument such as a knife. It would have needed many stitches to seal the long gash and would have been terribly painful at the time.
"That's from the first time I tried to stop Lawrence from hitting Lucas" Henry said. He put his shirt down and lifted his foot up onto the chair and lifted his trouser leg. As Bridger looked at the left leg, it was possible to see a deeper more permanent scarring pattern from knee to ankle, signalling that the leg had been badly broken at one point in time.
"That was the last time I tried to shield Lucas from Lawrence. Took six months to be able to use my leg probably without crutches again. Not that I wouldn't have done it. But with Lawrence there was just no reasoning with him. He didn't seem to understand that he wasn't allowed to do that to Lucas or his family. After I was able to leave the hospital, Cynthia moved out with Lucas on her own. I came with her and we came here to live in this place."
"I am sorry for the injuries you received, but truly thank you for trying to help Lucas Henry" Bridger now said, genuinely awed by the man's sacrifice for someone who needed his help.
Bridger now looked at his watch and noticed the late hour. He knew that he would need to get some rest himself too if he was to be ready for Lucas tomorrow. "Well, I'll call it a night Henry."
"Goodnight Nathan" Henry responded, thankful that he was able to talk to someone who cared as much about Lucas as he did.
Nathan had briefly stopped by Lucas's door on his way to his own room, and even held his hand up ready to knock before entering. He held back though on second though in case the boy was asleep. He didn't want to disturb what rest the teenager was getting at the moment. He wanted to check to see if his was alright. He tried turning the door handle and was a little surprised to find it locked. He told himself that the boy deserved some privacy and time to himself. He was pretty sure that the boy would be safe in his own room for the night. He then went to his own room and quickly found himself asleep.
Lucas had heard the footsteps outside his bedroom door and had even guessed that it was the Captain in the hallway. That's exactly the reason why he had taken the precautions to lock the door when he entered the room earlier. His emotions were all over the place. When he had come from the kitchen and talking to Henry about the investigation into his mother's death, all of the raw anger that he felt had turned into a pool of tears and frustration as soon as he had locked the door behind him. He had laid on his bed, waiting to see if the crying would help him fall asleep.
An hour and a half after Lucas had heard Bridger's footsteps in the hallway, the teenager opened the doors to his balcony and stepped out onto it, knowing that sleep wasn't going to come easily that night if at all. He sat down on a chair and started thinking about the times he had spent with his mother. Trying to work out why they had drifted so far apart over the years. Was it all his father's fault that they didn't talk. Was his father to blame for his not visiting or even writing a letter to her . Somehow, as much as he tried to lay the blame on his father, the voice inside his head kept reminding him that he was an adult now and capable of making decisions himself. He could make the decision to visit his mother when he was on shore leave and he could make the decision to write a letter or send a letter, hell even make a phone call once in a while. But he didn't make any of those decisions.
As the night wore on into the wee hours of the morning, Lucas found less and less fault in his father's role in all of this and more and more on him as a failing son. He knew his mother had drank heavily after the divorce from Lawrence. And she had said good riddance to Lawrence the day he was locked up behind bars. She had even told Lucas in the past that he was just as responsible for some of the abuse that he had endured over the years.
Whether or not that was true was a question he had been asking himself the day he signed on SeaQuest. But all the answers and questions in the world didn't make up for him not making the time to try and repair things between him and his mother. If it took him to make the first move or make the first contact, then why didn't he? Was he so ashamed of his family that he just shunned them all. He should have made more of an effort, even it wasn't successful the first few times. He should have kept trying and trying. Now he would never get that chance and such a realisation almost tore his heart out.
It was all of these thoughts running through his head that kept his brain ticking over until those wee small hours of the morning. He walked back inside from the balcony, barely unaware that so much time had pasted. He had been so caught up in his memories that the hours seemed to be only minutes. He looked at the clock on the wall across the other side of the room and saw that the hands showed 5:30am. He would have about an hour an a half before he would have to get up and start making preparations for the long day ahead.
He sat down in one of the arm chairs beside his bed and promptly fell into a deep sleep. It was about an hour later when a sharp knock at the door startled him awake. The door was still locked from the inside.
Lucas slowly got to his feet and answered the knock to find his SeaQuest friend Ben Krieg standing at the door. He was too tired to even manage a half-genuine smile at the man this morning.
"Boy Lucas you really look tired" Ben said as he stated the blatantly obvious. "Didn't you sleep very well last night?" he now asked, unaware of the thoughts from the night before.
"Not really" Lucas answered in a uninterested tone of voice. "Let's go and get some coffee" he now said, trying to deflect attention from himself. He knew he was going to get a chewing out from Bridger and Kristen about how tired he looked, and probably Henry too he told himself.
Whatever comments Kristen and Bridger had on the ends of the tongues this morning, quickly fell away as Lucas walked into the dining room and headed towards the coffee pot. They could see the fatigue and the results of a mostly sleepless night but thought today was not the time to chastise the teenager. Hopefully if the funeral didn't carry on too long Lucas would be able to rest later on in the day before the wake.
The rest of the morning before the commencement of the funeral seemed to go by in a haze for Lucas. He scarcely remembered talking to Henry and Bridger about what his wishes were in regards to his mother's resting place.
They had gotten to the church service a lot earlier than everybody else so that Lucas could view his mother if he so wished. The undertake had made sure that all best make-up processes had been carried out that Lucas wouldn't even notice the injury that caused his mother's death. She was supposed to appear as though in an eternal sleep rather than being dead.
Lucas hadn't really made up his mind whether or not he wanted to see his mother before they sealed the coffin. As he arrived at the church he had assured Kristen and Bridger that he was emotionally up to the challenge.
As he approached the back of the church though and he came nearer to the room where his mother's coffin lay, the emotions hit him full force and he found himself pausing before the entering the doorway. He barely felt his knees give way as he sank to the floor as he tried to hold back the tears.
Bridger and Henry were there to support him in his weakness though. Kristen and Ben made the pathway clear as the teenager was lead out into the open for some space and fresh air to regain his composure.
At the service itself, Lucas sat in between Bridger and Kristen with Henry and Ben close by if they were needed. A few people got up to say some words about Cynthia's life. Most of it of course about the good parts. Lucas himself had planned to get up and say something for his mother, but when it came to do it his legs felt like jelly. He just gave a long sigh and laid his head on Kristen's shoulder as the tears flowed down his face. Kristen was more than happy to put a comforting arm around his trembling shoulders. She couldn't help but cry tears of her own, not for Cynthia so much but for the wonderful young man she was leaving behind.
Ben and Henry had tried to keep the stream of well-wishers and mourners for Lucas to the absolute minimum. Lucas could briefly remember shaking the hands of a few people as they left the church service.
When the church service was over it was them on to the cemetery and a brief grave-side service to lower the coffin and say the final goodbyes.
Aunt Beryl had been as upset as Lucas during some part of the services. Uncle Wally was there to support her. Aunt Carmel stood beside her husband Carl with a stoic look on her face.
Just as the final prayers were being read by the minister, Lucas's attention was distracted from the proceedings by the appearance of a black Mercedes. He watched intently as the car pulled up some distance from the actual service. Two people, a man and a woman could be seen getting out from the vehicle and walking towards the small gathering beside Cynthia's grave.
Bridger had not known anything was wrong at first. He had his arm around Lucas as he stood beside the teenager. Kristen and Ben stood on the boy's right side for support. As soon as Lucas recognized who the pair were, Bridger could feel the boy's shoulders tense up.
Lucas leaned back towards Henry "Who the hell invited them Henry?" he demanded, not able to hide the contempt from his voice.
"I don't know Lucas, I am sorry, I didn't know they would be here" Henry replied.
Before Ben or Henry could move to stop the pair, they had already approached the gathering and were now only a few feet from Lucas. Kristen didn't recognize either of them and nobody had said who they were just yet.
Something about the woman's features though sent a shiver up Bridger's spine. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but it was almost as if he had seen her somewhere before.
"Lucas, I am so sorry about your mother's passing" the woman now said as she attempted to put her hand on the boy's shoulder. Lucas however was not having a bar of this woman anywhere near him and pulled away violently, causing Bridger to take a step back in order to maintain his balance.
"Tsk Tsk, you still don't hold a grudge against me do you Lucas?" the woman asked with an air of sarcasm in her words.
"You are not welcome here so get out" Lucas shouted back angrily not wanting to hear anything she had to say.
Before anybody could react, there was a resound slap as the woman's hand struck the side of the boy's face.
Lucas lifted his hand to the reddened area but refused to display the utter shock that he felt at the physical blow he received.
Both Ben and Bridger were about to demand why the woman had struck him but Henry shook his head briefly at both of them signalling that everything was under control.
The woman herself now seemed to show her own shock at what she had done. "Lucas...I am sorry...I don't know what came over me" she began to say.
"Hitting people just runs in your family" Lucas said back through clenched teeth and then walked away from the entire group, not wanting to say anything more to her or even give her one more second of his time.
"We will attend the reading of the will tomorrow" the woman coolly told Henry and then turned around and headed back towards the car with the man. The fellow had not said a word during the whole episode nor tried to introduce himself to anybody.
"The vultures are out already" Carmel could be heard to say a little too loud as she showed her own dislike of the woman. With Carmel it was just assumed that she didn't like very many people at all.
But Lucas's reaction had been a total surprise and a little worrisome.
"Let's head back to the house Beryl" Carmel now said as she tried to walk away from the tense situation. Beryl nodded at Uncle Wally signalling that she too wanted to head back.
That just left Henry, Ben Kristen and Bridger standing beside Cynthia's grave with the minister. He too had been a little left in the dark by the appearance of the man and woman. Lucas was standing a few hundred metres away beside a few other headstones in the cemetery. The minister bid his goodbyes to them and headed over towards the boy, happy enough for the service to be completed.
"Who was that woman and why did she hit Lucas?" Ben now asked Henry. The question was on everybody's lips.
"Her name is Amanda. His name is Jerry. She is Lawrence's sister." Henry replied, knowing that the crew wouldn't take long to make the connection.
Bridger now nodded his head as it struck him why the woman had looked so familiar. She looking very much like her brother, even down to the hair colouring and the facial features. No wonder Lucas couldn't stand to be around her. Every time he looked at her all he saw was his father.
Kristen looked over towards Lucas and saw that the minister had already walked away. The teenager was now standing on his own looking back towards them around the grave.
The workmen were standing nearby waiting for everybody to leave before they started filling in the grave. Kristen wanted Lucas to be away from that if possible. She didn't think that that was something that he needed to see.
"I should really go and get things ready for the wake" Henry now said.
"I'll go and talk to Lucas" Ben offered, dead parties not really being his scene. He didn't know why they had parties for dead people. It seemed like such a silly idea. Normally he wasn't one to knock back a party invitation but these sort of parties just left him feeling uncomfortable.
"We can go and help you Henry", Kristen offered, indicating her and Bridger. The Captain looked to the teenager and felt that he should be there for Lucas but then seeing the almost pleading look on Ben's face to get out of being involved in such things, nodded his head in agreement. Given the circumstances maybe Ben was the best person for Lucas to be with right now.
Ben headed off towards Lucas whilst Bridger and Kristen followed Henry back towards the house.
The workman now moved in and began the task of filling in the giant hole. Ben made sure that Lucas was well out of view while that was all happening.
An hour or so later, Ben suddenly appeared amidst the preparations for the wake. Bridger and Kristen were helping Henry to lay out the plates of food before everybody arrived.
"Where's Lucas" Bridger asked. He hadn't even heard Ben or him come back from outside.
"Upstairs in his room, that's why I came to see Kristen. I think she should take a look at him for a minute." Ben said with concern in his voice.
Kristen and Bridger immediately excused themselves for a few minutes and headed up the stairs to Lucas's room. When they got there, Ben carefully opened the door and they all went inside.
Upon entering, everybody made sure that they were extremely quiet. They could see Lucas stretched out on his bed, apparently sleeping.
Ben pulled Bridger and Kristen away from the bed for a few seconds to explain what had happened since leaving the gravesite.
"We went back to the grave after the workmen had finished covering in the hole" Ben said. "At first we just sat there in silence. He didn't say anything and I just waited for as long as he needed me."
"After a while he started to feel a bit cold. I told him to come inside so we did. He wanted to use the back door to avoid everybody. I just thought you should look him over Kristen. He looked so tired and distressed out there just before. I am just worried about him." Ben said honestly.
Kristen smiled at Ben's openness. It didn't take a genius to work out that Ben cared for Lucas just as she and Bridger and Henry did. She now walked over towards the bed to try and gauge if it was just emotions that was wrong with Lucas.
She felt a lump rising in her throat as she gazed down at the sleeping figure. His blond hair was fanned out on the white pillow as he slept. His face was free of all worry and sadness at the moment, almost untouched. It was slightly red from his crying but no other unnatural shades of colour that Kristen could see.
She put the back of her hand to his cheek to feel for warmth and was relieved when she felt a normal skin temperature. Lucas mumbled something incoherent at the touch to his face and now turned over on his side and fell into a much deeper sleep.
Bridger busied himself with taking the boy's shoes and socks off while Kristen loosened the tie around his neck and removed his suit jacket. He hadn't awoken during any of their administrations.
Once they were sure that he was comfortable enough, Kristen draped a warm quilt from the bed over his sleeping form and the three of them left Lucas to sleep in peace.
When they were in the hallway again, Kristen informed them that there was nothing wrong with him that a nice long sleep wouldn't fix. She made a note to tell Henry and the others not to disturb the teenager until he woke on his own later on.
TO BE CONTINUED ................... LOTS MORE TO BE ADDED - THE ELFY STUFF TO COME SOON. STILL TRYING TO INTRODUCE THE CAST OF CHARACTERS. I THINK THAT'S ALL OF THEM. NOW TO DO THE WHO DONE IT BITS AND WHY THEY MIGHT HAVE AND SO FORTH...........
I STILL HAVEN'T GOT MY URGE TO WRITE YET AND THAT'S WHY I HAVEN'T FINISHED THE XMAS STORY FINISHED YET - MAYBE IT WILL BE XMAS IN JULY - WILL TRY TO UPDATE AGAIN SOON....
JULES