"Guilty." Came the jury's announcement. An instant wave of muttering swept it's way among the people of the gallery. Behind me, Sasha let out a long moan, then reached forward and tugged at my hair.

"I hope you're happy now." She tore at my hair like an angry schoolgirl. "My baby… My poor, poor baby… She didn't do this. She didn't. You lying little…"

"Silence!" The judge yelled, hammering on the table in front of him. Sasha's hands fell from the back of my head and she rested her own face in them, sobbing pitifully. Jack put his hand on my shoulder. When I looked up at his face he gently patted my cheek. His eyes seemed to be saying "See, it's all over now." Clenching hands on my stomach released their grip for the first time in years. I thought to myself "I should be smiling…" but I didn't. I only felt like bursting into tears.

"Karen Miller," The judge looked down at the pale girl. "You have committed a despicable crime. When you pushed Mary Johnson down the stairs, you were thinking only of yourself, and what you could gain from it. Today could have easily have been a murder case. You didn't think of the pain that this would cause her family and indeed, her husband, who you claim to love so much. As it is, you have caused Mrs Johnson an unspeakable amount of pain and damage, not just on the night in question, but for most of her life. You will thereby be held at Oakdale Women's Department of correction for three months, when we will meet again to determine your sentence." He nodded at two policemen by the side, who took hold of Karen's arms.

"No!" Sasha rushed forward and touched her daughter's arm. "We'll get you out of there." She promised. "We'll get you out of there, Karen, I promise."

People began to leave their seats, shaking their heads and discussing things between themselves. Jack rose, and waited for me to do the same but my legs were tingling so much that I found it hard to move. I looked over at Jeff, who was standing there watching as they led his daughter away and his wife let out fitful tears. Jack looked across at me and instantly read my thoughts.

"You did the right thing, Mary. Don't ever doubt it, okay? I know it might not seem like it but this is best. It's best for Karen and her parents."

"I know." I eventually found my feet. "But it doesn't make it any easier to watch."

Jeff crumpled and wiped the sweat from his forehead. I took a tiny step towards him.

"D'ya wanna talk to him?" Jack asked. "Maybe you could say something…"

I shook my head. "You remember that time in the square? When you said that talking to Gray wasn't going to make him hurt any less, it was only going to make me hurt less? Well, I think this is one of those times. I could tell him that I'm sorry about what's happened but it's not going to change anything. They're best left to their own pain now."

He smiled and tucked his arm around my shoulders. "Okay." He whispered. "Lets get out of here, yeah?"

We spent that night in the city alone in the hotel room. There was no question of going out. It had been a long, long day and my head was too full to take in a single sight. Instead I fell asleep early in Jack's arms and when I awoke the next morning he had already packed all of out clothes and belongings ready for the boat trip home. I thought of the village, of Charlie, Elli and my parents and smiled sleepily. It had seemed like another, very safe, world and it was a world I was happy to return to.

Sasha and Jeff were travelling to Oakdale to be close to Karen for a while, so we did not have to share a boat trip home with them. Jack and I sat out on the deck and ate our breakfast, automatically comparing it to the freshly grown food back home. He brushed off my compliments about the vegetables he grew that we once cooked up for dinner every night and it almost felt like things were back to normal. Almost.

"I wasn't gonna say anything… but… Mary… When we get back home, will you come back to the farm? I know we said we were taking things slowly but I miss having you around. I want to wake up with you like we did today, and come home to your cooking."

"is that all you miss?' I laughed. "Having me cook for you?"

"Of course not!" His feet were tapping on the wooden boards beneath us. "Y'know what I mean, don't ya? If you don't want to, I'll understand."

I smiled out at the shimmering ocean, a distant blur of land rapidly coming clearer into our view. "It's strange but I can't think of my parents' place as home anymore. The farm will always be home. I'd like to move back there, yes. And I know Charlie would too. He misses his Dad. We both do."

His kisses fizzed with his unspoken happiness and when we walked down the pier and on to the beach, our hands were clasped tightly together.

Over the next week, the village was flooded with wedding arrangements. Talk of Karen and the trial was swiftly swept to one side and replaced with discussion of hats, dresses and party food. Doug was providing the spread of course and he met with Elli and the doctor almost everyday to share new ideas with them. With this, and a million other things going on, Elli and I couldn't spend very much time together. Fortunately I was equally as busy moving all Charlie's and my belongings into the farmhouse and settling back into married life. I had expected it to be a very slow process. A lot had happened and there was a lot to get used to, but surprisingly we slipped into what seemed like a second honeymoon period.

On the morning before the wedding day Jack caught my hand at breakfast and pulled me into his lap. He had awoken before me and fed Charlie his breakfast before cracking the eggs into a pan for ourselves. I had been slightly put out about this. When I was growing up My Mother had always made it her rigid duty to prepare my Father and I all our meals, and doing the same for Jack and Charlie gave me some sort of satisfaction. It was impossible to stay mad at him for long though, so I returned his kisses.

"You remember that day when you came over here?" He said excitedly, his eyes sparkling. "After we found Charlie?"

"Of course."

"And I told ya to meet me on Mother's hill after Elli's wedding ceremony."

"Yes." I nodded, stroking his cheek.

"I want us to still do that, okay?"

"But Jack… We're back together now. I haven't got any decisions to make."

He winked. "That's what you think! Will you come to Mother's Hill?"

"If it's so important to you, then yes. I'll get Mother to look after Charlie while we're gone. But I still don't understand…"

"Don't be so inpatient!" He laughed. "You'll have to wait and see what it's all about!"

While Jack saw to the fields and the animals, I sat on a blanket under the apple tree with Charlie, repairing one of his old romper suits. By rights I should have been preparing for Elli's party that was happening that very night. It was only a small do. It couldn't be anything else considering the lack of girls in the village but everyone was excited about it. While all the women and children of the village were gathering at Ellen's house, the men were going to spend the night at Doug's place. All of the other women were spending today preparing themselves but I had never drained any enjoyment from getting glammed up for a party. And besides, Charlie was growing too big for all of his clothes and we couldn't afford to throw any of them away. I was quite happy with my little task, singing old songs to Charlie to make him giggle and watching the cows graze. I kept thinking about the meeting on Mother's Hill the next day. What could it possibly be about? Jack had looked so secretive. I had a sudden thought. Maybe he was going to talk about having more children! Being an only child, I had always longed for a big family. I wanted a brood of rosy cheeked farm children, growing up in the outside, with the animals around them. It would be frightening to do that after what happened when Charlie was born but I knew I couldn't give up on my dreams. I tickled Charlie's chin and grinned. Oh, I did hope that he asked me for more children!

"Mary…" I was shocked to look up and see my father standing in front of me. He was in all his outdoor dress and had obviously just come from the mountain. Some green herb smaples hung from his pockets. "I was wondering if we could talk." He said nervously. He had never been much of a talker.

"Sit down." I tapped the blanket beside me and moved over. "Is everything alright at home?"

"Oh yes." He knelt down uncomfortably. "Your Mother can't decide what dress to wear at tomorrow's ceremony. I thought I best get out of her way."

"Yes." I laughed. "I know Manna's going to see her this afternoon, we should leave them to their squawking!"

"I wanted to talk to you before tomorrow." He said suddenly. Whenever my father said anything important, it always came suddenly, out of the blue. I drove my needle through the cotton, almost piercing the tip of my finger underneath. I had seen the way he was looking over in Jack's direction, with narrow, reflective eyes. Jack hadn't even noticed that my father had arrived, he was too busy chopping lumber ready for the winter. "I know I haven't been a good father to you."

"Dad, please…" I touched his arm. "You've been the best father."

"Let me finish." He examined his soiled hands. "I should have talked to you more. I can't help thinking if I had been more open, you would have found it less of a battle to stick up for yourself."

I shook my head but he didn't let me open my mouth.

"And I know it can't have been easy for you, watching your Mother and I over the years. When I was a young man, I fell in love with somebody I couldn't have. I thought I would never love anyone again. That's why I was so frightened for you, Mary. Well, you didn't know I was frightened, because I never told you. But… I thought that after what happened between you and Jack, you would end up like me. I'm not saying I don't love your Mother. She understands me in a way I don't think anyone else has or ever will. It wasn't fair on you to have to grow up in that sort of environment. And I just wanted tp say, I'm going to try and be a better Grandfather to Charlie."

"You couldn't be any better, Dad." I smiled slowly. "If you want to know the truth, I always admired your relationship with Mother. It was always like there was a deep understanding between you, and it's a comforting thing to be around."

He shook his head. "What you and Jack have is the sort of real love that I've always wanted. I hope you know how proud I am of you."

I couldn't do anything but smile and blush. He picked up Charlie and sat him on his lap. The three of us sat in silence. A silence that was softened by a deep, unspoken understanding.