Endings and Beginnings
Thanks for the reviews…I REALLY appreciate it. Here is Chapter 2 for you. Again, it twists and turns. Once again, none of the characters belong to me (except the one who never puts in an appearance), they all belong to the great mouse… Please read and enjoy…
Chapter 2
Exhausted, the thin, frail young woman supported herself against the ancient damp, gnarled and twisted trunk of the old churchyard yew. Her head was spinning and she struggled to remain conscious and upright. Slowly, her trembling hand reached out and pressed against the strong trunk, her fever filled eyes lifting to follow the movement. Unconsciously, she caressed the moss strewed bark.
Her mind suddenly swept back the years, spiralling to a time when she held her destiny clasped tightly in her hands…a time when she had been in control of her own future. She had long ago realised that she had made the wrong decision, had destroyed what little chance of happiness she had…indeed, had realised her mistake at the time, but her pride had prevented her from correcting it. It had, she conceded been her biggest mistake.
Wispy tendrils of hair moved with the thick sea fog, surrounding her, drifting across her face, cocooning her from the present, whilst the slow moving curtain of moist air wrapped her in its damp, cloying embrace, cutting her off from the world around her. She lifted her pale face to catch the scant breeze, beginning to shiver in the damp, dark fog.
She knew that she should not have come to the churchyard. It was too soon since her illness, but her child had been calling to her…crying out for the comfort of her mother's arms. Elizabeth had been unable to refuse her call, had needed to be close to her. Her child…her precious little Liz, with eyes that had gazed into hers and had fallen into her soul, deep, dark swirling pools that had nightly haunted her dreams, and always propelled her thoughts to the burning, bright light and lazy, heat soaked days of the Caribbean…
But it was all gone now she thought, regrets racing through her mind – images from the past that fell over themselves in their haste to condemn…her precious daughter lay deep within the earth, still, cold and alone, her brief life over only a little shy of 9 months after her birth. It had all been a lie. Every memory of her oh so short life was tinged by a dark backdrop of lies…lies and regrets…with no way of changing it.
Elizabeth, fighting an inner battle, forced her mind back to the present, slowly looking about her, her brow furrowing as she noticed the descending twilight, which, together with the swirling fog, now reduced her vision further. Once more she shivered, trembling in the damp, cold mist. Slowly, her muscles protesting, she pushed away from the ancient tree, fighting to stand alone, before, with slumped shoulders and heavy, stumbling steps she turned for the churchyard entrance and her cottage several miles beyond…
Breathing heavily, her face un-naturally flushed, Elizabeth pushed open the door to her cottage, feeling the warmth from the range envelop her, bringing forth beads of perspiration to her brow. Closing the door on the suffocating fog outside, she struggled to remove her now wet cloak, and with the last of her strength, hung it on the hook behind the door before casting her weary eyes around the room.
To one side of the small space stood the range, on which she cooked and heated the cottage, and a small, well scrubbed table where she prepared her meals. On the opposite wall was an armchair where she had sat for many hours nursing her daughter, singing softly to her, making up lullabies of her adventures in the Caribbean. In the small room beyond stood her bed, shrouded from the living space by a pretty floral curtain which matched the ones hung at the two small windows and a trunk in which she kept clothes and all her worldly goods.
At present, the curtain was open, allowing Elizabeth a view of the tiny rocking cot beside the bed, now deserted and still…gasping at the rising hurt which clogged her throat and threatened to stifle her breathing, Elizabeth averted her gaze from the room and gathering her ebbing strength moved across the room and closed the curtain.
Wearily, she slumped into the armchair, struggling to keep her red-rimmed eyes open, fighting the violent shivers that once again had gripped her exhausted body. She felt as if she were floating, gliding about the room as easily as the fog which swirled about beyond the door. Common sense told her that she needed to stoke the fire, needed to eat and have a warm drink but she felt so weak she doubted that she would make it to the other side of the room let alone prepare food…indeed she could no longer recall when she had last eaten or drank anything.
With a deep sigh, she closed her eyes, her mind drifting from the present to the past with a startling clarity, frightening in its intensity, forcing her to confront demons she would rather forget. Gradually, she lost her grip on the present and, falling into semi-consciousness, followed her heart back to the places and people she had once loved…
Images whirred about her head…beautiful, white sand beaches, the sparkling, clear turquoise sea, her father standing tall and proud, a young boy pulled from a certain watery grave, a mansion opulent and serene… a slight smile ghosted across Elizabeth's face before being overtaken by a past remembered…Will, working the hot steel of a newly created sword…her hands reached out to grasp the image, closing on thin air, before the scene changed, replaced by a feeling of falling, of slicing through the air and being hurled into the warm embrace of the sea, sinking down, down into the murky depths until all awareness ceased, and then suddenly waking, choking…staring straight into the clear, opulent pools of her daughters eyes…
Elizabeth became delirious…crying out for her daughter, sweat coursing down her body as she fought the hideous images her mind conjured…the tiny little body, frozen and alone screaming for her mother, only for the nightmare to be replaced by the first time she had seen her, moments after her birth – the over-powering sense of all consuming love for this tiny, frail creature, the sense of responsibility and the painful thought of her father not seeing her for another 9 years…
Then, an image started to surface – to fight it's way past the others, to propel itself upward until it achieved prime position…a dizzying, primeval force that could not be denied…starting as a far away, fuzzy, disjointed blur then building, building, spinning in her mind faster and faster, becoming clearer and sharper until it burst forth with a startling clarity, causing Elizabeth to gasp and cry out…heart overflowing with love and a desperate need for those arms to hold her close, to take away the hurt and pain and show her how to rebuild her life and learn to live again. From deep within her heart, Elizabeth fought the despair within her, lifted her head and screamed…'Jaaaack!', before the darkness closed, reclaiming her once again…
Well, that's it for now. Advanced warning…Chapters 3 and 4 contain adult themes and are not for the faint hearted (especially Ch 4!)…You have been warned! Please review…thanks!