22:30 27th February 2013 Lough, Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, Ireland
The drive home had been in complete silence, neither man having much to say. When they got back to the house, they walked past the broken door and into the living room. Cain sat heavily on the sofa as Aaron looked around.
There wasn't much to see. No TV, not much furniture apart from the sofa and a couple of battered leather chairs. There was a small table in the corner, on which sat a laptop and a pile of books. On the mantelpiece above an open log fire was a vase of fresh flowers and some framed photos of friends and family, one of the few things Chas had brought with her from her old life.
Aaron knew his mum didn't make much money in the pub, but he didn't realise she'd been living so frugally for the last few months. He hoped she'd not been lying to him about looking after herself.
"Brew?" he asked his uncle, who nodded gratefully.
Aaron went into the kitchen and flipped the kettle on. He was relieved to see that there was a lot of baby-related equipment around, a bottle warmer, bottles, formula and such like. He was hoping he and Cain wouldn't have to go searching local shops for baby stuff before bringing Evie home. He opened cupboards and the fridge as he made the tea, noticing the bounty of baby supplies and distinct lack of adult food. His mother still seemed to have been living on a diet of rice, bread and sweets. He gave a small smile to himself at her stubbornness and took the drinks back through to the living room, only to find Cain was no longer there.
He sighed and went upstairs, treading carefully around the bloodstains on the carpet and bits of splintered wood that littered the floor. He pushed open a door with his foot, turned the light on with his elbow and quickly scanned his mum's room. As he'd told Cain earlier, it looked like a crime scene; blood everywhere, sheets and towels strewn all over, a first aid kit spilled out by the door next to a bag of ice that had long since turned to water. Just like the living room, there wasn't much in the room apart from a bed, a wardrobe, an ancient set of drawers and a battered bedside table, on which there was a lamp, a mobile phone and a framed picture of Aaron.
Aaron smiled and left, still in search of his uncle. He pushed the next door with his foot but saw that this one was empty, completely undecorated and untouched. He found his quarry in the last room he ventured into. Cain was sat on a rocking chair by the window, bathed in the moonlight that was spilling through the large panes. He was flicking through a book and Aaron couldn't tell if the expression on his face was one of pain or happiness, or both. He put Cain's cup down on the set of drawers near to him, catching his attention, then flicked the main light on to get a good look at this room.
His breath caught in his chest as he took in the beauty of the room. The walls had recently been painted a light grey colour with white borders. There was plenty of furniture, all hand painted in pale lilac, with the crib taking pride of place in the centre. It was like something out of a catalogue, everything matching, everything shining, everything perfectly placed.
"Blimey" Aaron said quietly, "you can see where she's been spending her wages".
Cain looked up from the book, eyes shining, his face still unreadable "she'll have done all of it herself" he told the younger man, "she built sets when she was at uni, knows how to swing a paint brush".
Aaron raised his eyebrows, surprised at this new bit of information and impressed at the idea that his mum didn't just buy all of the beautiful furniture but decorated it herself.
Cain downed his tea and stood up, "I'll sort the doors out if you tidy up the bedroom" he suggested.
Aaron nodded his acquiescence, he was good at fixing cars but wouldn't have the first clue about fixing the front door, it looked broken beyond repair to him.
The men got to work, Cain finding a load of tools in a shed at the back of the house and doing his best to patch up the damage he'd done hours previously. Aaron pulled all of the towels and sheets from the bed and stuck them on a high wash with plenty of washing powder, trying not to think about what they were covered in. He then sprayed all of the affected carpet liberally with stain remover and gave them a scrub. Cain carried the bathroom door downstairs and outside as it was irredeemable.
Aaron had to wait for the stain remover to sink in before vacuuming, so he made himself another brew and went back to the nursery to sit in the rocking chair and watch from the window as Cain chopped up the door with an axe. He was wielding the axe with great force, his arm coming up high and then smashing down over and over again. He had his back to Aaron, but he saw it must have been strenuous as he kept stopping to wipe his face. The door was nearly completely obliterated when he stopped once more, but this time he dropped to his knees, letting the axe fall before holding his head in his hands. Aaron realised with a lump in his throat that it hadn't been sweat he'd been wiping, but tears. He watched in wonder as his uncle sobbed on the dirty stone floor, wondering what had caused him to break apart more forcefully than the door in front of him.
He turned away, feeling suddenly uncomfortable at witnessing such a private moment. The book Cain had been reading caught his eye and he picked it up from the drawers. He saw that it was hand bound, with "Tales for Evie Rose" painted on the front in gold.
He flipped through it and realised straight away that this book was what had upset Cain so much. Because it was about him. Not just him; there were other characters in there, including Aaron himself, but the two characters that featured most often were his mum and uncle.
She'd written dozens of short stories, all in a beautiful purple ink that shimmered on the page. And each story was illustrated with funny little doodles dotted around. There was a story about three naughty kittens who tricked a cowardly lion into buying his own food from them then went to spend their money on sweets. Aaron didn't know how his mum had managed it, but there was no doubt in his mind that the kittens were Cain, Charity and Chas, and the Cowardly Lion was his granddad.
He smiled and turned the page to see himself smiling back, dressed in a knight's armour. He read the story about a brave knight who overcame great obstacles in order to find the man who had put a curse on him when he was a child. He lost his best friend on the way – a talking bear with curly hair, a cheeky grin and big brown eyes – and fought a witch (which he laughed to see had more than a fleeting resemblance to Hazel), a troll (he saw aspects of both his mum and dad in this doodle, which he found very interesting) and swam through a river of fire. He'd received help from a singing dwarf (Adam) and a kindly ogre (Paddy) and when he finally reached the end of his travels and unmasked the man he'd been searching for, it turned out to be a mirror. A reflection of himself. He had been the person who'd cursed himself, because he'd never realised how brilliant and brave he was. So he smashed the mirror with a sword and lived happily ever after.
Aaron wiped a tear away and looked through more stories. A lot of them were familiar to him – Princess Belle falling down a well, Sam the simple egg seller who turned out to be the richest and wisest man in all the land, Zak the strong man who was put under a spell and forgot who he was until his family helped him remember. But there were other tales he did not recognise, darker ones, where naughty twins with hair as black as ink had to face terrible trials, and it was only through sticking together that they managed to succeed.
Aaron looked up from the book when he heard Cain cough. He felt like he'd been caught reading someone's diary and put it down quickly. Cain ignored this.
"You done?" he asked.
Aaron shook his head, "just need to vac, then I will be" he said heading towards the door.
"I'll make us some supper, it's getting late" Cain said.
"It might have to be tea and toast" Aaron told him, "we'll get some supplies in the morning".
Cain nodded and went downstairs. Aaron was about to go and find the vacuum cleaner when he stopped and pulled his phone from his pocket instead. He found a number in his contacts list and waited for the call to connect.
"Belle? Go and get your mam for me will you? I need a word"