Chapter 5
Matthew's Fate
Lily slipped on the new bathing suit, If her mother knew that after the dance she would be defying her parents rules and going swimming with Jonathan, she would be in loads of trouble. The thought of bombs going off didn't occur to them when they made plans to sneak off after the dance.
It was now only a slight nudge in the back of her mind, it had already been a year since the first bombing in Wales, and the war had to be ending soon right? She hoped so, but she wasn't so sure, Jonathan was leaving for some more training the next day and Lily wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.
She then slipped on her black party dress and made sure no sign of the bathing suit was showing. Once seeing it was fine, she tied her hair with a bow, put her shoes on, and left the room.
"Oh Lily, you look beautiful!" her sister cried.
Lily blushed as red as her hair, it was just like Rose to compliment her like that, "Thanks Rose," she said.
They walked into the kitchen and Lily's three year old brother Matthew dropped his fork, "Lily you look pretty," he said, struggling with the R in pretty.
Lily smiled, "Thank you Matthew." She walked over and kissed him on the forehead. "Now finish eating before mummy gets cross, alright?"
The toddler nodded and picked the fork back up.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Lily smiled and went to answer it, "Hi Jon," she said.
He handed her a bouquet of flowers which she smelled, "Thank you, their beautiful." She said.
Jon kissed her on the cheek, "You look lovely." He said.
Lily smiled and the two walked into the kitchen, she set the flowers down, "Alright mum, were leaving for the dance." she kissed her brother again and then her mom.
"Love you."
As she and Jon went to leave, her father walked in the door, "Bye daddy, love you." She kissed him on the cheek and left with Jon. Despite the nagging that it wasn't safe to be out with bombing going on, despite the thoughts of Jon going into this war and not returning home, for that one night Lily was happy-totally happy.
XX
When Lily woke up the next morning, she was hoping it would have all been a dream, a frighteningly real dream. But her eyes opened and she looked around, there was no soft blue quilt on her bed, just a quilt that her grandmother had made when she was a kid.
She had left it at Jon's house on purpose and apparently before walking inside he had tossed it behind a brush, so no one would see him with it.
But now Lily was in her city, and yet it wasn't her city. So much had changed, it didn't feel at all like the city she had spent her youth in, and now she was feeling incredibly lonely and homesick.
Jack had given her a bit of cash and a one of those Credit Card things. So she got out of bed, realizing she had nothing downstairs to make into a breakfast and figured she would be able to find someplace in the city to eat, and hopefully close by. Until she figured out how much of Cardiff had changed and the not so wonderful places to be found in, she was not going far from the city centre without a chaperone.
The girl dressed; slipped on a pair of shoes, and made sure she had a sweater. It was chilly out, and she also did not want anything to be exposed. At the store the night before she had picked out a purse which she put the money, credit card, and cell phone into, and then she left the house.
Lily wound up finding a place right near those Water Towers, so she knew she was close to The Hub. She had always been a fast learner, and the night before while they ate Jack had finished explaining the change of the decimal system from the 70's, and she was now positive that she could make an exchange with the right amount of money.
She looked at the sign with the name of the place and realized the name was in Welsh and she couldn't pronounce it. Inside there were some tables along the wall and a counter, which two old men were sitting at, and two old women were sitting a table by the wall.
They all looked up as Lily walked in, as if a young girl in a place that seemed to usually be habited by older people was some strange thing. She smiled as best as she could and walked over and sat down at the counter.
"Ello love, what can I get you today?" the waitress startled Lily, but she smiled at her.
"A cup of tea please and some toast."
"Be right back with you." The woman smiled and walked into the back room.
"Excuse me, I've never seen you in here before darlin', what's your name?"
Lily turned to see the two old women looking at her, "Lily Ainsworth." She answered. It was safe to use her real name she decided, Cardiff was a big place…and if these women could have possibly known her family, they wouldn't think of her being related, at least she hoped not.
"Ainsworth…Ainsworth…I once knew an Ainsworth family. My best friend…Rose they called her, her last name was Ainsworth. But we lost contact during the War when I left the country with my family." the old woman said.
Lily's smile dropped, "What was her middle name?"
"Oh let me think." the woman looked to her friend then over to the old man, "James what was Rose Ainsworth's middle name?"
"You mean Rose Llewellyn? Gareth's wife?" the man asked.
The woman nodded, "Yeah."
Lily's face went white, "You remind me a bit like her, and you have the same eyes and nose. Course Rose was always told that she looked like her mum, she and her sister both. Of course Lily died when she was twenty. God rest her soul, Rose went last year. Lord knows after her sister died she was never the same again, those two were always close. But you look like Rose, same nose and all. Imagine that!" the old woman smiled as she took a sip of her tea and went back to talking to her friend.
Lily turned back to the counter and saw her tea and toast waiting for her. She put some sugar in and stirred the tea up. Just as she took a sip, her phone began to ring. She pulled it out and pressed the send button and slowly put it up to her ear, "Hello?" she asked.
"Hi Lily, it's Jack. You doing alright?" came the American's voice.
"Yeah," she answered, "I'm at this restaurant across the street from those Water towers, drinking some tea and munching on toast," as she finished, Lily noticed her voice sounded a bit shaky.
"Are you okay?" Jack asked.
"Um…yeah…I just found out that Rose married and she died last year," she answered.
"And how did you find this out?" Jack inquired.
"A woman in this restaurant told me, and how many Rose Ainsworth's with the sister's name Lily, could there be?" she replied.
"Alright, I'm gonna come over, okay?" Jack said.
"Yeah, okay." Lily and Jack then said a goodbye and she hung up the phone.
She then put the phone away into her bag. A few minutes later, after Lily had been thinking about her family the bell on the door rang and Jack walked in.
Lily smiled at him, "Hello Jack."
He sat down next to her, "Good morning."
"What can I get you love?" the Waitress asked Jack.
"Nothing, thanks," Jack took his sunglasses off, "Did you sleep well?" he asked Lily.
"I was alright, I had a dream about yesterday…my yesterday, before I came here," she said.
"Are you okay?" Jack asked his voice laced with concern.
She nodded, "I'm fine I guess…it is to be expected right?"
"I guess so, just as long as the dreams don't take over. That's the key; you can't let them take over, because if you let it, it could get to the point where you're always sleeping, hoping to dream, and that can get unhealthy," he explained.
Lily was silent as she thought for a moment, "Yesterday, you said that you've watched Cardiff change, how so?" she asked a few minutes later.
"I've sort of suffered the same thing you have," he answered in a softer voice.
"Fell through the Rift?"
"You could say that."
"From what era?"
"Same as you?"
"Really?! Did you fight in the war?" Lily asked, excited now, knowing there was a reason for that connection she had been feeling to Jack.
"Yes I did, I was in the RAF," he smiled slightly.
"How old were you when you fell through?"
Jack thought for a moment, "Twenty two, that was back in the mid eighties, shame I missed the 70's though, they sound like a crazy time…the disco and all that." Jack grinned then looked down at his hands, he hated lying to her, but it was what he felt he could tell her for the time being.
They were silent for a few minutes, as Lily finished her tea she noticed a few times Jack looking at her, she didn't know why, but she didn't mind. Then the waitress came and handed her the bill, she looked at it and counted out the money.
"Then I tip her right?" Lily asked Jack.
He nodded, Lily set out some change and smiled at the Waitress who took the bill money and then scooped up her tip, "Thank you love."
"You're welcome," Lily smiled and stood up with Jack and they left.
"Do we have to go to the Hub?" she asked as they stood outside the door.
"No, we don't…where do you wanna go?" Jack replied.
Lily looked down at her hands, "I want to go to my church's cemetery, it's close by… I want to see if my family is there."
"Are you going to be okay if we do this?"
Lily nodded, "I think I can manage."
Jack gave in, "Okay, where is it?"
"Well it should be close by," Lily walked up the sidewalk and stopped as she looked down a street, "there it is," she said.
As they drew closer, Lily smiled slightly, "When we were kids, dad would take us to the Pier after church while mum went home to finish making Sunday roast, and he'd let us dip our toes in the water, and the fish would come up and bite our toes. It always made Rose and I giggle like silly school girls.
Jack smiled, "Were you and your sister close?"
"Yeah, we were."
The two were silent as they walked up a small set of stone steps into the graveyard, "I remember my gran was over by that tree over there," Lily said as she pointed to the back corner of the relatively small cemetery.
Lily walked over to the area and saw a stone in the middle that said 'AINSWORTH'.
She looked around and stepped over the small fence, she saw her Gran and Granddad's tombstone. Then she saw her mom and dad's, with their names, birth dates, and death dates on it. Then there was one that read
'Lily Abigail Ainsworth,
Our beautiful daughter,
Taken too soon from us.
Born 22, Jan, 1922
Died 3, July., 1941
RIP
"Jack they had a funeral for me," she called, her voice quivering. A moment later she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked at him then back to the tombstone, "This is mum and daddy," she said pointing to the stones.
She looked around, "Matthew isn't here, maybe he's still alive," she commented.
"Remember what I told you last night, it's not always a good idea."
Lily brushed a stray red strand of hair out of her face, "I know Jack, it's just nice to know that some part of my family is still out there," she commented.
"Oi, you two! Get out of there! There are fences around there for a reason!"
Jack and Lily stood up to see a man who had been helping a girl get an older man in a wheelchair into the graveyard.
Jack stepped out and then helped Lily, "Sorry, she just wanted to see her family…We figured that since she's related it wouldn't be a problem," Jack said.
The man came closer, followed by the man in the wheelchair, who was being pushed by the girl.
"My Grandad is the only one left from this family," the girl said.
Lily held her breath, "He looks like daddy," she whispered, looking directly at the man in the wheelchair.
"Um…distant family, sorry…what was your name?" Jack asked as he took Lily's hand and gave it a gentle comforting squeeze.
"Lily Ainsworth, this is my Grandad Matthew," she answered.
Lily felt a tear roll down her face, "So this is your great grandparents and great Aunt over here then?" Jack inquired.
"Yeah I was named for my Great Aunt Lily, as I'm sure you can see, she died in the forties," the woman replied.
"Yeah we did see that," Jack commented, he then looked at Matthew, Lily's baby brother, "I don't remember her very much though, I was about three when she died, but as I grew up I always saw pictures of her around the house, and my mother always cried around the third of July, but she and my sister Rose always told me stories," he said. Matthew then looked to Lily who was not looking her brother in the eyes, "You remind me of her, you said distantly related?"
Jack nodded, "Yeah…she was your mother's sister's daughter's great granddaughter.
"Jack can we go now?" Lily whispered.
"Sorry yeah, nice to meet you two," Jack said as he began to leave with his hand still in Lily's.
Sorry, didn't catch your names!" Matthew's granddaughter called.
"Jack and Lily," the Captain called back.
Then before the family could ask anymore questions, Jack and Lily rushed out of the graveyard.
"Are you okay?" Jack inquired a few minutes later as they walked up some streets. Lily was silent for a moment, she was turned away from Jack and tears were rolling down her face, slowly she shook her head.
Jack stopped and she turned to look at him, "I'm never going to get back to them…I know you told me yesterday, but I was hoping…I was trying to hold on to some piece of hope…but I'm really not ever going to see them again," she said.
Jack sighed and pulled her into a hug, Lily found it strangely comforting but Jack was her only source of comfort. After a few minutes she stopped doing something and they walked around for a bit in silence, but some time later one of them broke the silence and they began to talk about her life and a little about his. They kept on walking and by the late afternoon, Jack knew everything about Lily and she knew a fair bit about the Captain.
"Jack?"
Jack pushed the button of his communicator, "Yeah?"
"Where are you?" Suzie's voice asked.
"Um…near some Estate I think…I'm not sure," he answered.
"Oh lovely…are you with Lily? I went by the house earlier and I couldn't find her."
"Yeah, I've been with her all day."
"Alright…just checking, you coming back to the Hub soon?" Suzie asked next.
"Um yeah, Lily just wanted to get some food and then go by the library. So I'll take her to get the food and once she has eaten I'll drop her off at the library then come by the Hub," Jack explained.
Lily looked at Jack, hoping her face didn't show that she didn't want him to leave her.
"Alright, I'll see you soon." Suzie ended the conversation.
"Are you okay with the plan?" Jack asked.
"I suppose so." she answered slowly.
"You can come back to the Hub with me if you want, you probably wouldn't be able to get a card anyways because you don't have the right identification yet, we need to set you up with a new one." Jack explained.
A look of relief spread across her face, "Alright thanks." she smiled.
Jack looked then turned down a street, "This should get us to a chip stand." he said.
She followed him and indeed a moment later they stumbled upon a stand that sold Chips and the like. The ordered the food and ate it as they walked back to the Hub.
"These are quite good." Lily said with a smile.
"They are good." Jack replied, grinning.
By the time they reached the Hub, the chips were gone. Lily had not realized how hungry she had been. They tossed the trash into the rubbish bin and Jack decided to show Lily a new wonder, the magical life in the ground…
XX
A/N- So there is that chapter, quite long than I realized it was. The next chapter might take me a bit to get to, I had something started for the next chapter but I decided that I want to save what I have for chapter 6, for 7. So as of right now I'm not entirely sure as to what I'm doing, but I have a new beta IndeMaat who I hope will help me solve that problem. I also have my Titanic story I need to work on/finish and The Lost Daughter. So be on the look out for the updates on those stories, review, and just spread the love. Cups of tea to everyone who reviews! All my love, Beccs! ^_^
