Thank you for the warm welcome back. I've missed writing and I've missed sharing it with others.

Please enjoy.

Linny

Two Worlds

Chapter Thirty Two

It took the strength of all four men to push open the great oak doors that led into the formerly grand entry hall. Jack had to squint his eyes to see in the surrounding darkness, despite the many streams of light filtering through the holes in the roof and walls of the building. He felt Sue clutch at his hand and he knew she trusted him to lead her through the dimness while Bobby searched for a way to light his lantern.

The high wick burst suddenly to life, the flickering flame cascading the main hall in a warm, golden glow. Jack could remember a time when the lavish white walls gleamed brightly in the firelight as nobility of all kinds passed in and out of his childhood home. One side of his mouth quirked up in a crooked smile as more memories washed over him.

The main centerpiece of this entryway was the great fireplace. It was large enough to fit himself and his present company with enough room to squeeze in a few more bodies. The formerly gleaming white marble of the mantle was covered with layers of ash and smoke residue plus the grime of many years of dirt and grime and yet he continued to smile.

"What?" Sue asked as she noticed the seemingly unconscious action. Jack was always an handsome man, but she was seeing the years lift from his face. All of the feelings of being lost and alone had dissipated as had those fine frown lines that graced the area between cheeks and mouth. She could see the young boy inside of him coming out as his memories slowly trickled into focus.

"I remember playing in here when I was a boy. When it was too cold to go outside to play or the rain would just not let up, I would play in here with a young servant girl." Only Bobby noticed Tara's head perk up at the mention of the girl. She obviously remembered that same time as well. "We would always play princess and knight. I'd vowed to marry her one day," he chuckled at the memory.

"What happened to her?" Lucy asked, reminding Jack that he and Sue were not the only two in the room.

Jack frowned as he turned toward the others. Tara could have sworn his gaze lingered on her for a beat longer than the others before his shoulders lifted in a sad shrug. "I don't know."

"She grew up and married a different knight, though she never forgot her first." The words had escaped her lips before she had the chance to stop them. Tara instantly covered her mouth in embarrassment and turned away as she felt that telltale warmth creep over her face and travel throughout the rest of her body. She let her eyes examine the weedy vine that had grown through the crumbling walls and had managed to wind up the main staircase, tangling itself around the charred, wooden rails of the banister.

She jumped when a strong hand landed upon her shoulder.

"Tara?" she heard Jack's voice ask softly. Taking in a deep breath, she let it out as she slowly turned back toward him. His gaze was intent as if he was studying her. The image of the pixie child he knew when he was a boy transposed itself on the woman standing before him, her features aging gracefully into simple beauty. He surprised her by pulling her into a hug. "It's really you! Why didn't you tell me?"

"You wouldn't have believed me," was her only defense and a weak one at that, but Jack seemed to accept it. After all, she could have been right.

A clearing of a throat brought the emotional reunion to a close. Only Lucy's gaze swiveled to the source. "As touching as this heartwarming display is, do you think we could do what we came to do?"

Bobby's hearty slap on the back almost toppled the other man over. "What's the matter, mate? Scared?"

Righting himself, Myles didn't dare lower himself to the standards of the peasant with whom he'd seemed to have created a friendly camaraderie. His nose was high up in the air like the proud nobleman he was bred to be. "Of course not. Leland men do not frighten easily." He had to keep reminding himself of that as he glanced around at the shadows dancing on the wall.

"He's right, though," Dimitrius agreed and was pleased when a foul aftertaste didn't grace his tongue. "The king will worry." He gazed turned to Sue with that statement.

Merely nodding, she looked at Jack who looked to Tara for guidance. "Show us the way." She nodded and with Bobby's strong hand to steady her as she took unsteady steps around the debris, she led them through the grand house and into the back garden where three wooden crosses stood, marking the three graves of the Hudson line.

The garden was a sight to behold. While the house looked condemned and lifeless, the back landscape was alive with color. Flowers and plants of every color and kind grew healthily in the ash-ridden soil, the soft pinks, greens, yellows, and warm reds revealing the past beauty of this thriving hub of humanity.

"It's beautiful." Sue's voice was filled with so much emotion and as she looked around at her companions, she knew she was not the only one being affected by this naturalistic beauty. She could even swear that tears were brimming upon Myles's lower lids.

"I..." he paused to clear his emotions from his throat, "I've never seen anything like it."

Tara glanced at Jack who smiled sadly down at the blanket of flowers that graced his mother's grave. "She planted every flower in this garden," he began softly. "She would always tell me that all of her fears and worries could be sent to rest by working out among her flowers."

"I suppose it seems fitting that she be buried here," Lucy added, respectfully.

"But, why the wooden crosses?" Bobby asked. "Ow!" He rubbed his arm where Tara had successfully punched him for such a stupid question. He didn't think he'd deserved to be hit for being curious. The Hudson family was supposed to be one of the richest in the land and the family had been put to rest with three wooden crosses? Where were the stone monuments he'd seen at so many other nobility's gravesites?

"It's a good point," Jack admitted at he looked to Sue and then D for an answer. Of all of those present, one of them would know the truth.

"Edward didn't find it fitting," D replied as he lowered himself to the ground and silently crossed himself before getting back to his feet. At the sight of Jack's confused expression, he continued, "when young Jackson's body wasn't found, we couldn't have been sure that he was even still alive. Edward never gave up hope, though and he vowed that until the day that you were found, the graves would be marked by simple wooden crosses." A smile graced his fatherly features, but there was still sadness in those dark shadows. "It still makes me wonder how you ever escaped."

A memory flashed before Jack's eyes, but it ended all too quickly. There was the slightest scent of smoke and ash that lingered in his olfactory senses before it disappeared all together. The image that he had seen made him remember the feeling of strong arms pulling him from the blaze, the familiar voice of an old friend fighting to keep him conscious.

"There was a man," but who he was and what he was doing there, he couldn't quite fathom. His gaze suddenly shifted to Tara as if her face could reveal the answer he was looking for. The calm serenity that graced her face confirmed his initial musings. "He saved me." He only smiled when she did.

"He loved you like a son," she concluded for him with a silent nod. It had been her father who'd pulled him from the fire. He'd gone back in to retrieve his parents, but by the time he'd reached them, it had been too late.

Myles leaned in close to Bobby, one eyebrow lifted in bemusement. "Do you have any idea what they're talking about?"

Chuckling, Bobby shook his head. "Not a clue."

"Something tells me that's nothing to be too surprised about," the Lord quipped, an amused smile curling at the corner of his mouth. He watched as Bobby's mouth opened to rebuke, but his chuckles cancelled out the enraged ranting of the Aussie who soon joined in on the laughter.

Jack glanced to the two laughing men and shook his head before swiveling his gaze back toward the blankets of flowers. He was surprised when he felt a soft hand slip into his and give a gentle squeeze. Sue looked at him with all of the love and support she could offer him at this time of such great importance to him.

"If you want to be alone, we'll understand." When he only gave an answering nod, she turned to usher the others away with her, but he held fast to her hand. A lump formed in her throat at the sudden sight of tears gracing the usually calm brown darkness of his eyes. If he kept this up, his would not be the only tears to streak down to the soil.

"Will you stay?" He needed her there with him while he officially said goodbye to the parents he could still only remember glimpses of. Of course, now that he knew who he really was and what he was meant to do, he was certain those memories would awaken over time and when they did come back into focus, his emotions would need to rely on Sue's kind heart to pick up the pieces that would surely come.

She nodded as she held her own emotions at bay. "Yes," she whispered.