A/N: See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.
Chapter 2: Body and Soul
For the next several weeks, Elizabeth left her house every single day for long hours, right after having her coffee with Hyacinth every morning, not returning until late in the evening. And not even Emmet knew what was going on. Finally, when Liz came back home at around nine o'clock at night one night in late October, Emmet asked her about it.
"You've been so secretive about this, Liz. So clandestine," said Emmet as they were sitting together in the lounge. "For over a month now, you've left the house right after your morning coffee session with Hyacinth, and you haven't returned until way after dark. I've barely seen you these past few weeks. I know you're not a child, and I know you don't owe me any explanations. I know that what you do on your own time is nobody else's business, not even mine, but as your brother, I can't help but be curious."
"Oh, I understand, Emmet," Liz said kindly. "I haven't been trying to make you feel shut out or anything. It's just that it's not easy to talk about because…well, to be perfectly honest, what I'm hoping to do, what I'm in training to do, will probably sound completely insane and ridiculous to you. I'm not sure you'll understand…and I'm not sure you'll be supportive."
"Haven't I always been supportive of you, Liz?"
"Of course. But what I'm trying to do now…it's going to sound very crazy to say the least."
"Well whatever it is, I will be supportive, Liz. As young people say these days, you know I've got your back. I always have, and I always will."
"Very well. Here goes. I've been at our community indoor swimming pool, swimming my heart out. I've hired a personal swimming coach, my own personal trainer, and I've been in training, and I will be for a long time."
"In training for what?"
"Think back, Emmet. You know that when I was growing up, before I got married to that snake and devoted my life to being a wife and a mother and a duchess, I used to live, eat, and breathe swimming. It was the thing I loved to do most in the world back when I was young."
"Yes, I do remember. I even remember your swimming coaches in school telling you and me and our parents that if you kept at it, you could possibly join the women's swimming team in the Olympics one day."
"So do I. And as I know you also recall, Marina inherited the swimming gene from me. She loved swimming every bit as much as I did. Maybe even more."
"She certainly did."
"What was her dream in life, Emmet? What was the one thing Marina wanted to do more than anything when she grew up?"
"Swim the English channel," Emmet said with a knowing smile. That was something his sweet little niece had constantly talked about doing when she was alive.
But then in the next moment, Emmet began putting two and two together. "Wait a minute," he said then. "Liz, you…you aren't thinking of attempting to swim the English channel?"
"As I said, I knew it would sound preposterous to you. That's why I didn't want to tell you. But after we talked about me starting a charity in Marina's name that day, I got in touch with an organization that sponsors people like me who want to swim the English Channel for charity. Normally, people have to wait and train for years before being able to do it, but as the old saying goes, money talks. As do the powerful and wealthy connections of a former duchess. And Lord willing, as long as all continues to go well with the intense training I'm doing and will continue to do every single day in the months ahead, I'll probably be making the swim sometime in August of next year. The charity I'll be swimming for is a charity devoted to raising money for hospice care for dying children, but only half of the proceeds will go to that particular charity because that's only half of the purpose of the swim."
"What's the other half?" Emmet asked, utterly intrigued.
"Publicity. Both for the charity I'll be swimming for, and for the new charity I plan to launch in Marina's name. Between now and August, when I'm not in training for the big swim, I'll be working to set up the charity I'm going to be calling, 'For Marina.' I want its main purpose to be for helping child abuse victims and survivors in any way possible, and for doing things like…I don't know…building monuments, I suppose, or holding special ceremonies, to honor all children who have been murdered by child abusers, especially children who have been murdered by their own parents.
"Countries build monuments to honor dead soldiers, grown adults who had a choice to join the service and fight in wars or not, but children who are murdered in the war of child abuse who were forced into this war without a voice or a choice or training – including children who are brutally murdered in the womb – are completely and utterly forgotten, because thinking about them makes selfish human beings feel too uncomfortable. Well, if I have anything to say about it, 'For Marina' is going to put a stop to that. This charity is going to make it to where these priceless little war veterans – and that's precisely what they are, war veterans – are no longer disrespected and overlooked and forgotten about for the sake of everyone else's selfish comfort zone. Particularly the selfish comfort zone of parents and adults. Particularly the selfish comfort zone of professing Christian parents and adults who frequently love to twist, 'Honor thy father and mother' to try to make themselves gods to be worshipped in the place of Christ.
"I've already been talking to a bunch of my old friends in Fairhaven about it, and they've been very helpful and supportive. They're helping me with a lot of work behind the scenes. They've already gotten a number of teachers, nurses, counselors, and government officials onboard, both here and in Fairhaven. But we're still going to need a lot more help. A lot more volunteers, not to mention financial donations. I'll certainly do everything I can financially, but even though I have a great deal of wealth in savings, I can't pay for everything. And the more publicity this gets, the more people who know about Marina and the charity, the better. And I'm going to work my tail off between now and then to be sure and be ready for the swim, or as ready for it as humanly possible, anyway, because I don't want to wait two or three or four years to do this. I can't wait that long. There are children who are suffering and dying in the war of child abuse every single day, and I know I need to do what I can to get help to them as soon as possible. And I want every child who has been murdered by an abusive parent to start being respected and remembered as soon as possible, too. I want Marina to start being respected and remembered as soon as possible. So yes, maybe I am crazy, but crazy or not, I'm going into this thing wholeheartedly, body and soul, one hundred percent. And when I do the swim, half of the proceeds will go to the charity for the children's hospice, and the other half of the proceeds will go to the new charity I will be launching in Marina's name."
Emmet then looked directly into his sister's eyes, leaned in a little closer to her, and told her, "Now listen, Liz. I have nothing but the deepest respect for what you hope to accomplish in the months ahead. I do; I really do. I admire you so very much. You are an extraordinary lady, and it is a great privilege to get to be your brother."
"I have a feeling there's a big but coming up," Liz said with a sigh.
"But, you are not a young woman anymore. You're fifty-three years-old, not some young kid in her teens or twenties. There are a number of people younger than you who have literally died attempting this."
"I know that, Emmet. I'm not a fool, you know."
"I know you're not a fool. You're just a woman with an exceptionally big heart who sometimes lets that enormous heart run away with her. Your heart is absolutely in the right place. There's no question of that. But your head isn't."
"Emmet, I may no longer be a spring chicken, but according to our family doctor, I'm still in excellent health. I'm not some delicate little flower just because I'm over fifty. I've always eaten right, gotten plenty of exercise, and taken good care of myself over the years. This old body of mine may be over fifty, but it's still good and strong."
"Yes, but is it really strong enough for a twenty-one-mile swim in very cold temperatures? Is it really strong enough to endure swimming for twelve, maybe thirteen or fourteen hours straight, without stopping, all the while running the risk of hypothermia and getting stung by only God knows how many jellyfish? I'm sorry, Liz. I'm not trying to hurt your feelings or discourage you, but I can't help but worry. I'd love to be able to support you in this, but this scares me. It really scares me. I don't want to lose you."
"You're not going to lose me, Emmet. It may be risky, but I assure you that I will take very good care of myself, just as I've always done, and that when I do this next August, I will have my body in good enough shape to handle the challenge. I…you know, I can't really explain it, but…there's just something deep down inside me, deep down inside my gut, that knows that I need to do this. Something that knows somehow that I can do this, even though it is going to be extremely difficult. I'm not going into this blindly. I'm not going into this expecting it to be easy. I know that with the exception of burying my child, this is going to be the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. But can you think of any better way, any better way at all, to honor Marina's memory than this? Carrying out her lifelong dream for her, in her name, and using that to help me launch a charity that helps and honors all abused and forgotten children like her? Is there really anything more or better I could do for my baby girl than that?"
After a long pause, Emmet finally admitted, "You're right. There isn't anything more or anything better you could do to honor Marina's memory than that. And even though I'm not a parent myself, even though I can't imagine the agony of losing a child, I think I can understand why something like this would be so important to you that you'd even be willing to put your life on the line for it." Emmet then sighed and said, "I don't like it, Liz. I don't like it at all. But you do have my support."
"Oh, Emmet, thank you," said a very choked up Liz, and then she gave her brother a big, long hug.