Chapter 14. Hear that voice again

It had been a long morning. After a tiring walk up from the

harbour, Charlotte emptied the basket of crayfish into the

outside laundry tubs and sat under the trellised walkway that

lead back to the house.

A flurry of finches flitted through the vines overhead. She closed

her eyes and soaked in the scent of the climbing honeysuckle.

As she listened to the finches chatting to each other,

Charlotte thought she heard the sound of male voice in the house,

*

Coming in from the garden Charlotte found Nain Joan and Vie

sitting with a man who had a walking stick leaning against his chair.

"Please don't go to any trouble." the man said.

"It won't be any trouble." Vie said. "I'll make us some tea."

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She squeezed Charlotte's hand as she walked past into the kitchen.

"Charlotte," Nain Joan said, "let me introduce our guest."

The man got awkwardly to his feet. Charlotte saw the scarring

on his neck and jaw, that a short cropped beard partially hid.

"It's a pleasure to meet you" he said, "my name is Elijah."

*

Vie set the tray down.

"One thing the War has shown me," Elijah said, "is how small

the world is. When I told Finn I was going home to St. Just,

he asked if I would stop in and visit."

Charlotte poured the tea. "My sister and I used to try to scare

each other with stories of the haunted stone circles of St. Just."

Elijah laughed. "So you've you been there then."

You're still a handsome man thought Charlotte.

"How did you and Finn meet?" Vie asked.

The smile left Elijah's face.

"Finn found me when I'd lost all hope. Our squad had been

tasked to do a night time raid on the German lines, but before

we were even half across we were spotted. We pulled back

under a tremendous amount of gunfire. My friend got hit, and

I got hit when I stopped to help him - so we dragged ourselves

into a shell hole for cover, and waited for help. None came.

We waited all that night and the next day. We were both in a bad

way. My friend had lost a lot of blood."

Elijah stirred his cup of tea.

"He told me he'd had a vision of his Mother singing to him when

he was child, and he asked me to sing to him. So I sang.

I sang every song that I knew and I held his hand until he died."

Elijah turned away and wept. "I'm sorry."

He dried his face. "That's how Finn found me."

*

The next morning Vie sat at her writing desk and re-read the

letter that Elijah had given her from Finn.

To my dearest Vie,

When the war is over will you come away with me and find

a place somewhere in this world that is as far from here as

it is possible to be...

Vie had said yes a hundred times before she'd gone to sleep.

On the desk were some blue wild flowers that Finn had put

in with the letter.

...amongst all the churned earth and misery, there is still

some fragments of colour. It gives me hope.

*