The Moments Beyond

©2008 by: KC

CHAPTER SIX

Lachlan woke up to the sound of... nothing.  The house was quiet, too quiet.

No children chattering, food cooking, baby crying.  It was eerie.

He called out Betsy's name and a moment later got a response, not from her, but a sharp cry from the nursery.  'Shit,' he thought, 'I woke the kid!'  He waited another moment, and when she didn't come, he began to really worry.

He struggled out of bed and limped down into Lucky's room, barely making it over to the crib and looked down at the whimpering baby.

"Hey, little mate, where's your mum?"

Lucky stopped crying and stared at him; Lachlan held out his arms.

"Want a lift?"

To his delight, the little boy gave him his little toothless grin and gestured in return.  His father bent down and took him in his arms, ignoring his throbbing leg.   There was a rocking chair right beside the bed: he sank into it, holding little Lachlan against his chest, feeling a deep sense of delight as the baby snuggled against him as if it were the most natural feeling in the world. The physical pain he was feeling seemed to recede: he felt oddly happy for the first time in months and he had no idea why.

~*~

Betsy sat in the shed on a hay square, sobbing and at the same time desperately trying to pull herself together.

The baby no doubt would be waking up by now and Lachlan would be wondering where she was.  But, facing another day like the last two was proving too much for her: that, plus the strain of trying to keep from telling Lachlan the truth, the growing unhappiness of her kids, and the increasing seriousness of their situation was prompting her towards a decision she did not want to make.

~*~

"Oh, my gosh."

Lachlan was jolted out of his reverie as Betsy stood on the threshold, taking in the scene.

"How did you get all the way in here?"

"I limped," Lachlan said ruefully.  "He was crying.  Where'd you go?"

"I was--in the barn," she said, evasively.  "Charlie forgot the eggs, again.  Give him to me."  She took the baby.  "Oh, my gosh, he's soaked!"

"--sorry about that.  I'm not quite up to changing nappies, yet."

"Would you know how, anyway?"

"Not a clue.  I may be the best pilot in the western hemisphere but ask me to fold one of those things--"  He stopped, almost embarrassed.

"Well, I see your ego is returning."

There was a pause.

"Yeah," he replied, almost to himself,  "I guess it is."

They both laughed: the baby joined in.  Betsy put him on top of the old dresser she had made into a changing table.  Lachlan managed to get to his feet.  "I'll see you back in the bedroom."

She nodded, not trusting herself to look at him, concentrating on the baby.  "Thank you," was all she said.

~*~

A few minutes later, she came back into the bedroom with a hot mug of tea.

"Ah," he said, "that looks good!"

"Well, I'd say you earned it."  She grew serious.  "Thanks again--for going to his rescue.  I'm sorry I took so long--he was being fussy.  I gave him a bottle and put him back down--he's actually sleeping, again."

"--no worries.  I quite enjoyed it, actually, I'm growing quite fond of the little tyke."  At the new glimmer of tears in her eyes he asked, "What's wrong?  Why were you crying, back there?   Is it Johnny?"

"No--yes--it's everything--"

"I can't think where the wanker is," Lachlan muttered.  "It's not like him--I don't remember much--but I remember that.  We've always depended on each other--don't be mad at him," he begged.

"I'm not mad.  It must have to do with Kate's father, I hope he's all right.  But, whatever it is--I can't wait any longer."

"Can't wait for what?"

She started pacing about the room.

"Lachlan--if he's not back by tomorrow--I have to go to town.  I'll take Charlie and the baby of course--but Marion will have to stay with you.  I need to get some groceries, we're all out of food--and I want Dr. Snow to come and check on you.  That army doctor was supposed to come by--I don't know what happened to him, either."

"What army doctor?"

"You were unconscious--you don't remember--Johnny got hold of him at the base.  He said--he said he'd come by and check on you, but--" She put her hands to her face and started to cry again.  "Seems like everybody's  forgotten about us--" She put her hands to her face and started to cry again.  Lachlan was stricken.

"Ssh, ssh, come here.  Have a lie down."

"I can't--what about the baby?"  Her sobs came faster and faster.

"I'll keep a listen for him.  Come on, luv," he urged, "you need to rest."

She didn't seem to hear him.

"And what about Marion?  When I tell her that--that she's going to have to stay here while the rest of us go to town--"

"Not like you have a choice," he said, softly.

"I doubt if she'll see it that way.  She's so angry these days, anyway--"  She took a shuddering breath.

He held out his hand and drew her down to the bed.  She let him put her head against her chest, feeling his warm hand against her hair.

"Hay."

Betsy barely heard him.

"Hey, what?"

"No--hay--see?"  She raised herself up for a minute and saw the wisp of straw that he had plucked from her hair,  but more than that, the mischievous look in his eyes.

"You," she exclaimed, trying to laugh, but the tears came faster and faster.

Lachlan held her tighter and started kissing her eyes, her cheeks, trying rather desperately to make the tears disappear.  It seemed to take forever but finally he felt the sharp racking in her chest ease.

He thought she was asleep and raised his face to look.  Instead, he saw her gazing at him with a tenderness that she quickly sought to hide, but it was too late.  Lachlan caught his breath and in the next moment the two of them surrendered themselves to a deep and passionate kiss that only too briefly obliterated the turmoil around them.

Much later, as he lay in the empty bed, drifting to sleep, he still felt the fullness of her body pressed against his and the growing certainty, if not the specific memory, that it had not been for the first time.  And gradually, a giant piece of the puzzle of why he was there, slid into place.

~*~

 Much later in the afternoon, Lachlan awoke to the sound of angry voices, most of which he recognized as Marion's, coming from the kitchen.  'Shit,' he thought to himself, 'could I feel any worse?'

Another moment later, the screen door slammed.  There were several moments of absolute quiet; finally, he couldn't stand it anymore.  He hobbled out of bed and made his way down the hall to the entrance to the living room, where he saw Betsy standing at the window.

"Didn't go very well, did it," he finally said.

She spun around and faced him.

"It went the way I knew it would," Betsy replied; her voice was resigned and calm, but he could see the turmoil she was hiding.

"Look.  I was thinking--maybe you should just let her go along with you," he suggested.  "I'll be fine, here--"

"--forget it.  I am not leaving you alone--look at you!  I can't even trust you to sit still--"

"Well then, let me ride along with you.  I don't want your kids to suffer anymore because of me."

"This is not your fault.  Marion's a big girl.  She's going to learn to have to live with some disappointments--"

"--sounds to me like she's had her share."

"That's true.  That's true," Betsy repeated, almost to herself.  "But it can't be helped.  I told her--it's strictly a trip for errands and shopping, and that we'd be home before she knew it.  But I don't think she was listening, she's so mad at me--"

"And me, I'd reckon."

"Yeah," Betsy finally admitted, "but you didn't do anything--"

"Except to be here," he muttered.

"Well.  That's life," she exclaimed.  "Anyway, I'll make sure you're well taken care of, in the morning.  She'll barely have to look at you."

"Good," Lachlan said, "cause I think she'd just as soon grab one your butcher knives and--"  He made a mock slashing motion to his throat that made her burst out laughing.

"Come here, you," she said, "sit down before you fall down."  She helped him over to the couch.  He looked around.  "Nice view.  Those walls in there--"

"Were closing in on you," she finished for him.

"Yeah," he admitted.

"I understand, but, Lachlan, please do me this one favor.  Tomorrow--if you need to get up--please call Marion.  I don't want her to come and find you flat out on the floor--can you do that for me?"

He put his hand over his heart, with a mock smile.

"You have my word, as a gentleman."

"Thank you."

He suddenly looked serious.  "Betsy--"

"What?"

He paused; thought better of it: now was not the time.  "Never mind.  It can wait."

~*~

The next morning, Betsy was up early enough so that the children had had their breakfast, Lachlan had been tended to and that the car was ready and her two sons were ensconced in the car before ten in the morning.  She was determined to get her business in town done and be back, as soon as possible.  Marion, who had barely eaten a thing, sat on the porch and observed the preparations with a detachment that alarmed Betsy more than any more screaming tantrums could have done.  She made one more attempt at peace, before leaving.

"We'll probably be back in time for lunch,'' she offered.

Marion gave no reply.

"I'm going to make this up to you, Marion--I promise."

Again, the little girl didn't respond, just gazed in the direction of the barn.

"Honey," Betsy practically begged, "look. Lachlan is all set for the morning.  You don't have to do a thing--just peek into the bedroom a few times, make sure he's okay--"

"I don't care if he's okay or not.  I hate him," Marion finally spat.

"No, you don't.  You hate me, right now," her mother said, quietly.  "That's fine.  But this will pass and--I think you'll finally realize why I had to do this."  She lowered her voice.  "He's Lachlan's father.  We have to take care of him."

"For how long," Marion almost cried.  "And why can't you just tell him?  I bet if you told him, he'd go away--and then we could forget all about him--just like all the others."

"All right."  Betsy gave an exasperated gasp and stood up.  "I'm not going over this again with you, not now.  We're going to get going."

Marion shrugged into silence again; Betsy grabbed her purse and headed toward the car.  The little girl watched sullenly as they drove away.

Chapter Six