Emily

Hey Guys,

Apologies about the lack of content, I’ve been working away out the country for a while, but hopefully I can get a couple of pieces done whilst I’m out here.

This is the next installment of the “One Swift Blow” series,  following Billie Flint as he tries to settle into normal life back on Trinity Island. It’s not action packed, that comes later…

As always, I hope you enjoy the piece, I always appreciate any feedback or thoughts you might have on it.

Cheers,

Jevan Thompson

 

Even though Bille knocked on the aging wooden apartment door, as gentle as a lover, the door still rattled ungracefully in its frame. He stood out in the hallway for a few moments, hearing the sound of footsteps on the wooden floor from within the room. There was the sound of a key scraping in the lock, metal jiggling on metal for a second or two, then the door swung open.

A tired looking woman stood in the doorway, her eyes and face dripping with exhaustion. Her brown hair hung loosely down at her shoulders, all wiry and tangled, like an animal that she was unable to tame. She wore plain clothes, the kind that are made for long hard hours of work. She looked like someone who had entirely too many problems and not enough hours in the day to solve them all.

She looked up into his eyes and froze for a moment in confusion and disbelief. The seconds that passed felt like an eternity Billie, who was still standing motionless, holding some beautiful fresh flowers in the hallway. He fancied he could almost see the realization dawn on her face, the cogs inside her head whirring as she figured it out.

The exhaustion dropped from her face in an instant, replaced with elation and happiness. She smiled a wondrous smile, a kind of smile that belongs to a child on christmas morning. She leapt forwards, barreling into Billie with a considerable force, sending him staggering backwards, a laugh escaping his lips gleefully. She was laughing too, hugging him so tight, as if she never wanted him to let go.

“Hello Emily.” He said, his face breaking into a smile.

“Oh Billie! I can’t believe it’s you! I can’t believe you’re back!” She said, a grin stretched across her face.

“Me neither…Me neither…”

She hugged him again and then looked up at him again, this time with tears shimmering in her eyes.

“We didn’t know if you…We didn’t get any letters…or any-”

“I know…I know… It’s okay. I’m back now.”

*************************

She put a cup and saucer down on the table in front of him, even the clinking of the porcelain sounded happy. She sat down opposite him with her two children, a young boy jumping on her knee and an older girl sitting into the chair next to her. He didn’t even get a chance to take a drink before the girl piped up with excitement.

“Your back now, right Uncle Billie?” Emma asked cheerfully, with the heartwarming innocence only the young possess.

“Your right there kiddo, I’m back! I’m not going anywhere.” He said with an earnest smile.

“What did you do over in Karash?” Her eager curiosity was understandable, after all it had been nearly four years since he had seen her. It seemed like her mouth was unable to contain all the questions that had bubbled up inside of her head.

“Well, your uncle Billie was a sharpshooter, a deadeye. We were fighting against the bad men over there.” Emily explained, answering Billie’s question before he had even had a chance to to figure out an answer. He was thankful, in truth he had no idea how to explain the horrific concept of war to a young child.

“The Karashkin?” Emma asked.

“That’s right pumpkin. They were bad men, so we had to tell them off. Speaking of Karash, I’ve bought some things back to you, but you both have to close your eyes first!” Billie said, keen to steer the conversation away from the war as much as possible.

Emma giggled with glee and put her hands over her eyes playfully. The little boy sat on his mother’s knee, staring at Billie curiously with his arms wrapped around Emily. Billie put his satchel on his knee, rummaging around for the gifts. As he tried to find the presents, Emma opened up her fingers, peeking through.

“Hey! No looking Emma!” He said with a laugh. She giggled again and closed her hands up tight. Her laugh was as beautiful as a bird’s sweet song, as pure and as radiant as sunlight. Billie produced two little wooden boxes and laid them on the table.

“You can open your eyes now Emma.” She squealed with delight as she snatched the box up, opening the clasps in an instant. Her face lit up with amazement when she saw the contents, her expression warming Billie down to the depths of his soul.

“It’s a little doll! She’s so pretty!” She exclaimed. She pulled out the hand sized, intricate porcelain doll. The details were so sharp, the craftsmanship of the painter was incredible. The tiny face of the figure had miniature freckles and golden hair, even her green eyes had the microscopic dots of black for her pupils.

“You’ve got to promise to take care of her Emma, her name is Tatanya.” Emma was still bewildered with the gift, she held it so carefully, as if it would break at the merest touch.

“Now, Tatanya loves to dance, but she’s very shy and she doesn’t know how to…”

“I’ll teach her! Thank you uncle Billie!” She said happily, getting off her chair and running from the table into the living room.

“Aren’t you going to open yours Josh? I think you’ll like it buddy!” Billie said tenderly to the boy. Josh looked anxiously to his mother, almost as if he was asking for permission, using only his eyes.

“Go on Josh.” Emily encouraged him softly. He slowly reached across and took the box, prizing it open to reveal a small metal soldier with a rifle. The quality wasn’t even close to that of the doll, but it still had considerable attention to detail for a metal figurine. He had a small round helmet, a small little rifle and an even smaller bayonet on the end.

“Now you’ve got to be very careful with this Josh, even though the soldier is a good guy, his bayonet is pointy. You’ll have to make sure you don’t hurt yourself.” Josh’s mouth twisted into a small smile, clumsily grabbing the soldier and admiring him in his hands. He followed his sister into the other room, wobbling around as he walked. Billie smiled and watched them go fondly. He didn’t use to think he’d have any of these moments when he was out in the trenches, which made them all the more precious to him. He took a sip of his tea and let out a contented sigh.

Truth be told, as much as he tried to forget about it, he’d told himself he wouldn’t survive. Countless times in the mud and dirt he told himself that he would be hit by the next shell, caught by the next bullet. It was that mindset that he’d forced on himself, so that he wouldn’t think about home, so that he wouldn’t remember how beautiful Emma and Josh had looked when he left.

Now, that he was actually back, talking to them in the flesh and not just memories, it still didn’t feel real. The little voice in the back of his mind whispered to him that something was wrong, but he gave his head a shake and drank the rest of his tea, to try and drown it out.

“The tea’s lovely Emily, that’s the best brew I’ve had in awhile.” She smiled at his compliment and took a sip of her own cup.

“I imagine it’s better than the stuff you were drinking over there!” She said jokingly. “So how long have you been back?”

“I got off the boat this morning, at about eight o’ clock. I’ve been over to south end to sort out my apartment earlier, but otherwise that brings us to now.”

“You must be glad to be back. We’re all glad you’re back.” He smiled and placed his hand on hers.

“You wouldn’t believe it.” They sat there for a few moments, savouring each other’s presence. He took his hand away to scratch his stubble and looked around the room.

“Where’s Jerry?” At the mere mention of the man’s name, her eyes hardened and her jaw clenched slightly. A normal man might have missed it, but Billie’s keen gaze didn’t miss anything.

“He died. Last year at Titanich.” She said, a slight hint of sadness in her wistful tone.

“Oh, I’m so sorry Emily, I had no idea.”

She smiled sadly at him.

“It’s okay, I know it was havoc over there. It’s been tough with him gone.” She took another sip of her tea. “I’ve had to take another job at Hawkin’s-”

“The butcher?”

“Yeah, I help out around the shop and look after the register a few days a week. In the evenings I serve drinks at the Everyman.” He nodded slowly, rolling her response around in his thoughts.

“Well, you don’t have to worry any more, I’m here, I’m back and I’m not going anywhere. I’ll look after you Em, you shouldn’t have to work two jobs anymore.” She smiled again, with faint tears glistening in her eyes.

“Oh Billie, I’m so glad your back.”

“Me too sis. Me too.”

She continued to look at him happily for another second or two, before she wiped her eyes and took another sip from her cup.

“Have you got any work lined up? You thought about going back to the Factory?” He shook his head slightly.

“No, I’m not going back there. I’ve actually had a job offer already.”