The Tarnished Necklace. Trish Inc. DuffinЧитать онлайн книгу.
leaned forward and quietly whispered back. “Three days.”
The house was quiet and had the feeling of being in the early hours of the morning. The only visible light was a candle flickering beside Maria’s book. Peter wrinkled his head in concentration. Three days? There were such large gaps in his memory that he couldn’t make the sums add up. Three sunsets, three sunrises, he couldn’t remember one. He licked his lips and Maria brought a glass of water to his mouth, which he carefully sipped. “Why am I here, what happened?”
A frown crossed Maria’s drawn face. “Can’t you remember?”
Peter lay there, trying to think back. A faint smile came on his lips, “I can remember kissing you.” Maria blushed - even in the dim light of the candle her shyness over that memory was evident. Peter wanted to escape from his chains of pain so looked her in the eye. “Move closer,” he whispered. Maria looked at him suspiciously but inched a bit closer. Peter quietly sighed, “To be exact, would you please kiss me?”
Maria looked at him, trying to figure out exactly where she could kiss and settled on the least bruised part of his lip. He moved his face and caught her lips. It was good to have one part of his body that felt good. She moved back and he gently smiled, “Thank you, I needed that.” His eyelids fluttered for a second before he fell back to sleep.
Maria yawned, she couldn’t stay awake any longer. That request for a kiss said that the battle was going to be won. Now she could rest. She pulled a blanket up over her shoulder and shifted her chair up towards his head. She laid her arms on the bed beside his pillow, one hand resting on his shoulder, before laying her head down and falling into a deep sleep.
Andrew and Susan were the first up as usual the next morning. Susan got the fire going and Andrew looked in on the patient. Maria was fast asleep, her head still pillowed in her arms. He tiptoed out and beckoned to Susan to come in. She came through and they both looked at their daughter and neighbour, before tiptoeing out again. Andrew put his arms around Susan’s waist and looked out the window, his face pressed against the back of her head. “Correct me if I am wrong, but I think those two are definitely more than just friends.”
Susan turned in his arms and looked up at her husband of twenty years. “It looks like it doesn’t it.”
Andrew kissed her forehead and thought for a second. “When did you first suspect something?”
His question made it obvious he was only just beginning to suspect a blossoming romance. “Do you remember the day Peter escorted Maria home from choir practice for the first time? asked Susan. “They went raspberry picking on the way home.”
Andrew thought for second, “Oh yes, they came back together looking rather happy.”
“Well ever since then I have noticed lots of little things that reminded me of when we first met. Peter teasing her,” continued Susan. “Her blushing whenever she sees him. How he has a special smile just for her. How she gets all tongue tied around him and how so many of our conversations seem to include him.”
Andrew grunted - obviously he must walk around with his eyes closed. He slipped his arm away so they could get on with their early morning chores. “Well, if Peter wants to court Maria I won’t say no,” he said before heading out to milk the cow.
The sun was well up before Maria came out. She looked tired but her face was happy. Susan looked over to her exhausted daughter. “Happy birthday darling.”
Maria looked up in surprise. She hadn’t been keeping track of the days, it was 11th of October. “Oh, it’s my birthday!”
Susan sat down beside her with a cup of coffee on hand. “Sorry dear. We had been planning to get you a special gift and make a celebration of it, but what with all that has happened,” her voice trailing off as she glanced through to where Peter was.
Maria reached over for her mother’s hand and her voice dropped to a confidential whisper. “Don’t worry ma, I have received a present.” Susan looked her quizzically and Maria continued, “Peter woke up long enough to ask for a kiss then thanked me for it before going back to sleep.”
Susan smiled, the joy was fairly obvious on her daughter’s face. “Out of curiosity young lady, is that your first kiss from him?” she asked with a twinkle in her eye.
Blushing at this question Maria looked up into the ceiling before scrutinising her fingers. “No, it isn’t. He kissed me last week when we had our picnic.”
“So he kissed you, you didn’t kiss him then, perhaps I should have a strong word with him,” teased Susan.
Maria snapped her eyes up, her cheeks a flaming red. “Oh, please don’t, oh Ma, you wouldn’t! The truth is, I kissed him back.”
Susan laughed and patted her disconcerted daughter’s hand. “Sweetheart, I was just teasing you. I was beginning to guess you two were quite fond of each other.” At that she got up and kissed her daughter on the head. “Happy birthday. How about you relax today and we have your favourite meal tonight?”
Maria spun in her chair, her face all lit up. “Thanks Ma. May I go and see Pa now?”
Her mother nodded. “I suggest you freshen up first my darling, you slept in your clothes. Then have breakfast. Your sisters are all outside, I’ll get Joanne to watch over Peter.”
Maria quickly made herself more presentable, then ate her breakfast. She went in to check on Peter before leaving. His face looked different this morning. Normally it was pinched in pain with a faint sheet of sweat beading his brow. This morning the frown was gone and his face was cool to touch. He was clearly getting better. She headed out to the fields to find her father.
To her horror she encountered Jasper on the way. She knew he was working on their farm. Her father had mentioned how Jasper didn’t know one end of a scythe from another, how he was always complaining about his sunburn, blisters, sore muscles and how hard the work was. Jasper had never come near the door of their house though, so it was a bit of a shock to encounter him in the fields.
She stopped, unsure what to do. She felt anger growing within her. Normally she was even tempered but at this moment in time that character trait was fast disappearing. Jasper approached her. Since that day in the doctor’s surgery Andrew had barely spoken to him with the exception of telling him what to do. Andrew had then totally disregarded his pleas for consideration to be given with regard to his sore muscles and blisters. This whole penance thing was beginning to rankle with him, especially when it was Peter’s fault for reneging on his word.
He started to speak to her. “Maria...” he didn’t get any further words out, her face was like thunder.
She walked up to him and looked him in the eye. “Jasper did you, or did you not have a fight with Peter?” she asked with a steady voice.
Jasper paused and wondered how much she knew. “What has he told you?” he asked with a sneer on his voice.
Her voice shook now, was it anger or tears? It was hard to tell. “He hasn’t been capable of talking,” she replied.
Jasper’s smirk grew. “We had words and then he lunged at me.”
His smirk was rapidly taken away when Maria slapped him hard across the face. “You’re lying Jasper, I don’t know how I know, but you are lying. I never want to see you again, don’t you ever come near me!” At that she turned around and stormed off.
Jasper rubbed his face. He had dreamt of her slapping him after he kissed her, but never dreamt of being slapped in the face when he hadn’t!
Maria saw her father in the distance and sped towards him, not stopping until she threw her arms around him. Andrew held his daughter close. He had spotted her in the distance and had seen her slap Jasper. “Happy birthday darling,” he muttered before squeezing her tight. She looked up, tears still glistening in her eyes but a smile on her lips. Andrew resumed working. “How is the patient?” he enquired.
“What