Heartache at Blackberry Farm by Rosie Clarke

Author:Rosie Clarke [Clarke, Rosie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boldwood Books

22

‘Tom…’ Lizzie ran to greet him as he got out of the car that Sunday morning. His visit was a week overdue because he’d been unwell and the hospital had kept him in a little longer. He was walking with a stick, but as she approached, he let it drop and opened his arms to receive her. They hugged and then kissed passionately, the ache of separation making it feel so wonderful to just hold one another. ‘How are you, my darling? We’ve been so anxious about you. We expected you a few days ago…’

‘I had a bit of a fever, so they delayed my release. You did get my message?’

‘Yes, but it didn’t tell us much.’

‘I wasn’t sure when they would let us come.’

‘Oh, Tom,’ Lizzie said. ‘We were all worried about you.’

‘I’m all right now,’ Tom told her. ‘It was a bit rough for a while.’ He smiled at the man leaning on his crutches just behind them. ‘I’ve brought Terry to stay, for as long as he wants – I think you know him, Lizzie?’

She smiled at the young soldier. ‘Yes, of course, I do. Sorry, Terry, if I neglected to say hello. I was just so happy to see Tom.’

‘Of course, you were,’ Terry answered, smiling, but his eyes went to the young woman who was leading a tiny girl by the hand. ‘Tina…? My you’ve grown…’

The little girl clung uncertainly to Susan’s hand, looking up at him with big inquiring eyes before burying her face against Susan’s leg.

‘She’s a bit shy because she hasn’t seen you for a while,’ Susan told him and bent to lift her up. She whispered something in the child’s ear, and Tina lifted her head to look at her father.

‘Dadda,’ she said and held out her arms to him.

He balanced himself with one crutch and took her hand in his, placing it against his face, and tears were in his eyes.

‘Dadda can’t carry you,’ Susan told her. ‘Let’s go into the house and sit down and then he can have you on his lap.’

She led the way, still carrying Tina in her arms, and Terry followed, using his crutches, stepping carefully though the yard had well-beaten tracks of old bricks and slabs set into the earth as a path to the house. Although he was wearing his new leg, he still needed the support of the crutches, and the concentration was there for all to see as he negotiated his way to the open door.

Lizzie and Tom waited while they disappeared inside the kitchen, holding each other and talking softly, laughing in pleasure at being together.

‘He’s had a rough time,’ Tom told Lizzie, his arm about her waist. ‘He can’t seem to get the hang of the false leg yet – I think it makes his stump sore still. Poor devil. First, he loses his leg and nearly dies, then, when he’s recovering from that, he loses his wife.’

‘Yes, it was rotten luck for him, Ellie dying like that – though…’ Lizzie lowered her voice as if Terry might hear, despite being in the house.

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