by Sammy King
Thomas reached up and pet Laura on the back, soothing her tears. When she sat up and looked at his face she could see that his eyes were red and puffy from his own tears.
“Have you always been there?” Laura asked between hiccupping sobs.
Thomas took Laura’s face in his hand and looked into her eyes. The blue so soft and beautiful, his eyes were filled with love that threatened to swallow her whole.
“I would have hanged had they found me child” he croaked.
“Did mother know?”
Laura could see the flash of regret run through his eyes, he couldn’t lie to her.
“She did, and had I known how sick she was, I would have come back” he spoke gently.
“You said the man who took me was a man of influence, but who was he daddy?” Laura asked.
“James Slater” Thomas frowned and shuddered.
Laura shook her head as questions raced through her mind. Why would a Slater try to steal a peasant child? What would he want with her?
“Why did he try to take me?” she asked.
Thomas shook his head and ran his hand down over his face. He pet Laura’s back, his eyes were swollen and puffy from the tears that he seemed to be unable to hold back.
“Laura the Slater family isn’t a good family. They have money, they have importance and they portray themselves as men of cloth, but they have an evil spirit that run’s deep through their souls. Your Aunt told me that your child belongs to Porter and this breaks my heart” he said, his voice catching in his throat.
Laura felt more confused than she was before Thomas had come back into her life. She didn’t understand what he meant by the evil spirit. Porter was nothing but gentle to her, but then the image of him wrapped up in the red headed woman’s legs flashed into her mind. The way he looked at her, the way he didn’t even try to cover what he was doing. Her heart ached at the image and her heart broke again, not for herself but for the Slater child that she carried, the child that too would be born with that evil spirit running through its veins.
Laura laid her head down on her father’s shoulder and tangled her fingers lazily in his beard, taking in his familiar scent, of pine and earth. She still had so many questions, but she no longer had the energy to deal with the emotions. Laura needed to know the story of her attempted abduction and she needed to know what Thomas had been doing the whole time he was away. Laura questioned whether he had thought of her, had he tried to come and see her? But at that moment she just wanted to stay embraced in her father’s arms, silently holding him, relishing in the feeling of finally having a father who loved her and cared for her so close. After a while she heard movement in the doorway and looked up to see Aunts face etched in worry.
“Thomas you can’t stay here” she spoke softly.
Panic and bile began to rise in Laura’s throat. She had only got her father back in her life, she couldn’t bear the thought that he would leave her so soon. Thomas looked down at his daughter; she met his eyes, her green eyes welling up to match the water in his own. Thomas reached over and smoothed Laura’s hair and nodded.
“I have to leave again child. If they find me they will still have me hanged” he said quietly to her.
Laura tangled tightly her fingers into Thomas’ beard and heard him hiss in pain, but she needed to hold onto him, she couldn’t let him go. Her eyes were wide in panic; they darted between her father and Aunt. Thomas tried to untangle her fingers where they clung painfully.
“Please child” he said, pain edged through his voice.
“No” Laura screeched, her voice breaking, with fistfuls of Thomas’ beard she dragged her hands down to her waist. Thomas hissed loudly, as chunks of his beard released painfully from his face. “No” she screamed again, shaking her head.
Laura reached up to her face and began to claw at her cheeks. She felt the skin tear under her nails. Thomas’ eyes widened as he lunged towards her, grabbing at her wrists trying to get her to stop gouging chunks of her face away. Laura felt the dribbles of blood that ran from her cheeks and dripped down onto her chest. She didn’t recognise the roaring that came from her lips, it sounded like a distant wild cat in the woods, but yet she knew the sound was emitted from her own mouth. The pain in her cheeks brought her release and when the saltiness of her tears mixed with the wounds it eased the built up emotional turmoil that twisted her stomach and heart into knots. Finally she stopped fighting Thomas and allowed him to pull her into his chest. Her growling slowed to sobs which began to ease into shudders, until she was nothing more than a silent trembling body. Slowly Laura could feel the darkness pulling at the corner of her eyes, edging her closer to complete blackness. She no longer fought it and soon her whole mind was engulfed and she lost consciousness.
It was movement that awoke her, she couldn’t tell where the sound came from, a scratching; she could sense the movement as she slowly opened her eyes. The room was dark, the full moon shone through the small grimy window of her room. It was cold and she shivered involuntarily. The scratching continued, Laura cocked her head to one side, trying to tune her ears into where the sound came from. It sounded like it was directly under her small wooden framed bed. When her eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the room, Laura moved silently to the edge of her bed, rolling the large girth of her pregnant belly so that she could bring her knees up underneath her. Slowly she leant forward, careful not to let too much of her body to hang off the edge off the bed. As her eyes cleared the edge, she startled when two round green and yellow eyes stared back at her. Laura felt a scream forming in her throat, but slammed her hand over her mouth to stop it from escaping her lips. She eased her feet onto the cold earthy floor and clamoured down beside the bed, bringing her face level with the eyes that stared back at her.
Laura knew somewhere in the back of her mind, that she should be afraid, but curiosity took over and she felt a new found boldness. She and the eyes stared at each other for some time, before the mysterious eyes seemed to grow larger. Laura realised that it wasn’t that the eyes were growing, but they were coming closer to her. They kept sneaking closer until she could feel a puff of breath on her face and a cold wet nose touch her own. Laura moved back, sitting up straight on her knees as a fox emerged from under her bed. Tentatively she reached out and stroked the foxes head between its ears. It cocked its head to one side, an action that Laura mimicked.
“You have a message for me?” she asked quietly.
“One day Porter will return and then you can take the life he took from you” the fox replied.
Laura was shocked to hear the fox speak to her, in her own language. She leaned closer to the foxes face and rubbed her cheek on the soft orange fur, running her fingers through the white fur of its breast.
“I should kill him?” Laura asked.
“It will be the only way” the fox replied.
Laura heard movement behind her; she turned her head to see Thomas standing in the doorway, his brow pulled tight into a frown.
“Who are you speaking to Laura?” his deep voice rumbled.
Laura turned back to the fox that sat in front of her; it had nestled onto her lap, and almost curled up like a cat. She began to stroke its head and thought she could hear it actually begin to purr as its eyes closed and it settled in tighter.
“The fox Father” she said incredulously.
Thomas stepped forward and looked to where Laura pointed to the fox on her lap. He shook his head, his face still pulled into a frown, his eyes unreadable in the dark. He slowly eased his body down next to hers and put his hand on to the fox’s body.
“Laura, child, my sweetness, there is no fox here” he spoke.
Laura snorted in disbelief, how could her father not see the fox, he had his hand on its back?
“Don’t be silly Daddy, your stroking it as we speak. The fox, he came with a message for me, I know what I need to do when I find Porter” she spoke happily stroking the foxes head.
Thomas reached up to Laura’s hai
r and smoothed it over her shoulder. He stood and eased his way out the room. Laura sat quietly petting the fox, while it purred happily in its slumber.
Chapter Thirteen
The fox came and visited with Laura regularly, it soon became her best friend, a friend that she could share her secrets and desires with. She was never judged by the fox; no matter what she felt, it never judged her. Her father too hadn’t left. He had stayed. She often heard him and Aunt speaking in huddled whispers to one another about Laura’s state of mind. She had heard her Aunt suggest sending her to an asylum. But Thomas had shouted at Aunt and told her that he would never send his child there. She had taken the conversation she overheard to the fox and told it she held fears that her Aunt would talk her father down and she would be sent to the asylum. The fox had assured Laura it wouldn’t happen.
Late one night she sat on her bed, the fox was curled up in her lap, when suddenly it lifted its head to her and cocked it to one side. Laura looked down lazily and gave a smile.
“Laura you need to get your fathers gun” the fox said dryly.
“Why?” Laura asked.
The fox bared its teeth to her in a frightening way and Laura recoiled, unsure whether her friend was going to bite her.
“Laura you mustn’t question me. I know what is best for you” it spoke again, its voice deep and strong, which sent a shiver through Laura’s body.
She knew her father wouldn’t want her to take his gun, but she was afraid of what would happen if she was to disobey the fox. She didn’t want to lose her only friend. When she heard the deep rumbling snores of her father she snuck out the front door, closing it quietly with the fox beside her. She crept around the side of the house and allowed the fox to lead her deep into the woods to where her father’s cottage stood. The moon was high in the sky, but once they got into the middle of the woods where the canopy prevented any light in she couldn’t see two feet in front of her.
“Just follow me” the fox said in response to her rising panic.
Laura adjusted her eyes so that she could see the flash of orange from the fox’s tale in front of her. She continued to keep up with the fox until a small stone cottage seemed to rise out of the darkness in front of her. Once they reached the small wooden front door, she pushed it and felt it release under her weight with a groan. Laura held her breath unnecessarily as she knew that there was no one that could hear her. The fox lead her into a small kitchen where on the wooden table sat a candle. She lit the candle which with a flicker lit part of the room.
“This way” the fox called from her left.
She turned to see the fox standing in the doorway to another room and she hurriedly followed him, her feet padding along the dirt floor. As she entered the room she could see it was a bedroom. Her father’s bed made of wood and hay sat in one corner of the room and beside that glinted the metal steel of a rifle with a small bowl of pellets. She leaned forward and took the gun in her hand, feeling the cool of the steel under her fingers.
“Let’s get back before he comes looking” the fox spoke quietly.
Laura clutched the gun to her chest as she followed the fox back through the woods and into the waiting sunrise. The cottage was still quiet when they returned; Laura followed the fox to the side of the house where he dug in the soft earth.
“Bury the gun here” he said.
Laura obeyed and pushed the gun down into the long grave that the fox had dug. As the fox covered the gun with the earth she heard the creak of the wooden back door open and Laura quickly stood. Her eyes darted between the mound of dirt that buried the gun, the fox and the side of the house. The fox turned its head to her and sneered. It casually trotted to the edge of the house with Laura close behind. As she rounded the corner, she ran into the chest of her father. She looked up into his face, but the morning sun that blinked over the top of the house blocked out her view. She felt her father’s hands on her shoulders and realised that she was still in her nightdress and was cold.
“Laura, what are you doing out here? And where are your shoes?” Thomas spoke gently; concern seemed to be etched in his voice.
Laura looked down at her feet, she hadn’t realised she had no shoes on. Her toes were caked with dirt and deep scratches were etched into her calves where they had run through the brush of the woods. She looked up at her father’s face again and this time could make out the deep frown that pulled his brows together.
“What have you been up to?” he asked.
The fox growled deep in its throat, threatening Laura not to tell the truth to her father. She looked down nervously at the fox; it bared its teeth as it crouched down onto its hind legs, its eyes narrowed and a growl emanated from its throat. Laura felt panic rise from the pit of her stomach, she wanted to stop the fox; her friend was scaring her. Her eyes darted nervously between her father who looked increasingly worried by Laura’s behaviour and the fox. Thomas reached forward and took hold of Laura’s hands that had begun to tremble. With one hand he cupped her chin and gently caressed her jaw bone with his thumb. Before Laura could pull Thomas away the fox launched itself and latched onto Thomas’ arm. She heard Thomas roar in pain. Laura reached up and tried to pull the fox from her father’s body, but her pulling caused both her and Thomas to fall. Laura landed with a thud on top of Thomas’ body. The roars that had come from Thomas caused her Aunt to run from the house. When Aunt saw the sight that was in front of her, Laura felt a hard slap in her face. It was enough for Thomas to be able to push her off himself. Laura fell back onto the cold earth with a hard thump.
Thomas sat up and moved out of her reach. She could see his face was scratched and bleeding, he was breathing hard, his eyes had darkened and his eyebrows were pulled together in a deep frown. Laura looked around for the fox but couldn’t see it anywhere; she glanced down at her hands and saw the blood that stained her fingers, her father’s blood.
“Now will you believe me Thomas” Aunt screamed.
Thomas sat staring at Laura; she noticed his hands trembled in his lap. Laura looked between Thomas and her Aunt. Aunt was still yelling at Thomas, but Laura couldn’t work out the words she was saying. In the corner of her eyes she could feel the darkness starting to creep in. Her vision got blurry and she could hear her father call her name, before the darkness took over her body.
Chapter Fourteen
When Laura woke, she was in a clean nightgown in her bed, the room was light and she watched as the dust danced in the speckled sun that poured its way into the window. She looked over and could see her father sitting in a hard wooden chair next to her bed. His head was bent down into his hands and he appeared to be sleeping.
“Father” Laura spoke softly.
Thomas’ head shot up and his dark eyes softened when he looked at her frail body that lay in the bed. He leaned forward and reached out a hand to her. Laura’s eyes began to well up with tears when she saw the deep wounds on his face from the fox.
“Daddy, I’m sorry the fox did that to your face, I didn’t want it to” she spoke.
Thomas frowned and gingerly touched one of the wounds that ran from his eye to his jaw. He shook his head slowly and clasped Laura’s hand tight.
“My sweetness, a fox didn’t do this to me” he spoke, his voice cracking as a single tear trickled its way down his cheek.
Laura was confused; she had watched the fox leap at her father in attack. She didn’t know where it was now, but she had seen it happen.
“I watched it Daddy” she said.
Thomas shook his head again and gave her hand another squeeze.
“I think maybe your Aunt might be right, maybe you need to go to a hospital for a while” he quietly spoke, shaking his head.
Laura was confused, she couldn’t understand why she would need to go to a hospital, she wasn’t sick. She was with child, but she didn’t need to go to a hospital for that. Laura started to think maybe her father just didn’t want her around anymore, but then she knew he could leave, he could go back to
his home. She didn’t understand what was happening to her.
“He thinks you’re crazy” the voice spoke.
Laura looked down at the end of the bed and saw the fox sitting curled up at her feet. She hadn’t noticed it before, but now felt its feet slowly crawl up her legs and over her large belly until it sat on her chest. Although it was a big animal it didn’t feel heavy. Laura reached out instinctively and began to stroke the top of its head as it curled up again on her chest and began to purr.
“I’m not crazy. You shouldn’t have hurt my father” she spoke.
She felt angry at the fox for hurting her father, but the love she felt for it was overwhelming and pushed her anger from her.
“Laura, I don’t think your crazy child” her father spoke.
“I was speaking to the fox” she said “he shouldn’t have hurt you”
Thomas frowned deep and dropped Laura’s hand. He slowly stood from his seat and moved quickly back towards the doorway.
“He’s not going to hurt you again Daddy, I won’t allow it” she spoke sensing her father’s fear.
Thomas shook his head and left the room. Laura looked back down to the fox that almost seemed to be smiling with contentment as it lay asleep on her chest. Laura felt sleep take her again as she stroked the top of the foxes head.
When she awoke again it was dark throughout the room, the only light a small flicker from the candle that sat on the small table beside her bed. Laura felt a deep pain in her back and she shifted uncomfortably on her bed. The pain began to increase and she moved her feet to the edge standing slowly. As Laura stood, the pain rumbled its way around to the front of her belly and seated itself deep in her lower abdomen. It seemed to suck the breath out of her body and her knees buckled under the increased pressure in her groin. As another pain washed over her, Laura let out a guttural roar. She knelt on the floor and a flood of water flowed from between her legs. She heard her door crash open and her Aunt and Father stood staring down at her. In the candlelight that Aunt held she looked down and could see the blood that covered her white nightgown. The pain was unbearable and she screamed out again. Thomas turned and she heard the front door of their house crash open and closed again. Aunt lurched forward and lifted Laura from the floor placing her back on the bed. She took Laura’s face in her hands and came in close.