Spoiler! :
Chapter 7: Life at Dove’s Nest
Living with Harry was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. His direct approach to life was refreshing and I never looked back. He was like a guardian angel to me. That is, if guardian angels are rather large, muscled and have big feet. He didn’t have any wings either but I didn’t mind.
The next few weeks of our lives were spent almost in the way a couple would behave when decorating a new house. We bought paint with the Harry’s earnings off the fruit stall and the main room was coloured pale yellow. We couldn’t afford to paint the other rooms, but as Harry pointed out, we hardly used the, in comparison to the living room.
Every day whilst Harry was out I would scrub and shine until my hands were red. Soon enough, the windows were clean enough to see out of and the kitchen sparkled with beauty. Harry insisted that we dine in what he deemed as ‘royalty’ so; we built a proper set of furniture for it; including two chairs, a table and a little cabinet that hung above the sink.
Harry was very good with his hands, and had soon constructed many little cupboards and shelves throughout the house which we filled with cheap books and little knickknacks we found in an old box that lay abandoned at the corner of the living room.
The house grew to be more homely, and we were both content there. As far as I was concerned, this was the happiest time of my life. Only occasionally did I wake to the sound of banging and find Harry nursing some injury of his, but it soon cleared up and I forgot to think of it as abnormal. I knew he must go out of the house to get hurt like that, but I knew better than to ask. He would change the subject or become angry. This formed our first policy. We never agreed it in words but each of us knew. I wouldn’t ask, and he wouldn’t have to lie to me.
One sunny morning Harry called me outside, where he was methodically hammering on a wooden post near the front of our house.
‘What is it?’ I asked curiously, tilting my head to try and read the words he had laboriously painted on a sign.
‘Every house needs a name,’ he replied. ‘We may not get a lot of letters and shit but I’ll be damned if this ain’t a proper house.’
‘What are we naming it?’
‘Dove’s nest,’ he informed me. ‘Because you’re as pure and pretty as a dove and this is where you rest.’
I blushed scarlet at this response and had to hide my face in embarrassment as Harry straightened up, evidently admiring his work.
'There, finished.' He looked up at me, probably expecting to see a pleased smile. Instead he was met by my arm screening my burning face.
He laughed gently and took the hand that was pressed determinedly on my forehead, swinging it down to my side.
'Don't be such an idiot Ash.’ He started walking along the street, pulling me after him.
'Where are we going?' I inquired as I skipped quickly to his side to catch up.
Harry said nothing, but tightened his grip on my hand.
He led me to a fence at the end of a cobbled road; he hopped over with no difficulty and landed like lion on the other side.
‘Come on,’ he ushered me towards him with his free hand. I approached the fence nervously. I didn’t have good balance when it came to climbing; I seemed to get caught on anything that was more than a foot tall and I wasn’t too keen on Harry seeing my lack of coordination just yet.
‘Not like I’m waiting or anything,’ Harry grumbled, letting go of me. ‘We haven’t got all day kid!’
I took a quick breath and lifted my leg from the ground. The bars looked a lot thinner than when Harry had clambered over them. They looked wobbly too. My leg shook slightly with fear as I placed it strategically on a wooden plank. It trembled ever so slightly under my weight; I looked down and saw that it was caving in very slowly.
‘What’s happening?’ I asked anxiously.
Harry laughed. ‘It’s not meant to be stood on for hours! Get a move on.’
I scrambled up the fence quickly, my hands scraping the top. Just as I was about to jump down quickly a loud moo alerted me to the presence of cows that were sharing the field with Harry. I gave a startled yelp, like a wounded dog and promptly fell forwards into the long grass.
‘Ouch’ I huffed.
As I got up to brush the greenery from my face I saw that Harry was watching me disbelievingly, evidently uncertain as to whether he should laugh or not.
I walked quickly toward him and slipped again. My feet slid through the grass and he caught me, holding my upright against him. My bewildered expression seemed to push him over the edge; he let out a great roar of laughter. I fought to remove myself from his grasp as I shook the grass out of my hair, ignoring his hearty guffaws,
When the laughter eventually subsided, Harry took me by the hand again and grinned down at me.
‘Have a nice trip?’ he enquired seriously, but I could see his mouth twitching at the corners. I glared at him.
‘Where are we going?’ I tried again.
‘You’ll see,’ was his simple response, and he pulled me onwards through the trees.
After an hour of silent walking and Harry constantly checking the time, we found ourselves on a grassy hilltop, abundant with wild daisies. As I looked down, I could see a blue lake surrounded by a forest of trees. The sun was sinking slowly in the crimson sky, as the golden sun slowly sank behind the far off valley. Glimmers of light reflected off the still water, sending slithers of rose coloured shafts of light through the trees. The pink clouds floated by in soft cotton like puffs of smoke and the sky became gradually darker.
Harry settled himself down on the ground, leaning against an old oak tree. I did the same and we sat, hands still linked, to take in the beautiful scenery around us.
‘I come here a lot,’ he told me softly, ‘whenever it seems like things are going badly in my life I slip up here and watch the sun go down. It has a calming effect and it seems to soothe my soul -and my sanity for that matter. It’s such a beautiful spot don’t you think?’
I nodded mutely.
‘Look at the sun, I feel as if I could reach out and almost touch it. It seems to look at me with a dull glare, knowing it’s had it's time to shine.’
As I followed his gaze, I too, began to look at the sun in a new way. It seemed to murmur "Farewell" to the world as it descended lower and lower in a lethargic manner; like it never wanted to leave.
I rested my head carefully on Harry’s shoulder and, removing his hand from my grasp; he placed it around my shoulders, kissing the top of my head gently. He cradled me against his chest, holding me close.
We remained in silence for a few minutes until Harry checked his battered wristwatch for the millionth time and sighed.
‘We better start heading home,’ he noted. ‘It’s a long walk and we want to get back before it’s too dark.’ He heaved himself up from the ground and pulled me up alongside him, winding his arm around my waist.
‘Will you be going out again tonight?’ I asked him as we walked.
‘Probably.’
‘Where do you go?’
Silence.
‘Harry?’ I prompted him.
‘I don’t go anywhere.’
That struck a nerve. ‘You expect me to trust you yet you won’t trust me?’ My voice was still calm but I removed myself from his grasp.
No response.
‘You can’t just think I’ll sit quietly and not notice that you leave the house. What kind of idiot do you take me for?’ I was getting angrier now, my breath was coming out in short gasps and I could feel myself getting hotter even though it was a cool night.
He stopped sharply and turned to face me. ‘Why can’t you just stay out of it?’ He snarled. ‘Maybe I don’t want to tell you because its private did that ever cross your mind? Not everything has to be opened out in front of you, you may be used
to getting everything you want in life but I got news for you; that ain’t how the world works and you better get used to it. If you think for one moment that –‘
‘Get everything I want?’ I laughed hysterically. ‘Yeah my greatest dream in life is to go live out on the streets and then get taken in by some psychopath who won’t even tell me where he goes at night!’
We stood facing each other, Harry’s hands were now gripping my shoulders tightly and he was shaking with anger.
‘Go then.’ He said finally. ‘If you don’t like it just leave. Just walk away. Right now.’
I stared at him for a moment. There was no sign of the familiar laughter in his eyes; they were cold and grey as a storm cloud. Wrenching myself from his grasp I started up the hill away from him. I didn’t look back as I strode purposefully away, I didn’t know if he was watching me but I didn’t care. I only stopped when I reached the end of the field and a small road but when I turned around he had gone; vanished into the depths of the night.
I sat myself down on a large rock at the side of the dirt track. I had no clue what to do now; back with Harry, the anger had fuelled me and I already knew that I was becoming increasingly useless at keeping it under control. I had walked away from two homes now. Maybe there was something wrong with me.
I gazed down the road. It was obvious to me that I couldn’t go back to the bridge now; even if I had being paying attention when we’d walked and knew the way. My seemingly only option was to follow this track and see where it went. I had no food or money and nowhere to go; this was becoming a regular occurrence.
As I walked I could feel the cool breeze emanating from the trees that cast murky shadows before me. I shuddered, cursing inwardly at my stupidity of not bringing an extra jumper. In the distance was the sound of owls hooting, and when I listened carefully I could hear the rustling of the leaves. My feet plodded onwards for hours and I went with them, yearning for a place to rest my weary head.
I checked my own watch for the first time that day. It was older even than Harry’s and the screen was badly cracked, but I could still make out the hands that told me it was midnight.
The witching hour.
Up ahead were a few glimmers of light, I hurried towards them but sceptically. Throughout the night my mind had already played tricks on me and made me visualise cities and towns when there were none, like a desert mirage.
Sure enough, as I reached the end of the road I could clearly distinguish another road joining on to mine. Not a city at all. I stepped onto the barren concrete and began to walk down it. As I did so however I heard a roar behind me, growing closer and closer. I jumped automatically into the bushes at the edge my pathway as a flash of blinding light illuminated the whole street. I felt the air rush past me and the sound bellow by. And then it was gone. A car, hurtling down a hill.
But if I was on a road that cars travelled past… that meant… that meant I was near people. If I followed the road I had to end up somewhere, and from there… who knew? But the prospect of being out of the countryside fields was something I clung to as I trudged on through the night.
he he
They'd gotten all cozy together, all cutesy, and then you HAD to have them fight -_- what happened to the don't ask rule?! (yeah, I got issues)
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