ADAGIO FOR JACK

(Direct continuation of The House Redoux)

By Atonia Walpole

(Picture creations also by Atonia unless otherwise noted)

Part 1

It was the music that kept entering and exiting her consciousness. All day it tugged at her gently. A leaf caught in the breeze twirled and danced to the tune in her head. People she saw walking in the village seemed to move to the unseen musician and her own steps echoed the haunting strings.  Sometimes the movement was so heart rending she wiped a tear, other times she caught her breath in fear. Oh, where was he?

Max was in London on business and Toni and the children were at the cottage with Tuppy. She’d walked into the village to go to the bakery and shop a little. Finally she walked out onto the green, sat down and closed her eyes.

“Jack, where are you?”

Her hair lifted in the wind and she turned quickly but found herself alone. He was near, of that she was certain. It made her heart beat a little faster and her body tense with anticipation. His touch, his scent, the feel of him in her arms, his weight upon her body. She took a breath and left the park bench. There were strong emotions there, strong ties and an unbound love for a man that could never be hers.

She walked along the back of the bench, trailing a hand. If she closed her eyes she could see him in her mind’s eye. At the House of Four Seasons playing his violin by the fire, a glass of port within reach. She curled her fingers, fingers that knew the feel of his hair and her lips knew the taste of his salty skin.

“Jack Aubrey, where are you?”

Things had not been the same between them since her flight away from him in London. He was understandably wary of her and afraid of upsetting her again, although for the life of him he didn’t understand it at all. He’d taken her and Rose to the cottage he purchased on the coast of England and she’d been friendly and warm, but he could sense the distance she’d put between them. He supposed it might have something to do with the fact he’d not come out into the real world but lived the life he knew within his movie and the books written about him. He thought she understood his reasons. And then there was Max, who now totally occupied her. Perhaps it was him and her love for him that prevented her from coming into his arms.

Yes, he was near. He could sense her, too, her scent, the feel of her beneath him, the feel of her skin under his fingertips, her hair, the sound of her voice, her throaty laugh. He could cross over. It would be so easy for him to do. He knew she was somewhere here in the village. Several times he thought he’d heard his name. Did she think of him then? Why did he hesitate?  He stood on one side of the village square in 1807 and she on the other in 2010.

She moved out onto the path and walked away from the fountain toward the other end. A boy whipped by her on a bicycle, startling her little.

“Sorry, Miss!” he called out over his shoulder as he pedaled away.

She stepped off the path into the trees. Some were very old and some no more than fifty years. She passed underneath them until she reached what she determined was the oldest, it’s branches reaching downward for the earth. She was so certain he was near, she did it. She stepped over into his world. She’d  done it in Florence into Maximus’ world and now into Jack’s.

He stopped and looked around. By God she’d done it! But where?

“Jack?” She reached out for the tree to steady herself but it was not there. The village green was a pasture. She blinked a few times and looked to her right where a cow regarded her with its big soft eyes.

“Ah, ye’d better cum outta thar, Miss. Wot ye doin?” An old man began walking toward her.

Oh, dear! She began to run, looking for the fence gate. “I’m a, um, where’s the gate?”

“Are yer stealin me cow?” he called out.

“No, no, sir! I’m, uh, lost.”

Jack ducked under the fencing and ran, mindful of the cow patties across the pasture. “Toni!”

“Oh, Jack!” She breathed a sigh of relief.

“Is that yer man? Is it? Wal, yer better git along then.” The old man tipped his cap back.

Toni ran into Jack, who took her up in his arms and hugged her. “I knew you were here.”

“Oh, Pet.” He kissed her regardless of the old man. “Let’s get you out of here.” He grinned and grabbed her hand, leading her out of the pasture.

Toni was laughing at his side by the time they crawled under the fence. “You do such a better job of this than I do. I could have ended up right smack in the middle of a cow pile. Oh, Jack, I’m so glad to see you!”

He looked intensely into her eyes. “And I you, Pet. I was aware of your presence, too. I thought to cross over but I’m glad you took the step.” He held her hands and kissed them.

“I’ve been aware of you for some time, ever since I came into the village.” She took a breath. “Well, what are you doing here? This is neither here nor there for you, is it?”

“I was on my way London from Ashgrove but you were here. I’ve, uh, taken rooms for the night.”

“You know I can’t stay the night.”

“I understand.”

“I, um, have the afternoon. Tuppy has the children at the cottage. You should come and see Rose.”

“I will before I leave. I’m at the Wayfarer’s Inn just over there.”

“I see. Wow, it certainly looks different! Just a crossroads, isn’t it?”

“Yes, off the London road. We could, ah, have some tea at the inn if you…or…”

“Tea? That would be nice.” Toni looked down at her denim skirt and sandals. “Oh.”

“Never mind it. You’re fine. The lighting is not good.”

“You said you have rooms?”

“Yes.” He held his breath.

“Am I going to have to invite myself to see them?”

“Oh, Pet no. I’m never sure anymore with you…I don’t want to…oh, dear, come with me.” He took her arm and escorted her down the dirt path and over to the back of the Inn where some wooden steps led up to the second floor.

“It’s not much but it has all the necessaries.”

“It’s fine. Reminds me of the inn we stayed in near Paris when you were ill.”

She hadn’t realized how deeply her actions in London had affected him. She touched his face and that was all he needed. He took her in his arms and kissed her deeply.

“I’ve missed you. I was so afraid I’d lost you, Pet.”

“Never. I may be more married than I’ve ever been but I am also wiser. I love my daughter’s father and nothing will ever change that. I can’t help it where you’re concerned. God help me, I crave you.” Her hands went behind his neck, holding his lips to hers.

They undressed each other and lay in the feather bed for the next hour and  a half, finding familiar places and giving pleasure.

Toni lay her head across his chest. He played with her hair and she ran her hand across his furred belly.

“Do you know how much I would like you here, you and Rose, if only it were possible.”

“I believe I do, Jack, but it isn’t possible. It isn’t.”

He pulled her up on top of him and framed her face with his hands. “This is all we will ever have, you and I. A moment here and there. We must make the best of it."

“Yes.”  She ran her tongue over his lips and his hands moved down her body, grabbing her ass. She sat up on him and eased him inside of her. Slow and easy she moved.

Later she cleaned herself up in his basin and dressed. “You will come when?”

“When would you like me to come?”

“I could take you home, having found you in the village. The children would be so glad to see you.”

“Ah, yes, but will Max be glad of your foundling, eh?”

“Probably not, but he knows he has to accept it. He’ll know.”

“Yes ,I know he will. Perhaps it would be best if I accompanied you home.”

“I’m glad I stepped through to you. I think you might not have. I was in a heat for you today. All the magic you sent around me to let me know you were near; it worked,” she grinned.

“I didn’t send anything.” he met her eyes. “It’s your own awareness.”

“Well, I’m very aware of you, then.”

He moved over to her and took her arms in his. “As I am of you. Come, let us get you across the great divide before you are missed.” He left his coat and weapons in the room, thinking he might be less conspicuous in her world.

They walked again to the edge of the pasture. He slipped an arm around her waist and held her to his side. Through the foggy tunnel they emerged once again on the village green.  Toni stopped in the bakery and picked up bread and rolls and a cake. Jack carried the cake box back to the cottage.

Jacky spotted him first and came running. Jack handed the cake off to Toni and became immersed in children in the den.  Toni went to the kitchen. She had another for diner tonight.

Toni decided to have the children have their dinner with them tonight. She cooked sausages and mash with gravy and peas, carrots and Brussels sprouts. The boys liked them and called them baby cabbages. She had it all going on the stove. Tuppy had given up on the boys and took Rose up for a bath; at least she might get a start on the clean up.

She’d been so busy she hadn’t heard  Max come in. He stopped by the den a little surprised to see Jack in the floor with the boys building ships with Legos.

“Ah, Jack, how good to see you,” he lied.

Part 2

“Hello, darling. I didn’t hear you come in.” Toni kissed him and passed on to the fridge.

“No? Well, there’s a din in the den.  What are you cooking for? Oh, good Lord!”

“Um, well, Jack’s here for dinner.”

“So I noticed.” He found a carrot circle left on the counter and ate it. “When did he show up?”

“This afternoon. I found him in the village.”

Max pulled off his tie and unbuttoned his shirt. He went over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of wine and opened it.

“There’s sausages for dinner.”

“Wine is wine.” He poured out a glass. “One for the cook?”

“Yes, please.”

He poured her glass and moved close to her, placing it in her hand. “You fucked him?”

“I said I found him and I did. I stepped over for a couple of hours and that’s a rather crude way to put it, don’t you think?”

“I suppose it is but if you think I’m going to apologize.”

“I don’t expect you to. I’m not going to apologize, either. He’s Rose’s father. You don’t stop loving somebody, Max. You know how that is.”

He took his glass to the back door. “I thought we had someone to mow the lawn?”

“He comes tomorrow.”

“Where’s Rose?”

“Upstairs in the bath with Tuppy.”

He turned and looked in the cake box. ”Victoria sponge?”

“Um hm…your favorite.”

He stared across the counter at her.

Toni turned and met his look. “So, should I pack my bags?”

“Don’t be silly,” he said quietly.

She was trying to hold her head up and get through this. She turned on the broiler and leaned on the stove. “Did Maxi show you his bowl?”

“What bowl?”

“We made clay bowls and cups this morning out by the brook. He decorated his with little pebbles.”

“I’m sure I’ll see it later. He’s busy building bloody boats with his uncle Jack.”

“He’s not staying the night here and he’s leaving in the morning. He’s only here for dinner and to see the children.”

“You forget, Toni, I am civilized. I will not make a scene in front of the children or you. I’ve stated my desires as far as he’s concerned. Neither of you give a shit, so what else is there to say?”

“What if it were you in his shoes?”

“The simple fact is that it is not me in his shoes. If I were, I would have come out like the rest of us. If I were him I would have kept myself in the running at the House and most likely walked away from there with you. Oh, yeah, I think that’s the way it would have happened. But he’s a 19^th century bloke who couldn’t’ see past a bloody sailboat, didn’t think he could live in this world or didn’t want to. I’ve never known for sure. He had a choice and made it.”

“There isn’t a life I could live with him. I can’t go back and he can’t come out. I made a choice, too.”

“Ah, yes, you did. It was Terry if I recall.” He picked up his tie and left the kitchen going upstairs to change.

Toni backed up against the wall and sighed.

Jack stood in the doorway. “Madam?”

Toni looked up. “Max.”

“Do not worry your pretty little head.” He came over and kissed the top of her head and left the kitchen. “The boys are busy for a moment.”

“Thank you.” She looked at the sausages lined up in the pan and crammed them into the broiler.

Jack knocked and then opened the door. Max had pulled on a pair of track pants but he wasn’t making much headway.

“I’m probably not someone you want to talk to right now, Jack.”

“You are exactly who I want to talk to.” He closed the door behind him. “Max, I know you are trying your best to live a normal life with Toni and the children.”

“You’re wrong; there isn’t a normal life for us. I thought there might be at one time but I was mistaken.”

“You are a very fortunate man. You have the best of everything. You have her, you have your son, my daughter and Terry’s son. What more could a man want? She loves you, Max, and the life you have given her. I can offer her nothing.”

“Except yourself.”

“No, I can’t even do that. Only a moment here and there, nothing permanent, nothing she can hold onto like she can you. She can trust you and know that whatever happens you will be there for her to hold her and love her. You can give her what I can’t.”

“Why didn’t you at the House?  She would have chosen you. Why did you take yourself out of it? You were the one that picked up the pieces for her, helped her get back on her feet. She loved you, Jack.”

“She still does and I love her, too. You see me for a few days here and there in France or here in England. I have paper money and plastic cards. I have even flown but I am not of this time and place. I’m not a stupid man but here in this world of computers don’t you see, Max, there isn’t a place for me. Oh, I might get by as a boat captain somewhere, but what kind of life would that be for her? And I have not even mentioned the fact that I am married with children. Like John I cannot give them up but unlike John I could not bring them into this place. I’m caught between.”

Max looked at him a minute and ran his hand over his face. “It still bothers me. It cuts into me. She didn’t choose you because it was impossible but she did choose Terry and he passed her to me. She never said you’re the one, Max. She wants to sleep with Terry; she wants you and I’m what she’s got.”

“Max, your insecurities are showing. I’ve told her many times how I would love to have her and Rose. I could set her up perhaps in the cottage I bought. But I could not do that to her as much as I want it. I could not do that to you. She will not do it.”

“To be honest here, she was given the opportunity to go back to Terry when he was at La Siroque before the surgery. She wouldn’t do it.”

“Well, there you have it. Please, I ask you as a brother, do not blame her or chastise her over me. You might also consider yourself and your relationship with her when she was married to Terry before you  begin damning the rest of us to hell. You and I cannot be enemies. You would do well to remember that.”

“No, we’re all part of a whole. I know that.” Max looked aside. “Right, well, dinner.”

“Yes.” Jack put a hand on his shoulder. “I must find my daughter.” He left Max to dress. Pausing in the hallway, he thought how he’d cuckolded Max this very afternoon. Max had a right to be upset with him but not with Toni. That he would not stand for.

Max pulled a sweater over his head and combed his hair. Insecurities? Well, maybe he was insecure. He’d worked all his life trying to cover that up but it was there buried deep inside of him. The only one who had ever loved him unconditionally was his Uncle Henry. He lay the comb down on the dresser. Toni loved him .

Dinner was all about the children, making sure they ate, stopping arguments. It successfully prevented conversation between Toni and Max or Jack. After dinner it was time for the boys to hit the tub and then settle down with stories before going to sleep. Max helped her clear the table and stack the dishwasher while Jack played with the children in the den.

“He’s not much for clean up duty but he does keep the kids entertained,” Max commented.

“We all have our talents.” She poured the detergent in the cup and closed it. “Is that all?”

“Um, I think so. Dinner was very nice and it was good to include the kids. We should do that more often.”

“You might get tired of sausages and mash and mac and cheese.” The dishwasher started to hum.

“They eat other things. Little beggars will strip my plate any day if I allow it even if they’ve eaten.”

Toni smiled. This was the kind of day to day talk they shared. It all came from the life they shared. They depended on each other. That was very evident. She wiped down the sink and rinsed out the dish cloth. Max passed by her, putting the broom and dust pan back into the pantry. They were a couple, a pair, two halves of a whole. She didn’t know whether he’d forgiven her for her afternoon…whether it needed forgiving or if he was just glossing over it for appearance sake. She caught his arm as he passed and slid her hand down to his.

“Thanks for helping. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Well, yes, I do but it wouldn’t be pretty.”

“Fortunately for both of us you won’t have to find out.” He held her eyes with his.

She smiled, “Will you be wet or literate tonight?”

“Um, wet. That will give you a little time to say goodnight to Jack.”

“I love you.”

“I know. We spend too much time worrying over things that don’t matter. This,” he held up her hand joined in his, “this is what matters.”

“I don’t deserve you, Max.”

“Toni, I think we deserve each other…think about that,” he smiled a little and released her hand. He had boys to bathe.

Jack took Rose up to her bedroom, which she shared with Tuppy. He passed Max in the hall with a boy under each arm. They started squealing for Uncle Jack but their cries were soon muffled by the closed bathroom door.

Toni put away the scattered toys and stood up as Jack came into the den.

“I should be on my way.”

“I wish.... Well.”

“It would not do, Pet, knowing you were two doors away in his bed. This house, unlike the chateau, brings everyone closer. Did you talk with him?”

“A little. I think we’re okay. He took the boys for their bath so that we could have a little time.”

“Let us go out into the garden.” Jack led the way.

Part 3

“I don’t ever want to cause problems between you and Max. It is not easy for him…I understand.”

“Jack, I think Max and I are okay. We’ve weathered a lot separately and together. I honestly don’t think anything can come between us.”

“Good. That is the way it should be.” He took her hands, lacing his fingers between hers.

Toni felt his scarred fingers and kissed them. “I love you, Jack. It doesn’t matter how often I see you and it isn’t, you know, often. I always have this …this desire in me for you. My body knows yours so well. It remembers.” She saw the flash of teeth in the moonlight.

“You’d better contain your speech, madam, or we shall visit the shrubbery.” He moved his hands to her back, slowly moving them up and down. “I know you, Pet, so very well.” He pulled her to him and kissed her, his hand in her hair. “I don’t know when I will see you again. It is as it always is. When I can see myself clear I will come for you and Rose. I do believe she remembers me.”

“Did she call you Papa?”

“Bapa. It is a beginning.” He took her hand, moving into the deeper shadows and kissed her again. “We have beautiful children. Even though ours was an accident, a touch of fate, for it should not have happened. I am very happy that we have her. She is truly a love child.”

“Yes, she is. I will never forget when she was conceived. It was so beautiful.”

“Ah, yes, but what followed was not. It was very difficult for you and I am sorry I was not there.”

“It all came around, though. Terry helped bring her into the world. He saw her before I did…oh, Jack!” Her arms went around his neck and he hugged her tightly.

“I must go. The longer I am with you the worse it becomes, the harder it is to leave you. Surely Max has drowned the boys by now.” He kissed the top of her head.

She ran her hands down his arms as he pulled away. “Stay safe…my love.”

He melted into the shadows by the hedgerow and was gone. Her breath caught in a sob and she walked the garden until she had herself in control.

Max had them half dressed. If he put a shirt on one the other ran naked down the hall. He got Maxi into his night time diaper and talked to him about the importance of Y-fronts. He was coming along with his potty training. Daytime he wore his underwear but nights he had to have a diaper. Jacky was completely trained and now was busy putting his pajama pants on backwards. Max added his shirt on backwards, too, just to complete the look. He got them into bed and slipped out to find Toni. Tuppy was coming from the bathroom with dripping towels. She’d mopped up the overflow.

“Thank you, Tuppy. I was going to get to that.”

“Well, sir, it’ll be dripping down into the den, won’t it?”

“Hmm.”

Toni turned off the light in the den and was in the hall heading for the stairs when Max came down in a soggy tee shirt and his shorts. “Oh, my! Did you have a soak as well?”

“I don’t know how you do it, love. They are in bed but for how long I wouldn’t bet. Did you get Jack off?”

“Yes, he’s gone back to his inn. I’ll, um, go up and read for awhile. You’d better get into something dry, darling.” She followed him up the steps, resisting the urge to do something to his wet bum his shorts were clinging to.

It took an hour of reading before the boys were asleep. Toni carefully let herself out of their room and peeked in on Rose. She slept with a musical dog that always put her out like a light.

Downstairs Max was in the kitchen. He’d pulled on a robe and was reading the instructions on the back of a box of Cadbury’s.

“Hey. It took a long time for them to get settled down tonight. Are you cooking?”

He looked over his glasses. “How to cook hot cocoa. I don’t know why but I fancied a cup.”

“I’ll make it for you. Have a seat.” She grinned at him over the counter and he promptly pulled up a stool and opened the cake box again for another slice. Toni handed him a knife and fork with a plate. “We don’t do this very often, do we?”

“Um, what? Have cocoa?”

“Yeah, at home at this time of night a drink usually involves alcohol.”

“We’re in England.”

“Oh, is that it? Or maybe it was the sausages and mash taking you back to childhood.”

“That’s not a childhood food. Grown men eat sausages and mash. No, it’s the whole evening, I think, dinner with the children and then bath time. I dropped down into their world for awhile.”

“It’s a good place down there in their world.”

“Right, as long as there are tall people around to take care of everything for them. I was thinking whilst we are here and have Tuppy to babysit I should take you out on the town. Let’s do London.”

“Oh, that would be nice. Of course I haven’t anything to wear.”

“You do in the flat. All your London clothes are still there.”

“I would love that, Max, a totally adult evening. Imagine that.” She poured out two cups of cocoa and joined him finishing off the cake.

“Of course you could go shopping if you’d like. I’ll be at the bank most of the day.”

“You mean for me to go in with you in the morning?”

“Um, hum. I thought we’d take the train. How country is that?”

Toni shoved the last bite of cake in his mouth. He didn’t want to leave her alone again tomorrow, just in case Jack returned. “That sounds fun.”

He didn’t make love to her that night but he did hold her close and kiss her until they fell asleep.

Max deposited Toni at the flat and went to the bank. She went through the closet and found something suitable for roaming around London during the day. Really, she thought, a new dress. She’d go shopping.

Down the elevator and into a taxi she was off to Harrods, a one stop for everything she’d need; shoes ,new undies and, of course, something a little sexy from fine dresses. She bought two complete outfits, not that she really needed them, but it was something to do and her London wardrobe, though rarely used, needed a little oomph she decided. She arranged for delivery and then found the makeup and scent department. These purchases she carried with her out onto the street.

How long it had been in her mind she didn’t know as she crossed from one side of the street to another. It was the music again, violin and Jack. He said he was on his way to London and so he must be there. Even though she couldn’t see him or talk to him, it filled her just knowing he was near. She thought of the village green and knew he could even be on the same street. She walked along, imagining herself on his arm. He would be dressed in his full uniform, a dashing and handsome officer. Ahh, there was never enough of him in her life. She stopped and looked into the window of a bookstore. Careful, Toni. Don’t step over…don’t.

It had been so easy the last time but she could not make a habit of it. Something could go very wrong and then where would she be? Indeed, with three children at home it was too much of a risk. No, if he took her back that was one thing but to do it on her own there was no way of knowing where she might end up.

Lunch in a tearoom and she was back out on the streets again, walking near a park. She stopped, watching some ducks on the pond. It came around her like a cloak, a warmth in the autumn air, his scent strong. She breathed it in, closing her eyes, not daring to say his name but she felt him. He said it was her own awareness and not his doing but she wondered about that. He had to be doing something. Clearly he was thinking of her. He had to be.

Jack exited the pub, having finished his lunch with Maturin. He stopped in the street and looked around.

“What is it?” Stephen asked.

Jack smiled a little. “A pleasant thought.” More of a sensation, but he didn’t elaborate with Stephen. They walked as they talked down to a small pond where there were goats about. Stephen lit a cigar and Jack moved away for a moment and he thought of Toni. She was here somewhere and he couldn’t think why she should be in London.

“You’re in a gray fug, Jack. What is bothering you?”

“Oh, not a bother, really. I was just thinking about the possibility of parallel worlds.”

Stephen regarded him and let out a puff of smoke. “Rather deep thinking for you.”

“I beg your pardon…”

“You’re thinking of Sir Robert Whalen’s paper that he read a few years ago. Do you remember? We were in Venice, I believe.”

“Oh, yes, actually it was something a little closer to home.”

“You’re thinking of your friends, perhaps?”

“Yes,” he smiled slightly. “Of Toni, in particular. You and Killick are the only ones who know of…of my other life and Killick keeps his silence in fear.”

Stephen chuckled, “So do I, for who would believe such a tale, but I have seen with my own eyes and recognized what others did not. I have no explanation for it. You call it magic and so it must be. I am half Irish and you may talk to me seriously about magic.”

Jack moved closer to the pond and could have sworn he caught her scent. He closed his eyes again, blinking slowly. She was very near. He thought he might could touch her…ah, if only he could.

Everything that reminded her of Jack, that brought him to her senses, was alive and swirling around her, the music he played, his scent, even the earthiness of his surroundings, the smell of his damp woolen coat, the feel of his soft linen shirts. His hands, his eyes.

 

“Toni! My God, Toni!” He had her in his arms. She’d fainted. 

“Stephen?”

“Mary Mother of God!” Stephen rushed over, feeling in his pockets for the salts he usually carried and luck was with him. He had a small vial.

She coughed and sneezed but she was awake and looking into Jack’s worried face. “Oh my, Jack.”

“Are you all right, Pet?”

“Yes…oh, no! I didn’t mean to do this! I knew you were here somewhere but I was fighting the urge to step over and I think I fainted.” She was still holding her Harrods bag. “Oh my gosh, Jack!”

“My darling, what to do with you,” he smiled and held her closely in his arms.

“You must have been right next to me. I felt your presence so strongly.”

“I have not moved more than a step.”

Toni looked around and saw Stephen Maturin. “Dr. Maturin,” she smiled.

“Toni,” he smiled back. “Well, I shall leave you, and I’ll be at The Grapes. Jack?”

“Yes, yes, I will be there later. Now what to do with you, eh?”

“Send me back. I have to go to the flat and bathe and change for tonight. Max is taking me out for a night on the town. I had no idea this would happen.”

“No, I couldn’t think why I was feeling you near, not knowing you’d come to London.”

“This could be serious. I don’t want to get to the point where I literally fall into your arms through the great divide that separates us every time I think of you." Her eyes moved from his to his lips. He was going to kiss her and he did.

“Now then, I will take you back. I love you, Pet.”

She hadn’t time to answer. He’d brought her back within a few feet of where she’d been standing before she passed out and over. “Good bye. Love you.” She held onto him for a moment and let him go. Oh, what an experience! She walked away from the park, still not quite herself and found she was in a group of people moving toward the underground. She was swept along with them and bought a token. After awhile she looked up to see where the train was going and got off at the next stop. She moved into the door of a shop and asked someone to call her a taxi. She didn’t trust herself to get home on her own.

Part 4

Max waited for her outside of the restaurant. They didn’t see the need for him to come back to the flat only to turn around and go back to within a block of where he was to start with.

Toni had a long soak in the tub and used all her new creams and lotions and makeup. She pulled her hair up with a clip and slipped on the new slinky little black dress, the diamond pendant John had given her and the wedding ring Max had placed on her finger in Florence. Black heels and a pretty iridescent woolen pashima and she was ready.

“Wow!” he exclaimed when she emerged from the taxi in front of him. She looked like a million Euros, er, pounds. “You clean up nicely.” He brushed a kiss against her cheek.

“Thank you, kind sir. I believe I have a date waiting somewhere for me, a nice-looking chap about your size and height.”

“Oh, you mean the odd chap hanging bout the door?  I sent him on his way. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Umm, no, you look rather exciting. New suit?”

“Trip to my tailor. He’s had this hanging about for months. I’d say that’s a designer number. Have a turnabout…sexy.”

“All for you,” she gave him a quick kiss. Max opened the door to the upscale restaurant and they settled at the bar for a drink. Toni wasn’t doing it consciously but she was seducing him. After a bit she realized what he was responding to. She smiled to herself and worked the cool, detached sexiness that had him so on edge.

There was something about her tonight and, good gosh, she smelled delicious. He could forgo the rest of the evening and just have at her. He ordered another drink and collected himself. He’d promised her a night on the town and he would deliver, but then he raised a brow at her.

She looked back at him and tilted her head a little.

Something sparkly caught his eye hanging between the beginning of her cleavage. Oh, yes, John’s little heart necklace. Well, he’d make sure she had something else in her jewel box to turn to if she wanted a bit of sparkly around her neck. Despite his best efforts his brothers laid claim to her in one way or another. He had checked to make sure Terry was out of town before asking her to London. No need to invite the competition.

“Did you have good day, darling?” She sipped her cocktail.

“Yes, actually a very good day. We made a bit of money, which you have so graciously spent already.” He indicated her dress.

Toni sniffed, “You should see what’s underneath. Cost more than the shoes and wrap altogether.”

“Underneath,” he looked at the form-fitting bit of silk.

“Black…barely there.”

“Bloody hell!”

“You’re drooling. Most unbecoming.”

He laughed and kissed her hand.

They so rarely had times like this, time for a bit of sophisticated banter and sexiness. Their life was caught up in potty training and babies, toddler antics and bath time. Even the recent vacation to The House of Four Seasons was casual. This was different.

She’d lived in London with Terry and they did go out together and have a social life, however infrequently it did happen. He was determined that they should have adult time together and it worked. That was something she and Max needed. No reason why they couldn’t pop over to Paris from time to time.

Dinner was excellent and they left and walked, dipping in and out of bars and clubs, even stopping to dance a few times. 

He stopped along the sidewalk to light a cigarette and she came up to him and grabbed him, moving to some tune in her head.

“Hey, give me a clue!” he said.

“It’s a waltz.” And it was. It started out with a violin but then turned into a familiar waltz she knew from A Good Year. How had he done it, for she knew Jack was near. He’d turned her to Max where she should be tonight.

“I think, my little minx, that you are slightly pissed.” He kissed her nose and pulled away to finish his smoke.

“I may be slightly but I’m just full tonight.”

 (By Jo)

“Hmm, are you about ready to call it a night and go back to the flat?”

“Yes, only if you promise to behave.”

“HAH! I make no such promises to you because I couldn’t keep them. I’m dying to get at the black barely there.”

Toni had her hands on his shoulders, his on her waist swaying back and forth. “I’ve had music in my head for days it seems.”

“What are we dancing to now?”

“Wisdom from your movie.”

He smiled a little and waltzed her around a lamp post. “Seriously, love ,we’d better get off the streets or we’ll be helping the police in their inquiries. I love you, Toni.” He held her still for a moment.

She thought he was going to kiss her but he didn’t. He just held her eyes and then blinked and led her back to the sidewalk.  He then got busy finding a taxi. She felt a rush of excitement; all her senses alert ,everything he did, simple motions, the way his hair moved in the breeze from the Thames, the way he smelled, all worked on her. She was very aware of Max Skinner, a very handsome man tonight.

His hand rode increasingly farther up her thigh as they rode home in a taxi.

They moved as one toward the elevators. “You feel absolutely naked in this dress.”  His hands were working it up.

“I am assuming you think it money well spent,” she whispered in his ear.

“Yes, whatever it was. You look gorgeous tonight, sexy, and you sure got my attention, lady.”

“That was the idea. No mommy clothes tonight.”

He was out of his jacket and Toni helped him with his tie and shirt buttons. “Cufflinks,” he muttered.

“Nice, gold and monogrammed. You do know how to dress, Max.”

“Undress is the, um.”

“Shouldn’t we head for the bedroom? That wall of glass invites telescopes, I always thought.”

He chuckled, “I’m sure they got bored with this place long ago.” However thoughts of Terry using the flat crossed his mind as he opened the bedroom door.

He had her down to her barely theres and lay her down on the bed, the little slips of black lace exciting him .

His touch, his breath on her skin, sent little shivers up her back, love bites along her neck, on her breasts. He left a trail down her stomach of kisses. The seduction of Max was complete and he was so good when he was seduced.

Morning came too early. She was awake. Now there would be no going back to sleep. Max was still lost in slumber. She eased quietly out of bed and found her robe in the closet. In the kitchen she made instant coffee, moved over to the glass doors and stepped out in the early morning air with her mug. Lights still burned across the Thames in the city buildings. Down below there was little traffic on the river as yet. As she stood there, faint sounds of a violin drifted up to her.

Jack. She closed her eyes wondering if he was up and about or if he was still in London. Yesterday had been a trip and one she wasn’t anxious to repeat. It occurred to her as she sipped her coffee that she hadn’t said a word to Max about fainting or falling back across and into Jack’s arms. He would not be pleased and would possibly restrict her in some way and that she did not want, and so she decided to keep it to herself. She suffered no ill effects that she could see from what happened to her. No, there was no reason to get excited about it. Would they be going back to the cottage today or have another day in London? She’d forgotten to ask.

Jack noted the bend in the river and looked across at the low-lying buildings humped along the shore. He and he alone knew how that stretch of river would look in 200 years. He wondered if she was up. It was awfully early; everything was still gray and fogged in. He looked again in the direction where Max’s building would someday sit and then his attention was drawn to the river and the traffic they were hoping to avoid so early in the day.

Part 5

Fog moved in, obscuring the city across the river. Max left for the bank. There were still a few things he wanted to do before he left London. Toni busied herself in the flat; Max promised to be back by noon and they would take the car back to the village. They planned a few more days and then would be flying back to France on the weekend.

She was drawn to the fog and kept going to the glass wall and out onto the balcony, watching the swirling mist. Sometimes she got a glimpse of the river below or the bridge. She was leaning on the balcony and didn’t hear him come in.

Immediately upon closing the door Terry realized the balcony door was open and then he saw Toni. He breathed a sigh of relief and then he was curious. What was she doing here?

She jumped, so deep in her thoughts she hadn’t heard him. “Terry! Oh my, you scared me.” She received a kiss from him.

“Hey, luv, what are you doing here?”

“Max and I came up for a night. We’re going back today. I might ask you the same thing.”

“Oh, I just flew in from Miami and instead of going all the way out to Battersea I thought I’d stop by here and recoup. Everything okay with you, kids doing okay?”

“Kids are fine. Jacky is doing great leading the pack. Max is at the bank. He’ll be back soon and we’re going to drive back. You look good. Everything going okay for you?”

“Oh yeah, it's good. I’ve been teaching,” he grinned a little

“Hmm and what have you to teach?”

“Survival. Dino’s taken to his new position and, um, allows me to step in now and again on his turf.”

Toni Smiled, “I’m surprised you got in with this fog.”

“I came into Gatwick. It wasn’t too bad.” He leaned on the railing and noticed the fog drifting over the river. Sometimes it was totally opaque. When he turned to Toni the fog was between them. He reached out and grabbed her arm. “Toni?”

“Yes, what?”

He didn’t know but it alarmed him. “Maybe we should go inside.”

Toni laughed a little, “You sound like a little boy, like….” And the fog swirled around her again and she fainted.

Terry held her as close to him as he could, looking into the fog, “Oh no, you cannot have her!” He backed into the flat with her in his arms and kicked the door closed. He carried her to the sofa and laid her down. “Toni…Toni!” Think man! You just came from a survival class that YOU taught.

Max opened the door and saw unfamiliar bags just on the inside. Terry? He went over to the railing and looked down. “What the bloody hell are you about?” Terry had her on the sofa, leaning over her.

“You’d better come down here.” Terry looked up.

Toni had a glass of water. She still felt a little disoriented. “You’re making way too much of this.”

“Maybe not enough.” Terry moved back as Max came over.

“What’s all this, Toni?”

“I fainted. It’s nothing.”

“Nonsense, love, it is something. What happened?”

“It was the fog, Max. I swear it tried to take her. If I hadn’t been there and grabbed her she would have been gone.”

Toni had to tell them about the park and about fainting into Jack’s arms. This was twice in twenty-four hours and it worried her, too.

“Jack.” Maxi’s eyes flashed.

“He’s not here,” she answered.

“Maybe he doesn’t have to be here.”

“What are you talking about?” Terry asked.

Max told him about Toni stepping over to see him in the village. Terry gave her a look and she stared out at the fog beyond the window.

“I’ve talked to you about that, Toni,” Terry said evenly .

“Jack would never let anything happen to me.”

“How do you know it would be Jack that you see when you…step over? You just described a scene where you were in a cow pasture with an old man. You were lucky yesterday, very lucky that it was him beside you.” Terry had his hands on his hips, truly worried about her.

“I knew it was him.”

“You THOUGHT it was! You can’t do this, Toni. For God’s sake, think of what you’re leaving behind! I don’t trust this. I never have, love…please.” Max gathered her up in his lap.

“Max, I’m not doing it. I only stepped over in the village. Yesterday was different. It scared me, too. I didn’t do a thing. I’ll admit I was thinking about Jack because I kept hearing his violin in my head, sensing he was near.”

“Then he’s doing it.” He looked up at Terry, seeing possible confirmation in his eyes. “He’s got to be stopped before...yes, this has to stop.”

“I agree, mate. Want me to go kick his arse?”

“No, no, I’ll handle this.” Max rubbed her arm and caressed her.

Terry made a pot of tea and they sat around the coffee table with a cup. “I suppose the first thing is to find his ass.” Max took a drink from his cup.

“He’s not here not in London anymore. I’d…I’d know.” Toni looked down into her cup. “He once told me that it was my awareness of him that did it.”

“Oh, he’d say that, all right.” Max looked at her.

“All right, let’s concentrate and find him,” Terry suggested.

“He’s not at sea,” Max offered.

“No, close though. River or land?” Terry closed his eyes.

“Cobblestones, no, ballast stones – sand.”

“He’s at the cottage,” Toni said quietly.

They both turned to her. ”Where?”

“I don’t know exactly. It’s by the sea and he was on the River Thames this morning very early before the sun was up properly.”

“You never got the coordinates, did you?” Terry asked Max.

“No, I haven’t had the opportunity to talk to him, well, not really.” He discounted the meeting at the cottage in the village.

“It’s near a little port, a bay, a fishing village. That’s what it is. It used to be a real port but Jack said the bay silted in. From the cottage it was only a short distance by water, longer by land. It doesn’t exist now.”

“No, but the bit of land will still be there.”

“You’re going over?” Terry asked.

“Yes, well, what else can we do? Conjure him up? Then we’d have to wait and I’m not sure I want to wait."  He looked at Toni. “Fainting is serious, Terry. I know I don’t have to tell you that. I think we may have her checked out at a hospital.”

“No…no, I don’t want that! Please guys, I’m okay.”

“Toni, luv, is there anything else you can remember about the cottage Jack has, anything landmark wise?”

“No, well, I don’t know what it would be now but the land  was a little hilly, not steep or anything, but there was a large grassy area and a road of sorts that led to the cottage. There was nothing beyond the place that I could see. The house belonged to a fisherman. It was on the lee…hmm, I don’t know where that came from, leeward maybe?”

Max went into his office and brought up the coastline on the computer. A little later he came out. “Leigh on the Sea?”

“I don’t know. Could be. I’m sorry.”

“It used to be a port city and in the eighteenth century it reverted back to a fishing village.” Max went to his desk and pulled out his car keys, made sure he had his phone. “Terry, can I count on you to stay with her and, uh?”

“Of course you can. You think I’d leave her alone right now? Keep in touch and I mean that, Max, hourly or mentally, however you want to do it.”

“Max,” Toni stood up. “Max, what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to put  a stop to this. Don’t worry. He’ll live.” He grinned and went up the stair and out  of the flat.

This was so out of character for Max. She looked up at Terry. “What’s gotten into him?”

“You. You luv,” he grinned.

“It worries me a little. They’ve never been that close.”

“Ah, don’t worry, luv. Max is a smart bloke. If they go head to head, though, I don’t know. They might be too evenly matched.”

“Max backs down from Jack. At least I know he has in the past.”

Terry looked at her a moment. “I don’t think he’ll back down this time.”

Part 6

He had a little time and thought he’d spend it seeing about the cottage. He hadn’t been back there since Toni and Rose had been with him. That was months ago and he thought the least he could do was to clear it out of the things they did not want, like the old bedding. He might do something about the garden. Stephen had gone on down the coast and he and Bonden would be back for Jack in a few days. He had enough provisions with him to last for three days.

He began with the garden. Finding the tools he needed in the garden shed, he began to work clearing out weeds and cutting back vines that threatened the plants Toni had pointed out. He thought of her often as he worked and he worried about her fainting. Clearly there was something strong working her over, magic perhaps, magic gone a step too far. He dug up a vine and tossed it.

Max followed his GPS and it got him to Leigh on the Sea, a picturesque little seaside village. He passed by the Grand Hotel that faced the sea if you were several stories up and on down the street. He was now in what was advertised on the lamp posts as Old Town. He looked behind him, as opposed to the newer…old town. He contacted Terry and found he was taking Toni to lunch. That was good. He was being responsible and helpful and not having her in the bedroom. He ran a hand through his hair. This is not what he thought he’d be doing this time of day. He thought they’d be on their way back to Hartley Wintney by now but he was thirty-five miles out of London at the mouth of the River Thames.

Max had never actually on his own stepped over into Jack’s world or anybody else’s. He knew it could be done because they’d all done it to save Jack and Stephen Maturin from the French in Paris when they were imprisoned. He’d never attempted it by himself and it did cause him to pause and think about what it meant. It was not a step to be taken lightly. How was it certain that you’d even end up in the right place or right century for that matter? He didn’t like messing around with magic and he liked it even less that Toni was messing with it.

“I’m not sure I can eat anything.” Toni sat down at a table. Terry took her to a local pub for lunch. He’d eaten there before and knew there would be things she could eat on the menu. Meanwhile he ordered a pint for himself and she had a shandy.

“Talk to me, luv. Tell me what’s going on here.” He took a drink from his glass.

“I’m not really sure.”

“You stepped over for Jack?”

‘Yes, I did. I spent about two hours with him in his room at the wayfarer’s inn. Do you want to know what we did?”

“Don’t get smart with me, lady. I don’t give a fuck what you did. Why did you take the step on your own, Toni?”

“I knew he was there. I sensed him very strongly. I’d been getting little snippets all day and I wanted to be with him.”

“Okay, but why didn’t you wait for him to come for you? See, that’ s the thing, luv. You don’t do it; let him come if he wants to. He’s the magic man, not you.”

“I was afraid he wouldn’t come, wouldn’t take that step because of what had happened in London the last time.”

He reached across the table and took her hand. “Don’t…do...it…again. Is that clear? It’s for your own protection and ours. Max is going across the barrier all by himself, so you think about that now. I know  you love Jack to death, honey, but he knows what he’s doing coming for you.”

“This is all my fault. I only wanted…he was here in London and he brought me back within just a few minutes I didn’t stay with him long at all. And last night Max and I went out. It was a great evening and we were walking along and I began hearing that music again, Jack’s violin, his music, so I knew he was near me and then it changed, it became the music from Max’s movie. I think Jack did that, turned me where I needed to be.”

“Did you ever think it might have been Max who steered you away from Jack? He senses things too, luv, just like I do. I know Jack is a fascination for you. He’s the unattainable lover, unlike Max and I who slog along in our daily lives. Neither of us very exciting or, um, dashing like our Captain.”

“I love you both for who you are and what you are. A uniform wouldn't add anything to you that you don’t already have. It’s not because he’s any more dashing than the two of you. It’s because he’s…he’s Jack. I love him, Terry, but no more than you or Max. Two hours, what if that was all that we ever had, you and me?”

“It’s his own fault and I have little sympathy for him if that’s what you’re trying to uncover.” He stopped  as new drinks were set before them and menus. “Order the chicken wrap, Toni.”

She looked up, not sure she wanted to do as he asked. What was it with these men anyway? "Could you tell me the specials, please?” she asked the girl with the order pad.

Later they left the pub and she was holding her stomach. “Well, it was just so heavy. I didn’t think.”

Terry guided her across the street, not saying a word.

Max was moving along, looking for the Old Cockles Row, a row of historic cottages. He’d stopped and asked about old cottages, fishermen’s abodes, and now had a nicely printed brochure. They weren’t residences any longer but boutiques and souvenir peddlers.  He noted a couple of the boutiques, the kind of thing Toni would love. Ah, but we weren’t looking for Toni boutiques.

He parked and walked to the end of the row where beyond he saw a wide green space. There were picnic tables and facilities for an outing with family. He continued across the green. There were markers here and there and he stopped to read. This was a barracks area during WWII and the RAF flew training missions out over the water here. Another marker stated this was a strategic area for the defense of England during the Napoleonic wars. Well, that was more like it…Jack defending England from his cottage. He moved on. Now he was in a rocky area and he skirted the shore, staying on high ground. He stopped and took in the terrain.

It was sandy, to be sure, but underneath lay bedrock. He wasn’t an archeologist and wished Terry was there for a moment. He’d know more what he was looking at. Could it have been a road at one time? The rocks were worn so smoothly.

“Terry, where are you Still munching?” He sent the message mentally.

“Back at the flat. What’s up?”

“I may be on an old rocky road. I’ve passed the Cockle Cottages and still walking along the shoreline. Up ahead I see a little finger of land stretching out into the sea. Beyond that I don’t know yet.”

Terry repeated what Max had said to Toni.

“Oh, well, the cottage was about five miles from the village…I think. I wish I knew. It was in a protected bay-like area, small, not a big place.”

“Max, you may well be there. Go ahead and cross over and let me know what you see.”

“Okay, I’ll give it a go. I left my car in the car park…scary.”

That was the last they heard from him.

Jack had a bonfire going now and he’d pulled the mattress from the upstairs loft out, ready to throw it on. With only the sound of the fire and the sea beyond, a new sound caught his attention. It sounded like a man calling out. He walked over to the back gate and out onto the yard where one might shelter their horses or other animals. He heard it again and walked to the front of the house and stopped, incredulous as it was there was Max Skinner.

“Max?”

Max let out a sigh. He’d got it right after all. “Jack, I’ve, um, come to have a word.” He waited for Jack to walk to him.

“All right, let us go inside and have it.”

Jack took down two glasses and opened a bottle of wine. He handed one to Max, who was having a look over the kitchen area of the cottage. “Have a look around. It’s rough yet. I intend to furnish it with more suitable pieces.” He eyed Max, unsure of this visit.

Max was curious. After all, this was for Rose and he assumed Toni, too. The front room had a sleeping alcove at one end, partially separated by draperies. A large fireplace dominated the other end and some rustic furniture set about. A ladder led up to a loft. He stepped up enough to stick his head over the opening. A bed and chest, odd-shaped window like a half moon. He stepped back down off the ladder and took the glass from Jack.

“It, um - has potential.”

“It’s not a permanent residence for anyone.”

“No, well, I wish you’d contacted me before you bought this place. We might have gone in together and bought something for Rose, something lasting. I just came from the other side and this is a pile of rocks now.”

Jack’s chin came up. “It will do. Why have you come?”

Max sipped the wine, rolling it on his tongue. It was raw but not too bad, not bad at all in fact. He smiled a little and took another drink. “Oh, I’ve come about Toni. She was nearly taken in a fog this morning. She fainted and I understand that wasn’t the first time. I’m becoming a little concerned. This has to stop, Jack. I’ve accepted the fact that she will see you from time to time but pulling at her this way must end.”

“It distresses me that she has, as you say, fainted again. She did, indeed, faint away into my arms by the swan park. I knew she was nearby but I swear to I did nothing to cause her to fall through the way she did. Fortunately Dr. Maturin was with me with smelling salts in his pocket and brought her around. Once she could stand and speak I brought her back through.”

“She almost didn’t make it home, got lost on the underground. Thank God she had sense enough to call a taxi. This morning she was on the balcony at the flat.”

“Was she? I passed by there before daybreak, at least the spot where I know the building stands in your time.”

“This was late morning around eleven. Thankfully Terry was there with her and caught her and brought her inside or she would have been gone in the fog.  It’s serious; I’m serious. This must end.”

“I agree it is dangerous what she is experiencing.”

“Well, then stop it.”

“I assure you there is nothing that I am doing that is causing it.”

“What do you think then? Do you think she wants to faint, eh? Bollocks, Jack! You are doing something to summon her.”

“I am not. I do think of her but surely that does not cause her to faint and I do NOT summon her.”

“You didn’t summon her in the village green?”

“No, I knew she was there but I have been a little hesitant with Toni after London. Far be it from me to push her into something she does not want, and so I did nothing on the green. She came over and it quite surprised me and delighted me. I will not lie to you.”

“She didn’t come back on her own. You brought her over, correct?”

“That is correct and I did the same yesterday in London.”

“Why is she falling through, Jack?”

“I couldn’t say for sure.” He moved back to the bottle he’d brought in with him.

“Well gosh, give us a hint.”

“Somewhere, in her subconscious perhaps, she wants to come over, wants to live here. That is the only explanation I can offer.”

“Bollocks! She would never leave the life she has and her children.”

“You asked and I answered to the best of my ability. Do you forget, Max, that I love her. I want only what is best for her and I know that living here in the 19^th century is not what is best for her, although I think she would suffer the hardships. I wouldn’t allow it.”

“I wouldn’t allow it, Terry wouldn’t allow it, and it won’t ever happen.”

Jack took a drink from his glass. “What do you want from me? You and I have never been close, Max, although I know you would stand up for me and me you. It is all over Toni, is it not?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it is. Like you said at the cottage, we can’t be enemies so we must be allies.”

“That is true.”

“All right, let’s solve this problem. She thinks of you and falls through but you were nowhere around when Terry caught her on the balcony. He said she wasn’t afraid of the fog and she said she’d watching it all morning.”

“Then she wanted to come through, Max. I  know you do not want to believe this but I think it is true.”

“We’d just had the most wonderful evening in London. I can’t believe she turns it on and off like that. No…no, there is something else at work here. House magic has crossed its wires again. It’s not as strong as it once was in us. Well, I suppose you still have it but Terry and I don’t, probably John doesn’t either. How can we sort it out if that’s what it is. Maybe she needs to stay away from you for awhile.”

“She does stay away. What is it, once or twice a year I see her, and you would take that away?”

“It hasn’t been that long…February.”

“It is now September, Max.”

“You’d like carte blanche ,wouldn’t you? Come and go as you please, just show up and whisk her away on a Tuesday, never a thought as to what may be going on in our lives.”

“What would you have me do, Max? Something you have forgotten, she does not belong to you. We belong to her and I say WE, all of us. She chooses to live with you. That is a fact. But she still loves the rest of us and that includes me.  Who she sees is not your decision to make or mine. It is hers.”

“You might remember, Jack, that she does not always make wise decisions. Stepping back and forth on her own is not a good decision for her. I don’t care what she wants. It’s one thing when you’re standing on the other side ready for her but what of today when she was on the balcony and you were weeding the garden, totally unaware of what was happening to her. I don’t forget Rome and what happened to her there.”

“No…neither will I.”

“You don’t always know where she is.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Why didn’t you help when she was lost in the state park in New Hampshire? Terry and John were both on it, but not a word from you. I think you only know when you want to know.”

“That is not true, Max. When I think of her I know where she is. I was involved in battle at that time, half way around the world. My thoughts were taken up in the moment.”

“I see that she is not always on your mind, not foremost in your thoughts, as she is mine.”

“She is your life, Max.”

“Yes, she is.  Everything I do is for her and the children. It’s not that way for you, is it?”

“No, my first duty is to King and country.  I have  many people who depend on me. I have a wife and children. I have a life apart from what you know. That still does not take away from my love of her. I taught her how to step over in Rome after her misguided adventure. She knows how to do it. She can stop what is happening to her but as I said before something in her wants it. If she wants to come back for awhile with me then I will care for her. Perhaps you should be asking her what she wants.”

A fear took root in Max. What if he asked her and she wanted to come back here with Jack? What would happen to the rest of them? What would happen to him and the children? “She won’t...won’t come back here to stay. The whole house of cards would fall if she did.”

“I don’t imagine she would stay, but a visit perhaps?”

“Here in this place?”

“Yes, it could be here. She might help get it furnished and organized in such a way that she would allow Rose to come. She told me it was not habitable as it is. I have some time to devote to it and am trying to make it habitable. I think I shall bring some of my crew in here. A carpenter and sail maker, some men to clean and make it shipshape. I would not bring her to a hovel and expect her to permit Rose to come.”

“Ah, you said bring her here.”

“Yes, I will come for her because, like you, I do not like her taking that step alone.”

“All right, I will talk to her. I will even go so far as to permit her to come back here with you for a visit, a short visit. But only on the condition that you come for her and bring her back. Same goes for Rose. Maybe that will put a stop to this falling through the cracks like she is now. Just knowing that she can might make a difference.”

“How large of you to PERMIT her to visit.”

“Don’t push it, Jack.”

Part 7

Toni wasn’t feeling well after she and Terry left the pub. Terry put it down to her having too much to eat and the wrong kind of food for her. She wasn’t used to heavy rich foods and he'd tried to tell her, but she was being stubborn and hard-headed today. She went into the bedroom and lay down for awhile then finally went to sleep.

Terry worked Max’s computer until he found where he’d left his car. He sat back in the chair and checked the time, Max had been gone for nearly three hours. Given it probably took him one to get there, two hours was a long time to kick somebody’s arse. He’d tried repeatedly to contact him mentally and even by phone but nothing was getting through.

He heard Toni in the bathroom throwing up and he went to investigate. “Are you okay, luv? Do you need to see a doctor? I’m serious now, Toni.”

“No.” She was running water in the sink, washing her face. “I’ll be okay.”

“You aren’t pregnant, are you?”

“No, I’m on birth control. I can’t get pregnant.”

“Foolproof, is it?”

“It’d better be.” She dried her hands and came out of the bathroom. “Max is not back?”

“No, and not a word from him. I can’t contact him.”

Toni went to the kitchen and found a bottle of ginger ale to settle her stomach. “I think it was something I ate. Sorry I’m such a hard head sometimes. I get tired of somebody else making all my decisions.”

“What kind of decisions do you want to make?”

“I know you and Max and John, for that matter, all want to protect me all the time. You run circles around me to make sure I’m okay and on the right track. I appreciate that because I know it comes from love, from your love of me. I wanted to be with Jack. That’s a decision I wanted to make.”

“Well, you made it, so what’s the prob?”

“It is a problem. Max was upset with me. Jack had to talk him down a little.”

“Okay, let me think a minute. When you were with me you wanted to be with Max and I bent over backwards to make that possible. And you know what, I didn’t like it. I never liked it. I thought we left all that behind us when we left the House of Four Seasons. We weren’t defined by seasons any longer. I was everything to you for a long time.”

“You gave me Jack on a platter, gave me him while you were gone. I couldn’t believe you’d done it.”

“I didn’t know what else to do. You were coming apart at the seams and I was thousands of miles away. I knew he would look after your needs, care for you and if for some reason I didn’t make it, you wouldn’t be alone.”

“We went to La Siroque. I could have gone without him.”

“Max would have come apart if you had showed up there alone. “

“This was after I spent a month with him in Paris. It’s like here, here is Jack, have him and then, no, you can’t, no, that’s not right. How dare you go off with Jack for a night and get pregnant? Well, I fell in love with Jack when we were at the House. He was with me the day I decided that it was you. He is the one that recommended Max to me the first year I was there. He’s a part of me, a part of my life. I have a child with him and I don’t see him that often, hardly at all.

“You’re all so possessive. Everything is mine, mine, and mine. Well, it’s not exactly that way. I know you didn’t like me being with Max but you allowed it and you didn’t make me feel bad about him. Don’t make me feel that way about Jack. He’s not a threat to you or Max.”

“You’re talking to the wrong bloke. What you do now isn’t on my watch.”

“Oh, yes, it is. I get the same thing from you that I get from Max.”

“Maybe it wouldn’t be such a problem if he lived around the corner. Two hundred years is quite a stretch. We can’t pick up the phone and say Jacky is sick or Maxi is needing his mummy. I can’t call and say Max is falling apart. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Toni felt her eyes well up and sting. Terry could always do this, bring it all down to the reality of the situation. He never minced words and never held back.

“Come here luv.” He held out his arms and she went to him and sat on his lap at Max’s desk. “Ah, you should have picked a contemporary bloke and then we wouldn’t have this problem with him.”

“I had a hard time coming to terms with him. There were two others before I followed my heart. Do you remember the day we talked at the pond? I was always a little afraid of him, afraid I was taking him from something he wanted more and that’s the sea. You’re the one that told me to follow my heart.”

“He won’t come out. He doesn’t want to because of what he’d leave behind. Oh, I know he would love to have you in his world. That would just about complete it for him but, Toni, luv, it would destroy the rest of us…it can’t happen.”

She lay her head on Terry’s shoulder. “This is insane.”

“Yeah, luv, it is but it’s what we got to live with.”

Max walked out of the cottage to the front garden and through the gate down to the sea. He stood there for a while trying to convince himself he was in 1807. He could believe it when he looked at the inside of the cottage but the sea and sky were the same. Then he realized that what he was looking at wasn’t real. This was all magic. He turned back to the house, almost afraid it might disappear and leave him in limbo. How could he let Toni come here? What if something went terribly wrong?

Jack came through the gate and stood on the steps down to the sea. “That’s my cutter there. I can be around the point and to the village very quickly should I need to.”

Max looked at the boat and back at Jack. “Jack, where the bloody hell are we? I know I drove to Leigh on the Sea but…where are we?”
 

“The same place, only 200 years ago. I do understand what you are asking. It is magic, Max. The same magic that allows you to be who you are allows me the same. You have come here; Toni and Rose have been here. It is safe. Though England is at war with France this little bay is protected by the port in Leigh.”

“I wish you hadn’t told me that. Now I will be thinking of man of war ships just around the bend. As I crossed over the green space I noticed markers remembering the Napoleonic War and also World War II. There were barracks full of airmen stationed there.”

“I would never put Toni or our child at risk. I wouldn’t bring them here if there was any danger.” He began tearing at vines over the gate. “Once I have this little cottage cleaned and ready I will come for them, if only for a night or two, Max.”

Max looked at him, still not liking it at all, but knowing he had no control over Toni where Jack was concerned he agreed. “I came here believing you were doing something to cause Toni to faint and to be pulled back here. I do believe, Jack, that you are not responsible. I know you love her and wish her no harm. It’s not easy for me. You do understand that?”

“Yes, Max, I do understand.” He walked down the steps by Max and they went a little up the pebbly beach.  “It was never meant to be this way. We, and I mean the four of us, have forged our own trail, bumpy and irregular though it may be. I have always come when I was needed and I always will be there for you or whomever.  I am not your enemy because I love Toni. I need your help, too. I need you to allow me Toni and our child.”

“Because she wants it, too, you will. I can’t help how I feel about it. That’s something I have to live with. None of our lives are perfect, not even John’s.  I left her with Terry.” Max raised a brow.

Jack smiled to himself.

“I think I’m ready to go back.”

“Do you want me to accompany you?”

“No, I made it through. I’m sorry, Jack, sorry for thinking you’d do this to her. I suppose I should have known better.”

“Make sure she knows, because she can control it.”

“Yes…I will.” They climbed back up the little hillside and Max walked toward the road.

“Max, take care.”

“Yeah, you too, Jack.” He looked once again toward the cottage Jack threw up a hand and disappeared around the back. Max turned toward the road and walked along for awhile. He was nearing the green and he thought about all the airmen that had barracked there, of them there was no trace. Not even a pile of…

“HALT!”

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