Broken and Bonded Ch. 13-14

Chapter Thirteen

"Couldn't be... what?" Mathew asked from the bedroom doorway.

Laurie looked across at him and her cheeks flamed red. "Oh, nothing... I was just thinking of something and nothing really." she stammered.

Mathew stepped into the room and strode across to stand over her.

"You were talking about the woman in my dream, and it made you think of someone."

He crouched down and looked into her eyes, and for the first time, Laurie saw the pain and confusion there, the blind beseeching of her to trust him, to confide in him.

"Please," he whispered huskily.

After a moment of indecision, Laurie sighed and then she stood up.

"I just need to go and fetch something from my apartment. I promise I will come straight back."

Matt nodded guardedly and she literally fled from the room.

It actually took her nearly ten minutes and she looked decidedly flustered when she returned.

"I am so sorry; it took me a few moments to locate what I was looking for."

"You were gone for more than just a few moments," Matt snapped. "I was about to come looking for you!"

"Well, I'm here now, and my sister is on her way too."

"Your sister? What has your sister to do with this..." his eyes narrowed and turned to black. "Do you know something or not?"

Laurie held her hand out, almost imploringly. "I am not certain, and I almost hope that I am wrong -- but I will not say any more until Iris gets here -- she deserves to hear this too!"

"I have waited for more than twenty years for this," Mathew snarled.

"And so, another five minutes won't hurt, uncle." Michael said softly, he rested his hand on Mathew's shoulder and gave a light squeeze. "Think about it, this might be a step to the beginning of you finally understanding what was lost to you, all those years ago?"

The sound of the elevator kicking into life could be dimly heard in the silence that followed.

Laurie turned towards the door and stood listening as the elevator travelled down, and then moments later it began its ascent.

"I think that might be them, now," she said in a hopeful sort of way.

She moved across to the door and opened it just as the elevator arrived and the doors whooshed open.

"Laurie?" the light feminine voice was familiar and moments later the petite redhead appeared followed by her tall husband. "What's going on here?"

"It's okay, Iris -- everything is okay." Laurie hastened to reassure her sister and Iris's shoulders visibly relaxed.

James draped a protective arm around her waist, even as he looked across at the two men.

"Everything may well be okay," he murmured. "But something is still going on here?"

"Yes, you are correct in your assessment -- but it is nothing to cause alarm." Mathew said. "Laurie here is about to help me solve a little mystery -- at least I hope that that is her intention?" he looked at Laurie, and she nodded almost reluctantly.

"Michael told me a little about your abduction, and beatings, and the consequences," she began cautiously. "And he also told me about a recurring dream or dreams?"

"They are a confusion of dreams," he nodded. "And I remember very little of them afterwards -- just impressions really."

"But you did remember something this time?" Laurie pressed gently. "A place... or a person -- a woman perhaps?"

"Not a place as such, but yes, I remember seeing a woman... she seemed to know me, but I have no idea who she might be -- although I think... I think her name was Elle -- or something like that."

"Could you describe her, do you think?"

Mathew sighed. "Easily now. She seems to be imprinted on the back of my eyelids."

He closed his eyes as if to prove the point and then opened them again.

"She is a small woman, similar in height to Iris," he indicated towards her with a small impatient flick of his hand. Her hair is a reddish blonde -- like honey; her eyes are green, and she seems so happy, so beautiful; she makes me think of spring... full or potential -- just about to burst into life..." He smiled a crooked self-conscious sort of smile. "Her name was something like, Elle -- or Ella... She fills me with warmth after a long cold winter!"

James's head raised sharply, and his arms folded tighter around his wife protectively.

"Honey blond, but not red," Laurie said quickly, "and this woman -- she has been in your dreams only recently?"

Matt shook his head, "No, she had been there for years -- but it is only now that I remember her clearly."

Iris suddenly sucked in a gasp as she put the pieces together in the same way that Laurie had done.

"It can't be!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Mathew snapped as his frustrated patience ran out. "What can't it be?"

As Laurie held out her hand, he looked blankly at what she was holding, and then slowly he took the photograph from her.

The image behind his lids merged with the image in front of him. Large and alive in his mind against this small and frozen in time, it was the same woman.

"Who is she?" he whispered as his hands began to shake and the pain behind the scar began to throb.

"She is -- was our mother," Laurie finally shrugged as the emotion threatened to overwhelm her -- as it always did when she thought of the woman who had birthed her -- who she had never really known, other than this photograph that she kept with her almost always. "Our mother -- and her name was Belle."

Mathew put his hand to his head as the throbbing increased.

"Belle!" he whispered as images and memories flooded. "Belle... and... Seline was there too! They were friends!"

**

"Are you absolutely sure that you feel fit enough to drive?" Michael asked for the umpteenth time. "Are you certain that you do not want me to drive you there?"

"Yes, I feel fine, Michael," Mathew said with a reassuring smile. "The pain is totally gone, and the sleep did its job. I shall walk to where I parked my car, and the fresh air will finish the job."

"Breakfast is ready," Laurie smiled as she walked through. "Hot food and a cup - or two of coffee will set you up for your drive too."

Mathew grinned at her gratefully. "Yes, and both are most welcome. Thank you to you and your sister, for preparing it."

As they all sat down to the early morning meal the conversation became more casual as it centred around Laurie's fledgling business and Iris's developing pregnancy.

That the men in their lives doted on them was obvious, as they encouraged and engaged in the women's talk. And they all made sure to include Mathew in the conversations as well, refusing to let him just sit silently listening.

The table was filled with love and nurture and again Mathew had that sense of coming into warmth after a long time spent in a cold winter.

The sleep, the lack of pain, the food, all played their parts in fortifying him, but the most effective was sitting around that table with these people who were his family in way that his past relatives had never been.

As he walked beside Michael -- who had insisted on seeing him to his car at the very least, Mathew felt that he could face anything right then.

His heart was light, and his stride was determined.

"Thank you again for your support these last hours, Michael; you have given me a course to follow after years of drifting."

"I really hope that Seline will be able to tell you something more," Michael stood by his uncle's car and the two of them shook hands followed by a quick embrace.

"I will call you at some point and let you know!" Mathew promised.

"Call me to let me know that you got there safely first."

"I will."

Michael watched as his uncle drove down the street and then turned the corner.

This was the first time that he felt truly close to Mathew -- the man, and he liked what he saw in him.

He hoped he would see more of his uncle in future and promised himself that he would make the effort to develop their relationship further.

*

Once out of London, the road opened up before Matt, and he sat back in the seat and allowed himself to relax.

He pressed the button for his phone and heard the speaker dialling his brother's number.

"Matt!" Jonathon's voice was clear over the sound of the engine. "How are you -- is it all sorted in London, is everything okay, are you on your way back -- when do you expect to get back?"

Matt chuckled as his brother absently rambled on, asking questions but not even waiting for answers. Eventually though he seemed to run out and an expectant silence followed.

"Yes, everything in London is sorted and arranged how you wished it to be. Everything is fine - I am fine. No, I am not on my way back as yet, and perhaps later in the week you might see me... unless you need me urgently, of course."

"Not on your way back yet? Are you still in London then?"

"No, I have just left London, but I thought that since I was in this neck of the woods anyway that I would call in to see Seline and take a look around that other house, that I mentioned before -- if you can spare me?"

"Seline?" there was a long pause and then Jonathon's sigh came down the line and echoed around Matt's car. "Well, I suppose that it would make sense for you to stop in there... I should have liked to come too, to have spent some more time with her, but... well..."

"You are needed where you are, right now," Matt finished for him.

"Yes... you are right about that... oh well it can't be changed now, give my... regards to Seline then if you would please, Matt."

"Well actually," Matt grinned. "I didn't get a chance to let her know, so if you could just give her a quick call for me and warn her of my imminent arrival and why I am dropping by... well that would be useful."

Once again there was a silence and then Jonathon said warmly. "Yes, I can certainly do that for you -- right now in fact."

"Fine I will talk to you later then perhaps."

The phone line went dead, and Matt smiled as he relaxed again and allowed the monotonous sound of the car travelling over the road to soothe his mind and allow his thoughts to settle.

Seline! All these years with that wall around his memories and Seline had been there all along!

It was the first link to a forgotten time that he'd ever had, and he knew that she had answers for him. But he also realised that she had stayed silent all these years with never even a hint of knowledge.

He felt sure that he would have to fight to get her talk now -- but he was damned if he would leave her place without some sort of an explanation!

She was stood on her porch and waiting for him, when he pulled his car to a halt in the late afternoon sunshine.

"Matt!" she smiled warmly as she stepped out to greet him.

"Seline, this is getting to be a habit..." he grinned. "Almost like the old times."

He had meant the comment to catch her off guard and saw how she stiffened and frowned, before quickly recovering and fixing her smile back in place.

Yes, she was definitely keeping secrets.

"I had the girls make up the first cabin again for you," she said smoothly, as she draped her arm through his. "But John told me to resist the urge to put you to work, but to have you draw up a list of things needing to be done... he said the harder the work the better."

She led him towards the door of the main house talking as they went. "Join us for tea before settling in the cabin for the night."

"Tea would be much appreciated," Matt said easily. "And then afterwards can you show me around that other large house." he pointed. "I think if we can make it habitable, that would work for myself or John -- to separate us from the Frawnings boys and keep the relationships on a more formal level."

"That does make sense, and the house is stable and suitable -- or at least it will be once I get the girls in to clean it out."

"Your girls are your workforce, I see." Matt grinned, but Seline stopped to look at him solemnly.

"My girls are my world - I would die or kill for any or all of them in a heartbeat."

"I believe you." Matt gently squeezed her shoulder.

"Good... you should." she told him almost warningly.

*

'Tea', was a cheerful noisy affair, with the girls all sitting down shyly at first but once Matt and Seline started to talk, they slowly joined in and then carried on their own conversations until they totally forgot Matt's presence and their natural fun came out.

Matt sat smiling as they laughed and talked animatedly, and Seline leaned forwards suddenly to murmur to him.

"What a wonderful father you would have made," she said with heavy regret. "Most men cannot tolerate my girl's chatter for more than five minutes and here you are positively lapping it up... you are surely a man to father daughters!"

The jolt in Matt almost brought his tea back up. Why did that innocent comment leave him with such an urge to break down and cry?

Almost as though she read his distress, Seline stood up and smiled at him. "Come on then let's take a stroll around the old house, whilst there is still plenty of natural light left."

They left the girls clearing the table and strolled through the front door and down the short path.

Seline took a bunch of keys from her pocket and after a few seconds of shifting through them, she selected a chunky looking one.

"No one has been inside for a couple of years -- I think now."

"Does it have any power?"

"I switched the electric and the water off, but it should only be a matter of flipping the switch again, the box is in the cellar, and the water tap is in the kitchen."

"Fine, you take care of the water, and I will nip down to the cellar then, let's give your girls a fighting chance at fixing this place up at least."

He heard Seline's light laughter as he strode down the rickety stairs and quickly located and switched on the power.

The house which had been silent and cold when they first entered, began a tick ticking sort of noise as the electricity hummed through it, taking the edge off the coldness.

He climbed back up the stairs to the hallway, and stood listening for a few moments, for tell-tale signs of something amiss. Finally, he sighed and looked across at Seline as she came out of the kitchen. "Great that's that sorted, and it doesn't look like any leaks are likely to spring, nor fuses blown; now let's take a stroll around." he grinned as she joined him in the hallway again.

Seline quickly showed him round the downstairs thumping at cushions and batting at thick curtains.

"I'll have someone come in and fumigate it as well, I think," Seline murmured. "Just to be sure."

"That would be good of you," Matt wrinkled his nose at the thought of mites and fleas and God alone knew what else might be festering in this place.

"Shall we take a look upstairs as well?" she asked, and Matt nodded.

"There are four bedrooms, and two bathrooms up here..." she wandered into the first room and turned to look at him.

The bed was stripped down, and the mattress was standing against one of the walls.

The room like everything else was dusty but nothing worse than that.

"Yes, if you can get it scrubbed up then I think this will be perfect for our needs." Matt nodded.

"Yes, I agree." Seline smiled. "The other three rooms are much the same and the bathrooms have all the usual mod cons... do you want to take a look?"

He shook his head. "No, I am more than satisfied with this place, and thank you Seline for going to so much trouble for my brother's pet project."

She smiled. "There is not much that I would not do for Jonathon Richards -- although I would rather that he did not know that!"

Matt chuckled. "He most certainly won't hear it from me."

Seline's eyes warmed as they fixed on him. "Thank you, Matt -- you always did have a good heart."

He latched on to her comment. "I was thinking about that," he said trying to be casual, "the way you keep mentioning our past and history... and I am trying to think... to remember -- where did we first meet?"

The colour winged across her cheeks, and she turned slightly away from him. "It was a long time ago," she said slowly -- carefully. "Before your abduction."

"Yes," he nodded impatiently. "But where, where did we meet?"

She licked her lips and ran her fingers down the wood of the door, then she sighed and fixed him with her guarded brown eyes.

"It was a long time ago -- does it matter where we met -- rather than just that we did?"

He rubbed at the back of his head, under the white streak of hair. "Yes," he said slowly. "Yes, I think that it does matter... I think that it matters very much... I know you came to see me after the attack; at the same time, I suffered the first collapse in fact."

Her chin shot up. "I didn't think you remembered that; I thought that you had forgotten it all and that as well!" she gasped.

"I had forgotten, all these years it laid buried until today -- today I remembered you for the first time."

"And that is why you are here now?" she guessed.

"Yes... and to know about this -- the truth about this." He pulled out a sheet of folded paper -- Laurie would not let him have the original and held it out to her.

Seline blinked as she looked at the copy of the old photo. "I... I...?" she mumbled in confusion.

"Who is she?" he demanded.

Seline took the paper and peered at the faded image. "I... it... it looks like...?"

"You know her -- you knew her -- I knew her too?"

"You knew her? You remember her?"

Matt shrugged irritably. "In my dreams -- she was in my dreams and again, today -- for the first time I remembered enough?"

"So why are you here now, why are you asking me about this -- if you remember enough?"

"It's the detail, I know who she is -- who she was, I know that she was important to me -- but you know more -- I know that you do Seline."

"Belle - she was my friend," Seline sighed sadly.

"And I loved her!"

*******

Chapter Fourteen

"Yes, you did -- we all did, everyone who knew her loved her," she agreed, almost absently, as she seemed to become lost in her own memories.

Seline blinked at him, suddenly, as she registered his words, and his meaning. "You did love her, Matt... but you were not in love with her!"

He felt a jolt deep inside him, that the woman who had meant so much to him, was not the woman who had died. "But she was important to me," he insisted stubbornly. "I feel it deep inside me -- she was the cause of the happiest time of my life -- I know it, Seline... but you know more."

She sighed again sadly. "There is not much to tell really," she said slowly. "But I will tell you what I know -- I will tell you what I can..."

She paused for a moment whilst she gathered her memories, and when she spoke her voice was thick with emotion. "I was already staying with Belle, when you came. Belle welcomed you into her home and family with open arms and you seemed to be in awe of her warmth, almost as though you had never had a kind word or a show of affection before." she grinned at him. "You and I competed for her attention in the beginning -- just like two spoilt children, but we soon became good friends, too." her eyes misted over, and her voice slowed to a halt.

"I loved her," Matt said. "But she was another man's wife, mother to another man's children... I loved her, but I was not in love with her... but I was in love with someone?"

Seline sighed. "We spent days -- weeks in our own private heaven in Belle's home... then one day; we were sitting out on the veranda; it was a warm sunny afternoon... when she came to visit... the first time you saw her it was as if you were transfixed. Her golden hair streaming down her back. Her vibrant blue eyes. She was laughing as she always seemed to do. Her nature was as open and summery as her looks, and you fell hard and fast for her. She was so unlike anyone else you knew. The opposite of your own dark, brooding and serious countenance."