To Take a Wife Ch. 04

The whirl of distant helicopter blades interrupted her thoughts. They were here. It was time. With a sigh she got to her feet and pulled her jeans and bra from the bottom drawer. She chose the shirt that Jack had been wearing that morning -- it smelt of him and she knew she'd be glad of it in the weeks to come. She hid his mother's paddle down the back of the chest of drawers (they'd never understand if they saw it) and then padded out to find Jack.

He was sitting on the swing seat on the front porch with his head in his hands. He'd heard the helicopters at the same time as she had and his whole world fell apart. She'd been right the whole time. He'd taken her from her home and family, forced himself on her and hurt her repeatedly. He'd kept her chained up like an animal and had refused to listen to her words of truth. Everything he'd been taught was wrong. He was wrong.

Beth sat beside him and kissed his cheek. Jack flinched.

"How can you stand to be anywhere near me after what I've done to you? I'm so sorry Beth, I should have listened. You tried to tell me but... I thought... I'm sorry."

Beth put her arm around him as the helicopters hovered above.

"We're gonna sort this out Jack. I'll explain everything to them and we can start again. I love you but things have to change. I can't be your property for the rest of my life. I just can't."

"You love me?" Jack raised his watery eyes to hers. She'd never said that before. Beth nodded and kissed him before walking towards the police that were now swarming towards them. They had their guns raised at Jack and Beth tried to keep her body between them.

"It's ok, he's not dangerous. He's going to come with you so you don't need... hey! Ow!" An officer had grabbed Beth's arm and was roughly pulling her out of the line of fire. Beth had no shoes on and she'd stepped on something sharp causing her to fall. The officer continued to drag her across the stony ground.

"TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF HER!" Jack roared as he ran towards them. There was a scuffle as Jack tried to free Beth from the officer's grasp.

"No! Jack stop, it's...NO!"

BANG!

....................

6 months later.

A cool breeze swept down the street causing people to huddle further into their winter coats. It didn't seem to stop them staring. They whispered to each other as they passed by and some even pointed. They'd all heard the story:- what had happened during those 2 weeks, the inquiry that followed and the odd decision that had been made. There was no such thing as privacy in this small town.

Time seemed to have slowed down to an almost complete stop -- it always does when you're waiting for something. Another glance at the watch only to find it hasn't budged at all. Voices flit through the mind - voices of reason, sanity, desire, selfishness. Is this really a good idea? But it's too late for doubts now, the unusual arrangements have been made and there's no turning back - at least, not without upsetting an awful lot of people.

At long last the bus comes around the corner. Why is it going so incredibly slow? Finally it reaches the bus stop and the doors slide back. There's only one person getting off at this stop and he steps with determination and confidence.

"Hello Beth. I'm Jack. It's really nice to meet you."

He longs to pull her roughly into his arms and kiss her mouth until it's red raw. To throw her over his shoulder and carry her back to the homestead where he can ravage her again and again. He wants to claim her, declare to the world that she belongs to him but he contains himself. Instead he takes her hand and gently shakes it. He promised they'd start from scratch and he wouldn't break that promise for anything in the world.

"Hi Jack. Let's get your bags -- I've made up the spare room for you and you've got a private telephone hooked up in there so that you can talk to your councilor whenever you need to."

He didn't think it was possible to love anyone this much. This was going to be so hard but he was sure the end result would be worth it. He would forever be haunted by that awful day when the gun went off. Beth had anticipated the shot and thrown herself in front of him. The bullet had struck her from behind forcing her into his arms. As he lay her carefully on the ground, he felt a hundred rough hands grab at him and pull him away. She had reached out to him as she lay in a pool of blood and there had been nothing he could do. It was 2 days before he was finally told that she was going to be alright and they were the longest and most frightening of his life. The bullet had lodged itself in her shoulder. She'd needed an operation to repair the damage, lots of physio and had needed to wear a sling for months afterwards but now she was almost fully recovered.

All because of him. It was his fault completely.

They collected his bags from the driver. He didn't have much -- didn't need much in prison. He'd spent the last six months being re-educated and re-programmed. He'd learnt about women's lib, equal opportunities, female leaders that had changed the world, observed married couples, learnt how to solve arguments and spent long hours talking to psychiatrists. Beth had been there for him every step of the way. She had defended him in court as much as she could without lying and had insisted to the judge that the only experience he'd ever had of a female had been a child's perspective of an old woman who'd been enslaved for years.

His father had been arrested too but Mellissa was too far gone and lied to the court, saying that she had agreed to go with him. The judge could see through her but his father had been released regardless. Jack still owned the cattle station but it could wait. There was nothing more important than Beth right now. He had a lot of making up to do.

"That's a cute little bundle you've got there. How far along are you?" he knew full well the answer to that question but he wanted to keep up the pretense - show her how serious he was about this.

Beth rubbed her baby bump.

"Just over 6 months." she said with tears in her eyes. She flicked her head gently to clear her fringe from her sight. It immediately fell back into place and Jack instinctively pushed it back for her. Realizing his mistake, Jack quickly pulled his hand back and pulled a concerned face. Had he blown it already?

Seeing his panic triggered something in Beth. Maybe it was nerves, maybe it was relief, maybe it was the shear ridiculousness of the situation but Beth's reaction was to laugh - a tinkling laugh that sounded like music. Jack hadn't heard that laugh since the day he first saw her and he knew in that moment that everything was going to be fine.

She was his world. She was all that mattered. The most courageous person he'd ever met. He was so glad he hadn't broken her

but maybe,

well...

perhaps they had tamed each other?