Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Morning was brutal after a late night of unpacking, putting up curtains, hanging pictures and cleaning up the boxes. Kate had an excruciating time pulling herself out of bed. A fragment of her dream flashed through her mind and she spent a moment reflecting upon the oddness of having different dreams with a reoccurring cast of characters. She shook her head and her thoughts turned to her plans for the morning. She was looking forward to lazing around the house in her pajamas and having a wonderful slow breakfast with her dad, admiring all their hard work. She yawned, stretched, kicked the covers onto the floor and braced herself to get out of bed.

She shuffled, yawning, into the kitchen where her dad was standing at the stove looking at an empty pan.

“It works better if you put something into it,” she yawned.

He stood there for a moment, lips pursed, staring at the pan, then he turned off the stove and moved the pan off the burner.

“How about breakfast out?” Seeing the protest on her lips he hurried on. “I walked by an interesting little place just the other day. Its menu had some fun entrees on it. What do you say?”

Kate, still just a bit groggy, whined, “I... I thought you were going to cook me breakfast.”

He folded his hands in prayer and gave her a look that told her he, too, was worn out, and needed a break. She relinquished to his silent plea.

“All right. I'll go get dressed,” she agreed.

They were seated at a street-side table looking at the menu. “When are you going to tell me about Grandma and Mom?” she said as casually as if she had said, 'It's a beautiful day.'

Not looking up, he commented, “Oh the full Scottish breakfast. Doesn’t that look good? I think I will try that, and a side of toast. What are you going to get?” he said, completely ignoring her question.

She looked at her menu. “I want pigs in a blanket but I don’t seem to find it on the menu,” she said, “and quit trying to change the subject.”

“Just order the American pancakes and sausage and roll them up yourself,” he replied. “And I’m not avoiding the subject, I just don’t want to be interrupted once we are talking. Order first, talk later.”

“Fine,” she huffed.

The waiter arrived and they placed their orders. Kate tried to relax and let him start the tale in his own time. She watched the people on the street and took in the nice, almost sunny weather. Bruce took a long drink of his juice, placed his hands flat on the table and put on his best business face.

“I am a little uncomfortable telling you this. You and your Grandmother have such a wonderful relationship and I am afraid it will put a bad light on her. Are you sure you want to hear it?” Kate thought for a moment. Hearing the venom in her mother's voice when she talked about her mother-in-law made Kate's teeth grind. She had to know where that all came from. What had her sweet grandmother done to cause her mother to hate her so? She nodded, definitely. “Where to start? You know the end, so I guess I should start from the beginning. When your mother and I started dating, it was a long time before I brought her home to meet my mother. The reason for that being...” He gestured to her.

“The psychic thing,” she answered.

“Yes, the psychic thing. You have to understand, your grandmother, like yourself, doesn’t need to be asleep to see things like I do. Her gift is more, how can I put it? In your face, so to speak. She can meet people and know things about them right away.”

“And she saw something in Mom?” she asked.

“Yes. She saw something big, something important in her, I could tell, but I could never get her to tell me what it was. She would say something about freedom of choice that was given to us by God. Your Grandmother can be very cryptic.”

“Did she ever tell you?”

“Now, you’re getting ahead of the story and if you truly want to understand what the situation is, then you have to hear all of it.”

Just like him. Kate knew her dad had to tell the story like he cooked. From the beginning of the recipe to the end. He took another drink of juice and a big breath.

“Your mother and I were really hitting it off and she was coming over to the house more and more and your grandmother was polite, but she always made herself scarce. As you can expect, your mother was keenly aware that my mom didn’t seem to like her. You wouldn’t have to be a rocket scientist, like your mother, to figure that one out. Meg would show up and all of the sudden my mom would pretend she was just leaving on an errand or she claimed to be in the middle of pickling some pickles that desperately needed pickled. She even managed to start some tie dyeing before we made it up the driveway.”

Kate chuckled at that.

“That seems funny now, but that one was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. We had gone there to surprise them with the news of our engagement, but Dad wasn't home and we couldn't contain ourselves.” He looked over his glasses to see her reaction.

“Are you telling me that you went to Grandmother's and Grandpa's to tell them you were going to be married and she didn't ever pretend to be happy for you?” Kate was appalled.

“I had just finished, by picking up your mom's hand with the ring on it to show her, and she just got up from the couch, said she had some things that she was dyeing, and left the room. She proceeded to spend the rest of the evening dyeing a bunch of old clothing,” he said.

“What? That doesn't even make sense. I can’t believe Grandmother would be so rude. She seems so funny and sweet,” she said incredulously. She was beginning to see why her mom had such strong negative feelings.

“Believe me, even I couldn't believe that my own mom could have acted the way she did. I was so hurt and angry with her.”

“What did Grandpa say?”

“Grandpa wasn’t there when all this happened and your mom was trying to leave when he got home. He always had a way with your mom. He managed to calm her down and escorted her back inside. We told him our news and he was very happy for us. He cried and kissed us both, embarrassed your mom by asking when he could start expecting grandchildren, he even opened a 100-year-old bottle of brandy to celebrate. He called for your Grandmother to come celebrate with us, but she just couldn't, or wouldn't celebrate with us. Your mother never forgave her.”  Kate had to agree with her mother for once. “From then on, whenever we met my parents for dinner or some event, she would shun my mother, she wouldn't even acknowledge her presence and your Grandpa became her favorite.”

Kate was flabbergasted. “I don't blame her. How did she avoid it without seeming rude?”

“Your mom had no problem being rude to my mom. And your grandmother took it really well. Of course they didn't want to speak to each other, so it wasn't that big of a problem. It was never how we envisioned our life together would be.”

“So, did your mom ever tell you what she saw?” she asked.

“Yes, she did.”

“Are you going to tell me?” She sat on the edge of her seat, torn between curiosity and fear of what her grandmother had said.

“Remember, I told you that your Grandmother was cryptic?”

She nodded.

“She said, and I quote ‘It’s not the truth and it will break her heart.’” He sat back and stared off into the distance.

She looked at her father. He seemed so sad and a million miles away. His eyes unfocused and brow furrowed. Was he back in time with his mother, asking her what she meant, or was he comforting his bride whose heart had been hurt by the mother of the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with?

She sank back into her seat, her thoughts shifting between these images.

“Huh? What did it mean?” she finally asked.

“I have no idea.”

Kate was shocked. “What? She never explained it to you?”

Bruce shook his head. “She refused to tell me. She said that she wished us the best and that’s all I could ever get out of her.”

“Wow.”  Kate put her hand over her mouth. “Wow. No wonder Mom has issues. If I didn’t know Grandmother the way I do, and heard that story, I don’t think I would like her either.”

He leaned forward taking her hand. “Kate, I am glad you do know her the way you do. I don’t want you to think your grandmother is horrible or a bad person. She saw something that made her react. She definitely distanced herself from your mom after that night. But then you came along and we couldn’t get rid of her. She was at the house every day helping with chores and taking care of you. Your mother never got one day alone with you for three months. I had to tell my mom to go home and make sure dad was still alive, to get her to leave.”

“Why, what difference did it make?” she asked.

“None. It didn’t make any difference. Your mother still didn’t talk to her and my mom didn’t initiate conversation with her. She was only interested in spending time with you. I was pleasantly surprised and must say she is a very good grandmother.”

“Yes, she is.”

Their breakfast arrived and they tucked in, after a few bites, he turned the tables on her. In his best New Jersey accent he said, “So what did Josh have to say?” She looked up at him and pointed to her mouth full of pancakes. “Oh no you don't. I told you mine, now you tell me yours.”

She washed her food down with some water. “He wanted to say he was sorry that he started dating Lily before he broke up with me and that he really loved me and wants to get back together.” She looked back down at her plate. That wasn't as hard as it would have been the other night. He bobbed his head a couple of times.

“And you said?” he prompted, trying to keep the shock out of his voice, but his eyebrows had met his hair line.

“I told him we are too young and too far apart to even think about a long term, long distance relationship.” She stuck her fork into her mouth and licked off the syrup. “I think if this had happened two or three weeks ago I would be a mess, but so much time has passed and so much has happened since then that, even though it still makes what he did despicable, it just doesn't hurt as bad. Like I have outgrown him.”

He smiled at her. “You definitely have grown.”

They continued their breakfast with small talk about school, defense training and the impending arrival of her grandparents. The food was good, definitely different from what she would expect from her dad’s kitchen, but still good. She looked at him over their juice glasses. She could see he was making mental notes about the food, trying to figure out what ingredients were in the sausage. She smiled, never a dull moment for his inner chef. She looked down at the sausage on her fork and tried to figure out what her Grandmother had meant by her cryptic revelation, 'It's not the truth and it will break her heart.'

After breakfast, Kate and her father had a few things on their shopping list for their guests. Even though her grandparents were only staying one night, they decided the items they needed would be used by more friends and relatives they hoped would visit. Pillows, blankets and a blow up bed for Kate to sleep on, while her grandparents used her bed for the night, were on the list. At the linens store they ran into Tavey and Frazier. At first she thought they were shoplifting. They were skulking in the pillow aisle, stuffing pillows up Frazier's shirt. She acted like she didn’t know them but Frazier waddled up to her with his shirt bulging from the pillow beneath.

“Pardon me, does this make me look fat?” Frazier asked with a perfectly straight face.

“No, I don’t think it makes you look fat. It just makes your bum look big,” she said with a straight face of her own.

Tavey doubled over laughing. Kate’s dad was in the next aisle watching with an amused look on his face.

“Frazier don’t you know who you are talking to?” Tavey asked.

Frazier looked at Kate, recognition dawning on his face.

“Oh, hello love. How’s it going? We were just... doin' a little...shopping. We missed you yesterday at the castle.” He was walking backwards, slowly mashing and readjusting the pillow beneath his shirt.

Kate’s dad walked past Tavey and up behind Frazier. Frazier backed into him and stopped, not realizing it wasn't Tavey standing behind him.

“Tavey thought it would be fun to see what people would say if, well, you know, the pillow and all,” Frazier elbowed her dad. “Tell her Tavey.

Tavey walked over to stand by Kate. Frazier stood completely still, and slowly pointed to Tavey.

“If Tavey be there, then who is standing behind me?” Frazier whispered and motioned over his shoulder with his thumb.

“Frazier, this is my father.” Kate motioned to her father standing behind him.

Frazier slowly turned and held out his hand to Bruce.

“Hello, Mr. Thorn. Very nice to meet you.” Continuing to shake his hand he said, “Sorry aboot the elbow.”

“Hello. Frazier is it? Are these some of your school friends, Kate?” He asked solemnly, still holding Frazier's hand.

“Yes Father, they are,” Kate answered just as formal. She didn’t know what he was up to so she followed his lead.

“Well then. It is very nice to meet you.” He dropped his hand and looked down at the pillow bulging under Frazier's shirt then back at his face. “That pillow, under your shirt,” he pointed to Frazier's obnoxiously large shirt. “That pillow... really does make your bum look big.”

In the ensuing silence, the boys looked at each other and at Kate, baffled at how to react. Kate and Bruce's composure crumbled and they burst out laughing. Frazier and Tavey, shaking their heads, joined in.

“Sorry boys, I couldn't resist. It is really nice to meet some of Kate's school friends,” Bruce said, bobbing Frazier's hand again, more warmly this time.

Frazier pulled the pillow out from under his shirt and gently threw it at Kate. He and Tavey relaxed into the company of kindred spirits. “It's very nice to meet you too.” Tavey dramatically pushed Kate out of the way to greet her dad as a long lost relative.

“I love Americans,” they said together.

Later that night, after dinner, Kate and her father were quietly sitting in the living room, Kate doing her homework and Bruce fiddling with plans for a restaurant, a dream he had been imagining since she was young. She knew he had brought his packet of ideas from home, and after some initial coaxing, she managed to get him to break it out as a good distraction from the here and now. Meg burst through the front door, ending the peace. No words were spoken but the undercurrent and sharp, staccato hammering of her heels spoke volumes. Meg went to the bedroom and changed out of her work clothes and returned to the kitchen to reheat her dinner. She sat in the kitchen nook and ate alone, washed her dishes and put them away. She then walked back to the bedroom and closed the door. She never said one word to Kate or her father. The ensuing silence was deafening. Bruce whistled under his breath.

“Wow. She is really furious,” he said.

“I don't think I have ever seen her this upset,” Kate said.

“You weren’t there the night I announced our engagement. At one point she stopped breathing.”

“Didn’t you say that your dad saved the day with a 100-year-old bottle of Scotch?” Kate asked.

“Brandy,” he corrected.

“So Grandpa was the saving grace. Maybe he can be the saving grace here too,” Kate said.

“You are so bright, sometimes, I forget you are my child. I guess I have to remind your mom he is coming too.”

He got up from the chair and went to the kitchen. She heard him open a cabinet and pour something. He reentered the living room with two glasses of amber liquid.

“What do you think your grandpa did with the rest of the bottle?” he winked and continued his walk down the hall

Kate watched as Billy quietly walked up to where Andrew was sleeping.

“Get up, time to eat and start a new day,” Billy said.

Andrew sighed, “Sometimes I think Da tricked me into coming on this march so I would never ask to do anything ever again.”

“I hear the march today will be a bit shorter than yesterday's,” Billy informed them. “If you hurry, there may still be a bite or two left from breakfast. I was going to wake you but I figured you would be liking a wee bit more sleep after all the talking you did in your sleep last night.”

Billy always managed to get breakfast before them. They found Andrew’s dad sitting with some of the men he worked with. Ol' Rob and his boys were there. They sat down next to Sean, who then shoved his plate over in front of them.

“I saved you a little bit. They ran out of food about five minutes ago,” Sean said. Christopher added his left overs to Sean’s plate.

“Next time, you’ll think twice about having a lie in, won’t you?” Frank teased them.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

The day wore on and to keep walking sometimes seemed impossible. Just when Kate thought she could not possibly take another step, Frank motioned them off the road toward a low stone wall shaded by a line of trees. The brief break allowed the group to share a meager meal, some cheese and a small, but fresh loaf of bread with water to quench their thirst.

Later that day they entered another town and, as before, the barriers that were constructed by the town council crumbled at their approach. People turned out to meet them, bringing food and what little money they could spare to fill the collecting tins.

Once again, the townspeople found a place for them to sleep. Billy, Andrew and Kate found their spot in a corner.

“You kids stay together. They will be opening a chow line in a few minutes and after that, there will be another meeting. I don’t want to worry about where you are, so make sure you come back here after you eat,” Frank said.

“Dad?” Andrew said.

“Yes, son?”

“Can I go with you tonight to the meeting?”

Frank looked over Andrew’s head toward the food line and rubbed his two-day-old beard, then looked at Andrew again and said. “I want you to stick to me like glue. Do you understand me?  If things get a little mad, I want you to come back here to this very spot and not move unless your life is in danger or I am with you. Do you understand?”

Kate did not really understand why Frank was so harsh, but they nodded their acknowledgment. “Yes, I understand,” Andrew answered.

The meeting itself was very boring. Kate was beginning to wish Andrew hadn’t mentioned coming. She began people watching and was surprised at their haggard faces and ragged clothes. She felt awful for them as she looked at her own clothes and realized she was better dressed than most of the men there. She began to compare Frank and Robert's clothes to those of the men around them and saw the same result. Frank was standing next to Ol' Rob. The older man caught Kate’s eye and gave her a smile of greeting. Kate tried to smile back but quickly bowed her head, not wanting the man to read the pity on her face. She started looking at Rob’s shoes. They were old and beat up and had spots around the toes that looked like dried blood. Kate's face heated up and tears sprang to her eyes. She didn’t want Andrew or Billy to be ashamed of her, so she just kept staring at the ground in front of her. A horrible realization came over her this wasn't a fun outing she was on, it was life or death movement, these people were in serious trouble and needed help.

It started to rain, which brought the meeting to a close. Kate was thankful for the rain that fell on her face and hid her tears. They made their way back to their cots and without much fuss, managed to get comfortable. Kate looked at the ceiling and thought about Ol' Rob with his worn shoes. She thought about telling Andrew and Billy about him but as she turned over, she heard the unmistakable sound of Billy’s snores coming from under his covers. Kate decided to tell them in the morning.