![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Field trip: part 4
Apr. 6th, 2015 10:03 pmThere are a lot of loose ends to tie off.
The US government had stated that identified armed forces who died overseas could, should families wish, be shipped back for burial at home. Around the campfire that night, they debated what Bill would have wanted.
"Don't see him holdin' with bein' dug up." Bonnie says slowly, after a while of silence. "He was always very squeamish. He near passed out when that dog he had dug up a raccoon skeleton."
Lucy nods in agreement.
"There's more of him in this than that grave anyhow." she says, holding the water-damaged sketch book.
They decide in the end to get Bill's name engraved on the cross and registered in the book, so that if they change their minds later the relevant people will be able to find him again.
The mood is more sober as they drive back towards the airport and sell the slightly restored car. There's just enough left over to spend the last night in a proper hotel, restaurant and all, and have enough comfortably for two rooms. It makes a nice change for her back, at least, not to be sleeping on the ground.
She wakes in the middle of the night, hearing sobbing from the en-suite bathroom. She gets up and goes to Lucy, slipping in and putting her arm around her.
"I'm sorry Lucy." she says softly. "You must have been as upset as me, he was your brother after all. I've been selfish."
"It's not that." Lucy sniffs, wiping her eyes. "Oh Bonnie, I'm in such a mess, I thought we'd fix it here but..." she shakes her head.
"Why were you homeless, Lucy?" Bonnie asks, gently, as they sit on the edge of the bathtub. "Who are you running from?"
"I don't know." Lucy says. "Every school I went to, I heard the kids whisperin' horrible things about me. Every night I heard people tryin' to break in. When I walked down the street there were people behind me, talkin' about me. I didn't know why." She blows her nose on her handkerchief. "Being a substitute I would just move from one school and one town to the next when it got too bad, but one day I snapped and shouted at some children in the school fer callin' me all sorts. And they all swore blind that nobody had been speakin' at all, and they told the Principal who fired me, and that's how I fell behind on rent."
Bonnie listens, frowning.
"It's all very strange." she says. "But how awful!"
"I could still hear them but never see them." Lucy says. "I realised it must be ghosts. I thought if we found Bill some of the ghosts would stop. But they haven't, I can still hear them, which means I really am crazy..."
"You aren't crazy." Bonnie says. "But I don't think yer haunted, maybe you ought to see a doctor?"
"No! You cain't tell anyone, not even Grover, they'll lock me up." Lucy says. "I'll never teach again if they know. It's been going on since I was a teenager and I never hurt nobody, I just think some funny things sometimes."
"I won't tell nobody." Bonnie says, taking her hand. "Look, why don't you move in with me permanently? I like the company, and maybe you'll feel a bit safer."
Lucy looks over at her gratefully.
"You don't mind me... not knowing what this trouble is?" She asks.
"Daresay I talked to myself enough over the years." Bonnie says. "I won't tell nobody unless someone's in real danger, promise."
Lucy sniffs and wipes her eyes again.
"Then yes, I'd love to come live with you, thanks Bonnie. I... I always wanted a family, but I never dared, in case they found out my secret."
"We are family." Bonnie says. She smiles slightly. "Bill was right what he wrote in that sketch book. 'In all that is broken, something new is created. In all that is lost, something new is found'."
The US government had stated that identified armed forces who died overseas could, should families wish, be shipped back for burial at home. Around the campfire that night, they debated what Bill would have wanted.
"Don't see him holdin' with bein' dug up." Bonnie says slowly, after a while of silence. "He was always very squeamish. He near passed out when that dog he had dug up a raccoon skeleton."
Lucy nods in agreement.
"There's more of him in this than that grave anyhow." she says, holding the water-damaged sketch book.
They decide in the end to get Bill's name engraved on the cross and registered in the book, so that if they change their minds later the relevant people will be able to find him again.
The mood is more sober as they drive back towards the airport and sell the slightly restored car. There's just enough left over to spend the last night in a proper hotel, restaurant and all, and have enough comfortably for two rooms. It makes a nice change for her back, at least, not to be sleeping on the ground.
She wakes in the middle of the night, hearing sobbing from the en-suite bathroom. She gets up and goes to Lucy, slipping in and putting her arm around her.
"I'm sorry Lucy." she says softly. "You must have been as upset as me, he was your brother after all. I've been selfish."
"It's not that." Lucy sniffs, wiping her eyes. "Oh Bonnie, I'm in such a mess, I thought we'd fix it here but..." she shakes her head.
"Why were you homeless, Lucy?" Bonnie asks, gently, as they sit on the edge of the bathtub. "Who are you running from?"
"I don't know." Lucy says. "Every school I went to, I heard the kids whisperin' horrible things about me. Every night I heard people tryin' to break in. When I walked down the street there were people behind me, talkin' about me. I didn't know why." She blows her nose on her handkerchief. "Being a substitute I would just move from one school and one town to the next when it got too bad, but one day I snapped and shouted at some children in the school fer callin' me all sorts. And they all swore blind that nobody had been speakin' at all, and they told the Principal who fired me, and that's how I fell behind on rent."
Bonnie listens, frowning.
"It's all very strange." she says. "But how awful!"
"I could still hear them but never see them." Lucy says. "I realised it must be ghosts. I thought if we found Bill some of the ghosts would stop. But they haven't, I can still hear them, which means I really am crazy..."
"You aren't crazy." Bonnie says. "But I don't think yer haunted, maybe you ought to see a doctor?"
"No! You cain't tell anyone, not even Grover, they'll lock me up." Lucy says. "I'll never teach again if they know. It's been going on since I was a teenager and I never hurt nobody, I just think some funny things sometimes."
"I won't tell nobody." Bonnie says, taking her hand. "Look, why don't you move in with me permanently? I like the company, and maybe you'll feel a bit safer."
Lucy looks over at her gratefully.
"You don't mind me... not knowing what this trouble is?" She asks.
"Daresay I talked to myself enough over the years." Bonnie says. "I won't tell nobody unless someone's in real danger, promise."
Lucy sniffs and wipes her eyes again.
"Then yes, I'd love to come live with you, thanks Bonnie. I... I always wanted a family, but I never dared, in case they found out my secret."
"We are family." Bonnie says. She smiles slightly. "Bill was right what he wrote in that sketch book. 'In all that is broken, something new is created. In all that is lost, something new is found'."
