Heart of The Tree

Chapter 7

Bobby stepped forward and coughed loudly.

The other two jumped apart, with the unidentified guy tripping over the bags at his feet and falling to the floor.

“Col! Are you okay?” Patricia asked, bending down to check on the guy.

Bobby paused while his sluggish mind filtered the name. As he watched the young man clamber awkwardly to his feet, the name rang a bell, but Bobby couldn’t remember why.

“I’m fine, Pat. I was just startled, that’s all.”

Bobby felt extremely awkward. He knew from the way their attention had been totally on each other that he had intruded on something personal. He thought about slipping away, but the decision was taken out of his hands when Patricia remembered that he was there.

“I’m sorry, Bobby. You must be wondering what’s going on.”

“Well, yeah.”

Patricia grabbed the stranger by the hand and dragged him a couple of steps to where Bobby stood.

“Col, this is Bobby Elkington. Bobby, this is my fiancé, Colin Thackery.”

Bobby felt like he’d been kicked in his stomach. The name finally clicked — Colin, the father of the baby that Patricia had lost four years earlier.

“But… but…”

“Come on,” Patricia said, grabbing Colin with one hand, and Bobby with the other. “I want to introduce Colin to the rest of the gang.”

Colin slipped his hand out of Pat’s. When she glanced back in surprise, he looked down at his bags.

“I need to put these away in my room, first. I’ll be down to see you and your friends as soon as I can.”

The hotel manager interrupted him as Colin bent over.

“Don’t worry about them, Colin. I’ll take them up to your room for you. Go with your girl; it’s been a long time since you two were together,” Ryan Klenston said, smiling from behind the nearby counter.

“Thanks, Mr. Klenston!”

With that delay out of the way, Patricia dragged the two guys into the bar.

“Hey, everyone! There’s someone I want to introduce to you!”

Patricia’s shout penetrated through the entire room. Besides the young group, a lot of other locals stopped their conversations to see what the yelling was about. Bobby could see a number already whispering furiously. He suspected the news that Colin was back in town, and on Patricia’s arm, would be out on the local grapevine before the end of the night.

When the others were gathered around, Patricia grinned broadly and grabbed hold of Colin’s left arm.

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet my fiancé, Colin Thackery. Colin, these are some new friends who’ve been really good to me.”

Bobby had recovered enough so that he could observe his friends’ reactions. Vince was dazed, and Bobby wondered if he’d heard what Patricia had said. Rhys’s jaw dropped open, making him look like a stunned mullet. Mia just looked shell shocked. Mark’s eyes opened wide, before his head snapped around to look at Matt. Matt was the real surprise. While he staggered slightly as he stepped forward, he was grinning as he held out a hand to Colin.

“Glad to meet you, mate. I’m Matt. Pat’s told me a lot about you and I was hoping to see you before I headed home.”

Colin grasped the offered hand and gave it a warm shake.

“Thanks, Matt. And thanks for what you’ve been doing, too. It’s been really appreciated by both of us.”

“What’s going on?” Mia asked, her gaze going between Matt, Patricia and Colin.

Matt looked at Patricia and raised his eyebrows. “Secret time’s over, I presume?”

She smiled back as she gave Colin’s arm another squeeze. “Yes.”

She turned to the others. “Colin and I have been engaged for a long time, but our families didn’t approve when we first told them, so we’ve been working until we could get to the point where we don’t need their help. Colin’s finished his course and has gotten himself a good job, so we’re now ready to move to Bathurst and live together.”

Rhys looked at Matt. “What’s your role in this, since you seem to know what’s going on?”

Matt grinned. “Pat asked for my help to put her parents off.”

Patricia jumped in to explain further when it became obvious that Matt was too drunk to realise that the others needed more detail.

“Mum and Dad were getting suspicious about how excited I was. Colin and I have been communicating for the last four years using the ‘net and public phones. I’ve kept quiet for most of it, but when Colin told me how his job interviews were going, I couldn’t hide it any longer. Matt’s been helping by giving me an ‘official’ excuse for being happy.”

Letting go of Colin’s arm, she stepped forward and kissed Matt lightly on the lips. “Thanks, Matt. You’re a real gentleman and you’re going to make some girl really happy one day.”

Matt blushed and looked away. He muttered something in response, but no one could make out what it was.

“Four years is a long time to be apart. Are you sure about this?” Bobby asked.

Colin stared challengingly back at him. “We gave our hearts to each other under The Tree. There isn’t anyone else I want to be with.”

“And Colin’s the only one I want,” Patricia added, resuming her position by her fiancé’s side. She slipped her right arm around his waist as he draped his left over her shoulders.

Bobby could see that the two of them would fight if anyone tried to separate them again. Matt was clearly pleased to have helped the two of them. With the blessing of The Tree on their relationship, Bobby knew it was useless to argue with them. “What happens next?” he asked, resigned to his expectations being shattered.

Patricia looked at her beau. “Col wasn’t supposed to be here until tomorrow, so I’m not sure. The wedding’s organised for tomorrow afternoon.”

Colin leant over and kissed her. “I couldn’t wait the extra day. I rang ahead and booked a room here and was working up my courage to go to your place, but then you showed up. How about you stay the night here?”

“My bag’s packed, but it’s at home. If I’d known, I’d’ve put it in the wagon when I headed out this morning.”

Vince slipped off the bar stool and took an unsteady step in their direction. Bobby and Rhys quickly moved forward to support him as it appeared that he was about to fall on his face.

“What about the lake?” he muttered at Patricia.

“Lake?” Colin repeated, giving her a questioning look..

Patricia blushed and gave him a wry grin. “Vince, Matt and I went skinny dipping today. Now before you get upset, I knew I could trust that Matt and Vince weren’t going to do anything. It was just something else to try to put people off the scent.”

Colin had started to say something, but he let Patricia finish. He gave Matt and Vince a searching glare before he turned back to his girlfriend.

“Trust me?” she whispered.

He sighed and nodded his head. “Never again, though.”

She smiled cheekily. “At least not with them.”

“Back to the original question, then. Will you stay with me tonight?”

Pat let go of Colin’s waist and twisted around so that her back was against his chest. Colin wrapped his arms around her and she rested her head on his shoulder.

“I’m not going to disappear like I’m guilty or something. I have to tell my family. I was going to do it tomorrow morning, but I suppose I could tell them tonight and come back here with my bag. That will give them a night to decide they if they want to come to the wedding. I can’t see how they can stop us. We’re both well over eighteen.”

Rhys was helping Bobby put Vince back on his bar stool. When Rhys heard that last comment he twisted his head around to look at the couple.

“Weren’t there threats when you got pregnant, Pat?”

The couple stiffened. “My brother,” Pat said, glaring at the memory.

“Are you safe going home by yourself?” Rhys asked.

“Col will be with me,” she said, giving her guy a trusting smile.

Rhys frowned. “I think that’ll make things worse. Would you like me to go with you? No one is going to try anything while I’m there, or they’ll just get into trouble with my dad.”

Patricia stared at Rhys, thinking, before twisting her head to look at Colin, who nodded.

“Thanks, Rhys,” she said with relief. “We can all go in my car.”

“Let’s get going, then. The sooner this is done, the better.”

Rhys paused and looked at his friends. “Try not to burn the place down without me.”

Matt grinned back. “We’ll wait for you before we start.”

Bobby watched with a sense of unease as Rhys, Patricia and Colin headed out. He doubted things would be as simple as Patricia would like.

“I’ll be back soon,” Matt muttered, as he staggered in the direction of the toilets.

Everyone just stared at each other, the low rumble of other conversations in the bar the only noise. Bobby could tell they were all trying to work out what the new events meant.

Mia eventually broke the silence.

“Does this mean Pat’s not The Heart of The Tree?”

“She still might be. Things don’t have to be the same as last time,” Mark said, leaning forward and putting his glass down on the nearby table.

“But how? She’s not marrying Matt!” Mia said.

“She’s still getting married, and I’ll bet everything I have that she’s going to get married under The Tree. Matt played a part in that, so maybe that’s enough for the legend. After four years, she must’ve been wondering if it was ever going to happen.”

“Don’t think so,” Vince said, struggling to speak clearly.

The others turned to see Vince swaying unsteadily. He was drunk, but had a fixed expression on his face, as if he was trying to force himself to concentrate.

“What?”

“Not The Heart. She told me. I didn’t understand,” Vince said.

“We’ll find out soon enough. She said she’s getting married tomorrow. If no more branches fall after that, then she’s The Heart of The Tree. Why don’t we just wait?” Bobby suggested.

He personally thought she wasn’t The Heart. From what she’d said, she’d been in contact with Colin for all of those four years. It was unlikely she’d experienced the despair that was supposed to characterise the new Heart. However, Bobby thought it wouldn’t cause any harm to wait. If there was another girl out there who was the real Heart, she’d have her chance to catch Matt’s eye.

“Matt said he was going,” Vince said.

“What do you mean?” Mia asked.

“Just now. Said to Colin he was going home.”

“Did he?” Mia asked, looking around at her friends.

Bobby thought hard. Matt had made a comment about going home. He wondered if they really would have the time they needed.

Nothing more was resolved by the time Matt returned. Instead, Bobby ordered another round of drinks. Matt was happy for Patricia and he seemed to expect everyone else to be, too. It was obvious to all that Matt was still ignorant of the situation with The Tree and the role they were expecting him to play in its solution. Only time would tell if the role he played would be the one they expected.

* * *

Rhys’s mind was racing around in circles as he sat in the back of Patricia’s Land Rover. Colin’s arrival had disrupted all of their planning. He couldn’t see how Pat could be the new Heart, and that meant the field was wide open again. Matt had met the other girls on the list, at least in passing, but it was only Pat that he’d responded to. They’d have to work out how to make sure he spent some time with the other girls.

Colin and Patricia were chatting away in the front, ignoring Rhys’s presence, but he didn’t mind. He tried to tune out what they were saying, as they caught up on four years of separation. The little that filtered through seemed to be that they were expanding on things they’d mentioned previously to each other, either in online chats or on phone conversations, but hadn’t been able to detail.

As Rhys again went through the list of potential Hearts, one name stuck out. He’d never considered it before, but Matt had connected with another girl in town — Mia.

Rhys had at first been sure it was Karen, but she and Matt hadn’t gotten along. It was Mia who had found Matt, and he would drop in to see her when he was passing through town. Rhys wondered if Mia could be the new Heart of The Tree.

Rhys shook his head and turned to stare at the darkness outside, not really seeing anything. If it was Mia, then there were things going on that Rhys didn’t know about. He’d been friends with her for years, and as far as he knew, she’d never been close to experiencing a “love lost” like Aunt Cynthia.

Rhys still hadn’t made sense of things when they pulled into the track leading to the Bryson’s house. “How do we want to do this?” he asked, when Colin and Patricia fell silent.

“What do you mean?”

“Do we all go in together, or do one or two of us wait in the car?”

Patricia and Colin looked at each other. Patricia pulled up outside the house and switched off the engine. Everyone was quiet as the normal small noises of the country night drifted in through the open car windows. The lights from the house illuminated the ground between where they sat and where they’d be going.

“I don’t want to hide what we’re doing. I think we should all go in together,” Patricia said. “His car is missing, so it looks like my brother is out tonight, which means we only need to worry about my parents.”

“Okay, let’s get this over and done with,” Colin said, undoing his seatbelt and opening the door.

Rhys held back after he got out so the other two could go first. He was there just in case they needed a witness, so he didn’t want to be in the front. He’d have been happy to stay in the background the whole time.

Patricia threw back her shoulders in preparation for a potential confrontation. Staring straight ahead, she reached out with her left hand to grasp Colin’s hand. The two of them stepped forward as one.

The front door was open, with only the flywire screen stopping the night’s insects from invading the house. Patricia opened the screen door and walked in with Colin. Rhys brought up the rear.

“Is that you, Pat?”

“Yes, Mum,” Patricia called back. Lowering her voice, she gave Colin a worried look. “Here we go.”

She led the way down the hallway towards the lighted room from where her mum’s voice had come. Her left hand stayed firmly in Colin’s grasp. The muted sounds of the television could be heard in the background, growing louder as they walked along.

The two stopped in the doorway.

“Mum, I’ve got something to say.”

“What is it, dear?”

Rhys guessed that Mrs. Bryson hadn’t looked around, because her response was too complacent.

“What’s he doing here?”

Rhys assumed that the angry, masculine voice was Mr. Bryson’s. As Colin and Patricia stepped into the room, Rhys moved up to take their place at its entrance.

Seeing Mr. Bryson rising to his feet, Rhys had a sudden vision of the traditional, enraged bull, complete with red face and steam coming out of its ears. A sense of impending violence was palpable.

Tearing his eyes away from Patricia’s father for a moment, Rhys saw her mum sitting, slack-jawed, in a reclining chair, staring at the couple who’d stepped into the room.

“We told you that you’re to have nothing to do with this scum. Hasn’t he ruined enough of your life, already?”

“Dad, please calm down!”

Mr. Bryson ignored his daughter. Advancing menacingly, fists at his sides, he glared at Colin.

“Get out and don’t come back,” he growled through clenched teeth.

Patricia and Colin took an involuntary step backwards.

“Dad…”

“Go to your room, Patricia. We’ll talk about this after I’ve thrown out the garbage.”

“Dad…”

“GO!”

Patricia whispered something to Colin and then left the room. As she passed Rhys, she muttered, “Stall him.”

“As for you…” Mr. Bryson said, glaring at Colin.

“Um, excuse me, but don’t you think you should listen to what Pat and Colin have to say?” Rhys said, cringing as he drew the attention of the angry parent.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

While still belligerent, Mr. Bryson was thrown off his stride when he became aware of Rhys standing in the doorway.

“Ah…I’m…I’m just here as a friend,” Rhys stammered.

“Did you have something to do with this? If so, I’m going to rip your balls off! You’re a troublemaker, and I don’t want my Patricia having anything to do with your sort.”

Rhys struggled to avoid running. His dad had been angry with him more times than he could remember, but Rhys had never, ever, felt physically threatened. Mr. Bryson was prompting a primeval flight reflex.

“No, I didn’t have anything to do with this,” Rhys said lamely. He knew he wasn’t creating a good impression.

“Well, get the fuck out of my house!”

“I still love your daughter,” Colin said, causing Mr. Bryson to turn sharply on him. Under that angry glare, Colin flung back his shoulders and stared back unwaveringly. Rhys admired the calm dignity that Colin was projecting.

“Alan…”

Mr. Bryson flicked a glance at his wife. “Stay out of this, Helen.”

“No, Alan. Let Colin speak. I want to hear what he has to say.”

“Helen, stay out of it!”

“No, dear. I think we need to hear what both Colin and Patricia have to say.”

Mrs. Bryson’s tranquillity didn’t waver in the face of her husband’s ire. A silent struggle between them was over after only a few seconds. Mr. Bryson turned back to Colin.

“Say your piece, then get the fuck out of this house. I don’t want to see you again, so you’d better make it good.”

Colin gave Mrs. Bryson a nod of thanks, which she returned with a faint smile. The young man then squared his shoulders and addressed the parents of his fiancé.

“I’ve never stopped loving your daughter and she’s never stopped loving me! We didn’t know if you’d approve…”

“Too bloody right!” Mr. Bryson interrupted.

“Alan, let him finish, please.”

Mr. Bryson grumbled, but waved a hand at Colin to continue.

“We didn’t know if you’d approve, and I know my parents won’t, but we still want to get married.”

He stopped as Mr. Bryson took an angry step forward, but then he stiffened and glared at the older man.

“We’ve waited until I’ve finished my course and got a job. I start work in Bathurst in January, so I’ve come back here to get Pat. We’re not going to be struggling — I’m going to look after your daughter to the best of my ability.”

Mr. Bryson narrowed his eyes and leant forward, trying to intimidate the younger man with his greater bulk.

“After four years, what makes you think she’ll want to go?”

“Because she told me. She’s organised most of this herself.”

A noise behind Rhys made him turn his head to see Patricia coming down the hallway, struggling with a large suitcase. Making a quick decision, he abandoned his post and moved down to help her.

“I’ll put it in your car. I think you should go in and support Colin. If you don’t follow me out, I’ll come back when I’ve finished,” he whispered.

She nodded. Rhys picked up the suitcase and moved down to just short of the doorway. He didn’t want to be seen carrying it out, so he waited until he thought it would be safe to sneak past.

“Mum, Dad. Colin and I are getting married tomorrow. I’d like…”

“WHAT!” Mr. Bryson interrupted.

Rhys moved quickly past the doorway while Mr. Bryson’s attention was firmly on Pat. It didn’t take him long to put Patricia’s bag away, but he was concerned about the raised voices he was hearing. Patricia and her dad were having a furious argument. As soon as he could, he headed back to the house.

“I HATE YOU!” Patricia yelled as Rhys opened the screen door. She and Colin came storming out of the room and headed straight for Rhys. Instead of stepping inside, Rhys held the door open for them.

“COME BACK HERE, YOU UNGRATEFUL BITCH!”

“Go and get the engine started,” Rhys told the young couple as they passed him.

He took a deep breath and, wondering if it was smart, closed the door and stood in front of it. Anyone wanting to come outside would have to knock him down. He put one hand on the frame, ready to try to hold it closed if necessary, while trying to make it look like he was just casually standing there.

Mr. Bryson was trying to march down towards him, but was being impeded by his wife’s hold on his arm.

“Let go, woman! I’m going to kill that bastard.”

“Alan, don’t do anything rash. Let them go. Please?”

“He’s stealing my daughter! I’m not going to let him get away with it!”

He suddenly noticed Rhys on the other side of the flywire screen.

“Get the fuck out of my way!”

“I’ve called my dad. He’ll be here shortly,” Rhys lied. He crossed his fingers behind his back and hoped the bluff would work.

“Good! He can arrest that bastard.”

When Mr. Bryson reached the door and put out a hand to open it, Rhys pushed back. When the door started to open despite his efforts, he abandoned any pretence and leant against it with all of his weight.

“It’s not Colin my dad’ll be arresting,” he blustered, feeling very vulnerable.

“What do you mean?”

The menace in Mr. Bryson’s voice sent a shiver through Rhys. At least he’d stopped trying to get out, but Rhys didn’t think he’d be able to delay him for more than a few seconds if he really wanted to leave the house.

“Both of them are adults. They’re allowed to make their own decisions. You can’t stop them from getting married.”

“SHE’S MY DAUGHTER!”

“Alan…”

As Mr. Bryson looked back at his wife, Rhys heard an engine starting behind him. Not waiting, he turned and ran. Just as he heard the sound of the screen door being flung open behind him, he threw himself into the Land Rover.

“GO!”

Patricia didn’t need the instruction. Before Rhys was fully inside, she was already moving. The squeal of tyres and a spray of dust accompanied them as they headed down the driveway, Rhys’s door still open and his feet hanging outside. As soon as they were far enough away, Patricia slowed down and Rhys pulled himself the rest of the way inside. He closed the door and took a few deep breaths before remembering to put his seatbelt on. In the meantime, Patricia had sped up again.

“No sign of lights behind us,” Colin said.

“If he doesn’t calm down, he’ll be coming after us tomorrow. Damn! I shouldn’t have told him where the wedding will be.”

Patricia sounded both angry and apprehensive. Rhys wanted to be supportive, but didn’t know what to say. He just stayed quiet, depressed for the people in the front seat who were all alone. Colin had already indicated that his family didn’t approve, and Patricia was without her family, too.

As Patricia took one hand off the steering wheel and reached over to take Colin’s hand, Rhys corrected himself. They had each other, and that’s what they wanted. He hoped it would be enough.

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