The Finding Tree

Chapter 34 - You shall know the truth...

The door to the kitchen had finally closed, They could both hear the Fraser's bickering dwindle as they walked back to their own cottage.

The disagreement had been vicious. John was adamant Haddington Village  had the fresh lemons Miri wanted, in order to make lemon curd tomorrow for luncheon. While Miri said she had already called, and lemons wouldn't be available for a week or more, all they had was bottled lemon juice.

Janey and Peter looked at each other with raised eyebrows, listening g to the banter, as they had stowed their luggage in the sitting room attached to the suite. When the Fraser's had left, Peter hovered over the kitchen sink inhaling one of Miri's lamb pies, bits of crust falling in the basin. He held his hand out to Janey offering her one as well.  She shook her head no, with a smile. Lamb was an acquired taste, that she hadn't mastered quite yet.

"Do you have your walking shoes on?" Peter swallowed and eyed Janey's feet skeptically.

"Are we going somewhere far? I can change if you want."

"That may be a good idea. It's not a hard hike, but it is a ways out, and I wouldn't want you to twist an ankle."

She grinned and set her water glass down, "I'll be just a minute."

Peter was nervous, he was pacing. And he picked up the shoebox he had brought from his childhood room. It was an old blue Adidas box from his primary school years, but it was what he had in it that mattered. He tucked it under his arm, and waited for Janey to appear. His mind was spinning from what was about to happen.

"Peter, are we going running?" Janey pointed and giggled at the box, as she reappeared.

"No, this is just something I need to bring with us."

"What's in the box, Peter?" She smiled, poking it with a finger.

"You'll see soon enough, are you ready?"

"Yes, let's go."

Peter led Janey through the back gardens. Through a rambling pile of roses, ivy covered stone sculptures, hedges that had been trimmed but not manicured. John's skill was more in line with keeping the viral greenery from running amok, not creating artistry.

They crossed out of the gardens, through a small wrought iron gate that led out of the stone walled main estate. A trail led them through a deep ravine, with a running creek.

Janey was pink with exertion since she was trotting to keep up. Peter was walking fast and with purpose. The grey clouds above dispersed as the day drew on, and the sun was now shining on the spring greenery.

Daffodils and hyacinth bloomed at the creek's edge and Janey stopped to admire each one. The trail forked and one side required you to jump the water and head through a narrow thicket into the deeper gloom of the forest beyond. Peter led her by the hand over the rocks in the creek and pushed the brush aside as he brought her through into the dim and green woods beyond.

Janey's eyes were wide, and her breath came in short bursts. She was giddy with childhood joy and excitement.

"Peter," she panted, trying to keep up with his long strides. "This reminds me so much of the place I lived when I was young. This forest is so similar, where are we going?"

He stopped and faced her abruptly in the middle of the trail. She almost ran into him. His eyes were wild with anticipation and alight with something almost stronger than love.

They were filled with that ephemeral starshine that comes from the calm knowledge that you have found what you have always been searching for.

"Janey... my God you are so beautiful, and I'm so grateful you are here with me. Thank you for trusting me this far. I need you to trust me just a little more. We are almost there. But I want to explain something to you before we arrive.

You know the tree I painted? The big one...the one I saw you crying over? I think I finally figured out why it affected you so much. I know what it meant to you, because I know how much that tree means to me."

She inhaled, and looked at him with confusion. He touched her face and cupped it with a big hand. She held on to his palm and pressed it further on her cheek.

"You had a tree too, didn't you, Janey. A friend, you couldn't explain to anyone else. Something real, tangible and magical that made you believe things would always be okay?"

She nodded, awestruck at his words. He smiled.
"Follow me just around the bend. I want you to meet someone."

He turned and led her to an impossibly thick wall of vines and leaves. Brambles and willows struck at their clothes, but he pushed through and they both almost fell through to the wide flat clearing beyond.

Janey gasped... "Peter! Is this... Is this your tree"

"Yes, I'd like you to meet my friend." He walked up and patted a thick low hanging limb.

She could hardly speak. She gaped at him, shoulders shuddering in shock. Her heart was choked up in her eyes and her breath was shallow.

The dappled sun shown through the green leaves of the massively gnarled mossy oak. The canopy covered them from sight but the creek they'd been following, trickled through the clearing, leaving a happy burbling sound in its wake.

The breeze lifted the swaying branches and they danced just as she remembered. Suddenly she could hold back the tears no more and she approached the old tree, overcome with joyful emotion.

"I'm so glad to meet you. Did you take care of him, the same way you always took care of me?" Her voiced was hushed, she felt like she was intruding on hallowed ground.

She laid her hand tenderly on the surface and felt the thick moss give under her touch. The trunk was just as wide in circumference as she remembered from her own tree.

The knowledge of a millennium of history stored in the permanence of that living wood. Tangible evidence of time, energy and space.

Trailing her fingers on the trunk, she moved as if honoring a miracle, stepping over the wide roots that reached out to the earth beneath her feet. On the far side facing the laughing water was a small bench. This one didn't have arms or a back like the one at the Lake House did. It was rustic, and slightly wobbly. But it was sturdy enough to hold them both if they wanted to sit.

"I haven't been back here in years. But I think we both needed to be here together for this." Peter swallowed and looked at the shoebox.

"This tree was the only thing that kept me going during the worst times in my life."

Janey nodded at Peter's confession, she paused, wiped her eyes, and looked up at the tree. "I was ten years old when I found a big tree in the woods, that seemed to know what I needed whenever I needed it. It was my friend. It was more than a tree, it sacrificed itself to save me one night in a big storm."

She was quiet for a moment and reached for his hand. They sat together on the bench in the sacred silence and looked at the sparkling water winding its way past them.

"This is real isn't it Peter? This is what true magic is like, isn't it."

"I think so, " he murmured. "I've never had faith in anything, when I lost my parents, I lost my belief. I wanted to die as well, to float in the oblivion, because feeling anything was too much."

"But today, I know without a doubt I'm supposed to be here with you, right now. I have faith in that and whatever force has brought us together." He turned toward her, looked in her eyes.

"I believe it all, and I believe in us, that we were meant to find each other again and come to this moment." He paused and looked down, then back up.

"Do you remember what Ginny said? That when you can forgive yourself, and those that hurt you, then you can start living again. I think I'm finally ready to do that."

The earnestness in his voice was painful, both for him to say, and her to hear. He sat the Adidas shoebox between them on the bench and lowered his head, "I have more I need to show you though. You need to know all of it."