The Homecoming Bride

Chapter Fourteen: I'll Be Seeing You

CHAPTER SONG: "I'll Be Seeing You" by Billie Holiday

AN: The picture above is of actress Essie Davis who I imagine as Will's mother Esther Schofield. She played George MacKay's onscreen mother Ellen in the film 'True History of the Kelly Gang'

April 6th, 1918

The soft sprinkling of the April shower pattering against the windowpane welcomed Emmy's ears as she opened her eyes to the morning, the calming grey atmosphere emanating through the gossamer curtains of her room.

There were still some days when she automatically reached out for her nonexistent mobile phone to check the time or play some music as she readied herself for the day. She sorely missed sometimes having technology at her fingertips and it still a great adjustment being in the pre-Internet era...

But thank heavens Will had given her those autographed books for her birthday, knowing that 2020 restlessness still resided in her hot-blooded American veins.

Rubbing her eyes, she sat up in bed, then proceeded to ruffle her mussed up curls around her head. As her awareness began to awaken and her mind cleared, she swung her legs over the mattress and walked to the vanity table to wash her face with cold water.

The heirloom diamond of her engagement ring sparkled as she dunked her hands into the bowl and she slowly pulled one of them out to look at the jewel on her scarred finger and her heart began to beat quickly in her chest and a smile formed upon her lips as she realized what day it was.

She was marrying Lance Corporal William Schofield tomorrow... she was to make her vows to him in commitment and love for as long as they both lived.

I'm getting married tomorrow... I'm about to be a wife. I'm about to join a real family who loves me.

Emmy looked at her reflection in the mirror and for a split second saw the phantom image of a woman standing behind her.

A middle aged woman with long red-bronze hair and bright blue eyes...

"Mrs. Blake?" Emmy spoke softly as the mystery woman vanished.

Emmy rubbed her eyes again to be sure she wasn't hallucinating as a serene air entered her mind to reassure her there was no danger present.

An older feminine voice with a soft Victorian English accent whispered in Emmy's ear. "No, my dear. I'm not Catherine Blake though I know she watches over you and my son every day."

Emmy placed her palms flat onto the vanity table, droplets of water dripping from her chin as she saw the translucent spirit of the woman who was yet to reveal who she was and why she was in her room. The ghostlike spirit placed her hands upon the younger girl's shoulders, and a maternal smile of pride formed on the unnamed woman's lips as her eyes met Emmy's through their reflections in the mirror.

The brunette American girl looked closer into the woman's gentle eyes and saw the identical blue irises belonging to her Will.

"You're Will's mother." Emmy whispered, turning fully to face the apparition of late Schofield matriarch.

"I am, dear Emmanuelle." Esther Schofield spoke kindly to her beloved son's fiancée. "I wanted to pay you a visit and meet the lady whom my William is to marry tomorrow."

"Yes... um... Yes, ma'am. I... I know I must not be the ideal woman for a man like Will...but I love him more than anything I've known. I don't know how much you know about me, but..." Emmy was almost stuttering, having trouble forming coherent words at the notion of meeting the spirit of Will and Molly's mother.