The English Descendants

18

Thomas likes the quiet of resting under the earth. It is dark, it is peaceful, and Lucille cannot reach him here. He still does not entirely understand the rules of being dead, but he likes this one- the dead cannot disturb one another in their graves. They can disturb one another in the graveyards, and in the places they haunt, but their graves are theirs and theirs alone. He cannot even hear her calling here.

Time, even, seems to slip by more quickly in the dirt and, because of this, he must be more careful in counting the hours. He closes his eyes, and when he opens them again, he knows he has let too much slip by. He rises. There are new headstones in the cemetery, marked with dates that say these young men were far too young to join him. And then he realizes that the last one, the dirt still bare, reads 1944 and Eliot has been on his own at war for far too long.

He panics and hurries to Elmwood. There are no new burials in the Cushing-McMichael plot. He sighs, relieved. And then he goes to find Eliot.

He follows his heart to an island in the South Pacific, Saipan, where the fighting is fierce and there are bodies scattered on a beach, charred landing crafts in the surf, the water churning under heavy fire. Eliot tends to the wounded with little cover, explosions shaking the ground beneath his feet and machine gun fire peppering the sand around him. He works quickly, steadily, his voice calm even as the men around him scream, their bodies shattered by bullets. Thomas cannot fathom what is happening. He has never seen death like this.

Eliot survives that first day and, after the Army sends reinforcements to the Marines the next morning, he pushes forward alongside his unit, the Naval medics marching with their Marine brethren. Their services, they know, will be highly valued as they march on the Japanese, heavily fortified in the mountains. Everyone knows they are walking into a death trap, but advance they do, despite heavy fire from soldiers high above them on the rocky ridge. But Eliot does his work the best he can, working swiftly to bring the wounded he can save to more sheltered positions. There are so many casualties that the medics work steadily night and day, surviving on terrible coffee and adrenaline. Once in a while, they even sleep. Thomas watches in awe of their tenacity and dedication. Even already dead, he is utterly terrified by the sounds of war and the mangled bodies brought to the medics for some measure of repair. Or, in some cases, for a little extra morphine to aide their passage to the next world.

It is nearly a month later, on July 6th, when thousands of Japanese soldiers make a final charge and overrun the Marines Eliot is serving with. In the chaos, Thomas loses sight of him. When he finds him, the scene plays out so quickly that Thomas cannot react- he wants to, for certain, but by the time that his brain registers that the man charging at Eliot is holding a live grenade, all he can do is appear between the two and hope he stays as solid as he is when Edith touches him. But he does not. The Japanese soldier runs through him and the grenade explodes. Thomas cries out, yelling Eliot's name. There is little left of the young man he watched grow up. He kneels beside his shredded body and sobs, calling his name, but no one can see him. He feels a hand on his shoulder and turns to see Eliot behind him.

"Thank you."

"Eliot? I am so sorry...I tried to stop him..."

"Mother told me ghosts can't stop death- you are a watcher, not a guardian angel. Weren't those your words?"

"Yes."

Eliot offers him a hand, "I need to move on. Be at peace. See my son. But for a moment...you need to know it didn't hurt all that much. It was fast. And I did well here. There will be many men who credit me with their survival. My father will be proud of that."

"That he will. He has always been proud of you."

"Keep an eye on Lottie, please? And Maria? And the children?"

"As always, dear boy."

"I'm sorry I was so unforgiving in life. You've done well by us. I'd ask you to come rest with me, but I know you won't."

"While I appreciate the offer, you are correct. I still have work to do, penance to pay."

Eliot offers his hand and they shake, but then he shakes his head, smiling, and hugs Thomas, "Until we meet again, then."

"Until we meet again, Eliot." Eliot closes his eyes and dissipates into the gunsmoke. Thomas looks to the body at his feet and sighs, "Rest well, sweet boy." He knows he must take this message home to Edith, that it would not be right to keep her guessing at why her heart feels so heavy, but he dreads saying the words and breaking her heart once again.