The Poppy Field

Epilogue

I held his hand tightly, knowing that he needed my support now more than ever; taking my hand away would just be cruel. The sun was setting behind us, the cold air turning even colder as the sky lit up in shades of red and orange and pink. The past six months had been absolutely crazy, but we'd just about made it through.

The trial, prosecuting Mr David Walsh, had been even more successful than the last one. He decided not to defend himself, and despite the lawyer being almost as good as him it hadn't made a difference. He had gotten what was coming to him, something that he'd avoided for a long time, although the sentence was still pretty unjust. I guess that was the kind of society that we lived in. One day I hoped that perhaps we could change it and give victims the justice that they deserved.

Sally and I had stood and told our stories, waiting and talking while twelve strangers judged us. Sally with a seemingly newfound sense of strength when questioned by somebody who wasn't Mr Walsh. Ben had spoken as well, about that night at the hotel, and a couple of others from the office had come forward as well to tell their stories once they'd heard about the prosecution feeling that there was a safety in numbers. Luckily, none of the others had stories as bad as ours, but nonetheless they weren't good. In the end it had worked, the jury had believed our stories and now Mr Walsh was out of our lives for good, or at least the next twelve months. Who knew what would happen when he was eventually released. We didn't like to dwell on the possibilities but we felt stronger than before and knew that together we would be fine.

A sombre silence rang through the field as we walked towards the graveyard. He held a bunch of white flowers in one hand, still clutching my hand tightly with the other. I knew that this was his way of preventing himself from crying, but it made me feel wanted as if I had a purpose in all of this. I hated to feel useless and he knew this.

Kara, Sally and I hadn't set up our own little firm as we'd said we would, the champagne influenced dreams having been nothing more. Instead Sally and I had been asked back to Cooper & Walsh, although the partners were in the process of changing the company's name, and were working as full time lawyers, having graciously accepted the jobs that we'd always deserved.

Kara had kept her job but she visited us so often that sometimes it felt as if she worked there too. In our own way we were still fulfilling the dream that we had planned that night. Maybe one day we would make that dream a reality, but there was still plenty of time for that. I'd never seen either of them happier than they were right now, and despite the fact that we'd only known each other for a few months, we felt as if we'd known each other for a lifetime.

'Thank you for coming with me,' Ben said as we stopped at the edge of the graveyard next to the newest looking grave stone. The ground looked freshly turned and the stone was still shining as it bore the words:

'Here lies Charlotte Thompson, beloved daughter and sister.

1st September 1990 - 22nd March 2016'

She had only been a few months older than me when she'd died. This, more than anything, was unjust. One second she had been living, driving down the same road as me, and the next she'd had her life ripped away from her. It was a terrible tragedy but it made me thankful to be alive every single day and I couldn't stop thinking that it could just have easily been me in that grave.

'I'll always come with you,' I told him, hugging into his side. He let go of my hand, for just a second, as he laid the flowers on the grave. He took a step back, just staring at the grave, his eyes misting over with tears. He clutched me even tighter than before and I steadied him as his legs got weaker and his knees almost gave way.

As for Ben and I, after the second trial we'd gone back to his and just laid together, side by side, neither of us talking. All of the anger, sadness and betrayal just seemed to fade away as we let the silence talk for us. It had taken a while, but I knew that we were going to be alright.

'I'm so sorry,' I said to him. He didn't reply at first and for a moment I thought that he wasn't going to, but then he finally opened his mouth and turned to face me.

'None of this was your fault,' he said. That was the first time that those words had ever left his lips. He'd told me that he didn't blame me for what had happened, implying that it hadn't been my fault. But he'd never actually said those words. I felt the heavy weight lift from my chest.

'But if I'd never been driving down that road then maybe she would...'

'It's not your fault.' He repeated and brushed away a tear with his thumb that had begun to fall down my left cheek. I sniffed, giving him a weak smile, telling him that I was glad he was there without actually saying the words.

'You don't know how much that means to me.' I told him.

'I do.' He replied and perhaps he did, but this felt different.

'Shall we go?' I asked him, not wanting to rush him but the cold was starting to seep through my coat and into my bones. I shivered and wrapped my scarf tighter around my neck, pulling my hat down further to cover my ears which felt frozen. He nodded and I led him away from the gravestone. He didn't look back. It was something that he never seemed to be able to do. Maybe it was all still too much for him. I hoped that maybe one day things would get easier.

It was strange how we'd both found each other in the darkest times. We'd practically rescued each other and for that reason a part of me was thankful that I'd been involved in that accident. If I hadn't then I may never have met him and I might have still been working at Cooper & Walsh with a boss who instilled a fear inside me that still hadn't completely faded away.

So we weren't the perfect match, not by anyone's definition of the word. We were messed up in our own ways, the kind of mess that would only fade with time. As we walked out of the graveyard, hand in hand, and into the poppy field that lay on the other side of the fence, I knew that although it may take time, we had plenty.