FLASHBACK
The November rain kisses my cheeks as i face the sky. My heavy heart cries out for home and nothing I think of or wish for can cheer me up.
I sit quietly beneath the tree, it's huge limbs shielding me from the rain. I haven't ever seen rain like the one that falls in France. It's gentle and falls for days on end, truly soaking the ground beneath our feet. Whereas in Australia, Kununurra especially, the rain pours down, it lasts for 12 to 24 hours, and fills the dams and pot holes very quickly.
I always love when it rains, my siblings and I used to dance bare foot in the mud. We used to take the horses down to the creek and cool them down in the water. We would all come home filthy, soaking wet and covered in mud, but Mum never minded, because the smiles were worth the mess.
"G'day Clancy." Jack appears, sitting down beside me.
"Jack."
"Take a breath cobber, life is about to get significantly better." He states.
"You think so? I feel like I've wasted four years of my youth!" I reply.
"I know so, you haven't wasted any time. Everything happens for a reason. Think of all the things you've learnt since coming here. Not to France specifically but experiencing everything you have." Jack explains.
"Well I've learnt that life is precious, that it can be lost so very quickly. I've learnt the value of mates, that you can not achieve anything without people supporting you. I've learnt how much I love Australia, and that peppermint eases seasickness." I tell him, it's true, I've learnt a lot since coming to war.
"See, this world is your oyster Clancy Taylor and as much as I want to see you experience it, I've gotta go." Jack says calmly.
"What?" I question quickly, "Jack what are you talking about?"
"My work here is done mate, I've protected you and your mind as much as possible. I walked the same paths, fought the same battles, endured the same pain, Clancy I'm just as tired as you. Now it's time for me to leave you to the rest of your life." He mumbles, as if he isn't supposed to tell me.
"Jack the war isn't over yet mate, who knows how long we have left?"
"You don't need me anymore Clancy and the only way I can go is if you let me." He says.
"I'm not letting you go Jack, you've been through it all I need a friend." I breathe heavily.
"You have friends Clan, what about Ned? Tom? Dogger?"
"They're not like you!" I protest.
"Clancy you need to listen to what I'm saying. Surrender. Let me go. Let go of what is and look forward to what will be. Notice how, in recent months, I haven't been around as much? I've been preparing you for this. You don't know where I come from, What battalion I'm in, if I have a family, but you don't what to let me go, as if I'm the closest friend you've ever had."
"You are though."
"It was an honour and a privilege to lead you through all this Clancy but like I said; you don't need me anymore. I don't need to pull you out of a shell hole or tell you to pull your head in."
The two of us laugh.
"Say the words Clancy, say goodbye. I'll miss you, but there are bigger and better things waiting for you." Jack rises to his feet, securing his slouch hat on his head.
I take a breath and rise as well, I shake his hand firmly.
"Goodbye Jack," I say quickly, "thanks for it all."
He grins and waves, as he makes his way over the ridge, then BANG!
-
JULY 1920
I shot up in my bed, gasping and holding my chest.
"Clancy! Clancy my love calm down please, it's okay, it's alright." A heavily pregnant Elsie consoles me, stroking the hair on the back of my neck with a delicate hand.
Ned and Kate weren't married long after us.
Elsie and I are living in the small cottage beside the creek, known as Gum Lodge and Ned and Kate live in the one beside the stables, Horseshoe Rise.
Ned and Kate welcomed their son Ollie into the world and Elsie and I were awaiting the arrival of our bundle of joy in only a few days. Mum is extremely excited, she's missed having babies around I think.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry my darling." I breathe, laying back on my pillow.
Elsie lay beside me, nuzzling her face into the crook of my neck. I place my huge hand on her stomach, feeling the firmness and the kicking of our tiny baby.
"Moving around a bit tonight." Elsie whispers, "hopefully it holds out a little while longer."
"Did I ever introduce you to a Jack?" I ask, disregarding her comment.
"Um, no I don't think so, not from memory." She replies.
"Oh, right, nothing to worry about," I kiss her lips, "I can't wait any longer, c'mon bubba time to say hello."
-
The next day, the boys of the 45 sections are reunited. Dogger and Spud, Pete and Blue, all manage to haul themselves away from their busy lives and up to Kununurra with their families.
All of a sudden, the seven of us are together again. Sitting around the fire, enjoying a tea with actual sugar in it. The day with Jack never leaves my mind, and it frightens me and the boys can tell.
"Clancy what's bothering you?" Spud asks.
"Ned, Tom, who told us about the peppermint easing seasickness?" I question.
"That was you Clan, said that your Mum gave you the idea in a letter or something." Tom replies.
"Okay. Who told me I was being childish that day on Gallipoli?"
"That was me," Blue pipes up, "I said just know when to lift spirits and when to take others into consideration."
My heart begins to race.
Those are Jack's words.
"Um what about that day on Lemnos, the bloke with the bullet in his hand, when Ned and I were crook!" I ask.
"Me!" Pete raises his hand, "I even have the scar to prove it."
He points to the bullet scar on his hand.
"And you yelled at me, then apologised on your birthday." Tom tells me.
My head begins to spin, this cant be right.
"What about the gas attack that time? And the time in the shell hole?"
"You saved me in the gas attack, and it was your idea to get us out of the shell hole." Ned says.
By now I'm hysterical, my whole body is shaking and I'm crying.
"This whole war, I thought I'd had a companion, a mate who somehow kept me alive." I howl.
"Clancy, that was you, it was all in your head. You kept yourself alive." Ned says.
"He was a real person, you spoke to him, I spoke to him, I'm not crazy."
"You're not crazy Clancy," Dogger says softly, "in fact it's quite natural to seek guidance and comfort in something that isn't real when you're in a traumatic situation."
"Well you're the doctor, you should know." I sigh.
"Clancy!" Kate's distressed voice snaps me out of my meltdown.
"She's in labour Clancy, says the contractions have been going on since yesterday evening. Baby is on its way." She grins.
This is it.
The real battle is about to begin.
YOU ARE READING
The Echo Of Youth
Fiction Historique"I didn't realise that I could miss something as much as I miss my innocence." It's 1914, the world is at war, and it's unlike anything anyone has seen before. The men of cities and country towns are leaving for a cause much bigger than they realis...
