Ailaya's Pass Game 1
Her emotions now under a semblance of control (or a neatly fabricated veneer), Katie sat beside Jack and watched his eyes change in colour as they looked upon her.
Doc Riley, Meaghan Mallory and Dee had made their polite, albeit less than subtle, excuses to leave the room and give the two some privacy. Dee turned to look at Katie one last time before exiting the room. Her look besought Katie to hear out the man and not let her spirited nature get in the way. The door softly clicked behind her.
“Katie.” Her name, the way he said it and nothing else, showed the weight of his emotions. So much lay in that name. She felt his trepidation as much as heard it in his voice.
“Jack, it’s been a long worrisome few days. Watching you so pale and with laboured breath fighting off the fever frightened me. I didn’t know if you would live. Your life was literally hanging by a thread, do you understand? My temper has grown short and my emotions unstable. I didn’t mean to lose control like that and storm out like some spoilt girl with no sense or manners.” Katie paused and took a breath before continuing.
“The miners are meeting in town tonight. I heard the other girls’ from O’Conner’s talking about it before I came back to you. You trying to stop them that day on the road to Melbourne was all for naught, Jack. Young Molly McKay was telling Dee that the fatalities have only rallied the men stronger and miners from claims further out of Ballarat are making their way here to join them.” Katie now paused waiting for Jack's reaction to her words.
“Katie.” Again he stopped to draw breath. “You need to find Henry Ross in town and show him your Southern Cross design. The miners know him as ‘Charles’, so ask for him by that name, and tell him I sent you down to see him. On the day of the attack, he was talking about trying to rally the men, buoy their spirits and motivations. Australia is a land of many cultures and nations and belongs to every man, woman and child. These miners deserve better than what they have received at the hands of the cartel and government.”
“Once I am back on my feet, I will join them. I will stand by their side instead of undermine their efforts for justice and fairness. Tell Ross that I shall be in town in a day or two.” Katie was about to interrupt to mention his condition, but Jack stayed her. “No Katie, it must be done. I must return and speak to Ross and the other miners. Something is brewing, Katie, something big. We can stand by the wayside and pretend we do not belong and we aren’t responsible, or we can join them and fight for what is right. Fight for a place in this country. I have been in bed for too long.”
Jack stopped and his face took on a sudden paleness that made her jump up from the chair and come by his side to hold his hand and settle him back down.
“Lie down Jack. If you keep this up, they will carry you out of this room in a wooden box because you would have split your wound open and let the infection seep into your blood again. Then you will be of no use to anyone. Hear me?” Her eyes, now a deep forest green roiled with so much emotion and an underlying steely resolve to hold him down in bed if she had to. And he wouldn’t put it past her to give it a right good old try. Plus with his diminished strength, she probably would have succeeded, his beautiful Katie.
“Katie, what’s your last name?” She looked at him nervously and with surprise.
“Why do you ask, Jack?”
“Shouldn’t a man in love know his beloved’s last name?” His smile, a mixture of devilish and sweet, tugged at her heart urgently.
“No more talk of love and such things, Jack. You are a married man and I am a whore. We have no future together, no respectable future by any means.” She couldn’t look at him. There was no use talking about a life together when each of them were bound to a life they did not want to be a part of, a world that separated them so acutely.
“We’re going to play at respectable now, are we, Katie my love?” His eyebrow was cocked, devilishly high again. “You still haven’t answered my previous question, though. Your last name?”
She wanted to tell him he had no business making her love him and asking after her name. It was the only thing she had that still belonged to her and that no one could take away. Her virginity and virtue were taken from her a long time ago and she stood before him resolutely determined not to speak the name.
“I was born Kathleen Mairead O’Doherty.” His blue eyes bristled with something deep and strong. She couldn’t believe she had given him her true, full name. No one knew it, not even her ‘employer’, Dan O’Conner.
“Thank you for trusting me.” Katie nodded, embarrassed and confused. Her heart obviously knew something her mind didn’t. She needed to change the subject.
“So, you think this Southern Cross cloth I am working on will be what this Henry Ross fellow will be interested in?”
“He needs a standard for the men, something that will unite the various foreigners and fight for a common goal. This is important, Katie, and perhaps will be remembered throughout this country’s history. Are you with me?”
Katie watched him, one, two minutes passed, her mind working and her resolve quickening.
“I am with you, Jack. Tonight, I shall go down into town and find Ross and convince him I am worth speaking to.” Katie smiled and he knew Ross wouldn’t know what had hit him upon meeting her. In this moment, he found himself falling in love with her anew.
“I’m sure you will be mighty persuasive, Katie my love.”
[note: I was not sure if we had discussed the characters' eye colours. I read back and couldn't find any mention of them (only of Katie's long auburn hair), so I took the liberty to give them a 'colour' here. Plus, I didn't see Katie's surname anywhere ... so again, I gave her one. My apologies, if these things have been discussed in previous segments.]
Since Neil started this story, I thought it appropriate that he end the tale of Katie and Jack. So, ylycoyote, it's over to you. :)