Beneath the Dover Sky (35 page)

Owen’s cheeks were red and his eyes bright as wind and wave lashed them. “You must tell me another, Grandpa.”

“On shore in the officers’ mess. But I have a grand sea poem for you. Fragments of it, mind you, bits and pieces, windblown spume and hard hurled sea spray, but extraordinary for all of that. Now this poem must be memorized, Master Owen, word for word. Are you ready?”

“I am, sir.”

“Very well then.
Ulysses
by Alfred Lord Tennyson.”

Lord Preston began to recite as
Pluck
continued to press ahead through the sea.

I cannot rest from travel: I will drink

Life to the lees: all times I have enjoyed

Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those

That loved me, and alone; on shore, and when

Through scudding drifts the rainy Hyades

Vexed the dim sea: I am become a name;

For always roaming with a hungry heart

Much have I seen and known; cities of men

And manners, climates, councils, governments,

Myself not least, but honored of them all;

And drunk delight of battle with my peers,

Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.

There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:

There gloom the dark broad seas. My mariners,

Souls that have toiled, and wrought, and thought

with me—That ever with a frolic welcome took

The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed

Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;

Old age hath yet his honor and his toil;

Death closes all: but something ere the end,

Some work of noble note, may yet be done,

Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.

The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:

The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep

Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,

‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world.

Push off, and sitting well in order smite

The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds

To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths

Of all the western stars, until I die.

It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:

It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,

And see the great Achilles, whom we knew

Though much is taken, much abides; and though

We are not now that strength which in old days

Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

“Hurrah!” Owen clapped his hands. “That is my poem! To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield! I shall never yield! But what is windblown spume, Grandfather?”

“The thick white foam that gets in your hair and eyes like dandelion fluff. Will you have it memorized for me by the time we sail again, Master Owen?”

“I shall. Will you tell it to me again?”

“Over tea and jam, sir, over tea and jam.”

Edward smiled as a large wave broke over the length of the yacht, soaking them all. “I think you told me the very same poem at the very same age. Only it wasn’t on a boat.”

Lord Preston gazed up at the set of the sail. “It was on the Liverpool docks.”

Dear Caroline,

The heat can just about drive you crazy out here. Heat and hate. It takes me places I don’t want to go in my thoughts. Should I have married you after the war instead of Chris? Why couldn’t I understand how much I cared for you? How was it possible for me to love both of you at the same time? The long stretches of inaction are as murderous as the fighting with my head spinning around like this. But I pray, I think of how sweet a person you are, I remember how much we both loved Chris, I think of Matthew and Charles and I know how lucky I am…how blessed.

In case you wonder where that picture is of you on our wedding night, the one where you’re indoors by the candles at
Dover Sky with the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on anyone, well, it’s here in Morocco with me. I look at it all the time. It’s a bit curled from being in my pocket, and I suppose faded by the sun, but it’s still you—the most beautiful woman in the world, a beauty that never ended with what I saw but carried over to what I always knew about you within and without.

I miss you very much.

Kipp

My love,

Please don’t keep going back to the past. Yes, there was a lot of pain and confusion. But you loved a lot too. And now you are loving me with all your heart. I know that. We also have two sons we adore. And me, well, I have loved you since I first saw you at that Christmas ball at our estate when I was sixteen. Nothing has changed since then no matter what I’ve said or how I’ve acted or how disappointed I’ve been. God blessed me with a family and a friend I loved named Chris, who sees us from heaven and who wanted us to love each other and be together for the rest of our lives. Oh, Kipp, we have lived such an exceptional story! Look at what’s happening for us. I wouldn’t want to change anything because if I did I might change what we’re experiencing right now.

I’m waiting for you. Come back to me, Kipp Danforth. Our honeymoon was too short. We need another as soon as you return to Dover Sky. The boys can come too. We have to go somewhere and just be the two of us and sometimes the four of us. I look forward to that very much.

I am so in love with you!

Caroline

Dover Sky

Victoria lay beside her husband in the dark, turning things over and over in her mind. Finally, unable to drop off, she placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Darling?” she said softly.

“Mmm?”

“Are you asleep?”

“Mmm.”

“I just want you to know because I don’t think I’ve ever said it in so many words, that I think you are amazing.”

Ben opened his eyes and lifted his head. “What?”

“You crashed and lost one of your best friends. The doctors removed both of your legs below the knee. But you didn’t give up. You’re walking. Most importantly, you didn’t give up on your wife or your children.”

“My wife and children? How could I?” He sat up. “Were you afraid of that?”

“Yes.”

“It hasn’t been easy, Vic—”

“I know that.”

“But it never entered my head to abandon you or the boys. Not once did I dwell on that.”

“Do I have Jeremy to thank for that?”

“Partly.”

“I need a hug, love.”

He gathered her into his arms.

She reached down and touched one of his stumps. “This doesn’t matter, you know,” she whispered.

“Shh.”

“It doesn’t, Ben. You’re more of a man than most of those walking about on their own two legs. You’re magnificent, honestly.”

“You shall give me a swollen head, and then I’ll have problems with that part of me too.”

She played over his chin and lips with her fingers. “Tim and Ram are so proud of their father. Are you aware of how much they love you?”

“I think the world of them. I’m glad they feel the same way.”

“Ramsay asked if there was another war if you would enlist and fight. I said no, that you couldn’t fly in the military again. Then he asked if you might not fight on the ground like Uncle Kipp is doing. I said probably not. He wept, Ben, how he wept. I held him but I couldn’t comfort him.”

Ben said nothing for a moment. “You know, don’t you?”

“I do know.”

“How?”

“A woman’s intuition. Comparing notes with Emma. Jeremy didn’t let anything out of the bucket, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I have to do it, Vic. I love flying. It’s a bigger part of me than my limbs were. I can’t let it go. And I owe it to Mike. I do. He fought back and flew again after his crash and his brother was killed. Well, Mike was my brother too, wasn’t he? So I owe him the same. I’ve got to go up. I’ve asked Jeremy to go with me.”

“Jeremy? He’s never flown a plane in his life. Why can’t you go up with someone who can take the controls if something goes wrong?”

He stroked her hair. “Nothing will go wrong.”

“How can you say that?”

“Look, it’s easier for me to fly than to walk. Almost everything I do up there is with my hands. The rudder’s the only thing I work with my feet. I will practice on the ground with that until I’m confident my metal feet know their place. Vic, climbing stairs is more difficult than manipulating a rudder. And I’ll show Jeremy how to do that just in case I need help.”

“But why Jeremy?”

“Because his words helped me get this far—along with everyone else’s, of course. Yes, along with your words and prayers too. But I took my darkness to him, unloaded it on him, and he bore it.”

“Is that the only reason?”

He ran his hand over her back, up and down, up and down.
“Perhaps it’s because he lost his arm in a war so he understands what I’ve been going through and what still lies ahead. I want us both up there on the anniversary of the crash.”

She dug her fingers into his arm. “The anniversary? Ben, what on earth are you thinking?”

“I’m not going to be ruled by fear, Vic. I simply won’t. God is bigger than the finger of fate, isn’t He?”

“Ben—”

“Isn’t He?” He kissed the top of her head and her soft auburn hair. “I’m going to change a day of darkness into a day of light. I’m going to take a day of mourning and make it a day of celebration. I have to, Vic. And God will help me.”

“My lord?”

Lord Preston swished his razor in the basin of water in his bedroom. “Yes, what is it, Skitt?”