THE COMPLETE TRILOGY, COMPENDIUM OF THE HEART: An epic love story

by RJ Hunter

  Tina sat bolt upright and looked first to Sally, then back to Laura, before glancing hesitantly around the room.

  "I have some tablets, they're in my bag," said Tina nervously. "It's here, isn't it, my bag, or have I lost it?"

  "Don't worry Tina, your bag is here. I really don't think you should be taking tablets though, not after having drank so much." Replied Laura, motioning her to lay back down.

  Slowly, Tina began to get her breath back and pulled the blanket up around herself. She then apologised to both Sally and Laura for causing such a scene, and told the women she would now be okay.

  Sally wasn't convinced however, and remembered she'd left Frank waiting downstairs.

  "It's alright, Penny, you can go back to bed now. The excitement seems to be over for one night!" She said to her youngest daughter, who was hovering outside. "Heaven knows what Frank will make of all this. What with the incident earlier, I doubt if he'll want to see me again, or even buy the house for that matter."

  When they were alone, Laura began to hang up Tina's clothes. She then went over to the dressing table and produced a plain, cotton nightdress from one the drawers.

  "I think my mother was right, Tina. You really do need proper help." She said, passing the garment.

  For a few moments, Tina just stared at the nightdress, aware that some sort of explanation was expected.

  "Laura, do you recall what you said earlier in the evening about wanting to help me?"

  Laura nodded, and went back to sit on the edge of the bed.

  "If you want me to help you Tina, you must tell me what happened to you."

  "I can't Laura. It's too awful. I just know that he's going to kill me for going to the police. But I didn't tell them everything, only what he did to me, and the beatings he gave to my mother. I didn't tell them about the old Jewish man." Sobbed Tina, starting to tremble once more. "Maybe I should have told them, but I didn't want him to think it was my mother. Now he might take it out on her, because of what I've done."

  "What are you talking about Tina, you're not making any sense. Who is going to kill you?"

  Tina began shaking violently, and drew in a deep breath, as she tried to stop her voice from faltering. She then turned and looked up at Laura.

  "My father wants to kill me."

  Painstakingly, Tina told of some of the horrific crimes Frank had committed against her. What Laura heard in those few minutes was to remain with her for the rest of her life. The disclosures sickened her down to the depths of her very soul, and try as she might, her mind just refused to comprehend that a person could act in such a way towards another human being, let alone their own flesh and blood. Laura felt ashamed of herself. Not because she was guilty of anything, but because she could do nothing to help, she could do nothing to ease Tina's pain, all she could do, was listen.

  "What about all those scars on your body, did he do that?"

  "No, he didn't do that, well not directly anyway. It's hard to explain." Replied Tina, closing her eyes in anguish.

  "Please try to tell me, Tina. I do want to help." Said Laura, wiping a tear from her eye.

  Tina took a drink from the glass of water on the bedside table, and held Laura's hand.

  "You see, sometimes I become dissociated, it's like someone else has taken over my mind and is thinking evil thoughts. I feel evil inside, my blood isn't clean, it's contaminated, and I have to get it out of my body. So by cutting myself, I can ease some of the tension. I find it easier to deal with physical, rather than emotional pain, and to me, cutting serves as a useful avoidance tactic. Can you understand that, Laura? I did tell you it was hard to explain."

  "I'm trying to understand, Tina." With tears streaming down her face, Laura moved closer, and reached out to put her arms tightly around her friend. "You don't have to say anymore, not now, not tonight."

  "I can't keep it in any more, the pain is too much to bear. I had to tell someone, Laura. I don't know how much longer I can go on living like this." Cried out Tina, her face drained of colour.

  "But if you're already on medication, you must have spoken to someone about it?" Added Laura.

  Tina paused for a few moments before answering.

  "They're just tablets for depression, that's all. I could never tell anyone what my father did to me. I've spent nearly two years in and out of psychiatric hospitals, but I've never been held against my will, its always been a voluntary thing. I'm not mad you know."

  "No, Tina, I know you're not mad." Laura then stood up and paused for a few seconds. "When I was taking your clothes off earlier, did you think I was your father, come to do horrible things to you?"

  Tina was unable to answer, and turned her head away in shame. A steady trickle of tears ran down her face and onto the nightdress she was still clutching.

  "I think I'm going to be sick."

  Laura hoisted Tina up, and practically frog-marched her out into the hallway, and along towards the toilet. As they passed the landing and reached the bathroom door, Tina suddenly stopped and froze in terror. She had heard her father's voice coming from downstairs. It was unmistakeable, Frank's voice had its own distinctive, eloquent tone, always confident, always rising above other voices, each syllable always perfectly executed. Like a scythe, her father's voice cut through Tina, and chilled her to the bone. She panicked, and with surprising strength, broke free from Laura's grip, and fled back towards the spare room. Leaping onto the bed, Tina wrenched back the curtains and began to open the window, aware that Laura would be right behind her.

  "Tina, what are you doing? You'll fall!" Screamed Laura as the petrified girl lent dangerously out on the ledge.

  "It was all a trap wasn't it? You're with him, I should have known. That's why you brought me back here, isn't it?" Yelled Tina, her face contorted with fear and rage.

  "Please, Tina, I don't know what you mean. This is crazy." With that, Laura shouted desperately for her mother to come and help her.

  By now, Tina had got her top half completely out of the window, and was preparing to jump, when she saw her father's gleaming white Mercedes parked directly below. Pulling herself back inside, she glared intently at Laura.

  "Please don't let him kill me!"

  She then charged forward, knocking Laura to one side, in her desperation to get out of the room. She ran back out onto the landing, and into the bathroom, before slamming the door shut, and locking herself inside.

  "Laura, this girl has gone totally mad. I'm going to call the police!" Gasped Sally. "I'm sorry, but it's the only way. What's she doing now?"

  "I really don't know." Replied Laura, visibly shaken. "She's convinced that Frank is her father and he's going to kill her, and we're all part of it. She's so paranoid, she just flipped when she heard his voice."

  "That's absurd. Frank's a lovely man, and besides, she doesn't even know him. Anyway, he's gone now. Whatever next!" Sighed Sally, wearily as she began to hammer on the bathroom door, calling out Tina's name.

  The only noise Sally and Laura could hear however, was the rumble of water running. They both shouted frantically, but there was still no answer.

  "Mum, she was going to jump out of the spare room window. She might try the same in here?"

  "No, it's not big enough to get out of," replied Sally. "I think we'll have to force the door open. Where's Jonathan?"

  Jonathan barged the door several times without success, and even with the combined pressure of the three of them pushing, the door still wouldn't give. Eventually, Jonathan had to get a crowbar from the shed, and using this, attempted to wrench open the solid pine door. Penny had now joined her mother and sister, and together the three women waited patiently for Jonathan to gain access.

  "It's coming, just one more shove and we'll be in!" He called out, as the heavy metal bar gouged out large splinters of wood from the door frame. Then, as he drew back to apply his weight for the last time, part of the lock fell away, and the door just seemed to swing open by itself.

  "Penny, you
stay out here." Ordered Sally as she hesitantly followed Jonathan and Laura into the deathly-quiet bathroom.

  Although Laura had eighteen months nursing experience under her belt, nothing could have prepared her for what she was about to witness.

  Tina was sitting motionless in the empty bath. In a hideous sort of way, she even looked quite relaxed and serene, with her head resting nonchalantly over to one side. Both her slashed wrists were casually dangling over the edge of the tub, oozing their crimson discharge down onto the sparkling, white enamel. The flow passed down, along her legs, to briefly merge with the running water, before being sucked into a spiralling void.

  For what seemed like an eternity, Sally, Jonathan and Laura could only just stare in a state of shocked disbelief. It was Laura who eventually showed initiative and sprang into some sort of activity. She reached down to Tina's neck and began to desperately feel for her carotid pulse. Jonathan and Sally seemed to be panicking, and making it that much harder for Laura to detect any sign of life. She found she couldn't think straight, it was the early hours of the morning, she was tired and by her own admission, had consumed quite a few drinks herself during the course of the evening.

  "Penny, quick! Run down and phone for an ambulance - hurry!" Shouted Laura in despair, before telling Jonathan to find something to act as a tourniquet on Tina's arms.

  Closing her eyes, Laura willed herself to concentrate. For a moment, she thought she could feel a distant and very feeble beat, but then it was gone, she had lost it.

  "Mum, can you see if she's breathing. I can't seem to get a pulse."

  Sally reached down and placed a hand over Tina's chest, but there was nothing. She then tried listening around Tina's nose and mouth, but it seemed to all be in vain.

  "I can't tell if she's breathing or not!" Screamed Sally, her panic still very much in evidence.

  Although Tina hadn't been alone in the bathroom any longer than ten minutes, it would have been impossible to estimate accurately how much blood she could have lost. The injuries to her wrists were both life-threatening, especially her left arm, where the wound was gaping. Tina's life appeared to be ebbing away from her at an alarming rate.

  "Jonathan, what are you doing, hurry up!" Yelled Laura, as her brother wasted valuable time foraging in a cupboard, searching for bandages. "She could already be dead. Quick hold up her left arm, and press a towel onto the wound."

  Sally took the initiative and began applying pressure to Tina's other arm, while Laura now started to think seriously about giving artificial respiration. Penny then bounded into the bathroom as Laura was trying one last time to detect Tina's elusive pulse.

  "It's coming, I got through to the ambulance, and look, I've found some bandages!"

  "Well done, Penny. Can you put them tightly on Tina's wrists. Mum and Jonathan will hold them up for you."

  It was while the others were doing this, that Laura sensed the tiny, feeble beat once again. She felt it once more, equally just as weak. She waited for a third one - it was feint, but definitely a pulse.

  "She's alive!" Exclaimed Laura, greatly relieved. "Come on, let's get her out of here."

  The four of them now attempted to lift Tina out of the bath. She was still breathing, albeit very shallow, but they didn't know how long she could hold on for. They managed to sit her on a chair, and Laura tried to clean her up the best she could.

  "Penny, go and get Tina's clothes and hand bag, before the ambulance gets here."

  Cleaning blood from someone is not easy, and it was Jonathan, who suggested that he and Sally hold Tina up in the shower so Laura could wash her down properly.

  Tina let out a pained groan as they pulled her to her feet, and sat her on the edge of the bath, before swinging her legs in and standing her up. However, despite the tight bandaging, the blood still kept appearing.

  "Can anyone see any more cuts. She's still bleeding heavily from somewhere?" Said Laura desperately.

  Before Sally had a chance to have a good look around, Laura discovered to her horror that the blood was coming from between Tina's legs. She glanced down at the floor and noticed there were two empty razor blade wrappers, but only one discarded blade.

  "What is it, Laura?" Asked Sally, aware that Laura had noticed something very disturbing.

  "Oh my god, she's got the other razor blade inside her, it must have cut her to ribbons when we moved her. For god's sake keep her very still." Yelled Laura, putting her hands up to her face in despair.

  "Can't we pull it out with tweezers or a pair of pliers?" Asked Jonathan, anxiously.

  "No, we could do even more damage." Replied Laura, reaching for another towel.

  As much as Laura soaked up the blood, more kept coming. Penny ran to the airing cupboard and brought back a fresh supply of towels for her sister to use. Tina had suffered severe internal damage, and her life was now hanging in the balance.

  There weren't many dishes and cups to clear, and once he got going, it wouldn't take long. It was a wonderful spring morning, and with the back door open, David Peddlescoombe could gaze out over the orchards adjoining his home.

  He put the kettle on for another cup of coffee, before starting to dry up the last few remaining items of crockery left over from the day before. David was fiercely independent and didn't want his visitor to think that he needed the slightest bit of looking after.

  David had enjoyed a marvellous meal on the Thursday evening, after he had arrived back at Falcondale. It was a huge plate of home-made pasta over at Pedro's. It was good to see the old Catalonian again after so long, although these days Pedro tended to spend more time drinking wine and chatting to his customers than he did in the kitchen, preferring now to leave that part of the business to his daughter and son-in-law. Then, last night, David couldn't resist bringing home a delicious fish supper, which he enjoyed with a hunk of bread and butter and a few cold bottles of beer.

  Sipping his coffee, David stepped out and breathed in the fresh, morning air. Being back at Falcondale brought warmth to his heart, and he began to wonder why he never came back sooner. He didn't really have any plans for the rest of the day, and was content to probably just have a drive around to get the feel of the place again. He could then finally accept that he was, at last back at his spiritual, and true home.

  The house hadn't changed much at all in the years he'd been away. It had been rented out to students and sometimes to holiday makers, but for the most part it had remained unoccupied. There had of course been the yearly visits by David's elderly parents, which had lasted up until about five years ago. Plus, when William's children had been young, he and Sally would bring them for a sentimental holiday back to his family's old home. But that had all been some time ago. Since then, a local woman had been coming in, just to do some light housework and to keep an eye on the place. Now, the woman had agreed to come in three times a week, and more if necessary to make sure David was well looked after. His mother, Joan, had originally wanted someone to be with her son on a daily basis, but eventually after David's insistence, they had come to a compromise.

  Perhaps, losing his leg during the war in Vietnam was the best thing that happened to him. For up until then, David had been on a one-man self-destruct mission. He had never got over the death, many years ago of his young school friend in the tragic ice fishing accident, and felt responsible for the boy's death. Then, there was the disturbing incident involving Frank Gant trying to break into the house just before Christmas, back in 1962. Things then seemed to be on an even keel, until he found himself falling in love with William's girlfriend, Sally. Then he was caught by his brother kissing her under the tree in the garden. This, and the trauma of attending Frank's court case eventually caused the break up of William's relationship with Sally. Although, they did subsequently get back together again, it did raise a question mark, and David found himself taking the blame for this also.

  David had been glad to be accepted into the US Army, even though he was a Canadian, and turned out to be one
of the bravest soldiers his commanding officer had ever come across. However, this didn't hide the fact that he was reckless with his life, and as a Lieutenant, very few of his men were willing to go on missions with him, fearing his do-or-die attitude would end in misery.

  The unfortunate meeting with the land mine had effectively put David out of the war. It had come at a time, when the possibility of him dying from a bullet fired by one of his own side was becoming an increasing possibility.

  Although there were protests about the war in Vietnam, many servicemen did return to a hero's welcome back in their own communities in the states. But this wasn't the case in Canada. Many returning Canadian soldiers who had fought for the US, came home to be largely ignored in their country, and for David, this was no different.

  Returning to live temporarily with his parents back in Niagara-on-the-Lake, David was then about to be embroiled in another war, the war against himself. At the time, David felt he had been cheated out of a hero's death. He should have been killed, but instead, it was a job only half done. It was after he had been fitted with an artificial leg, and was learning how to walk again, when further damage was inflicted. David received a copy of a letter of complaint sent to the US Army, from the parents of a soldier who had fallen while serving in David's platoon. In the letter, they mentioned that they were aware of David's reputation as a hothead, and felt he should never have been allowed to lead men into battle. Nothing more was done or said about the matter, but another seed of doubt had now been planted into an already, fragile state of mind.

  David, then returned to the US during the seventies, wandering state-to-state, doing any low-paid, menial jobs offered him. He soon turned to drink and drugs to ease the torment he was going through. It was only after he was found almost frozen to death in an alleyway, that he finally got the treatment he needed and deserved to help him overcome the demons that ravaged his mind. Although, he probably didn't know it at the time, due to his alcohol and drug problem, David was suffering from the acute effects of what is now known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which was increasingly becoming recognised at the time.