Free Me

chapter sixteen

The train pulled up to yet another platform which was empty and wet from the rain which had continuously fell for three days. It had slammed against the window with such anger it even made Jack jump awake at night. The mood was damp; the passengers who had shared their carriage had been lethargic, bored and quiet before they disembarked a day later. The arrival of the strangers had ensured that Jack and Rose didn’t have the thorough privacy of which they had hoped for, though they were glad for the peace once they had left.

Jack slumped in his seat; Rose was asleep against him. They had shivered beneath a threadbare blanket which they had retrieved from the one night at the hotel.

California loomed; they would reach their destination soon. Jack sighed, feeling overwhelmed. He had promised Rose this life and yet he hadn't fully thought every ounce of it through. She once had everything and she had left that for him - nothing. He didn't have one thing to offer her except love and safety. The two factors which she had craved for her entire life. She had followed her heart which now belonged to him.

Jack had been a dreamer. He always had been. When he had wondered across America alone, he didn't have a care in the world, at times he didn't care if he woke up the next morning. He had gone days without eating and then some days making two or three dollars was enough to plunge him into such elation to feel like the richest man in the world. He had begged, sometimes even stole and now there was another one there with him to share this journey.

Jack watched her sleep; that perfect version which to this day, still had no idea how or why she cared for him. She had given up so much for him, for a new life with him. He would not fail her, he couldn't. He loved her, he wanted her and he would make a new life for them both.

Leaning his head back against the seat, he contemplated his life. He had experienced so much in a short space of time, working his way from job to job. The days when he had almost cried to numb the hunger pain, when he'd slept in ditches with just a rucksack for a pillow and a small knife for protection. Those were the nights he had endlessly reflected on his life. Would he find a purpose? He was searching for something; a reason. That was the thought which had kept him alive. He had to remember that there was a need for him to be on this Earth.

Life was a gift and a very priceless one. Even throughout the damp and lousy times, he searched for a reason to pick himself up, clear out the dirt and then try again for what good did it do to roll over and allow yourself to be lost just because one bad hand dealt?

His parents had raised a strong boy, but one who had never been alone at that point. Now, he was alone and had to learn to fulfil his dreams. From that day, determination had filled him for that was all that he had left in his life.

''You're just a dreamer, Jack. You'll dream your life away and before you know it, you'll be on your death bed.''

Harry, the Irish owner of a small bar where Jack had worked for a few weeks in Kansas City had told him. Jack had left there once he had been paid one month’s wage. Using the money, he had bought new art supplies and boarded a steam to Colorado. The streets had been rough; he could barely make any money drawing in the cold. He took up work painting houses for the rich and educated fools who were stupid enough to believe his lies of been a reputable decorator; that put him food on the table and he worked in the warmth for the majority of the day. Foolish ones would even offer him a hot beverage now and again. Detesting the absolute toffee noses from the start had ensured that Jack gained a good education from sticking his ear in conversations which should never have been heard by a prying ear. From the besotted wife who tried to take him as her lover to the huge load of demask paint which he had spilled across a large mahogany table on the last day.