In Your Company

Chapter 29

Everything seems dark and down. The once colourful and happy house looked sad, and drained, as though it had broken.

I knocked timidly on Connors door, but I new he was inside, muttering to himself. He didn't stop, didn't know I had knocked, but I walked in.

"Connor?" His head shot up, from his desk, covered in littered pieces of paper.

"Dani," a tear streaked down his face. Anger, resentment, sadness, all leaking.

"I can't get it right. I can't get his nose right, it's just not working. I can't remember it well enough... it's not-" walking over, I bend down beside him, letting all my worries fade away, and letting this one take priority. The scattered paper around him had dark lines of a male face scattered on them. The piece in front of him was sketched in the same dark lines, hard to erase.

"Hey, it's okay." I whispered, trying to comfort him.

Taking his free hand in mine, I lent forward, giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek. Although it gave me butterflies, it was not meant to show affection, but reassurance.

I was there for him.

Because nothing is more important than family.

And nothing is harder than losing it.

***

It was hard to tell when the afternoon turned into the night. The gloom outside faded into the night without notice. The rain started to settle in, softly patterning on Connors window. We sat there, on his bed, and Connor told me all about his dad. How they used to go to the cafe down the road when Melissa was out, and eat so much food, and then they would come home and pretend they hadn't just eaten a full meal, and feel so sick after Melissa gave them massive servings for dinner. His dad was a photographer. It is what inspired Connor to start drawing. Or how they used to ride bikes around the block, and race back home.

"I always won. I know he slowed down, to let me win. But..." the doorbell rang below, and suddenly we could hear another round of sobs from Melissa.

Joel came running up the stairs.

"Connor? You may want to come down. They just delivered his possessions." Inhaling deeply, Connor lifted himself off the bed, helping me up as well. We walked out the door, and followed Joel back down the stairs.

Melissa was back on the couch, with a large box in front of her. Christina was sitting with her, arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders. Both the watery eyed women looked our way when we walked in.

A man, in formal army uniform stood in front of them.

"Hello Connor. It has been awhile." Connor smiled shallowly at the man.

"Hello Greg." Connor left my side, to go and join his mother's side.

Joel whispered in my ear that Greg Turpin was Connors dad's commanding officer, and they are really good friends.

"Henry was a brilliant man, who was an excellent addition to our unit. He died with dignity, in the most honorable way. He saved a large number of our troops with his actions. We will be awarding you, on his behalf Melissa, a prestigious award for his bravery." Melissa, surprised, smiled slightly in memory of her love.

Greg pulled out a worn piece of paper. He read from it very carefully, his voice thick.

"Henry leaves all of his possessions to his family. To his wife, Melissa Marklin, he leaves his estate, although they share that, he also leaves all his assets, and anything not covered in this will. To his son, Connor Marklin, he leaves his camera, and all of his film. He leaves his stocks to Connor as well, in hope one day they will help him and his family. To his daughter, Lucinda Marklin, he leaves his journals, filled with memories he won't forget, and he also leaves her his antique collection of model cars, which she has always enjoyed playing with." Connors eyes were glassy. Greg opened the box, to reveal stacks of photo albums. Also inside was a couple of worn journals, his uniform, and a mass of photography equipment.

Melissa reached into the box, and pulled out a silver chain. She brought it up to her lips, and gave it a gentle kiss, then, with delicacy, she turned to Connor, and strung it around his neck.

"Keep him safe Con." Everyone in the room had tears in eyes. Greg cleared his throat ruffly, then, pulling out a stack of envelopes, he continued to speak.

"He also left everyone letters. There are a lot here, for a lot of people. I will deliver all of them, but 3 of the recipients are in the room, so I will hand them out now." Greg handed to crisp white envelope to Melissa. It was bulky, and looked as though it will had lots of pages inside. He then also passed a equally bulky package to Connor. Looking around, I could not see Lucy. She was at a friends place.

"Danielle Norm? Henry also wrote something for you." Greg stood in front of me, holding a envelope to me. Taking it gently, confusion bogged my mind.

"Henry wrote all these letters before he went into every fight, in case the worst happened." I stared at my name written messily on the envelope. For the rest of the time Greg was in the in the room.

I hadn't known Henry Marklin.

So why was he writing to me?