ELIZABETH'S POV: THE NEXT MORNING
i woke up by the birds singing, i expected to be laying down in a police car but instead i was laying down in the bed i wake up in every morning, i was honestly suprised, how did i even get here? i don't remember waking up whilst walking to my room, nor did i wake up after falling asleep, because if i did, i would've remembered, i can tell you that. but i did hear someone saying my name and felt 2 arms slipping underneath me, then holding on tight onto my body parts, i don't remember what happened next though......wait! i remember, i opened my eyes for like 3 seconds and saw the familiar sullivan face. i remember grabbing his hand and saying thank you, after that i really don't remeber anything. so sullivan carried me upstairs then, shit, he saw my messy room, i mean, not that i care or something but it must've scared him off in like "oh no she's a messy type, no no, i don't wanna hang out with her anymore" probably not though
and then finally i looked at the clock
10:20
shit, Sid asked me to help him with cleaning the church floors, why aint Mrs M doing that? you could ask yourself, well, she has to do other things, like...well i don't exactly know what, but she told Sid it's way more important than cleaning the church floors.
i quickly get up and get changed into my working clothes, brush my teeth, i didn't have time to shower so i'll just do that later today
i run downstairs and there he is, sitting with wide open legs at the kitchen table, drinking milk. he looks at me, he smirks and winks, and whilst walking past him i intentionally walk against him
'oi!' he laughs, so do i, i then say goodmorning to father brown and Mrs M and sit down
'those scones look delicous Mrs M' i say whilst trying to take one but she pushed my hand away and looks at me with her death-angry-do not dare to touch stare, so i back off and keep my hands home
'you can take a sandwich with marmelade' Mrs M then says, she hands me the bread and (aggresivly) takes the marmelade from father brown, i don't know how he lives like this every day, but he's capable of doing it so respect for him, and he also just keeps smiling like he's an idiot who just got asked in which country he lives, i don't get how.
i quickly make my sandwhich, and when i'm done i leave together with Sid.
IN THE CHURCH 1 HOUR LATER:
we hadn't even reached the half yet or we were already sitting down on one of the benches, tired as expected.
'you still owe me my money' sid suddenly said. i let out a little laugh
'would you mind if i liked him in a friend-way?' we still didn't look at each other. he was quiet for a while, he just kept staring at the bench in front of us.
'if you think he's right in everything, yes i'd mind, but if you just think he is "kind" which he is not, than thats alright, i can't force you to not like him' i could sense the sarcasm in his voice
'he defintly isn't right about everything' i said whilst going trough my pocket hoping to find 10 quid. i soon find some and hand it to him, he looks at me with his "i'm accepting you but don't go any further than this - face" i slightly smiled, to let him know that wasn't gonna happen, i mean, i'm not lying am i? our relationship isn't gonna go any further than this, we'll stay friends till the end of eternity, but no more than that
after a while of daydreaming he brutally and unexpected stood up, and looked at me in curiousity when he noticed i wasn't getting up
'there is so much work to be done' i complain, he chuckles
'wanna dance then?' he bends over and reaches for my hand whilst picking the floor sweeper with his other hand. i do the same as i reach out and grab his hand, he immediatly pulls me in and starts swinging me around the hallway, his face like he is singing a song and his body movements like he's a superstar that is peforming a festival, i couldn't help but laugh.
whilst dancing around, we sweeped the floor, and when we were done sweeping all parts we went barefoot and threw our shoes at the big door so we wouldn't make the floor filthy again, after throwing our shoes away we started dancing and swinging again, shouting lyrics from the most famous songs of the 1950's, this was the reason i liked Sid, one time he is over-protective or drunk and the other moment he's dancing and acting like he's the most amazing human being.
after 20 more minutes of dancing we were interrupted by the big door opening and footsteps coming in, we turned around to see the father with his usual "smiling but what the fuck is going on" face
'father!' Sid shouted breaking the hosting silence
'why don't you join us?' he meant it
'i think i'd better leave the swinging and dancing to the younger generation' his head went down as he looked trough his eyebrows, with that usual sneaky little smirk/smile on his face
'mass starts in a few minutes, feel free to attend' he says whilst slowly looking at me raising his eyebrows which means he's waiting for my answer
i slightly smile whilst saying 'no i'd rather not, thanks for the invite though' he smiles even more to let me know it's fine
you could already hear the voices of the people that are waiting to get inside, we quickly put our shoes on again. as he opens the door the crowd starts to get in, i keep standing next to the father, sid leaves immediatly.
suddenly someone comes up to us, i recognize the man, it must be a parishioner, wait...what was his name again...uhm something with a W....yes that's it! William! William Allanach? a scottish man around the 30, fit shape, he has 2 children, maureen and kenneth, both beautiful children, he doesn't see them very often though, that's because he's been to jail a couple of years ago, i don't quite know what it was about, but his children are often with their mom. the lad doesn't look that bad, hazel brown eyes, a mix between blonde and brown hair, and good teeth.
'elizabeth wasn't it?' he turns to me and for a second, i'm suprised, we've only talked like 2 or 3 times, and he still remembers my name
'yeah, that's me, can i help you with something?'he slightly smiled
'uhm..yeah, you can actually, i was about to ask you a favor' he started blushing
'yeah..sure, how can i help?'
'so my 2 kids are coming home next thursday, and i thought, what if i suprise them with a cake, but i'm not good at baking, and i though...maybe you could help?' he seemed so honest, nothing like a common criminal, but people change right
'..well, sure! i'll wait for you after mass!' before he left he asked me if i was an atheist, i was rather suprised by the question, but answered yes, he then walked off.
30 MINUTES LATER: MASS IS STILL GOING, ELIZA IS SITTING ON A BENCH RIGHT NOW
10 more minutes and mass is finished, i've been looking at the trees and graves, i honestly feel bad for the kids that are buried here.
'eliza, didn't expect you here' a familiar voice said, i turned around to find inspector sullivan standing in front of me with his hands in his pockets, and 1 eyebrow raised so he'd again have the "what are you doing here?" look
'i'm actually waiting for someone, i promised to help him bake a cake for his children' i smiled, he seemed unsatisfied with my answer
'William Allanach, you know him?' he didn't move a muscle
'..no..' his eyebrow slowly went back to place but his posture and mouth stayed the exact same
'shouldn't you be at mass?' for a second he looked at the church doors, then looked back at me in confusion
'i'm an atheist, if i go in there i'd probably wonder why god created ants? if he created this whole world, then why did he create ants?' i laughed, he softly smiled 'no no, i was raised with god, but i just can't imagine there is a "higher power" than science, i mean, i accept those who do, but personally, i'd just laugh at all the things father Brown has to say' i chuckled
'hmm' he was still softly smiling. because he wasn't in the church either i assumed he's an atheist too, but he might feel offended if i ask him
'may i' he pointed at the free spot next to me, his facial expression severe as always, not in a flirty and with a smirk way like Sid would do
'uh..yeah sure! go on' i shuffled a bit to the side, so we wouldn't be waist-to waist. as he sat down i looked at his side profile, his face was severe, you already know that but...something was different, i sensed...guilt and...annoyance
'is everything okay? i asked, he slowly looked at me
'my apologies if i made you feel uncomfortable carrying you upstairs yesterday' seriously, did he really feel guilty about something stupid like that?
'oh don't worry, i slept well, and besides, you could've woke me, but you didn't, so thanks for that!' a huge burden seemed to slip off his shoulders, and his face went back to his usual face
we both looked away from each other, and it was quiet for a while, but not a uncomfortable silence, it rather felt...just comfortable
'so what brings you to St. Marys?' i ask
'father Brown asked me to come, apparently there is something bad about to happen after mass' whilst saying mass he looked at me with his typical "annoyed with 1 eyebrow raised" face. i nod and look away again. it was quite warm today, no cloud in the sky, not a single one. the birds chirping.
'and, any new murder cases, or robbery? oh, or both!' i thought he knew i was joking but when i looked at him, his face told me he didn't quite understand.
'i'm just joking, get some humour, inspector' i slightly giggled.
He looked at his watch, then looked up at the sky and did his typical sigh.
it was quiet for a while, i didn't even notice how close we were sitting to each other, he must've moved to my side. We were both suprised by the sudden noise of the church door opening. Our faces immediatly turned to the door, and the smell of his hair entered my nose, it, he, smelled lovely, i could smell it all day long. This isn't what i should be thinking about, right...
He stood up and started walking towards the church, where you could already see father Brown walking outside, looking up at the gasps of sunlight. I quickly followed Sullivan's example and ran to him. For a second he looked at me, and smiled, but he quickly turned away from me again. When father Brown noticed us, he smiled so his eyes would be surrounded by lines of past laughter, love it.
'Father Brown...' he took his hat in his hands and exchanged a look with me and him before continuing 'you asked me to come?' i didn't hear the rest of the conversation because i saw William, and went off to him.
'Mr Allanach!' a smile appeared on his face
'please, do call me William!' he took my hand and placed a kiss on it, but in a joke flirty way, not for real...ofcource. Before getting in his car (to drive to his place) i took a quick peek at Sullivan, to find him already looking at me, his eyes were soft, unusual, but as soon as he noticed i was also looking at him, his eyes went back to very very very murdery serious, and he immediatly looked back to father Brown and Mrs McCarthy who had joined the 2 of them, and was probably talking about her famous scones.
And off we go!
SULLIVANS POV:
After Mrs McCarthy left i was rather annoyed, she can't shut up about her bloody scones, and thz Father is only wasting my time.
'so what is it, Father, you think one of your parishioners has lied about eating 1 vegetable too much?' i asked annoyed
'Do you know who that man Eliza went off with is?' i knew the father is good at wasting people's time but this was crossing the line
'His name is William Allanach, and he's off to bake a cake with Miss Armstrong. If that's why you wanted me here, you're simply wasting my time' i was about to walk off when he said something that wasn't a waste of time..
'and do you know what he's been in jail for, inspector?' he was smiling, he always is, but this time it was more of a "i know and you don't, and i'm about to prove you wrong on the wasting time thing because you're gonna be suprised with what i'm about to say" smile
'He's been in jail?' i said
'for killing 3 people because they were atheists and lived near a church, he thought it was a threat for the christians if atheists lived near a church, so he decided to kill them' he said it like it was something you hear every day.
I didn't have to say anything else, he knew what i wanted to know.
'Draycott road 37' he looked up at the sky, knowing damn well i was going after that man even though he's bloody dangerous.
I ran to a near-by telephone cell and called sergeant Goodfellow, told him to come immediatly and gave him the adress. i then got, a bit clumpsy, in my car and drove at full speed to the cottage. I don't actually know why i care this much, i mean, ofcource i'd try so save someone's life if i had the change to, but at this speed i'm risking my own life. I had some kind of feeling about her, i don't know what it is, but everytime i see her i get that feeling again, and i can't think straight any longer.
On my way to the cottage all sorts of thoughts were racing trough my head
"what if she's dead?!" "she didn't treat me like a nobody, i should've thanked her"
"you're too late, george, give up, you've failed!"
"this is your fault, you should've known that william!" "she never liked you, why do this then?"
she simply can't be dead, that's a negative. I know she isn't. Only 5 more minutes and i'm there.
MEANWHILE AT ELIZA'S, HER POV:
'i really don't know why you wanted me to help, i mean, you did a great job with the dough!' i said whilst washing my hands. He didn't reply.
'So, how old are your kids?' i reached for the towel. He didn't reply..again. Strange...
i put the towel back in place 'William?' i said. I turned around to face the unpleasent sight of a big cutting knife that was right in front of me. William was coming closer and closer, what was he doing?!
'William, what are you doing, put that knife down, i say!' i was trying to sound confident, but i don't think i did. i tried to step backwards but fell over something, i can't tell you what it is, i didn't have time to look. it didn't stop me from crawling backwards though, so i did, and further and further away i crawled, until i hit the wall and couldn't go any further. Looking at the posture of the man, that i almost couldn't see because of the light, it hit me...it was then that i realised what he's been in jail for. I remember reading the article a few years back, it was national news.
murdering 3 atheists because they were a threat to chistians.
The world went quiet, how stupid of me, i should've recognized his face and posture, the way he walks and acts, i should've damn known. But i didn't. I started to think about all the things i ever wanted to say, to everyone. And weird enough, i thought of the inspector, i have no idea why, but he was the first one to pop into my mind, wishing he was here to protect me, wishing i was still sitting waist to waist with him on that bench.
This was it, my life, all i ever fought for, hid for, it was all coming to an end because of me being naive and thinking he had changed.
He raised his knife, and for a second i seemed to hear something in the background, but i must've imagined it because hey! i'm dying!
It was like everything was happening in slow motion, his knife coming towards me, my legs trying to find a way out, my screams that echoed, and then the strange appearance of a human shape, he pushed the man away, and the knife that was like 10 cm's away from my face.
Inspector Sullivan.
As soon as i realised it was him, my mind went clear, and i felt safe again. I couldn't hear what he was saying, it was all still a bit blurry, as it was now all happening so fast, but he immediatly hugged me, but let go after 5 seconds when he realised he was actually hugging me. His one hand on my back and his other on my cheek. His face was so close to me that i could see the panic in his eyes, but also the relief. His eyes were beautiful, and to my suprise i was happy it was him who found me, and not Sid or anyone else. But when it seemed like it was going to be alright, the face of William appeared behind Sullivan. Yes my vision was blurry but my arms worked perfectly, i pushed his shoulder aside and pointed at William, Sullivan seemed to understand what i meant. He turned around and slapped the man in his face, so hard he fell on the ground...unconscious. He picked me up like he did when he carried me upstairs, and held me close to him. He then walked out of the cottage, it was then that i saw the few other police cars that had just arrived. Instead of Sullivan handing me over to sergeant Goodfellow, so he could go and arrest the man, he shouted that William was still inside and unconscious. He took me to a bench and sat down, carefully placing me besides him, but still holding me on my shoulder and back.
'you're safe now, you're safe, i'm sorry, i should've known who he was' he kept saying this like i didn't know already that everything was OK, it was him who came into the cottage, risking his own life for me, it was me who should be sorry. I was still in shock, what had just happened? I wasn't able to speak, and i was tired, so i slowly let my head fall on the inspector's shoulder, i could feel his muscles tense up. But after a while his hand on my shoulder started to relax again and i drifted off to sleep.
safe, i was.