Disclaimer: Someone else owns the characters in this story, but in these days of Chapter 11, there's no telling who. I am just letting them out for exercise, not employing them for profit. The song, "Fields of Gold," is by Sting. But as a backdrop for this story, the version playing in my head is the cover by Eva Cassidy. You may have heard it as Michelle Kwan skated to it in the exhibition performance at the end of the 2002 Winter Olympics.
This one's in memory of my mom.
Fields of Gold
by Roxanne Wynne Davenport
You'll remember me, when the west wind moves
upon the fields of barley
You'll forget the sun in his jealous sky
as we walk in fields of gold
"Daddy?
""
Helen?" came the whisper from the frail form under the crisp white sheets."No, Daddy." Tears formed in the blue eyes of fifty-year old Trixie Frayne, as she smoothed the pillow under her father's head. She swallowed hard over the lump in her throat as she looked across the bed at her brother Brian, who nodded, encouraging her to keep talking.
"Moms isn't here," Trixie continued, taking her father's hand. The IV tubing made it hard to hold onto, but she cradled it gently nevertheless. "Do you think you can open your eyes and talk to us? We're all here - Brian, Mart, Bobby, and I "
"Helen?" came the fretful whisper from the bed once more. "Helen, wait for me."
******
So he took his love for to gaze awhile
upon the fields of barley
In his arms she fell as her hair came down
among the fields of gold
"Oh, it feels so good to get out from behind that desk," he told his girlfriend as they walked down the path behind the old crabapple orchard. "I thought, when I moved to the city, that I'd never wish to be back on the farm. But I'm glad to be home and I'm glad you're here, too."
"Oh, Peter, it's beautiful," Helen Johnson answered, as they emerged from the trees and into the open farmland. She gazed around with her artist's eye at the ripening grain, shimmering against the backdrop of the woodland, with its trees decked out in the deep green of late summer in New England. "I'm so happy you asked me to come. I could stay here forever!"
He swung her around to face him, focusing his dark brown gaze intently into her blue eyes. "Do you mean that, Helen? Could you live here forever with me?"
Will you stay with me Will you be my love
among the fields of barley?
We'll forget the sun in his jealous sky
as we lie in fields of gold.
"Yes, Peter."
See the west wind move like a lover so
upon the fields of barley.
Feel her body rise when you kiss her mouth
among the fields of gold.
Raising his head from the kiss she gave to seal her promise, he picked her up and spun her around until her golden hair blended in his vision with the fields around them.
"She said 'YES!'" he shouted to the ears of grain.
Pummeling his shoulders, Helen giggled, "Put me down, you idiot!" As he complied with her order, she gave him another quick kiss on the cheek, then grinned mischievously at him. "I can't wait to tell everybody! Race you back to the house!"
He looked incredulously at her back as it vanished into the orchard again. Shaking his head, he took off after her.
"Helen! Helen, wait for me "
*****
Trixie gently closed the door of the hospice room behind her, and walked straight into the strong yet gentle embrace of her husband. "Oh, Jim," she sobbed quietly against his chest, "he doesnt even know me he thinks I'm Moms, and she passed away over three years ago!"
Jim stroked her hair, which had deepened in color over the years to a burnished blonde and was now highlighted by a few strands of white gold.
"You do look like her, you know," he murmured, then sighed as a fresh torrent of tears shook her body. "Come on, Beautiful, you're worn out. Sit down and let me get you something to eat you've got to keep up your strength."
"Let me, Uncle Jim," volunteered Brian's daughter Brianna, rising from the corner where she sat with her mother, Honey Belden. "You stay here with Aunt Trixie."
Brianna turned and started down the hall toward the hospice's canteen area, where her Uncle Mart's wife, Barb (nee Hubbell), talked quietly with their longtime best friends Dan and Ruthie Kettner Mangan. A huge bouquet of flowers sat nearby as a gesture of love from the remaining Bob-White, Diana Lynch, who also happened to be Bob Belden's sister-in-law.
Brianna's movement was abruptly arrested when the door to Peter Belden's room opened again, and Bob stuck his head out, looking for his sister.
"Trix? You better get in here."
*****
Many years have passed since those summer days
among the fields of barley
See the children run as the sun goes down
among the fields of gold
He sat on the front porch swing, watching his children and their friends, whooping and laughing as they washed his oldest son's 'new' jalopy in the Belden's driveway. Helen emerged from the house to watch the show as the car-wash turned into a soapy water fight.
He caught her wrist as she started down the steps to moderate the free-for-all. "Uh-uh, you'll just get all wet. Come and sit with me a while."
Helen settled onto the swing beside him and curled up with her head on his shoulder. They rocked in mutual silence for a bit, until he dropped a kiss on top of her head and asked, "Still glad you came to live with me?"
She grinned up at him, her gaze still cornflower-blue. "Forever!" she said, then she stood up again. "But why are we sitting here like old fogeys when the kids are having all the fun?"
Helen turned and took off in the direction of the water fight. Peter stared at her in amazement, then grinned. "Some things never change," he assured himself, then shouted, "Helen! Helen, wait for me!"
*****
You'll remember me when the west wind moves
upon the fields of barley
You can tell the sun in his jealous sky
of when we walked in fields of gold
Helen? Helen, wait for me
When we walk in fields of gold.
*****
The End