Matters Of Time and Fate

Chapter 20

The sun began to set behind the hills surrounding the woods, though the night maintained its warmth. Helen had cracked open her bedroom window, and she leaned out of it just enough to smoke one of her cigarettes. She'd showered only moments ago, so her hair was damp and down for a rare moment, clinging to her shoulder blades. She blew out a small puff of smoke, watching it dissipate into the night.

On the nightstand, she had a record playing. It was a collection of Irish folk songs, ones she listened to quite often. They were a comfort to her, as ragged as her heart had become at this point – these were songs her father would sing, long ago, whenever she was tired or sick. Helen closed her eyes for a moment as the music swelled, and the words to that song he sang the most filled her senses:

Oh, Bonny Portmore,

You shine where you stand.

And the more I think of you,

The more I think long.

If I had you now

As I had once before,

All the lords in Old England

Would not purchase Portmore...

A knock on the door jerked Helen out of the music. She cleared her throat, stepping away from the window. "Who is it?"

"It's me," came Miss Pauling's voice.

Helen paused, before closing the window and putting her cigarette out. "Come in,"

Miss Pauling stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. "Hey, how's it going?"

"Fine," Helen assured, taking a moment to fix her hair in the mirror. "Have all the men been preparing for potential attacks?"

"Yeah," Miss Pauling nodded. "Sniper got a nest set up, Medic has all of his tools ready to go, and Demoman managed to get all of his explosives up and running,"

"Good," Helen nodded. "And what are they doing now?"

"Taking a break for dinner. But, this time," Miss Pauling took a breath. "Dell has a grill running outside, and we're doing a bonfire,"

Helen glanced up. "Oh? Hm, well...tell them to be cautious about the fire. I swear, if the fire gets to a point where we alert someone..."

"It won't," Miss Pauling assured. "Engineer is the one lighting the fire, he promised me no one should see it. There's already a fire pit in the yard, so that makes it easier,"

"All right," Helen sighed. "But after this, it's back to work. Hale still hasn't told me when we can relocate to our old places of business,"

"Yeah..." Miss Pauling went quiet for a few seconds, before speaking up again. "Hey, uh...Helen?"

"Yes?"

"I, uh..." Miss Pauling wrung her hands a bit, trying to figure out how to properly verbalize her question. "Would you...wanna join us?"

Helen scoffed. "I hope you aren't serious, they covered me in water last time I ate with them,"

"I know, I know," Miss Pauling nodded, but she persisted. "But this will be different, we're outside and...God, I just don't feel good about you staying up here all the time. Not just that, but the guys are, uh, not happy with you,"

Helen brushed through her hair, not meeting Miss Pauling's eyes. "Maybe it's best I make myself scarce, then. Not that I care about what they think,"

"Helen, what I'm saying is..." Pauling sighed again. "They might trust you more if you were a little more...you know, 'human' with them. If you came down and spent time with them, you know?"