Lizzie's Song

Chapter 33- Epilogue

Lizzie and Thomas York go on to take in children and teenagers orphaned by the Great War, ended nearly ten years prior. Their quiet cottage becomes a haven for young people seeking to learn different skills and crafts and there are always small children clambering onto Thomas' lap, infants in his arms. A few of their children aspire to be witches and Lizzie is thrilled that the line of witches will not end with her.

When the Second World War begins, Thomas is in his seventies, Lizzie her sixties, and many of their children are called to war. A few answer the summons and she cries for them late into the nights in Thomas' arms. Others go to work the great industries for the war effort and even more of them go underground, their tiny village and others like it places where the War Department is least likely to look for conscientious objectors and draft dodgers. Still, a few young men are picked up every week and added to the service. Lizzie grieves for the loss of innocence in each of her many children.

Thomas dies shortly after the war. He is in bed with Lizzie by his side, the children he has called his own moving between the crowded and quiet living room and the sanctuary of the bedroom, their own children coming in periodically to check on Grandfather Thomas. Lizzie holds his hand as he falls silent, his breath rattling.

He opens his eyes and meets hers, "Lizzie? Where's Noah?"

She tries to keep from crying as she whispers, "With Enola. She's kept him safe."

"Oh, thank goodness. I thought Lucille had him for a moment. Do you think he's missed me?"

"Likely. But she probably tells him stories so the waiting isn't so bad."

He smiles, "Good. I like that. I'll miss you, Lizzie. I'll tell him all about you so he knows who you are when you join us."

She kisses his forehead, "I'll miss you, too. But I'll be alright. Please, if you need to go, do."

"One final embrace?"

She nods and bends low to hug him. He wraps his arms around her and pulls her in to kiss her lips. She stays close, her ear beside his mouth, as he rests back on the pillow and sighs.

"Goodbye, Lizzie York. I love you." He closes his eyes and stops breathing. She feels for a pulse. It is faint and fades while her fingers try to reach it until she can no longer find it.

She takes his hand and squeezes, "Goodbye, Thomas York. I love you, too." She waits a few moments, letting everything settle and feel final, before she slips his wedding ring from his finger. They agreed on this well in advance- he will not be buried with it so she can carry something of him with her through the end of her life. She stands and walks to the living room. All eyes are on her as she opens the door, "He's gone."

She leaves the door open and returns to her spot beside the bed, slipping his ring on a long gold chain and draping it around her neck as the children and grandchildren come in.

His memorial is well attended. Many of the young men wear their dress uniforms. Rebecca, now nearly a century old and almost blind, lays rosemary in his coffin and pins a sprig on Lizzie as well. Her voice is strong as she speaks words over his coffin. They bury him in the churchyard on the other side of the excedra for his wives and son. Everyone tells stories in the church after he is in the ground. Rebecca keeps an eye on Lizzie.

After it is over, after all the mourners have shaken Lizzie's hand or hugged her, she walks out to the graveyard and places all the flowers on his grave, over the excedra, over the graves of his wives and his son. She takes a few over to Lucille's plot and bedecks the stone in nature's beauty. Lizzie returns to sit at Thomas' feet a few moments before walking home.