Into My Heart An Air that Kills - Brahms Heelshire The Boy

Chapter 3 - The Rules

No Guests.

I'm glad I'm alone here, Laurie thought. I don't want anyone. I don't need anyone. She gazed across at the boy Brahms and smiled. "We don't do we, Brahmsie. Just you and me..."

She reached across the kitchen table and stroked the doll's soft dark hair. "Can you feel me?" she whispered. Laurie raised her eyes and scanned the kitchen. "Do you hear me, Brahms?" There was no answer, of course, and she didn't expect one. Brahms had his own ways of letting her know he was around. She might find a rose on the kitchen table, its petals still dewed with moisture. A cup of coffee steaming hot in china, waiting for her after she'd reset the rat traps. Once, she'd found a small wooden foal beautifully carved from rosewood lying on her bed with a tiny red ribbon tied around its neck.

The soft padding she heard around the house no longer disturbed her, for she'd come to gain some measure of comfort to know he was abroad in the night and nearby. Several times she'd tried to catch him out, to open the door or run round a corner in an effort to glimpse his shade; but he was never there; save for his footfall echoing through the walls.

He's always been very shy, you see. 

So, Laurie indulged the boy as his parents had and didn't worry too much at his elusiveness. She applied herself to his needs, coming to realise that routine was as important here as it was to any child; that Brahms's happiness and security lay entirely with her. For some reason this gave her a new inner peace she'd not felt for years. A purpose and a calling.

The phone rang in the hall.

"Hey, Laurie!"

"Hi, sis."

"Not heard from you for a few days. How's things?"

"Good."

"Really? Brahms broken you in then?"

Laurie smiled and shook her head. "You could say that."

"Listen, Joel's been sniffing around."

"Jesus. You've not told him anything. Where I am?"

"Of course not. You know what he's like."

"Yeah. A tenacious bastard. I feel like I'll never be free of him."

"He'll give up and move on with enough time."

"That could mean I'll be stuck here forever!"

"Would that be so bad? You might meet an English Lord and get to be lady of your own manor. The Heelshire's sponsored you, didn't they? For your visa?"

"Yes."

"So it can't all be true about Welsh men and sheep? There's gotta be some hot stuff shepherding the hills or whatever!"

"The last thing I want now is any romantic or emotional entanglements. I'm off men. I'd rather have the sheep!" Laurie sighed heavily. "I can't bear it if Joel finds me. I can't deal with him again."

"He won't. He's a loser, Laurie. He can't even get a decent job. You know he's still living like a bum in that flat with Andrew Corser."

"The drug dealer?"

"I wouldn't call him that. Selling pot to down and outs doesn't make him Pablo Escobar. I heard Joel was doing casual around the local farms. Shovelling shit is about all he's fit for."

"He'll be wheeling and dealing, Amanda. He always seemed to have money and he'd never tell me where he got it from."

"Michael's seen him around the bars and clubs. With various women. You're well rid of him, sis. Please don't dwell on what he did. He's not worth your time and energy."