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Post by Michael on Jan 3, 2008 3:07:51 GMT -5
*Michael stood, several weeeks after the fiasco with Kathy, on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. He still hadn't told Scarlett--he didn't intend on doing so. He felt low, and dirty--but didn't she already have enough problems? He hadn't talked to Kathy since then; he had avoided her. He had come to these cliffs nearly every day after his work was done, looking out over the ocean and trying to decide what to do.*
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Post by Kathy on Jan 3, 2008 3:13:13 GMT -5
*Kathy had forced herself to walk across the grass towards him, but she stopped still several feet behind him, shaking from head to toe. She knew he'd been avoiding her, just as she'd been avoiding him. She could scarcely tell whether it hurt her more to miss his company than to know that his company would be unbearable, now.*
"M-Mikey...Michael," *she said softly, her voice trembling as well, and barely audible over the wind and crash of the surf far below.*
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Post by Michael on Jan 3, 2008 3:14:33 GMT -5
*He turned his head to her quickly, nearly coloring at the sight of her. He gulped.*
"Yes, Kath...Kathy?"
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Post by Kathy on Jan 3, 2008 3:17:19 GMT -5
"Mikey, I--"
*She stopped, her open mouth trembling, but her voice did not come. Only tears slipped down her cheeks. She gulped and shut her mouth, trying to control the shaking, but it only got worse.*
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Post by Michael on Jan 3, 2008 3:18:21 GMT -5
*He tentatively put a hand on her shoulder.*
"What is it, Kath?" *He asked softly.*
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Post by Kathy on Jan 3, 2008 3:24:43 GMT -5
"...it's...it's...late," *she blurted, her cheeks going from pale to scarlet as she said it.*
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Post by Michael on Jan 3, 2008 3:26:52 GMT -5
*He frowned.*
"It's only three in th..." *His eyes widened and he suddenly wraapped her in a huge hug.*
"Oh my God, Kath, I'm... I... I'm so..." *He didn't even have words. He was in deep shit now.*
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Post by Kathy on Jan 3, 2008 3:32:14 GMT -5
"I'm s-sorry, Michael...I didn't mean for any of this to happen, and...and now the physician says I must be gone almost two months, now. At first I thought I was mistaken," *she was babbling and in a complete flood of tears, now.* "And now this and now I don't know what to do."
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Post by Michael on Jan 3, 2008 3:33:43 GMT -5
*He held her close.*
"Shh, Kath, we'll... we'll figure something out..." *He whispered, stroking her hair.*
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Post by Kathy on Jan 3, 2008 3:37:28 GMT -5
*Kathy looked up into his eyes.*
"The...there's a girl who works in the scullery..." *she swallowed hard.* "She says there's a woman in London who...takes care of...these matters. It's not too late." *She felt cold all over, barely able to draw breath, but she continued.* "...I would be gone three days, at the most. And then I could come back and no one would ever know," *she whispered. Her tone had an authoritative edge to it, and she sounded braver than she felt. She'd also heard the scullery maid talking of girls who had died in agony, but she bit her tongue and said no more to Michael.*
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Post by Michael on Jan 3, 2008 3:40:35 GMT -5
*Fear for her safety far outweighed any concern for his own future. His eyes widened and he pulled her close again.*
"My God, Kath, no." *He said hoarsely.* "Don't you dare go to some back-alley angelmaker with no quali... no."
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Post by Kathy on Jan 3, 2008 3:43:46 GMT -5
"I have to!" *She sobbed.* "I can't go home like this! Mam might understand but it'd break me Da's heart. It'd be the end of him, Mikey!"
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Post by Michael on Jan 3, 2008 3:46:06 GMT -5
*He shook his head. Anything but that fate, not for his Kath.. he gulped.*
"Kath, I..." *He pulled back to look in her eyes.* "Would ye marry me, Kath?" *He asked softly.*
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Post by Kathy on Jan 3, 2008 3:53:50 GMT -5
*She gazed into his eyes, startled into a deadly stillness like a young doe caught by a hunter but not yet wounded.*
"...Mikey...yer lassie..." *she whispered, shaking her head.* "Ye promised her."
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Post by Michael on Jan 3, 2008 3:55:40 GMT -5
*He shook his head.*
"Kath, I can't leave ye like this and I can't let ye risk yer own life. I owe you far more than I do Scarlett." *He said softly.*
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