CAPTAIN OF HIS SOUL
By Marcher
gama39@austarmetro.com.au    

PG13



Chapter 2 ~ Missed Opportunity




If he had been called upon to describe the loathsome feeling  in the pit of his stomach at this moment, he would have been found wanting.   O'Connell had  never been a man able to appropriately express the emotions which stirred his heart.  However, as a soldier of old, he had no trouble dealing out rough justice to those who stepped out of line, or stole from him.  What he was setting out to do would be seen a matter of honour to anyone complete with a stable background.  To Rick,  it was simply payback.  As far as he was concerned, there was no diplomatic solution to this and his retribution would be swift, possibly painful.


Evelyn watched anxiously while he collected two pistols and secured them to his body.  He hadn't said a word since she'd recognized the Legionnaire, in fact he hadn't said much all afternoon, but what angered him now was a totally different matter.  Still, she couldn't be sure that the sighting of her assailant wasn't just compounding their earlier quarrel, thus setting him on angry rampage fueled by both fires.


She lifted her small son from the floor and out of the way of his father's heavy footsteps, "What are you going to do?"


He answered without turning to her, failing to convey the desired level of innocence he'd intended,  "Talk to him."


"Don't do anything that's going to put you back in jail!"


"I'm just gonna find out who he is."


"Armed?!"


He stopped to look at her.  For a brief moment his anger was forgotten when he caught the look of worry written all over her face.  "Look.  The last time I had anything to do with the Legion,  I ended up riding all the way to Syria and back and nearly died doing it!   This is just a precaution, that's all."  His innocent, boyish smile did nothing to calm his wife and he sighed with defeat.  "Trust me!  If it is him, all I'm going to do is find out why he's not still locked up...why he's still in the Legion for that matter!"  Evelyn offered a pleading look.  He ran his hand under his son's chin and tried to gently reassure her.  "I promise.  I won't hurt anyone."


"Of course you do!"


He kissed her forehead and rubbed a hand across her belly.  Then taking a sterner tone, he warned "You stay here and take it easy, like you're supposed to!"  She frowned, disappointed that he refused to let it drop.  Her reaction only strengthened his resolve and he cast her a piercing look which left no room for doubt.  "No more falling over or running off until things settle down!"  Understand!"


"I'm perfectly well and you know it!"


"Good!  And you're gonna stay that way!"


Assuming his anger had peaked, Evelyn chanced a rebuke of her own, "I don't appreciate one bit of what you did today!" As quickly as she'd spoken, she realized her mistake.  This Legion business had only distracted him from the point and she wasn't out of the woods yet.  Rick's eyes flashed and she groaned quite audibly when he continued to scold her.



"When you start falling down steps from dizzy spells and then scamper off all over the city before the bruises have even healed, then it's time someone pulled you into line!  And that's me!"


She sucked in a breath, ready to retaliate in her usual indignant manner, but was almost immediately silenced by her husband's pointed finger and sharp tongue,  "You're not the only one who has a say in this, Evie!  This is my baby too!"


The room fell uncomfortably silent and the pair stood looking acrimoniously at one another.    Pushing a hand through his hair, Rick heaved an exhausted sigh and reached for the door, "I'll be back in an hour."


Jonathan almost fell into the room from missing the door handle as O'Connell opened it to leave.  He lurched forward crashing into his brother-in-law.  An awkward and abrupt halt, but he was at the least grateful to have avoided the floor.   Rick grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him upright, visibly irritated by his presence.  "What now?!"


Jonathan tugged at his jacket and patted down his hair in an attempt to regain his composure, then rattled his car keys in Rick's face, "I'll tell you what now!  What have you done to my car?"


Rick smacked the keys away,  "Nothing!"


"Well, it was perfectly fine before I let you get your hands on it!  Now the bloody thing won't go!"


"So?  I don't have time for this Jonathan, it's not my problem!"


"Well you could at least give me a hand pushing it off the street until I can find someone who knows something about it!"


O'Connell hung his head and rubbed the back of his neck.  This was definately not one of the better days.  "Come on!"  He pushed Jonathan into the hallway, thinking to himself that he had married into the most infuriating family!


When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Rick observed Jonathan offhandedly, "Forget the car!  I haven't got time for it."  Without so much as glancing towards him, Rick began making his way outside until his curiosity was ignited by the urgent secrecy Jonathan displayed by grabbing hold of his arm and pulling up against the wall.


"There's nothing the matter with the car."

Rick's gaze shifted to the direction in which Carnahan was pointing and nodded his understanding on seeing the two Legionnaires.  "So Evie was right.  It is him."


"Absolutely!  No doubt about it.  I wanted to get you down here without upsetting her and the car was all I could think of."


O'Connell rewarded him with a firm slap on the back, "Nah!  She's already seen him."


"I see.  How's she handling it?"


Rick tilted his head and frowned with a mocking sympathy, "She doesn't want any trouble. So I said I'd  just talk to him!"


"Aah, yes!"


He plucked a gun from it's holster and directed the handle towards Jonathan,  "You wanna be in on this?"


Jonathan accepted the weapon willingly, "Wouldn't miss it for the world!"


The American's eyes glinted with reprisal and he smiled wickedly as the two made their way onto the street.  They hadn't walked a few paces, when the street erupted with shouting and pedestrians scattered in all directions!  A sudden screech of brakes sounded from behind them and the marketplace became bedlam as a car crashed through the crowd scattering everything in it's wake.  "Look out!" O'Connell reached out to grab Jonathan, only just missing him!  He turned his head, cringing, as the side of the car slammed into his companion and knocked him heavily onto the dirt road.  The street became unusually quiet, save for Jonathan's agonizing cries.  O'Connell opened his eyes slowly to find him writhing on the ground in what must have been horrible pain, his leg a bloody mess!  "Jonathan!"  Rick stumbled to his side and
crouched over him, checking the extent of the injury, "Damn!"

The crowd about them was beginning to regroup to view the result of the chaos, when three inebriated middle-aged English tourists pushed their way through the bodies to get a glimpse of their accidental victim. "Our most sincere apologies, gentleman."  Looking up, Rick saw an over weight drunkard dressed in a badly fitting safari suit.  For a moment he was consumed by a sarcastic thought as he wondered if this was the standard dress of  Englishman who travelled to the middle east.  Was it actually comfortable to wear, or did it just make them stand out as naive sightseers and easy prey for the merchants?   Whatever the reason, there was no time to consider it for an odious round face was pressing up to him, spitting out it's apology.   "Awfully difficult this driving on the opposite side of the road lark.  Causes all sorts of trouble."

Rick nodded distainfully and slightly pushed him away but it was enough to set the drunkard off balance and he landed on his backside.  This brought a murmured chuckle from the crowd, but Jonathan's anger was amplified by his pain and the dirt loged in this throat and he roared at the oaf,   "You barking lunatic!" You could have bloody killed me!  O'Connell!"


"Yeah, yeah!"  Rick rose to his feet just as the local authorities arrived.  He was grateful for their intervention as it released him from having to revenge his brother-in-law's broken leg.  He surveyed the crowd for any sign of the man he had set out to snare.  Nothing!  The crush of people made it impossible to catch any glimpse of him.  He swore again and returned his attention to the roadside casualty and, of course, there was his wife kneeling in the dust beside her brother with Alex attached to her hip.


He reached down and lifted his son at the same time extending an arm around Evelyn's back, helping her to stand.  She was concerned for her brother and her remarks were an endless string of distressed questions and disbelief.  "He'll be all right, Evie."  It was a standard reassurance, but Rick felt it was pretty accurate,   "It's just his leg."


"What happened?!"


"They happened!"  Rick cocked his head in the direction of the drunken tourists being carted off to the Watch House. "Some of your guys, hooning around Cairo!  C'mon, back inside."  Rick had his arm about her shoulder and was leading her back into the relative cool of the fort.  Evelyn strained her neck to check  behind her and was somewhat relieved to spy the two Sentry Guards disperse the crowd then lift Jonathan onto a stretcher. 


****


Hours had passed since the surgeon had attended to Jonathan's injuries and it was only now that the whiskey was beginning to take effect and relieve the more severe edge of  the pain.   The cast was awkward and cumbersome and Jonathan's mood was laced with self pity and rage. 


Ignoring her husband's persistant urging to the contrary, Evelyn had spent the evening fussing over her brother and stopped only when Rick took her by the shoulders and made her sit.  At last realizing there was nothing more she could do for him, she attempted to smother a deep yawn then picked up her overtired son and offered her goodnights.  On closing the bedroom door, she rolled her eyes at the familiar clink of glasses which signalled the decision by the men to drain the remainder of the whiskey bottle.


Rick sat with his feet stretched up on the arm of Jonathan's couch, his fingers circling the rim of the glass resting in his lap.He barely heard Jonathan's babbling as his thoughts ran through the course of the day.  However, Jonathan soon commanded his attention with a rude shout, "Well!"


"What?"


"Pass the rug!  If  I'm to be laid up here until they fix the harness over my own bed, could I at least be warm?"


Rick twisted in the chair to look behind him.  On seeing the checkered bed cover, he reached over to oblige the patient then sank back into his chair.


Jonathan threw the covering over his body, then he too made himself comfortable and sighed, "Bloody useless turn of events."  He looked over at O'Connell, "We didn't get very far, did we?"


"Lost him in the crowd."  Rick drained his glass and set it aside.  "But he won't be that hard to find." He leaned forward and strained to remove one boot, then the other and threw them into the corner.  Rising from the chair, he patted Jonathan's shoulder, bid him goodnight and went to join Evelyn.


He found her nestled in the bed with Alex, at last drifting off to sleep in her arms.  He crept in behind her, moving himself into her back and stretched his arm across the both of them.


"Sleeping in your clothes, then?"  She whispered.


"Yep!  Too tired to move."


Evelyn turned her head slightly to look at him and whispered.  "I'm sorry for today."


He kissed her hair lightly, "Go to sleep."


"I have to earn a living though."


Rick groaned deeply and pushed his head into the pillow.  "No, you don't!  You just can't stay away from the place!" Once again, silence prevailed between the couple before Rick stared up at the ceiling and offered what was to be his very best attempt at a compromise.  He ventured gently and cautiously into the abyss of the pregnant mood swings and whispered, "You don't need to earn anything, Evelyn, but you do need to be careful."  She hadn't said anything so far and he took that to be a good sign, "I've got no problem with the Museum once the baby's here, but just take it easy for now.  For me.  It's not much longer."

Without speaking, she leaned her head into his and he felt her gently nod her agreement against his cheek.  With this part of their headstrong clash settled, she was about to request a surrender of her own.


"So you didn't catch up with that Legionnaire at all?"  In her heart she was thankful Rick had missed his opportunity, but it came at an awful cost.


"I didn't get a chance.  I was pushing your brother's car, remember."  His voice was mufffled by her hair and half a bottle of whiskey, both convenient covers for his untruth.


"So you won't go looking again tomorrow?"  There was no reply.  "Rick!"


"No, I won't go looking."


"Promise me!"


"I promise, now go to sleep!"


She didn't believe him and he knew it well enough.  He'd lost his chance today, but that meant nothing.  He made a plan in his mind that she would never find out when and where he took care of this thug, but now that he'd seen him, he couldn't let it drop.  This guy was going to pay!  He took in the scent of her hair and slept.