The Curse Conduit

“I found her! She’s alive!” The colonel’s voice rose above the sound of all others. People began to scramble over the debris to where he was now trying to pull Bethie free from her tomb.

The house had been destroyed, there was nothing left but broken brick and glass.

Many hands began to dig away around Bethie so that the colonel could get her free. He pulled at her and with the help of other air force pilots they carried her to the footpath and lay her next to Danny and Urian, the medics already attending to the unconscious men.

One of the medics looked at Bethie as she was put on a stretcher as his hands quickly moved over her to make sure there was no immediate danger to her life he smiled. She looked like a princess. Even with her dress torn, she still looked beautiful, a sleeping beauty. “How come they are all dressed like this?”

The colonel was now standing watching as the medics worked on his three favourite people “How the hell should I know. Maybe they had been to a party.”

As the medic placed a bandage around Bethie’s head he replied. “Would have been better if they had stayed at the party. The bomb may have still destroyed the house but at least they would have been safe.”

Someone else came to stand next to the colonel looking down at the three patients.

“They going to be alright Colonel?”

The Colonel looked to the medic for his answer. “Yes sir. Got a few nasty cuts and bruised but nothing major. I should get them back to the base hospital.” With that the medic signalled to the ambulance. Bethie and Danny were loaded into one and Urian into another.

The Colonel watched in silence as the ambulances slowly made their way down the devastated street before turning back to continue with the search and rescue. He was overjoyed that his friends had survived the bombing, not many had, and the street certainly had not. There was not a house that had not been affected in some way.

Danny groaned trying to open his eyes immediately shut them again, the light was so bright and his hands flew to his head. “Oh god my head. What the hell happened?”

Bethie answered. “We got hit by a house.”

Danny felt her soft lips on his as Bethie lent in to kiss him and the gentle touch as her hand as it brushed across his brow. “How are you doing Danny?”

Again he tried to open his eyes without success. “Where are we?”

“Home… We made it back Danny; we’re at the base hospital. Just as we arrived the Germans decided it would be a good time to bomb our street.”

Danny tried to sit but Bethie pushed him back down. It was like she had given him too much information to process all at once. “We got back. Back where we belong?”

Bethie had small tears running down her face that Danny could not see as she answered.

“Yes.”

“But how did we get here?”

Bethie went on to explain what the Colonel had told her only a few hours earlier.

Danny went ashen. “You mean that out of the whole street only ten people survived.”

Again Bethie squeezed his hand.

Danny’s voice was urgent. “Urian, Ian? What about him, where is he? Is he all right?”

“It’s okay Danny he is in the bed next to you. He is still sleeping but he is okay. How are your eyes?”

Again Danny tried to open them, he squinted, the light was still very bright but he could make out some shapes. He shook his head. “Nothing yet. Just shapes. Beth. What day is it? I mean when did we get back? How much time?”

Bethie took a deep breath. “None.”

Although he could not see her Danny looked in her direction. “What do you mean none?”

“We came home the same day we left Danny. A few hours different but that is about it.”

They both heard Urian groan as he woke and Bethie went to put her hand on his for assurance. “We are here Ian. We are both here.”

Urian struggled to sit up in his bed. He had a splitting headache, his body ached all over but he opened his eyes and looked right at Bethie. “But where is here Beth?”

Her smile gave him his answer. “You can see me Ian?”

“Yes and even with that bandage on your head you look lovely.”

Danny was a little miffed. “Hey, how come your eyes are okay?”

Urian gave Bethie a melancholy smile as he got out of bed. He grabbed his side as he did and pulled up the hospital issue pyjama shirt he was wearing. Both he and Bethie gasped. The wounds that he had suffered on the battle field were still very raw, healing but many of them still held anger and pain. Bethie’s soft touch as she swept her hand gently over a few of his bruises made Urian’s skin tingle and his heart race. He took her hand and gently removed it from his body. “I will be as good as new in no time. Don’t worry Bethie.” Kissing her on top of the head he moved so he could sit next to Danny. “So Danny, you a little sore and sorry as well?”

“Too right I am. I hurt all over and I don’t think it has anything to do with the house caving in on us.”

Urian looked to Bethie for an explanation and one more time she told of how they had come to be in the base hospital.

One she finished she could see the pain and anguish on his face. “Will this world ever learn?”

Again she took his hand. “Don’t give up on us just yet. Remember that Derek and Uriah and Elizabeth are living in the future, a brighter future. We know this war will end. You heard their stories. Promise not to give up.”

Urian nodded but his heart was clothed in a darkness that would take some time to lessen its grip on him.

The trio sat in silence for a time lost in their own thoughts, trying to come to terms with what had happened to them, where they had been and what they had done.

Bethie’s thoughts went to Beth-Elena, wondering how she was coping. Bethie stopped her thoughts in mid-stream. “Urian, Ian…When you and Danny are feeling up to it do you think you could take me to the library?”

Again Urian gave her that melancholy smile. “You want to know what happened to Beth-Elena?”

Bethie nodded. “I need to know.”

Again a small tear escaped, just as Urian was about to wipe it away Danny spoke. “Hey don’t cry Bethie.”

She smiled. “You can see me?”

Danny gave her a beaming smile. “The prettiest sight. But I’m not sure Ian was right. I think that clump of cotton you have on your head does nothing for you.”

Bethie shouted playfully and slapped him on the arm and the trio fell into happy jibing for a while.

The Colonel stood at the entrance to the hospital ward with a smile on his face. It was nice to see the three friends laughing. After seeing the wounds on Danny and Declan once they had been cleaned up and knowing full well they had not been caused by the bombing the Colonel wondered if they would ever tell him the truth. Looking down at the small object he was turning over in his hand and then back at Bethie, Danny and Urian the Colonel took purposeful steps towards them wondering if his questions would be answered when they saw what he had.

Elizabeth’s mobile phone.