The End of Blame: Chapter 1 (mild adult)

Todd and Blair had fallen asleep on the blanket in the warm afternoon sun, and she was awakened by the sound of Sheik lapping at the water in the pond.  Both horses had been tied loosely to nearby trees, and she saw him, drinking a bit from the calm, glassy miniature lake they were resting by.  The other horse, Maybel, seemed to like the idea, and crossed as well to drink.  She looked up from where her head was resting and saw Todd, peaceful, which was not often, and sleeping.  He still had his arms around her.  She was not necessarily interested in waking him; knowing him as she did, his sleep did not come easily, and when he grasped uninterrupted rest, she rarely wanted to disturb it.  Instead, she remained, listening to his breathing, and feeling herself gently lift up and down on his breastbone as he did.  


She thought back to their lovemaking not a half hour before.  He had always been a generous lover, but since his return, he was even more so, and much open with his thoughts and words.  He was everything she had always loved about him, but more.  As much as she dreaded seeing the scars and wounds all over him, his experience apart from her had rendered them much more connected and immersed in each other.  For a moment, she flashed back to his tight stomach, his beautiful form over her, his hand touching her the way she loved, and his expression as he moved inside her with his body and loved her with his heart.


Blair noticed that Maybel was having trouble reaching the pond, and the mare lightly neighed in frustration, at which Todd jerked awake.  "Oh, I fell asleep," he said, looking around him for a moment.


"Yeah, you did.  Or we did."


"You're still here."


"Of course, what did you expect?"


"I don't know.  Not sure what I expect.  Every day is an adventure for me.  I never know what I'm going to get.  I figured that out nine years ago, when I woke up, without you, without anyone, strapped to that chair."


A slight queasiness came over her when he spoke about it, even now.  She'd seen the chair, first hand.  She'd even been fastened to it, and she'd seen a small slice of the tortures he endured.  It was behind them, but it still made her feel sick.  She wondered how he could go on and be part of everyday life after what he had gone through.  With the boys gone on the cruise in Europe with Viki, they both had been able to face more of their feelings and be supportive to the others' plight.  At times, and more again recently, he still woke, sweating and gasping, while she still found it hard to face the world sometimes after losing Sommer.


But, he was there, always there, pushing her along toward life.  And, she had no knowledge that right then, at that very moment in their silence, lying with each other, he was thinking the same thing about her.  He saw her grab her blouse and pull it on.  He said, "Cold?"


"A little chilled, not really cold."  She moved closer to him, and he hugged her in, and she felt the warmth from him cover her.  "That's better," she said.


He took the end of the blanket and pulled it over, creating a cocoon around them.  He said, "Do we have to go back?"


She smiled and nestled into his chest.  "I know, just us against the world.  This reminds me of something."


"Under the blanket, the stables, right?"


"A little, yeah.  Look at us, Todd.  It's almost twenty years ago."


"I know, Babe.  It's hard to believe sometimes, but here we are."


"Yeah, here we are."  They both closed their eyes again, Blair drifting into sleep again, and him, gently holding her.  A few moments passed and he heard the muffled buzzing of her cell phone, and at first, thinking it was a bee or angry hornet, he looked around him searching for the sound.  She stirred and said, "My cell phone.  We might want to get it, could be the kids."  She scrambled to a sitting position and her breasts fell forward through the open blouse she had thrown on.  At that moment, he realized he was still naked, and stood to jump into his pants.  He buckled them, while she searched for her phone through her things.  It was thrown to the side, resting in the grass.  He put his shirt back on and pulled his hair back into the ponytail again, a strand falling into his face.  As he worked on his shoes, she was dialing back the number she got the call from.


She said, "Viki?  Is that you? How are you and the boys doing?" and waited for the response.  Her face slowly changed from pleasant recognition to alarm.  She shot her face upward and found his eyes, and as they met, she broke into tears and put out her hand, offering the phone to him, covering her mouth.  


He grabbed the phone and said, "Sis, what is it?"


He stopped short, and through her tears, she saw his face sink.  His complexion paled.  "What do you mean?"  Blair put her face into her hands, and rested her head on her knees.  She was half-dressed, and still on the blanket.  She was afraid to watch his face, and hid her eyes as she cried.  She heard him say, "Where did this happen?  Yeah, well, we'll be right there."


He went to her on the blanket, and put his arms around her, "Come on, we're going.  Get your clothes on, we'll ride back and get on the copter and go to the airport now."


"Can it be...Carlo? How can this happen?"  She sounded far away.


"Carlo's dead, Blair.  I don't know," he said, handing her the bra and her leggings, and putting his hand out to help her up.  Trying to avoid the panic that was rising in his throat, he focused on her, and helped her balance as she redressed.


This was it.  Was Carlo tormenting them from the grave?  Was there some curse, that he had tried to push out of his mind, on him and his family for as long as they lived?  He asked these questions, and more inside his head, as he tried to support her and give her his strength.  She was white, her hands were shaking, and she was audibly sobbing as she forced herself to get her clothing back on.  She stumbled a bit, and accidentally fell against him, but rested there, and gave in to tears.  "Oh, Todd," she cried, and then softly, "no, oh, please."


He took a moment to comfort her, but inside him, he wanted to race to the airport and get them out of the country and over to Greece.  He almost lost patience with her, but reminded himself what she must be going through.  She's just lost a child.  She's terrified to lose another.  She's been your lifeline, even while apart.  Calm it down, Manning.


He waited, and to his relief, within a few minutes she said, "We have to go, Todd.  Now."  She raced to Sheik, and mounted.  Todd got the blanket, repacked it, and got on Maybel with a slight clumsiness.  He was not as graceful as Blair was in dealing with horses, at least not yet.  


They rode back to the stables at the highest pace that he could manage.  She let him lead, so that she would not leave him too far behind.  Pulling the horses back into the stables, they made their way to the copter, and loaded themselves in.  He concentrated, as to steady his hands, because he had to fly them on to the airport.  Then, he would load them into the jet and take off.  He had her call ahead to his pilot, and he heard her say, "Get there now, or lose the job.  It's an emergency.  Our son is missing."


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