Chapter 7. Venus

1894 St.Ives England

Innis could hear his twin daughters starting to stir in the

nursery. It was still dark outside. He gently patted them

till they were quiet and watched as Charlotte and Beatrice

reached for each other in their sleep.

That's all any of us want he thought to himself.

As he got back into bed Miriam turned to him and said that

she'd just had a dream about her Mother.

Innis had never met her Miriam's Mother. She'd died when

Miriam was still in her teens - long before they'd met.

"We were sitting on the house stairs and she was brushing

out my hair. My sister Edith and I used to put twigs and flowers

in our hair and run wild in the forest and hedgerows

pretending to be druid princesses."

Innis smiled at the thought of it.

"As Mother was brushing my hair, she told me that we would

be alright."

"Who would be?" Innis asked.

"The baby and me."

Innis sat up. "Are you pregnant?"

"I've been thinking I might be."

The twins had been a difficult pregnancy. He reached for

Miriams' hand under the blankets. Through the windows Innis

could see the night sky starting to lighten.

"Not much chance of going back to sleep now," he said,

"I'll fix us some tea."

"Let me finish." Miriam said.

"On the step next to her was a beautiful statue of a peacock.

I'd never seen it before - so in my dream I asked Mother about it."

Innis felt his chest start to tighten.

"Mother said she was minding it for someone."

Trying to keep the fright out of his voice, Innis asked Miriam

if her Mother had said anything else. Miriam didn't answer.

He looked over and saw that she was fast asleep.

Innis had talked to Miriam about his time in Australia.

He told her about some of the things he'd seen and done.

He'd never told her about the Loch Ard shipwreck or the peacock.

It had been almost 5 years since he'd returned to England.

He'd settled in Cornwall, married and started a family.

In all that time not a word or a whisper from Eurides.

Why was she speaking to him now? and why through Miriam?

He got out of bed, checked on the girls and went into

the garden to think. It was cold. He started a small fire in the

corner of the yard and warmed his hands.

Low on the horizon, only Venus and Jupiter remained of the

night sky. Innis watched the sun rise and thought about the

second chance that Eurides had given him.

"Let's just wait and see." he said to himself

His breath steamed in the morning air.

.

*

Before the birth, the mid-wife listened to the baby's

heartbeat and declared it to be that of a young bull.

"If it's a boy,'' Innis said. "His name will be Finn."

Miriam smiled weakly and squeezed his hand.

The mid-wife shuffled Innis out of the room.

Miriams' Father Finn was one of the most decent men

that Innis had ever met and he was gone now too.

The wind howled across the roof tops for most of the

night and Innis could still hear it tugging at the

shuttered windows.

"Miriam is resting now." the mid-wife said as she handed

him his swaddled newborn son.

Baby Finn yawned and stretched in his arms

"It's been a long nights travel." Innis said.

Baby Finn opened his eyes and smiled.

"You don't see that too often," the mid-wife said.

"He seems to know who you are already."

Innis looked into his sons' hazel eyes and knew that his

agreement with Eurides had changed.

He held baby Finn close and enjoyed the smell of his hair.

*