Skyjackers - Episode 3: The Winds of Justice (Skyjackers: Season One) by J.C. Staudt Page A

vibrant with new growth, the flower beds
fragrant with sweet perfume. Lydia’s wheelchair was heavy, but Jonathan found
it manageable once he got it moving. A path led through the tall grasses behind
the house and into the thick forest beyond. Though she wore plaster casts
around her leg and midsection, Lydia didn’t appear to be in pain as the chair
bumped and rolled over banks and divots in the path. They crossed a small
footbridge and stopped on the opposite bank of the creek running beneath,
watching dogwood flowers as they floated to rest on the water’s surface and
rode the rapids downstream.
    “I’m pleased you were able to visit so soon,” Lydia said.
    “I got some unexpected time off,” said Jonathan.
    “It seems you were able to find me without very much trouble.
I’m not sure whether to be scared or delighted.”
    Jonathan laughed. “I did have some trouble finding
you. It was worth the effort, though. I’m glad to see you’re getting on well.”
    “Father takes good care of me,” she said. “I worry about him
sometimes. He works very hard, but gardening isn’t enough to get by on these
days. He’s taken to traveling round to the estate houses, looking for work
under one of the high families. At least, he was in the process of doing so…
before the accident.”
    Jonathan didn’t know what to say. He considered offering his
condolences, but the gesture struck him as hollow.
    “My mother died when I was twelve,” Lydia said. “In case you
were going to ask. It was typhoid fever.”
    “I’m… sorry.”
    “Will you tell me about your family? I recall you said it was
just your mother and sister now.”
    “That’s right,” said Jonathan. “I’ll be off to visit them
after this. I should be there now, but I’m sort of… procrastinating.”
    “Has it been long since you’ve seen them?”
    “Longer than my sister would’ve liked.”
    “Don’t you get on?”
    “Not always. But that’s not it.”
    “What, then?”
    “My mother is sick. Has been for years now.”
    Lydia touched his arm. “I’m so sorry.”
    Jonathan took a step toward the creek, moving out of reach.
    “You don’t like seeing her in poor health,” Lydia said.
    “I don’t like seeing what her life has become. She forgets
things. People. I don’t like knowing that someday soon, she’ll forget me
altogether.”
    Lydia was silent. They stayed there by the creek for a while,
watching the water go by. When she reached for Jonathan’s hand, he didn’t pull
away.
    By the time they got back to the cottage later that
afternoon, Lydia was exhausted. Jonathan helped her into bed for a nap, after
which Mr. Lambert made tea from his home-grown stock. The two men sat at the
kitchen table to talk as they watched the sun set behind the trees.
    “She hasn’t been the same since the accident, you
understand,” said Mr. Lambert.
    “I imagine it’s been difficult,” Jonathan said.
    “She, eh… comes and goes.” Mr. Lambert waved a hand in front
of his face as if to erase something.
    Jonathan nodded. “I remember the doctor telling me she’d been
concussed. Have the symptoms been severe?”
    “There are moments when she doesn’t know who I am. She has
these… spells. They never last long, but…” He pursed his lips. “It’s alarming
to look into your own child’s eyes and not see a hint of recognition.”
    Jonathan knew the feeling. Between a mother who was losing
her mind and a young woman who was fighting to get hers back, he’d begun to
feel as though he were on the brink of madness himself.
    “Listen, Captain Thorpe.”
    “You don’t have to call me captain,” Jonathan said.
    “Mr. Thorpe, then. I know we don’t know each other very well
yet, but my Lydia is very fond of you. We’ve an extra mattress made up in the
loft. You’re welcome to stay as long as you like. Heavens know I owe you far
more than that for saving my little girl.”
    “You don’t owe me a thing, Mr. Lambert.”
    “Oh, but I