Saturday found Rhys and Lou in the town library, researching the history of the church and the Black Death plague that had ravaged the town in the thirteen hundreds so that Rhys could write an account of how the plague had affected life in what had been a small market town. He sat with his head buried in a book while Lou browsed the shelves nearby.
A hand fell heavily on Rhys’ shoulder. “Hello again young man.” A deep voice greeted him warmly and he looked up into Greg the archaeologist’s bright green eyes.
“Hi Greg.” Rhys grinned. “Mrs Hartshorn gave us homework; we have to write about what it might have been like living here when everyone had plague.”
“A bit like now I’d imagine with all the news about that nasty flu, only the plague was worse and people died. Imagine living with not knowing if your next door neighbour was ill or if they had something that was so infectious you’ll probably catch it and if you catch it you’ll most likely die. Imagine not being able to go to a doctor or the hospital to get medicines but being stuck at home being ill or watching your mum be ill and knowing she was going to die?” Greg, as he had before, came up with the imagery that sparked Rhys’ imagination.
“You seemed very taken with that tree in the church yard yesterday.” Greg sat down beside Rhys.
“Who are you and what do you think you’re doing with my son?” Lou arrived and sat on Rhys’ other side protectively.
“It’s OK Mum; this is Greg the archaeologist from the trip yesterday.” Rhys told her.
“Dr Gregory Jackson, senior archaeologist at the church dig.” Greg introduced himself and held out a strong hand with a smile. “Sorry if I worried you, I was impressed with your young man here when the school came to see us yesterday so I wanted to say Hi when I spotted him in here. We were just talking about the plague.”
Lou narrowed her eyes but accepted his hand and shook it. “Rhys is all I have Dr Jackson, he’s only ten and I don’t want anything happening to him.”
“Of course not and I should have realised he would have a responsible adult with him from whom I ought to have obtained permission before approaching Rhys.” He leaned back in his chair. “I apologise again.”
“Apology accepted.” Lou finally smiled, believing that Greg meant no harm. “I get overprotective at times.”
“And so you should. He’s a remarkable young man with an intuition that reminds me of myself at his age.” Greg glanced at his watch. “I have to go. I’m presenting a talk on the plague, the church and the dig in ten minutes. Would you like to come and listen?”
“Can we Mum?” Rhys had been watching them both to see where the conversation was going to end up and he hadn’t been paying the slightest bit of attention to the book he was meant to be reading for his homework. “Please?”
Lou thought for a long moment, wanting to stay but worried about car park charges and also wanting to get home. “As long as it’s not going to be too long, we have to get home for our lunch soon.”
“I do have a tendency to ramble, but I’d love to see young Rhys there and you might enjoy it too.” Greg smiled warmly at them and got up and walked away without looking back.
“Mum?” Rhys closed his book and looked at her with a pleading look on his face. “Please Mum? I’m not hungry yet. I want to go and listen. Greg’s really interesting. I like him.” He shuffled in his seat, waiting anxiously for her decision.
“OK then, but only if it’s not too long.” She smiled as his face lit up and hated having to qualify it for him. “We do have to get home in time for lunch and I do have to consider what it’s going to cost to get the car out of the car park to go home.”
“Thanks Mum.” Rhys leapt from his seat and raced after Greg, slowing when he was told to by library staff and he only caught sight of Greg at the door to the lecture theatre that he was using for his talk. “Greg!” He called, looking back to see Lou catching up.
Lou stopped when she saw the sign at the door to the lecture theatre which told her that tickets were ten pounds each and would include a buffet lunch. “Rhys, we can’t.” She whispered.
Greg turned. “Rhys and Mrs Rhys.” He greeted them again. “I’m sorry, young Rhys here didn’t tell me his second name or your name. Most remiss of him.” He gathered Lou by the arm and pulled her through the door. “These two are my guests.” He insisted and led them both to seats right at the front. “And you can stay for the lunch too, they’ve provided far too much.”
“I’m Lou.” She told him as she slid into her seat.
“Pleased to meet you Lou. We’ll talk a bit later?” His green eyes were bright and Lou just nodded as he turned and walked to the front to start his talk. As he spoke about the church, the history of the town and his archaeology, Lou could see why Rhys liked him. He was lively and vibrant and really brought the dusty old history alive with his words. Active and agile he wandered about the stage rather than standing at the provided podium and his extravagant gestures captivated everyone, causing peels of laughter as often as groans and hisses of shock at his very graphic descriptions that left little to the imagination. Rhys lapped it all up, gazing unblinkingly, eyes riveted to the man in front of him. Lou sat beside Rhys and basked in her pride at a son so fascinated by a history lesson, even one so well presented. She looked up at the rows of seats behind her and realised the lecture theatre wasn’t anywhere near full and that it was mostly older people listening. It was a shame, she thought to herself, that he couldn’t be doing this with a room full of school kids who would soak up the information like sponges and he might inspire some to follow him into university and getting good qualifications and good, interesting jobs. For a moment she allowed herself to imagine Rhys as a grown man, standing up there talking to an audience, holding them in the palm of his hand as he spoke.
After he’d finished they stopped for the buffet lunch which was simple but plentiful as promised and Greg was besieged by a group of what looked like adoring fans and archaeology buffs in tweed jackets with leather patches on the elbows. He was smiling as he answered their questions and eating from a plate of food as they spoke, but he kept glancing over towards Lou and Rhys with a shrug and an apologetic look. Eventually Lou felt she couldn’t stay any longer and having eaten a good lunch for free she felt they really should make their way home so she edged to the group surrounding Greg to say thank you and good bye. He pressed a card into her hand, politely asking her to let Rhys stay in touch if he had anything he wanted to ask about the dig or if he wanted to come down and help over the following weekend then he’d be very welcome. Then they drove home.
Saturday afternoon was spent doing neglected housework, right through until their regular Saturday evening TV program which they watched while eating slices of pizza from a large plate on the low table in between their two armchairs. They laughed together and they argued over the last slice, which Rhys ended up eating before he was sent upstairs for a bath and to go to bed. After seeing the Darkling at the church he wasn’t expecting it to turn up again and he wasn’t disappointed.
Tags: 2009, darkling, Nano, NaNoWriMo, November, portal series, rhys