Chapter XXVII Fields of fire

Scar

Andrew, being a guitar lover, seeing that one was hanging on the wall, asked Sandy for permission to take it. Having the guitar in his arms he began to tear his strings to tune it, he quickly managed to adjust it so he began to play and sing a marine chorus that he had heard now in the extended days that he now had on the island. Everyone was amazed by the musical ear that he showed them, Sandy remembered that as a child the sailor of the portrait, father of her new friends Mindy and Angeline, had as a favorite song the one that Andrew was playing gracefully. So she commented:

"I can confirm that this melody that Andrew is playing now was one of your father's favorites.

When he came here he always took me in his arms to kiss me.

He also take me comfort when I suffered an incident with a dog that left this scar on my face "

(end 5 minutes)

The episode of Sandy with her scar made Thomas remember his days from when he was a boy with his father the sailor Thomas, one day when he was in that same pub where they were now, a girl came crying inconsolably for having been bitten by a dog, the scared hug to one of the legs of his burly father trying to cover himself.

Everyone at the table started to laugh, Andrew had to stop singing, at the moment he did not understand what was happening and the reason for their laughter, John with his gifts of philanthropic man was speechless since until now his world had turned around achieving a planned and smooth life. The coincidences that were taking place now in that pub were far from what being a person who claimed to be an atheist could happen. Peter, knowing that coincidences were not simply due to a twist of fate, knew that behind everything they had always been marked by God who knows everything and who sees everything, that nothing escapes him and that people who are confident and good always find it.

Peter, with the liveliness of the conversation, although I appreciate that perhaps it was not the time to convey his ideas, said:

"Friends, we are always under the judgment of God, this moment He allowed it, that's why we are here"

At those profound words, everyone was silent without being able to contradict him, until outside a dog began to bark, justifying the scar she had on her face.

Mindy, now reply:

"You are right, Peter we must always be grateful, life teaches us many things"

That said, when they saw the late hour they said goodbye, it would be another time that they would see each other in that significant place.

Life

Life as manager of the bar is hard for Sandy, that night the visit of those personalities gave her a new air, Thomas her friend always stopped by at least once a week, she thanked his visits for their sympathy and affection. A true friendship had developed between them that lasted through time. As she was a prepared person with a university degree in business sciences, managing that pub made her feel that it had not been worth the effort she made during her university studies, so just on the days when her depression was greatest, he appeared with his communication that led her to get excited again and think about the good things in life. Her emotional life also with the burden of having gone through a divorce generated a wall for her that only Thomas could break. However, even without expressing his true feelings towards her they made her continue to hope that at some point, he proposed to start a family, this and his way of being calmed her, making her forget the streaks of bitterness she suffered during the week.

Bankruptcy

On the way back, John's limousine with everyone there appreciated having been in the pub in which Sandy had kindly attended to them, John informed them that now with everything resolved he would begin to speed up the procedures for the definitive transfer of the entire legacy of Thomas to each of his children. He now asked them to bring him a document detailing the part of the goods that each of them would enjoy. Peter as legal adviser promised at that time that they would work on it and present the document to him in a couple of days, after they discussed the matter privately with each of them. Hearing that, Andrew was somewhat annoyed since during the last weeks he had always been present in the discussions.

Already when Peter left them in the villa that Thomas had rented, Mindy and Angeline felt liberated from the screw that the continuous presence of John had meant to them at the time they were in the pub, despite the fact that he paid for the consumption of that night.

When John, Peter and Thomas were finally left alone, the heir felt as if he were crossing turbulent waters, none of those men inspired him with absolute confidence since, being inhabitants of the island, perhaps they had known each other since childhood and had shared some mischief. So he remained silent until they left him at home.

Peter once more alone with John thanked him for the time they had shared, while congratulating him on the clarity of his report and what he expressed that afternoon. However, he continued to warn him that as Mindy's lawyer, he must know that "a dog when it bites never releases its prey". When Peter heard him say that, the only thing left to tell him was that as an honorable man he was, the final wish of the sailor Thomas that his children enjoy their inheritance would be fulfilled. Upon arriving at the final destination that night, Peter got out of the limo, said goodbye and resolutely boarded his vehicle.

John, now I was only thinking about how to take advantage of all that fortune that Thomas left his children, being the chief executor of the bank, to get rid of the residual benefit that the sailor's properties generate could mean a low golpe for the bank that can bring them even until bankruptcy.

Moments of happiness

Mindy after saying goodbye to her sister and Andrew, when entering her room she could not avoid tears running down her face, that day she had lived many emotions together that inevitably were leading to a change in the route of the ship of her life protected by her father's shadow, was grateful for the fact that she had found a good lawyer without whose advice it would have been impossible to solve the riddle in which everything related to her father had remained. In those moments of her meditation, she was appreciated the fact that her father had not communicated absolutely nothing about the existence of his other children, since in the last moments of his life that they shared together that would not have made any difference, but rather could have been clouded the moments of happiness they lived when he was a old man.

Angeline, being a simple village woman, still did not assimilate the abrupt change that her life had undergone, first when she was presented with the opportunity to meet her sister from the city of whom her father always longed for the first years that he had lived with her, now shocked by the fact that she knew for sure that finally the sailor was her true biological father, since her mother had never confirmed it to her while she was alive, she always thought that he had adopted her. Both never got married because of the impediment that he had never managed to divorce his first wife, Mindy's mother, although she was coldly thinking that she was always the first love of his life that he never forgot, so much so that he was able to leave her sad and abandoned on the island where they shared almost all their lives, even for the time that she and her father lived together, she could never know well what her past had been and the fortune he had. It was only when she met Charles at the nursing home and through Andrew, who was commenting on some of the excerpts from her father's personal diary, that she managed to reveal his hidden past. Something that is now motivating her is the affection that her friend Thomas is showing her, until now they have only shaken hands with affection but they have not had gestures beyond that that commit them to a more serious relationship. However, her friendship with him has allowed her to forget her previous disappointment at her divorce with her first husband. All this allows her to know that happiness is achieved with the daily effort that each person pursues in their life.

Thomas Jr., Thomas's hidden son, the present moment he was living knowing that his mysterious father, whom he had only known in early childhood and had never seen again, now valued that despite the definitive absence of his aura He remained over time, even though he ran into his father's old companions who told him about some episodes of his seafaring life, when he returned some time to the pub where Sandy worked, he always remembered the moment she was bitten by the dog and he in his innocence held tight to his father's legs. Sandy, now a woman, was attractive to him, leading him to seriously think that their friendship could eventually lead them to the altar. As a believing man, he was confident that everything that was happening at that time was designated by God, only thanking him that He was straightening the crooked paths that his father had traveled in his adventures as a sailor. He valued that the appearance of his sisters was that of good, committed and valued people. He was still not very excited about the fortune that his father left him since he would only believe it when the corresponding transfers had been made and the last paper was signed, he had the doubt of the seriousness that Peter had expressed so far, he thought that managing others' money can always have a hidden agenda that benefits them. Mindy's lawyer, a man well versed in law, could sell himself to the highest bidder, so until he proves otherwise, his perception of him will not change. Already now at home and freed from the weight of the commitment to claim his inheritance, he turned on the TV and went to the refrigerator, took a sleeping pill and finally fell asleep thinking about Sandy and how happy they together will tackle the challenges of life.

Until now Andrew did not regret having accompanied Mindy and Angeline on that adventure, although he did not expect anything in return until now his motivation had been focused on knowing the way of life of the ancient sailors who risked their lives by defeating the storms of the sea, everything he had thought about it and the interviews he had had with some of the inhabitants of the island simple people with a glorious past led him to think that the task he had come to accomplish in those parts then could reflect it in written form in an adventure book in which real characters were assigned fictitious names. His new adventure friends Mindy and Angeline offered him a love from which he had always been away, having had parents with problems in their marriage, he had always thought that people would naturally be equal to them. Also the fact of having gone into the stories told in Thomas' diary led him to become involved with a character who, even after death, continues to battle to overcome the force of the sea. Already having been in that pub and learning closely about the childhood moments of Thomas and Sandy's son, he saw that in their eyes they anticipated a possible marriage not yet declared. already with all this in his mind he was preparing for the promise of a happy ending next to Angeline who he perceived that she liked him.

Peter after John left him at his house, thought that everything up to that moment turned out to be a fantasy, his experience as a lawyer led him to think that in the end it could happen that they were before a land devastated by fields of fire in which the water could be useless, he now had a special affection for Mindy that he never felt when he was married to his first wife, even when they were dating, only now he had to maintain a relationship with her and her brothers from one point of view strictly professional and not entangled with false promises of uncertain love. He certainly had a great time with them in the pub, only the sickly interest that John was trying to hide was somewhat disturbing, but that because of his experience as a lawyer he was convinced that all his polite behavior could be a falsehood. Favorably solving the case of the inheritance of the children of Thomas meant for him to achieve a goal that he had always pursued.

(the story continues)

© 2020, Felix Garcia P. All rights reserved