Broken Pieces

[Sabrina]

Wow, great chapter.

Jack and Martha had coffee together - yay

I can't believe Lucas pushed Mattie I'm glad Henry was there for her.

I'm glad that Robbie apologised to Jack. Hopefully they can be friends again eventually

I wonder what the initials 'SH' stand for?

Looking forward to the next chapter.

[Barbara]

Oh Jack and Martha had coffee. Too bad, Robbie came so soon and ruined things even though Jack didn't really have to go. I'm glad Robbie came to apologise. Hopefully, they'll be friends again at some point.

I'm really not liking Lucas in this fic. He's horrible. He's too much like his father. Matilda isn't his possession. He might think she belongs with him but she doesn't belong to him!

I'm glad you wrote Henry in this fic. I love how he is there for his sister and wants to protect and help her.

S.H.? Could S.H. be Jack's mother? Tony said he loved Jack's mother so much, more than he ever loved any other woman. And it says "I'll love you forever" on the ring so it could make sense.

I'm really looking forward to the next chapter! Please update soon.

[pamy]

Chapter 9

From T.H. to S.H. I’ll love you forever.

The ring must mean something. To whoever lost it, the ring must one day have mattered. A lot. But to her it doesn’t’ mean anything. The ring could have something to do with her mom’s murder, and it could not. For all she knew one of her mom’s friends had lost it. For all she knew the maid had lost it. She simply doesn’t know. But she wants to know. Even if it has nothing to do with it. Somebody out there is missing this ring. And she should find whoever that person is. If only to return it.

Because it’s important. To someone out there. T.H., whoever he was, must have loved her, S.H., very much. Forever as the ring indicated. That must mean that she or he missed the ring. Maybe they thought somebody had stolen it. Or maybe they had stopped loving each other and weren’t even aware that it was missing. Sometimes Martha thinks about love. She wants to believe that there are people out there that actually love each other. People who can fall in love and spend the rest of there live together, without there love ever wavering. Sometimes she believed in it, sometimes she had trouble with it. Her parents sure never had that.

If there is that kind of love out there, doesn’t she deserve to have it as well?

****

15 years. 15 years have passed since he last saw them.

Martha was just a little girl. His little princess. She used to love unicorns and fairy tales. And Ric, his boy, was just a baby. He probably doesn’t even know anything about him. If he would meet him on the street he probably would walk right past him, without ever knowing who he was. Though honestly he probably would have done the same. He hadn’t known what they looked like for so long. He can’t take his eyes of the pictures. John had returned not long after he left, probably realizing he would want to see the pictures as soon as possible.

His daughter is beautiful. She looks just like her mother.

Exactly the same. And his boy is so grown up. Tears shine in his eyes as he examines the pictures one by one. To think this is the closes he has been to his children in 15 long years. ‘You alright ?’ ‘Just tell me what you found out.’ For a split second John wonders what he should tell him first. Quickly however he realizes that Brett will want to know about his children first. ‘They’re okay. I didn’t found out much about them, they haven’t been there for so long. But they look alright.’ ‘What about the rest.’ ‘There are five families who had a song your daughter’s age, at least ones that were in your circle. I’ve already ruled out two.’ ‘You sure they’re not the ones we’re looking for?’ ‘Positive?’ ‘Yeah. There’s the Holden’s, the Hunter’s and the Burnett’s.’ ‘Okay. Try to find out more. I want to know who murdered my wife.’ ‘and when we do?’ ‘Then I want to make him pay.’

His eyes wonder back to the picture. And for just one second he wondered if this was a good idea. He would probably turn himself from an innocent man into a guilty one. His children would hate him, he would lose them.

Then again he already lost them a long time ago.

****

Henry had never thought this would happen.

He’s always liked Luke. He was a nice enough guy, sure not one of his best friends, but a nice guy. And he doesn’t understand. He doesn’t understand how a guy, who just a couple of months ago helped him with a school assignment, could turn around and become someone else entirely. He doesn’t understand. He doesn’t understand at all, but that does not change what happened. And it does not change what he did. He understands that all couples fight, and if that was all that had happened he wouldn’t be looking for Luke. He’d be letting them figure it out on their own. But that’s not all that happened.

And he will not stand for anybody hurting his sister. Nobody will hurt Matilda, especially not somebody that supposed to love her. He’s not sure what happened, not sure at all. Mattie told him what happened, but she didn’t even understand it. And if she couldn’t understand what was wrong with Luke, how is he supposed to. Still he’s talking to him. Because nobody just does this. Nobody. ‘Holden!’ ‘Hey Henry, everything alright?’ ‘Don’t you even try to act innocent. Mattie told me what happened.’ ‘Look we were just fighting okay.’ ‘Yeah there’s having a fight and then there is pushing my sister. You don’t do that.’ ‘I didn’t mean to. I don’t know what happened. One minute we were arguing the next…’ ‘Don’t even give me that crap. Look I don’t care why you did it, or what’s wrong with you, but I’m warning you. If you ever hurt her again, you will regret it. I don’t care who your dad is or who your friends are. Nor do I care your brother is a cop. You are not hurting her again. Period.’ Henry has never in his life threatened someone. But he doesn’t regret it either.

****

He had never before felt like this. He had many emotions trough his life, like every other teenager, but he has never been in love. At least he doesn’t think he has been, he’s never paid much attention to it. Maybe earlier, when he was younger, he had once had a crush, like most other boys. But never truly in love, yet he feels something now. It’s not love, of course it is not, he hasn’t know her long enough for that, but it is something. It is something and it is strong. He’s never felt like this, never did he think he would feel like this, but he surely feels like it now. He can’t stop it, yet he can’t act on it.

She has a boyfriend and he doesn’t believe in love. He is simply walking on the beach, he really wasn’t looking for her not at all, he didn’t want to run into her, at least that’s what he tells himself. Sometimes he wonders how his life would have been if his mother had lived, would it have been better? Would it have been worse? If his father had not murdered his mother, they would have stayed married, but if they had wouldn’t that have been worse? It doesn’t matter, he’ll never know, because in the end things still happened the way they did. So he’s not trying to find her, he really isn’t, he’s sure nobody would believe him if he told them this, he doesn’t even believe it himself. He wasn’t looking for her, but when runs into her on the beach, it still makes him happy.

*****

She simply had to get out of the house. She couldn’t stay in there anymore, it was making her completely crazy, so she went out for a walk. She hoped she wouldn’t run into Luke, so she made sure there were always people around her, just in case she did and he went crazy like that again. She couldn’t believe she was actually thinking about Luke like that, but she had to, even if she couldn’t believe it herself. She couldn’t understand what had happened, couldn’t believe he had done that. She loved him so much, it were those new friends of his, they changed him. Or maybe he had always been like this, but she had never actually noticed it. She runs into Ric, she hadn’t meant for it, but it does help her a bit.

She still wasn’t sure what she felt for this guy, he was cute and she certainly felt attracted to him, but that doesn’t’ actually mean something. And even if it did, that still didn’t give Luke the right to treat her like that, it was her life and she decided what to do with it. ‘Hey there. You trying to get to know the beach.’ ‘Yeah, I thought a walk would give me something to do.’ ‘You ever been here before?’ ‘I was born here, but I moved before I could truly remember anything about it.’ ‘oh, what about your sister?’ ‘She was six, so she doesn’t remember much about it either.’ ‘And your parents?’ ‘They’re dead.’ ‘You want me to show you around town?’ ‘Sure, why not. It would be a good idea, seeing as I have already gotten lost once’ ‘Really? In this town.’ She smiled, he didn’t know anyone in this town, he really needed some friends. She could decide who she was friends with, and who she wasn’t, she was Luke’s girlfriend not his property. Besides Ric is nice, and respectful and not shy at all. She thinks she can really like this guy, as a friend of course.

****

He was still shocked Henry had actually said that. Who the hell did he think he was? He had absolutely nothing to do with this. He had not right to get in the middle of a fight between him and Matilda. Sure he admits he should have pushed her, that was wrong and he’s not entirely sure how it happened, and he really hadn’t meant for it to happen. It was an accident, but even if it hadn’t been, Henry did not have the right to get in the middle, this was between him and Matilda. It had nothing to do whit him. He would find a way to make things better, he hadn’t done anything wrong, though he does think he’ll need more than flowers to get her to listen to him. It’s when he sees them that he gets angry again.

He can’t believe her. Just this morning he told her he didn’t want her to hang out with that guy. He’s not even sure what his name is, but he doesn’t like the way he looks at his girlfriend. She belongs to him, he has no right to look at her or talk to her. He watches as they walk across the beach towards the town, talking and laughing, and he gets angry again, because how dare she do this to him? How dare she even talk to this guy, after he told her what he wanted? He has to find out who that guy is, trying to find out what the hell he is doing here, and get him to leave. He would do anything to make sure they never talked again. Anything at all.

*****

Robbie had always like Tasha. When he first met her, he was still dealing with the whole Katie fall out, so he didn’t notice much about her. At least not in that way. She was the first person in that school to be nice to her, all people in his class knew what had happened, and nobody wanted to be friends with a guy who could betray his best friend. But Tasha was nice to him, she was new at school so she knew about nothing at all, and he liked that. She had become a friend of his, and maybe he might have someday thought about her in a different light, but then he discovered she lived in Jack’s house and was his best friend, and everything just went to hell. Jack had never liked them being friends, not that he can blame him.

Still now lately he’s been seeing her in that light. She’s standing beside him, they are standing in the ocean simply talking. And it hits him, very suddenly, he thinks he might be in love with her. But he can’t do anything, because Jack was his friend, and he can’t upset him anymore. He doesn’t deserve that. Tasha throws some water towards him and he throws some back, before they know it it is an entire water fight, and there are both soaked. And he wonders if Jack will ever be his friend again, and if Tasha will ever see him differently, and if he’ll ever get back what he lost. But even he knows he deserves neither of them.

******

She wasn’t looking for him. She wasn’t, the fact that she was going to the police station had nothing to do with Jack at all. She just needed to talk to Roy, ask him some questions. Alright, admittedly, she knew that Roy’s shift started in 30 minutes or so, and she knew that Jack would be there. But really she wasn’t going for him, she was going for Roy, not for Jack. She’s glad she doesn’t have to testify about this, because nobody would ever believe her at all. She smiles as she thinks of Jack, she deserves some happiness and love right? Jack was watching the phones, just like last time.

‘Hey.’ ‘Hey, are you looking for Roy again?’ ‘Yeah, I just need to talk to him, I’m not entirely sure where he lives, so I just come here instead.’ ‘Yeah, he’s not in right now, and it might take a while before he’s here, he’s only expected in a half hour, so if you want to come then? Or would you prefer to wait? Please say you want to stay, please say you want to talk to me, Jack thinks. ‘I can wait, I don’t really have much to do.’ ‘Sure, would you like something do drink?’ ‘No, I’m good. I was wondering, did I do something this morning? Because you were suddenly gone and…’ ‘No, I just really needed to get here, it had nothing to do with you. How do you know Robbie?’ ‘I’m staying at his caravan park. Was he the problem?’ ‘No, not really…So tell me something, what brings you back to Summer Bay?’ ‘Just wanted to know some things, needed some answers.’ ‘What about your family?’ ‘Well you met my brother, he’s sixteen.’ ‘Really? He’s my brother’s age, his name is Luke, he’s dating Matilda, Robbie’s younger sister, you might have met her.’ ‘Yeah I have.’

Martha can’t help but notice how easy it is to talk to him, how easy they get along. ‘What about your parents?’ ‘Euhm…My mom is dead.’ ‘I’m sorry.’ ‘It’s okay, and my father is not around for us. What about your parents?’ ‘My mom died when I was very small, I can’t remember much about her at all, and my dad is my dad, he’s there, he always was, but it’s like he isn’t you know.’ ‘Yeah, I know.’ Jack notices how quick she suddenly changes the subject after this, but he doesn’t really like to talk about his mother either, so he doesn’t question her about it. He’s sure he’s falling in love, he just hopes it won’t come back to bite him in the ass.

******

Roy arrives just on time, but Martha almost hoped he would be to late. She spend her time talking to Jack, and the more she gets to know him, the more she likes him. Still Roy arrives and Martha can’t do anything else but talk to him. She smiles at Jack and follows Roy into his office, it takes her some time to remember why she actually came. ‘It seems you get along quite well with Holden out there.’ ‘Yeah. He’s really nice. Listen I wanted to ask you something, this is going to sound a bit weird.’ ‘Okay.’ Martha takes out the ring and gives it to him. ‘I found this in Ric’s room fifteen years ago, and i never really checked it out, but yesterday I did and I found some initials. I guess I’m just wondering if they mean something to you, because somebody might miss it you know.’ Roy looks at the ring, he doesn’t think it means something at all.

Still he looks at the initials, he has to admit they do mean something, at least he thinks they do, but he’s not sure. And he doesn’t want to remind anyone of bad things that have happened to them. ‘I’m not sure actually. I think I need to check it out you know, go trough some paperwork. To be sure, not to send you on a wild goose chase. Do you mind if I get back to you?’ ‘No, of course not, it’s not really that important.’ Martha looks nervous, like she wants to ask something else but she’s afraid. Roy would never deny her asking any kind of questions. ‘Something else.’ ‘Yeah. It’s about Jack. He’s nice, and cute and I think I…’ ‘You like him?’ ‘Yeah, at least I think so. But I’m afraid, and I was wondering if you could tell me…’ ‘Martha, look at me. Jack is a good guy, I have to admit his family leaves something to be desired over, but he is a good guy. And if you let him in your heart, he won’t hurt you. Give him a chance, trust me.’ Martha smiles, she knows that Roy would never tell her that if he wasn’t a hundred percent sure. When she walks out she smiles at Jack again.

******

He never thought this shift would end. Seriously, he hopes he gets to do something soon, because the phones are getting really old. Still the visit from Martha was what made his day great. He thought about asking her out, but then Roy arrived and he couldn’t do it with him there, it’s just wrong. So he didn’t ask her out, and now he doesn’t run into her of course. He’ll ask her out another time. Right now his first priority is fixing his car, he had tried yesterday and the car is running again, but it’s making a very weird noise, and he can’t quite figure out where it came from. Ever since Robbie opened his shop he’s been avoiding it, but he can’t now not anymore. So he drives over, Robbie looks surprised and a bit happy to see him.

‘Hey, I guess you probably heard, it’s making a very weird noise.’ ‘Ill take a look at it for you.’ Robbie is happy Jack is here, because it’s a step forward, a small step but still. Normally he would make some kind of joke and talk to him, but he deems it better to wait for him. ‘You said you knew Martha from when she was younger.’ ‘Yeah, she used to live here, you probably heard about her, Martha Macklin.’ ‘The Macklin girl? You mean the daughter of the man who murdered his wife? Damn. No wonder she didn’t want to talk about her parents.’ ‘You talked to her again?’ ‘Yeah, she came to see Roy.’ ‘How’s it going at your job.’ ‘Great.’ In another time, when he talked to Robbie, he would have gone on a rant about the phones and the babysitting duty, but that was a lifetime ago, and things had changed. ‘Hey Jack, do you have any idea what’s going on with Luke and Mattie?’ ‘Something’s going on?’ ‘Yeah, when I got home earlier, Mattie and Henry were acting weird, and Luke called once, but she didn’t want to talk to him.’ ‘Well I know they had a fight, but I thought they figured it out, I’m not sure. It’s probably nothing, some kind of teenage trouble, they’ll figure it out on their own.’ ‘Yeah I guess, I was just curious.’

They kept talking about little things, it was nice and comforting in some way.

******

Roy thought he knew who the ring belonged to. He just didn’t understand how it got to Martha’s. First of all the woman he was thinking of died before Martha’s mom. Second that man had never been in her parent’s house, he was sure of it, so how did the ring get there? He didn’t want to tell her who he thought it was, in case he was wrong. Seeing as she seemed to be falling in love with Jack, she didn’t want her to bring up old wounds about his mother’s dead. Nor meat Tony Holden, he was sure even Jack would put that one of as long as possible. Still he thinks the ring might belong to Jack’s mom. He went to where they kept the files to find out. They had a file about her death somewhere.

That’s when he overheard it, he’s sure they never saw or heard him though. ‘He’s searching for something. And so are his children.’ ‘Look those children only came here for the truth that is in that file, they’ll never find out what really happened, nobody will.’ ‘He’s in Jail, Brett Macklin, is in jail and he wont stop. He might find out who really did this, and if he does we’re going down with him.’ ‘Nobody will find out. Nobody knows, beside you me and him, nobody knows. And nobody will ever know, now get back to work, let me think, I’ll figure out something.’ ‘Alright. Fine.’ Roy couldn’t move for a couple of seconds, but what he just heard shocked him. If he had heard what he thought he did, something went wrong, terribly wrong. He takes a deep breath, maybe he overheard wrong, after all they could have been talking about something else. Still he can’t shake of the doubt. He goes back determined to find the truth about everything.

******

Jack needed to borrow something from his dad. But of course every time he needed him, he wasn’t there. But he really needed it, and he knew where it was. In his dad’s office, it’s not like it was that important, and his father isn’t hiding anything so he goes in. He opens up the desk and begins to search, until he finds it. Of course he ends up pushing over a box, and all the papers and pictures spill out over the floor. He bends down and begins picking them up, cursing inside because he really doesn’t have the time. He stops as he reaches a picture of his mom, it freezes him. He’s never been good at watching a picture of his mom, and he’s sure he’s never seen this one, he turns it around reading what his dad wrote on the back. Sarah Holden, Honeymoon. That would explain it, he only had pictures from when he was a kid. The next picture was perhaps even more shocking.

He stares at the picture for a couple of seconds. Finally it dawns on him, that the woman in the picture looks exactly like Martha. Well not exactly, they look alike, but are also different. This must be Ruth, Martha’s mother, he had heard about her in town, just like everyone else. Still he’s sure he never actually met her, she wasn’t a friend of his father. Why did his father have a picture of Martha’s mom? In a box in which he obviously kept his most important stuff. So why? What did this picture mean? What was the connection? What the hell was going on here?

Next Chapter: Someone is forgiven, clues are discovered, someon goes on date, Tasha and Martha meet, and Martha and Ric vist their old house...

[Red Ranger 1]

Hmm!Definitely looks like there was something going on between Tony and Roo.And who was that that Roy heard?Lucas seems to be seriously losing the plot, I thought what Henry said might get through to him but he still doesn't see he did anything wrong.Nice that Jack and Robbie seems to be getting on better.

[Sabrina]

I love how Henry is so protective over Matilda. I'm glad he had a go at Lucas.

I'm glad Jack and Robbie are beginning to talk. Hopefully they can be friends again.

I love how Martha told Roy she likes Jack and how Roy told her to give Jack a chance

It does look like something happened between Ruth and Tony.

Next chapter sounds great

Update soon please.

[Barbara]

I'm glad Roy told Martha she could trust Jack.

Robbie and Jack are talking again. That's a good sign.

I wonder who was/were the person(s) Roy heard.

What is Lucas' problem? Matilda is allowed to talk to another boy. It doesn't mean she's cheating. I hope he heard Henry's speech or he'll be in big trouble if he hurts Matilda again.

Jack found a picture of Martha's mum in his dad's office and he knows what happened to Martha's mum. I wonder what he'll find out next.

The next chapter sounds really good. More please.

[pamy]

Chapter 10

For a second it seemed as if time stopped, as he sat there staring at the picture, but of course it doesn’t. Time keeps moving as he sits there frozen, trying to figure it all out, but nothing came to him. He simply doesn’t understand why his father would have a picture of a women that – to his knowledge at least – he had never known. He flips the picture around, to see if there is something written on the end, but there is only a name. He stays there, on the floor, until he hears a door slam and realizes his father has arrived. He doesn’t want to be caught, so he closes the box and places it back on the desk. He takes the picture, because he wants to understand, and he thinks it might be important.

He goes downstairs, the picture on his mind, trying to understand. Still he thinks, I was just a child back then, I could never have known all his friends, maybe they were friends and he kept the picture because she is dead. He thinks it might be nothing, and even if it is he’s not sure if it would actually mean something because it wouldn’t matter, Martha’s mom is dead, and he doesn’t want to drag all of that up. Still he meets his dad in the living room, just like every day, and he asks ‘Hey Jack, how was your day?’ ‘Alright. Nothing much happened.’ There’s silence, and for the first time Jack wants him to ask more, say anything, somewhere somebody listens to his prayers.

‘That’s good. Hey, you mentioned something about a girl yesterday?’ ‘Yeah,’ alright now Jack is simply shocked, because he was sure his father hadn’t heard that, hadn’t cared about that. ‘Martha. She came to visit Roy yesterday, and I met her, and she’s staying at the caravan park.’ This he thinks is his moment to say something, to find out something. ‘Robbie…’ ‘You’re talking to Robbie again?’ Even though he had never paid much attention to his oldest son, he had noticed how close Robbie and Jack had been and how they had stopped talking a few years ago (he’s not entirely sure what happened). ‘A little, not really, My car broke down and I had to go by his shop, it was making a weird noise. Anyway he said she’s the Macklin girl, you know Bret’s daughter.’ ‘The one who murdered his wife?’ ‘Yeah.’ Tony freezes at the knowledge of who the girl is, but he doesn’t give anything away, years of deception have taught him well. ‘Did you know them, back then?’ ‘No. I mean I heard the story, and I’m sure I saw them around town, but I never met them. Listen boy I have to go.’ ‘Yeah, sure.’

Jack stands there, wondering what the hell is going on, and swearing he’ll get to the bottom of it.

*****

Luke wants to know who he is and what he’s doing here.

How he dares to hang around his girl, pretending like she belongs to him. He send Drew on the mission to find out, he’s glad he’s made some new great friends. He thought for a moment to simply ask Robbie, but he might tell Matilda and that would be bad. He needs to use his brain, find a way to make Matilda forgive him, to convince her this will never happen again, because it will not. He will never hurt her again, that’s something he will never do again, and she has to understand.

Understand that she belongs to him, that’s all she needs to understand.

He sits there waiting for his friends to return and tell him who he was. He’s not sure how long it takes, but it does take a while. Finally Drew comes back, and Luke is glad because he’ll finally get some answers, he might be dangerous for all Mattie knows. ‘So, who is he?’ ‘Well his name is Ric, he’s here with his older sister and he’s staying at the caravan park.’ ‘Yeah, way to tell me the things I already knew, what about something new.’ Aden throws Drew a warning glance, thinking that maybe this is something Ric (whoever the hell he is), wouldn’t want to simply be told, but neither Luke nor Drew cares about this. ‘Well you know his parent’s, or at least their story.’ Luke sits up intrigued, while Aden simply shakes his head sometimes he wonders what the hell he is doing here. ‘The Macklin’s. Brett Makclin, his father, Ruth his mother.’ ‘Really. Interesting. Very interesting.’

Alright he’ll hand it to the guy, he had it hard, but he should stay away from his girl, if he does that they’ll get along fine.

******

Tony sits at his desk, his head hidden in his hands. Trying to calm down, breath easier, calm down. He had never thought they’d come back, never thought he’d see them again. But it’s okay, everything is okay, because nobody knows and Martha will never remember him, she’s to small for that. Still he can’t ignore, not even he can do that, the sparkle he saw in his son’s eyes, he cares about her. He doesn’t know much about her, but he cares, and Tony can’t have them getting close, can’t have him finding out the truth, it will shatter him, destroy them.

The phone rings, making him jump a little, he picks up with a shaking hand.

‘Hey man, we need to talk.’ ‘I thought I told you never to call me here, unless it’s an emergency.’ ‘Well it is, we really need to talk.’ ‘Fine. The usual place, in an hour.’ He hangs up without a goodbye, he doesn’t move for a couple of seconds. He gets up, puts on his jacket and leaves the house, he says goodbye to Jack, and he notices he looks at him kind of strangely, but he supposes that is because he never leaves the house before Luke arrives, but this seems to be important, otherwise he would have never called him. Still he leaves, as fast as he can, part of him wishing to see those kids again.

To know what happened to them, to convince himself they are alright.

****

Jack waited until he was sure his father wouldn’t come back, then he went back to his father study. He hadn’t thought his father would tell him the truth, but it had shattered his belief they might have been friends. Because if they were, there was no reason for his dad to lie about it. So that must mean they weren’t, but then why did he have her picture? He knew the world wasn’t black and white, that his father and Ruth could have had an affair, he doesn’t deny it, but he didn’t have to lie. Could have said they were friends, instead he said they had never met. Why?

Jack closes the door behind him and walks to the desk. He’s not entirely sure what he’s looking for, but he wants to understand and get to the bottom of it. Right now. He goes trough his drawers and all of his paper work, and ends up with nothing. He turns around towards the library and stares at all the books. No way is he checking them all, he’d still be busy tomorrow. His eyes are drawn to a couple of books on the top shelf, that seem to be older and different than the rest. He takes them out, simply to see which ones they are, when he discovers a stack of papers behind them. He hears the door open and close downstairs and realizes that Luke has come home. He takes the papers (he thinks he might be going overboard but he just wants to understand, he’ll return everything later, his dad will never know) and makes his way downstairs.

He remembers Robbie said that Luke and Mattie were fighting, he thinks he might be right. ‘Hey luke, you good?’ ‘Yeah, sure, why?’ ‘You look down and I heard you were fighting with Mattie again.’ Luke looks up, concerned that Henry might have gone to him, but he just sees his big brother being worried about him, there's no trace of anger. ‘Where did you?’ ‘Oh, I went to get my car fixed, and Robbie told me Mattie was down or something, you okay?’ ‘Yeah. I just got to find a way to make it up, I kind of overreacted about something you know. I was thinking of asking her out to diner.’ ‘Sounds like a plan, what are you waiting for?’ ‘I’m kind of out of money, I was hoping dad would loan me some.’ ‘He left a while ago.’ ‘Now? Where to?’ ‘God only knows. But here, I can borrow you some money.’

Luke smiles, thinking he can convince mattie to forgive him.

*****

If the conversation he overheard had made him worry, the file worried him more. It wasn’t as much what was in it, as to what wasn’t in it. He thinks that some part of the file might have gotten lost, but what he heard made him think some things might have never been there in the first place. He had never looked at it, there had never been a reason to, why would he when the man was in jail? There were other things to investigate, other things to do, the file was closed and forgotten. He never looked at it, never checked, his partner was a good cop. Had been one for years, he was his mentor, his best friend, he had trusted him.

His partner knew what he was doing, and Roy didn’t back then, it was easy to believe him.

And apparently easy to be fooled as well. He doesn’t think Brett is innocent, he still thinks he might be guilty, he could be guilty, probably is. It’s just that what he heard makes him doubt, and he can’t allow a man to sit in jail when he has doubts. It’s wrong and twisted, and if he doesn’t investigate, he’ll wonder for the rest of his life. He has to find out the whole truth, starting with finding out where the holes in the case went to. His eyes wonder to the ring Martha brought. If he was concerned about it before, he’s more so now, because in light of what he heard, it could mean something very important.

*****

Martha had always pretended not to think of her father, but had never been able to stop doing it. She remembered him once, vague memories that she sometimes thinks she might have made up herself. There’s the image of him playing with her, and reading her stories and pretty much doing all kind of things a father does. And she wonders how a man that does all that, can turn around and murder his wife, just like that. And than look at his children and say ‘Don’t worry, I’ll explain later.’ Explain what later? What he had done, how he had done it? Or was there perhaps something she was missing? Something else there that was important.

Jack hadn’t really looked at the papers yet. He hadn’t dared to, he had left them in his room, along with the picture. He wanted them to mean something, wanted an explanation, yet at the same time he wanted them to mean nothing, because he’s not liking the explanation forming in his head. Still it doesn’t really matter, and it shouldn’t affect his upcoming feelings for Martha, because it’s not important. Fifteen years have passed since than, he guesses he just really simply wants to know, understand. Like it will make him understand his dad.

****

Flowers, a card that says ‘I’m sorry.’ An apologetic boyfriend. All at her door, and Mattie wonders if she should let him in or run for the hills. She wonders which one will be smarter, which one will be better. She takes a deep breath, and attempts to calm herself down. Still she doesn’t think Luke will actually deliberately hurt her, she’s aware of the fact it was just an accident. So she lets him in, thinking it will be okay.

‘I’m sorry, I know that there’s no excuse for it. And you have to know I didn’t mean to hurt you, I really didn’t. But I did, and I am so sorry. I overreacted, I’m an idiot okay, I was just having this really bad day, and I’m not trying to justify myself. I’m not, I promise. I’m sorry, please forgive me.’ He smiles at her and offers her the flowers. Mattie sighs, she loves him, he’s her boyfriend and nothing like this has ever happened before, it won’t happen again. ‘Alright.’ ‘Want to go out for diner tonight?’ ‘Sure, I still have to ask my mom though.’ ‘Of course.’ She thinks that if he ever does something like that again, she can just cut all ties and run away.

But he won’t do it again, he won’t ever truly hurt her, because he’s Luke.

*****

‘Alright so explain it to me one more time. You found an old picture in your dad’s desk.’ ‘For the thousand time, yes. A picture of Martha’s mom. Which makes no sense.’ ‘And then he told you he had never even met her.’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Alright, you are right. That’s strange.’ Jack shook his head, when he had run into Tasha he had told her everything. Thinking she might be of some help, so far, all she had accomplished was giving him a headache, letting him explain it again and again. ‘Well what do you think it means.’ ‘I think it’s kind of obvious Jack, they were probably you know seeing each other. Why is this important.’ ‘Because of Martha.’ ‘Look, she doesn’t know, she doesn’t need to. Her mom is dead.’ ‘Yeah, you’re right. Still I’d like to know. Understand. It’s stupid.’ ‘Maybe. Hey, how did you find out she’s the Macklin’s daughter.’ ‘Robbie told me.’ ‘You’re talking to Robbie?’ ‘No, not really, he was fixing my car. It came up.’ ‘Are you ever going to tell me what happened between you two?’ ‘Maybe.’

Tasha had wanted to tell him at that point, that she liked Robbie. Maybe it would make him explain some things to her, maybe it wouldn’t. But she never actually got the chance, and still hadn’t gotten the nerve up really. Jack was suddenly more interested in something right in front of them, her eyes followed his and focused on a girl. ‘Who’s the girl?’ Jack blushed, oh my god (she thinks) Jack Holden is actually blushing. Not to self make fun of this later. ‘Martha.’ ‘ah. That explains a lot.’ Jack looks like he wants to say something else to her, but Martha is suddenly in front of him and he has eyes for nothing else. She’s glad he’s found someone, and he likes her enough to blush (it still won’t stop her from teasing him relentlessly). ‘Hey Martha.’ ‘Hey. Jack and eughm….’ ‘Oh, I’m Tasha.’ ‘It’s nice to meet you.’ ‘You to.’ ‘So, I heard you just arrived in town, are you liking it here?’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘Did you meet Colleen yet?’ ‘Ric did, he was taking a shower at the caravan park and the water stopped running, and Colleen walked in.’ ‘No way. Seriously?’ ‘Yeah.’ Tasha thinks she’d like Martha, as a friend, she seems like a really nice girl. There’s an awkward silence for like five seconds, that’s how long it takes Tasha to realize they probably want to be alone, still the girl is new and she might need some friends. ‘Hey, if you need something I could always help you, just girls you know.’ ‘Yeah, thanks I’ might even hold you to that.’ ‘You should, I’m going to walk away now and pretend I have something else to do.’ Jack laughs.

‘She’s not very subtle.’ ‘Obviously. Can I ask who she is?’ ‘You can. She’s sort of like a little sister, her parents were great friends of mine, and we grew up together. When her parent’s died she was sent to live with us, since she had no other family. I sort of look out for her.’ ‘That’s nice.’ ‘Yeah, we were on our way somewhere, so I should probably get going.’ ‘Yeah, go ahead.’ Come on jack, he thinks, it’s now or never. Just ask her out already. ‘Hey, Martha, would you…would you like to go out with me?’ ‘Go out with you?’ Martha can’t help but smile, this is what she had been waiting for for a while now. ‘yeah, dinner and a movie.’ ‘Sure. When?’ ‘Tomorrow at seven? I could come and pick you up at the caravan park, or we could meet somewhere.’ ‘No you should probably come and pick me up. Tomorrow. At seven. I’ll see you then.’ ‘See ya.’

Jack can’t help but grin happily as he runs towards Tasha, she’ll tease him, but who the hell cares.

******

It seems simple, logical even, there are not other persons in Summer Bay with those initials. Still he had wanted to be wrong, had wanted to be right fifteen years before, and ignore everything else. He didn’t want to drag Jack into the mess, but if he was right about this, and the file was wrong about everything else, there is something that connects his dad to all of this. He hopes he’s wrong, that when he investigates what he finds is that they were talking about something else or something like that. He’s hoping he’s imagining all of this.

From T.H. to S.H. I’ll love you forever.

T.H. would be (he thinks, he hopes not) Tony Holden. S.H. would be his wife, Jack’s mother, Sarah Holden. The ring was found by Martha in her house, but it had no reason to be there, as far as he knows neither one of them had ever been in that house, and Sarah had been dead for years before Ruth died. So how did the ring get there? Was he imagining these things? Or was there something there, something he was missing, something he should be seeing. And he thinks, it doesn’t matter, because Jack is a good man, no matter what his father did in the past or might still do in the future.

***

Ric can’t decide if he really wants to do this.

He keeps changing his mind, some part of him says that he came or answers, and this is part of it. The other one doesn’t want to see it, doesn’t want to go back, to the place he once lived but never would remember. ‘So you’re going out with Jack? What’s he like?’ ‘Yeah, tomorrow. He’s nice, he’s a good man, he’s funny.’ Ric wonders if she’s scared, if she’s as worried about trusting someone as he is, or if for her it is different in some way. ‘You sure you’ll be okay?’ ‘Of course I’ll be. Don’t worry, do you really think Roy would let me go out with him if he wasn’t a good person? He’d warn me at the very least.’ So she asked Roy, it looked like she was just as worried as he was, but she was braver, she jumped in there and tried again. She still believed in it, he didn’t, probably never will.

‘What about you?’ ‘What about me?’ ‘Well I saw you with Matilda earlier.’ ‘She’s a nice person, she’s a friend.’ ‘A friend huh?’ ‘She is, beside she’s got a boyfriend.’ ‘Yeah I know, Jack’s little brother.’ ‘Really? I didn’t know that.’ ‘We’re here.’ Ric looks up at her words, staring at the house in front of them. It’s different somehow, he had always expected it to look dangerous somehow, like it would show something of the tragedy that took place inside. But it doesn’t show anything, it’s just a house, a simple house. ‘You want to go inside?’ ‘You think we actually can.’ ‘I don’t know.’

****

Memories she though she had forgotten come up the second she sees the house. It’s like she’s time travelled, gone back to that time, like when she walks inside her mom will still be there, her father won’t have lost his mind. Not yet. But of course none of that will happen, because she’s not a child, and everything has already been done. Still when she asks Ric if he wants to go inside, she’s not even sure if she wants to. She’s not sure if she can handle seeing where she had been happy, remember what had been and what should be.

They don’t go inside, she thinks they’re not ready for that, they might never be ready for that. She’s sure just the sight of the house will give her nightmares for weeks. Memories she had actually forgotten, things she never wanted to think about. She turns around once more as they walk away and for a second she swears she sees herself. As a six year old, her hand in Roy’s while he carries Ric in his arms. She shakes her head and closes her eyes, when she opens them again the memory is gone, but she swears for a second she can still hear a baby cry.

She wonders if those memories will haunt her forever.

****

Jack is sitting on his bed, staring at the picture. Martha looks a lot like her mom, that’s for sure. His eyes wonder to the stack of papers he found hidden in his dad’s study. He knows it’s wrong, but he just wants to understand his dad, and he simply knows there something wrong and weird about this. It’s like a memory somewhere in his head, but he can’t actually call it up; like he knows something but can’t remember what it is. There not just random papers, they’re letters, old letters to.

Dear Tony….

Next Chapter: Okay I lied, date is for next chapter. Jack discovers something in the letters, Robbie and Tasha grow closer, Ric helps Mattie out, Roy keeps digging and just who called Tony? Anger seems to get the better of luke yet again. ...

[Sabrina]

I liked how Tony asked Jack about Martha. It's good that he is making more of an effort with Jack.

Lucas better not hurt Matilda again.

Aw, Jack was blushing when he saw Martha and he asked her out on a date

I hope Tasha and Martha become friends

It must have been really hard for Martha and Ric to look at the house their mother was murdered in

I wonder who called Tony and what the letters say

Hopefully Jack will figure out what happened between Tony and Ruth.

The next chapter sounds great. Update soon please.

[Red Ranger 1]

Loved Tasha excusing herself when she left Jack and Martha alone.Lot going on there, some nice interaction between the characters and a certain amount of intrigue.I'm now wondering if Roy's old partner is somehow connected to everything.

[Barbara]

Aw Jack finally asked Martha on a date. I hope Tony isn't going to ruin things between them.

I really hope Roy and Jack will both find out what really happened all those years ago.

I must say Tasha is very subtle!

More please.