The Lost Boy

Pemberley Revisited. [Marni and The Lost Boy]

Major Bradford remained behind the Colonel and made no effort to show himself when it became apparent that Mrs Hollyworth saw his presence as an annoyance. The Colonel remained a dutiful husband even when his wife’s enthusiasm borderlined improper. As her introduction of the Major brought no further interest and their conversation shifted to the Regiments arrival, Bradford turned to leave the conversing group.

The the 75th Light Dragoons arrived into Appleby after three years spent on the Iberian Peninsular serving under the Duke of Wellington’s Anglo-Portuguese force against the French. The depleted regiment was sent back to England to recruit and retrain the replacements to be posted back to the front in eight to 12 months times.

As Major Bradford turned, he touched the arm of the Colonel and quietly gave his leave to his friend. His gaze briefly turned to the Farr family and fell upon the young woman; Miss Farr. He felt foolish to not have recognised the name earlier, but to his credit the last time he had seen Miss Matilda Farr had been in Bath, a little over three years prior. At the bequest of his older Brother, William Bradford, Arthur spent the season at his Brother’s house before his deployment to Portugal.

William’s wife Eleanor was of a sickly disposition and much preferred the company of a select few rather than crowds of the various events held in Bath over the season. The exact connection Miss Farr had to Eleanor, Arthur could not remember, except that she was a regular invitee to the various small gatherings that Eleanor hosted.

As Bradford’s gaze met Miss Farr’s, he bowed his head slightly in recognition. Noticing that his leave would not cause offence nor to be noticed, the Major moved away from the excited babble of Mrs Hollyworth and stood by himself awkwardly overlooking the dance floor away from the grating sound of her voice. The officers had yet to be at the Hall for five minutes and the Major was already tired of it all.

The Perfect Family [The Lost Boy x Marnimoo]

Josh stayed in the kitchen, knowing full well it would not be smart to follow. He continued with preparing lunch in between sips of wine. He left a bowl of pasta and a glass of wine at the study door that Alix left ajar. Then he returned to their room and stuffed the contents back into the duffel bag and hid it back in the closet.

He glanced down to see his Russian passport discarded on the ground. Picking it up he stared at his younger self. Josh remembered that day fondly. He had received his acceptance letter from the army, and to celebrate his father took him out. In that dingy bar on the outskirts of Moscow, his father told him ‘Без труда́ не вытащишь и рыбку из пруда́.

Without effort, you can not even pull a fish out of the pond.

On the edge of the bed Josh planned. At the end of the day, when he spoke those vows to Alix eight years ago, he had made a promise. Josh grabbed his leather jacket and stuffed the handgun out of sight into the waist band of his jeans and made his way downstairs to the study.

“Alix,” Josh called out quietly. It had been several hours since he had last seen her. Placing his head on the door he didn’t wait for her to respond.

“Alix I know this is difficult to take in, but we only have two options Alix.” Josh said through the closed door.

“If you want me to leave then I will leave. I will walk out that door and you will never see me again. I have five million pounds I will transfer to you account.”

Josh paused for a moment. The very possibility that Alix could choose that option scared him.

“If you want me to stay then I will end this and come clean. I believe I might be able to strike a deal with the Police.”

The Perfect Family [The Lost Boy x Marnimoo]

"You should have told me sooner...we've got two children, and who knows - there might even be another one on the way.. And you just drop this now. Were you ever going to tell me? Or were you going to just carry on lying.."

Josh placed the photo frame back onto the wall and made his way back to his wine glass.

“Look Alix, I don’t think you understand who these people are. If I told you the truth, and you asked me to stop...” Josh paused as he walked over to Alix.

“You don’t say no to the fucking Mafia.” He continued. “Jesus. Alix, these men are fucking animals. They won’t hesitate to send some lunatic here. Why else do you think I have a gun in my closet with a pile of cash and passports.”

Josh grabbed her hands and looked directly at her. Right now what he was saying wasn’t about saving his marriage, it was about keeping the only thing that mattered to him alive.

“You need to understand that these men are very powerful. I made a mistake that I regret everyday of my life. But I have no choice but to live with the consequences if I ever want to see you again.”

The Perfect Family [The Lost Boy x Marnimoo]

"I'm hungry." With that comment Alix stood up and walked out the room. Josh stood there stunned. He never imagined what this moment would be like, but he thought there would be more... more of something. The fact his wife calmly left the room wasn’t a good sign. He followed her down the stairs to the kitchen. Going to the kitchen, he pulled out the opened bottle of wine from the fridge and poured two glass.

“You’ll going to need this,” he said as he passed a glass to Alix.

“There’s more to me that you should know.” He drained his glass in seconds and poured a second one. At any moment he felt like he might lose the courage and run out the front door. To distract himself and to soften what is about to come, he turned on the stove to start boiling the water for Alix’s favourite pasta dish.

“Look, when we got engaged, I had a problem. I couldn’t legally get married because I shouldn’t even be in the country.” Josh emptied the packet into the hot pot as he spoke. He was too nervous to look Alix in the eye. His frantic cooking attempted to hide his shaking hands.

“I was too afraid of losing you so I went to an old Friend who had connections to...”
Josh paused mid sentence. Looking towards the door with a tomato in one hand, running down the street was a tempting option. He left the tomato on the bench and walked over the family photo on the wall. All four of them at the hospital after Luca’s birth. Taking it off the wall clutching it in two hands.

“I’m sorry Alix.” he whispered. His gaze never left the photo of the four of them.

“I felt like I had no choice. In exchange for a real identity here in Britain I agreed to undertake some unsavoury business for some bad people.”

He clutch the photo frame as his hands shook. His knees weak. He felt like he needed to vomit.

He turned to Alix.

“I agreed to kill for them.”

Pemberley Revisited. [Marni and The Lost Boy]

Arthur felt like cattle at a market as all eyes turned towards them. He could feel the women gawk at them like pieces of meat, either as desirable partners for themselves or ideal suitors for their unmarried daughters. Several of the younger Officers revelled in the attention. It did not take long for Captain Mathieson and Lieutenant Barnes to lead the way and to disappear into the Hall. Arthur remained a step behind the Colonel. He had grown up on an estate and spent many evenings at events such as these. He had no interest in frivolous conversation about who had received a letter from whom, nor was he interested in the local political situation of Appleby.

The Major followed the Colonel as his Wife led the way into the Hall. The stout woman in her early 30’s was in her element, bubbling with excitement as she smiled and curtsied her way through the hall. The Colonel played the part of a dutiful husband and followed the guidance of his wife. In his late 30’s tall and lean with balding brown hair on top, he held himself comfortably and at ease.

The Colonel and his Wife, with a significant income of their own, rented a country home not far from the Regimental barracks. He had invited Bradford and several of the other senior officers to join them for the duration of their stay at Appleby. Apart from the excited babble of Mrs Hollyworth, his new quarters were a nice departure from the meagre lodgings he was use to on the continent

Mrs Hollyworth made her way to a group of four, who seem to be awaiting for the three of them to make their introductions. She introduced herself and her husband, jittery with excitement. It wasn’t till the Colonel cleared his throat that she remembered to introduce the Major Bradford. Bradford did not mind but quite honestly preferred to be forgotten and to be left alone as he counted down the minutes until it would be acceptable for him to walk back to his quarters.

The Perfect Family [The Lost Boy x Marnimoo]

"So, you've been lying this whole time?"

Josh didn’t respond. Alix knew the answer already. He watched the passport slip from her fingers. Her reality he could see was crumbling around her, and he had only touched the tip of the iceberg. At that very moment he had a choice; tell her all or to shelter her from the truth.

“This is why I lied,” he said. From the contents on the bed, Josh handed Alix the only document written in English. It was a letter from the British Government denying his visa application.
“You need to understand, I had to leave Russia. I had no choice but to enter Britain with a fake name.”

Josh paused. He closed his eyes and took a breath. He could stop there. Leave her with why he called himself Joshua White and ended up in Cambridge lying to her. Maybe she’ll understand, maybe she’ll even forgive him. But if he went further and told her everything, he would lose everything.

He picked up a photo from the contents of the bed. The only family photo he had of the three of them. His parents and him smiling at the camera on his tenth birthday.

“That’s my Parents,” Josh said as he handed her the photo. “My Father was an Army Officer in the Russian Military, and my Mother was a Professor at the Moscow State University.”

His heart pounded in his chest.

“Ten years ago I get a call in the middle of the night. My Mother is on the other-end sobbing, telling me to run. To run as far away from Russia as I can go. The next day I find out that they’ve been arrested f. So I did what I had always dreamt of doing, and escaped to Britain.”

The Perfect Family [The Lost Boy x Marnimoo]

At sound of his full name being shouted from their bedroom was not a good sign. He climbed the stairs raking his mind for what he had or hadn’t done. As he entered their bedroom he flashed her a quick smile to soften her up.

“Hey Hun. What’s wrong?” he asked. He glanced down to the open bag behind her in the walk in closet.

His heart froze. He could see the rolls of cash, the passport and the hilt of the 9mm pistol jut out of the bag.

He froze. The colour of his cheeks drained white. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Time stopped.
No...
No...
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. He screamed internally. He knew deep down he would eventually tell Alix the truth, but never like this.

“Alix... ,” Josh tried to speak but couldn’t. No words came to him. He couldn't look her in the eyes.

“Oh Alix,” he whispered.

Not knowing what to say he walked over to the bag. Sticking his hands into the pile of cash he grabbed the large envelope stashed at the bottom of the bag. He walked over to the bed, opened the envelope and emptied the contents onto their bed.

“This is who I am,” he said looking at the contents on the bed: an old passport, a collection of photos, dog tags, newspaper clippings. He picked up a passport from the envelope and opened it to the first page. The entire thing was written in Russian with his 18 year old self head shaven, with a cocky arrogant expression on his face. Fresh out of school and 24 hours before his Dad shipped him off to Military service.

Alix had always wanted to see photos of him when he was younger. Ironically she got her wish.

Josh handed Alix the passport. This is it, he thought, no turning back. From now on their life will never be the same.

“Nikolai Sokolov is what my parents named me.” He paused, not sure how much he should say.

Pemberley Revisited. [Marni and The Lost Boy]

Major Arthur Bradford

Pemberley Revisited. [Marni and The Lost Boy]

Major Arthur Bradford sat in silence watching the village of Appleby go by through the carriage window. It felt unnatural to be enclosed in a carriage as it roared through the streets. He felt like he had no control. Major Bradford, a cavalry Officer of the 75th Regiment of Light Dragoons, who had spent a large majority of the past decade on horse back, was not accustomed to be driven around. But at the bequest of his Commanding Officer Lt. Colonel Christopher Hollyworth, he joined the Colonel and his wife in the carriage on their way to the Town Hall. The other half dozen Cavalry Officers who wanted to join in the local festivities decided to arrive on horse back. It was Captain Mathieson he believed who proposed the plan to arrive with great fanfare on their warhorses dressed in their ceremonial uniforms. As comfortable as Arthur felt on his horse, the boisterous energy of the younger officers eventually convinced him to take up his Commanding Officers request to join him in his carriage.

Major Bradford, considered by many who knew him, as a respectable Gentleman, with a respectable profession from a good Family. He stood a good few inches taller than the average man, with head of blonde hair; neither styled nor unkept but presentable. Unlike many in their late twenties, the 28 year old remained a Bachelor.

The Colonel and Mrs Hollyworth conversed quietly opposite the Major. For nearly a decade, Arthur had served with the man. Mrs Hollyworth was a cheerful soul who couldn’t hide her excitement and glee to have her Husband back in England, and to have some resemblance of normality in her life. She chatted excitedly which barely left any space for her Husband to respond other than the occasional ‘yes dear’, or nod in agreement. There was a lull in the conversation and the Mrs Hollyworth turned to the Major.

“How about you Major Bradford? Isn’t it splendid to back in England again? To finally be in the company of true society.”

Arthur smiled courteously in response and dipped his head respectfully.

“ Of course Ma’am. And what better way to enjoy the evening than to travel with such fine company,” Arthur replied.

The Colonel chuckled knowing full well how his subordinate truly felt.

“Yes. Yes Major. What fine company we are,” Mrs Hollyworth responded as she continued on with her excited chatting.

The carriage slowed as they reached the Town Hall followed by six young officers on horse back. Just as Captain Mathieson had hoped for, the nine of them entered with great fanfare and excitement. Fully dressed in their ceremonial garbs, swords by their sides, every eye turned to the boisterous group as the eight officers and the Colonel’s wife entered the town hall.

The Perfect Family [The Lost Boy x Marnimoo]

“I believe you just friend-zoned me,” Josh chuckled at Alix’s Italian response. “You just told me that you love me like a brother.”

Josh continued to lead her around the room to the music. His hand reached up and caressed her soft cheek. She continued to nuzzle into him. He was so close he was intoxicated by the fragrance of her hair, and the scent of Rosé and vodka on her breath. His fingers trailed down her delicate jawline till they reached her chin. Tilting her head up towards him, he leaned and brushed her cute freckled nose with his own. With his eyes closed and his lips millimetres from hers.

“But what Friend kisses you like this.”

His lips softly pressed against hers. His fingers gently ran through her hair. His other hand on the small of her back pushing her closer to him.

“Non posso vivere senza di te.” He whispered in between kisses. He tilt his head to one side and kissed just behind her ear.

“Voglio invecchiare con te,” he whispered as his kisses traced the delicately formed ridge of her ear.