WHIRLPOOL

SHADOW OF A RECLUSE  By Tessa Harvey     Sylvie had heard enough horror stories about the church to last a lifetime. Still, she reasoned, perhaps he was a real Christian. Stories were also known of people such as Mother Teresa. The nun had worked selflessly in order that as far as she and those working with her could manage, no-one died alone, bereft or lonely in a filthy gutter or dingy side-street.     Later, Tarrant had driven Sylvie and the three children home. Now they were playing happily with the puppy. The mother had whined when they left, but also looked visibly relieved to have only two rambunctious  offspring to nurture, instead of three.     Tarrant now faced the minister. He looked at him apprehensively. A twinkle in the other's eye and a warm handshake made him less wary. Sensing this the young churchman chatted for a while and, eventually, stumbling over his words, Tarrant told him his dream.

SHADOW OF A RECLUSE  By Tessa Harvey     When Tarrant woke up the next day, he was very quiet. He and Sylvie had organised a special trip out to get the children a puppy. It was a surprise for them, especially Johan.     After breakfast they all cleared up, even Robin carrying his plastic plate and cup. He dropped the plate, scattering crumbs, but everyone just thought it was funny. At first, Robin's bottom lip went down, his face screwed up, then Anneke tickled him and the bottom lip-drop was gone.     They went to a private home on a large acreage. An older lady met them. She had two crutches, a leg missing. The children were half-appalled, but also fascinated.     "I'm Renate. A truck ran over my leg when I was eleven. "Come and see the puppies."     She hopped around with great dexterity and showed them the most beautiful puppies, all big eyes and floppy ears and clumsy too-large feet! The children were clutching armfuls of war...

SHADOW OF A RECLUSE   By Tessa Harvey     Hunter looked around at his bleak surroundings. Minimalist, he realised. Nothing that could be construed as pleasant where something "pleasant" could be used to harm self or others. A cell was functional, barely.     It brought to mind the end of his years at college when he had allowed himself to tag along with the others for once - a bad decision. He got drunk, unused to hard liquor, knocked off a policeman's helmet, apparently, and insulted other officers, both male and female. But this was now.     This very morning, he had stood in the doorway of his rented cabin, his shadow slanting before him as the sun rose higher above the mountains and bathed the plateau in swift light.     It always amazed him how a monochrome setting could be transformed by colour, even the sere grasses and faded plants now autumn was coming.     A few butterflies still flickered, the hawk ever hopeful drifted a...

SHADOW OF A RECLUSE By Tessa Harvey       Tarrant felt himself shrinking, disappearing, a small shadow dissipating like morning mist. Once again, he cried out inside "God! Help!" He suddenly became who he was meant to be, tall and strong, a mighty warrior.      "Sylvie," he spoke in a calm voice, "you are very kind to bring lunch for me. It's just on lunch-time. Want a drink, dear? Okay for half an hour, Ed?" Just then the little boy reached for him. "Dada, dada, dad, dad--dad!" It was the first words the child had ever spoken - and to his dad.     Sylvie, astounded, had released her hold on the heavy toddler and Tarrant caught him, swung him high and walked out the door - and his wife followed.     Robin was giggling. He drank juice in a carton with a straw , behaving perfectly, except for noisy slurping, and Sylvie and Tarrant were able to talk as equal adults, important to each other.     It was a great leap forward. Tarra...

SHADOW OF A RECLUSE  By Tessa Harvey     Hunter was in serious trouble. Unable to get reception, he had talked with Marie. To get to his own 4WD was difficult and it would soon be dark. The trees were casting long shadows behind the cabin he had rented. The young woman assured him no-one would worry if she stayed the night. For them both he provided canned soup. It was pea and ham and smelled delicious in the pan on his wood-burning stove. Marie had also asked for a cup of tea. In some musty, dusty corner, he had found an old packet of good old Irish tea. Her face had lit up. The dog was watching him with hungry eyes.     Some more searching in cupboards yielded a battered tin of sardines. Poor sardines, he thought fleetingly, bait balls to fishy predators and humans. To his surprise the dog had eaten the lot.     In the night as he slept on an old couch, Marie woke up, staggering from the small single bed. She was delirious and vomiting, looking out ...

SHADOW OF A RECLUSE   By Tessa Harvey     Ed, the boxing club owner, did not like Tarrant. The feeling was mutual, but Tarrant was desperate to keep this job.  Anneke and Johan were not his own children, but he loved them as though they were. His own son, Robin, was dark-haired also with beautiful dark eyes like his dad.     Sylvie was ashamed. Her father had been an overbearing bully. Outside the home, he was charming. Most people loved him, others saw his cold grey eyes and wondered. The older children's father had been a good time guy. He loved Sylvie and, at first, the children. So proud of them, he walked like a king.      But then he saw other women, single and lonely and he forgot his place in the book of life and drifted.     She never saw him again. Aware that Tarrant was trying so hard to provide for them all, Sylvie decided to visit him at the Boxing Club - and caught Ed's eye. Tarrant was astounded to see Ed smiling and...

SHADOW OF A RECLUSE  By Tessa Harvey     With   considerable difficulty, the man and the young woman reached the edge of the plateau. The little dog, seeing the big man help his owner, had sensibly called a truce. He was a smart canine and had been aware of the raised foot and decided to mind his manners - for now.     When Marie saw the beauty of the plateau, she was amazed. She stood there, swaying slightly. The great backdrop of mountains soared above Hunter's log-and-stone cabin. Unaware of a back route, she wondered how the materials for the building had been ferried here. A hawk circled, lazily in the rising thermals, searching for an unwary animal. Sensing its presence, a small rabbit froze in place. The hawk had seen it and began a swift descent, then, noting the humans, soared skywards once again with a defiant scream     There were tiny flowers struggling amid the dry, windswept tufts of grass, a few brown dotted butterflies, a lizard b...

SHADOW OF A RECLUSE   By Tessa Harvey     The girl yelped and fell backwards, sliding a few metres down the rocky slope. Pebbles slithered after her. Barking, the little dog followed, scrambling to the young woman.     She lay at an odd angle. The pebbles stopped rolling and there was silence. Hunter swore and scrambled down to where the young hiker lay, noting with alarm the little wild, white daisies near her head were flecked with blood. The dog glared at him.     Hunter drew his leg back to give it a good kick and a wobbly voice said, "You do that and I will kick you where it hurts." The man stared. "Nobody speaks to me like that! Ever!"  "So, time someone did, you big lout. Help me up!"     Hunter drew out his mobile phone. Maybe he could get a signal though it was intermittent up here. "Nothing. Fine! Where are you hurt?"  "My head." Gingerly, Hunter checked the girl's limbs. "I'm Marie." The girl spoke more sof...

SHADOW OF A RECLUSE   By Tessa Harvey     Just before cresting the plateau, Marie paused. The view was stunning. Deep below was the valley. Grass rippled in the gentle winds, silvering like sea foam, sliding before the soft moving strokes of air like ripples of water. A stream curled between the growing wheat meadows. In the distance was a low-built farmhouse with out buildings scattered around, some clustered close to the main house, others scattered farther afield.     The clear sharp whinny of a horse came to her and she saw it trotting in an enclosure. Marie could discern a gate and fence posts but only brief glimpes of gleaming wire, sunlit. Her little dog, Minny pressed close to her ankles, whining, panting.     From her bright red backpack, the young woman produced a small tin bowl and a water flask. She poured some for the dog and drank some herself. It was fresh and cool. "Food soon, honey," she murmured, hefting the backpack over her shoulde...

SHADOW OF A RECLUSE   By Tessa Harvey     A whole year later there had been absolutely no trace anywhere of Hunter - not even in olden-day phone books.     At first Tarrant was secretly very relieved. He felt like a man battered around the head so much so that when the beating ceased, he was too afraid to look around and see where the perpetrator was in case he had merely stepped back and was waiting, smiling......     But there were more pressing concerns. He had to get work. Staying on Government benefits was not an option. Sylvie and the children looked up to him. There were no other relations handily present to share the load. Any other relatives were either far away, whereabouts unknown, or deceased. There were no living grandparents. But Ada and Oliver were friends.     At first Tarrant was optimistic. I can do this, he thought, but job after job had eluded him. Finally he said, "God, if you are real, open a door for me!" The next plac...

SHADOW OF A RECLUSE   By Tessa Harvey     Sylvie was crying very quietly. The car carrying adults and children was racing along a dark and lonely road. She had no idea where they were, nor where they were going. The look of hurt and betrayal on Tarrant's face was seared into her mind. She suddenly realized how empty her life really was and how dedicated to self she had been - and still was. Her little boys were still whimpering, unnerved by the strangeness and each other's crying and the darkness sweeping by.     Anneke was scared, gripping her seatbelt, murmuring "I don't want to die" over and over as the rain, threatening all day, suddenly unleashed a torrent of waterfall-water. The wipers became useless. Unwilling, Hunter pulled over.     He was very unhappy. The lovely vision of being with his brother's wife had vanished. He hadn't thought it through. Now what? An idea came shining into his brain. Take them all back! Smelly baby, sniveling kids, m...

SHADOW OF A RECLUSE By Tessa Harvey     Tarrant was left alone. Ada had invited him to spend the night. Oliver, her husband was out at bowls, but would love another bloke to chat to and encourage. Politely, the young man had declined. Ada looked at him with tears in her tired eyes. "Sylvie don't have much respect for herself," she faltingly explained.     "But, but is my brother the kids' real dad?" The question had been torn from him in anger and despair. "No," Ada was firm. "It were another Islander man from the same area. It were a bond, you see. But he got restless and wet nappies and crying babies, well, it wasn't his idea of fun. So he did a runner."     Tarrant thought it was no-one's idea of fun, but said nothing, relieved. All his life, his brother had dominated, claiming Tarrant was the little golden boy with his fair hair and guileless face. Hunter was ambitious, angry. Sometimes Tarrant thought God must exist. If ther...

SHADOW OF A RECLUSE   By Tessa Harvey     Ada sighed, rubbing her face with her hand. Tarrant noticed her fingers were more bent, her gait more stiff. He remembered his manners. "How about you sit down," he said gently. "I remember how you like your tea - black with one sugar? Yes? I will do coffee for me - strong and white, no sugar."     The old lady chirped. She sniffed. "I will just take Robin's nappy to the bin. we can do a clean-up soon, okay?"     She opened the back door and a few large flies streamed in, buzzing round the buttercup kitchen, gleefully finding scraps of bread crusts, cereal, scattered sugar... Tarrant sagged back, overwhelmed, rubbing his stubbly chin. He was home, but it was abandoned. He looked around. It reminded him of a story about an empty ship, the Marie Celeste - he did not know where his family had gone. Ada made him his drink, and taking hers, ushered him into the lounge. "Sit down," she motioned to the old ...

SHADOW OF A RECLUSE By Tessa Harvey     There   was a slamming, a banging of car doors, a harsh revving of engines and a last squeal of tyres and they were gone. Just like that.     Stunned, unable to process all he had just heard, Tarrant slumped down at the kitchen table. There were used dishes everywhere......then he saw Johan had left his precious Teddy. It was needing its blue trousers mended. I can do that, he thought, and placed it near him on the messy table.     There was a knock at the door. A voice called softly, "Can I come in?" It was old Mrs. Sykes from next door.     Tarrant struggled to his feet. Ada came in, wearing a butterfly dress. It was blue and the butterflies were realistic depictions of Monarch butterflies, Tortoiseshells, Red Admiral. She looked tired, her brown face wrinkled. "Cup a tea, dearie?" she asked and put the jug on.     "Why did my wife say she was going back to Hunter?"

SHADOW OF A RECLUSE By Tessa Harvey       "Listen up, little brother!" We can let you stay a week until the sale of this property goes through. Please keep it tidy, Tarrant, if possible."     The toddler, Robin, started crying. Bewildered, Tarrant reached for him. "He doesn't know you," Sylvie said, picking the child up.           There were tears in her eyes. "Sorry, Tarrant, but I am going back to Hunter. You were not here. There was never enough money."     Hunter hustled her out of the room. The two older children were instructed to pick up their bags. Johan was crying sadly, nose running. He came over to Tarrant. "Dad, I want to stay with you." Big tears rolled down his small face. "Last time I saw you, you cuddled me and said you loved me. You would work hard and maybe get a puppy." Anneke held her little brother's hand, looking into his eyes. "Get us back, daddy, please," were her last words as Hunter angr...

SHADOW OF A RECLUSE   By Tessa Harvey     A little discouraged but not overly so, after all his wife had a baby to manage, Tarrant had been given enough money to get home.     He walked into his home, anxious and overjoyed to see his family again.     In prison, he had kept expecting to see them, but Sylvie had said prison is no place for a baby. His other children always seemed to be busy or away at friends' places. Of course, there was school.     He walked through the door of his house, gleeful and happy. John had rushed over, throwing his small arms around him. "Daddy! Daddy!" He was crying with happiness.     Anneke, his daughter was tense and nervous, but reached out to him anyway. Sylvie looked at him over their heads. She looked embarrassed and a little defensive. There were boxes and cases all around, a jumble of toys, clothes, plates, pots, pans. Signs of hurried packing, snacks scattered around.     "Are we goi...

SHADOW OF A RECLUSE By Tessa Harvey     The moment Tarrant woke up, he knew at once that today was different. It was an instinct, perhaps inherent in all of us, that things are about to change. For some people that was a source of joy - for others like Tarrant, it was not. His brother was coming.     Tarrant had been in prison for two years. The crime was petty larceny. A reputable clerk in a law office, he should have known better than to try and rort that particular system, but he had not known better, or at least had not listened to that inner voice which, knowing right from wrong, attempts to dissuade us from foolish acts.     Sylvie came to him with two children and he added another child in their two years of marriage.     As Tarrant had tried too hard to impress this admittedly beautiful young lady, to the extent of stealing from his bosses, he thought she would be waiting for him to come home. Sylvie was not waiting. Tarrant had a lot to ...