Charis (28 page)

“I think she's hungry, Mummy.” “Mummy, she needs her nappy changed.”
“Can I hold her now please?” Until Charis thought maybe she had
too
much
help. And Ben was as wonderful and helpful with her as he’d been with the other
two.

*****

At the end of May, when Jenni was six weeks old, and it was the
beginning of half term, and also Ben and Charis' eighth wedding anniversary,
they went to Meadow Lea Hall for a week. Ben received a somewhat cryptic e-mail
from his uncle wishing them a happy anniversary. It went on to say, ‘I have
taken care of your problem. Please give my regards to your lovely wife. Azhar.’

When Ben showed Charis the email, she tilted her head slightly and
asked, “Henry?” Ben shrugged his shoulders, unsure what to make of it. But a
day or two later there appeared a news item on the BBC, small but very
important for Charis.

“In the early hours of yesterday morning a group of militants attacked
an archaeological site on the borders of Qumrai and Saudi Arabia. There were a
few casualties, but so far only one death has been reported. British
archaeologist Henry Haversham is believed to have been beheaded in what
witnesses described to have looked like an official execution. His body has not
been recovered. So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.”

David rang Ben.

“I've looked into that affair you asked me to,” said David. “From
what I have put together, a little over a year ago the King of Qumrai asked that
Henry Haversham, specifically him, should head an archaeological expedition to
his country. He offered an extremely lucrative deal, I assume to make sure he
accepted the offer. Only a fool would have turned it down and Haversham was
apparently no fool. There is no doubt that Henry was killed in the attack, or that
the King of Qumrai was behind it, but there's no proof and never will be. It
was extremely well organised.”

When Ben repeated the conversation to Charis, she burst into tears
and sobbed as never before. The years of torture were finally at an end. The
menace of Henry gone forever.
Thank you Ben, thank you God, thank you Azhar!

*****

It was beginning to look as though Meadow Lea Hall would be finished
in just a few more weeks.  They also visited the new hospital in Bath and found
things there progressing very nicely, too.  Maybe they would be able to move as
soon as school term ended, but there were still so many things to do. Charis
had to decide what things, if any, she wanted to take with her.

Ben had to start getting staff organised for work – and that was
going to be a big job. They needed to hire everyone, from doctors and nurses to
catering and office staff and gardeners. The list went on and on. The office
manager in the London St. Anne's was put in charge of recruitment and they
would have a panel to choose who they wanted from the list of successful
applicants. Of course, Ben would have to be on the panel - he would be their
boss.

Gradually it all got done, but it took time. Ben was excited about
the staff they’d selected. He had two new doctors, young, keen and highly
recommended; Dr. Julia Pettit and Dr. Howard Armstrong.  He felt he could work
well with them both. They would eventually need to hire more, but it was a good
start. The nursing staff also seemed to be first class. Time would tell how
they all worked together. 

Charis was thrilled with what had been done at Meadow Lea Hall and
was eager to be moving back into her old home, to memories of her father and
her happy childhood days. She tried to block out the later memories of Mildred
and Henry…they still hurt.

They decided not to sell the house in Chelsea but would keep it to
use for regular trips to London, just as her father had kept the house in St.
John's Wood, employing a cleaner and a gardener to go in once a week to keep
the place fresh and ready for them at any time. Ben would have to make frequent
visits for work meetings with his partners, and whenever possible Charis would
go with him. They hunted around for another car too, as Ben would be using the
Jaguar every day to commute to Bath and Chippenham where he now would also be
working as a consultant for the NHS, his reputation having gone before him.

But it was actually the middle of August, Charis' birthday, before
everything was ready and they moved. They drove down in the Jag – their new 4X4
would be delivered in a weeks’ time – and as they pulled up in the driveway
Charis could hardly believe that it had
finally
happened. They stood together,
Ben and Charis, arms around each other and gazed at their home, Jenni still
asleep in her car seat, Paul and Emma already running around on the lawn.

“We'll celebrate our homecoming tonight,” he told her, “When the
children are asleep. We'll celebrate in bed. I want to make love to you as
never before.”

“Promise?” she asked him.

“I promise,” he said with a smile that made her heart throb and gave
her stomach butterflies.

Jenni woke and Charis lifted her from the car and held her close as
they watched their other two children playing together. Her happiness knew no
bounds. The ghosts of Mildred and Henry were now banished forever. 

If she could’ve imagined a perfect dream of her life, this would
have been it. Her wonderful husband - her handsome prince, her knight in
shining armour who had been her life saver, not just once, but several times
now, the love of her life. Their three beautiful children who they both adored,
and her home, Meadow Lea Hall. 

She was home again...home...at last.

*****

The work on the dig was going well. They’d
been there for several months and had enjoyed great success in finding
priceless artefacts; a tomb overflowing with treasure and some important
papyri.

Henry was incredibly pleased with himself. Soon he would be going
home…home to London with more money than he had dreamed of. He’d been paid extremely
well for this job, and once he was back in England he would teach Charis a
lesson she would never forget. Oh, he had such plans for her.

They heard them coming and could see the sand that the horses’
hooves were raising from the desert floor as they galloped closer. About two
dozen of them, men all dressed in black with faces hidden.  They came into the
camp, surrounded the workers with guns aimed and ready to fire. They lined
everybody up by the tents, the one in charge barking out orders, still sitting
high on his magnificent steed while his soldiers led all of the men away except
one. Henry now stood alone. He had never known such fear, trembling like a
baby, whimpering.

The tallest of the soldiers approached him. “Henry Haversham?” he
enquired.

Henry managed a nod. Despite the heat, he was shivering…the cold
eating into his bones.

The man came close, so close Henry could feel his breath on his
face, smell his sweat, their heads close together, almost touching.

“His excellency, the King, wishes to speak with you,” Henry was told
as the soldier dragged him towards the man sitting on his horse. He was pushed
to his knees.

“So,” the king said, “You are Henry Haversham?”

Henry managed another nod.

“I need to introduce myself to you,” the king told him. “Not only am
I the king of Qumrai, but I am also uncle to the man you know as Ben Sinclair.
I believe you know of whom I am speaking?”

Henry whimpered. If he was afraid before, now the fear was
unbearable.

“His lovely wife, Charis, my niece-in-law, has been terrorised by
you. I do not allow that kind of thing to happen to my family. I tell you this
so that you know before you die, just why I am ending your life, why you will
pay the price here and now, why I had you brought here into my domain. She will
suffer no more at your hands.”

The king nodded to his second in command. Henry's head was pushed
downward, the sword was raised then came crashing down into the sand, the sand
that soon ran red with Henry's blood.

** Henry's body was never found. But ten days after his death was reported
in the news, a small crate was delivered to the British Museum. It had been
sent from Qumrai. It contained Henry's severed head. This information was never
released to the public.           

EPILOGUE

Charis and Ben quickly settled into their new home, Ben into his new
job and the children into the village school. They invited Ben's family to join
them for their Christmas celebrations. Emily and Giles, along with Jennifer and
David and their children, arrived on Christmas Eve and stayed until Boxing Day.
The rest of the family joined them for Christmas Day. For Charis, this was a
dream come true. Ben's gift to her was given after all their guests had left.
She opened the little wicker basket to find a two month old Golden Retriever
puppy. The children immediately named her Daisy.

If Charis had been able to see into the future she would have
discovered that they were to have two more children; Adam Giles, born when
Jenni was three, and Eleanor Jane, Ellie, two years later, both of them born at
home with Ben taking care of his wife as before.

Ben's uncle, Azhar, would sometimes visit. Charis always made him
welcome. She was eternally grateful for what he had done for her but she was
always secretly relieved when he left. She was very aware of his ruthlessness.

Both the Bath St. Anne's Hospital and the Harrogate location proved
to be such a success that the partners were encouraged to open other centres in
various parts of the country. Ben still had to make business trips to London to
meet with his partners occasionally so the little house in Chelsea had plenty
of use. The family spent part of their school holidays there every year as
Charis had done as a child with her father, as well as an annual holiday in
Cornwall, and sometimes visits to other parts of the country.

Charis decided that she wouldn't send her children to boarding
school. Instead, she found an excellent school close to Bath that they would
attend when they got too old to go to the village school.

Charis' father, Paul, had written in his last letter to her that she
may, one day, fall in love with a handsome prince and they would live happily
ever after.

He was right.

Dear Reader,

I have tried to make this story as realistic as possible with all
places, events and dates being correct, for example, the time difference
between London and Cairo, and the length of time to travel from one place to
another. The historical information regarding the creation of Meadow Lea Hall
and the area in which it was built is all correct but I have to admit that I
have taken a bit of licence in some other areas. For instance, when Ben and
Charis go to buy their new car. The make, model and colour is real, but may not
have yet been available in 2004 which is when their marriage took place. 
Another area where I may have taken a little liberty is their wedding. It is
true that some British Embassies around the world are authorised to perform
marriages, but the website I used for the information did not state which ones.
I have assumed that as the marriage was performed on what is considered to be
British soil, it would have been subject to British law covering marriages.

Also the final exams that Ben had to sit for his medical
qualification have possibly been moved a couple of months ahead of the correct
timing.

All the places which Ben and Charis visit in the UK are real and
have been described as accurately as possible.

If there are any discrepancies in the narrative, the fault is mine,
but I ask you to please remember, that it is fiction.

I hope you enjoyed reading Charis.

Mary Francis

October 2013.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mary Francis is a London native now living
far away from the hustle and bustle of city life in the peaceful English
countryside. A busy wife and mother, she has always been an avid reader. She
spent years plotting story lines which eventually morphed into Charis,
originally written only for her own interest until encouraged by family members
to publish. Her passion is English history and she is currently writing the
prequel to Charis which tells the story of some of Charis' ancestors against a
backdrop of important and factual historical events.