By Gizmo
Copyright 1999
Nathaniel swung around, standing in the tall grass which reached to his knees, absorbing the beautiful landscape around him. For the past hour they had been picking flowers there, which was a good mile from the church. A few paces away Mary was kneeling down to pick some yellow flowers Nathaniel didn't know the name of. When she stood again she placed one of them behind her ear.
"What do you think?" she asked, her full, red lips parting in a smile.
"Not your color…" Nathaniel replied thoughtfully, looking through the large bouquet he was holding in his arms.
"Here, take this instead," he said and handed her a petite, lily-white flower.
Mary replaced the flower and looked at him for a moment, seeing in his eyes he liked what he saw when he stared back.
"Much better," he smiled.
They paced slowly in the grass, side by side, man and woman. Nathaniel couldn't help but feel nervous around her, as if she had brought out feelings he had never known before. And deep down he liked those feelings.
Very much.
"I can't help but wonder about you, Nathaniel," Mary spoke thoughtfully, glancing up at his handsome face.
"Why? What about me?" he asked back, biting his lip. Uh-oh, what's wrong…?
"I wonder who you are… Your name, your history, your life… I just wonder, that's all."
"And you don't think I do?" Nathaniel spoke up half-seriously.
"I looked at my foot the other day and noticed a scar. I didn't even recognize it, let alone what that scar comes from! It's really scary…"
"Hey," Mary said in a comforting tone, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"If you ever need to talk, I'm here, okay?"
"Thanks, but… There's nothing to talk about really. I don't remember, end of story."
Mary shook her head.
"You're welcome to stay in Memory, for as long as you like. It's a small town, few people. We're all very open minded, so you'd never be a stranger here," she explained gently.
"Yeah, I might stay for awhile…" Nathaniel nodded.
"I have nowhere else to go, now do I?"
They walked for a bit in silence, both pondering what he had just said. Then suddenly Mary's eyes lit up and her lips parted in a warm smile.
"I just thought of something, come on, hurry!" she called and started to run.
Back at the church Mary went through Father Ballard's small library in his study. She soon found the book she was after and pulled it out.
"What are you doing?" Nathaniel asked but received no answer.
Mary pulled out some large sized sheets of paper and looked at them like transfixed for a moment. She then cleared a part of the small desk behind her and spread the papers there. They were maps.
"I saw these when I dusted here before… Here, take a look at this," she ordered, pointing at one of the maps.
"Why?" Nathaniel asked.
"Look at these towns, these cities. All these places, see if you recognize any of them!"
Nathaniel bent down and let his eyes scan the many states, finding a couple of names he knew he had heard before. While he continued to study the maps Father Ballard entered the room. He was surprised at first to find the two in his study, but peered over Nathaniel's shoulder to see what they were doing.
"Well, hello these. What are you doing, children?"
"I'm just trying to jog Nathaniel's memory a bit," Mary explained.
"I showed him a map, maybe he'll see something he recognizes."
"I recognize Boston," Nathaniel spoke up.
"And New York. Washington. Oh, and this place here," he pointed at Nebraska.
He ran his finger under a tiny line of letters.
"Rock Creek," he said and looked up.
"But there are many here, look. I don't know which one I know… Maybe I just know it because there are so many…"
He sighed and removed is finger from the map. Mary could see he was losing faith.
"No, Nathaniel!" she cried.
"Maybe you live in a Rock Creek somewhere? Keep studying the map!"
"Exactly, my child. Study the map and try to remember," Father Ballard said with a nod, looking into the young man's eyes. Nathaniel reluctantly let his eyes wander over the map again.
"What state are we in?" he asked suddenly.
"Wyoming. Right here," Mary pointed for him.
"Maybe yore from this Rock Creek here, the one you pointed at in Nebraska?
It's not very far from where you were found, right Father?"
Father Ballard nodded.
"How far is it?" Nathaniel asked.
"And where's Memory? I don't see it."
"Memory is here," Mary pointed at a green spot on the map.
"It's too small to actually be on the map. Rock Creek is much bigger."
"Like many other towns around here," Father Ballard said and placed his finger on the map as well.
"Blue Creek, Benton and Sweetwater…"
Suddenly Buck felt a stinging pain in his head and his hand rose to his left temple. He let out a low moan.
"Nathaniel?"
He looked up and met tow pairs of worried eyes.
"I'm fine," he promised, but wasn't ready to let go of his temple just yet.
"Maybe you should lie down? Perhaps we shouldn't have run from the field," Mary said and looked at the Father.
"I'm sure you'll be alright if you go and rest for a bit. We can look at these again after dinner. You will join us, won't you, my child?" the old man asked Mary.
"Sure. You rest Nathaniel, and I'll see you later."
"Go on, Nathaniel, get some sleep before we eat," the Father encouraged and Nathaniel nodded carefully.
He took a few slow steps toward the basement stairs, still holding his throbbing temple with his left hand. If only I knew which of those towns I'm from, he thought while he carefully climbed down to the stone floor. Sleep came quickly and he once again had a strange dream. This time a woman was there and told him she was carrying his child. Her hair, face and smile were just like Mary's.
On to Chapter Five
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