THE FIRE WITHIN
Chapter Fifteen

Christa woke up, feeling someone with an arm around her. She turned to see that it was Amsterdam. He looked tired, and smelled of coal. She pulled the hair out of his face and kissed his lips. He didn't wake, so she cuddled up next to him, feeling his warmth. She turned around again and draped his arm around her like before. She scooted close enough that she could feel his body against hers.

The ship rocked back and forth, and soon it cradled her back to sleep like a baby. She dreamt again that same dream, but this time it had changed. Amsterdam was with her and their little Michael, only now Michael had changed. He was a man, and smiled at her. He looked like her father and Amsterdam mixed together. She smiled.

Kerry

Tommy was beginning to worry. He hoped Christa had gotten out of New York safely. Hell, he wished more than that. He wished she was alive and well. He had heard stories in the local pub he had begun working in. He had heard of the big fight. A lot of people had died. He only hoped Christa wasn't one of them.

After cleaning up the last of the drinking glasses, he took off his apron and hung it on the peg where he had hung it every day for two weeks. He lived with his mother still. He was glad she had taken him in. Marie lived with them, too. She had nowhere to go, and they didn't mind having her there. She helped his mother every day, and didn't complain.

He walked down the road and headed home. He was lonely. Christa used to be his only companion. Now, he didn't even have that. Luckily, he had her baby. He tried to be a good father to him and tell him about his mother. Sometimes, he would laugh at the things Michael did. He only wished the child was his.

Marie ran to Tommy, seeing him close to home. "Hello, Tommy."

"Hey, Marie. What's up?" He smiled.

"Michael…he's not well. He needs a doctor." Marie took care of Michael during the day while he worked. She was a great babysitter.

"What happened?" Tommy ran to the house.

"We were playing, and I noticed he was getting red. When I felt him, he was burning up." Marie had taken care of children before, but she had never dealt with newborns.

"He barely got this today, right?" Tommy looked at her as he touched Michael's forehead.

"Yes." She nodded.

"Okay. Let's go. Christa would kill me if something went wrong with her only son." Tommy carried Michael out of the house. Marie grabbed a few things and closed the door. They both hopped into his mother's carriage and took off into the horizon.

*****

By the time they got there, it was almost dark. Tommy went inside, seeing that the doctor was busy with another patient. He cradled Michael. He felt his forehead, and he was still hot, but he wasn't crying. He was a good baby.

The doctor came out and saw Tommy holding an infant. "So, who's the patient?"

"He is, doctor." Tommy came forward.

"How old is the infant?" the doctor asked.

"Nearly a month old," Tommy said.

The doctor inspected him. He did several things to the infant, and he didn't cry. It was only when he removed his cloth diaper that he cried.

"Sorry. I know I have cold hands, little guy." He smiled.

"Well, what's wrong with him?" Tommy asked.

"It doesn't seem to be anything serious. He might have caught a chill and is going through some minor effects of a cold. Let me check his temperature." He turned the baby on his side and inserted the thermometer into his rectum.

While the doctor waited, he asked more questions. "So, how is your mother, Tommy?"

"She's good." Tommy didn't care to make small talk. He just wanted Michael to be okay.

"And how are you? Is this your wife?" The doctor had known the Ryan family for quite some time. He had even delivered Tommy when he was born.

"No. We're not married." Tommy blushed, looking at Marie.

"Then whose baby is this?" He was curious.

"He's Christa Connor's baby. She asked me to watch him while she was out of town." Tommy didn't bother to tell him the details.

"Christa Connor? I didn't know she had a baby." He knew Christa, too. She and Tommy had been almost inseparable when they were children.

"Few people do, sir. She went to New York and caught up with her uncle. It was getting nasty there, so she told me to take the infant and bring him here," Tommy explained, leaving out the sordid details.

"Wow. Do you know the father?" The doctor always thought that Christa and Tommy would get together. Now, he had to know more about this.

"Not really. We have spoken, but I don't know him that well." Tommy remembered how Amsterdam had looked the last time he had seen him. He didn't care too much that he was with Christa, but he was glad that she had given herself to him, even when she was on the rebound.

"Is he Irish, too?" The doctor held the thermometer, waiting for it to reach its reading.

"He claims he came from Kerry, but he doesn't know for sure." That was all Tommy knew.

The doctor paid attention to the infant. He looked at the reading on the thermometer. "Hmm…little guy, you must be playing a joke on your uncle. It's 99.7. If he gets bad overnight, bring him back first thing in the morning. I am sure it's nothing major to worry about. "

"Yes, sir." Tommy changed the baby and put back on his little nightgown.

"It's probably just the flu he's got. It seems he has a little cold." The doctor took his stethoscope and listened to his lungs.

"Yeah. He's had it for a day or two," Tommy told him.

"Well, take care," the doctor said as he walked out of the room.

"Thanks, doctor. Thanks for all your help." Tommy finished changing Michael and picked him up.

"No problem. When you see Christa, tell her I need to see her." Doctor Patrick made it a point. He needed to see her.

"Okay. First thing." Tommy got up to leave. Marie followed Tommy out the door of the doctor's office.

Marie walked to the carriage and took the infant when Tommy passed him to her. She felt awfully bad that she had worried him over nothing. The more she was with him, the more she was beginning to fall in love with him. She had never met anyone like him before. He wasn't mean to her, and he treated her with a lot of respect. The only problem was that he didn't notice her, not like she wanted him to.

"Tommy, I am sorry that I worried you over nothing," Marie apologized.

"Nah, don't be, Marie. I am glad that you told me. It might well have been serious if we didn't pay attention to it." He was very thankful for Marie. She was very helpful and concerned about a baby that wasn't even hers.

"Thank you, Tommy." She smiled.

"Don't worry Marie. Soon enough I will get some money so you can go back home." Tommy smiled back at her.

"Home?" Marie had no home.

"You don't honestly want to stay with my mother and I, do you?" Tommy knew it was best if she led her own life. He figured she probably had family somewhere.

"Tommy, there is something you don't understand." Marie looked at him in the evening darkness.

"What is it?" Tommy looked over for a second, and then paid attention to the road.

"Tommy, I am homeless. I don't have anywhere else to go. When I worked in New York for the Schermerhorns, they were the only family who gave me a chance to work for them. My mother and father are dead, and I don't have any other kin that I know of," Marie explained to him, hoping to God he wouldn't throw her out in the streets.

"Why did you agree to come with me? Why didn't you stay in New York?" He felt awful now.

"Well, until recently, New York was getting bad. I wanted to leave. I just had nowhere to go. When Christa asked me to come here, I jumped at the chance. I had no idea I was going with you." He must hate her now. The way she had said you felt like a rude remark.

"Oh, I am sorry for being rude. Gosh, Marie, you must think of me as a bastard." He felt ashamed that he had treated her wrong.

"Quite the opposite, Tommy. I am very fond of you." She reached out to touch his face.

"Really?" That was the first time she had touched him. It sent shivers down his spine.

"Really." She blushed.

Aboard the Ship

Christa woke up and left Amsterdam asleep in bed as she got started on breakfast. She cooked a lot of eggs and bacon for the crew. This cooking thing was beginning to get easier for her. She smiled as she cooked. No one knew what had put her in such a good mood. They had been on the ship for days now, and their arrival was very close. They were supposed to reach Ireland by sundown. She was happy about that.

Chapter Sixteen
Stories