The CBB :: View topic - An unspoken love

#1: An unspoken love Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 5:29 pm

Many thanks to Jo for beta-ing this.Please note there is an intentional EBDism, in that I have made Eigen slightly older than we are told he is in the books.

Eigen Pfeiffen lifted a heavy trunk into the boot of a large car, accepted the tip slipped into his hand and returned to the hotel. Tips were fewer than they had been in Wien, but he had returned to his home a month ago, to care for his mother after she had fallen and badly hurt herself. She couldn’t be left to live alone any longer and, of her numerous children, he was the one most conveniently placed to come home and care for her, his other siblings either being busy with their families or too far away – as far as England for his two of his sisters. Herr Braun, whom his mother had worked for for years, had been willing to give Eigen a job at his hotel.Eigen didn’t begrudge caring for his mother. It was only right that she who had cared for all of them as children should in turn be cared for in her old age. And Eigen had no family of his own, had never married, although with his tall blonde good looks he could have had his pick of girls. But there had only ever been one girl for him and she had always been out of his reach.His thoughts were interrupted by a message from a maid, asking him to go and fetch the luggage of some guests, who would be arriving on the next train, so he collected his trolley and departed.

Last edited by LizB on Sat Mar 19, 2005 11:54 am; edited 2 times in total

#2: Author: Nicci, Location: UK

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 5:49 pm

Awww poor Eigen.

#3: Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 6:05 pm

Poor Eigen! Great beginning. Looking forward to more.

#4: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 6:51 pm

oooh this looks interesting *racks brains to think of the girl out of his reach* *decides to sit and wait patiently for more*

#5: Author: Laura, Location: London (ish)

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 6:55 pm

Joey?

This looks very interesting Liz, thanks!

#6: Author: Josie, Location: London

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 6:57 pm

Oh hurrah, you've posted it! Very Happy

Btw everyone, this drabble is very good (Sorry Liz, couldn't resist just a mini-gloat!! Twisted Evil

)

#7: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 6:58 pm

I wondered if it were Joey too. Looking forward to seeing how this develops Liz! Very Happy

#8: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 8:04 pm

I am hoping not Joey, someone who wasn't obviously a favourite, Grizel,Robin,someone like that.

#9: Author: Cath, Location: Cornwall

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:37 pm

Ooh, this looks very interesting Liz! Looking forward to seeing more soon! Very Happy

#10: Author: Ann, Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, England

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 11:04 pm

Ooh, good start! More as soon as possible, please Liz!

#11: Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 12:33 am

This is looking so good thank you Liz. Have a feeling it is set at the time of Coming of Age. Probably will be Jo but it could be one of the others looking forward to the next part.

#12: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 12:41 am

Also intrigued - poor Eigen Thanks Liz

#13: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 11:50 am

Yes, this was inspired by a few paragraphs in Coming of Age that I caught sight of when I was looking up something else! The bits in italics are taken from the book.

He arrived at the station to find the visitors already there, chattering. One of them turned to him as he arrived, and his heart skipped a beat. It had been 15 years since he had seen her, but she still had the same effect on him.

“Eigen! It must be! Eigen, have you forgotten me?”

He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She had changed, of course she had, but she was still the same. A grin of pure happiness at seeing her again spread over his face and he hastened to reassure her. “Fraulein Joey! But it must be! I could not forget!” his tone conveyed more meaning than the mere words.

She was holding out her hand to him and he had to restrain himself from clasping it eagerly in both of his, remembering they had an audience, answering her questions, unable to drag his eyes from her face. He eventually summoned up all his self control and managed to turn from her to speak to another of the party, whom he recognised as Fraulein Frieda. Then Jo was saying they must get to the hotel and shaking his hand again. He let it go reluctantly, and started to stack the cases on the trolley as the guests moved off, his eyes never leaving her departing figure until it was round the bend and out of sight. She was still slender but had more curves than she had when he had seen her last. And so she should have, he told himself sternly, she was married and had children.

Last edited by LizB on Sat Mar 19, 2005 11:56 am; edited 1 time in total

#14: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 11:57 am

Aww, poor Eigen -and I doubt that even with her insight into people, Joey would even consider it. Crying or Very sad

#15: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 1:32 pm

Poor Eigen, I wonder if Joey ever had any feelings for him?

#16: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 2:01 pm

Here's your answer, Cazx.

Joey Maynard was thrilled to be visiting the Tirol again. After all these years, to finally go back to the place she felt was home, where she had grown from child to girl to young woman. The place where she had known great love and happiness, and great heartbreak.

With Frieda and the group of Chalet School prefects, she grew more and more excited as the train drew nearer and nearer to the Tiernsee. Finally they arrived and piled out of the train with their cases. She ran to look at the Gasthaus and was disappointed to find the owners she had once known were no longer there. Logic told her that many people she had once known would not be there, that war and time would have brought many changes. She looked around as someone approached to collect their cases and take them to the hotel. She stared in delighted shock and wonder, she hadn’t expected to see him again, and here he was.

“Eigen! It must be! Eigen, have you forgotten me?” She wondered if anyone else could hear the undercurrent of agonised longing in her voice.

He was looking back at her and her heart lurched for a moment at the thought that he had forgotten her. Then he smiled slowly. “Fraulein Joey! But it must be! I could not forget!”

She held out her hand to him, longing to reach out her arms, but restrained by awareness of the interested crowd of schoolgirls. “Why did Anna not tell me you worked here? She knew? She must have known?" If only she’d had warning to expect him. Would she have not come if she’d known? Avoided the disruption to her settled, comfortable life? No, she thought, she would have had to come, to take this chance to see him again. He took her offered hand in his warm, slightly calloused one and she felt a tingle go through her whole body. It was still the same, after all these years. Her breathing quickened slightly and for a moment there was nobody in the world but the two of them, as eyes as blue as the lake met and held hers.

Then Frieda was there, greeting him, and Jo was glad of the moment to compose herself. Her eyes released from his, she was able to take in the rest of him. His shoulders were maybe a fraction broader than she remembered, and he was a lot thinner – her eyes softened at the thought that he might have been unwell – and there were fine lines around his eyes that had definitely not been there before. The prefects were starting to get restless, and Jo knew that they should move on. She held out her hand to Eigen again, unable to resist the opportunity to touch him once more, even if only in this formal salute. She hated having to leave him to deal with the luggage, but that was the way that it had always been, he doing the menial work while she lived a more privileged life. She forced herself to turn away and focused her gaze on the group of prefects. Ushering them along, it took all her willpower not to look back and steal one more glance of him.

“That’s Eigen, brother of Madame’s Marie and Rosa, and cousin to my own Anna.” And the love of my life, her heart whispered. “It was thanks to him that I had my precious old Rufus. I’ll tell you that yarn later, if you don’t know it already. He’s had a dreadful time, poor Eigen. I can see that. He’s so thin. However, I’ll get the news from him later.” Somehow she must get the opportunity to speak with him, to be with him again. “In the meantime, we ought to be setting out for Briesau, so come on.” She led them off, still talking although she had know idea what words were coming out of her mouth, she chatted automatically, her mind taken up with him.

“Oh, what a lovely lake this is” exclaimed Hilary “bluer than Thun, and I’d have said that was impossible.”

Joey looked at the lake, and saw in her mind those, blue, blue eyes. “I’ve always said I left a bit of myself here.” She said. Her heart, she told herself, that was what had been left behind. “Well, we’ve a whole weekend to enjoy it, and believe me, it won’t be long before I come back again.” Not now I know he’s here. “In fact, if I can manage it, the family are going to holiday here.” She would manage it somehow, she knew. She just had to.

Last edited by LizB on Sat Mar 19, 2005 11:58 am; edited 1 time in total

#17: Author: Alice, Location: London, England

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 2:06 pm

Thank you Liz! Are we going to have any flashbacks?

#18: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 3:14 pm

Ooohhhh. A doomed romance. How sad, how intriguing - must know more.

#19: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 4:21 pm

Thanks Liz, I wonder if Jack know's?

#20: Author: Josie, Location: London

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 4:31 pm

at unrequited love - so sad. Thanks Liz.

#21: Author: Nicci, Location: UK

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 4:51 pm

aww. I think I may need to restock the tissues for this. Doomed love stories get me everytime. Thanks Liz

#22: Author: claire, Location: South Wales

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 6:58 pm

Aren't Phil and Geoff conceived a little after this point in time? Just wondering, that's all

#23: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 7:51 pm

I didn't want it to be Joey but if she loves him back.... Awwwwwwwww! :love:

#24: Author: JackieJ, Location: Kingston upon Hull

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 9:34 pm

Awwwwww, this could be sweet, but it could also be tragic if Jack finds out. Thanks Liz JackieJ

#25: Author: Vikki, Location: Sitting on an iceberg, freezing to death!!!

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 10:00 pm

Awwww!!!! *stocks up the tissue box!*

#26: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 11:49 pm

Yes Alice, this comes complete with flashbacks

“It was thanks to him that I had my precious old Rufus.” They were the last words that Eigen heard as he watched them leaving, and the memory came flooding back.He had heard that a litter of puppies was to be drowned. He had rushed to tell Marie, but she had accepted the news calmly, so he had left her in the kitchen while he wondered what to do. Joey had met him in the corridor and seeing something was wrong had asked him in her usual friendly way. He didn’t usually have much time for girls, but Fraulein Joey wasn’t too bad, and so he had told her about Zita and her puppies, although he despairingly expected she would react in the same way as his sister, but he was wrong. Her face had flushed with anger and she had stamped her foot, exclaiming angrily in English before demanding to be shown where the drowning was to take place.She had rushed off with him to stop them, scrambling over rocks and through thorns and into water, where she had managed to rescue the last puppy. She had raged at the murderous owner in a mixture of languages, asking how he dared to do such a thing, before bursting into tears and turning for home clutching the bedraggled puppy to her chest.

From that moment on, he had known he would do anything in the world for Joey Bettany.

Last edited by LizB on Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:00 pm; edited 1 time in total

#27: Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England

Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 8:22 am

Awww! I can imagine she seemed wonderful to him. Thanks.

#28: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 9:51 am

Joey rescuing Rufus is always a lovely scene, Eigen must have fallen in love that instant. Heart

Last edited by Lesley on Sun Feb 06, 2005 10:01 am; edited 1 time in total

#29: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 9:57 am

Thanks Liz! Very Happy

#30: Author: Vikki, Location: Sitting on an iceberg, freezing to death!!!

Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 8:26 pm

Awwww!!!!!! What a lovely scene! Poor puppies!!!

#31: Author: Lyanne, Location: Ipswich, England

Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 9:09 pm

It would have been completely inconcievable that they could have a relationship back then - even if Joey came with no Jack it would still be shocking 'now'. Claire wrote

Quote:

Aren't Phil and Geoff conceived a little after this point in time? Just wondering, that's all

Shame on you!! Nice girls don't talk about such things (as conception) Smile

#32: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 11:09 pm

poor eigen - i can see why he would have falled in love with her then..... i always thought she was wonderful in that scene

#33: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 9:58 am

It wasn’t until everyone was tucked up in bed that night that Joey was able to indulge her thoughts. She had managed to put them aside while she was with the others and appeared to be as usual, full of stories, jokes and chatter. Now, however, listening to Frieda’s gentle breathing, she could let her thoughts dwell on the shock of meeting Eigen again after all this time. Her mind went back across the years and suddenly she was a teenager again.

Since the rescue of Rufus, she and Eigen had been playmates whenever there was the opportunity. He had been kept busy a lot of the time and, once Madge and Jem had married, had moved up to the Sonnalpe with them to help around Die Rosen. She had been busy with school work and school friends, but when there was time they would be racing around the alpe, or climbing trees. He had taken her to the summit one day, when he had time off. Madge and Jem were aware of the friendship and, while not encouraging it, saw no harm in it. Jo was very much a child at that time and Eigen was another friend in the same way as Gottfried Mensch, only nearer her age. The Chalet School encouraged the view that every person was of equal worth and, as far as Jo was concerned, there was no distinction between a boy-of-all-work and a doctor.

Then one day, Joey’s view of Eigen had changed.

Last edited by LizB on Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:02 pm; edited 1 time in total

#34: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 10:01 am

I see LizB has been studying at the School of Cliffhanger Construction.

#35: Author: Vikki, Location: Sitting on an iceberg, freezing to death!!!

Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 2:49 pm

Help!!! Can someone call mountain rescue please? Liz, this is great, but MORE please!!! Wink

#36: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 6:49 pm

Nice cliff! Wink

#37: Author: Josie, Location: London

Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 7:24 pm

*straps on abseiling gear then remembers I don't need it, so removes it again whilst thinking about the shiny posts to come and waving to CBB'ers as they near the edge of the cliff* Wink

Thanks Liz, wonderful

#38: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 8:20 pm

Argh no not a cliff! Thanks Liz!

#39: Author: JackieJ, Location: Kingston upon Hull

Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 9:10 pm

Aieee! Not another one. I'm going to have classes-full at this rate. *extremely curious about Joey & Eigen* Please may we have some more Liz? JackieJ

#40: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 9:32 pm

As she lay there in the Kron Prinz Karl, Joey remembered the day the Robin had come to confess to Madge that she had emptied a basin of water out of a window, which had landed on the unsuspecting Eigen.

She and Mademoiselle had left the salon while Eigen was summoned, but after leaving enough time for Robin to have made her apology, Jo had left Mademoiselle and headed to the kitchen to have a laugh with Eigen about it.

Marie, used to Joey’s presence in the kitchen, had poured her a cup of coffee and, forewarned, was pouring out a cup for Eigen when he arrived in the kitchen. His hair was still damp, although no longer plastered to his head, and little tendrils were forming golden curls as they dried. He removed his wet coat, which Marie took from him to hang in front of the fire and turned to reach for his cup of coffee. His shirt was also damp and clung in patches to muscles honed by outside labour, the open neck showing a sprinkling of dark golden hairs. Joey felt a strange tightening in her stomach, and heard her own heartbeat thudding in her ears. She took a gulp of coffee to moisten her suddenly dry mouth.

She put down her cup with a clatter and saying something about Madge rushed from the kitchen, running away from this change that she didn’t want to happen from these feelings that she didn’t understand.

She ran to the safety of her sister’s presence, although she could never confide in her the tumult she was feeling, she needed the calm reassurance that she would get from just being with her.

And so she rushed into the salon, suddenly realising she would need to explain her haste and grabbing the first thing she could think of. “Mademoiselle says there’s another new pupil for the school.”

Joey smiled to herself in the darkness. It had taken her some time to work out what was happening, why she had suddenly wanted to be with Eigen, but felt unaccountably shy in his presence. Nobody talked about desire, especially not to a 16-year-old girl.

It had been a week or two later, at Bernhilda’s wedding, as she watched the newly wedded couple dancing, she had seen the way Kurt held Bernhilda, the look on their faces when their eyes met, and suddenly started to understand what she was feeling when she was with Eigen. She hadn’t the opportunity to think about it then however, because as soon as she escaped to be by herself Gertlieb had arrived with news of die Grossmutter’s illness and all other thoughts had been put aside.

Last edited by LizB on Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:05 pm; edited 1 time in total

#41: Author: keren, Location: Israel

Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 9:35 pm

This is really good

#42: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 10:17 pm

Thank you Liz - perfectly natural response.

#43: Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle

Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2005 12:55 am

Poor Jo and Eigen. Loking forward to hearing more and wondering if Jem & Madge encouraged her to marry Jack to get her away from thoughts of Eigen?

#44: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2005 9:31 am

This is going to be heartbreaking I fear Crying or Very sad

#45: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2005 3:27 pm

Frau Pfeiffen was interested to hear from Eigen that Frauleins Joey and Frieda were back visiting the Tiernsee “with girls who are at the school now did you say?” and asked a multitude of questions about how they looked after all these years. Eigen, usually willing to give her long descriptions of the people he saw each day, was reticent to talk much about these visitors and as soon as he could without being obvious he moved the conversation on, although his thoughts remained behind. After all what could he tell his mother – that Fraulein Joey still made him ache inside in a way nobody else ever had that the sight of her, or the sound of her voice made his heart jump with delight in her presence and then sink with despair because she was as unattainable as she had ever been.

#46: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2005 4:51 pm

Oh poor Eigen! Crying or Very sad

#47: Author: Ellie, Location: Lincolnshire

Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2005 5:10 pm

I like this, I like this a lot, I just wish I'd found it earlier. Thank you muchly, and may there be another episode soon please?

#48: Author: Helen P, Location: Cheshire

Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2005 10:52 pm

This is so good. Thankyou Liz, I had never thought of Joey and Eigen in that way before - but it makes perfect sense.

#49: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 10:02 am

It had been at another wedding, nearly a year before Bernhilda’s, that Eigen had realised his feelings for Joey. After his mother had been settled for the night, he lay in the darkness and smiled as he remembered.

t had been his sister, Marie’s, wedding and they had danced the Ehrentanz, which is danced by the bridal couple, the nearest of her relations, and any guests whom the bridegroom specifically wishes to honour. The rest of the dancers crowd round the walls and watch it in silence, while the host and his wife stand near the musicians. As the couples waltz slowly round the room, these two present each with a full glass of wine, of which the lady sips a little. She then hands the rest to her partner, who drains it. While this is going on, the brother of the bride sings a short rhyme in praise of his new brother-in-law as that worthy passes him every time he goes round the room.

Naturally Jo, Grizel and the Robin were requested to join in the dancing.

Eigen had been asked earlier in the day by Andreas to dance the Ehrentanz with Joey, and he had agreed. At least this was one girl out of this room full of schoolgirls that he didn’t feel tongue-tied with, and he could chat away with her as they often did.

The music began. Jo was tired and not as talkative as usual, so it was in companionable silence they circled the room, listening to Fritzel’s singing, giggling together at some of the more flowery compliments to Andreas.

As they danced, he gradually became more and more aware of the slender white figure in his arms, the gloss of the black hair, the length of the black eyelashes against her white skin.

It was the beer he’d drunk, he told himself, although it had never had that heady effect on him before.

As they turned, he tightened his hold, drawing her nearer to avoid another couple and then keeping her there, her head level with his chin, one hand clasped in his, the other resting on his shoulder, her leg occasionally brushing against his.

He wondered why he had never noticed before that she was so delicately fragile she needed to have great care taken of her.

He released her hand, feeling suddenly bereft as she accepted the glass of wine and he watched, fascinated, as she held it to her lips and sipped it. Then she was holding the glass out to him, looking up at him with shining eyes and a smile. He couldn’t take his gaze away as he took the glass, his fingers brushing hers on the stem of the glass, sending a tingling through his whole body. He drained the glass and relinquished it to the waiter attending for that purpose, and they continued the dance. But it was in that moment he suddenly knew that he wanted to keep her in his arms forever.

Last edited by LizB on Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:07 pm; edited 1 time in total

#50: Author: Katie, Location: A Yorkshire lass in London

Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 2:29 pm

Poor Eigen Crying or Very sad

This is soooo good Liz. Really emotional - I look forward to seeing it develop!

#51: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 5:24 pm

That was so lovely but so sad!

#52: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 5:45 pm

*snuffles* poor Eigen. do they know that they both feel the same way? or did they never have that little chat?

#53: Author: JackieJ, Location: Kingston upon Hull

Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 9:20 pm

Awwww, poor Eigen. *sigh* unrequited love always gets to me. Thanks Liz JackieJ

#54: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 9:28 pm

Poor Eigen - I don't think they can ever say how they feel. Crying or Very sad

#55: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 10:41 am

That weekend, with Frieda, Marie, Simone and the prefects, was full of memories for Jo. For nearly every story she told, there was another one she kept to herself.

She listened with half an ear as Frieda told how Jo had fallen off a ladder on top of Bill as they prepared for the sale …

She had known Eigen would be at the school that day. Madge had told her he and Andreas would be coming down from the Sonnalpe to help with any heavy work involved in setting up stalls etc. Jo had been disappointed that she’d had to stay in lessons that morning she had hoped that, as head girl, she might be ‘on-call’ for help with the setting up, however, Mademoiselle had thanked her but turned down her offer. So she’d done her best to concentrate during the lessons, which were blessedly short that morning to allow for the sale preparations. Once they had been allowed into the hall to set up, she had been rewarded by the sight of his well-known figure up a ladder as he secured Rapunzel’s tower and felt an unexpected and unjustified pang of jealousy towards Sophie, as she saw her friend discussing the best way to prevent the tower falling. On the pretext of discussing Rapunzel’s hair, Jo had stopped working on the cottage to wander over and talk to Sophie. Just to be that bit nearer to him, even though his back was to her as he lashed the ladder into place, made her feel happier, and she pretended interest in how the items were to be displayed while her eyes covertly admired the long legs, muscled shoulders and golden head.

Once he had finished helping Sophie and moved on to his next job, somewhere outside, Jo went back to the seven dwarves cottage to continue setting it up, although part of her mind was elsewhere, wondering if there would be any opportunities to see him again that afternoon.

Jo had climbed up to the top of the stepladder to fix a chimney onto the cottage. As it finally fitted into place, she raised her eyes from it and looked straight across the room to see him, standing there, watching her. Their eyes met and Jo felt electricity tingle along her spine. Was there something in his gaze that meant he was feeling it too? It had never crossed her mind over the last year that her feelings might be reciprocated.

He smiled and she felt she was being drawn into a vortex, where nothing mattered but Eigen. A couple of St Scholastika girls suddenly appeared between them and Jo leaned over to keep him in her view just as Cornelia jumped down from the bottom of the ladder. Jo gave a sudden lurch, and then plunged, a whirling mass of arms and legs, straight on top of Miss Wilson.

As Frieda finished her tale, Jo laughed along with the others, but she couldn’t help wondering as she had then – did that gaze mean anything?

Last edited by LizB on Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:08 pm; edited 1 time in total

#56: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 11:12 am

Aha! A reason for why Joey fell off of the ladder - excellent!

#57: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 1:05 pm

Ohhh very clever! Thanks Liz!

#58: Author: JackieJ, Location: Kingston upon Hull

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 1:38 pm

I love the way you're integrating all the quotes from the books into this Liz, it really is wonderful. JackieJ

#59: Author: keren, Location: Israel

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:24 pm

please keep going on this one

#60: Author: Josie, Location: London

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 7:11 pm

thanks Liz Smile

#61: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 9:52 pm

brilliant explanation, Liz keep going....

#62: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 11:12 am

francesn & keren wrote:

keep going....

Don't worry - this one is completely written, including two different endings!

Eigen remembered that day as well. He had been delighted to be asked to go with Andreas to set up the sale. He was hoping for an opportunity to see her – just a glimpse would suffice, he told himself.

He was up a ladder, securing a tower that was going to be one of the stalls when he heard her voice behind him. He couldn’t turn around and look at her at that moment, although he longed to do so, but he deliberately slowed his movements, taking his time, while she chatted below, thrilling to her nearness and wanting to make the moment last as long as possible. Eventually, reluctantly, he had to finish and move on to his next job.

He was occupied out of the hall for some time and when he returned he saw her straight away, up on a ladder, fixing something to the roof of a ‘house’. He stepped back against a wall, out of the way, and watched her, unnoticed. She suddenly looked up and saw him and Eigen caught his breath as their eyes met. She was incredible, he thought, yes her friend Marie was stunningly beautiful, but Joey had something indefinable that went beyond that. For a moment he forgot where he was, forgot that she was unattainable and smiled at her.

A couple of girls walked in front of him, and then he heard a shriek and a crash and she was gone.

He would never forget that moment, that instant when she had looked at him as if he was the most important person in her world, as she was in his. He knew he must have imagined it, that it was wishful thinking on his part. If she ever really looked at someone that way, it would be someone from her own world, someone like Dr Maynard. Eigen knew exactly how the young doctor felt about Joey Bettany.

Last edited by LizB on Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:11 pm; edited 1 time in total

#63: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 11:37 am

I have the feeling that Jack could end up as the bad guy (for me at least!) in this drabble! Thanks for the update Liz! Very Happy

#64: Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 2:05 pm

awww Lyanne this is so lovely but have a feeling it is going to be sad. Are we going to see both endings?

#65: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 7:52 pm

i hope one ending is happy!!!*echoes pleas to see both*

#66: Author: dackel, Location: Wolfenbuettel, Germany/Cambridge, England

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 9:32 pm

This so lovely...and so sad! Thanks, Liz.

#67: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 10:06 pm

Poor Eigen, poor Jo. Crying or Very sad

#68: Author: Dawn, Location: Leeds, West Yorks

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 11:24 pm

Makes sure the tissue box is well stocked as it looks like we'll need it hopefully for a sad ending and a happy one Thanks very much Liz - it is excellent

#69: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 10:35 am

Eigen had known how Dr Maynard felt about Joey Bettany probably for longer than Jack had himself. From a distance he had seen the friendship between Jack and Jo develop, and had seen the moment when Jack’s feelings had changed. For a while he had felt an empathy with the young doctor, then as time had passed he had become envious of the extra opportunities Jack had to spend time with Jo.

Eigen had always known his love for Jo to be hopeless. Now, with a heavy heart, he realised that Dr Maynard’s case might not be as hopeless as his own. The doctor was tall, handsome, sure to make his way in the world what was a man-of-all-work in comparison?

Since Jo was no longer a schoolgirl she could no longer climb trees with her old playmate, and time spent in Marie’s kitchen had been exchanged for time in the nursery, with the growing collection of children. All he could do was love her from a distance, although he was torn apart inside every time he saw her laughing with Jack.

Last edited by LizB on Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:12 pm; edited 1 time in total

#70: Author: Rebecca, Location: Kendal/Oxford

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 11:15 am

Aww... Poor Eigen. Crying or Very sad

#71: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 11:48 am

How sad, especially as Jo also had feelings for him but never expressed them. Crying or Very sad

#72: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 6:08 pm

Can you imagine Madge's reaction to the news that Jo wanted to marry Eigen?

#73: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 8:12 pm

Jennie wrote:

Can you imagine Madge's reaction to the news that Jo wanted to marry Eigen?

oh please someone write that as a spin-off!!! if LizB agrees....

#74: Author: JackieJ, Location: Kingston upon Hull

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 9:41 pm

It's certainly touching, but I suppose it wouldn't have been considered 'proper' for Jo to be interested in Eigen. You have to wonder if what she feels for Jack is somehow not as strong as what she feels for Eigen though. Thanks Liz JackieJ

#75: Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2005 12:46 am

Thanks Liz. Poor Eigen bad enough that he loved Jo from afar but how much worse seeing her with Jack.

#76: Author: Ellie, Location: Lincolnshire

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2005 12:52 am

Poor Eigen. Poor Jo. Poor Jack too, if Jo married him whilst she really loved someone else.

#77: Author: Pado, Location: Connecticut, USA

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2005 12:58 am

sniffle. poor eigen. poor joey. poor jack?

#78: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2005 9:39 am

A trip up the Sonnalpe brought back more memories for Jo. The girls had wanted to see the caves where she had hidden with others when they had to flee from the Nazis. By that time, of course, she had become engaged to Jack Maynard.

She had always liked Jack Maynard, and the two had been good friends for years. Then, perhaps her senses sharpened by her own situation, she had realised he was madly in love with her. Not wanting to hurt his feelings, she had pretended ignorance, had turned a deaf ear to the subtle and not-so-subtle hints of her friends. If she let Jack express his feelings she would have to turn him down, and that would be the end of their friendship, it would never be the same again. Maybe, in time, if she continued to treat him as she always had, he would revert to friendship with her, and transfer his feelings to someone else. She knew there was more than one nurse at the San who would jump at the chance to be Frau Doktor Maynard. Or maybe she could matchmake him with one of the mistresses at the school …

Then had come that fateful day, when they had gone up the Sonnalpe to hide the Peace League. Jack had taken control of the situation when Robin and Hilary had disappeared and had been such a support, so reassuring while she was going through mental torture with worry and anguish.

The relief of finding Robin and Hilary were safe had caused her to faint, and then, when she came round, to burst into tears. She had cried on Jack’s shoulder and been aware of him uttering soothing, comforting words.

“Oh Jack” she sobbed “what a – solid lump – of comfort you – are.”

Last edited by LizB on Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:13 pm; edited 1 time in total

#79: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2005 10:13 am

So did Joey love both of them? Or did everyone just assume she loved Jack and she could not correct them...

#80: Author: keren, Location: Israel

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2005 10:23 am

Readers always suspected that being a solid lump of comfort was not the best way to describe your future husband. Now we know, it is an expression she used about her very good friend. You are writing this very skilfully, we shall never know what to believe next time we read the books. But maybe as she lived with Jack she came to love him....

#81: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2005 12:33 pm

Can just see that happening too - her feelings of gratitude and reliefbeing mistaken forsomething else - and then Joey not able to refute them.Thanks Liz.

#82: Author: JackieJ, Location: Kingston upon Hull

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2005 5:32 pm

Thanks Liz I'm going with Keren on this one, she must have felt something for Jack or she wouldn't have reacted as badly as she did when they thought he was dead. But we'll never know if those feelings became stronger than those she has for Eigen. JackieJ

#83: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 11:36 am

It was a shock to Jo when she realised, too late, that Jack had taken her words to show reciprocation of his feelings and, hardly knowing how it had happened, she found herself engaged to him.

Using Juliet’s wedding as an excuse, she had managed to keep the engagement quiet for nearly a month, during which time she hoped she would find a way to break things off without hurting Jack’s feelings. But he always looked at her with such happiness shining from his eyes, that she just didn’t have the heart to tell him.

And did it really matter anyway? There was no way she could ever be with the man she loved. Madge had almost had kittens when an unsuitable doctor had shown interest in Jo and had packed her off to India. If she had any inkling that Jo wanted to be with Eigen she would probably send her to another planet! And Eigen, well, she barely saw him these days, the playmate of the past had gone and he probably didn’t even miss her.

But Jack loved her so much, and there was something so comforting in being loved like that, in being cared for and cherished. With a sigh for what couldn’t be, she had resolved that she would marry him. She would take good care to never let him know that she wasn’t in love with him as he was with her.

And she had been content. Jack had been a tender, considerate and loving husband. Being Jo, she had flung herself into being the wife he wanted and never by a look had she betrayed that the love she felt for him was that of deep friendship only. Nobody, not even those closest to them, ever suspected that they weren’t all-in-all to each other.

The children had come along and she had not had to pretend to love him. In giving Jack children she found some absolution for not loving him as she should, as he thought she did, and as she dearly wished she could. The years had gone by and she had become accustomed to her life, had found some happiness in her children, in her writing and in the school. Now she felt the whole façade was in danger of falling apart. This trip had brought back memories and feelings she had believed she had buried deep inside her forever, and her whole life was in turmoil.

Last edited by LizB on Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:14 pm; edited 1 time in total

#84: Author: Abi, Location: Alton, Hants

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 12:20 pm

Oh Liz, that's so sad. Poor, poor Joey. She must have been so brave to do that. Perhaps that's why she threw herself into the life of the School so much as well? Thank you so much.

#85: Author: keren, Location: Israel

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 12:35 pm

Also why she had so many children.

#86: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 9:54 pm

poor poor joey loving the idea of madge having kittens at the unsuitable doctor and sending her off to another planet for even considering a liason with eigen!

#87: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 10:11 pm

Poor Joey

#88: Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 12:10 am

Poor Jo! I am so glad she never showed Jack what she actually did feel he would have been mortified.

#89: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 10:18 am

Eigen saw the change in Jack Maynard and with heart-breaking certainty he knew. Eigen knew the euphoria he would feel if he suddenly found his love returned and he recognised it in Jack’s face and very bearing.

He had immediately taken some days off and spent the weekend in Spartz, but had soon realised that all the drink in the town would not deaden the pain he felt, so he had returned to the Sonnalpe, determined to face the situation there stoically. He knew that the English would all be leaving soon, that the combination of joy and exquisite torture of seeing Jo each day would soon be over, leaving only bleakness in his future. He had long ago faced up to the fact that she would never be – could never be – his. Seeing her with someone else was only taking it a step further. A step that had always been inevitable.

He had therefore prepared himself for the news, and was determined to wish the couple all the best when Jo came to tell him.

“Eigen, here you are,” Joey had exclaimed, and he had put down his axe to turn to look at her.

“Fraulein Joey, Guten Morgen.” She was here. The usual joy he felt in her presence was buried under the realisation of why she had sought him out.

“I’ll always been Fraulein Joey to you won’t I?” she asked.

“But of course, you will always be the same to me.” No matter what happened, his feelings for her would never change.

Joey sighed, and he thought it sounded sad, but before he could say anything she was speaking again. “I was looking for you… that is Dr Maynard… well, I wanted to let you know…”

“You have come to tell me that you and Herr Doktor Maynard are to be wed.” He heard himself say the words, felt the knife turning in his heart, and longed for her to deny them.

She gave him a look of surprise, mingled with something else he couldn’t understand, and then smiled brightly. “Yes, that’s it exactly.”

“Then I wish you every happiness meine Fraulein.” Not his Fraulein. Never his Fraulein.

“Do you mean that Eigen?”

“Yes of course Fraulein Joey.” Her happiness was far more important than his, and if the doctor could make her happy than that was what she deserved.

“Thank you Eigen.” She moved slowly away, and once she was out of sight Eigen grabbed his axe and heaved it into the block of wood.

Last edited by LizB on Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:16 pm; edited 1 time in total

#90: Author: keren, Location: Israel

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 10:23 am

Isn't it nice that I saw this just as you posted it. And how does she remember the day that she had to tell him this?

#91: Author: Nell, Location: London, England

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 12:07 pm

Thank you Liz. Poor Eigen.

#92: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 4:53 pm

Poor Eigen, Poor Joey, Poor Jack if he should ever discover this. Crying or Very sad

#93: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 5:02 pm

Poor Eigen and Joey Sad

If only true love could always find a way.

#94: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 6:19 pm

oh poor poor Eigen....i bet he wishes that log was jack's head *also wonders how Jo remembers the day she had to break the news*

#95: Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 9:50 pm

Poor poor Eigen! I wonder too how Jo remembers this.

#96: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 10:30 pm

Joey had had to tell Eigen the news herself. Maybe, just maybe, if he gave any sign that he cared, that that moment in the school hall had not been imagined, she would find the strength to end her engagement. So before it was announced she sought him out and found him chopping firewood at the back of Die Rosen.

She stood and watched the play of muscles in has back and shoulders for a few minutes, before she spoke. “Eigen, here you are,” He had turned to look at her and she felt her legs tremble as his blue eyes met hers.

“Fraulein Joey, Guten Morgen.” There was a time when he would have been pleased to see her, but he didn’t look happy about it now.

“I’ll always been Fraulein Joey to you won’t I?” she asked, wistfully.

“But of course, you will always be the same to me.” She had been stupid to think that he would ever see her as anything other than his employer’s sister, his one-time playmate.

She sighed as her secret hopes shrivelled away. “I was looking for you… that is Dr Maynard… well, I wanted to let you know…” she couldn’t find where to start.

“You have come to tell me that you and Herr Doktor Maynard are to be wed.”

How did he know? She searched his face for any sign that it mattered to him, but he remained impassive. Somehow she forced a bright smile to her lips. “Yes, that’s it exactly.”

“Then I wish you every happiness meine Fraulein.” If only she could be his Fraulein. She would give up everything to be with him.

“Do you mean that Eigen?” She had to be sure he meant it, give him one last chance to say if he thought any differently.

"Yes of course Fraulein Joey.” The last vestige of hope withered and died.

“Thank you Eigen.” She turned slowly and walked away, the thud of the axe seeming like the hammer driving the nails into the coffin of her dreams.

Last edited by LizB on Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:17 pm; edited 1 time in total

#97: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 10:32 pm

How sad. If only.......... Crying or Very sad

#98: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 10:41 pm

If they had just had the courage to confess their feelings for each other...

#99: Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 11:39 pm

Aww poor poor Jo! And Eigen.

#100: Author: Sophoife, Location: down under Down Under

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2005 11:57 am

:ahhh: for Joey and Eigen (I seem to be doing lots of ahhhs tonight!)

#101: Author: keren, Location: Israel

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2005 2:10 pm

I'm glad you told this bit too.

#102: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2005 11:12 pm

Eigen spent the weekend trying to catch as many glimpses of Joey as he could, while not being seen by her or the rest of the party. He watched from a distance as she swam or rowed on the lake, saw the group leave on trips and waited eagerly for their return, loitered in hallways to catch sight of her or to hear the sound of her voice. Any encounters with her, such as when she sought him out to ask after his mother, he answered her questions with the formality due to a hotel guest from a porter, or to his previous employer’s younger sister, although his words and actions were formal, his eyes hungrily took in the sight of her, gazed after her when she left, the image of her engraved in his mind. She was friendly to him, but not more so than she was to Herr Braun, another old acquaintance. He was stupid to dream of her, he chastised himself it was foolish to imagine that the fire she ignited in him was reflected in her.

Eigen’s simple, devout faith had never left him, despite the hardships he had suffered, and he knew he could do nothing despite the way he felt. She was married and he could not disturb the sanctity of that marriage. All he could do was to make the most of the chance to see her again. He had never thought that would happen, and the fact that it had was a precious gift.

Last edited by LizB on Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:18 pm; edited 1 time in total

#103: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 5:43 am

How sad,and how noble.

#104: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 9:55 am

Please let them realise how the other truly feels!

#105: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 10:45 am

Until this weekend, Joey had never thought she would see him again. She wondered which was worse – seeing him and being reminded of all she had felt and dreamed – or to have never seen him again. The thought of never seeing him again filled her with such desolation she knew it was better to have had those precious moments of seeing him, talking with him, remembering. She remembered Tennyson’s lines “’tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all” and felt comforted by them. How bleak her life would have been if she hadn’t known Eigen. She was sure she would have never loved anyone else. It was far better to love him and not be with him than to not know how love felt.

#106: Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 1:34 pm

Poor Jo! This is so sad. Cannot see a happy ending at all.

#107: Author: Laura, Location: London (ish)

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 1:42 pm

Hmm... I was pondering this and the only solution I can come up with (!) is that Jack and Jo retire to the Tirol aged 70 ish, Jack dies, Eigen comes to comfort Jo... and so forth. Sadly that does also involve killing off Jack! Thanks Liz.

#108: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 2:31 pm

Thanks Liz, this is so sad though.

#109: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 7:23 pm

oh if only they'd said something!!!! this is so so sad

#110: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 1:47 pm

Sorry Jo - decided to go with this one.

Despite her late-night adventure on the lake with Mary-Lou, Joey was awake before dawn that last morning. Dressing swiftly and quietly she scribbled a note to Frieda and crept from the bedroom. Letting herself softly out of the side door, she took a deep breath of the cool, clear air before starting off down the path. Skirting the lake, she headed for the place where she had rescued Rufus all those years ago, she knew it was an ideal place to sit in peace and watch the sunrise.

Rounding some bushes, she was startled to see a familiar figure already seated on a large boulder. She stopped, and was about to retreat, but he had heard her footsteps and already turned to see who was coming.

“Fraulein Joey!” he exclaimed, “What do you do here?”

“I came to watch the sunrise.” Joey explained. “I didn’t think there would be anyone else here.”

“I will be silent and not disturb you if you wish to stay,” promised Eigen, hoping she wouldn’t just leave. “There is room to sit up here if you wish it?”

Joey hesitated a moment, then scrambled up the boulder, accepting the firm hand Eigen offered to help her up, and then sitting circumspectly apart from him.

They sat in silence, as Eigen had promised and watched as the lightening of the Eastern sky turned to soft rose, then through a thousand shades to peach and then to golden yellow. Joey always thought there was something magical about the sunrise and this one was no exception.

Finally it was over, and reality returned. “I must get back before they send out search parties for me again,” she said. Eigen jumped agilely down from the rock, and once more held out his hand to Jo, who started more cautiously, then her foot slipped and she slithered the last of the way to be caught in his arms.

Last edited by LizB on Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:19 pm; edited 1 time in total

#111: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 2:05 pm

Oh Oh!

#112: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 4:29 pm

And then what happens?

#113: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 5:41 pm

Oh dear, now what's going to happen? Shocked

#114: Author: keren, Location: Israel

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 7:12 pm

Come on, give us this next bit, I am sure you have it written!

#115: Author: Josie, Location: London

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 8:34 pm

LizB wrote:

Sorry Jo - decided to go with this one

*g* had a feeling that you would! And I did say I thought they were both very good Very Happy

#116: Author: dackel, Location: Wolfenbuettel, Germany/Cambridge, England

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 9:09 pm

What a terrible place to stop! Now I'm all in suspense, as it were, because I've fallen off the cliff and I'm in that Roadrunner Cartoon moment of looking down while hanging in the air before I actually fall...

#117: Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 12:48 am

What a place to leave it! Please let us have the next bit soon.

#118: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 8:50 am

Joey raised her head to say thank you, but the words never came as she caught the intensity of his gaze. The world stood still, her hands, caught against his chest, could feel the drumming of his heartbeat. There was no knowing how long they stood there, his deep blue eyes locked with her almost-black ones. Then his gaze dropped briefly from her eyes to her softly parted lips, and back again. Joey saw his eyes darken and felt his arms tighten around her as his head dipped fractionally. She let out a tremulous sigh, then gathered her will power. This should not be happening.

With a tremendous effort, Eigen closed his eyes and jerked his head back, loosening, although not releasing, his hold on her and uttering a succinct expletive.

“You’re married!” he groaned.

“Eigen I’m sorry,” replied Joey softly, “I never knew, never believed that… that… you…”

“Always,” confirmed Eigen, “but I never hoped…”

“If only I’d known,” sighed Joey, “things might have been so different.”

“But they are not.” Eigen answered firmly, “and so you must forget me and return to Herr Doktor Maynard.” He let go of her and Joey took a small step away.

“I know,” she agreed quietly, and would have continued, but her ears caught the sound of voices approaching. With one last look at Eigen, she mustered a smile and walked around the clump of bushes. “Were you looking for me?” she cheerfully asked the group of Mary-Lou, Vi, Hilary and Lesley, and somehow managed to lead them back to the hotel with every appearance of normality.

Last edited by LizB on Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:22 pm; edited 1 time in total

#119: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 9:08 am

No Joey go back, who cares about Jack when you could have true love... Crying or Very sad

I'm a romantic ok!

#120: Author: keren, Location: Israel

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 9:28 am

Did you mention that you had 2 endings? Can we see that too? On drabbles you can have alternate endings. I admire Eigen. But how will she go back home and carry on with life after this?

#121: Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 1:58 pm

aww how sad. Please, please may we see the alternative ending?

#122: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 2:15 pm

This isn't quite ended yet... but when it is, I will post the alternative ending if you want

Eigen remained rooted to the spot, filled with a mixture of elation and disappointment. He could scarcely believe those last few moments had happened, and could not understand how, but she loved him. It didn’t matter that nothing could be done about it just the knowledge was enough. She loved him. With a lightened heart he made his way home to help his mother before going to the hotel. He would treasure those few moments when he had held in his arms, for the rest of his life.

Last edited by LizB on Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:23 pm; edited 1 time in total

#123: Author: keren, Location: Israel

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 2:55 pm

That IS tragic!

#124: Author: keren, Location: Israel

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 3:48 pm

I think this is good, as it is in the CS spirit while in some modern stories "love will have its way" without caring who is hurt etc. Here, the main characters are bound by honor as in the school story. When reading I am reminded of the film called something like "the remains of the day"

#125: Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 3:48 pm

Yes please!!!!!!!!!!! Poor Eigen! How dreadful for him. Wonder what Jo thinks , when she has time to think about it.

#126: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:38 pm

How tragic - almost tones of Casablanca and Brief Encounter there.

#127: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 7:25 pm

Joey felt that her heart would burst with happiness. He loved her. They couldn’t be together, but knowing he cared about her would be enough to sustain her for the rest of her life. After the memories of the weekend, knowing that he cared made it somehow easier to accept her life as it was. She would soon be back in another country, with her husband and children, but she hugged within her a new memory that she would treasure for the rest of her life.

#128: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 7:49 pm

*Sniff* so sad, yet so right. Thanks Liz.

#129: Author: Steph, Location: Blackpool, Lancashire

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 9:28 pm

Have just read this all the way through. Wonderful Liz absolutely wonderful!

#130: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 9:31 pm

Well at least they have the knowledge of their love now! Please can we have the alternative ending!

#131: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 11:07 pm

I'm so torn!!! I'm happy - because they know I'm sad - because she's married and has children and lives in Switzerland and it's all too late Crying or Very sad

#132: Author: Sarah_K, Location: St Albans/Leicester

Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 5:28 pm

*wipes eyes* Not exactly cheerful but I suppose it's good if both of them are happy... Thanks LizB

#133: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 5:54 pm

Since you keep insisting - here's the beginning of the ending Jo preferred

The final morning of their trip to the Tiernsee, the visitors went for a walk along the lakeside. By common consent, the prefects drew off, leaving Jo, Simon, Marie and Frieda to walk together, undisturbed.

“So Jo, you are to have your chalet here after all,” said Simone, “and how wonderful that it is the old St Scholastika!”

“I hope you’ll all come and visit us here,” replied Jo, “and let us know if you ever want to stay here when we’re not using it. Any time you feel like another trip down memory lane.”

“That is very kind of you Jo,” answered Marie, speaking for all of them, “but it is not just for memories is it?”

Joey shot her a quick look. “What do you mean?”

“We have all had a wonderful weekend,” explained Marie, “and it has been full of so many memories, but you cannot live on them.”

“That is true.” Simone agreed. “It has been good to remember our girlhood and the hopes and dreams we had then – and some of those dreams have come true, like your writing for example – but we have to live our life in the present, which is not the same as the dreams we had then.”

“But we can’t live without dreams and hopes for the future.” Jo protested.

“I still have hopes and dreams,” said Frieda, “but now they are different. I dream that Gretchen will remain healthy and grow strong. I dream that Louis and Gerard will become honourable young men.”

“But those are dreams for your children,” protested Jo, “what about dreams for yourself?”

“Ach, apart from Bruno and I to grow old together, what better dreams can I have than for my children?” answered Frieda.

“I too, have similar dreams,” put in Simone. “I had other dreams when I was younger, dreams of doing great things, some of those dreams I have remembered this weekend, but they are not of reality.”

“All we are saying Joey, herzliebchen, is do not fill your new home here with the dreams that are from the past, but fill it with the hopes of now and the future – then I think you and Jack and your children and many others will be as happy here as we were back when we had those other dreams.” Marie finished.

Joey looked slowly round at the three women who had been such good friends for 20 years or more. Without her telling them anything they had understood that she had been lost in memories and old dreams for the weekend, even if they didn’t know what those dreams were about. Gently, they were pushing her back to the here and now.

“I guess I have been rather lost in the ‘old’ – or should I say ‘young’ Joey this weekend.” She admitted. “We were so happy then.”

“But you don’t need the memories to make you happy now, do you?” Frieda asked gently.

Jo thought for a moment about her life, Jack, the children, her writing, the school, her friends. “You’re right,” she answered softly, “I don’t.”

Last edited by LizB on Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:25 pm; edited 1 time in total

#134: Author: keren, Location: Israel

Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 8:30 pm

This is a skilful ending too. When you have to leave a place suddenly, there is always a sense of things not finished off. they persuaded her to put that chapter behind her and carry on with reality.

#135: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 8:44 pm

You said the beginning of the ending- what is the next part?

#136: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 8:54 pm

echoing Lesley for want of a better comment

#137: Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 12:23 am

Thanks Liz. It is very easy to get lost in the past in places that have good memories.

#138: Author: Miss Di, Location: Newcastle, NSW

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 3:50 am

Well I'm glad she can take the honourable route and be happy with her husband and family. And Frieda, Marie and Simone are so lovely and supportive.

#139: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 9:22 am

The trip was over. Joey packed the last few items in her bag and closed it, then stood at the window gazing outside. Her case had already been taken downstairs and now she saw a well-known golden-haired figure loading cases onto a trolley bellow. Her eyes locked on the figure, a sad smile played around her lips as she watched his movements, memories flowing freely through her thoughts for one last time. Then she let them go. It was time to say goodbye to them all. Time to let go of the past and what might, but could not, have been. Time to go back to those who loved her and whom she loved. She and Jack had a good solid relationship, they were still friends after living together all these years, and there was a lot to be said for that. She had made her promise ‘for better for worse, ’til death us do part’ and she had kept it and would continue to keep it. The weekend had been full of memories and young dreams, but now it was time to go home.

#140: Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 10:01 am

Thanks Liz. Very sad but as has been said the hounorable thing to do!

#141: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 11:09 am

Thanks Liz! Have loved reading this.

#142: Author: Abi, Location: Alton, Hants

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 12:50 pm

Sad, but very lovely. Thank you liz.

#143: Author: Josie, Location: London

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 4:29 pm

It was wonderful, whichever ending you went for. thanks Liz, a great drabble Smile

#144: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 5:48 pm

Ok, now you impatient people have had the alternative ending, here's the epilogue to the first ending...

Epilogue

Joey had grieved sincerely for Jack when he died. Although, mixed in with the grief was a feeling of relief and guilt that she should feel the relief and had not loved him as she should. She lived quietly at Freudeshiem for several months, before deciding the time was right to move on.

“I want you and Reg to live here,” she told Len, “I’ll come back for plenty of visits, but from now on I shall live at Die Blumen. Phil and Geoff are settled in as boarders now, and you and Reg should be able to settle into your married life without me being on your doorstep all the time.”

And so it was, that, declining all offers of company to help her settle in, Joey returned to the Tiernsee. She eagerly watched the passing scenery from the train as it climbed from Innsbruck to Spartz, then Spartz to Seespitz, hoping that her telegram had been received and understood.

Getting off the train, as dusk fell, her heart sank as she looked around the deserted platform. Disconsolately she picked up her bag and suitcase and trudged towards the gate and along the path. Her eyes on the ground, she didn’t see the figure running towards her until he was right in front of her. Her heart beat faster as she looked up and those blue, blue eyes locked with hers. With a squeal, she forgot she was a dignified lady past her 40th birthday and flung herself on him to be held close and swung round off the ground.

“There was a delay and I only just got your message.” Eigen told her, the telegram still crumpled in his hand.

Joey looked up at him with shining eyes and there was no need for further words. The telegram fell unnoticed to the ground.

Tomorrow 18.50. Coming home. Joey.

Last edited by LizB on Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:26 pm; edited 1 time in total

#145: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 5:56 pm

oh yay! although jack is dead Crying or Very sad

she did the right thing

#146: Author: Ann, Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, England

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 5:58 pm

Thank you Liz, I've just caught up with this (both versions of it!) and it's excellent! Is there an epilogue to the alternate ending? Wink

#147: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 6:34 pm

Thank you Liz, for both endings and the epilogue.

#148: Author: keren, Location: Israel

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 6:37 pm

This is Such a good story, with a wonderful ending. It is really romantic, she both did the correct thing, and managed to have her true love in the end.

#149: Author: Dawn, Location: Leeds, West Yorks

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 7:28 pm

I have so enjoyed reading this Liz - I'm really sorry that it's all complete, even though they were both perfect endings thankyou

#150: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 7:29 pm

That epilogue was great! Laughing

I do wonder what the reaction of her children would have been though!

#151: Author: Catriona, Location: South Yorkshire

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 8:01 pm

I've really enjoyed this Liz - thank you.

#152: Author: Eilidh, Location: Bathgate, Scotland

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 11:00 pm

Wonderful. I liked both endings but I think the second one was a bit better.

#153: Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle

Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2005 12:05 pm

Thank you Liz that was a lovely romantic ending. Sad that Jack died but at least Jo could move on.

#154: Author: Joey, Location: Cambridge

Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2005 2:27 pm

Sorry I haven't commented on this before Liz - it's been wonderful, thank you so much.

#155: Author: dackel, Location: Wolfenbuettel, Germany/Cambridge, England

Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2005 9:52 pm

Lovely, thank you, Liz!

#156: Author: Ally, Location: Jack Maynard's Dressing Room!!

Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2005 9:53 pm

Ive just read this all through and it was wonderful, thank you Liz for the different endings, they were both perfect.

#157: Author: Lisa, Location: South Coast of England

Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 8:43 pm

I have just found this and read the lot - Liz, it is WONDERFUL! Some of the turns of phrase were so effective - like the one about the axe sounding like the hammer banging th enails in ... and especially the last line of the epilogue.

Oh this has been a great story. *blinks through misty eyes* Thank you, oh talented one! Very Happy

*Bows in adoration!*

#158: Author: James,

Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2005 1:56 pm

I've just read this! (I know, I'm sloooow... but I keep out of C & D these days because hours seem to fly by without me noticing Embarassed

)

Really really good and I looooved both endings but especially the epilogue Smile

#159: Author: Emma A, Location: The Soke of Peterborough

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2005 12:36 pm

Just read this all the way through (thanks to James bumping it up) - this is just lovely, Liz. I think I preferred the first ending - and did admire the nobility and self-sacrifice of both Joey and Eigen. And the epilogue was just... so sweet.

The CBB -> Ste Therese's House

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