Free Diamonds Fall by Rebecca Gibson Page A

more. I coulda looked after `er though...helped her. Maybe I coulda got her outta this shit heap."
    "You can't blame yourself Daniel. You just can't. It wasn't your fault. You will go mad convincing yourself that it was."
    "Then why do I feel like this?" His voice caught and his shoulder shook even more. Letting go of her reservations Annabel stretched out her hand and folded it around his. It was rough beneath her touch but all the more comforting for its imperfection.
    "Because you cared and that is never ever something to let go of."
    It was then, with the comforting touch of another human being beside him, that he let go completely. Finally unable to keep the tears from pouring out of his eyes they dripped down onto the dust carpeted floor with a soft, rhythmic plunk. Annabel moved her hand tentatively onto his broad back, rubbing it in some feeble attempt to comfort him.
    His shirt was warm beneath her palm. The sound of his emotion, so close to her ear, stirred feelings deep within Annabel's heart. She wanted to cry along with him but she held back. These people had seen hell; she didn't have the right to cry.
    Slowly, Daniel's breathing evened out and Annabel let him go, allowing him to wipe his eyes roughly with the heels of his hands and brush the hair once more from his face. He leaned back against the wall. Annabel's hands felt empty now as they rested in her lap. Daniel seemed to notice Annabel's loneliness and put his hand back in hers. She leaned her head against the wall too. Daniel began to hum again, the same melancholy tune. Annabel felt his body vibrate with the sound, as the music completely filled her every sense. She closed her eyes against the oppressive darkness and drifted slowly into a dreamless sleep, the reassuring warmth of Daniel at her side.
    They all slept fitfully that night, being woken at least every hour by the shrill shrieks of the tiny baby in their midst, calling out for the mother who would never come. The cries seemed to convey pain from her very soul.
    However, when Annabel awoke in the morning, she felt oddly warm. Becoming aware of the body beside her almost immediately, she opened her eyes.
    They had shifted in their unconsciousness so Annabel's head was now resting on Daniel's shoulder. She pressed herself closer to him, still half asleep as she listened to the rhythm of his heart. He smelt of soap and earth...a smell that once again Annabel found strangely familiar, although her foggy brain couldn't conjure up the appropriate memory. A few moments later Daniel began to stir as well, jerking awake and letting go of Annabel as if he'd been burned. He stood up quickly, looking down as hurt crossed over Annabel's face, followed by the shock that she had been so close to someone for such an extended period of time.
    Daniel looked as if he wanted to say something. Seeming to change his mind at the last minute, he turned and bent down to check on Patsy, still asleep on the straw. He touched her shoulder lightly, stirring her from sleep. When she opened her eyes they were red and puffy, as if she had been crying all night. Her face was blotchy whilst her chestnut hair stuck up in strange angles. The worst thing about her was a frightening vacancy in the depths of her dark eyes...there had always been so much passion about her. Daniel was talking now in a low, sympathetic voice, his hand still resting on Patsy's shoulder whilst she nodded at various intervals in the conversation.
    Annabel was still sat in the same spot, stiff and achy from another night of sleeping on the floor, her more prominent bones having rubbed against the hard wood. It felt like new bruises were blooming up already.
    Quietly both Patsy and Daniel rose. As Patsy walked past, she brushed a hand over the top of Annabel's head. Daniel supported Patsy's clumsy steps as they climbed down the ladder, whilst simultaneously avoiding Annabel's gaze with a slightly worried frown, almost identical to the one currently creasing