“But…but I…” Johnny Tabor stammered.
“Come along, Mr. Tabor,” Vivianna said, standing. “I’ll take ya to your room so ya can rest awhile.” Vivianna was more than willing to give up her room—and to escort Johnny Tabor to it. She wanted to sit and stare at Justin, listen to his voice, simply linger in his presence. She knew with Mr. Tabor resting comfortably, Justin would not be so worried about his convalescing friend—which in turn might offer him a respite of his own.
“Justin?” Johnny Tabor growled.
Vivianna knew he was irritated. No doubt he was not accustomed to being told what to do—at least not by anybody other than a prison guard.
“You better do what they say, Johnny,” Justin said, nodding to his friend. “Neither one of us is in any fair condition to fight the will of women with a mind about ’em.”
Vivianna saw Johnny’s jaw clench tight. He was angry—no doubt humiliated and unhappy as well.
“Mrs. Turner, I just can’t—” he began.
“You run along with Viv, Johnny,” Savannah said. “You have yourself a good rest. You’ll feel much better.”
Johnny Tabor scowled at Vivianna as he weakly stood, and she fancied he could scare away the whole Rebel army itself with such a scowl.
“This way, Mr. Tabor,” Vivianna said.
“Hurry on back, Viv,” Justin called. “I ain’t seen nothin’ as pretty as you in over two years.”
Vivianna smiled. Justin was home! As quickly as she could, she’d settle Mr. Tabor in her room and then return to her beloved. For some strange reason, her mouth flooded with moisture as she thought of Justin—the thought of perhaps kissing him soon. Oh, blessed day! Her lover was home!
“This is where you’ll be stayin’, Mr. Tabor,” Vivianna said, stepping into her room.
“Johnny…if ya please, ma’am,” Johnny Tabor mumbled.
“All right,” Vivianna agreed as she looked at him. “And I’m Vivianna…Viv, if you’d rather.”
Johnny Tabor nodded, weakly leaning against the doorframe of the bedroom.
“I’ll bring some fresh water in for the pitcher,” Vivianna said as she took his hand, leading him toward the bed. “And you just sleep as long as ya want to. I’ll come in and gather up what I need later.”
“Ma’am, I don’t think I should…I ain’t fit to sit at the table, let alone lie down on somethin’ all covered in white the likes of that bed,” he said.
Vivianna smiled. It was admirable this battered soldier should be so worried about such things. Reaching out, she stripped the white quilt off her bed, revealing a rather tattered, old patchwork beneath.
“Does this suit ya better, Mr. Tabor?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
“Then I’ll run and fetch a fresh pitcher for ya,” she said. Quickly she lifted the pitcher from the washbasin sitting on the small table beside the bed. “You go on and lie down, and I’ll be right back.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Johnny Tabor said.
Vivianna hurried to the well, drew a bucket of cool, fresh water, and filled the pitcher. She couldn’t wait to see Justin—couldn’t wait to return to the kitchen and talk with him, hear his voice, gaze into his eyes! Still, she was compassionate and worried for his friend. She would see Johnny settled, and then she could bask in the wonder of Justin’s return.
Vivianna returned with the pitcher of water. Setting the pitcher down next to the basin, she gasped—grimaced with overwhelming compassion as she gazed at Johnny Tabor sprawled on his back on her bed. He’d removed his worn boots and tattered shirt, and the sight of the emaciated condition of his body caused tears to begin streaming down Vivianna’s face. The rib bones of his torso were so defined, easily visible beneath his flesh. His clavicle and shoulders, though broad, were far too protruding. Already he slept, his gaunt face looking so like that of a corpse.
She could not linger in looking at him. The sight of Johnny Tabor did not cause joy to rise in her the way the sight of Justin did. Johnny Tabor seemed a stark reminder of all the horrors of war, while in the other room, Justin was the beloved evidence of war’s end—and of heaven’s blessings.
Vivianna went to the trunk in the corner of her room and withdrew a fresh sheet. Gently she laid it over the weathered and beaten man, more because she could not look on his condition any longer than for his own comfort.
Closing the door behind her, she hurried toward the kitchen. She could hear Justin’s laughter—could hear Savannah’s.
She entered the kitchen to see them still sitting at the table, smiling as they conversed.
“Is he all right then, Viv?” Justin asked as she took her seat across from him.
“I think so. He’s asleep already,” she said.
“Good,” Justin sighed. “Now,” he began, reaching across the table and taking her hand, “tell me everything.” He raised her hand to his lips, kissing the back of it tenderly. Instantly, Vivianna’s body was alive with goose pimples. Oh, how handsome he was! Even for his worn and weathered condition, he was handsome.
Justin was home. He was home! In that very moment, Vivianna could feel her broken heart beginning to heal. He had returned to her—to all who loved him.
“See! There he is, Caleb!” Willy hollered, bursting through the kitchen door. “I told you he’d come back! I told you all he wasn’t dead!”
Caleb stepped into the kitchen and then Nate.
“Little brother!” Caleb breathed, tears filling his eyes.
“Caleb!” Justin said, pushing his chair away from the table and standing, only to collapse into his brother’s embrace.
Vivianna watched and wept as the two brothers embraced, laughed, and cried with joy. Justin had come home!
Johnny Tabor listened to the voices wafting from the other room—voices raised in joy and hope. If he’d had the strength, he would have smiled in that moment, but he didn’t. Still, he listened to the happy voices of the Turner family as they welcomed home their lost one.
He was so tired, so weary and sick. Yet he didn’t care anymore. He’d brought Justin Turner home—brought back the man who had saved his life so many times—brought him home to his beloved family. He’d seen him all the way from Georgia to Alabama, all the way back to the pretty girl who loved him. He figured he could rest now, whether in the soft, sweetly scented bed of the girl Justin would marry or in the arms of heaven. Johnny Tabor knew he could rest at last. He’d made so many promises over the past two years—too many for one man to keep. Still, he’d managed to keep one. It had been almost two years since he’d sworn to Justin Turner he would repay him for saving his life. He could only hope that making certain Justin survived the horrors of Andersonville, that making certain he lived to return to his family and the beautiful girl who loved him, would atone for all the other promises he’d never be able to keep.
Closing his eyes once more, Johnny listened to the pretty laughter of gentle women—to the exclamations of young boys delighted to have their elder brother returned. The soft scents of spring flowers and green grasses drifted to him through the open window, and he almost smiled. It was far better to die in a soft bed under a clean sheet spread over him by a pretty girl—the sweet fragrances of fresh spring filling his nostrils—than to die drowning amidst the stench of death and disease. Yes, it would be a far more pleasant death.
As he drifted away, Johnny Tabor was glad he had seen Justin Turner safely home. He wondered then where he would take his final rest—his last thought being the hope Justin would see him buried in a quiet meadow.
CHAPTER THREE
“We were out scoutin’ for the cavalry,” Justin explained, “just outside a town called Waynesboro. We’d seen some small opposition—nothin’ too heavy, so we weren’t worried. After all, me and Johnny…well, we’d been scoutin’ together for near to two years. Ain’t that right, Caleb?”
Caleb nodded. “That’s right. We scouted with Johnny right from the first of it.”
“So we were
just outside Waynesboro when all of a sudden I heard a shot and felt the burn at my shoulder, and then I was on the ground. In truth, the bullet only grazed me…here.” He pulled at the left collar of his shirt, revealing a dark scar at the top of his shoulder. “But some ol’ boy came runnin’ outta the tree line and pulled me off my horse before I could think to move. Ol’ Johnny, he was off his horse faster than lightnin’…drove a knife into the back of that ol’ Reb who pulled me off my mount. But there were others in the trees, and the next thing I knew, Johnny was laid out beside me.” Justin shook his head and continued. “They got Johnny in the leg, but luck was with him…and the bullet didn’t hit a bone.”
“Woulda shattered the bone if it had,” Caleb mumbled.
Vivianna winced as she watched Caleb’s hand move to rest on his own leg. Caleb had been shot in the leg, and the bullet had hit a bone. Though the bone hadn’t shattered, it did fracture. Though the injury had healed, it left Caleb with a limp.
“Indeed it would have,” Justin said. Shaking his head, he added, “Johnny Tabor probably wouldn’t be alive today if that bullet had hit a bone. Them doctors at Andersonville, I swear they just amputated limbs in order to decrease the prison population. I’m lucky ol’ Johnny didn’t find himself bleedin’ out on the ground with only one leg left to him. I know I wouldn’t be here if he had.”
“So the Rebs hauled y’all off then?” Nate asked.
Vivianna looked to Nate and Willy, their young faces pale with imagining the horror their brother had endured.
“Yep,” Justin continued. “They forced us in a wagon and headed for Andersonville. They hauled us for over a week. I suppose we’re lucky we didn’t die of some infection or the gangrene. Only doctorin’ we had was what Johnny knew. He soaped our wounds out and stitched ’em over with a needle and thread he managed to beg off one of the Rebs.”
“Was it…was it as awful as folks say?” Willy asked. “Andersonville? Was it really as bad as we hear tell?”
“Worse,” Justin said.
Vivianna watched as Justin and Caleb both glanced to their mother, sitting very still, endless tears streaming down her face. Vivianna brushed her own tears away, haunted by the memories of what she’d read and heard about Andersonville prison.
“But let’s not linger on all that now,” Justin said. He smiled and reached out, tousling Willy’s hair. “The war’s over, and I’m home! I want to hear what’s been goin’ on here all this time. How ’bout y’all tell me a bit about what the goin’s-on are here about? What do ya say?”
Vivianna nodded. She knew Savannah and the younger boys needed a reprieve from such horrid stories as battle and prison camp. In truth, she wanted to put such thoughts aside as well. Thus, she was glad when she saw Willy’s face lighten, a smile of excitement curling his lips.
“Me and Nate have been workin’ on a fort…just on the other side of the old cemetery!” he said. “Caleb helped us a bit, and it’s comin’ right along. We’ll show it to ya tomorrow if ya’d like.”
Justin smiled and chuckled. “I’d like that just fine.”
“And we seen Benjamin Sidney kissin’ Tilly Winder out behind the ol’ Libby place yesterday,” Nate offered. “He was gnawin’ on her face like a hound on a bone!”
“Nate!” Savannah scolded. “What a thing to say! And what a thing to be seein’. You boys stay away from that Libby place…and that Tilly Winder!”
“But, Mama,” Willy began, “you shoulda seen it! I never seen the like…not in kissin’ anyways. I swear, I thought he was gonna plum swallow that girl whole!”
Caleb began to chuckle, and Justin could no longer keep his amusement to just a smile.
“Sounds like little Tilly ain’t changed much in the time we’ve been gone, Caleb,” Justin said.
“No, she has not,” Caleb confirmed.
“Caleb! Justin!” Savannah scolded. “Do not encourage your brothers!”
“Sorry, Mama,” Justin said, still smiling.
“There’s a new batch of pollywogs in the big puddle down by the barn,” Willy said. “Oh, there’s hundreds of ’em! Ain’t there, Viv?”
Vivianna smiled and nodded. “Hundreds…at least,” she said.
Justin smiled at her then, and she was glad she was already sitting down—for his smile caused her arms and legs to feel rather delightfully weak and spongy.
“And there’s a three-legged dog in town now!” Nate added. “He belongs to Mr. Sidney. Got his foot stuck in a rabbit trap, and Mr. Sidney had to chop it off. He let me and Willy keep the leg though. We boiled it clean…out by the fort so it’s just bones now but—”
“For pity’s sake, Nate!” Savannah exclaimed. “The trouble you two get into! What am I gonna do with y’all?”
“It’s all right, Mama,” Caleb said. “I made ’em scrub their hands good after they brought that ol’ dog leg home. I helped ’em boil the meat off. It’s fine. It really is just bones now.”
Savannah shook her head, placed her fingers to her temples, and began to massage. “I swear…four boys! What was the Lord thinkin’ when he gave me four boys?” She looked up and smiled at Vivianna. “If I didn’t have you, Vivi…I just don’t know how I’d manage.”
Caleb and Justin exchanged understanding glances. Vivianna knew the two elder Turner boys had been more trouble than Nate and Willy were! The difference was Mr. Turner had been alive to keep them in hand.
Justin chuckled once more, shook his head, and winked at Willy and Nate. He turned to Vivianna, his smile fading.
“You never heard anything, Viv?” Justin asked. “About Sam and Augie, I mean.”
Vivianna shook her head. “No,” she said. “I…I still ask Mr. Douglas to watch for any letters that might come to Mama and Daddy, from folks who might not know they’re gone…but nothin’ ever comes. I just figure they’re up in heaven all together…Sam and Augie, with Mama and Daddy…that they’re all happy.” She forced a smile, and Justin nodded.
“I’m sorry, Viv,” he said.
Vivianna was touched to the depths of her soul by the moisture rising to his eyes. But she did not want the weathered soldier lingering in despair. “Thank you,” she said. “But we’re all here together now, and the war is over. It’s in the past…everything about it.”
Justin nodded and grinned. His eyes were entrancing! Vivianna had forgotten how mesmerizing they could be—how his gaze could hold a person awed by their overpowering depths of blue!
“Well, judgin’ from the way you look, brother, and from what you’ve told me…I figure Johnny Tabor must look like hell,” Caleb said.
“Caleb!” Savannah scolded. “That’s not proper…or nice.”
Justin chuckled and reached out, affectionately patting the back of his mother’s hand. “Well, you saw him, Mama. Caleb’s got it just about right…don’t ya think?” he asked. “I’d like for him to stay on with us awhile. He ain’t in any condition to travel. He’d never make it home alive if we let him leave now. We’ll probably have to tie him to somethin’ to keep him here…but he needs to stay.”
“Of course he does! Oh my!” Savannah exclaimed. “You don’t really think he’d try to go now, do ya? He needs his rest…and surely needs some meat on him. He brought my baby boy home. He can do anything he wants…as long as he doesn’t leave! I’ll never, never be able to thank him enough or to repay him in any way at all. But leastwise, maybe I can give him his health back.”
“Do ya think he’ll live? Do ya think he’ll live so he can stay with us awhile, Justin?” Willy asked, his young eyes misted and wide with concern. “He don’t hardly look like a man who has the strength to go on at all. I swear, I seen dead men in Florence who looked hardier than your friend in there.”
“Willy! What a thing to say!” Savannah scolded again. She shook her head once more, sighing and saying, “I swear, Vivi…if I didn’t have you…”
Justin winked at Vivianna, smiled at her, and again she was filled with wondrous delight. She still had moments
of uncertainty—of not quite being sure whether she were awake. Was Justin truly sitting across the table from her, or was she lingering in a deep slumber, only dreaming he’d come home?
“Enough of this war and dyin’ soldier talk,” Savannah said, pushing her chair back from the table and standing. “Let’s get some supper on, Viv…shall we?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Vivianna said. She too felt the sense of despair hanging thick in the room for the trail of conversation. She wanted to think of lovely things—of love and the future—of Justin! Though Vivianna didn’t want to help with supper—though she didn’t want to do anything—she knew the men needed to be fed. Still, in that moment, she was sure she could simply linger, gazing at Justin forever. She sighed as she looked at him—blissful in knowing he had returned.
“Me and Nate found some nice rocks since you’ve been gone, Justin!” Willy exclaimed.
“Yeah, we did!” Nate added. “Some quartz…even a couple of pieces of marble. We could show ya if ya like…while Mama and Viv are gettin’ supper on.”
Justin smiled. “Let’s do it.”
“Do ya need any help, Viv?” Caleb asked.
Vivianna’s smile faded a little as she looked to Caleb, reminding herself of Caleb’s proposal, of his likewise wounded soul. After all, he was a weathered and worn soldier returned from war as well. She must proceed carefully. Justin and Caleb were brothers, and she would not come between them. Though she was hopelessly, thoroughly, and entirely in love with Justin, she must ever be thoughtful of Caleb’s heart and feelings.
“A jar of your mama’s berry preserves might be nice with supper,” she told him, broadening her smile. “Would ya mind fetchin’ one off the top shelf for me?”
Caleb smiled, seeming somewhat soothed. “Not at all,” he said as he rose from his chair and went about the task.
Vivianna glanced back to Justin. He wore a rather puzzled expression on his face. He still smiled, but a slight frown puckered his brow. Oh, how she wanted to run to him—to throw herself against him and beg him to embrace her! How she wanted to cry, “Fear not, my darling. It’s you I love! You and only you!”
Beneath the Honeysuckle Vine Page 5