House at Whispering Oaks
Page 13
They say war changes a man, and in Carter’s case, it had. With war comes visions no man, woman, or child should see…the loss of limbs, the festering of gangrene, the women who wait for a husband or lover to return who is never meant to go home…
Jon removed his jacket, wrapping it over Carter’s shoulders, and walked alongside him.
“Who is she?” Carter asked, looking over his shoulder.
“How rude of me,” Jon said, pausing and turning toward Cricket and Cordelia. “Carter, might I introduce to my beloved, Cordelia Foxworth?
“Not her,” Carter said beneath his breath before replying, “pleased to meet you, Miss Foxworth.”
Cordie curtsied and smiled.
“My cousin, Cricket Foxworth Derringer,” Cordie said, offering Cricket’s hand to Carter, who leaned forward to kiss it.
He could barely take his eyes off Cricket even after they returned to walking toward the waiting carriage.
“She is feisty and determined. I like that in a woman,” Carter said with a laugh. It was the first time Jon had heard his brother laugh in years, and it was glorious.
It took a fair amount of time for Cordie to trust Carter, that was until the day he came asking for permission to court Miss Cricket Foxworth Derringer, and then Cordie knew their lives, and history, would be forever changed.
Many of the slaves remained, under Jon’s care, and became sharecroppers, who each owned one acre of land. A mill was erected near the river, Schelling Millstead, to process the cotton harvested. Though it was small, the mill produced some of the most highly sought after linen in the South. Cordie and Cricket oversaw the book-keeping with Jon overseeing the cotton production. Hannah, remained on, until her death at the age of 93, as the head seamstress. She resided at Schelling House, not as a slave, but as a valued member of Jon’s family. Mable Schelling took ill after hearing of her husband’s death and never fully recovered. She passed on only a month after Cordelia and Jon pledged to love each other for eternity, a pledge they intended on keeping.
Carter eventually grew to appreciate his brother’s sense of fairness and equality, later becoming an equal owner of the mill, though admittedly, it was not an easy transition for Carter to make. Cricket facilitated this transition with her usual sass and constant commentary, which never ceased to thrill both Jon and Cordie.
The heartbreak shared with Cordie by Carter’s great-granddaughter, Ruby, would never happen. Carter’s children would grow, be loved, and never find themselves at the hands of a man tormented by war, an act of murder, or the mark it had left on his soul.
Two families were brought together by love. Their destinies were changed by the sweet, melancholy sounds of a harmonica being played on a warm, summer night, a single kiss that mended Cordelia’s grief-stricken heart, and the courage of a young woman to follow her destiny just as her father had said would one day unfold.
Epilogue
It had been six months since Cordie disappeared. Sadie went about her life as best she could but blamed herself for her niece’s disappearance, and the disappearance of Cricket Derringer. Sadie felt somewhat responsible considering her niece’s best friend had vanished the same as Cordie. Jesse did what he could to console Sadie, but in a way, he felt responsible too.
“I’m going to do the dishes,” Sadie said as she stood from the table, collecting their plates. She paused to stare at the place setting for Cordie, wondering if she would ever come home.
Once in the kitchen, Sadie turned on the hot water and stared out the window at Schelling House and noticed a car was in the driveway. They had been gone for as long as Sadie could remember, and it concerned her it could be trespassers.
“Jesse,” she shouted. “Someone is over at the old Schelling place. Maybe we should go take a look.”
Sadie turned off the water and picked up her shawl before meeting her husband at the front door. They walked hand in hand down the old road leading to the manor, a road she once walked with James when they were children, an old road that was said to be full of ghosts.
Just as they were about to walk up the drive to the house, a moving truck turned onto the road.
“Well, what do you think about that?” Jesse said in astonishment. “Maybe we better introduce ourselves.”
Just as they reached the front porch, the door opened. Sadie gasped and looked at Jesse nearly unable to believe her eyes.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you,” the young woman said with a distinctive accent. “My husband and I just found out we inherited this place. We actually just drove down from Tennessee.”
“My wife and I just graduated college and were about to start jobs in Raleigh when the telegram came. Strangest thing, it was dated six months ago from a woman who said she wished to remain anonymous. It sure wasn’t what we had planned, but look at this place! It wasn’t our intention to scare you either. She said the people next door looked out for the place.”
“Oh, no, it’s just you look so much like someone we know. Right Jesse?”
Jesse was nearly frozen as he stared at the young woman. She was the mirror image of Cordie except her hair was golden blonde instead of dark brown.
“We live next door,” Jesse managed to spit out and pointed to Whispering Oaks.
“Oh, you must be the Bolivar family!” the man behind her said as he stepped onto the porch. “My great grandmother used to talk about your family all the time when I was a little boy. I never made the connection when we got the telegram. Strangest thing, getting a telegram in this day and age…well my last name is Harrington. Bedelia was my grandmother. You might have known her when she still lived out at the old Harrington Place before they tore it down. Would you like to come in? I am Jason. This is my wife, Harper Schelling Harrington.”
Both Jesse and Sadie nodded their heads and didn’t say a word, they were not even able to catch their breath long enough to introduce themselves.
“Please pardon the mess. We had several crates shipped in and just started unpacking. Watch the paintings. They’re irreplaceable.”
Sadie stopped in front of the paintings leaning against the wall in the foyer and nearly fainted.
“Jesse,” she said, pointing at the picture.
“I know, isn’t she beautiful. Everyone in the family says my wife looks just like her. Hard to believe that is her great-great grandmother. They say she was a spirited woman who was rather opinionated for a southerner.”
Sadie paused to look at the picture alongside the portrait only to realize there could be no mistaking who it was. She looked at the two women in the portrait, smiling, as they gazed at each other lovingly with their hands resting on one another’s.
“Cordelia,” Jesse whispered, taking his wife’s hand and squeezing it tightly.
“Cricket?” Sadie whispered beneath her breath, squeezing Jesse’s hand tighter.
“Why yes, that was her name, Cordelia Foxworth Bolivar Schelling. I guess I should have made the correlation with the name, but how did you know?”
Jesse didn’t speak. Neither did Sadie.
“Oh, I nearly forgot. The telegraph office asked us to deliver this. They said they found it beneath some old furniture. It was a telegraph sent to your family during the war. They asked us if we could stop by to pick it up on our way out here.”
‘I know you hold deep sadness in your heart over what I chose to do, but each of us has a destiny, and daddy always told me one day…I would find mine. Love is just the beginning for it heals hearts broken, rifts which tear families apart, and what time alone cannot heal with a kind word.. Know that I love you and I always will,’ Cordelia Foxworth Bolivar Schelling. August 1865.
Sadie rushed from the house, without considering what Cordie’s descendants would think, and ran until she was nearly out of breath. She collapsed next to the wrought iron gates surrounding the family cemetery. Jesse sprinted across the yard to catch her.
“It’s true, Jesse, it’s all true.”
They both lo
oked at the two tombstones, side by side, never seeing them before this moment, nearly unable to believe their eyes.
Cordelia Foxworth Bolivar Schelling
A woman before her time
Beloved wife of Jon Pembroke Schelling
Died 1931
Jon’s tombstone stood next to Cordelia’s with a touching, loving sentiment.
Jon Pembroke Schelling
Love is just the beginning
Devoted husband to Cordelia Foxworth Bolivar Schelling
Died 1931
Jesse helped Sadie to stand and walked her home. The impossible had become possible. Cordie had crossed time and saved Jon Pembroke Schelling by creating her own destiny.
“Do you think they will ever see us?” Cordie asked while wrapping her arm through Jon’s. In death, they were the perfect vision of love as they stood beneath the old Live Oak, a vision of what they had been the day Cordie saved Jon from Carter, filled with happiness and tender, young love.
“One day, my love, or maybe, perhaps, it will be Harper and Jason’s children who will come to love us as you once loved me.”
“As I still love you,” Cordie whispered and kissed Jon. It was a kiss that would last for all eternity.