Jenny's Passion

by Diane Wylie

  Sheathing the knife, he plunged into the river.

  Ahead was a flash of blue. Jenny! She was fighting to keep her head above the water. Using all his strength, he swam in her direction. The current carried him faster and faster until he was out of control. He slammed into a rock, pushed himself free with his legs, and continued to both swim and ride the white water.

  Where was she? Searching, he caught sight of her clinging precariously to a green-slimed boulder slightly off to his right.

  “Hang on tight!” he screamed, frantic to get to her.

  She was struggling to pull herself higher on the slippery surface.

  It took a lot of effort to battle sideways against the rushing white water. Catching a glimpse of her, he saw her reach down and pull off the sodden skirts, leaving her in her white pantalets and blue blouse. Her shoes were already gone.

  Almost there, he was just about to grab her when she slipped and fell off the boulder with a cry. Lunging for her as she tumbled downstream ahead of him, he caught her hand. The rushing water was stronger now, trying to wrench her away from him. Pulling her to him, he clamped his arms tightly around her waist, lifting her head above the water.

  Jenny coughed and gasped for air. Rolling them both in the swift current, David angled himself in front of her. He wrapped himself around her protectively, holding her back to his chest.

  Rushing downstream, they glanced off first one rock then another. The jolt went through his shoulder and back, but he managed to shield her from the blows.

  “Jenny! David!” It was Phillip running along the bank trying to catch up with them, but he was yards behind. “Watch out for the log!” he screamed.

  The warning came too late. David hit it head first with a blow that brought tears to his eyes. Quickly putting up an arm to grab the log, he fought to keep them from being washed under the natural bridge that ran from midstream to the bank. With a strength born of sheer desperation, he pushed Jenny up onto the downed tree.

  “Hold on, Jen! Pull yourself up!” he screamed above the water’s roar.

  She did. Dragging herself up and out of the water, she climbed onto the huge log and straddled it with her bare legs, breathing hard.

  “Come…on…D-David! C-Climb…up!”

  But he didn’t react. Though he hung onto the log, he knew the water wanted him. The French Broad pulled and sucked at his legs relentlessly. North Carolina was not ready to give up this Union prisoner just yet; she was making one last effort to claim another enemy soldier.

  Dizzy and disoriented from the blow to the head, he was spent after so much effort too soon. Pain lanced through his skull. It would be so easy to give in to the river. Just let go. It’s so simple. Jenny is safe; that is all that matters. His hands slipped a few inches.

  “Don’t you dare let go! I’ll not lose you now, Yankee!” Jenny screamed.

  Her hands were on his, tugging as his tired head sank below the water’s surface. Above him Jenny released his hands then she pulled with all her strength on the collar of his shirt. He could feel the desperation in her actions. Drawing on the last little bit of hope and her faith in him, he managed to fight back. His exhausted muscles quivered with the final effort, but finally he was on top of the log, holding them fast to their salvation. Her body shook with sobs under him.

  He was glad now that he had chosen to fight the river. His arms were wrapped closely around his reason for living. Her heart was beating under his hands as the river’s roar reverberated in his head. The raging river was the essence of living breathing fury at the loss of another soul…his soul.

  * * *

  David sat by the fire with his arms wrapped around Jenny. She was cradled on his lap with her head against his shoulder. Her arms were tight around his waist as if she were afraid he would disappear. Occasionally she let out a little sniff and a sigh, but otherwise made no sound. They had put on dry clothes and buried her attacker’s body. No one could figure out who he might have been or where he had come from. He was just some nameless, anonymous drifter.

  Everyone sat around the fire talking in hushed tones, if they spoke at all. But they were all far too keyed up to sleep.

  “How much farther is it to your plantation, Mr. Winston?” Jack asked, finally breaking the solemn silence. He was lounging against a large boulder. The firelight played off his short blond hair and accentuated the deep hollows in his cheeks. He still looked more like a stranger to David than his best friend.

  “I am not exactly sure,” Phillip answered slowly. The older man’s weathered face looked weary and tight with worry in the dim light. “I can tell you this, son. We’ve a damned long way to go yet. We’re still some distance away from our home state of Virginia. My backside may fall off before we get there.”

  Only Jeffrey chuckled quietly at that.

  “Will you be going back to the cavalry, Jack?” Jeffrey asked as he settled himself more comfortably on a log next to David and Jenny with his long legs stretched out in front of him. “…After you recover, of course. Nate says he will be going back to his regiment.”

  Nate nodded at Mr. Reynolds’ comment. Seated to Jack’s left, he had assumed the role of his personal guardian. Jenny decided he had taken the role because she had her dear Papa and David had his, but poor, sick Jack needed someone other than her to look after him. Nate was never far from his companion’s side, ready to assist him in any way. They were quickly becoming fast friends, particularly in the face of David’s withdrawal from the group. Jenny wondered if Jack felt as abandoned by David as she did.

  “Yes, sir,” Nate replied. There is still a war to be won. Ah’m looking forward to fighting beside the fellas again.”

  David’s entire body suddenly stiffened as Jack chimed in, “I expect that I will report into headquarters as soon as I can, but I intend to ask for leave to go see Lila.”

  “Is that your wife?” Phillip asked.

  “Yes, sir. David told me that he wrote to Lila of my death himself, believing that I had been killed at Mine Run. I need to get word to her as soon as I can.” He shook his head slowly, “I can only imagine what she must be going through. We were only married a year before I left. I really miss her…” His mouth was uncharacteristically turned downward. The man wore a look of yearning so intense that a lump rose in her throat.

  “She must be very special to you, Jack. I can imagine her pain at thinking you were gone. I know how I felt all the way to Andersonville, wondering if David was dead or alive,” Jenny said softly. She gently stroked David’s arm and looked up at his blank face, trying to divine his strange mood. His mind seemed miles away, as usual, and his body was as tense as a bowstring. The change had come over him at Nate’s declaration about returning to the army. Perhaps David didn’t want to return to the war…if only that were so.

  “Dave,” Jack attempted to get him to speak, “You were quite the hero today, saving Jenny from that drifter. It was a good thing you were nearby when she was attacked.” But David just stared into the fire without responding. Jack looked at Jeffrey and shrugged.

  Papa stood and stretched, groaning loudly, theatrically. “How about we turn in, Nate?” He gave the young man a pointed look. Jenny appreciated her father’s insight and hoped it would not be a useless gesture.

  “Oh, yeah, time for sleep,” Nate agreed and stood to leave.

  The remaining four sat in silence, looking after their retreating figures. Jenny reached up and touched David’s cheek, but he didn’t react. After a moment she rose from his lap and moved to the fire. Silently she poured coffee in each person’s outstretched cup before returning to sit beside him. She would show him that she would never abandon him no matter how far he withdrew from them all.

  The wind rustled the leaves overhead. An owl called from somewhere above them, the flapping sound of its wings loud in the quiet night. A pocket of sap caught the heat of a flame and popped, sending a small shower of sparks twinkling brightly against the darkness. Now they were all staring into
the mesmerizing flames.

  “What is it, son? Will you tell us?” Mr. Reynolds finally broke the silence. “You have to let it out before it eats you alive, David. These things can just fester and burn you inside. Please, talk to us, we want to help.”

  David’s dark head came up slowly, and he turned to face his father. Jenny could see the raw pain on his tired face. Jack stood and moved on wobbly legs until he was directly in front of him. He dropped down to sit cross-legged in front of his friend then put his hand on David’s knee.

  “Your father is right, Dave. I love you as if you were my blood brother. All of us here care deeply about you. I know something is giving you great unrest, my friend. I have known it since we first found each other again. Keeping silent is not the way to solve your problems, and you well know that.”

  David stared at Jack with eyes that were dark holes of sorrow. “He betrayed me,” he said finally in a voice so low that they all had to strain to hear him.

  “Who did, Dave?”

  David’s eyes moved over his best friend’s face. Jenny prayed he would see the sincerity and love there. Would he finally break down the wall he had erected?

  “Miller.”

  “Thomas Miller? Lieutenant Thomas Miller?”

  “Yes.”

  “What did he do, Dave?” Jack’s voice was gentle, urging.

  There was a long moment of silence, broken only by the wind moaning through the restless treetops. The smell of strong coffee and burning pine logs permeated the air around them then was gone on a breeze, only to returns seconds later.

  “We rode to the Shenandoah Valley, chasing the Rebel cavalry,” he finally said in a slow voice that was flat and bleak. His eyes were open, but was he seeing only the ghosts of war?

  “It was a fierce, bloody, horrible battle, Jack,” David continued. “Captain Tice died and so many others. I saw Miller heading right into the heart of the Rebel line, so Caleb, Frank, and I joined him. I couldn’t let him go it alone, not Miller, he was too important to me. It was pandemonium as usual, nonstop gun blasts, cannon fire, smoke, death…”

  * * *

  David could hear the noise even now…all the noise and carnage that made a man crazy and made his hands tremble to remember.

  “We went in with guns blazing. But I saw him. We all saw him. There he was just sitting on his horse talking to that Reb colonel like they were the best of friends! Men were dying all around them, getting blown to bits! Then I saw Thomas pass my maps to the Reb. My maps, Jack! He had stolen them from my saddlebags, and I never knew it. Thomas Miller is a damned Confederate spy!”

  Jumping to his feet, he moved around Jack and started to pace up and down in front of the fire. “Oh, God help me, I trusted that man like a brother, and he is a traitor to us all! How long was he using me to get information for the Rebs?” David rubbed a hand over his face, angrily swiping away the moisture running down his cheeks. “Miller saw us coming. He knew he was caught. He killed the boy with no more effort than swatting a fly. Just pulled out his pistol and shot poor Caleb Peters right between the eyes. Frank and I tried to wheel around and get out of there, but that bastard shot Frank in the back. He was dead before he hit the ground!”

  Stopping, he sank to his haunches and stared into the dancing flames. More anguished words poured out of him like blood from an open wound. “They hemmed me in, those Rebs. I heard Miller telling them not to shoot me. They dragged me off Napoleon and beat me where I lay…kicked and hit me. When I could manage it, I gave my horse the signal to go home.” His mouth tightened into a wry smile. “Years ago I taught him that three short whistles meant ‘go home.’ I don’t know where he went or if he even survived.”

  “He came home to me!” Jenny cried, wiping tears away from her face with both hands. “I did not think to tell you before. Napoleon is at Pleasant Run. He is safe.”

  David stood and turned toward her voice, but he couldn’t really comprehend her words. He was still locked in another time, another place.

  “When I was down on the ground, Thomas walked right up to me. He told me that I could not go back to the Seventeenth like he could, but since he had grown rather fond of me, he would have me locked up rather than killed. I responded that he might as well kill me, for I was prepared to hunt him down like the traitorous dog he was and kill HIM.”

  “He didn’t like that. So he kicked me hard in the back of the head. The next thing I knew, I was on my way to Andersonville Prison, and I had lost my sight.”

  There was a moment of stunned silence before Jenny found her voice. “Blind?” she croaked. “You mean you were blind?”

  Jeffrey leaped to his feet and stood quivering with emotion, staring at his son.

  “Yes,” he responded flatly, “I was.”

  “Oh, David!” Jenny’s voice was full of horror. Lurching to her feet, she stepped toward him and wrapped her arms around him. He relaxed for just a moment, and his arms automatically went around her briefly, but his return to the present did not last. His mind took him immediately back to the past, the sights and sounds taking over, and his arms dropped away too heavy to hold. Jenny let go of him and stepped back, her uncertainty clouding her features.

  “The true horror was what I saw in that place when I regained my sight.” He lowered his head and took a few stiff steps backward as if he could get away from the memory.

  He heard Jack say, “I doubt that I shall ever forget.”

  David continued to speak unable to make eye contact with the group. “I gave my solemn oath to God. If he should grant my wish to escape, I would make it my quest to see that Lieutenant Thomas Miller is brought to justice for his betrayal and,” he flung out the words angrily, “for the slaughter of his friends and comrades in arms.”

  Jack slowly unfolded himself from his position on the ground and moved to David. Putting a hand on each shoulder, he clasped them tightly with both hands and looked directly into his face. “Listen to me, Dave,” Jack gave him a little shake. “We are in this together now. You have saved my life, you and these good folk of yours. I vow that we will do this thing together. Together we will hunt down Thomas Miller.”

  Jennifer stiffened, and she looked from one man to the other. “Then you will go back, won’t you—both of you!” Her voice was shrill. “How many times do you think you can cheat death before it wins, David? How many times?” With a choking sob, she ran off into the darkness.

  David dropped his aching head into his hands. “She doesn’t understand, Jack. She doesn’t understand at all.”

  “She loves you, Dave. Go after her. Make her understand.”

  Jeffrey Reynolds finally moved to David’s side. This time he didn’t turn away. His father, too, had come for him; at a risk to himself he had come...for him.

  “Son, I-I don’t know what to say, but I support any decision you make, and I know Jennifer will, too.”

  He lifted his head to look at his father’s face. It was lined with worry, and he looked plainly exhausted. Something gave inside him as he looked at his father, seeing himself reflected there. If he didn’t know it before, he knew it now. Father did care; he honestly and truly cared about him and his life.

  Hesitantly he raised his hands to his father’s shoulders then pulled the older man forward into a full embrace. Suddenly he was being squeezed tightly in return as father and son held each other for the first time in many, many years. The long sought after words rang in his ears as David embraced the father he didn’t really know. “…I support any decision you make…” He hoped to God that Jenny would feel the same way—his future depended on it.

  * * *

  David had developed good listening skills during his days of darkness and so had no trouble locating Jenny in the pitch-black night outside the circle of the campfire. She was weeping softly as she sat with her back against a wide tree, her head resting on her arms. Nearby, the river they had escaped from only hours ago was gurgling and tumbling on its nonstop journey to the sea.

&nbs
p; “Jenny,” he called to her softly as he approached.

  “Go away!” He could hear the tears in her voice. “I just can not take any more of this.”

  But he would not leave, not while she was in this state. Sitting down next to her on the soft grass, he pulled her back onto his lap again, pressing her head against his shoulder once more. She continued to shudder with sobs but did not resist him.

  “Dear God, but I love you, Miss Jennifer Winston.” He kissed her hair and hugged her tightly. “You have done more for me and put up with more because of me than anyone ever should. I almost lost you today, my love, and it nearly drives me crazy to think on it,” he whispered.

  She sniffed, pulled a handkerchief from her skirt pocket, blew her nose, and finally responded. “Now you know how I feel.” Grabbing his shoulders, she shook him with enough force to rattle his teeth. “I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you again. You are tearing my heart out!”

  Bending his head, he put his lips to her cheek and tasted the saltiness of her tears. “Ah, yes, I do know how you feel in that regard. But, Jennifer.” He captured her chin gently with his hand and lifted her head. Her face was a pale oval, washed of color in the darkness. “This is beyond just you and me, this problem with Thomas Miller. He is a known spy for the Confederates and must be stopped. If he killed friends like young Caleb and Frank, how many more lives will be lost due to his treachery?”

  “You must understand.” He traced her sensitive ear lobe with his finger. “Miller has gone back to my men to lead them in my absence. I am so afraid of what he may lead them to. He has the authority to lead them right into a deadly ambush, if he so desires.”

  He moved his hand to the nape of her soft neck and gently massaged her knotted muscles. “Perhaps he will even be promoted and gain access to more officers’ plans and maps. Thomas Miller is shrewd, and very smart.”

  Despite his best efforts, David could feel the anger growing and was glad for the cloaking darkness. “He fooled me…for over a year that I spent beside him day after day. I owe it to them all to go back and expose him as the traitor he is. Frank was a good friend and newly married after many years alone. Thomas took away Frank’s chance at happiness with Peggy, and he took away young Caleb’s chance for a future. He has to pay for that.”