Bluegrass Dawn: Bluegrass Single #2 (Bluegrass Singles) (4 page)

CHAPTER FIVE

Jake completed the intelligence test and handed it in. William had finished five minutes earlier and was waiting for him outside. They’d made it to Fort Campbell and had taken their physicals. Upon passing, they had been assigned a bunk and then headed to take a string of tests. If they passed them all, then they’d start basic training. If they failed, then they would be headed back home.

“How was it?” William asked as they walked to the mess hall.

“Pretty easy. I’ve heard if you score well enough, you’re eligible to enlist in the Navy, Marines, Air Force, or Coast Guard,” Jake said as he watched all the men training to be sent overseas doing drills in the distance.

“I’m hoping to join the Kentucky Air National Guard for four years if I can. It will be tough for Betsy to run the farm, but I could maybe be stationed in Kentucky close to the farm. At least I’d be alive. What are you going to do?”

Jake shook his head. “I don’t know. Four years seems like a lifetime. But two years in a jungle halfway across the world could mean my life.”

“Davies!” Jake turned and saw the recruiter walking his way.

“Good news, I hope. I’ll catch you later and you can fill me in,” William said as he smacked Jake’s shoulder.

“Okay. I’ll see you on the flip side.” Jake waited for the recruiter. “Yes, sir.”

“Have you ever had an IQ test before?”

“No, sir.”

The recruiter looked through the file he was carrying. “You’re a farmer?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Ever been to college?”

“No, sir. We couldn’t afford it, especially after my father passed away.”

“Only child?”

“Yes, sir.”

The recruiter slammed the file shut. “Are you looking to volunteer?”

“I don’t know, sir. I just got married and four years seems a long time to be away. But fighting in a jungle doesn’t hold that much appeal either.”

“I looked over your test before it went off to be officially graded. I saw enough to know you have one of the highest test scores we’ve seen, especially in strategy. Come to my office today at five. I may have a win-win for you, your new wife, and the Army.”

“Yes, sir.”

Jake stood staring at the officer walking away. What could that mean? He guessed he’d find out soon enough.

*     *     *

Marcy set the plate of fried chicken down in front of John Wolfe and smiled. He was a nice man. He’d gotten married about five years ago. His wife was a teacher at the middle school.

“Here you go, Mr. Wolfe.”

“Thank you, darlin’. I heard Jake and William are doing well down at Campbell.”

Marcy felt the blood drain from her face. He’d been gone just a day and a half and she had never felt more alone. “How do you know that?”

Mr. Wolfe winked. “I have my sources.”

Marcy narrowed her eyes. “Are they reliable sources?” Mr. Wolfe just raised an eyebrow. “Will you keep me up to date on Jake and William if I bake you my mother-in-law’s famous apple pie?”

“I would do it for nothing, but I’m not one to turn down pie,” Mr. Wolfe laughed as his broad shoulders shook. He rubbed his long brown sideburns and smiled up at her. “I hear he’s going to get some good news tonight. Let me know how it goes tomorrow.”

Marcy gave a shaky nod and hurried back into the kitchen to tell Daisy and Violet. Maybe they had some insight they could share on this source.

“No one knows,” Violet said with a shrug.

“But it gets my goat,” Daisy muttered. “In high school, he knew everything. I could never beat him to the news. But it bothered Lily even more. So I don’t know, Marcy. However, I can tell you he’s nearly always right.”

“Then that’s good, right?” Marcy asked excitedly.

“It’s very encouraging,” Violet said with a wide smile.

*     *     *

Jake knocked on the officer’s door and waited for permission to enter. When he stepped into the room, he saw a high-ranking officer standing along with his recruiter.

“Davies,” he said. “I’m Major General Noble.”

Jake shook the older man’s hand. “Nice to meet you, sir.”

“I’ve seen your IQ test results. You have a good mind for strategy.”

“Thank you, sir.” Jake wasn’t sure where this was going, but it had to be important for a major general to be here.

“I have a small unit over in Vietnam. They are in charge of assisting the commanders in developing military strategy. The group is a mix of the different branches. There’s a man each from the Navy and Air Force, along with three from the Army. I want you in this group. Before you decide if you’re going to join the puddle pirates in the Coast Guard, I want to give you some more information.”

“Yes, sir?” Jake asked. Apparently what he’d heard was right. He’d gotten high enough test scores to get into the very desirable Coast Guard if he wanted to serve four years.

“If you sign on with me, you’ll have the opportunity to become an officer if you prove yourself. You’ll serve two years and you won’t be on the front lines. You’ll still be in Vietnam and there will still be danger, but you’ll be at our headquarters. You have a strong mind, boy, and I want to use it.”

“Two years?” Jake asked again. He would still be overseas, but at least he wouldn’t be in the jungle.

“Two years. And I’ll see what I can do about getting you a phone call or two with your new wife while you’re over there.”

Jake held out his hand. “Deal.”

“Officer Davies,” William chuckled. “I can’t believe it—and only two years. Man, who knew you were so smart?”

“I’m not an officer yet and I don’t know. I was okay in school, but I guess all that time planning out the crops and harvest came in handy.”

“And all those years hunting with your dad.”

Jake agreed. His father had had a way of pointing things out that most people couldn’t see—a trail, a plan, the way things worked. He taught Jake to never just look at one thing, but to look at the whole picture. In this case, his dad might have just saved his life.

“What about you? Did you find out your results yet?” Jake asked.

“I scored high enough to get into the Kentucky Air National Guard. I decided to take it. It’s four years, but I can work my way into a post in central Kentucky and then I’d be less than an hour from home. I’d be able to get to the farm some and I’ll be able to call Betsy every week.”

“Isn’t the Guard on active duty?”

“Yeah. There’s a chance I could see you overseas. But with all the trouble on college campuses, there’s an equal chance the governor will keep us in state.”

Jake raised his soda and they clinked their glasses together in the mess hall. “To my army assignment and to you getting into the Kentucky Air National Guard. May it see us safely home to our beautiful wives.”

“Hear! Hear!”

CHAPTER SIX

January 1971

Marcy closed her eyes and blew out the deep breath she had taken.
I wish for Jake to come safely home to me
. She opened her eyes and saw her friends clapping. Helen slid the birthday cake away from where Marcy had just blown out her nineteen candles and started cutting it up.

All of her friends sat around the kitchen table in the small farmhouse. Betsy smiled and handed her a present. “Thank you, Betsy. You didn’t have to get anything for me.” They had been each other’s rock through this past year. William had been sent to quell riots at college campuses within the state but, luckily, had not been sent overseas. Sweet, bubbly Betsy had grown up as she took the reins to the farm.

So had Marcy for that matter. Helen had taught her everything she knew about farming, family traditions, and cooking. Marcy worked the farm from sunrise to eleven in the morning and then served lunch and dinner at the café. She’s been busy running herself into the ground in hopes of passing time quickly. But it still seemed an eternity from when Jake was going to be coming home. She’d get letters from him once a month. They usually came in large bundles. She would allow herself to read only one a day so she never had to go long without hearing from him.

Marcy tore into Betsy’s package and held up a ticket. “It’s a ticket to the Kentucky Derby,” Marcy gasped.

“A horse
I
trained is most likely going to run and I can’t think of anyone I would want to go with more than you. It’ll be far-out.”

“Oh, that sounds fab!” Lily Rae clapped. The Rose sisters had become more like older sisters to her during the past year. They supported her, loved her, and even let her sneak into the kitchen to cry when bad news hit the town. So far, two of Keeneston’s own were not coming home.

Everyone lived in fear of Father James and a member of the military coming to see them.  One day the priest and a representative of the Army came into the café and Marcy nearly collapsed. Instead, they were there for the parents of one of her classmates. Marcy had stood frozen as she watched the news being delivered and prayed harder than she’d ever prayed before for Jake to remain safe.

Although Jake couldn’t tell her anything about where he was, he did tell her he was mostly safe. He’d managed one phone call so far about five months ago. They’d had two minutes. She still replayed that short conversation over and over again in her head.

John Wolfe had told her Jake’s unit was being moved closer and closer to the front lines. While he would not be out in the jungle fighting, his unit was helping the commander determine strategy and send out parties of elite soldiers and were instrumental in planning the destruction of several key supply lines.

Just at that moment, John flung Helen’s front door open and ran into the small living room.

“What in tarnation?” Daisy asked as everyone stared at John.

“Phone,” he panted. “Jake is going to call any minute. He only gets a few minutes.”

Everyone erupted in movement. The cake was picked up off the table and set on the counter. A pad of paper and a pencil were placed in front of Marcy in case she wanted to write down anything he said. Presents were moved and then they all left the kitchen just as the phone rang.

Marcy grabbed it before the first ring was finished. “Jake?”

“How did you know? I was hoping to surprise you for your birthday.”

“John told me. How are you? Where are you? Are you safe?”

Jake chuckled over the phone and Marcy felt tears start to trail down her cheeks.

“I’m fine. I can’t tell you where I am. I’m safe for now. How are things there? How are you? What are you wearing?”

Marcy sobbed and laughed at the same time. “I’m good. I’ve saved up a nice nest egg. The apartment over the café is perfect for me still. Your mother gave me a new photo from our wedding to hang up as a birthday present. The farm is doing well. We have everything ready for the spring and the cows are nice and fat.”

“I guess I should also say happy early anniversary. One year. We made it, sweetheart. Do you regret it?”

“Not one moment. Marrying you was the best thing I’ve ever done.”

“You didn’t answer my earlier question. Are you wearing one of those cute short skirts and tights?”

Marcy laughed again. “You know me so well. Red wool skirt with black buttons up the middle and black tights. And those knee-high boots you like so much.”

“God, I can’t wait to get back to you. I have to go, sweetheart. I love you so much.”

“Wait!” Marcy cupped her hand over the phone and called for Helen. “Your mom didn’t get to talk to you last time. Please, ten seconds. She’s been so wonderful.”

She heard Jake say something to someone and then he came back. “I got thirty seconds. I’ll try to call again in a couple months. I love you, Marcy. I dream of you every night.”

“I love you too, Jake.” Marcy handed the phone to Helen as her friends wrapped her in their arms and held her as she cried.

Seconds later Helen came out of the kitchen with red eyes. Silently she pulled Marcy into a hug and just held her. “Thank you for letting me tell my son I love him. To hear his voice one more time. Thank you, dear daughter.”

*     *     *

Marcy set a plate of country-fried steak down and laughed as John’s wife teased him. Everyone was optimistic about the New Year.  So far, 1971 had been going strong in Keeneston. The tension and the campus riots hadn’t reached their little town. New ribbons had been placed on all the trees for the town’s soldiers. Gift baskets had been assembled and sent out to reach them for Valentine’s Day, which was now just a week away.

And, to make the day even better, Marcy had received a bundle of love letters from Jake. To read his words of love brought joy to her every day. To read about his day and the men in his group made her feel a part of his life even though she was halfway across the world.

Daisy came up to her and gave her a hip bump. “Got a new table.” Marcy looked around and spotted Reverend Hamilton and his wife come in with their new baby girl, Pam. She started to head over to them when the door chimed as Father James and Sheriff Mulford walked in.

Marcy froze and she felt Daisy move closer to her. But, if it were about Jake, it would be someone from the Army. She let out a breath only to worry why they headed her direction.

“Mrs. Davies, can we have a word in private?” Sheriff Mulford asked quietly.

“Sure, Sheriff,” Daisy answered as she pushed a frozen Marcy into the kitchen.

“Don’t tell me the Rev has made another request for me to change the way I make my chicken,” Violet started before she saw the sheriff and Father James.

Before Marcy knew it, she had a Rose sister on each side. The front door slammed open and Lily sprinted through the restaurant and into the kitchen with her skirt halfway up her thighs. “We’re here for you, Marcy. What is it?”

Sheriff Mulford cleared his throat. “I’m real sorry, Marcy…”

Marcy would have dropped to the floor if the Rose sisters hadn’t caught her. “Jake?” The name came out of her as though it had been ripped from her soul.

“No, it isn’t Jake,” Father James said softly.

“What?” the four ladies said at the same time.

“I’m real sorry,” the sheriff started again. “It’s Helen. She’s passed away.”

“That’s impossible,” Marcy was standing now and shaking her head.

“I was just out in the pastures feeding the cows with her this morning. She was fine.”

Father James approached and took her hand gently in his. “She swore us to secrecy, but Helen has been battling breast cancer for the past year. The doctors told her she only had months, but she swore she’d talk to Jake one more time. She fought with everything she had. Three weeks ago, she saw the doctor and he told her it would happen any day. She called us in and told us. I counseled her and prayed for her. The sheriff and I checked on her every day. Until today.”

“What about Jake?”

The door to the kitchen opened slowly and John put his head in the door. “Is it Helen?”

Father James nodded. “I’m so sorry, darlin’,” he said to Marcy. “She was a hell of a woman.”

John’s wife pushed passed the priest and wrapped Marcy in a hug. “It’s okay, sweetie. We’ll all help you. You won’t have to do this alone.”

“How am I going to tell Jake his mother died?”

“With John’s help, I’ll tell him,” Father James said softly. John and he shared a look and Marcy knew John would somehow get the young priest on the phone with Jake. She wanted to be there for him, but right now she was lost.

“Come on. Let’s get you upstairs,” Daisy said gently. Marcy could only nod. She was lost in a world that seemed to be spinning out of control.

She couldn’t call her parents. They hadn’t spoken since a week after she had gotten married. Her mother didn’t think it was worth the money to call long distance. She had gotten a birth announcement from her new sister-in-law she’d never met. Her own brothers hadn’t bothered to call or write. They were strangers now. She didn’t even know it had happened. Just one day she realized she didn’t even know what was happening with them. Where they even still in South Carolina?

But she'd had Helen. Helen had taught her recipes that had been passed down through generations. Helen had taught her how to farm, how to read the weather, and how to talk down an angry bull. No wonder she taught her so much. She wanted to impart the knowledge on the next generation before she passed on. That realization gave Marcy peace, though grief was still hitting her hard. Helen had accomplished everything she needed. She’d secured the next generation with the family history and she’d been able to say goodbye to her son. And just this morning, they had laughed so hard over stories of Jake in his youth that tears had fallen. Yes, Marcy was sad. But she was thankful at the same time.

Funeral arrangements were now being set. People were coming in to see what they could do to help. The small apartment was full of people from town. John made his way in and let her know that Jake had received the news. Unfortunately, with the importance of his position, he wouldn’t be able to come home for the funeral.

“He gave us instructions,” John said quietly as he handed her a piece of paper. “And he says to tell you he loves you and he wants you to know you have his full support for running the farm.”

“He does?” Marcy asked through the haze of grief.

“He does. When I asked about the farm, he said he wasn’t worried. He knew you were smart and would excel at running it.”

Jake’s support warmed her heart and gave her the confidence she needed.

Mr. Tabernacle came forward with a piglet and handed it to her. “Helen was a top-notch woman. I enjoyed every lunch I had with her this past year. She’d talked about having a small pigpen. This is Bertha. She’ll make a good start to it. Don’t you worry none, Mrs. Davies. I’ll help you through this.”

Marcy looked up into Tabby’s face, tanned from the long hours in the sun, and saw such kindness she almost started crying if it weren’t for the piglet squirming in her arms. At that moment, she stopped feeling helpless. She wasn’t helpless. She had an entire town supporting her.

“Thank you, Tabby. How about next week? I’ll make you lunch and then we’ll start working on the pen.”

Tabby smiled at her. “Yes, ma’am. And Bertha here likes to sleep under the covers.” With a wink, he headed out the door and Marcy found the strength to laugh.