Riverbreeze: Part 2 (33 page)

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As they left the yard, everyone went back into the house. Evelyn wanted to join them; she was nervous about leaving the safety of the flat, unobstructed ground of the yard, but Jamie was in high spirits and she couldn’t deny him.

He said he wanted to show her a favorite spot of his along a narrower stretch of Queen’s Creek and she reluctantly agreed, not knowing where that was and how difficult the ride might be.

But it wasn’t so difficult, she soon found out. The land was very flat and the horse was naturally sure-footed. She actually started to relax and to enjoy the view.

Jamie led them away from the river and towards the back of their property. They passed the newly-planted orchard, the smoke house and right at the edge of the woods, a dilapidated structure that was partially collapsed and almost completely overtaken by vines, brambles and saplings.

“What did that used to be?” Evelyn asked, as they slowly clip-clopped by.

Jamie shrugged his shoulders. “We don’t know.” He said. “But Rob and I think it used to be a house from the original settlers of this property. We’ve never disturbed it.”

“Why would they build it here and not closer to the river?”

Again Jamie shrugged his shoulders. “Your guess is as good as mine. It makes no sense to build here.”

“Hmm.” She murmured, her eyes glued to the abandoned sight. She didn’t know why she was compelled to stare at it. All she knew was that it gave her a strange, eerie feeling right in the pit of her stomach.

Jamie continued as if she were still listening, “You know, after Virginia became a royal colony and waves of men came to make their fortunes in tobacco, they would just throw up shacks wherever they wanted to. They would farm until the soil wore out and then move on to another field, abandoning the first place. Not many of them built permanent homes until these past two years. When Governor Berkeley arrived in Virginia three years ago, he came with specific instructions from the king and one of those statutes was that men owning five hundred acres or more must construct a brick house. Rob had just married Kathleen and had inherited five hundred acres of land. He was excited at the idea of building a brick house, but there was planting to do and bricks were hard to come by. But after Kathleen died, he was determined to do it. The old house had too many bad memories for him. He wanted to burn it down, but I convinced him not to. The old clapboards were in surprisingly good shape and I wanted them to build a stable. Even then I was thinking ahead to when I would own horses. He finally agreed to save the clapboards, realizing it would be careless to waste the wood. So we moved into the small house, you know the one the servants stay in now—Abigail wasn’t happy about that at all, she had to sleep in the loft, but she had already sold her farm and had agreed to nurse Robin and she didn’t have any other place to go. Over the next several weeks, we tore down the old place, board by board. We saved every single nail as well and reused them. Building the new house came first and that took almost eighteen months and then we built the stables. I was very grateful to Rob.”

By this time they were past the ruins and Evelyn was glad of it. She shivered again; something about that place made her uneasy.

They moved out of the sun and into the shade of the ancient forest. Jamie followed a barely distinguishable path covered in layers and layers of fallen leaves, pine cones and seed pods. Evelyn followed behind him, watching the stallion’s magnificent swishing tail and her husband’s strong broad back. She wondered how he knew where to go, but he never hesitated or seemed lost. If she ever had to navigate through these woods on her own, she would be lost in a minute.

Soon, they came upon marsh land and Jamie was very careful to keep them out of it. He said the marshes could be deadly. You never knew how deep the water was and they were full of poisonous snakes and ropey vines and tangled roots. And moss that dripped from the branches of the great cypress trees was infested with tiny bugs that burrowed into your skin and drove you mad.

Evelyn shuddered, looking up at the canopy of trees. High up and thankfully well above her head, giant spider webs stretched across branches rattling with dried, brown leaves. She shivered again at the thought of spiders dropping down onto her head. She didn’t particularly care for being in the woods, imagining all kinds of creatures from insects to rodents to large wild animals jumping out to get her. “Jamie?” She called.

“Yes?” He asked, turning to look at her. “What’s wrong?” He added, when he saw her ashen face.

“How much longer?”

He immediately turned his horse around so that he came up beside her. “We’re almost there. See the light ahead?” He smiled gently at her.

She nodded, feeling foolish.

“All right?” He asked.

She smiled back. “I just had a moment of anxiety. I’m just being silly.”

“Shall we kick the horses into a trot? There’s room for us to ride side by side.”

“Let’s.” She said, eager to quit the woods, her fear of the forest stronger than her fear of riding at a trot.

Within minutes they reached a clearing and reined in their horses. “Oh.” Evelyn gasped, catching her breath.

“’Tis beautiful, is it not?” Jamie said, smiling knowingly.

“I see why this is your favorite spot.” Evelyn said, taking in the magnificent view.

They had come upon an expansive meadow, its tall brown grasses intermingled with goldenrod swaying in the breeze. Immediately ahead of them and meandering off to their right and left the tidal creek flowed clean and lazily within its bed. A small sandy beach had formed in one gentle curve of the creek and this was their ultimate destination.

There was plenty of wildlife in the area. In one small inlet a plump, furry muskrat rooted through the reeds looking for food and at another bend was a great flock of migratory geese bobbing on the calm water. Other smaller flocks of pintail ducks and mallards paddled and dove for food among the waterweeds.

And beyond the creek and another meadow on the other side, the forest rose up again, the oaks, hickory trees and sycamores in autumn splendor.

“’Tis lovelier in the spring and summer. The wildflowers are blooming and everything is lush and green and the place is alive with birdsong and buzzing bees.”

“’Tis alive now! Look at that magnificent bird.” She pointed to a great Blue Heron.”

Jamie chuckled. “I stand corrected. Let’s dismount and walk the horses to the beach. I brought a blanket for us to sit on.”

“I’d like that.”

Jamie jumped off his horse with no trouble at all and then helped Evelyn dismount. After he set her down, her legs went wobbly and she almost fell. Thankfully he caught her around her waist.

“My legs feel so weak.” She laughed embarrassingly. “And my bum is numb!” She added, rubbing her backside.

Jamie laughed with her, playfully pulling her against him and briskly rubbing her bottom. “With more practice, your legs will get stronger…and these muscles will too.” He squeezed her rounded backside, then went back to rubbing her bottom.

“Oh! Sto-o-p thaaaaat!” Her words came out like a bleating sheep, he was jostling her so much.

“There. Is the feeling back?” He asked, chuckling in amusement.

“Yes.” She answered grudgingly, making a face at him.

He ignored her; he was in such a good mood. “Excellent!” Then he turned serious. “You rode beautifully, you know. I’m very proud of you.” He complimented her and pulled her close again for an embrace. Then he kissed her, softly, tenderly, lovingly.

When they parted she was a little breathless and she didn’t readily release her grip on his shoulders.

He let out a sigh too, gently touched her face, then said, “I’ll get the blanket.”

“All right.” She whispered, regretful that they couldn’t use the blanket and this isolated place to its advantage.

He untied the ragged wool blanket, tucked it under his arm, gathered both horses’ reins in one hand and together they walked through the dried, thigh-high grasses to the little beach at the creek’s edge.

Evelyn stood and waited, appreciatively watching Jamie while he dropped the blanket, then guided the horses to a large patch of sea oats at the end of the beach. The horses immediately moved to sample the oats and he chuckled while patting Penny’s withers. He dropped the reins and let them drag on the ground and then he returned to spread the blanket out. When he was satisfied that everything was neat and tidy without any sand on the blanket, he called her over. With a gallant bow and a helping hand, he invited Evelyn to sit.

She did, thanking him, and Jamie followed, flopping down with a sigh. He took his hat and gloves off, rubbed his face and then raked his fingers through his slightly damp hair. Evelyn also removed her gloves, but kept her cap on.

“You look tired.” She commented, lightly touching his face, feeling the prickle of two days’ worth of growth of his pale whiskers. She still worried about his health even if he wouldn’t.

He took in a deep breath of the crisp, clean air. With a slight smile, he admitted, “I am a little tired, but otherwise I feel fine. Maybe I’ll lie back and you can tell me a story while I rest.” He suggested, looking like a little boy.

“A story? I read a hundred stories to you yesterday from Robin’s book!” She exaggerated a little. But she had read nearly fifty fables from Aesop’s Fables to him yesterday.

“Make something up or tell me what your life was like in London.” He said, lying back on the blanket. He reached his arms over his head as he stretched full length, from the tips of his fingers to his toes, letting out a groan of sheer contentment. “Do you want to lie down?”

“No, I’d rather sit.” She said, enjoying watching him though.

“All right.” He said easily, then shaded his eyes with his hand as he looked up at her. “I’ve never been to a city as big as London. What is it like?”

“What do you want to know?”

“Anything. Tell me what you did for fun.” He said, positioning his hat over his forehead and eyes to shield them from the sun.

“Well, let me see…” She thought for a moment, settling herself more comfortably and arranging her skirts. She had hundreds of memories, good and bad that she could tell him, but he wanted to hear what they did for fun. She began, “As a family, and this was before Cromwell, of course—“

“Why do you say ‘before Cromwell, of course’?” Jamie interrupted.

“Because when the king and queen left London and Cromwell and Parliament took over, they banned all sorts of entertainments and we were at war then and still are.”

“I know we’re at war.” He said a little impatiently. But then his tone changed and with shame he added, “This may seem selfish and disloyal to say, but I’m glad I’m here and not in England to face it.”

“’Twas horrible to be in London when the king and queen left. Papa was devastated. He was the king’s man and after London fell to Cromwell, Papa had to walk a fine line. He was very sad for the last year or so of his life.” She said very softly.

“I’m sorry, Evie.” He took her hand and held it tenderly, his thumb stroking lightly over her knuckles.

She forced a smile to change the mood. She didn’t want to dwell on the past year of her life. “’Tis over now. And I’m glad I’m here too, with you.” She said, smiling at him. “Anyway, you asked what we did for fun. As I was saying, as a family we would go to plays and puppet shows, and at home we played card games and entertained Papa’s friends and important clients. Bess played the harpsichord and I played the viol and we all sang together. We always had a grand time doing that.”

“I’m sorry I never got to hear you play.” He said sadly, his thumb skimming over her fingertips, feeling for calluses, she believed. They were all gone now, after not playing for six months. If she ever got a new viol she would have to build up the calluses again. “I would love that, to hear you play the viol and to hear Elizabeth play the harpsichord. I think we’ll have to make it a priority to save for a viol.”

“Oh, Jamie, I would love that dearly, but I know there are so many other things we need first. A viol is not important.”

“It is, to me. I promise, one day, we’ll buy you a viol. And we’ll insist that Robert buy your sister a harpsichord. Then you two can play again and we’ll all sing together. There will be music in the house and our children will learn an instrument too.” He said with determination. “Music is very important, I believe.”

“I agree, and I could teach our children to read music. Perhaps instead of buying a viol first we could start with a smaller instrument, like a viola—I can play that too, you know.” She said somewhat smugly.

“No, I didn’t know that.”

“I’m sorry.” She apologized. “I didn’t mean to brag. We shouldn’t be talking about buying a viol or a viola. Eating and having a home comes first.”

Jamie chuckled unapologetically. “I didn’t think about eating or building a home before purchasing my horses. Look how selfish and impractical I was, counting on my brother to feed and house me!”

She smiled gently at him. “We can’t count on him forever.”

Jamie sighed. “I know.”

“Don’t misunderstand me.” She said quickly. “I’m not criticizing you, and I love living in the same house with my sister, and I do so appreciate Robert’s hospitality, allowing us to live in his home, but we should have our own home.” She ended softly.