Okay, so I probably shouldn't start this…but I'm going to anyway. This randomly popped into head during history class, when I was supposed to be taking a test…which I bombed by the way. But anyway, just to get this out of the way: I do not own Twilight or any of it's characters. All credit goes to Stephanie Meyer.
Bella POV
"I've been awaiting for you and you've been awaiting for me," I sang aloud to myself as I hung the laundry out to dry on the line. The Georgia sun was high in the sky, shining brightly, and I was sweltering in my black mourning weeds. "Tell me that you'll always be true and you'll be the only one for me. Forget me not my dear, my darling, forget me not my love."
I sighed contentedly. Life on the Whitlock's plantation was almost as it was before the war between the states began-before my husband Jacob Black went to war and was killed, and I was left widowed at the ripe old age of nineteen, with two small children to look after by myself, and an entire plantation to run. My children and I probably wouldn't have survived if it hadn't been for our neighbors, the Whitlocks.
I had grown up with Alice Whitlock, previously known as Alice Smith. She was the same age as I was, although she hadn't been married as long. She and her husband Jasper had been courting each other when the war began six months ago, and had gotten married in a rush before Jasper went to fight for the south. However, unlike my own husband (who before dying I had been married to for three years) Jasper had been injured in combat. He now walked with a permanent limp, and had been back at the plantation for three months-just about as long as long as my children and I had been here.
"I just wanna hold your hand. Hang on every word you say. Let's write a song for us and sing until we're old and grey…" My voice faded as the sound of horse's hooves thudding against the red Georgia dirt could be heard. Horses meant only one thing, as no one else in the county had a horse anymore. Not even we did. All of the horses in the county had been donated to the Confederate cause. The only people who had horses anymore were the Yankee army.
Horses meant the Yankees were coming.
I dropped the sheet I had been in the process of pinning to the line, grabbed my skirts, and started running towards the house. My heart thudded in my chest so loudly that I was sure the Yankees could hear it from where ever they were.
"Alice!" I shouted as I ran. "Alice, get the children inside! Hurry!"
As the front porch came into view, I could see Alice standing there, my ten month old daughter Charlotte on her hip; at her feet was my three year old son Billy. As I came closer, I could see the confused look on my best friend's face-she obviously couldn't hear the horses so far from the road.
"What is it, Bella?" she asked, her expression changing from confused to concerned.
"I-heard-horses!" I gasped, trying to catch my breath. I was so afraid-not for me, but for my children. "Coming this way!"
Alice's face paled; she knew what the horses meant. "Jasper," she yelled into the house. "The Yankees are coming!" She then turned and hurried into the house, Charlotte still on her hip. I scooped Billy up into my arms and hurried after her.
"Mama, what's wrong?" Billy wanted to know as I slammed the door shut. I spared a glance at his small face-he looked so much like his father. Same dark brown eyes, almost black, and skin that was a few shades darker than my own. His sister, however favored me more so than Jacob-her eyes were molten chocolate, like my own, her skin ivory.
"Um, nothing, honey." I lied, not wanting to scare him.
"Will you sing? Please Mama?"
"No, not right now Billy." I carried him into the living room, where Alice had placed Charlotte on a blanket on the floor. I set Billy down beside her, placing a quick kiss on his head. "Watch your sister, dear. Mama has to go talk with Auntie Alice and Uncle Jasper."
I went back into the entrance hall, where Alice and Jasper were standing. Jasper was peaking out of the window, frowning. In his left hand was his rifle, the one he had taken to battle with him. Alice stood by him, pacing nervously.
"They're riding up to the house right now." Jasper reported. He straightened, his grip on the rifle tightening. He opened the door to step outside onto the porch and before he could object, Alice and I pushed past him onto the porch.
The Yankees were waiting for us on the front lawn, still perched on their horses. There were five of them, all in uniform. Three of them sneered at us outright; the two most decorated, however, did not. They dismounted their horses, and approached us. I moved closer to Alice, my eyes wide, my breathing quickening, my heart once again beating loudly in my ears.
They both removed their hats as they reached the porch steps; they didn't go any further than the stairs. Both were tall men, though the one to the right was bigger and burlier and dark haired. The one to the right was leaner, with the most amazing emerald eyes I'd ever seen, and strange bronze colored hair. He was quite handsome.
Stop, I thought to myself, silently reprimanding myself. You shouldn't be having these kinds of thoughts about another man when you're only six months into mourning. He's a Yankee! He's responsible for the death of your husband!
"Are you Jasper Whitlock?" the bronze haired man asked. Jasper gave a silent nod in return. "I'm Major Cullen; this is Major McCarty. We're evacuating the county."
Before Jasper could say anything, I spoke quickly. "Why are you evacuating the county, Yankee?" my voice was venomous sounding. I used the venom to hide my fear.
Major Cullen turned his emerald eyes on me; the very feel of them on my face made me feel weak at the knees.
"And you are, Miss?"
His velvety voice made me want to shiver. I stifled the urge to though and kept my voice cold. "I am not a 'miss'; I have not been one since I was sixteen. I am Mrs. Black."
Major Cullen looked surprised. "Where is Mr. Black?"
I looked down at the ground. "He was killed in battle four months ago. My children and I live with the Whitlocks now."
Major Cullen nodded. "Well then Mrs. Black, you may want to find your children and leave. There's going to be a battle here in a few days."
Sooooo…tell me what you think. Questions, comments, concerns. Anything you feel needs to be addressed, and I will try to get back to you. I have to write a report this weekend so you can expect an update sometime next week. Review, please. Oh, and by the way, the song that Bella is singing in the beginning is a real song. It's called Forget Me Not, by the Civil Wars.
XOXO
Ruthless