Chapter Two
Trees, trees and more trees...Georgia, who had been born and raised in the area she and Jarrod were traveling in, felt her heart racing a mile a minute as she looked back at the travois she was pulling behind her horse. While a part of her wished there was a full moon out, under the circumstances she was grateful there was just enough light to travel without too much of a problem. It meant that there was little chance they would be caught by any other travelers or soldiers who might be in the area. After the biggest internal struggle she'd had in her life Georgia, had decided that, come what may, she had to help Captain Barkley. Oddly enough, the reasons her father would have used to take the life of this union soldier were the very reasons that had led to her deciding to try and save the injured soldier.
Georgia hated the fact that she'd lost a brother to the war, just might lose another one, while her third brother would always walk with a limp. However, the pain she saw in her father's eyes, and the pain she'd felt in her own heart, was pain that she wouldn't wish on her worst enemy…or their families. This being the case, Georgia just had to take a chance and do what she could…even if it meant risk getting caught and causing more heartache for her family. Okay, so the pleading look in the captain's pain filled eyes helped too.
By the time the home of Kyle James came into view it was close to ten in the evening. While Georgia wanted to sigh in relief, she didn't dare. Even a hundred yards could make a huge difference, and she knew it. Urgently she pushed her horse forward, praying fervently every step of the way. Call it providence, call it luck, call it a miracle, call it whatever you want, but Mr. James stepped out onto the porch just as she approached and, taking one look at the "cargo" she was hauling, flew down the steps. By the time she dismounted her horse, Mr. James was examining a now unconscious Jarrod.
"Who is he?" He looked up at the young woman he'd known all her life. To see her bringing him a wounded soldier had surprised him, to have it be a Union soldier downright shocked him. He was sure there had to be a connection between them, for her to be helping him. This being the case, he was again shocked when she shrugged her shoulders and answered, "He said his name was Captain Barkley. Can ya help him?"
Mr. Marshall would have nothing to do with the Union army neither would any of his sons and, up to the moment he realized who was heading towards his house and who she was hauling behind her horse, Mr. James hadn't thought Georgia would either. In fact, he was surprised she was even by herself as her father was so overprotective. He might have inquired into the matter further, only the wounded man needed attention badly. "I might be able to."
Not daring to yell for his wife, Mr. James lifted Jarrod from the travois and told Georgia to hurry up and open his front door. By the time the three entered the James homes, Mrs. James, a blonde haired beauty by the name of Teresa who stood just over five feet, was standing in the living room looking as shocked as her husband had felt a few moments before…and she was asking the same questions and getting the same answers.
When Georgia went to follow Mr. James into the bedroom where he was taking Jarrod, Mrs. James stopped her. Unlike her husband, who would soon be fighting to save Jarrod's life, she had the time to ask more questions and demand answers. She took Georgia by the arm and led her to a beautiful flowery sofa which sat against the south wall.
"Don't get me wrong, girl. We'll do what we can and we'll say nothin' when it comes to the fact that it was you who brought him here; still," Teresa said as she looked upon her acquaintance, "why are ya helpin' him? Does yer daddy know about this?" When she started throwing other questions out, Georgia held up her hand and stopped her.
"Believe me when I say I never thought I'd be helpin' anyone fightin' on the other side." Georgia looked towards the now closed bedroom which sat in the northwest corner and then back at Mrs. James. She went on to talk about families and the pain that had already come because of the war. "Maybe I'm jist gettin' tired of it all, but all I could think of when he was beggin' me ta help him was the fact that he had a family somewhere. It didn't matter whether that meant a wife and children, his parents and siblings or whatever. And," she paused and looked at the palms of her hands struggling to control all the mixed up feelings she was having, and then said quietly, "As I thought on that; I saw ma' dear departed mother and wondered 'bout his."
Somehow, it did not surprise Teresa that Georgia was thinking about others when she had decided to help the stranger. Still…what of her father?"What 'bout yer daddy? Surely, he ain't consented to this?" If he had, Teresa was going to get her smelling salts…whoever was with her would need them when she fainted.
"He's with ma' brother, won't be back 'til tomorrow." Georgia answered, as she stood up and began pacing the floor. She was nervous and couldn't sit still.
Teresa frowned. That was unlike Mr. Marshall. She said as much too.
Georgia, who had stopped in front of the fireplace, gazed into the burning fire and sighed. "Daddy didn't want ta leave me alone, but I fought him on it. I'm plenty old enough ta take care of myself and Paul and his family needed him." She turned around and looked at Teresa. "Once Mr. James comes out and tells us how Captain Barkley is, I gotta get home. Please, promise me, keep me informed?" After investing time, and taking the risk, to bring the captain to the James', Georgia needed to know it wasn't all for nothing.
Again, Teresa frowned, as she was concerned any continuing involvement with Captain Barkley would only lead to trouble for the young woman. Yet, how could she deny the request either. It was obvious by the anxious look upon Georgia's face that to do anything less than what she was asking would be pure torture on her. "All right, but..." Teresa said as she pointed towards the seat beside her, "ya have ta agree to sit down and then allow my husband ta take ya home. We'll have to come up with a believable excuse for you being out at such an hour, just in case."
She knew full well that Mrs. James was right, especially since there was no guarantee her father would not arrive home early. Georgia nodded her head in agreement, though she said nothing. She was too busy thinking and not just on the man called Jarrod Barkley. No, she was thinking on all the men who were fighting or wounded and away from their families. How she hated war.
