Transition Plan Chapter 101: Searching for Jeanne 19
Author's Note: This is a very T rated episode. Some profanity and multiple sexual situations.
…Early June 1921. Duke Fergus DunBroch's lands…
Another day Jack and Eleanor were strolling the grounds and gardens of her estate, arm-in-arm in sight of her mother and father, who were chaperoning their courting. Jack and Eleanor still rationalized this was a close friendship and nothing more. Eleanor's parents knew better.
They lingered in the vast garden of yellow roses, her favorite flower. She explained to Jack that a vase of them always greeted her anytime she was hospitalized to remind her of home.
Jack asked, "Do you ride?"
"I love to ride," she exclaimed, rubbing his arm affectionately, "My horse does most of the work for me, so I can go great distances without tiring."
"Would you ride with me?" Jack asked with a smile.
"Yes of course. I'm really glad you asked," she blushed.
They walked slowly to her stable, and Jack climbed Samson, while a servant prepared and helped her with her stallion Angus. She was pretty tired today but insisted she could ride with him.
While she knew the horse couldn't understand her words, he understood her intent, "Angus, we're going for a long ride with the Viscount and Samson."
The huge horse snorted. The mount of every eldest female in the DunBroch clan dating back to Merida's reign was a battle stallion named Angus. He was as large as Samson. They sized each other up, being very assertive horses, but knowing their Masters were friends, Angus and Samson established their own friendship for the sake of the two young people. Samson knew that he shouldn't talk to his master Jack in this situation or it would freak out the young human female, but he gave him a very happy greeting.
In their casual conversation Samson said to Angus, "You know my Master Jack can talk to me like you can?"
"No! Really? How? Humans can't do that."
"Mine can. He's a friend to all animals like his father who knows nearly every animal's language. But it's a secret. Other humans cannot know."
"Can mine? My Master has a deep connection with the bears. And with Jack."
"Let them decide," Samson wisely advised, ripping off another hunk of hay to munch on.
Eleanor grabbed two bows and hunting arrow quivers, handing one to Jack, who smiled, "So, do you hunt?"
"I love to," she grinned.
"But Eleanor, English girls don't normally hunt. Except my mom and my sister."
She mused, "By now Viscount, don't you know I am no ordinary girl? And I am certainly not English. Nor were my ancestors. My oldest female ancestor, Merida, was a perfect shot in archery and rode and hunted all the time. Many in the family say that not only do I have her looks, I have her archery talents. I think I have more freckles though. And God knows that every day I wish I was as strong as her."
He could see the sadness in her eyes about her illnesses and so he tried to cheer her up.
That got his interest, "I love bow hunting. Especially archery. My mother is a great shot too. I got my talent from her. My dad can't hit the broad side of a barn with a bow. But you should see his knife skills."
They laughed over that.
He added under his breath, "…and I like girls with freckles."
Blushing with the compliment, she asked, "Hungry?"
"Famished."
She gave him a mischievous look, "I dare you, Jack: the first one to the kill makes the other one skin it and prepare it for lunch."
"You're on," he answered, kicked his heels into Samson's ribs, and they took off into the woods like a shot. Eleanor was left standing.
She was startled with the speed of Jack's and Samson's reaction, kicked Angus just as hard, and raced to catch up on the riding trail. She shouted ahead, "You are quite the clever one, Viscount Clayton."
He just looked back and laughed at her and accelerated.
From the lobby window looking out over the estate and the stable, the Duchess noted to Fergus, "Aren't they cute together?"
"Yes. But for how long?" he sighed.
She frowned, "Don't say that again, Fergus. Ever."
"We must be realistic, dearest. Dr. MacGregor said the long term outlook is not good."
She glared at him angrily, "So why not end this now?"
He was nearly in tears as he admitted, "Because I don't have the heart to break my daughter's heart…"
"And what about Jack's heart?"
Neither had an answer.
…
Soon Jack and Eleanor were roasting a rabbit over a friendly fire in the jungle. Eleanor's shot just missed at a full gallop on their horses but Jack got it immediately afterward. She sputtered and fumed that his shot was truer than his. That never happened, especially against boys. She reveled in competing with boys when she had been younger and stronger. And a lot of those boys didn't like that.
But he didn't force her to prepare the meal for him. They did it together and he showed her some skinning and preparation skills she hadn't known before. She never knew about some of the forest spices that made their rabbit luncheon even more delicious. That sharing endeared him further to her. Her father often expected her mother to do all the work in the house. This boy was very different.
They sat very close to each other chewing on the tasty catch. Her legs were crossed politely under her in her riding dress and boots, but she leaned toward him invitingly.
"I love the outdoors, Jack."
"I can tell. Me too, Eleanor," he agreed and they leaned closer together and their eyes closed. They were interrupted, as her father rode up, and both scooted further apart.
"Smells good, kids. But I'm afraid it's time to go Eleanor. It's time for your doctor's appointment and medication in the village."
"Of course Father," she noted but both men could hear the disappointment in her voice at breaking up this woodlands meal together.
"Would you like to finish the rest, Duke Fergus?" asked Jack.
"Thank you Jack, how kind. I didn't have lunch."
He finished the rabbit, complimented them on its tasty preparation, while Jack doused the fire. They rode as a threesome back to the barn, with the Duke behind them, watching for any public signs of affection. His red curly hair rustled in the wind as they rode. Unlike King Fergus, it was well trimmed as was his beard as a 'gentleman of 20th Century society'.
Riding closely side-by-side, knowing her father could hear every word they said, Jack asked formally, "Would you like to go hunting with me again, Lady Eleanor?"
With no hesitation, she replied, "Yes, Viscount Jack, I would very much like to hunt with you again. You are a truly gifted outdoorsman."
Jack turned around and asked for her father's assent, "May the Lady Eleanor ride and hunt with me again, Duke DunBroch?"
Fergus replied, "Yes, Viscount. You have my and the Duchess' permission. You are a known gentlemen and very trustworthy around young women. Especially my daughter. I saw that demonstrated clearly today."
Fergus had taken an approach that had Jack and Eleanor been doing something compromising, they would have easily been seen and caught. This was a test. They passed.
The exchanged a lingering, very pleasant parting glance.
"On the morrow then, Lady Eleanor," Jack smiled a fond farewell, turned and rode off. She watched his image recede fondly.
"Isn't he a true gentleman, Daddy?" she sighed with a dreamy look in her eyes for Jack.
"He is indeed. But Eleanor dear, have you thought of the future?" he asked cautiously.
It was a combined thought of her illnesses, especially being strong enough for a man who lived half his life in the jungle, and the fact that they all knew Jack had a long lost love deep in Africa that he was sworn to find. They'd already been through this with her.
Her high cheeks flushed and the dreamy look turned sternly to her father and she said stiffly, "Whatever it may be, Daddy, it includes Jack."
Fergus knew it was useless to say anything else but, "You have our permission to continue seeing him."
…
They visited each other several times a week always after Jack's tutoring sessions, alternating visits at each other's estates, and always with their parents' permissions and supervision. To Jack it was just being friends and keeping company with a recovering ill girl with no friends. He was used to being friends with girls. He always had better friendships with girls than his boy peers. Being friends with Eleanor was just like being friends with Ndidi. She was just another female friend. No more. He felt he was not compromising his relationship with Jeanne.
Or so he thought.
Every time they visited it never occurred to him that he was slowing falling for Eleanor, and she for him. He never thought for a moment that friendship would interfere with his true, but very distant, love for Jeanne. And Eleanor never thought she was disrupting that love. She was just keeping company with a lonely and charming young man while his girlfriend Jeanne was absent and thought that she could be good friends with.
…Early June, 1921 Dar es Salaam…
Slowly Jeanne's opinion of dancing in the chorus line changed. She'd rather dance than be an aggressive cocktail-hustling waitress and accessory to countless thefts and muggings, particularly since dancing made better money to pay off her ransom with Karl-Heinz. It seem less criminal to her and she considered the other burlesque girls a vital daily escape from Karl-Heinz and Gunter because she thought of the dancers as her friends or 'big sisters'. Plus she was very good at dancing and possessed a truly beautiful exotic-looking body.
She finally rationalized displaying herself as a burlesque dancer wasn't really that much different than going natural in the jungle, and in fact she showed less in her peekaboo dancer costume than being completely undressed. The closer she got to 16 Siegfried permitted her more substitutions in the line. She wanted to work continuously to keep making money and spend less time near her captors in the relative safety of the burlesque hall.
She couldn't dance all the time or she might injure herself. The choreographer always made the girls take some time off to rest and stretch and exercise. She still made plenty of money as a vivacious hostess when she wasn't up on the stage. Siegfried considered her one of his most talented and hardest working employees. Margrite was especially proud of her dancing, and Karl-Heinz kept watching the sum she owed get closer and closer to being paid off. He never thought it possible before she was well into her 30s and grudgingly respected her.
So over time she began to work more and more full time as a dancer than a hostess. The choreographer created a short solo routine inserted into the line dancing that would feature Meriem showing off her darker skin than the other women. She liked doing it, and her routine became very popular with the dance hall patrons. A big clump of admiring men – the 'Meriem fan club' as her fellow dancers teased - sat close to her place in line. She didn't really care anymore that they stared. There was always a big pile of money placed in front of her, and that's what really mattered. Her number one priority was paying off her own ransom so she could leave – the deal she made with Karl-Heinz. There were worse ways to make a living as a pretty girl in Dar es Salaam. She was earning money fast this way, but it couldn't happen fast enough for her. Piled before her on the stage every time she danced were Pounds Sterling, 20 franc notes, Deutschmarks, Lira, and denominations of money she didn't even recognize. She was incredibly popular. Siegfried knew that every time she danced the bar was much more crowded and drink sales soared.
It embarrassed her to say she was becoming very proud of her talent and her beauty and how she made so much money dancing over being a waitress. She knew that some day she would be ashamed to tell Jack that dozens of men saw the parts of her body every night that were only supposed to be for him to see and she hoped that Jack would some day forgive her for all of this. But each Deutschmark or Pound Sterling earned got her closer to her freedom and knew that Jack would have supported her decision. It was just a job now, not an embarrassment. She really didn't notice the men ogling her, even though she played to all of them. She knew the other dancers felt the same way about their fans. They were all trying to earn their way out of their awful predicament and find a better life. Some would fulfill that dream but others would get into far worse trouble with the men they served.
At least no man could touch her and any fools who tried were tackled and removed and thrown into the street where Karl-Heinz and Gunter and other assigned thugs beat them to a pulp and took their money. It scared her that they could get so close though. She always had a hidden knife in the folds of the costume bodice – the one she took from Rolfe - to defend herself if the bouncers couldn't stop an 'admirer'. She had no qualms about slicing them.
The tally for her increased weekly, and over dinner at the flat, she noted, "Over a hundred thousand this month, Karl-Heinz. I figure by the time I'm a little over 17, at this rate, I'll finally be free from you."
"Oh yeah, I forgot," he complained.
She shouted, "You only want to forget Karl-Heinz, because my big dark ass and boobs are money makers for you and Siegfried. When I'm gone, your sorry butts are going to be hurting for cash."
It was harsh but true. And inadvertently by bragging, she caused Karl-Heinz to start thinking about ways to circumvent her plans for freedom.
…Mid June 1921. Clayton estate…
Even though it was only the end of spring, it was hot, even for Scotland. Eleanor and Jack were on horseback again, and chased and cornered a wild boar together, working like wolves in the hunt. They didn't need the dogs. They were better hunters on their own, and much stealthier, not realizing that Jack's Mangani training and Eleanor's mystically acquired ursine genetics from ancestors centuries ago had enhanced those skills in them. Eleanor felled the wild pig and Jack complimented her shot. She was consistently the better shot but instead of being angry like other boys he admired her marksmanship, which always made her happy and blush. Jack field dressed the animal to take back to the family's chief cook who'd asked them to do this and tied him to Samson's rump.
They were hungry and sliced a lunch-sized shank to roast before they went home. She had another invitation for dinner from Jack, and this time the DunBroch's were going to join them tonight for both families to get to know each other better, even though the Duke and Count were already business partners. Jack and Eleanor would be able to sit together again at the table in his house. Having the parents meet was a very important step in a more permanent relationship according to the customs of that region. That subtlety was not lost on any of them.
They enjoyed the roast pork slice for lunch with wild carrots and wild strawberries Jack had gathered. They were full and they were hot laying on their backs, and Eleanor rested her head on Jack's muscular chest, while he played with the wild tightly curled tendrils of her red hair. She loved that as much as he did and it didn't seem wrong.
They were by one of the most beautiful small lakes in the vast Clayton estate.
Jack mused while his forehead perspired simply sitting, "It's really hot. Too bad we can't go for a swim."
She sat up and took one of his hands, "What's stopping us, Jack?"
"Well your dad for one thing."
"Name the last time he 'checked' on us."
"Uhh… well… just the first time."
Eleanor snickered, "Exactly. Besides we're in your estate today."
"Oh… right… hmm… Well… um… we have no swim suits for another thing."
She suggested quietly, "Do you wear a swim suit in the jungle, Jack?"
Jack answered her candid question candidly, "Uh… well no, Eleanor. Never. I always swim naked with all my friends. It's fun."
"Note to Viscount: I'm one of your friends, Jack, and I like having fun, too," she looked at him very earnestly, and invitingly. Jack swallowed hard.
He thought about it, considering that he had swam without a suit just like Jeanne and Ndidi and all his other female buddies without even giving it a second thought. Jack decided there was no harm in this, "Well that sounds perfectly fine to me."
They quickly disrobed and they admired each other. Eleanor girl was staggeringly pretty to him. She was thinner and frailer than the image of an adult Jeanne from their vision, but she had very delicate feminine features. She had very, very white flawless skin. Her breasts were small but very shapely.
"Wow, Eleanor. You are beautiful. You've got freckles… uhh… everywhere."
She laughed and teased, "Well. You've got muscles everywhere, Jack. That makes us even."
Eleanor was equally impressed at Jack's physique, and his size really surprised her. She'd never seen a boy her age before. Her little brothers didn't count.
"Jack you are very handsome."
"Thank you, Eleanor," and he gave her a gentlemanly bow, which really amused her having a naked man giving her a formal bow.
Her prominent, brilliant orange-red triangular patch of hair was distracting. She caught him staring. Not that she wasn't staring back.
"Do you like that?" she grinned.
He was kind of dazzled, raising an eyebrow in reaction, "I just never thought…"
She interrupted and laughed, "Silly boy, I have red hair everywhere. And look at you. You're auburn there, just like the hair on your head. What color did you think I'd be?"
"I just never thought anything about it. Gentlemen aren't supposed to think about such things."
And he honestly hadn't. But he quickly remembered the dream and how it had been revealed to him in the vision how richly jet black Jeanne would be in the same place at age 20.
It didn't occur to him that admiring Eleanor's body was somehow cheating on Jeanne. It was nice to admire Ndidi too, especially now that she was a beautiful young woman also. Being natural together on a daily basis didn't mean you couldn't sometimes simply enjoy the attractiveness of your friends.
"You truly are a gentlemen, Jack," she grinned.
They had a good laugh, but for a moment they just continued to admire each other. She put her hands on her hips and shifted on one leg, emphasizing them and her bosom even more than what was already completely showing, and kidded, "Well, Jack, are we going to just stare at each other in today's anatomy lesson or are we going to go swim?"
While Jack would be perfectly happy to just keep staring, he responded by grabbing her by the hand like he would any friend getting ready to jump in a refreshing lake, "C'mon, Eleanor, let's go!"
Her hands were smaller and more delicate than Jeanne's from their encounter at Walvis Bay. They laughed hard and they ran together splashing water everywhere as they entered the cool pond. She could not remember being happier in her life and looked at Jack with adoration.
Their swimming together started out innocently enough, and was playfully accented with splashing and dunking and even he tossed her a few times to her utter enjoyment. It was an experience she never had before and swimming naturally gave her a freedom she couldn't describe. He could throw her like a feather. But soon Eleanor was exhausted in her frailty and had to catch her breath in big gasps. They were in deep water and he supported her in his arms while he treaded water with her.
Then it got complicated.
Jack was very concerned as he asked with her face inches from his, "Are you OK? Did I overdo it with you, Eleanor? I didn't mean to."
"No Jack, I would have said so," she assured him, "Just let me rest. Hold me."
Jack was excited holding her in the water, as legs and arms tangled and his skin brushed against her skin. After she regained her breath somewhat, she asked to stop completely for a break, so he gallantly carried her out of the water in his arms much to her pleasure. Her body was pressed against him and she could feel his every muscle move as he carried her.
"Imagine my mother's surprise if you carried me up the staircase like this, Jack!" she mused and he blushed and smiled.
"Wanna find out?" he teased.
"No! Absolutely not! Not if you want to stop doing this!" she slapped him playfully. Jack was thrilled at the implication she wanted to do this more.
Carrying her in his arms he couldn't help but completely drink in the full breadth of her beauty and feel her softness and see all her curves very close up in his arms. When her long red hair was soaking wet, it combined into a single thick long dark red pony tail. He laid her down in the meadow very gently for her to catch her breath amidst the heather. She gave him a look of admiration and reached her pale freckled arms around his neck. He picked a flower, gave it to her, and she smelled it and smiled at him.
"Thank you, dear gallant Jack. It's lovely."
"That flower isn't even half as pretty as you, Eleanor."
He watched a blush run the entire length of her body. It thrilled him to see that. She was completely colored red for a moment. It was a striking image.
He lay on his back next to her. They were close but not close enough for Eleanor, so she rolled against his side and draped a leg over one of his legs. He could feel the front her entire body against his side and chest, especially her soft bosom. This was not what 'just friends' did. But he didn't object. In fact he craved more. He turned into her embrace a little more so more of her body pressed against his. Her upper thigh was against a part of him it shouldn't be but neither shifted. He managed to control himself.
Despite the nervousness and temptation of being so close, Eleanor continued their conversation, "I hear that your family lives naked in the jungle half the year with the natives and the animals and the the gorillas are your real family."
"We do. But no one is supposed to know that."
"Your dad told my dad in confidence. Don't worry. It's my secret. So this how you live all the time there?"
"Like this? Yes. All the time. All of us. We have no secrets. We wear clothes in the European section of Lagos, but not anywhere else with the Nigerians and our animal families."
"It must be nice. I hate long dresses and all the undergarments. Especially waking up and having to pick something, knowing all the other girls will make fun of what I wear no matter what. Being naked all the time makes it easy. Even my crazy hair would look normal then."
"It is very easy living that way. There's nothing to hide."
"I wish I could go with you to Africa to experience that. My health doesn't let me travel much. I'm afraid that being friends with me Jack, you're stuck with a girl that gets ill a lot. You don't have to be friends with 'the sick girl'. I'd never keep up with you and Jeanne and your African friends."
Jeanne came up a lot in conversations but the consequences of what they were doing were never really considered.
"You're a great friend, Eleanor. I choose to be your friend. I take you as you are. Honestly you are one of the prettiest, most interesting girls I have ever known. We could ask if you could come. Jungle life isn't that strenuous. I can take you anywhere. I'll be strong for you. Jeanne and Ndidi would be good friends for you. You're their kind of people."
She was thrilled and relieved that Jack accepted her as she was. This was a very special boy, one that she would never find again. And she wanted to meet these marvelous friends of his who would be hers too.
She'd never experienced anyone, especially a boy, that was so selfless and non-judgmental. It endeared him further to her. Even though she knew she should not do anything to destroy his relation with the lost girl he loved. It wouldn't be ladylike.
He didn't believe he offered a trip to Africa to her to be with Ndidi and Jeanne as friends.
"Eleanor's a friend. Just a friend," Jack kept saying to himself.
She could be friends with Jeanne when they got back together, but his self-arguments were admittedly getting exceedingly hollow and unconvincing. Jack would not permit himself to accept that Jeanne wouldn't see Eleanor as a friend now, but as a threat.
Despite the fact Eleanor knew she must just remain friends with Jack, her beating heart, arrhythmic at times as it had been throughout her life, made her scoot closer with her face closer to his face, with her head propped up on a bent arm. She was nearly completely draped across him. They kept the conversation going to prevent anything else from happening.
She smiled inquisitively, "Do you like animals?"
"Yes I do. I love animals, even though I have to kill some for food."
"There's rumor you can talk to the animals."
"Well, before I answer that. Do you think someone who can do that is weird? Would it change how you felt about our friendship if I could?"
"Friendship, Jack. Leave it at that," he tried to demand of himself.
Eleanor had her answer already.
She smiled, "I think it would be adorable. Would you show me how you do it? I promise I won't tell the other girls. Or Mom and Daddy. Or my brothers. They never keep secrets."
It was a really good excuse for them to break that embrace. At least for a little while.
They just both sat cross-legged across from each other and held hands, which actually didn't help things. Jack tried not to glance at what she was showing him but she'd positioned herself so that they could continue to carry on a conversation. She was not doing it to seduce or distract him, but just out of true admiration. She just wanted to be that close.
Jack stood and called out to several animals. They stood together to greet and talk and pet the animals. They didn't bother to dress yet.
It made her a little nervous and vulnerable, "Shouldn't we put something on?"
"The animals feel more comfortable if we dress this way. We and they are in our own skins this way."
"Good idea, Jack."
Plus they simply didn't want to dress yet.
They talked to a wolf, ground hog, a couple of squirrels, and a deer and the big 14 point buck who was magnificent.
She wanted more demonstrations of his ability, "Can you talk to my horse, Jack?"
"Yes, Eleanor, of course."
She raised an eyebrow at his deliberate silly rhyme. He just winked.
"Can you call them over and can you teach me to say, 'I love you Angus'?"
He whinnied like a stallion, snorted several different tones, and the two horses, one now very surprised to be summoned in his own language, trotted over. Jeanne couldn't believe what she just witnessed.
Angus was very pleasantly surprised, "Goodness! It's true, Viscount Jack. You can talk to me. It is really a pleasure to meet you."
"Yes it is. I am a horsetalker. And it's entirely my pleasure, Angus."
"I told you, Angus," Samson said smugly.
"And Eleanor knows and is OK with that?" Angus asked.
Jeanne was enthralled with this long exchange between both horses and Jack. She was nearly giggy listening.
"Yes. Very much so. And Eleanor wants to learn to talk to you too."
"That would be wonderful. But talk about what?" the big stallion asked.
"I'll tell you in a moment," he said to Angus with a grin in the equine tongue, and then turned to Eleanor speaking in Gaelic, "He's ready for you to try. Here's what to say."
It only took a little while before Eleanor felt confident to try. Angus immediately nuzzled her and he responded back with a series of snorts and a little grunt.
"He loves you too, Eleanor," grinned Jack with the translation.
She was mesmerized, "This is all simply incredible Jack. Do it some more! Call up something really big."
He called a moose, and an elk, and then he called one of the lynx juveniles his age. That truly scared her to death and hid behind him. The touch of her very soft, pale, freckled bare skin against his backside almost totally distracted him, but the conversation went well. He scratched the lynx behind the ears, eliciting a purr.
Feeling much more comfortable, seeing the wild animal react like housecat, she requested, "Teach me to say hello to the lynx, Jack."
She learned quickly. The lynx liked her, and let her pet him. Like Jack, this human had no fear.
Jack seemed to connect with the great cats of the jungle and forest better than any other animal. But the mother lynx joined them and cautioned, "This human is not your mate Jack. She is far away. Don't betray her."
Jack was floored. In all the years Jack had know the lynx family, Jeanne had never met them and they had never talked about his mate, but rather than be accepting and heed the words of the lynx, he snapped, "I know what I'm doing. I'm in control."
"Are you really, truly in control? You would take this one instantly if she gave you permission. I can smell her desire. And yours. It is thick in the air here. The others sense it too. But it doesn't make her your mate."
The lynx was right, but being lectured about it made him angry and defensive. "I don't have to listen to you. How would you know who is the right choice for me in a mate?"
"We all know Jack. Your choice of mates is written on your heart even when you don't know it. In your life Jack you will find two or three females you could be bonded with forever. That is what life gives us. Any one of them would be a blessing to you, but only one is truly the right choice. Think of your three. I know you have them. Choose well my friend, because the choice is forever in humans as it is with the lynx."
Jack was troubled by the great cat's wisdom, but dismissed it all. He was adamant. He was in control. He knew what he was doing. Eleanor was just a friend.
Eleanor inquired, "Are you all right Jack? I didn't understand a word, but that seemed… tense."
"I… I'm fine. It was about family concerns in his den."
The words of the lynx reached deep within Jack. The images of Jeanne, Ndidi, and Eleanor flashed by him. He was about to say something else when Eleanor spoke, "That was amazing Jack. Being next to a real live lynx. My parents would never believe this. Or permit it."
"I think you are pretty amazing for accepting my life. Other noblewomen have run screaming from me even just talking about the subject."
She reassured him, "What do they know Jack? This is truly special what you and your family have."
They just gazed at each other, with his hands on her hips and hers on his shoulders. They were inches apart.
She completely adored him. There was no one like Jack. He was a kindred spirit with her in his communion with the animal world, someone whom she felt like she could share her own family's history without prejudice or condemnation the next time they were together. It was getting very late.
"Oh, Jack…" she gushed, completely overwhelmed by the special experience between them.
Without thinking she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed her body hard against his, and gave him a very long kiss.
Jack's eyes flashed open wide, and he should have instantly resisted, but with the softness and warmth of Eleanor's bigger, plumper lips than Jeanne's, her soft nude body against his, and with an urgent longing to keep kissing, he closed his eyes and kissed her back, and held it. His hands wrapped against the cool soft pale delicate skin of her back and hips and bottom and the feeling was incredible. She was very different than Jeanne, but in a most desirable way.
The immediacy of having Lady Eleanor in his arms with her unique beauty and kindness overwhelmed him and it made him not think of not being true to Jeanne. He still thought they were only very close friends. He tried to forget this was utterly not a 'friends' kiss' nor embrace. He had not that long ago shared a kiss much like this with Ndidi, but refused to let it go further. With Eleanor, he welcomed going further, as far as she would let him.
But finally his resistance kicked in and broke with her, his heart pounding, "Let's go swim some more before we go."
"That would be fun, Jack," she said with an unsteady voice filled with need.
He had to to cool down his rising desire as well as hers, which she didn't miss. That pleased her even more. She was not trying to take him from Jeanne. The chemistry between the pair was just happening. And kept happening, and they kept denying the effect it was having on them and others.
Being in the water didn't do any good. If anything their sensitivity heightened. They kissed again but longer and deeper.
"We better go home, Jack," she panted at their next break.
"Yeah…" he agreed, even though neither wanted to.
It was all they could do to breathlessly separate, dress and go home. Neither one's eyes left the other the whole time.
Before they rode home, she asked, "Can… can we do this again, Jack? It was… truly wonderful."
His mind was screaming at him, demanding him to say 'no', but his voice betrayed him, "Yes. It was wonderful. When?"
"Tomorrow…" she beamed at him anxiously. That was all it took.
They both finally realized they'd crossed the line from friendship to something far more involved. But neither cared nor resisted. Both had a restless night until they were reunited the next day, fell into each other's arms, and they joyfully expressed their very first 'I love you's'.
…Later in June 1921…
After that tender time at the pond, most of their days of summer were spent together, but in a very different way than his time with Jeanne. They were not aggressively competitive like the games he played with his Nigerian friends and long ago with Jeanne. They got plenty of outdoor time hunting, fishing, and strolling, but Eleanor was just as often content with simply reading together in their libraries or the village reading room, playing parlor games and cards, just talking and laughing, going to the village for tea and meals together or shopping. They attended other societal events and always went together not caring if their appearances together arm in arm stoked the gossip mills about the eldest Clayton boy and DunBroch girl courting.
Since Jack was very busy with his tutoring lessons and homework, often he would do the lessons at his study desk while she read happily in a chair next to his desk. He promised he would pay attention to his studies and not too much to Eleanor during 'study time'.
In the middle of one particularly long and frustrating homework session, he apologized, "I'm sorry I am so boring, Eleanor. But I just have to get this done."
She smiled tenderly in a voice equally as soft, "My dear Jack Clayton. I've had so many years just having to be by myself. Did it ever occur to you that just being quietly near you is its own joy for me?"
He got up and sat next to her for a moment, kissed her gently with a very kind expression, and she shivered with a thrilling whisper tickle as he said softly into her ear, "I know now."
Jane wandered by the door hearing their conversation and cleared her throat, and said only, "Study, dear."
"Yes Mother..." he complained.
Eleanor just snickered and stuck her tongue out at her boyfriend.
On Sundays at the one church in the village the families sat together in the same pew, permitting Jack and Eleanor to sit side by side. When the Pastor led prayers, they prayed holding hands. The first time they did that, Tarzan and Fergus started to scold them but the mothers stopped the men and thought the pair praying together was endearing and started doing that with their husbands every Sunday after that.
Jack and Eleanor like being close even if it was just sitting quietly, holding hands, and just touching.
But always their favorite time was the intimacy of being alone at the pond, swimming and playing naturally.
One day, she was wrapped in his arms in the cool waters, with her legs around his waist while Jack stood neck deep holding them both together.
She confessed, to calm the heat of their affection which escalated every time they were together, "Jack, I know you have many secrets about your life in the jungle. Don't you think it's a little odd I just accept all this? The other English girls ridicule you behind you back, and they have the stories all wrong. Just to be mean."
He shrugged, "I just think of you as being amazingly receptive of our family's story, unlike your peers. They've been mean since I was little. It doesn't matter to me. But now that you ask, please tell me why."
Eleanor said very seriously, "It's because my family has its own secrets of the woods and the animals, Jack."
"I wondered, Eleanor. I do want to hear that."
He carried her out of the water, and they sat holding hands, with her in his lap. They didn't bother to dress. After their first time in the water, she wanted to be natural with him whenever they were out on his estate at the pond, to get a taste of what life was like as a Mangani.
She told him of the incredible tale of ancestor Merida and her mother. Jack was riveted as she told him every aspect of Merida's story. And he was fascinated at Queen Elinor being her namesake.
At the conclusion of her tale, Eleanor took a gigantic risk by asking him, "Do you believe that?"
He confessed, "Eleanor, If you can accept that I live in the jungle with the apes and animals of the forest here, all of whom I can talk to and are good friends with, I can surely believe and accept your ancestor Merida turned her mother into a bear because of a witch's curse, and that your family has lived in communion with those great beasts of the forest ever since. And that will o' the wisps exist."
She was greatly relieved, "Thank you for believing me, Jack. The girls all hate me because of the legends. They think I'm strange or am some kind of witch myself. You're the only one who knows I can see wisps, just like Merida could. Not even Mom and Daddy know that. They'd have a psychiatrist drill into my brain if I did."
"Just never bake me a potion-filled pastry, OK?" he kidded.
She laughed heartily and hugged him tightly. The feeling of their skin together, especially her beautiful small soft breasts squeezing against him was truly electrifying. She once again felt the result of that pressing hard against her belly button. It wouldn't be long before something else happened, something else that they both wanted.
Eleanor gave him a loving look, "Are we a couple, Jack?"
It was a relationship and that opened a whole new set of feelings. She took his hands, and kissed his lips, and the kiss grew much deeper. His and her hands wandered to places no mere friend would ever touch. And they positioned for something they both wanted.
He broke for a moment to say simply, "Yes we are, Eleanor."
He kissed back longer, and she let him explore her everywhere he wanted freely as they fully embraced.
They both knew he was blatantly betraying Jeanne. But it just didn't matter to either one now. He was too much in love with Eleanor and she with him. He closed his eyes and took another helping of her soft pink lips and several other flushed pink places. He was on top of her.
They heard a noise and quickly turned and tried vainly to cover themselves, "Oh my gosh! My father!"
But it wasn't. It was a mama bear and three male cubs. They were looking for food and had smelled the squab leftovers that were not forgotten in their passion.
He grabbed his knife and was about to try to scare the bear family away. He instantly calmed to defend her.
She stayed his hand and said softly, "No Jack. That won't be necessary."
She carefully stood and approached the bear family. He caught the view of the coke-bottle shape of her body, wide bottom, and her brilliant, curly red hair streaming down her back. He could see a tuft of red between her legs showing from behind as she crept to the bears. It all staggered Jack, but not enough to remain cautious and be ready to protect her.
He spoke quietly, "Eleanor, mama bears protecting their cubs are the most ferocious of all forest creatures. It's dangerous! She'll maul you. Please come back to me. Let her go."
Eleanor was resolute, continuing her approach. The bear noticed her and growled, as she replied, "I think not, Jack. It will be all right. I must go to her."
He was not in a position that he could easily defend Eleanor if the mama bear attacked. She could loose a hand or her life in seconds. She was fragile enough.
Completely nude, she approached the bear family delicately like an elegant white spirit silently gliding across the forest floor, and held out her hand toward the bear. She talked softly in very ancient Gaelic to the animal. The cadence of her speech caught the mother bear's attention and put it in a docile, nearly trance-like state.
She touched the snout of the mother bear and the little ones gathered around her, soothed by her touch.
The mother buried her face into Eleanor's bosom and they looked almost like they were gorillas grooming.
Jack could not speak. He was dumbfounded at the gentle sight and remained very quiet and still. He sheathed his knife. He knew it was not needed.
Jeanne turned and said softly with a smile, "Come to me, Jack. Meet Orssa and her family."
Jack and his father never got along with the bears, but he obeyed, "OK."
He found himself making peace with the bears after years of animosity between Clan Clayton and them. Orssa was the matriarch of the bear clan in their estate.
The mother bear spoke to Jack, "Let there be peace between our kinds, Korak, through your mate Eleanor."
"So it shall be, Orssa," he replied, but he was stunned by the bear's use of the word 'mate'. Was Orssa right or was the lynx mother right?
And just like that, the bears lumbered off.
Eleanor was incredulous, "You… you understood her too?"
"Yes I did. There is bad blood between our families but we can communicate."
"You absolutely must teach me how to talk to them," she smiled.
Jack was overwhelmed by emotion for Eleanor's special relationship with the bears that dated back literally more than a millennium. Her face glowed with affection for Jack.
Jack turned to Eleanor face to face, "I do truly believe you and your story of Merida, Eleanor dear."
She beamed at Jack, "I know you do. And I believe in you. And us, Jack. I love you."
Jack gave her a tender smile, "I love you, too."
They clutched, she stood on tip toes and gave him a deep, long kiss, reluctantly dressed, and rode home.
…Early July 1921…
It was yet another day of Eleanor and Jack together and Jane watched them ride into with some concern. They were seeing each other daily. Jane had just given them some bag lunches and a bottle of sparkling cider for the day away from the mansion.
"Tarzan?"
"Yes Jane."
"Have you noticed them?"
"Noticed who?"
"Jack and Eleanor."
"Well yes. I have. Ever since the birthday party they've spent a lot of free time together."
"Every day Tarzan. Every day they are together. And we live 20 miles apart."
"He seems much happier than nearly seven years, Jane dear."
"Yes he does. A lot happier. And do you notice how they look at each other? Especially her?"
"What do you mean?"
She rolled her eyes, "You naïve ape man. They like each other. And more I'm certain…"
"They like each other? What do you think they are doing in the forest?"
"Hunting, fishing, riding, swinging on vines. Skinny dipping…"
Tarzan startled at that, "What? How to you know that?"
"The Great Mother Owl. She watches. They don't know."
"Do you think… umm… that they…?"
"Yes I do think they love each other. And no they are not doing that. I think Jack is over Jeanne. I believe he may be really truly happy again with the Lady Eleanor. And I thought I would never say this - I'm fine with that too."
"But he listens for Jeanne or signs of Jeanne every night on the Marconi."
Jane explained, "His promise of saving her and bringing her home to the Jacot's doesn't mean he has to still love her and marry her. She's going to be very, very different, dear, when he finds her. They might find out they are not even friends anymore after this, much less lovers. I think Jack realizes that now, too. It just might be too hard to find something in common again. We all have to be prepared for that."
Tarzan shook his head in disappointment, "I know. But the whole idea of them being childhood lovers surviving the years apart is so romantic. So compelling. Like Armand and Josephine."
Jane raised an eyebrow, "Well that's awfully mushy coming from you, Tarzan. Remember Josephine and Armand were together every day in a small French village - not continents away. It's just not realistic dear, nor probably even practical. The Duke is very rich and he bailed out our company. Marriage for business purposes is all part of British history. That these two might love each other is even better."
"What makes you so sure of that?" asked Tarzan.
"Look at the way they make eyes at each other at dinner and time reading in the parlor and smiling at each other at tea and in the gardens and tell me they aren't, dear?"
Tarzan nodded and accepted Jane's logic about a more practical relationship for their nobleman son and a further alliance might be in order between the families. Their family's loyalty to each other goes back centuries to the time King Fergus the First bestowed a Countship on the first Clayton patriarch.
"That would not be so bad. We'd be marrying into the best single malt distillery business in all of Scotland."
Jane scowled, "Very funny, ape man…"
…Mid July 1921…
After another day of swimming which consisted mostly of embracing each other and kissing in the cool water, their passion finally climaxed to the point that it could not be held back. Jack hovered over Eleanor's nude body, caressing everything. He was very ready for her – and had been for some time - and she was more than ready to consummate their now insatiable need to join.
She gasped, "Jack… Be mine. Right now. I need you more than anything in the world."
Jack joined with her and she completed their union as she wrapped her legs around his back and squeezed, which pulled them all the way together as one. They made a lot of happy sounds as they simply enjoyed the first time closeness for awhile. But their rhythm began and got stronger and faster until they consummated their passion. She cried out in utter ravishment and it pleased him immensely. They both breathed heavily and kissed each other tenderly in their afterglow, remaining together. It felt too good to part.
But even as Jack experienced an ecstasy he never expected, and never knew was possible in her arms, he realized that that first time ever intimacy with a woman should have been with Jeanne.
His voice shook, "Eleanor. Sweetheart…"
"Yes Jack…" she cooed.
"About what just happened? It was wonderful. You were incredible."
She smiled back and whispered with complete adoration in her eyes for him, "So were you…"
"But…"
"But what, Jack?" she asked with concern.
He confessed, "I… we… shouldn't have. As right as it felt, it was wrong."
She knew it too, but she had shut it all out just as much as he did, but still looked at him affectionately, "I… I know, Jack. Was it wrong because we aren't married yet or wrong because of the way you still feel about her?"
"Both actually," he said with a very guilty tone.
She sighed and smiled and played with his dreads, "It's a little late for regrets now. Tell me you don't want to be right where you are? Tell me this wasn't the most incredible thing you've ever done?"
She was full of him and they were still joined, her legs still holding them together. She was not going to let go now. He didn't want to separate from her either. They obviously didn't feel what they did was wrong enough to stop.
Jack expected her anger to flare. She wasn't angry. Redheads were famous for their anger, and he'd seen it on occasion, usually when he was being stupid. She was so caring, and that was what was truly incredible about her. She was just as much to blame has he was in their complicity to build their love together.
They separated only because of Jack's refractory period made them, but still cuddled tightly. They knew they had created a true mess of things, but she boldly stated her feelings. It was now or never, "Jack, sweetheart. I thought you had forgotten her. I am your here and now. I'm the one who is one with you, right now, the first one who was one with you, and I am so ready to step into forever with you to be the only one ever one with you. You loved her first Jack, but it doesn't mean that it's forever. Jeanne is the distant past. A dream. A vision. You are an amazing man, Jack. I love you more than anything."
But she admitted with heavy guilt, "No wonder she loves you too, Jack."
"I… love you too, sweetheart, but yes I do truly love her too. I have no idea what to do now."
"I accept that you love her. But Jack. There is only one someone for everyone. I know that. You know that. You have to decide. Her or me. I can't believe I am saying this but I will be OK with whatever you decide Jack. I will be your friend no matter what, as much as it would hurt not to be yours forever."
"You're so incredible Eleanor. Most girls would never permit that. But then again you aren't just any girl."
She gave him a bittersweet smile, "At least I would have that friendship with you. I'm not stupid. I would much rather be your lover much more than just be your friend, dear Jack. Do yourself and me – and Jeanne - a favor, Jack. You have to know. You must make the choice wisely. I don't want to be yours with you forever looking back and thinking what might have been, only to encounter her some day and find out what you missed and ruin three people's lives."
"You'd do that for me? I don't deserve you. You could just leave me over this."
"Yes you do deserve me, dear. But I want you to be absolutely certain that you deserve me. That's why I'm not going to force you to stay with me if you don't want to. I want you to want me because of me, not because I threw a huge snit over her hold on you. That's not fair to her or you or me if I just stomp off. Go to her. Find her, bring her back, and find out what - if anything - you still mean to each other. Only you can do that, I believe in you as much as she does. If you show up on my doorstep alone and no ring when you come back, then I will know you're mine. I don't want any ghosts of the past haunting whatever friendship or love affair we might have together."
Jack was astounded at her offer as he enveloped her in his arms, "I… I don't know what to say. Eleanor. But… thank you for letting me straighten this all out."
She caressed his face and kissed him lightly, her heart nearly breaking, "Oh dear Jack, you're welcome, but I will be praying I am your choice, and praying I didn't make the biggest mistake of my life by telling you to go rescue her and sort it out. I… I have to go now. It's time for my latest Doctor appointment."
She cleaned herself from their lovemaking, and dressed. She kissed him again like it was their last time silently, smiled sadly, and rode off to her estate.
And then something happened part way home that she had been earnestly praying would never happen. He didn't hear as she moaned down the trail, clutching her left side, gasping for air. She was coughing again too. More like choking in fact. It was the debilitating coughing she thought was gone after the flu and which she managed to suppress for as long as they were together today. Her greatest fear was happening and had been getting worse. Up til now it was just little twinges and catches in her chest over the past month or two, and the medications made the pains go away. She had rationalized that it was nothing to worry about.
She managed to get home on Angus, nearly fell off her horse at the front door in pain, entered and collapsed into her mother's arms.
She cried out to her mother, "Call the doctor right away. It's my heart… again. I hurt, Mother…"
"Fergus! Come quickly!" the Duchess screamed.
The Duchess rushed for the phone with Eleanor in her arms every step of the way, "Oh my sweet Eleanor. No… please no, dear Lord in heaven. You have so much to live for now, Eleanor. For Jack."
Her mother saw the love blossom between them every day since her party.
"I know Mother. I just left him… and I have to tell you something else about us."
"Not now daughter. Let's get the doctor and get you well again. For each other."
The Duchess was dreadfully worried. She knew her words of assurance were hollow.