The party at the James included many of the townsfolk, laughing, eating,
and dancing, in general celebration of our return. Tables were piled high
with all the most glorious food the woman folk could fix up, mine and Ma's
right up there with the best. Frank led a group of people playing music for
those who enjoyed to dancing. Everyone was so busy enjoying the festivities
that my entrance didn't cause anyone to stir at first. I went up to Jim and
tapped him on the shoulder, interrupting his conversation with some of the
men, retelling how we rescued Cole.
"Good evening, Mr. Younger," I said, trying to keep a straight face. He turned, looked me over, and smiled at me deeply.
"Well, Miss Younger, it certainly is grand to see you. And such finery, I find myself speechless." He continued with our formal façade by bowing slightly while kissing my hand. This dissolved me into giggles, but I quickly regained my composure to respond to him.
"Such flattery, Mr. Younger, you'll make a girl blush! With such words a gentleman would be required to ask a young lady to dance!" "Why you took the words right out of my mouth, Ma'am!" Still holding my hand, he led me out onto the dance floor and we began to dance. Behind us I could hear a few stifled gasps and muffled whispers.
"I told you if you put a little effort into your appearance the boys would come a-runnin!" Jim whispered at me with an impish grin on his face, he jerked his head over to the crowd. I noticed a number of boys' eyes following me as we weaved around the dance floor. My eyes roved until they found Jesse's. I tried to read his expression, but it was hard with Jim twirling me around. I was disappointed in his seemingly lack of enthusiasm, as much fun as it was dancing with Jim; I hoped it would end soon so I could really find out what Jesse thought. Finally the music stopped, and with a final turn Jim bowed and then led me over to the rest of our gang. I hoped Jesse was among them but I could not find his bright eyes among the rest of the young men goggling at me. Jim had a broad, proud smile on his face as he escorted me through the crowd.
"And just what are you beaming about?" I asked him as we walked "I'm the one who's all gussied up here!"
"Well, we're twins aren't we?" he responded amiably. "So if you look this good, I must be pretty enchanting myself." This caused me to erupt in laughter; setting him off as well and we approached the group still in a fit of giggles.
"Well, I'll be!" guffawed a pleasantly surprised Bob as he looked at my combed hair, fitted dress and clean face. "Cole come see this, we got ourselves a lil lady, not a lil ragamuffin for a sister!" Cole also approached me smiling, I felt like a horse at auction when all of the interested buyers take a good look at all of its assets. I started to fidget with my skirt but Cole took hold of both my hands in his.
"Any man who tries to get near her now will have to come through me!" He called out to the crowd. I lightly punched him in the shoulder as I noticed a few boys quickly divert their attentions elsewhere at this warning.
"Don't scare off potential husbands just as I start to attract them!" I whined at him overdramatically. It had the effect I had hoped for, his eyes widened, and his jaw dropped slightly.
"H-h-husbands?" he quavered. I couldn't keep a straight face any longer his panic was too funny.
"Well, maybe not quite yet, I have enough men in my life right now." He visibly relaxed at this and I reached up and hugged him close.
"Exactly!" he said decidedly returning my embrace
"Would you please stop hoggin' her?" I heard a voice behind us say. We pulled apart and I was shocked to see that Jesse was standing right in front of me. I restrained a giddy grin that wanted to jump out and forced myself to smile serenely at him. I wanted to play the part of a lady in front of him at least once; show him that I was more than just the tomboyish kid sister of his friends.
"You look amazing tonight," he said brushing his fingers along the sleeve of my dress.
"It was all your Ma, " I responded honestly watching him watch me.
"It's just. . . . ." he started to say. I widened my eyes at this, could he possibly not like me this way!?! What had I done wrong? I nervously began to tug at the skirt of my dress; hopefully pulling out whatever flaw he had seen but he never completed his thought because, at that instant, the blonde girl from Doc Mimms appeared at his shoulder.
"Jesse, come on, you promised me a dance," she said, as she gently pulled him away from me. He looked over at her smiled then back at me.
"Jaime Younger, this is Zerelda Mimms, I don't believe you two have met since she's been away at finishing school." Jesse introduced us quickly, and I stuck out my hand to shake hers, but she dropped her eyes and gracefully bent into a tiny curtsey. I quickly drew back in my hand so I didn't look like a scarecrow with my arms waving in the wind and awkwardly bowed my head slightly return. I knew I looked like a fool and could feel the blood rush into my cheeks because of it. It took all of my newfound manners to control my urge to pull her golden locks and make her slip out of her graceful poise. Instead I mustered up all the willpower I had and forced a smile to appear and sweetly said.
"Pleasure to meet you, Zerelda."
"Oh, call me Zee, everybody does. Now if you will excuse us this dashing young man promised me a dance." And with a flash of her perfect smile, they were gone. I turned away, wanting to run far away from the party, but once again I had to bury my desire and chat with the many people who now stood before me. All around me were the ladies of town saying.
"What a lovely dress dear, you turned out so well. Whatever did you get that dress?" The men laughed heartily as they would say.
"Crack job you and those boys did rescuing Cole. Never new a lady would have it in her to do such a thing." Finally, I was able to satisfy the crowd's questions and compliments. I breathed easy for the first time that night as I snuck into the barn and leaned up against the warm, sturdy body of Jett
"And why did I think I could find you here?" Came a voice through the dusk. I stood upright and looked around. Just outside of Jett's stable stood Jesse
"Why would you be looking for me?" I asked, curious. I tried to keep the bite out of my voice, but it came through anyway and he raised his eyebrows at me.
"Well, I wanted to finish what I was saying earlier if that's ok," he said cautiously.
"Oh, of course, sorry," I responded quickly. I was relieved he wanted to finish this, even if what he had to say wasn't good, it was better than not knowing and letting it plague me.
"Come on out here and sit by me," he said opening the gate. "Stop hiding behind that horse of yours!"
I smiled at him and came out, crossed over to the fence and leaped up to sit on it. It had been a mistake, I meant to stand erect or find a suitable seat like any lady would have, but habit got the better of me as I clambered up. At this, Jesse started to laugh.
"What's so funny?" I asked as I hooked my feet behind the middle bored to balance myself. I tried sitting a little straighter but it was hard to sit gracefully on a fence so I kept wavering precariously. Once again I felt like a scarecrow, pole shoved up my back, forcing me to have great posture as I waved around like a loon
"Well, you just proved what I was going to tell you."
"And what's that?" I asked distractedly. But just then I found a post to hang onto so I could finally sit securely and focus on him. I looked up at him and was instantly locked into his eyes, I was shocked by how intense they were at this moment.
"Like I said, you look gorgeous tonight. Just as pretty as one of the girls from town, no wait, prettier." As he said this I could feel myself blushing again but I didn't take my eyes away from him. He kept his eyes locked on mine as he talked, giving me goose bumps, but I had no desire for them to go away.
"But. . . . I don't know I've always loved being around you Jaime because you weren't like all those other girls. You aren't afraid of a little dirt, you have fun without restraint, you're honest in everything you say and do, and you don't bat your eyelashes at me every time I look at you. I like the fact that I can be comfortable around you." The words tumbled out of his mouth. I could barely comprehend what I was hearing; I kept staring into the depths of his eyes, my breath coming rapidly in and out like many shallow gasps.
"You're the first girl I'm not worried about breaking every time I'm around you. Don't become one, please." And with that he slid off of the fence, and stood right in front of me.
I was still perched on the fence, which raised me to almost eye level with him. I was still reeling from what I had heard but a different part of me, not concerned with trying to make sense of the situation, suddenly came rushing forth. I reached up to him and grabbed the back of neck, pulling his lips down onto mine. I felt the warm pressure of his lips press back. He gasped slightly in surprise but not in dislike. As we continued like this I could feel his arms grab me around the waist and lift me off the fence. I didn't know that I could feel and happier than I did at the moment our lips touched but as he guided my legs around his waist I was almost bursting with ecstasy. The dress, which I had promised myself I would take such good care of, was hitched up around my waist with the rest of the yards of fabric billowing down behind me. I pushed both of my hands up into his dark hair while my mouth continued to explore his hungrily.
From somewhere outside our eruption of passion, there came a sudden deafening sound. We both unlocked ourselves from our embrace; I loosened my grip around his waist with my legs and dropped to the ground, straightening out my skirt as well. From outside we could tell the music had stopped suddenly and in its place a dull roar and many screams filled the air. I looked up at him with fear and wordlessly he grabbed my hand and we bolted out of the barn.
Outside I came to face with the most horrific site I had ever seen. The place where the James' house had once stood was now a mangle of burning flames, the roar of the fire was only out done by the fearful screams of the many guests, who were running in all directions away from the blaze. Some had cuts and burns as they ran past us.
"Jim!" I screamed instantly into the chaos scanning the bedlam for any sign of my twin. "Cole! Bob!" Jesse led me towards the place where the party had been going on, trying to find someone who could explain what happened.
"Jesse." someone near the ground moaned as we ran along. Jesse halted and spun around, we both spied Frank on the ground at the same time, and he was cradling his right ankle.
"Oh, God, Frank!" Jesse said as he approached his brother. I quickly knelt beside his injured foot attempting to examine it..
"Whole house just exploded," he said in a strained voice, tight with pain. "Damn beam slammed me right in the ankle. Guys on horse back did it, Cole and Bob rode off after them." Even as I continued to check him I felt a wave of relief knowing that two of my brothers were all right. I wanted to ask about Jim, but Jesse spoke first.
"Where's Ma?" At this Frank eyes suddenly widened. His face went white as he came to a realization just as he spoke.
"She went into the house . . . to grab some more food. . ." Jesse's face turned to stone at these words, and in an instant, he was sprinting towards the burning building. I watched him, desperate to follow yet not wanting to leave Frank.
"Oh God!" he gasped and I looked back at him. He had stood back up and put weight on his foot. But he did not sit back down, instead he began to run after Jesse, a grimace etched on his face.
I jumped to my feet, determined to follow him, I needed to find out about Ma for myself. She was, after all, like a mother to me too; and if the worst had happened, I wanted to be with Jesse. Just as I started to run I felt a hand grasp my upper arm tightly. I whirled around, angry to be held back before I realized who was holding me.
"Jim!" I cried and leaped into his arms.
"Thank God you're ok!" he gasped holding me tight. "I nearly went crazy when I couldn't find you, I thought. . ."
His voice failed him as he choked up, thinking of what could've happened.
"But Jim, we need to go." I said, pulling him back so I could look him in the eye. "It's Ma . . ."
I trailed off as well and glanced towards the burning house. Without another second's delay, we ran towards the house, Jim knowing exactly what I feared. Hand in hand, we approached the blaze, but it soon got too hot to get any closer. Shielding my eyes from the intense heat, I look around frantically for Jesse and Frank. I spied something a few yards away but the heat blurred the image. Taking a few steps closer, I recognized the bodies of Frank and Jesse, kneeling on the ground, holding . . .
"No!!!!" I screamed and leaped towards them trying to get to Ma, praying what I was seeing was just a trick of the firelight. Again, I felt strong arms wrap around me and pull me back.
"Wait, Jaime, stop!" came the frantic voice of my brother, holding me tight as I struggled to get away. "Let them say goodbye, she's their mother."
"Ma," I sobbed reaching out, hopelessly, for the now limp figure in her boy's arms. I saw Jesse's head bend and begin to shake with his sobs. I started to cry uncontrollably and Jim pulled me around so I rested on his shoulder.
"Shhhh," soothed Jim stroking my hair. "It'll be ok."
"How can it be ok!?!" I suddenly shrieked pulling away from him. Never had such rage coursed through my body. This had been the last straw; these men had tried to take away everything precious to me. And now, they had succeeded in taking away the only mother I ever knew, I understood, for the first time, why one man would ever want to kill another. I would shoot every one of those bastards before I let them hurt another person I loved. Jim was taken aback by my outburst and stepped back from me.
With hot tears still pouring down my cheeks, I raced away from him and back to the barn. In an instant I had flung open the door to Jett's stall and flung myself onto his back. Together we streaked out of the barn, away from the pain and chaos that was once a quite farmhouse. I pushed away the memories that had begun to flood my mind of Ma, and of all the wonderful times at the James' home, and instead thought of only one thing, revenge.
"Good evening, Mr. Younger," I said, trying to keep a straight face. He turned, looked me over, and smiled at me deeply.
"Well, Miss Younger, it certainly is grand to see you. And such finery, I find myself speechless." He continued with our formal façade by bowing slightly while kissing my hand. This dissolved me into giggles, but I quickly regained my composure to respond to him.
"Such flattery, Mr. Younger, you'll make a girl blush! With such words a gentleman would be required to ask a young lady to dance!" "Why you took the words right out of my mouth, Ma'am!" Still holding my hand, he led me out onto the dance floor and we began to dance. Behind us I could hear a few stifled gasps and muffled whispers.
"I told you if you put a little effort into your appearance the boys would come a-runnin!" Jim whispered at me with an impish grin on his face, he jerked his head over to the crowd. I noticed a number of boys' eyes following me as we weaved around the dance floor. My eyes roved until they found Jesse's. I tried to read his expression, but it was hard with Jim twirling me around. I was disappointed in his seemingly lack of enthusiasm, as much fun as it was dancing with Jim; I hoped it would end soon so I could really find out what Jesse thought. Finally the music stopped, and with a final turn Jim bowed and then led me over to the rest of our gang. I hoped Jesse was among them but I could not find his bright eyes among the rest of the young men goggling at me. Jim had a broad, proud smile on his face as he escorted me through the crowd.
"And just what are you beaming about?" I asked him as we walked "I'm the one who's all gussied up here!"
"Well, we're twins aren't we?" he responded amiably. "So if you look this good, I must be pretty enchanting myself." This caused me to erupt in laughter; setting him off as well and we approached the group still in a fit of giggles.
"Well, I'll be!" guffawed a pleasantly surprised Bob as he looked at my combed hair, fitted dress and clean face. "Cole come see this, we got ourselves a lil lady, not a lil ragamuffin for a sister!" Cole also approached me smiling, I felt like a horse at auction when all of the interested buyers take a good look at all of its assets. I started to fidget with my skirt but Cole took hold of both my hands in his.
"Any man who tries to get near her now will have to come through me!" He called out to the crowd. I lightly punched him in the shoulder as I noticed a few boys quickly divert their attentions elsewhere at this warning.
"Don't scare off potential husbands just as I start to attract them!" I whined at him overdramatically. It had the effect I had hoped for, his eyes widened, and his jaw dropped slightly.
"H-h-husbands?" he quavered. I couldn't keep a straight face any longer his panic was too funny.
"Well, maybe not quite yet, I have enough men in my life right now." He visibly relaxed at this and I reached up and hugged him close.
"Exactly!" he said decidedly returning my embrace
"Would you please stop hoggin' her?" I heard a voice behind us say. We pulled apart and I was shocked to see that Jesse was standing right in front of me. I restrained a giddy grin that wanted to jump out and forced myself to smile serenely at him. I wanted to play the part of a lady in front of him at least once; show him that I was more than just the tomboyish kid sister of his friends.
"You look amazing tonight," he said brushing his fingers along the sleeve of my dress.
"It was all your Ma, " I responded honestly watching him watch me.
"It's just. . . . ." he started to say. I widened my eyes at this, could he possibly not like me this way!?! What had I done wrong? I nervously began to tug at the skirt of my dress; hopefully pulling out whatever flaw he had seen but he never completed his thought because, at that instant, the blonde girl from Doc Mimms appeared at his shoulder.
"Jesse, come on, you promised me a dance," she said, as she gently pulled him away from me. He looked over at her smiled then back at me.
"Jaime Younger, this is Zerelda Mimms, I don't believe you two have met since she's been away at finishing school." Jesse introduced us quickly, and I stuck out my hand to shake hers, but she dropped her eyes and gracefully bent into a tiny curtsey. I quickly drew back in my hand so I didn't look like a scarecrow with my arms waving in the wind and awkwardly bowed my head slightly return. I knew I looked like a fool and could feel the blood rush into my cheeks because of it. It took all of my newfound manners to control my urge to pull her golden locks and make her slip out of her graceful poise. Instead I mustered up all the willpower I had and forced a smile to appear and sweetly said.
"Pleasure to meet you, Zerelda."
"Oh, call me Zee, everybody does. Now if you will excuse us this dashing young man promised me a dance." And with a flash of her perfect smile, they were gone. I turned away, wanting to run far away from the party, but once again I had to bury my desire and chat with the many people who now stood before me. All around me were the ladies of town saying.
"What a lovely dress dear, you turned out so well. Whatever did you get that dress?" The men laughed heartily as they would say.
"Crack job you and those boys did rescuing Cole. Never new a lady would have it in her to do such a thing." Finally, I was able to satisfy the crowd's questions and compliments. I breathed easy for the first time that night as I snuck into the barn and leaned up against the warm, sturdy body of Jett
"And why did I think I could find you here?" Came a voice through the dusk. I stood upright and looked around. Just outside of Jett's stable stood Jesse
"Why would you be looking for me?" I asked, curious. I tried to keep the bite out of my voice, but it came through anyway and he raised his eyebrows at me.
"Well, I wanted to finish what I was saying earlier if that's ok," he said cautiously.
"Oh, of course, sorry," I responded quickly. I was relieved he wanted to finish this, even if what he had to say wasn't good, it was better than not knowing and letting it plague me.
"Come on out here and sit by me," he said opening the gate. "Stop hiding behind that horse of yours!"
I smiled at him and came out, crossed over to the fence and leaped up to sit on it. It had been a mistake, I meant to stand erect or find a suitable seat like any lady would have, but habit got the better of me as I clambered up. At this, Jesse started to laugh.
"What's so funny?" I asked as I hooked my feet behind the middle bored to balance myself. I tried sitting a little straighter but it was hard to sit gracefully on a fence so I kept wavering precariously. Once again I felt like a scarecrow, pole shoved up my back, forcing me to have great posture as I waved around like a loon
"Well, you just proved what I was going to tell you."
"And what's that?" I asked distractedly. But just then I found a post to hang onto so I could finally sit securely and focus on him. I looked up at him and was instantly locked into his eyes, I was shocked by how intense they were at this moment.
"Like I said, you look gorgeous tonight. Just as pretty as one of the girls from town, no wait, prettier." As he said this I could feel myself blushing again but I didn't take my eyes away from him. He kept his eyes locked on mine as he talked, giving me goose bumps, but I had no desire for them to go away.
"But. . . . I don't know I've always loved being around you Jaime because you weren't like all those other girls. You aren't afraid of a little dirt, you have fun without restraint, you're honest in everything you say and do, and you don't bat your eyelashes at me every time I look at you. I like the fact that I can be comfortable around you." The words tumbled out of his mouth. I could barely comprehend what I was hearing; I kept staring into the depths of his eyes, my breath coming rapidly in and out like many shallow gasps.
"You're the first girl I'm not worried about breaking every time I'm around you. Don't become one, please." And with that he slid off of the fence, and stood right in front of me.
I was still perched on the fence, which raised me to almost eye level with him. I was still reeling from what I had heard but a different part of me, not concerned with trying to make sense of the situation, suddenly came rushing forth. I reached up to him and grabbed the back of neck, pulling his lips down onto mine. I felt the warm pressure of his lips press back. He gasped slightly in surprise but not in dislike. As we continued like this I could feel his arms grab me around the waist and lift me off the fence. I didn't know that I could feel and happier than I did at the moment our lips touched but as he guided my legs around his waist I was almost bursting with ecstasy. The dress, which I had promised myself I would take such good care of, was hitched up around my waist with the rest of the yards of fabric billowing down behind me. I pushed both of my hands up into his dark hair while my mouth continued to explore his hungrily.
From somewhere outside our eruption of passion, there came a sudden deafening sound. We both unlocked ourselves from our embrace; I loosened my grip around his waist with my legs and dropped to the ground, straightening out my skirt as well. From outside we could tell the music had stopped suddenly and in its place a dull roar and many screams filled the air. I looked up at him with fear and wordlessly he grabbed my hand and we bolted out of the barn.
Outside I came to face with the most horrific site I had ever seen. The place where the James' house had once stood was now a mangle of burning flames, the roar of the fire was only out done by the fearful screams of the many guests, who were running in all directions away from the blaze. Some had cuts and burns as they ran past us.
"Jim!" I screamed instantly into the chaos scanning the bedlam for any sign of my twin. "Cole! Bob!" Jesse led me towards the place where the party had been going on, trying to find someone who could explain what happened.
"Jesse." someone near the ground moaned as we ran along. Jesse halted and spun around, we both spied Frank on the ground at the same time, and he was cradling his right ankle.
"Oh, God, Frank!" Jesse said as he approached his brother. I quickly knelt beside his injured foot attempting to examine it..
"Whole house just exploded," he said in a strained voice, tight with pain. "Damn beam slammed me right in the ankle. Guys on horse back did it, Cole and Bob rode off after them." Even as I continued to check him I felt a wave of relief knowing that two of my brothers were all right. I wanted to ask about Jim, but Jesse spoke first.
"Where's Ma?" At this Frank eyes suddenly widened. His face went white as he came to a realization just as he spoke.
"She went into the house . . . to grab some more food. . ." Jesse's face turned to stone at these words, and in an instant, he was sprinting towards the burning building. I watched him, desperate to follow yet not wanting to leave Frank.
"Oh God!" he gasped and I looked back at him. He had stood back up and put weight on his foot. But he did not sit back down, instead he began to run after Jesse, a grimace etched on his face.
I jumped to my feet, determined to follow him, I needed to find out about Ma for myself. She was, after all, like a mother to me too; and if the worst had happened, I wanted to be with Jesse. Just as I started to run I felt a hand grasp my upper arm tightly. I whirled around, angry to be held back before I realized who was holding me.
"Jim!" I cried and leaped into his arms.
"Thank God you're ok!" he gasped holding me tight. "I nearly went crazy when I couldn't find you, I thought. . ."
His voice failed him as he choked up, thinking of what could've happened.
"But Jim, we need to go." I said, pulling him back so I could look him in the eye. "It's Ma . . ."
I trailed off as well and glanced towards the burning house. Without another second's delay, we ran towards the house, Jim knowing exactly what I feared. Hand in hand, we approached the blaze, but it soon got too hot to get any closer. Shielding my eyes from the intense heat, I look around frantically for Jesse and Frank. I spied something a few yards away but the heat blurred the image. Taking a few steps closer, I recognized the bodies of Frank and Jesse, kneeling on the ground, holding . . .
"No!!!!" I screamed and leaped towards them trying to get to Ma, praying what I was seeing was just a trick of the firelight. Again, I felt strong arms wrap around me and pull me back.
"Wait, Jaime, stop!" came the frantic voice of my brother, holding me tight as I struggled to get away. "Let them say goodbye, she's their mother."
"Ma," I sobbed reaching out, hopelessly, for the now limp figure in her boy's arms. I saw Jesse's head bend and begin to shake with his sobs. I started to cry uncontrollably and Jim pulled me around so I rested on his shoulder.
"Shhhh," soothed Jim stroking my hair. "It'll be ok."
"How can it be ok!?!" I suddenly shrieked pulling away from him. Never had such rage coursed through my body. This had been the last straw; these men had tried to take away everything precious to me. And now, they had succeeded in taking away the only mother I ever knew, I understood, for the first time, why one man would ever want to kill another. I would shoot every one of those bastards before I let them hurt another person I loved. Jim was taken aback by my outburst and stepped back from me.
With hot tears still pouring down my cheeks, I raced away from him and back to the barn. In an instant I had flung open the door to Jett's stall and flung myself onto his back. Together we streaked out of the barn, away from the pain and chaos that was once a quite farmhouse. I pushed away the memories that had begun to flood my mind of Ma, and of all the wonderful times at the James' home, and instead thought of only one thing, revenge.