The next day dawned bright and warm, and when Lee and Amanda emerged from their room, they were holding hands and gazing into each other's eyes lovingly. Dotty, Philip, and Jamie were waiting by the SUV, talking excitedly about their upcoming day. Jamie had his Confederate hat, ready to ride the Confederate trails like a true Southern soldier. He'd been reading up on the battle last evening and was anxious to see and experience for himself where more of the action occurred. He also hadn't given up on his hope of "being ghosted."

"Dad!" Philip exclaimed, concerned. "You're walking kind of funny! You OK?"

"Oh, just practicing my special horse-back cowpoke walk!" his stepfather replied, grinning. He squeezed Amanda's hand a little tighter and winced as he stepped down from the curb onto the macadam parking area. Dotty covered her knowing smile with her hand and turned away, trying not to laugh. Finally, she succumbed to the temptation to tease her son-in-law and turned around. "What's the matter, Lee?" she asked, poker-faced. "Did you slip on the ice last night?"

Lee turned bright crimson and gave her a crooked, embarrassed smile as he worked his way over to Jamie to hand him a brown paper bag. "Thanks, Jamie" he told him. "It worked out GREAT!" Jamie high-fived his stepfather and smiled, and although he didn't really understand, he was glad to see Lee so happy.

"We're still going to be able to go horseback riding, aren't we?" he asked, concerned that Lee might have hurt himself too badly.

"Of course we are, Jamie!" Lee assured him. "There's no way I'd miss this!"

Driving slowly through the Confederate section of the park, the family noticed that white pup tents were starting to pop up here and there. "Those folks are reenactors," Lee told them. "People that dress in authentic Civil War clothing and live the way the soldiers did for a few days, giving demonstrations and whatnot."

"NEAT!" Jamie exclaimed. He grabbed his camera and started snapping pictures.

Dottie and Amanda dropped the men of the family off at the riding stables and continued on their way to the outlets. Lee, Philip, and Jamie made a beeline to the office to start the check-in process.
"You're in luck!" the receptionist told them with a smile. "You're the only ones scheduled for this tour!"

"SUPER!" Philip exclaimed. "No one but US!"

Each of them picked out a riding helmet and went back outside to wait for their horses.

"Have either of you ever ridden a horse before?" Lee asked, suddenly remembering he'd neglected to inquire about this little bit of important information beforehand.

"Why sure we have!" Jamie responded eagerly.

"We both got the "Horseback Riding" merit badge when we were in Junior Trailblazers!" Phillip nodded in agreement.

Lee started to roll his eyes until he remembered just how often Junior Trailblazer secrets had saved his butt since meeting Amanda. He recovered quickly. "Oh?" he asked, still suspicious.

"Yes, indeed, Dad!" told him. "Just wait and see!"

They were interrupted by some of the riding center staff bringing out their horses. Lee went over to help Philip mount his mare, but stood by in astonishment when his oldest stepson nearly leaped up onto the horse all by himself and began cantering around with her as if he'd done it all his life. By the time Lee'd recovered from that surprise, Jamie too was on his horse. He'd even donned the fake beard and put the Confederate hat over his riding helmet and was now taking the horse at a leisurely pace around the riding circle. Shaking his head in utter amazement, Lee started to mount his gelding and missed putting his foot into the stirrup. Quickly looking around to make certain no one had seen, he got it right the second time and was soon getting used to his horse as well.

Their guide emerged from behind the stable on his horse and told them a little about where they were going to go and what they were going to see. They'd be going the route of Picket's charge, just like they'd seen yesterday.

"This is so cool, Dad!" Philip exclaimed. "Thanks so much!"

"Yeah, I can't wait!" Jamie added in. "You ready?"

"I indeed am," Lee answered, still mystified that the Junior Trailblazers were capable of producing jockeys of such high caliber.

They rode in single file, the guide leading, then Philip, then Jamie, followed by Lee, bringing up the rear so he could keep an eye on his sons. Chuckling to himself, he thought that perhaps they'd need to keep an eye on him. He was glad to see that the boys were riding at a fair distance apart; it was safer, allowed them to see the terrain, and also kept them from bickering. Up front, the guide was pointing and narrating their journey. Philip and Jamie were both heavily engaged in what they were doing, and Lee was enjoying himself thoroughly.

The group was passing through the area they'd seen reenactors yesterday when a man in Confederate garb came riding up to Jamie. He had a full beard, a high forehead, and coal-black hair. "Howdy, son!" he exclaimed in his thick Virginia drawl. "You ready for this?"

Jamie looked in astonishment at the man, who was wearing the uniform of a Confederate General. "Yes, sir!" he said, respectfully saluting.

"God be with you, young man!" the General responded. Then, digging his heels into the horse's flanks, he gave a loud "YEEE-HAW!" and galloped off.

"WOW!" Jamie breathed. He looked back towards Lee, who was trotting along peacefully on his horse. "Did you see that, Dad?" he asked eagerly.

"See what, Jamie?"
"That Confederate reenactor. He was a General and asked if I was ready for this!"

"I didn't see anyone, Jamie, and I had my eye on you and your brother the entire time,"

"He went over that way, look!" Jamie pointed in the direction of where the officer had ridden, but he was long gone.

"Crap!" Jamie scowled. "He was SO REAL! I think I want to become a reenactor!"

For the next two hours, they enjoyed the terrain of that particular section of the Gettysburg Battlefield, each of them connecting in some way with the horrific history of Pickett's Charge. They traveled horse paths around Devil's Den and Big Round Top before heading back to the riding stables and Amanda and Dottie, who had enjoyed their time at the outlets. No more reenactors were seen, either, which disappointed Jamie in particular.

Back at the motel that afternoon, all of them were at the pool relaxing and enjoying themselves. All but Lee, who got sidetracked in the office trying to find out more about the Confederate General that Jamie had met earlier. Amanda and Dotty were lounging poolside and reading magazines while Philip and Jamie were swimming laps and splashing. They even had the entire pool area to themselves.

"Where is that husband of yours?" Dotty asked Amanda as she turned a page in her Gettysburg travel magazine. "He needs to know he's taking us to this historic restaurant tonight. It's right across the street from that cute little ice cream shop. There's more than 100 bullet holes in the house, and Jennie Wade was supposedly shot from the attic window! It says here they have authentic Civil War cuisine!"

"He's coming, Mother," Amanda replied. "He's on a mission, and you know how he gets when something's caught in his gullet."

They both looked up when a door closed and they saw Lee finally emerge. Wearing the speedo Dotty'd got for him at the beach and carrying a towel, he gingerly made his way in his bare feet across the parking lot and into the pool enclosure. He dropped the towel and playfully struck several muscle poses, reminiscent of the 1940s bodybuilders before yelling "GANGWAY!" and jumping high up into the air, grasping his knees and heading downward in the water in a magnificent cannonball.

There was a small explosion as all 225 pounds of Lee entered the water full force. Amanda and Dotty had been able to get far enough away from the pool to avoid getting totally drenched.

"He's nothing but a big kid, is he?" Dotty asked, smiling.

"Nope," Amanda responded with love. "It's wonderful seeing him relaxing and enjoying himself and getting to do things he never got to do when he was a boy."

Dotty agreed and continued. "It's wonderful just seeing him in that speedo!" Amanda chuckled. "No argument here," she allowed.

Jamie grabbed a water-polo sized ball and tossed it at his stepfather. "You're goalie, Dad!" he yelled, remembering that Lee had played water polo in at least one of the many colleges he'd been kicked out of. Lee caught the ball and assumed a position at the end of the pool.

"You two against me!" he said excitedly. "Anything going out of the pool is a goal." Dottie glared at him. "And anything hitting your grandmother or mother is a foul," he quickly added.

The game began in earnest, with both boys being able to outmaneuver Lee, who had overestimated his ability and given himself the entire end of the pool to cover. The boys were scoring shot after shot, and soon the water polo match turned into a water wrestling match, two on one. The splashing soon turned the pool into a churning fountain.

"The boys never had this much fun with Joe on vacation," Dotty observed, watching the bodies tangling in the water and listening to the cries of "FOUL!" and "OUCH!" and "WHOOO!" Lee's voice was just as loud and boisterous as the boys', and the women of the family knew that all three were having a fantastic time.

"No, they didn't, Mother." She put down her magazine and watched the pool intently before looking back over at Dotty. "It's really incredible, isn't it?"

Dotty couldn't help but agree. "That man sure has been a gift."

Finally, Lee had to admit defeat and exhaustion before the boys buried him at the bottom of the pool. Placing his hands firmly on the tile along the pool's edge, he pulled himself out of the water and onto the concrete perimeter. He walked over to one of the chaise lounges, dripping fiercely, and not drying off, plopped himself into the chair, put his hands on his head, and very quickly fell asleep.

Dotty looked over at her son-in-law, whose smooth, muscled body now sparkled with pool water in the afternoon sun. His tiny swimsuit left little to the imagination. She looked over at her daughter with a questioning look.

"Darling," she started, "just HOW did you manage to keep your hands off that magnificent piece of man for four years?"

Laughing out loud, Amanda shook her head. "Believe me, mother, it wasn't easy," she replied. "But we had to get to know each other first, to trust each other, to believe in each other, and then we needed for the time to be right. Fantastic things don't get rushed, you know."

"With your father, I knew right away," Dotty responded.

Amanda chuckled. "We both knew right away too, Mother," she said, putting down her magazine and looking straight at Dotty. "We just had to wait until both of us were ready."

Later that evening, the family was piling into the historic restaurant that Dotty had chosen. This particular place had an art gallery, a bookstore, a séance room, and an outdoor tavern associated with it. They were looking at the Civil War prints and books with great interest when Jamie yelled "LEE!" in a manner that made everyone look up quickly, fearing that something was wrong.

"What?" Lee answered, fairly running over to him only to find him pointing frantically at a picture. "That's him! That's the guy that talked to me today!"

Lee's eyes widened as he looked at the ancient formal photograph of a Confederate General with a full beard, a high forehead and jet-black hair. Beneath the picture was a plaque that read " Gen. Richard B. Garnett, CSA. Killed in Pickett's Charge, Gettysburg, July 3, 1863."