Novel Treatments / Beyond the Wire grass and Pines: Jenny's Story (Analysis)
One
February 20, 1862
Ellenton, Georgia
Alice Bryant and her eight year-old son Tad, were planting potatoes in the half-acre that morning in late-February 1862. Georgia was seeing the beginnings of a warm spring and that morning was pink with sunrise, painting a wondrous sight beyond the wire grass and pine field just across the clay road. Alice picked up her empty basket and wiped the sweat from her brow before making her way to the root cellar to refill it. Tad followed close behind his mother and not far off his heels was the spirited old Cur dog the family affectionately called Jim. She laughed at her son as he ran across the warm clods of soil that his feet barely touched and smiled, using what was left of what was once the most courted face in Ellenton.
“Now remember,” she said to her youngest son, “A farmer can’t go wrong when watching the waxin’ and wanin’ of the moon.”
“Waxin’ is when it’s smaller and Wanin’ is when it gettin’ bigger. Right, mama?”
“You want to plant the taters as the moon grows larger as to make you more taters for the pickens.”
“Yes ma’am.”
The small-spare woman, with dark brown hair, watched her son as he carefully placed the potato eyes in the rich-clay soil. Matt and her older sons had plowed the field early that morning before the sun came up. She looked well beyond her forty-eight years. Her face showed countless seasons of good crop and bad crop, happy times and sad times. She had borne ten children since her marriage to Matthew Bryant when she was a young woman of sixteen. She had been there when all had taken their first breath and she was there when two breathed their last.
Tad was the child born during the hardest year of her life; from which she never fully recovered. Three months before his birth her eldest son Matthew Jr. left the farm to serve the Lord as a missionary to the Indians in the wilderness. He had not been heard from in eight years. After years of waiting the family presumed him to be dead and buried his belongings in the family grave yard next to the garden in the clearing. The day that Tad was born; Andrew, Paul and Jenny became ill with yellow fever that plagued South Georgia that summer. Just a day later the boys were buried. Jenny never fully recovered and was forever weakened by the disease. Tad became Alice’s breath of new life, a strong hold of sorts, and her angel that led her from the darkness of mourning. The curly-blonde hair and blue eyes made him look the part. She knew her youngest son was destined for a greatness that none other of her children possessed. He was the child who survived when people across the county were dying from that terrible epidemic. He was smartest student at the old wooden school house in Ellenton. It was a strength that his older siblings teased him for but they too knew there was something different about him. A light shined in him that none could touch. He truly was a genius.
At about ten o’clock a horse drawn wagon made its way from the barn backtracking toward the main house as a young woman came running down the porch steps. Jennifer Bryant was the prettiest girl in Ellenton. She, like Tad and her twin brother Jesse had the look of their father. Alice thought that Jenny’s seventeen-year-old radiance was especially compelling in the past year. Her face shined with innocence yet untouched by the trials and tribulations of the real world. Her blonde curls flowed behind her as she ran out to the team and wagon stopping to exchange flirting remarks with the young driver.
“Tom’s leavin’ fer town again, I guess,” Tad said as they watched. “Jenny has to say good bye as if he’s never comin’ back, er somethin’.”
Alice watched as the team pulled away from the front of the house and made its way on the clay-road that ran parallel with the potato field before curving toward the direction of Ellenton. Alice put down her basket and made her way toward the fence to meet the young driver. The twenty-three year old Scotsman, a physician trained at the prestige Edinburgh University, also boarded with the Bryant family offering his assistance as a farmhand when time permitted. Time was scarce; as he also assisted Dr. Hynns with sick visits to the neighboring quaint-country farms. The large Weeks family over on Warrior Creek always had a sick child or two that needed attending. He lived in the spare room that once was Matthew juniors.
Tom brought the team to a halt and tipped his hat toward Alice and Tad. “Good morning Mrs. Bryant,” he said politely.
Alice smiled and returned his greeting. She took a deep breath. “Are ya going to town again?”
“Aye ma’am, I'm gathering supplies for yer husband while I get some supplies of my own from the hospital.”
“Will you be gettin’ a newspaper then?”
“Aye.” He nodded. “I canna forget or yer husband shall have me head.” He saw she was afraid and he smiled tenderly. “Dinna ye worry, ma’am. Much of the fighting is well north of here. With some hard prayin’ it might miss Georgia all together.”
She nodded and said her goodbyes as Tom continued down the rode toward town. Just as he rounded the bend, another buggy passed by him. Alice squinted trying to make out who the fancy cart might belong to. No farmer on this side of Ellenton could ever afford such a luxury. It was not quite the sort that a Southern Aristocrat would drive either. The buggy stopped before her and a young man dressed in a dapper suit jumped from his perch on the driver seat. When he removed his tall-top hat to reveal his dark features Alice gasped.
“Jacob Collin!”
“Aunt Alice!” He beamed and embraced her over the fence.
Tad stared at the young man as if he was a foreigner. He sounded like a Yankee and to most that would make him a foreigner. He eyed the two mares that drove the buggy. They were wearing the finest reins Tad had ever seen. The complex designs on the buggy’s exterior were the most elaborate and elegant that he had ever beheld. It rivaled that of any Plantation owner’s he had seen. He chuckled as he thought of what Eva Scott would think of a Yankee driving something finer than she. Eva Scott was daughter of Arthur Scott, the richest Plantation owner in all of Colquitt County. She was not snobbish and in fact she was Jenny’s best friend. Heaven forbid if any Yankee gets the best of her and all proper etiquette would go to the four winds.
“Mama.” He tugged on the hem of her dress. “Mama.”
Alice pulled away from her nephews embrace and looked down at her son’s questioning stare.
“Oh, dear me! Jacob this is my youngest, Tad. Tad, this is Jacob Collin, yer cousin.”
Jacob smiled at little boy. “Hello Tad.” He offered his hand to shake.
“Good day, sir,” Tad said respectfully.
“Well, Jacob what brings you down South? Seems ta me that this ain’t the time to be lost?”
“I have been in Pensacola since before the war began. I thought for sure mama would write you.”
Alice shook her head and folded her arms. “You know we don’t get much time to write. And with the war on the horizan and all…”
“Yes, of course,” He said nervously. “Anyway, my father wrote me last week with a job offer right from the top...Washington, Aunt Alice, isn't that swell. I’ve a job working in the Federal buildings dealing with a lot of legal issues involving the state of the Union itself. I know it doesn’t make much difference with you down here but, I’ll be along side of Lincoln himself. Anyway, I knew I couldn't pass through these parts without stopping off here first.”
Alice smiled but on the inside she feared for her nephew. Many years ago, her sister Anne left home and married a successful lawyer from Baltimore. She enjoyed many a splendor that Alice could only dream of and never returned to wiregrass country. Jacob was her sisters’ only child and he was brought up in the family law firm and graduated top of his class at Harvard in 1859. He visited Ellenton many times to enjoy the place of his mother’s upbringing. However, when Alice’s mother and father passed away nine years ago, the visits stopped, as did the letters. Alice knew the day she saw her sister ride into the sunset with that Yankee lawyer; she would never see her again. Now that Succession has happened, the reality of the fact struck her. She tried to keep her composure for her beloved nephew but his eyes met hers with the dark brown likeness of his mother’s. She could not bear to look into them.
“Why don’t ya take your buggy over by the barn there and set yer team up with fresh hay.”
“Yes ‘em.” Jacob jumped back into the driver’s seat.
“Tad Lee,” she said to the little curly-headed boy, “Come with me to put the tater eyes in the root seller.”
She looked up at the sky which was becoming a dark gray as the afternoon storms began to roll in. Tad followed close behind his mother as they made their way to the tiny shack next to the barn where the root cellar was. Alice handed the basket to her son as he made his way down the ladder. It was a cool dark place that was anything but welcoming. Tad was always told never to go into the cellar alone, lest he be shut up and not found until the harvest. His older brother’s never stopped picking on him. Tad decided that it was water under the bridge and what his brothers did out of love he took as a lesson. Perhaps, he was just learning from their mistakes. He hurriedly put down the basket and climbed the ladder out of the darkness and into the comforting presence of his mother.
Inside the cookhouse Jenny, Emily and Mary Lou were busy preparing the noon meal for all of the farm workers. Emily Baker Bryant, John's wife and the daughter of the Banker in Ellenton, disobeyed the instruction of her father when he turned down the proposal of John Tallie Bryant. She ran away three years ago and has not looked back since. Quickly, she learned the ways of a good farm wife and she over saw all the house work on Shady Creek since Alice’s health took a turn for the worse. She was a perfectionist, much to the disdain of her husband and his brother’s. A downfall she was often teased for. It was a wonder to Jenny, how a woman could scrub floors, knead bread doe and wash laundry and never get a hair out of place.
Mary Lou, the only other female of the Bryant siblings, had just turned fourteen. To all who tried to treat her as a child, she was quick at reminding them of her new found womanhood. She had a sharp tongue, a fault that landed her lashing a plenty. Her cat-like green eyes and ebony hair were in stark contrast to any other in her family. She had the look of Matt’s mother, a half blood Cherokee Indian. Perhaps, she possessed her personality as well.
Jenny looked up from the cutting board when she heard loud laughter coming from the breezway. She peered out the window and saw her mother and brother ascending the steps of the main house and escorted by a young man in a top hat.
“Gracious me!” She threw down the knife and ran out the door and into the arms of the young man.
“Jennifer Virginia is that you?” He pulled back from her embrace. “My God how you’ve grown. Last I saw you, you were just a little freckled thing.” He looked toward the doorway and saw Emily standing with her hands on her hips. “Emily Baker?”
“Jacob Collin you rogue. It seems that I always have to remind you not to take the Lord’s name in vain.”
“My dearest lady.” He bowed and removed his hat. “Can you forgive a backward Yankee?”
She beamed as she hugged him. “It’s been ages.”
“It has. Are you still with ol’ John then?”
“Of course.”
“You’ll never learn.” He teased.
“You cow, there is nothin’ wrong with my John.”
“Well,” Alice interrupted. “Let’s get you washed for lunch.”
* * *
That night the family gathered around the dining table passing side dishes and laughing at Jacob’s stories of life up North. In the air around the men of the Bryant family was a certain tenseness that spoke of things to come. After helping Emily and Alice clear the table Jenny grabbed her cloak and made her way into the garden in the clearing. From a window Tad watched his sister as she stood there amongst the cracker roses and hanging wisteria. He often wondered why she went up there every night sitting amongst loved ones past and starring towards the direction of Ellenton. He watched as his sister tread upon the hallow-dew covered ground and knelt before the graves of her brother’s. Slowly she ran her fingers over the carved epitaph on her brother Matthew’s head stone. Tad never knew Matthew but he did know that Jenny was very close to him. He had been the brother after her heart. He taught her how to run, jump, fish, skip stones and so many other things that he also taught their other siblings but their relationship was something special. They were so much alike in spirit the age difference never mattered. They would talk for hours on end never knowing the time that passed. Tad didn't know the other brothers who were laid to rest in that little cemetery. What he did know was there where Jenny sat each night were two doors to eternity and a cold empty one.
“Matthew,” she said as she starred up at the stars in the clear night sky. “Somehow I know you can hear me. Where ever you may be, promise me that you always watch over me. I don’t know why I feel this way but…I feel like you are alive somewhere and that you are searching for home but don’t know quite how to get here. I miss you so much.”
“We all do,” a soft voice came from behind her.
“Gracious me, Em, you startled me.”
“Sorry.” Emily sat next to her sister in-law. “Mama sent me to look for you. When I realized the time I knew only one place you would be.” She placed a caring hand on Jenny’s shoulder. “Tom’s late again isn’t he?”
Jenny sighed. “He said he would be back by nine. What time is it now?”
“Oh, about half past ten, I think.”
“I know it seems silly for me to wait out here for him but I…” she paused. “I just get so worried. All John an’ Papa can talk about is Succession and runnin’ off war. The thought of any of them going off ta fight Yanks is frightening. And Tom…” she blushed. “I couldn’t bear to see him go. Do you think he’d join up with the rest?”
Emily frowned and looked toward the main house. “I think they all will go. Gracious, I dread the days to come, Jenny. I am afraid we all will say goodbye soon, not only to those we love, but I fear we shall say goodbye to so much more. I don’t know how to explain it.” She faked a smile and hugged her sister-in-law. “Let’s not think of that right now Jenny.” She tightened her shawl around her shoulders as a brisk night wind began to blow. “We’ll I best be getting’ back. Will you be all right?”
“Yes, thank you kindly Em.”
Emily stood up and walked back towards the main house.
Jenny lay back in a blanket soft grass, surrounded by sweet smelling rose blooms. She breathed in the comforting aroma and closed her eyes thinking about Tom. She could hardly believe how far their relationship had come in the two years they knew each other. They first met in a Sunday service at the Lost Ball Church in Ellenton. Ellenton’s Church had received that name when it was being built. The story was that a son one of the workers was playing with a ball inside the incomplete building. He kicked the ball through the raised beams and it disappeared somehow. None have been able to find the ball and the Church was completed soon after. In a service to celebrate its completion Jenny caught him starring at her as the congregation sang Alas! And did my Savior die for me. Though she was very comely she was not accustomed to the glances of young men. She was taken aback by his gaze and turned to Mary to ask if she had something on her face. Certainly one would not stare for any other reason. After church her father questioned Dr. Hynns on his new assistant. Eventually, Tom was offered a place to stay in exchange for his help on the Shady Creek farm. He accepted when Dr. Hynns reminded him that it would be easier to make house calls to those families in the back woods if he were stationed at the Bryant farm. In truth, his eyes fell upon Matthew Bryant’s beautiful young daughter Jennifer and he rose to the conquest of making her his. Little did he know, the task of winning her heart was not to be an easy feat. Jenny was not easily fooled by his sharp wit and Highland humor. To her he was an annoying Scottish rogue. He was undeniably handsome but a rogue no less. She was not smitten at first but she did fall for him. She was not sure exactly when it happened, it just did. Now, as she waited that cool spring night, she was hopelessly in love with the doctor from Perth.
* * *
Tom arrived back on Shady Creek later that night and quickly put the horses in their stalls. After tending them he made his way to the main house where he saw the soft flicker of a candles light coming from the parlor. He found Emily seated on the sofa reading her Bible. She heard the footsteps behind her and knew who they belonged to.
“She’s in the garden.” she said without looking up. She heard him rush back out the door and chuckled as she returned to her devotion.
Tom found Jenny lying asleep in the rose garden surrounded by sweet smelling rose blooms and lavender like wisteria. She looked like an enchanting pixie in her home of red, white and pink clusters of bloom. He reached down and touched a warm hand to her up-turned cheek. Her eyes fluttered open and she met his gaze. The corners of her mouth turned up into a tired smile and Tom traced his hand over the softness of her lips.
“Tom MacCrae!” The smile turned and her eyebrows knit in readiness to scold. "I am angry at ya.”
He grinned from ear to ear. “Are ye now?”
She gave his shoulder a light hit. “You said you'd be home by nine.”
His hand reached into his pocket and he removed a box from it.” I thought it all worth it to give you this.” He opened the box and her eyes beheld a beautiful gold ring. In its band was carved intricate designs and embedded in their midst was a single sapphire stone. Jenny gasped and looked into Tom's smiling eyes.
“My mother sent this to me. It belonged to her as did it belong to her mother before her...” He took a deep breath. "It was their wedding ring."
Jenny sat there for a moment unable to speak. For once in her life no words came to mind.
“What I'm trying to say is...” He took her hands in his, “Jenny Bryant, will you do me the honor of being me wife.”
A tear escaped her eye and she fell into his arms. “Yes, you Scottish rogue! Of course I'll marry ya!”
* * *
The sun rose high above the pines and the smell of cooking bacon and eggs escaped out of the cookhouse door. Emily was setting the table in the dining room when Tad came through the door.
“Mornin' Em,” he beamed.
“Good mornin' Tad. Where have you been so early?"
Tad sat on the floor and patted Jim on the head. “Me an' Tom went to the crick to fish.” He grinned from ear to ear. “I know a secret.”
“And what, pray tell, might that be?” Emily’s curiosity was always getting the better of her. This was something Tad counted on.
“I promised Jenny and Tom that I wouldn't tell.” He teased.
“Oh, so it has something to do with them, huh?”
Tad shrugged and ran out of the kitchen. “Come on Jim!” he called and the old dog jumped up and followed his boy out the door. This made Emily chuckle but she soon got back to setting the table and humming Amazing Grace merrily. Soon Jenny and Mary sauntered into the room. Emily watched as Jenny seemed to float about them in her own little world. Mary noticed as well and gave her a questioning stare.
“Good Mornin' Em,” Jenny chimed.
“Good morning to you.” Emily smiled. “Tom wants you to meet him at the creek. He said it was really....” She had not finished the sentence before Jenny went running towards the creek just beyond the clearing. She chuckled as she remembered being young and just as eager to secret meetings with her John.
“What’s got into her?” Mary asked as she followed Emily into the kitchen house. “Spring is in the air, my girl.” She smiled as she turned the Johnny Cakes over the fire.
“Spring never makes me skip about like that.”
Emily chuckled. “It will, dear Mary Lou. Just you wait.”
* * *
The creeks clear water stood out like an open book as Jenny leaned over and gazed at her reflection. She then took off her shoes and dipped her feet into the cool depths. She laid back into the soft grass and starred up at the sky, making pictures from the clouds.
“You know this day just became more beautiful,” Tom said as he came from his hiding place behind a tree.
“Tom!” She sat up to scold him for startling her but he placed a gentle hand to her lips.
“Will ye truly be mewife?”
She smiled playfully and turned her face from his gaze. “Well I just don't know.”
“Do ye no?” He went along with her game. “Last night ye seemed well up to it.”
“And today I might need some convincing.”
“Convincing, aye? I dinna ken what goes through that wee head of yours lassie...but I...”
“Well, Dr. MacCrae,” she taunted.
“Well what shall I do?” He looked away as if deep in thought. He knew what she wanted but was not going to make it so easy. “Flowers?”
She shook her head. “I've plenty of those.”
“A ribbon?”
She laughed. “What am I, a school girl?”
“Most certainly not, Ms. Bryant. Please forgive me.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and pulled her to him. She turned his face up to his as he stared deep into her eyes.
“Ye dinna fool mea bit.”
“I don't?” She said innocently.
“Nay lassie.” He inched closer to her face. His breath upon her cheek made her body tingle. She felt things for him that she hardly knew possible. Yes, she wanted to be his wife. She wanted to be his everything. She closed her eyes as his lips came softly down to hers. He pulled her close as his kiss deepened. He pulled her to the edge of reality and then released her from the kiss.
"Well, did I convince ye my bonny?"
“I'll say.” She jumped into his arms. “I love you Tom MacCrae.”
“And I love ye, my bonny.”
* * *
At the breakfast table the family gathered around and held hands while Matt prayed. After the prayer, as always was the tradition, the family waited for him to sit down. He hesitated and looked at John who began to fidget nervously. He cleared his throat and readied himself to speak. The family looked at him wide-eyed.
“As you all know, Tom brought us the paper from town.” He took his wife’s trembling hand in his and continued. “Colquitt County has been called to arms. We are meeting in Savannah where we will form a volunteer regiment.”
Alice released her husbands hand and ran out of the kitchen. Matt watched his wife leave and then continued. His eyes fell upon Emily and John. Emily squeezed her husband’s hand and Jenny watched as her face turned from a lively pink to a white as a sheet. Her eyes began to tear as the words she could never ready herself fully to hear, issued forth.
“John and I have discussed this and we have decided to enlist, fighting for the Confederate cause and our Georgia state.”
Jacob sat nervously opposite of Alex. As Matt continued to speak Jacob knew his visit would be cut short. In the morning when the Bryants rushed to fight for their cause, he would go home to his Union. Matt concealed his fear for reason of fighting for what he thought was right. He stood there, at the table’s head, strait faced and proud. He cleared his throat and continued.
“Will you be leaving with us tomorrow Tom?”
Now it was Jenny's turn to be afraid. For a question that Tom had waited so long to answer yes to, know he was speechless. From the time he set foot on American soil he fell in love with the country and everything it stood for. He made a vow then to fight for it as patriots of the past had. This was his country. Georgia was his home, and Jenny...dear Jenny, was his only thought now. War seemed so far off just a week ago that it hardly seemed possible it would actually happen. It was not suppose to happen now. Not when he wanted to marry Jenny.
“Well Tom?” Matt's voice of question was like that of a challenge, a challenge for Tom to prove himself worthy of Jenny's hand.
Tom's eyes locked on Matt for he dared not meet her gaze. “Aye, sir. I shall go with ye.” He took Jenny's hand and showed them the ring on her finger. “But Sir, I ask..." Tom swallowed the lunp in his throat. "I shall gom but only as your son...with your permission, that is...sir.I want to marry your daughter.” Tom surprised himself at his own courage.
Matt looked at his daughter's tear filled eyes and his heart broke for her. “Jenny, is that what you want?”
“More than anything, papa.”
“All right then.” Matt his gaze turned to Alex. “Well son?”
Alex tried not to show his fear. A young man of twenty he was always the more passive of the brother’s. He loved Georgia and he loved his family but running off to war went against his nature. Matt saw this in his sons’ eyes.
“All right, you, Shad and Jesse can keep the farm going.”
“But Papa!” Shad protested. “I’ll go. I’m ready to lick some Yanks! I’m eighteen in jusr a month.”
Matt looked at him as any proud father would and nodded. “It's settled then.” Finally he sat down and the family followed suit. “We'll leave tomorrow.”
* * *
Early the next morning John, Tom, Shad and Matt rode into Moultrie and joined many of Colquitt county's other men in the line to register for the Confederate army. There was much excitement about that day and people celebrated in the streets as southern America began a second war for Independence. Alex elected to stay behind and his father did not press the issue. He and Jesse could help with the up-keep of the farm while they were away. In truth, he was comforted to know that the women would have someone to stay behind to keep the farm going and the fields cared for. He was sure that the war would be over in time for them to come home in triumph for the harvest season.
Tom neared the front of the line and the officer that was signing muster cards looked up at him.
“Name?” He said, his voice lacking inflection of any kind.
“Dr. Brice Thomas MacCrae,” he answered with a thick Scottish brogue.
“Are you a foreigner or somethin’? Where are your citizen’s papers?”
“I applied for them but have yet to be given citizenship.”
The officer looked at Tom. “I'm sorry but I can't allow you a commission. Next!” He called out to the next person in line.
“Wait!” Tom placed both hands on the table. “I love this state. This is my home and has been so for five years now. I will die for it if need be.” He neared his face closer to the officer. “Please,” he pleaded, “if I canna fight let me do something to help. I am a surgeon, schooled at the University of Edinburgh. I have worked as a physician in Ellenton for four years now. Surly I can be of assistance to the Confederacy.”
“All right, Dr. MacCrae. I can allow you to accompany the troops as an un-enlisted surgeon. You will report to the 50th Georgia Volunteer regiment in Guyton, Georgia in a week’s time. You will assist a enlisted Surgeon by the name of Captain Hawkins.” The officer handed Tom his commission papers and looked at the next man in line. “Next!”
“Thank ye, sir.”
Tom met up with the Bryant men and they made their way back toward Shady Creek and Ellenton. In the saddlebags were crisp new Confederate uniforms. They were all assigned to Company H of the 50th Georgia.
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The “ya’s” and the “yer’s” don’t really work that well and distract from the dialogue. You also don’t use them consistently. Using “you” and “yours” would work just as well, if not better. The “yer” works best in Tom’s Scottish burr
Not Succession “Secession”. No one succeeds to a throne here.
Nice realism with using the yellow fever epidemic. You might mention that it plagued the rest of the south also, especially New Orleans
has not looked This should be “had” not looked…”
the “Ms. Bryant” should be “Miss Bryant” This is after all, 1860
This could be “The Story So Far”. You included nice touch of realism with mentioning that Alice looked older than her 48 years. The prose is a bit rough around the edges at times, but you have developed a nice plot and an interesting family. The one family member belonging to the union as opposed to the confederacy is another interesting aspect as that was the situation for more than one family in the south.
Watch the dialog your characters use and try to smooth it a bit. Over all, nice job and beginning to a story that you’ve been writing.
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