Chapter 7

“Where are we?” Jake asked as he roused dizzily to sit up on the quilt pallet to look around.

“We’ve stopped for fresh horses on the road to Harrisonburg, where we’ll meet with friends tomorrow. Here’s some new clothes Raymond has managed to scrounge for you. You slept quite a while. Do you feel better?” Laura Belle spoke as she helped him to slip his arms into the sleeves of the shirt.

“I’m naked!” he exclaimed when he looked down at his legs.

“I had to bathe you and you were asleep,” she told him and he looked at her with a strange look.

“You bathed me all over?”

“Yes, now stand so we can get your pants on. Raymond has managed to find you some biscuits and bacon.”

“Where is your husband?” He asked as he looked all round the strange room once again.

“He’s gone to help with the fresh horses and the carriage. Here, step your foot into your pant leg.”

“You bathed me by yourself while I was asleep?” he asked again and they looked at one another.

She knew – he knew!

“Yes, I hope you’re not angry that I washed you. I want to be your best friend and I hope you will let me be your mother.”

“I have a mother!” He spoke quickly and firmly.

“Jake, we’ll talk about all of this when you’re rested and thinking straight.”

“Where is my mother and father?”

“They are gone. Jake, I cannot lie to you. Will you please trust me until you are able to understand and I can tell you all about it.”

“I trust you, you bathed me all over, didn’t you?” He seemed to calm down, as he looked at her face where she knelt next to him. They were eye to eye, merely inches apart when he smiled and she did too. His eyes were haunting, showing no emotion.

“Yes, was it alright that I bathed you down there?”

“Yes. I feel dizzy headed, but I feel clean and I feel so relaxed down there. You have a gentle touch. I feel safe here with you. Wherever here is.”

“I want you to feel safe with Raymond and me. We’re going to spend the rest of our lives loving you, Jake.”

“Can I love you?” he asked, his face looking as if he were about to cry.

“I want you to love me, Jake. I want you to be close to me and tell me when you hurt and when you are happy. I want you to be my son.”

“And you’ll tell me all about my parents if I do?”

“Yes, I will. I’ll never lie to you, Jake.”

“Then I will love you like my mother.”

“Oh Jake, I’m so proud to hear you say those words.” Laura Belle cried and hugged her face to his thin chest.

“Let’s get you covered, Jake. You’re still exposed down there and some may think it strange that my son has exposed his handsome manhood to his new mother,” she said, laughing when he smiled.

“My mother was a lot like you. She was never too busy for me and she was never ashamed to let me see her in her bath. She always bathed me and told me she didn’t want me to ever grow up, that she would miss her baby.”

“I feel the same way and I’ve just now met you. You and I will be close, Jake. We’ll have a lot to learn and you have even more to learn than Ray and I.”

“But you will be there with me?”

“All the time. We’ll live in a big house and you’ll have lots of people around you – some will be your mentors, while others will be your protectors.”

“Mentors? Protectors?”

“Yes, now you don’t worry about that just yet. Trust me, Jake. Trust me to tell you the truth and to love you. You can even wash my back in my bath and I’ll wash yours.”

“You’re more like my mother all the time. Did you say that you knew my mother?”

“I did and she was the one who feared for your life. She had asked Ray and me to come for you, even before she knew they were coming. When we arrived, the place was gone, your brother was gone, they were gone, you were gone. If not for the free-men who knew of you, and had seen you with the Confederate Soldiers, we would never have tracked you down.”

“Will you let me love Ray too? He is a lot like my brother, Robert.”

“Jake – Raymond Leatherwood will bow at your feet, if you tell him that you love him. He has been so afraid you will cling to me and shut him out.”

They both jumped up and faced the door when there was a loud knock.

“Who is it?” Laura Belle managed to say, her voice cracking.

“It’s me, Ray.”

“I’ll let him in,” Jake told her and rushed to the door.”

Ray hurried into the room and closed the door. When he turned he saw Jake. “Jake, I see you’ve awakened. How do you feel now that you’re bathed and dressed in clean, dry clothes?”

“I feel better than I have in weeks. I’m not sure what is happening, but I’ve talked to Laura Belle and I know I must trust both of you for some reason that appears to be life or death.”

“You’re a very smart young man. I know when we’ve had the opportunity to become friends we’ll all get along fine.”

“We have been talking while we waited, and I’m ready for whatever we need to do.”

“Good. Now, here’s you some bread, cheese and smoked pork loin. This will have to do until we get to Harrisonburg tomorrow. We’ll be leaving here soon and we’ll have an escort the rest of the way to Charlotte where we’ll board a train bound for Texas. Are you both still with me as I hurry through all I’ve found out?”

“Yes, and we are ready,” Jake told him.

“Good, I have been informed that we’ll all change identities when we arrive in Charlotte. We will be known by our first names, but our last name will be Snow. I overheard a man talking to another down at the inn and it seems there was a family by the name of Snow who were killed in a boating accident recently. Since it was never reported, we’re the Snows from Texas and I’ll be running for the state legislature as soon as we arrive. The man’s name was Raymond, the wife was Laura and their adopted son was Jack.”

“Will I have to be called Jack?” Jake asked.

“I told them I preferred Jake and they agreed it would be better if you kept your real name.”

“Thanks, Ray. I can see many reasons that Laura Belle loves you, I’m sure there are many more reasons that I’ll learn about as we get to know one another better.”

“Thank you Jake. I heard in our meeting tonight that you were a very brilliant young man. I know why they chose you for this now, even before your parents were killed.”

“They? Chose? What do you mean – This?”

“We’ll get into more of This when we’re safely on the train. If it’s any comfort, I’ve already told them they made the best possible choice.”

“Then I will trust you as I trust Laura Belle.”

“I think I may already love my adopted son,” Ray said and smiled at Laura Bath and Jake.

“I know I already love my adopted mother and I think I may learn to love my adopted father as well.”

“Hurry and eat your food, our carriage is being brought around. Put your old clothes in this bag and they will be disposed of.”

“WAIT.” Jake yelped as he jumped from the side of the bed where he was sitting.

“What, Jake?” Laura Belle asked as she stuffed his soiled and foul smelling uniform into the bag.

“I want to keep my bugle. It’s all I have left.”

“By all means, keep your bugle. Maybe we can have it refurbished.”

“I’d rather have it like it is. It reminds me of myself. It has been beaten and battered, but it is still as good as ever deep inside.”

“I know I love my new son now,” Ray told him and reached out to him.

They embraced as father and son and Laura Belle gathered up Jake’s remaining food then ran from the room.

In three days time, they had made the trip to Charlotte, North Carolina where they boarded a train that pulled only a car loaded with firewood, a Sleeper, a lounge car and a caboose. They boarded just at dusk and the train rolled on into the night, stopping four times for water and switching cars loaded with split wood three times before reaching Atlanta.

There were already five men in black suits on the train when they boarded. For most of the twelve hour trip, Ray and Laura Belle were huddled with the five men in the dining car.

During the late night hours, a porter ran into the dining car and told the Snows their son was screaming and seemed to be having nightmares when he’d looked in on him. They both ran to the Sleeper to find Jake incoherent and cowering in a corner of the bunk where he had been sleeping peacefully each time they checked earlier.

For most of an hour, they talked and consoled, trying to reach out to him. He was confused and lost. He didn’t recognize them.

They brought the physician back to check him, and his vitals were normal.

Young Jake Snow was suffering from shock!

“Has your son suffered a traumatic experience lately? Has he witnessed some sort of horrific incident? He keeps babbling about seeing them killed, seeing them dead.”

“Yes he has, but we thought he was fine yesterday. We were even laughing and talking as we made plans for when we get to our new home,” Ray told him.

“How long ago did this occur?”

“Maybe a month ago at most, since his family was massacred.”

“One of you stay with him tonight, perhaps he will snap out of it, but he may continue to have these reactions when he’s alone and especially when he’s asleep...

“You need to be forewarned before you see him, his hair is pure white.”

“WHITE? WHY?”

“I’ve seen it many times during the war. A traumatic experience can affect a person’s nervous system in such a way to cause certain physical changes in appearance. I’ve checked him over and can find nothing to show there’s anything else physically wrong with him. When we arrive in Fort Worth, we’ll have a specialist check him over. We were afraid he would break down eventually, yet we were hoping he could withstand the stress he was put through.”

“Did he say anything about his family?” Laura Belle asked.

“Very little. It was mostly about ‘seeing death behind their eyes‘.”

“Seeing death behind their eyes? What could that possibly mean?” Ray asked.

“Was he at the scene of a battle? Was he present where there may have been many dead and/or dying men?”

“He was at Gettysburg, during the battle. We found him there the day after it ended.”

“Then that’s it. Something has been passed to Jake. Please don’t be alarmed by what I say, but he’s seen the other side. He’s crossed the over to witness death, and then walked away.”

“Doctor, you are scaring us! Are you sure, or are you just speculating?” Laura Belle said.

“Mrs. Snow, Jake told me he was there! He told me he looked death in the eye and walked away with the Grim Reaper screaming for him to come back. His eyes are a pure, crystalline green and his hair is white as driven snow!”

“I’m going to him!” Laura Belle screamed. Jumping up she ran into the cabin only to find Jake cowering in the corner of a berth.

“Jake?” She spoke softly as she sat on the edge of the berth and touched his shoulder.

He turned slowly to look at her and she sobbed openly when she saw his almost, translucent, shiny green eyes. It was as if she could see through his eyes, deep inside his being. His eyes darted quickly, focusing instantly on things – on her – as he looked around like a caged animal. His hair was pure white and seemed to flow like soft silken threads as he moved his head and stopped. His long white hair shimmered in the light with the slightest of movements.

“Jake, it’s me.”

“Mother?” He said, turning slowly toward her again when he recognized her voice. When he saw Laura Belle he reached out for her.

“OH GOD YES, Jake! Mother is here. You just lay your head on my lap and rest. I’m right here and I’m not leaving you alone ever again.”

“I’m alright now, Mother. I just had a bad dream. He tried to take me away once again, but I didn’t want to leave my new Mother and Father.”

“Oh Jake!“ She sobbed and held his face to her bosom. Both of them cried until they were asleep.

Ray looked in on them, seeing Jake and Laura Belle half sitting, half lying on the rumpled berth, he closed the window and pulled the coverlet over to tuck them in. He reached out to touch Jake’s hair and it felt silky to his touch as it lay softly against the side of his face.

Jake looked different from before, but he was still a handsome young man and Ray knew in his heart, Jake would gain weight, gain confidence and survive to be stronger for this. Whatever ‘this’ was.

The train stopped only for firewood and water as it raced, day and night, across Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and on into Texas. The longest stop they made was at Fort Worth where there was an older physician and a very young nurse boarding the train. The two newcomers had many bags and many more boxes that were loaded onto the train before they pulled out once more. Boilers and reservoirs were filled with water and two cars filled to the top with split hickory firewood.

“Doctor, how is he mentally? Will he be able to put the horror out of his mind and live a normal life?” Ray asked as they stood outside the door of the private cabin when the doctor came out.

“He is a remarkable young man. He was asking me questions about his well-being by the time I had finished examining him. He would make a genius of a surgeon. He will be fine, though he will bear scars in his mind that no one but he will see, and time will not erase.”

“What about physically? Will he be stunted by his trauma or will he begin to gain weight and build muscle tissue?”

“We’ll give him some revolutionary new pills that will speed up his metabolism so he’ll begin to eat more. You may wonder if he’s overeating, but I can assure you, he will be gaining weight and adding muscular tissue in a matter of weeks. He will be even larger than you, before he’s your age.”

“Will you be staying with us once we arrive in west Texas?”

“Yes. Nurse Franchoni and I both will be there from now on until he is grown. We’ll be there as he trains, to be sure he is taking in enough of the right foods to sustain the rigorous regimen he will be exposed to. Nurse Franchoni will be his personal medical attendant, constantly monitoring him as he eats, sleeps, trains and performs all his daily functions.”

“All of his daily functions?” Laura Belle asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Yes, she will be with him constantly. His personal records will have to be kept for future reference.”

“How personal will she be with Jake? He’s not yet fifteen.”

“She will be very personal, Mrs. Snow. That was the reason she was chosen. She is smart, she is young and she is a beautiful, hot-blooded Italian woman.”