JACK'S ROSE
Chapter Twelve
Rose opened her eyes slowly, her vision at
first blurred. But as it cleared, she found William sleeping on one side of the
pallet she was on and Cora on the other. The fire in the fireplace burned
brightly. She looked at the flames, briefly mesmerized by the dancing flames.
But soon, her rumbling stomach drove her to the kitchen.
Although, getting to the kitchen, she found
to her dismay, was no easy task.
When she stood, her legs shook beneath her,
and she had to brace herself against the wall so she would not fall back to the
ground. In the kitchen, she found a fresh pot of coffee and a loaf of bread on
the counter. With shaky hands, unsure of their actions, she tore off some of
the bread and poured herself a cup of hot coffee. Rose wearily made her way
back to the parlor and settled back onto her pallet.
Then, her mind wandered.
What was she even doing down here in the parlor?
Why was William here? Why was Cora here? What had happened? What—
"Rose? You're awake!" William said,
quickly sitting up.
She looked at him questioningly. "What—what
happened?"
William pulled the quilt around her
shoulders, taking the coffee and bread from her as she began shivering again.
"You fell in the lake after you pulled Cora out. You were in a long time.
But the doctor said you don't have any frostbite. That's good." He smiled
at her, trying to comfort her.
Rose sat in silence for a moment, trying to
gather her thoughts...trying to remember what William had just told her had
happened. She frowned as the memories came back slowly, one by one. She'd been
standing on the bank...then...then she'd run out to pull Cora from the water...then...she'd...she'd
waited because she'd been so cold...and she'd fallen through...she could feel
the icy water closing over her.
She suddenly began to panic.
She couldn't breathe!
Rose began to weep, unable to help herself.
Her breath came back, but was jagged and painful. She felt like a child, lost
and scared and confused. And, having no one else to turn to, Rose fell into
William's arms and wept like the child she had suddenly become.
*****
Lilly burst into the house to find Cora awake
and nibbling on a piece of bread. She had been going with her mother and father
to take care of the store while William—refusing to leave—had stayed to care
for Rose and Cora. She smiled and ran to Cora, wrapping her arms around her.
At the sound of the uproar of giggling and
chattering, Rose awoke. She looked about droopily, wiping the sleep from her
eyes. Her cheeks were still caked with salt from her tears, and her head
pounded. She felt as if she were standing in the middle of a railroad track
with a train headed straight for her. She frowned and gently pulled away from
William, who plopped down on the soft pallet, not noticing her movement. She
wanted to laugh, but her headache stopped her from any such action.
"Oh, Rose, you're awake." Julia
smiled as she entered the house, carrying a basket filled with bread and
cheese. By the pained expression that crossed Rose's face, she knew that sound,
no doubt, was not the best thing for her at that time. "Come on, I'll take
you upstairs and get you settled in. No more noise. Girls, hush," she
scolded quietly. Cora and Lilly quickly quieted as Julia helped Rose up.
"Are you hungry?" she asked as she opened the door to Rose's room and
helped her to sit on her bed. Rose nodded. Julia smiled and stood. "I'll
make some soup and bring it up. Until then, just rest and take it easy."
And with that, Julia left Rose alone in her
room.
Rose was surprised at how warm it was in her
room since the door had been closed and the only fireplace of the house was in
the parlor. But that was beside the point. Rose eased her weary head onto her
pillow, closed her eyes, and slept until Julia returned with her soup and the
news that William had gone back to the store.
*****
Rose lay on the large piece of wood,
staring up at the stars. Her mind was blank, and she was numb. But not from
cold. In fact, she noticed, it wasn't truly cold at all. Just a bit chilly. She
looked to her side, then to her other side, and down the length of her legs to
the water beyond her in that direction and found she was alone.
Alone?
She rolled over, expecting to see Jack
there. She had dreamt that night over and over so many times, but it was
different. Jack wasn't there. There was nothing there. In the whole vast sea,
she was the only soul. Rose sat up quickly, overturning the wood she was on,
and the waters quickly closed over her head.
She panicked.
But someone grabbed her hand and pulled
her out, dragging her onto dry land that had appeared from nowhere. She stared
up into their face, but through the water and through her tears, she could not
see who it was.
The only thing she could think of was that
Jack had suddenly left her. After all the times she had dreamed of the ship,
whether she was running over the sun-bathed decks, laying on the soft bed in
her luxurious stateroom, or in that water again, he had always been there.
Confusion and anger swept through her.
"Why did you leave me, Jack? Why? How
dare you leave me now, Jack?" she cried, turning away from the blurred
figure still hovering above her. She stood and began to run. But she stopped,
for suddenly, there in front of her, was the house.
Confused once again, she looked about her,
and found that behind her lay the road she had walked down so many times
before, leading to the little two-story farm house that had become her home.
She carefully made her way up the porch steps and into the house. Weary and
still confused, she hurried up the stairs to her room.
But as she opened the door, she stopped in
her tracks.
There she sat, holding a baby in her arms.
She inched closer. The babe had sandy blond hair and dazzling blue eyes. He was
curling his fingers through her crimson curls, taking no notice to the tears
that were falling from his mother's eyes. Rose could see that her mouth was
moving—she was saying something, but she could not hear what.
And suddenly, she woke. She tried to close
her eyes, to go back into the dream and try to decode it all, but she could
not. She could not find sleep again. Rose frowned, her eyes wandering to the
window as it let bright moonlight spill into the room.
What in the world had that dream meant?
And after several long minutes, perhaps
even an hour, she finally gave up upon decoding the dream, and pushed it to the
back of her mind, and there it stayed for nearly four months.
But the answer to what it had meant would
come all too soon.