ROSEDALE IN APRIL
Chapter Twenty
Rated NC-17 for Content
Relaxing in the heavenly sanctuary of a large
copper tub, Rose DeWitt Bukater laid her upswept copper head back, softly
humming while letting her mind wonder where it willed. And since early April,
the enigmatic man that it seemed to daydream about more times than naught was
the Yankee Army Captain that had rode into her world with a brewing storm and
magically took her life to the dizzying heights of its apex. He had stolen her
heart, body, and soul so easily…so quickly…but what would become of her after
he left her world? And what of him? If he made it through to the conclusion of
this bloody war, would the Captain nonchalantly get on with his civilian’s way
of life and forget she ever existed, maybe recalling their time together
perchance if someone ever mentioned in the distant future what his part in the
War Between the States had been? Would he still remember her? Pensively
sighing, suddenly a dark shadow fell across the bathtub, and as Rose opened her
eyes, they collided with twin pools of moonstone that never failed to make her
longing heart painfully lurch. Moonstones…pieces of the prophecy that had been
foretold in a simple deck of tarot cards. With a lop-sided grin spread across
his rugged handsome visage, the Captain drew long lean fingers in the jasmine
scented bath and mischievously flicked droplets of water on the Texas lady’s
pert nose.
"Captain Dalton! You are a black
hearted rogue!" Rose teasingly chided sinking deeper into the water where
just the top slopes of voluptuous breasts were scantily revealed for his warm
perusal.
"Aw, Rose…more than you know." Jack
mysteriously hinted as he squatted down on his haunches beside the oversized
tub. Resting his chin in the palm of his hand, his index finger continued to
swirl in the tepid water delving deeper to slowly glide up a satiny smooth calf
while his entrancing blue eyes hypnotized her to the point of breathlessness.
"But, you’re up before the cock has even crowed, off to get your hoard of
slaves to toiling in the cotton fields?" Jack taunted a little more
harshly than he had actually intended. For initially, when he had quietly crept
into his lover’s bathing chamber, he had only wanted to surreptitiously ogle
her surreal beauty and then perhaps coax her back to their bed again for yet
another heated romp…anticipated encounters that had continually taken his life
by storm. But now, Jack was silently cursing himself for he surmised that yet
again, he had regretfully drawn that invisible battle line between their
warring hearts.
However, Rose completely surprised him for
the hundredth time, when she merely grinned the slyest of smiles and
coquettishly winked, not one ounce of condemnation marking her desirous visage.
"Captain…perhaps you would like to join
me? Become my coveted slave and toil right here?" As she flirtatiously
grasped his wet finger sliding up her leg and rubbed it across her full sensual
rosebud lips before gently sucking on the tips, shamelessly tantalizing the
already aroused Captain.
Chuckling deep in his massive chest, Jack
stood up and slowly began to undress, not bothering to even answer; nonetheless
immensely relieved that his condemning comment hadn’t been taken to heart for
once. However, he never took his smoldering turquoise eyes off of her for a
mere second, soaking up the loveliness that was solely his…for now.
Sinking deep in the feminine scented water,
Jack raised an amused brow and deeply groaned, "My men will think that
I’ve taken to wearing lace on my drawers, smelling so sweet!"
"Captain Dalton, I believe your soldiers
are well aware that there’s no lace on those drawers of yours! Unless, of
course, they have cause to assume that you go both ways."
Throwing his head back with a deep rich
guffaw, Jack purposefully lifted her up and then down on his rigid man’s flesh,
and huskily murmured, "You are a teasing little wench, mia. Come please me
the way you’re so capable of doing." And she did…taking him over waves
upon waves of passion’s roaring peaks until he could only lay back in the tub
thoroughly sated and sighing in the aftermath…and the greedy kissing…he couldn’t
get enough…would he ever?
The clock chimed seven times in the hallway
before the pair finally reluctantly departed the master’s chambers. Glancing
back at the tub, more water had sloshed over the sides than still remained in
the large basin. Jack bit his lip to hide his amusement before Rose suddenly,
without warning, slid her hand to his backside and playfully pinched, prompting
the startled Captain to jump and alarmingly swat at her arm.
"Rose, control yourself. Time for that
kind of play is past." Jack embarrassingly admonished.
"Who says, Captain Dalton? I believe
playtime has only just begun. But I believe you are blushing, Captain!"
Rose sexily purred in Jack’s ear.
Holding out his arm, Jack devilishly grinned
and gallantly offered, "You are a naughty wench, Miss Bukater, but would
you care for an official escort to dine? I, for one, am thoroughly
starved."
"I can’t imagine why, Captain. Just
can’t imagine why." Simultaneous confidential caressing grins met the
breakfast crowd as they made their way into the dining room. For once, the
morning meal commenced with laughter, rich conversation, and not one hint of
tension.
*****
Later that same morning, as Jacob rang the
chapel’s bell for the beginning of school, dozens of small Negro children began
to file inside the building taking their seats. They had just gotten into their
lessons when Jedediah burst into the room thoroughly winded and out of breath.
"Miz Rose! Comes quick! Dem damn dirty Yankees, dey iz cuttin’ down one of
dem gran’paw oak trees!"
"Jedediah! Watch your language! Now calm
down and tell me what’s going on with the Yankees!" Rose lightly scolded.
"Deys fixin’ to cut one of does big ole’
climbin’ trees, Miz Rose! Iz tells dem yo’d git madder dan a wet hornet
but…"
Before he could utter another syllable, Rose
had ran to the desk drawer and pulled out a huge pistol and began checking its
priming.
"Stay here, I’ll handle this!" Rose
sternly commanded the startled students. As she bolted out the door, the
children quickly raised the windows and anxiously peered outside to watch the
unfolding hostile scene however positively convinced that their mistress would
come out on top as the victor in this escalating dilemma. Rose swiftly covered
the distance like a lithe sprinting doe while spying a group of Union soldiers
sharpening several axes obviously intent on their destructive purpose.
"What the hell do you think you Yankees
are going to do with my tree?" Rose hotly accused from a few paces behind.
"Cutting this tree down, Miss Bukater, for
firewood." A surprised yet suddenly very wary soldier meekly answered
before he turned around and immediately spotted the over-sized pistol pointing
directly at his chest.
"Put the damn axe down, NOW! And if you
don’t, I’ll drop you right where you stand, Yank!" Stony green gems of ice
pierced the soldier currently trying to swallow the lump of fear lodged in his
throat.
"But Miss…it’s Captain Dalton’s orders.
There’s enough wood in this one tree to last us a year!" The shaking
private unsuccessfully tried to defend in a high pitched whine.
"Exactly Mister Yankee! But you won’t be
staying here that long because the Confederate Army is going to whip your
Yankee asses and throw you all into Andersonville!" Rose’s face was
flushed beet red but her hands were amazingly steady as she cocked and aimed
the pistol.
"Now put down the axe while I go set
your Captain straight once and for all! Is this in any way unclear?"
Rose’s green eyes shot sparks of hell’s fire daring the soldiers to defy her
heated directive.
"Yes, Ma'am…I mean no, Ma'am…I mean,
we’ll wait for further orders from our Captain, Miss Bukater!" The
flustered Union soldier stood nervously quaking in his boots. Normally, a mere
woman wouldn’t affect him to such a degree, but he had already seen what the
volatile lady had done to their respected Captain and he dared not prick her
ire in the least bit. Because Miss Rose DeWitt Bukater was no mere woman in anybody’s
book. Let the Captain settle this for he was the superior commanding officer
and his judgement outranked them all. Besides, the Captain could handle his
mistress or could he?
Picking up her full rose-hued skirts and
whirling around, Rose lit out in a stomping rage for the Captain’s study office
with one distinct purpose in mind.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Tommy Ryan was in Jack’s
office sipping coffee, smoking, and talking over old times. Peering outside the
window that faced the plantation’s chapel, Tommy let a half grin spread across
his Irish face.
"Captain, isn’t it against the law here
in the South for the lady to be teaching her slaves how to read?" Tommy
curiously observed.
"Last I heard it’s against the law, but
does that surprise you, Tommy? Does anything that Rose DeWitt Bukater
chooses to pursue surprise you in the least?" Jack mocked while both men
shook their heads in admiring amusement.
"Not in the least, Jack. She’s
definitely got a mind of her own. But I have to wonder, this plantation sure
isn’t run like most of the ones that we’ve seen in the Deep South." Tommy
thoughtfully revealed.
"What do you mean, Tommy?" Jack
asked for the clarification but took a sip of the hot brew while staring over
the cup rim at the large, ornately framed portrait of Rose hanging over the
fireplace. When no one was watching, he made it a habit of late of just staring
and memorizing each minute detail to keep with him always.
"Isn’t it obvious? Everyone seems
so…well…surprisingly happy and carefree. No signs of contempt, no scars from
whippings on their backs and we’ve seen plenty of naked backs coming in from
the fields. I just can’t fathom it." Tommy bewilderedly divulged.
"Maybe they just don’t know any better.
Perhaps, stark fear is the best deterrent; so therefore they need no beatings.
But, they’re sure not very happy to see us which completely baffles me."
Jack grunted as his blue eyes squinted up at the oversized oil painting.
"That’s strange, Jack. I haven’t seen
any signs whatsoever of hostility directed towards me or any of the men. Matter
of fact, they’ve been quite cordial." Tommy confusedly rebuked.
"Hmm, then it must be just towards me, I
suppose." Jack perplexingly deducted while biting his bottom lip in deep
contemplation.
"And you have no idea what that is,
Jack? Maybe because you’re the one responsible for enslaving their
mistress, perhaps?" Tommy incredulously reproved.
"Seems to me like they’d applaud her
comeuppance, Tommy. An eye for an eye so to speak." Jack sinisterly added
deliberately sliding disdainful eyes from the smiling vision’s canvas.
"Maybe they don’t have a vengeful bone
in their bodies, Captain." Tommy deferred.
"What you mean is like I happen
to have?" Jack accusingly queried.
Before Tommy had a chance to reply, the
study’s door suddenly swung back on its hinges and Rose blew into the room like
a menacing whirlwind, green eyes snapping in fury.
"Captain! Stop your God damn orders
NOW!" Rose furiously demanded as she ominously stalked in front of Jack’s
desk with her face flushed like the heart of a plum and furiously slammed a
clenched fist down on the oak desk.
"Sergeant Ryan if you’ll excuse us, I
believe the lady and myself are about to have another confrontation." Jack
sarcastically quipped.
"Yes, Sir, Captain Dalton." Tommy
warily obeyed.
"And Sergeant, shut the door on your way
out." Jack evenly directed not taking his glaring eyes off of the copper
headed spitfire fearlessly stabbing him with dual orbs of poison arrows.
As the door softly shut behind Tommy, Jack
suddenly sprang to his feet and ominously marched over to an irate Rose while
cold blue eyes of steel bore into chilling spheres of green.
"Don’t you ever demand anything
of me in front of my men again, Rose. Is this in anyway unclear?" Jack’s
hands were clenched tight at his sides while his nostrils flared dangerously.
"Clear as mud, Captain Dalton. Now call
your orders off and if you don’t…" Rose abruptly brought up the barrel of
the gun that had been hidden in the folds of her full skirts to aim directly at
Jack’s heart. Jack’s eyes incredulously widened as large as saucers.
As quick as a striking snake, Jack snatched
the gun out of her hand and twisted her arm behind her back bringing her
heaving chest up against his own.
"And don’t you ever point another
God damned gun at me again, Rose." Jack was so livid he nearly lost all
sense of civility while his teeth clenched so hard that his jaw quivered in a
constant tick.
"You promised you wouldn’t destroy my
home!" Rose hotly accused into a dark angry face on the verge of violence.
"What the hell are you babbling about,
woman? I’m not destroying anything!" Jack defensively ground out as he
jerked her harder up against his tall muscular frame.
"You ordered your men to cut down one of
the ancient live oaks. Do you realize how old they are? They’re a part of this
plantation and I won’t have a bunch of blue-bellied Yanks chopping it down
because they’re too damn sorry and lazy to take to the woods to cut
another!" Rose vehemently spat a mere inch from the Captain’s enraged
visage.
"And what will you give me, Rose, if I
agree to this?" Jack wickedly cajoled as he yanked her even closer to his
unyielding chest, his loins suddenly filling with the hot blood that Rose so
easily pumped into his molten veins.
"You damn, dirty Yankee! I’ve already
given you everything…I’ve prostituted myself, what on earth is left? Besides,
we had a deal, Captain Dalton, that you wouldn’t destroy Rosedale. Are you now
reneging on that bargain?" Rose scornfully exclaimed.
"Correction, Rose. I said I wouldn’t
burn it down. I can’t see where cutting a damn tree down for my men’s welfare
is worth all this!" Jack coldly retaliated.
"It means something to me, Captain!
There’s plenty of others in the nearby forests!"
"True, yet I’ve already gotten what I
wanted in the bargain and plan on getting a lot more of it before I
leave." Jack cockily taunted as he undressed her with his ridiculing eyes.
"Like I said before, what will you give me this time…that I’m not
already getting, that is, hmm?"
Burning him with smoldering eyes of pure
loathing, Rose bit out, "Anything I’m capable of." But it was all she
could do to keep from spitting in his mocking obnoxious face.
"I’m not totally selfish, Rose. And what
I’m about to demand is based on a purely humanitarian basis and not just for
spite, whether you choose to believe me or not. But I digress and it simply
doesn’t matter what you think. Nevertheless, what I want is for you to free
your slaves…" Jack let the notion hang in the air then released his steel
hold on her before turning around with his hands clasped behind his back
staring out the window. A stony silence permeated the thick air. Nonetheless,
Jack held his breath waiting for her answer and for the forthcoming tirade that
was sure to follow his impromptu demand.
"But they…" Rose abruptly stopped
the words that almost tumbled from her lips before a secretive gloating smirk
suddenly marked her self-satisfied visage. She had won this battle and the
cocksure Yank didn’t have the foggiest clue.
"All right…done." Rose blurted out
and immediately started for the door before Jack astoundingly swung around. He
never even saw the self-congratulatory grin she now victoriously wore plastered
across her glowing visage.
As the door slammed shut, Jack stopped short
furrowing his dark brow in bewilderment. Had he heard her right? Was a damn
tree worth as much as human lives to the wench? Would he ever understand
her? And why was she so quick to agree to a moral issue that had remarkably set
them apart like the moon and the sun? Hell, why couldn’t all the Rebs be so
easily convinced to surrender? But more importantly, why was it that he felt
like he was the one that had just lost this battle? Damn her conniving
hide!
*****
Jack was in a tether, his heart was racing
and his breathing came in shallow spurts. No one had seen Rose since mid
afternoon and the sky was now pitch black with a million brilliant stars
alighting the night. He had asked everyone, yet all that had met his anxious
inquiries were occasional shrugs or contemptuous glares from the plantation’s
workers. Returning to the mansion, he was about to call for a search party when
a flutter of white distracted his attention high upon the widow’s walk. He
stopped dead in his tracks fearfully perusing the lovely siren precariously
standing on the railing with her graceful arms outstretched to her sides as if
she were an angel flying in the April night breezes. Long strands of red hair
whipped out behind her as the white chiffon dress eerily floated about her
curvaceous body.
"Captain Dalton! Come up and fly with
me!" Rose musically laughed in a smooth lilting caress.
"What the hell are you doing, Rose?
Don’t move! I’ll be right up!" Jack anxiously barked as he practically ran
the distance, his heart nigh to exploding. Fearful for her welfare and relieved
that she had not tried to escape him yet again. After racing up two flights of
stairs, Jack’s ragged breath was heavily laboring as he hesitantly came up
behind. Rose sensed his calming presence and mysteriously beckoned, "Come
fly to the stars with me, Captain Dalton!"
Jack glided up behind her as Rose seductively
leaned back against his muscular chest for support. He placed his arms over
hers while long lean fingers entwined with slender expressive hands as the
Captain inhaled the fragrance of silky jasmine scented hair. Jack couldn’t find
adequate words for the poignant range of emotions racing through his numbed
mind. The stunned realization that this precise moment in time was solely
theirs and the heaven's…no outsiders could intrude into their private world.
"Isn’t it beautiful out tonight,
Captain?" Rose dreamily sighed.
"Yes." Jack simply rasped, his
chest nigh to bursting, unable to find adequate words for the intense new
feelings that held a stronghold on his throbbing heart.
"How many stars do you think are up
there? How many souls of angels are magically lighting the way for those that
are lost and can’t find their way home? Um?" Rose softly whispered then
slowly tilted her head to the side to glimpse the Captain’s face and was
instantly met by a lingering kiss that went on and on. Jack brought their arms
down to their sides and Rose curled one hand about the cording of his neck to
deepen the intensity of his life-altering gift. Seconds turned into minutes, as
the star-crossed lovers melded their straining bodies into one, treasuring a
special moment up on the widow’s walk that would last them a lifetime…a
glorious April night at Rosedale. Life would never be the same again…and Texas
smiled.