Savannah puts her hands on her hips and arches her eyebrows as if she is scolding a silly brother.
“Yes, and how? By crawling all the way?”
He smiles at her and admits, “You know, you’re right! I do need a little help!”
So once again, she puts her hand around his waist and he puts his hand around her shoulder. This time his hand seems to lay a little closer to her breast. She does not scold him ‘cause she knows he cannot help it because he is just leaning on her for help.
They get back to the room and Savannah helps William get back into bed. She then returns to her room to try to get some sleep but cannot seem to stop thinking about William. As she lies there wondering, she puts her hand on her breast where William had touched it, and drifts off into a deep sleep with sweet dreams.
Savannah wakes up the next morning early and goes downstairs to her morning bath. Lucy prepares breakfast as Savannah heats her bath water.
Lucy asks her “Did you sleep well?” and Savannah replies, “I slept well giving all that has happened in the past few days!”
Lucy then asks if she wants her to bring up William’s food. Savannah replies, “I will take it up myself. I will be back down shortly.”
Lucy stands up straight and gazes at Savannah for a moment. Then she sighs, shaking her head, but says no more.
Petulantly, Savannah says, “Lucy, why be so fussy about William’s food? Really now!”
Lucy has nothing to say.
Savannah picks up the plate and takes it upstairs for William. She walks into his room, says “Good morning!” to him, and asks, “How did you sleep?”
He replies, “Not as well as I thought I would.” He looks up at Savannah standing there preparing the plate to set out for him. She says, “Oh, was the bed not comfortable enough for you? Lucy will bring extra quilts to make it more warm or soft for you.”
He looks at her and says, “No, the bed is not the problem. And I do not want Lucy to have to go to any extra trouble for me.”
Savannah bends over him, showing a little cleavage and asking innocently, “Well then, what was the matter? It was a quiet night last night! I slept well through it!”
He clears his throat and says, “To be truthful Miss Savannah, I just could not keep my mind off you. How gorgeous you look, how helpful you have been to me. I could be dead if it where not for your kindness. I just could not keep my mind off your… beauty.”
William places his hand over Savannah’s, and for one breathless moment she thinks he is going to kiss her. But he hesitates, so Savannah quickly pulls away and tells him, “You need to get your rest in order to make it back to your company. Sherman has marched on in the night.. And you will want to catch up to him, won’t you, Yankee?”
Just that fast, her tone has changed. William freezes too, and they both keep perfectly still for a long, quiet minute. As her Auntie Delilah used to say, “You could have heard a pin drop on a flush carpet!”
Abruptly, Savannah says no matter, her helping him was only the right thing to do. She then leaves the room and shuts the door. But heading towards her bath, her heart is beating fast. She wonders why William did not kiss her. Not that she wanted him to, of course! It’s just that she expected he would. Oh, these irksome Yankees!
Breathing hard from anger and passion at the same time, Savannah can feel her body heat rising and hopes Lucy will not see her flush. As she walks in the kitchen, Lucy is just finishing up with the last of the water for her bath.
“So how is William today, Miss?”
Savannah does not even realize Lucy is talking to her. Lucy repeats, “Miss! Savannah, you hear me child?”
Savannah finally realizes Lucy is talking to her and replies, “He is well! He will be well enough in a few days to go!”
Lucy sees the look on her face as Savannah says that. She walks over to the girl she loves like a sister and puts her arm around her.
“I know what you are thinking, child, and my heart bleeds for you! It’s a puzzling situation, and you needs to be careful. But I does understand.”
“Lucy strokes Savannah’s hair gently, as she used to in the old days, and then rocks her, humming an old lullaby in her beautiful melodic, throaty voice. They must love where they can in these uncertain times. Lucy loves Savannah. Savannah loves William. Lucy knows it is natural. She also knows it is dangerous. But in these times, when every moment is dangerous, what can they do but live moment to moment?
Savannah feels better. With a sniff and a little smile she says, “Go on to your other chores now, you don’t have to baby me! We are not in the old days, Lucy! You do not need to bath or feed or sing me to sleep anymore. All is changed. I am no longer a child but a woman!”
“Yes, indeed, Missy! I have other work to do and need be outside most of the day.” Then she adds, “So mind yourself not do anything a woman shouldn’t!”
And Lucy leaves Savannah to her bath.
Savannah then proceeds to undress for her bath. The light from the window is shining in. Savannah has this angel-like glow around her body.
Alone in the bath, Savannah allows herself the luxury of fantasy. She takes the soapy sponge in her hand wondering what it would be like to have William bathe her. She goes deeper into thought about this and imagines William holding the sponge, putting it in the water and lifting it up to squeeze it on her back as he gently washes her. She can feel each stroke of the sponge as he moves it up and down on her back. She feels the warmth of the sun on her from the window. She laughs to herself and says, “You need to stop thinking of him! It can never be.”
She gets up out of the water, dries herself off, and decides to go check the hens again. As she leaves the house, she can hear the occasional gun still firing on the other side of plantation. But she keeps walking anyway.
In the evening, Lucy is back in the house with Savannah, who is unusually chirpy. Lucy looks over at her and says,
“Missy, what is bothering you?”
Savannah looks up brightly. “Nothing, Lucy. I be fine!”
Lucy says, “If you sure, Miss.”
Savannah smiles. “Yes, I am sure!”
As they sit down to eat, Lucy tells Savannah she has made some special broth for William.
“I’ll take it up with me,” says Savannah.
They finish with dinner and not a word more spoken between them. Before long, Savannah gets up and tells Lucy, “I am going to go to bed now.”
Lucy is not surprised. She replies, “Alrighty, Miss. Do I need to come up and help you get ready?”
Savannah says, surprised, “Don’t be silly, Lucy! You know I don’t need that!”
Lucy mumbles something about knowing what Savannah needs that Savannah does not quite hear and does not ask her to repeat. As Savannah passes William’s room on the landing, Savannah steps close to the door, listens, and hears nothing, so she continues down the hall to her room. In front of the mirror, she again brushes her hair and gets ready for bed. When she finishes, she walks over to her bed and slowly climbs in it.
Savannah tries to sleep but cannot seem to get her mind off William. Therefore, she decides to look in on him in the middle of the night. She heads to his room and slowly opens the door. She sees that he is on his side fast asleep and watches him for a moment while thinking, “What I’m thinking needs to stop because he will be gone soon when he gets all healed up!”
Savannah closes the door quietly and heads back to her room for the night, unaware that William is awake and aware of her watching him.
William is a smart man and is not in a rush to leave. He knows he is healing quickly, but he can’t seem to get Savannah out of his head and has to think of a way to stay longer then he should. So he decides to act as if he is in more pain then he actually is. So the next morning when Savannah comes in with his breakfast, he moans in pain when he sits up.
Savannah cries, “Oh, you poor dear! You let me give you a hand!” As she is helping him sit up, Lucy walks in and says, “Miss, let me do that! You
should not be in here with this man.”
Savannah looks up and says, “No, Lucy, I will help him.”
However, Lucy goes over and helps William sit up and tells Savannah, “You need go eat your own breakfast downstairs.”
Savannah gives in. Looking at William helplessly, she asks him, “Will you be fine for now?”
William, not willing to speak privately in front of Lucy, looks back at Savannah and states, “Yes, of course, thank you.”
Savannah leaves and goes to the kitchen. While eating she cannot help but remember the feel of his strong arms around her when she was helping him sit up.
Meanwhile, up in the room where William and Lucy are, Lucy upbraids William. “You need to get better soon because the Rebs has been to the house looking for you. They could be back any minute!"
William tells Lucy dramatically, “I am too weak even to move, but never mind me! If an unsafe moment comes, you tell Savannah she must hand me over, Lucy!”
Lucy rolls her eyes to Heaven.
“Well now, ain’t you brave? You eat your breakfast, Yankee, and I will be back with some bath water for you to clean yourself up.”
Lucy leaves the room chuckling. Sassy Yankee! She goes to draw water from the well for William’s bath. As she goes through the kitchen to get the bucket, she sees Savannah sitting at the table in deep thought. Lucy says to Savannah,
“Savvy, you need to eat! You have not touch your food at all. Stop thinking about that Yankee upstairs cuz you know he is nothing but trouble. What do you think the neighbors will do to you if he is found here?
Savannah tells Lucy, “Oh, stop your scolding! I was not thinking about William! I am not quite as hungry as I thought. I know what the risk is for keeping William here!
Soon enough he will be better and be on his way!”
Lucy peers at Savannah and says “But I know you, girl! If you have your way, I’m feered he won’t never leave here!”
Savannah examines her food closely and says, “Weren’t you off to fetch William some water for his bath?” Lucy turns and goes out to get the water for William’s bath. Savannah looks down at her food and thinks again about why this war is happening. She still cannot help but to think about William upstairs. She tries to eat a little, then she decides to try to knit, so she goes to her knitting chair and picks up her needles.
Lucy comes back inside with the water and sees Savannah attempting to knit. She tells Savannah, “Why don’t you go outside and chop some wood? Deed, it is a beautiful day outside! Maybe the fresh air will clear your mind.” Then Lucy heads upstairs with the bathwater.
Obediently, Savannah puts down her knitting needles, goes outside and picks up the hatchet she likes best and begins to split blocks of wood from trees that Sam and Elijah have cut from smaller trees. This is their fuel for the wood stoves, mainly in the two bathrooms. The big stove in the kitchen on the first floor of the house is kept going all the time with large, heavy logs Savannah can hardly lift. It cooks their food, heats their water and keeps the living part of the house warm on these cold winter days. On the chopping block, a big old tree stump close to the house, she splits the blocks into small pieces of wood for kindling. They often need to re-start the wood fires in the two bathrooms, for they are not kept going all the time. After the first few blocks, she starts to sweat and has to pause to rest her arm. She pauses, leaning on the handle of the hatchet, and gazes at the barn where she first found William.
She wanders inside the barn to see the horses and looks over at the haystack. Savannah imagines William lying there like a wounded puppy dog. She remembers leaning down and touching his face to see if he was alive. She remembers how he looked at her with those big blue eyes of his. Now she cannot help but think of him all the time. As she starts to head back to the wood pile she tells herself once again this cannot go on much longer. She knows it’s just wishful thinking, and as soon as William is better, he will leave, and then everything will go back to it’s normal horrible self for her.
As she is walking back towards the house, she can see a troop of soldiers heading up the road. She cannot see the color of the uniforms yet, so she hurries into the house to warn William and Lucy. She runs upstairs and into William’s room while he is bathing. He is naked in the bed trying to sponge himself off when Savannah comes running in. Savannah stops dead and stares at William's naked body. Suddenly, there is a loud knock on the front door and she remembers the troops outside. There is no time for embarrassment! Quickly she helps William get dressed, telling him troops are here and they have to hide him. She does not say which side the troops are on, and William does not ask.
One on each side, Savannah and Lucy help William to his feet and walk him into the hallway. Savannah says they will hide him in the secret passage near the grandfather clock. William looks at Savannah, surprised. Savannah explains, “When my daddy built this house he made sure there was secret ways to get in and out for the slaves runnin’ from some of our crazy neighbors. That Jake down the river is a cruel old bastard.”
William snaps his head and raises his eyebrows at Savannah’s language, but Lucy doesn’t bat an eye.
“Deed he is, Miss!” she whispers in agreement.
Lucy and Savannah hurry to put William in the passageway. Savannah looks at William and says, “You stay put no matter what you hear! If you come out, you’ll just make it worse! When all is clear, we will come back and put you to bed.”
William looks at Savannah tenderly. He has no intention of staying put if he hears the soldiers abusing them, but he does not say so. Touching Savannah’s hand, he tells her to be careful. She gazes deeply into his eyes, frozen in a moment of love, and then takes her hand back and shuts the panel.
The knocking is getting louder as they hurry downstairs to answer the door. When they open it, there is a troop of about 25 dirty Rebel soldiers standing outside. Savannah was surprised there were so many left after Sherman’s raid, and that the Yanks are allowing them to run free.
“Yes, what can I do for you?”
There seems to be a General with these soldiers, or at least he is wearing a General’s coat. He tells Savannah they are looking for someone special, a Bluecoat runaway from the battle the other day. And it seems some foolish drunken private has been bragging about a beautiful young woman who so bewitched him he neglected to search her house!
“Mercy alive!” whispers Lucy to Savannah.
The General tells her they have to search her house and farm and may stay there overnight for some rest. Savannah and Lucy look at each other, not knowing what to say. The soldier tells his men to start the search and to look everywhere on this farm with no stone unturned. Savannah protests, telling the soldier there is no need to search, and she has babies in the house she does not want frightened. But he says he has orders that he must follow, and he will try to leave as soon as they can.
As the soldiers begin to search the property, Savannah looks at Lucy and whispers, “Oh Lucy, pray they leave soon!” Lucy answers, “He is well hidden, Miss; they will not find him!” But Lucy squeezes her eyes tight and prays like a Christian. Savannah continues whispering nervously about William being alone in the hidden passage in his condition. Finally Lucy, irritated, pinches Savannah.
“Hush, woman! That General might hear you.”
Just as they turn around the General returns and says, “Well, there is nothing in the house. I have to wait for the others to return with their reports of the rest of the land before we can move on. I am sorry Miss, but this may take awhile. You do have some large property, Miss. Do you have anything for my troops to drink while we wait?”
Savannah looks at Lucy and says, “Please fetch some water from the well for the General and his men, Lucy.” Lucy nods her head and goes to fetch the water.
Savannah is getting more agitated by the minute. She wants the soldiers to leave. The General asks Savannah about being alone here; does it not frighten her with the war going on? Savannah replies “Not at all, Gen
eral! If I see a Yankee on my land I’ll shoot him dead so fast the soldiers will never find him!”
The surprised General steps back and looks at Savannah.
“Well Miss, then I find you will be fine here! You have a lot of spunk for a young lady.”
“You have no idea, General!”
To her irritation, the General bursts out laughing. For a fool who is losing a war, thinks Savannah, he seems to have a fine sense of humour. Just as she is about to say so, Lucy walks back with a pail of water and says, “Here you go, some nice cool water for you and your men.” The men gladly pass the ladle around while the General smiles appreciatively at Savannah, something that makes her stomach clench the way it did when her uncles used to open her bedroom door.
Then all of a sudden, there are some shots heard round the other side of the house and everyone runs to see what is going on. They see the soldiers trying to fight a couple of Yankees who have been hiding out in the woods near the house. To Savannah’s horror, the soldiers laugh as they beat the men with the butts of their rifles, then quickly dispatch them by shooting them in the back of the head. Apparently, neither of these is the special Bluecoat soldier they are seeking.
As the soldiers throw the dead carcasses in the back of a wagon, the General turns to Savannah and unexpectedly kisses her hand.
“We must go now and return to fighting the war! We shall win this war for the glorious Confederacy and for you, my dear!”
He tips his hat and he tells his men to forge forward in battle. They whoop and ride out wildly.
Savannah and Lucy stand frozen, holding hands.
“Is he crazy?” asks Savannah. For everyone knows the town of Savannah has already been defeated and is in Union hands, and Sherman burned Atlanta over a month ago!
“A course he is! Them men is no better than rabid dogs!” answers Lucy.
The two women go back inside and watch out the window for a while to see what happens, to make sure all is clear before they go and get William from the secret room. After a minor fight outside, the soldiers finally all leave.
Savannah looks at Lucy with an ashen face, but still Lucy cannot hold her tongue. “I told you having that Yankee here would cause nothing but trouble! You have to get him out of here!” Savannah argues that those troops would have come even if they did not have William here.
Forbidden Plantation Passions Ebook, Parts 1, 2, and 3 Page 3
