The Santayana Effect: Scene 6- Willmington, North Carolina, 1861

[x-adrienne.livejournal.com]

The next reading settled on a young teen hurrying into a room in a beautiful whalebone-framed dress that Adrienne recognized immediately as Civil-War-era clothing. She was in some sort of drawing room or lounge, the furniture ornate and expensive-looking. The seal rested in its open case, and when the woman turned to it Adrienne snorted at seeing Amanda's face. If the dress hadn't confirmed it, the age of the girl who looked like Amanda would have- here was another glimpse at the family who had once claimed the seal as a family heirloom.


She could hear footsteps approaching, fast, and wished for what seemed like the umpteenth time that her range at seeing things happening around an object was longer.


The girl started as the door opened, shutting the case and laying one hand over it protectively. She relaxed at the sight of the man who had entered, giving him a polite nod. "The horses are ready?" she asked, voice soft and Southern-accented.


"Yes, Miss." The man replied respectfully. Acting as her guardian, with her brother off fighting the Union, he knew it was his duty to keep her safe. "We really should hurry. The latest reports tell of a force heading this direction with all haste. I believe they mean to cut off our forces before they can regroup." He hid the tremor in his voice, as a soldier himself he was supposed to be with the main force. It was only his deep commitment to friendship which caused him to set aside one duty for another.


She held up her hand to her mouth, her face going pale. "Then we must leave immediately," she declared, scooping up the seal's case. "My father, rest his soul, entrusted me with this task and I will not fail him." Crossing to the man, she paused, looking up at him. "And I thank you, sir, for acting as my protector in this."


The man nodded, and turned to leave. He would have told her that it was his solemn duty to a friend, but he didn't feel inclined to explain to her. It would take too long. Passing through the empty house without another word, he exited out the front door and hurried towards the horses. They were great beasts, capable of holding a hard gallop for some extent before they'd give out, and he patted them gratefully. The last thing he wanted was for the young miss to fall into the Union's hands. He'd heard terrible stories of their pillaging and he shook his head to ward away the images, it didn't bear thinking about.


The seal was tucked safely into the deep pocket on the inside of her coat as she came out. The horses were met with a slightly quailing glance and then a visible setting of her jaw - she was determined to see the seal safely in England, even if it meant riding such a beast. She was going to need help taking her seat however, and she glanced over at her escort. "If I might trouble you for some assistance?"

"Miss," the man replied formally, gently lifting her into the saddle. Once she was securely in place he mounted his own horse, an anxious hunter, moving with a deft swiftness that revealed years of equestrian training. With pride he raised his hand and pushed his horse into a fox trot, searching the immediate vicinity for any hidden threats. Sensing none he waved his charge forward after him, remembering wistfully how pleasant it had been to hold her.


***
Adrienne followed the horses through the city and on a well-used road towards the dockyards. She could smell the water, see the waiting ship ahead at the edge of her vision before hearing a flurry of hoofbeats. Raising an eyebrow, she watched with interest as a dozen blue-uniformed, dirty and hungry-looking men rode towards Amanda and the man who looked like Lex. When the one in the lead drew his sabre, she made a face. This is gonna go great, she thought to herself.

Noticing the men on horseback moving towards them the man turned towards the woman. He'd been prepared for this situation, but had rather hoped to avoid it. "Miss, I must part with you here." He kept his tone flat to avoid alarming her, "We can take no chances. Hide at the side of the road, if they are our soldiers I will call you back. Otherwise, wait until I've led them away and then head towards the docks."

"But what of you?" she asked, her face white and her blue eyes wide. "You are outnumbered. Perhaps we can outrun them?"

"No, there is no time to lose them. Your brother charged me with escorting you to safety, but it appears that I will not be able to fulfill my promise." The man reached into his his coat and pulled out a small package. "This is all the paperwork you need. When you make it to the ship show them this and they will take you aboard without question. I will lead them away from you." He looked the girl in the eyes, tears blurring the edge of his vision. He didn't want to die, but he knew it to be the only way to protect her. "Quickly now, off your horse."

She nodded, biting her lip, the package clutched to her breast. "I will not forget this," she said softly, taking his hand as he helped her dismount. "God be with you."


Staring down at her, the man couldn't help but smile. In the moments before death one can realize just how important those closest to him are. "And also with you," he replied, turning both horses away from the oncoming riders and spurring them into a quick hand gallop. With any luck he'd be able to drive the Union scum onward long enough for the miss to make it to her ship.


Burying a small sob, the girl picked her way into the bushes, skirts and cloak held in one trembling hand and the papers clutched in the other.


Adrienne grimaced as the scene unfolded at the edge of her vision. She wished the girl who looked like Amanda would move a bit further off so she didn't have to see. Lex hadn't gone very far at all when the rifle fire began, clouds of smoke obscuring the landscape. Through the fog however she could tell that Lex was turning to face them, shouting something as his body bucked when a shot landed, and through the noise of the gunfire she couldn't hear what he said. Hoofbeats replaced the gunfire as the Union men galloped off in chase.


In the bushes, the girl's eyes widened at the shots and she bit down on a gloved hand to stop herself from crying out. Blood, dark in the moonlight stained the front of her escort's jacket, but still he defied the Union men. She knew she should flee, but she was too afraid to move.

The man fell from his horse, not twenty feet from the young woman. He rolled over and pushed himself up as the horsemen bore down on him, the lead rider bearing the face of Logan, as she'd almost come to expect. With a sullen grin he raised his good arm and aimed an officer's colt at them. It only had six shots, but if he could take down enough it would be enough. His eyes scanned for the young woman, and he whispered a silent prayer of thanks when he couldn't see her.

"Lord protect me, a Son of the South, as I fulfill your command." The first shot rang out as he finished the prayer and struck the lead rider in the chest. He fell off the back of his horse with a loud yelp.

Then the Union soldiers were upon him. They screamed with a feral rage as they fired their rifles and brandished their sabers. Within seconds they charged their horses across the space where he stood. If he had not jumped to the side he would have been crushed beneath several tons of horse flesh. As they turned to finish him off, he leveled his pistol at them. It flashed in the darkness--once, twice, and then a third--before they could react. He prepared to fire a final time when there came a loud report from behind him.

There was another rider. A man in a dark cloak over a black suit rode into view from the direction of the ship. He smiled like a devil as he approached to check his shot. The man, with Lex's face, lay sprawled face down in the dirt. A bloody pool formed around his body as he twitched in the last moments of life. His mouth moved, and the new arrival dismounted so as to hear what he was saying.

"You will not find it. Not here, not anywhere." He smiled and tried weakly to raise his pistol towards the man. He never got the chance to fire. His arm fell limply to the ground as a saber flashed in the moonlight. With one final groan the man closed his eyes and remembered his friend's words: Protect her, for she is the most important thing on God's green earth.

From her hiding place, the girl watched the scene unfold with wide, horror-striken eyes, tears streaking her face. How could she go on, defenceless and alone? Paper rustled slightly as she moved and she looked down at the package her escort had thrust into her hands. The ship. The seal. She could not let his death be in vain.

Holding her breath, she gathered her skirts and began moving quietly through the woods towards the harbour town. England awaited.

Out out out out out! Adrienne told herself, struggling to return to the present.