Forever

Part 5

GEORGIA, 1864

            Clara walked down the road she'd traveled so many times to Custard Mill on her way to care for the tree. She was about to turn up the drive, but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw who was standing at the top of the hill.

            No. It wasn't possible. The war wasn't over, the papers listed new casualties and battles every day. Yet there he was.

            "John," Clara whispered, hardly able to believe what she was seeing. She started slowly up the drive, then broke out into a run. "John!!"

            He grinned and ran toward his girl. "Clara!"

            They sprinted toward each other and Clara leaped into his arms when they met in the middle of the drive. John held her tight and spun her around, both of them laughing and crying at the same time. "Clara! Oh, Clara. My Clara. I've missed you terribly."

            "John," Clara sobbed. "John it's been unbearable. I was so worried. Every day I checked the papers, constantly fearing that you were...oh well that doesn't matter. You're here, and you're alive!"

            "Yes, Clara," John said. "I've come home to you."

∞

            They walked into Atlanta, and John told Clara what had happened and how he was shot. "I stayed in the hospital for nearly a month before the nurses would even let me think about leaving. One of them was very kind. She gave me your letter, and promised to take good care of me so I could come home to you. It's funny. I didn't even learn her name."

            "I'm glad she treated you well," Clara said, smiling.

            John smiled back at her. "Well anyway, after a few more weeks they let me go, but my commander refused to let me come back into combat, so I was on supply duty for about a month, then they released me and let me come home."

            "Does your shoulder still hurt?" Clara asked.

   John shook his head. "Not really. The bullet didn't hit any important muscles or bones. I got lucky."

            They walked through the town in silence for a while. As they reached the opposite edge of Atlanta, there was commotion rising everywhere. People were running in all directions in panic; the whole section of town was in an uproar.

            "What's going on?" Clara yelled over the shouts all around them.

            "I have no idea!" John responded. He stopped a man that was running past them. "You there, what's the meanin' of this?"

            The man looked frazzled. "Yankees! They're a-comin'!" Then he ran off.

            John looked confused, and slightly scared. "Yankees? But that's not...possible..." Looking up at the hill on the horizon, John could just make out a large troop of soldiers heading their way, and fast. John felt his heart sink. "Clara. We have to get out of here. Now. Come on." He grabbed her hand and turned in the direction they'd come from.

            "John, what's going on?" Clara asked as they ran. "What did that man mean? How are there Yankees in Atlanta?"

            "The Union Army is invading, Clara!" John said. "They're going to try and capture Atlanta!"

            Clara gasped. "No, they can't!"

            "They got Gettysburg, didn't they? And Vicksburg!"