Chapter 11 "Hey Rose, are you getting hungry?" She smiled at him and looked around. "Now that you mention it, I am starting to. Where'd you like to go?" Jack scratched his chin as he thought. Then, as if someone had suddenly flipped the switch to the light bulb over his head, he stood up excitedly and pulled Rose up as well. "Atlantic City!" Rose laughed at his absurdity. "Jack! Atlantic City is in New Jersey!" "Yeah, so... what's wrong with that? We can go have lunch on the beach. It's beautiful there this time of the year. We'll just head on over to my uncle's house, get the cook to make us a picnic lunch, take my uncle's car and take a little drive on over to the beach! It couldn't get any better Rose…what do ya say?" Rose was taken aback by Jack's sudden impulse. She looked at him astonished, yet completely excited to go on this little "adventure". She wasn't quite sure what to say. "Well…I…ok Jack." Jack smiled and grabbed her hand, nearly dragging Rose back to his uncle's house. "Jack this whole thing really is crazy." He looked back at her. "Of course it is Rose…that's what's so fun about it." Jack pulled the car in next to the narrow sidewalk leading to the boardwalk in Atlantic City. Jack couldn't help but smile as he watched Rose pin her hat back on and quickly hop out of the car. Jack got out himself and picked up the picnic basket and slipped his leather portfolio under the handles. He offered his arm to Rose, who gladly took it. They started walking down the small side street that lead to the boardwalk, surveying the hodge podge of different little houses lining the streets. To Rose, it was all very exciting, as her mother would never take her to a place like this herself. "I take it you've never been here before." "No…I can't say I have. My mother barely let me walk down the street from our house because she was still afraid that some ruffian would be where he shouldn't be and try to bother me. But my father…my father was different. He would probably have brought me here. He loved going to new places and trying new things. I guess I inherited that from him." "From the way you've spoken about him, he seems like a great man. I can just see the admiration in your eyes every time you speak of him. It's a shame I never had the chance to meet him." Rose looked up at Jack as though she were looking at Jack through her father's eyes. "He would have liked you Jack…honestly." Jack smiled at her. "Well if he was anything like his daughter is, then I know that I would have liked him too." This made Rose blush slightly. She sighed to herself and inhaled the salty sea air. They were now at the edge of the sand. Jack looked over at Rose who was seemed fully relaxed. He set down the basket on the sidewalk and started to unlace his shoes. Rose watched him curiously. "Jack? What on earth are you doing?" He just smiled sweetly at her and pulled off his socks, stuffing them into his shoes. Rose was completely baffled as she watched him do this. She quickly looked around to see if anyone was watching them. Such a display in public…"Jack…really I think-" Jack's smile just got bigger as he noticed Rose's upper-class raising start to shine through. "Awe, come on Rose! You don't want to get sand in your shoes when we go down there to have our picnic, now do you?" "You want to have the picnic down there; with all of those swimmers? Jack…really… I think that maybe we ought to eat our lunch-" "Oh come on Rose! Where's your sense of adventure? It's just a little sand….it's not like we're rolling around in a pile of mud." "Yes, but…" Rose looked down at Jack. She smiled and gave in, forgetting how her mother would simply kill her if she found out she was here, let alone going down to sit in the sand to eat lunch. "Oh, alright." "Great…just take your shoes and your stockings off and set them right here with mine." Rose complied, slipping her delicate high-heeled shoes off and pulling her stockings off. She rapped the stockings into her shoes like Jack's and stepped into the warm sand. She chuckled as the sand quickly covered her feet, forcing her to lift her skirt up to walk. "Here…this looks perfect." After walking a little bit down the beach, Jack set the basket down in the sand. This part of the beach was much quieter, with very few people in sight since everyone had gone down near the pier instead. Rose spread the blanket down and started to unload the food. Both started to eat the sandwiches, watermelon slices and crumb cake that the cook had packed for them. Just noticing it for the first time, Rose picked up Jack's leather portfolio. "Jack, what's this?" "Oh, those are just some of my vain attempts at drawing. I like to bring it with me wherever I go, just in case I see something that I want to put down onto paper. Some people bring those new cameras along with them…but me, I like to draw what I see. I guess it helps me to remember all the little details better." Rose smiled at him as she carefully flipped the cover open. The first drawing was the most recent. It was of one of the gardeners tending to some flowers at what she assumed to be his uncle's house. She looked over at him and grinned. She carefully turned the page to see a scene from the neighborhood that she had found Jack in the other day. There were little girls laughing and skipping rope. All of their happiness and youth seemed to have been captured in the drawing and Rose found herself feeling like she were right there laughing and playing with them. "Jack, these are truly amazing." She turned the page to see a portrait of an older woman sitting in the sun, carefully sculpting some clay. Rose could just see the concentration reflected in her features and her aged and delicate hands gently pressing against the cold, wet clay. Rose sighed as she turned another page to show an older man in the park, smoking a pipe. Jack placed his hands on Rose's as he pointed to the picture. "I want you to look at this man and tell me what you see." Rose looked at him a little confused, but complied. She looked into the man's eyes and she was shocked to see an almost hidden message in them. "His eyes…it's something about his eyes." Jack smiled and nodded. "What about his eyes? What are they saying to you?" Rose looked back down at the drawing. "They're…lonely; a little sadness yet pure happiness all at the same time." "He's…a war veteran. He fought in the Civil War as a Union soldier in the battle of Antietam…only the bloodiest battle of the war. He lost his two Confederate brothers and his father on that day. Even though they fought for different sides, they all had managed to end up on the same battlefield. He was the only one to survive. For the rest of his life, he had to live with the guilt and restlessness, not knowing if it was his bullet that killed them. After the war, it was only a matter of a few years before the fever swept through his hometown, killing his wife and three daughters. He was alone with his only son for the rest of his life after that. But his son…his son grew up to be a wonderful man, just like his father. He was his father's pride and joy. He went on to become a doctor, so that he would be able to save the lives of others. That day, when I drew this picture, was the day that his son had his first son." Rose sighed deeply as she looked at the picture even closer now. She looked over at Jack who was lying across the blanket, propping himself up with his elbow. He was just gazing at her, waiting for her reaction. "You have a wonderful gift Jack. You see people and you reflect their souls right onto the paper. If anyone else had done the same drawing of this man, I would have only seen an old man sitting in the park, smoking a pipe. But you…you've told me his story within the picture." Jack's expression was now serious as he looked up at Rose. He motioned to her with his head. "What about you Rose? What would your story be?" Rose closed the book quietly and set it aside. She looked down at him and then out over the ocean. "I don't know Jack, I don't know." There was a moment of silence before she spoke again. "You know something Jack? When I was little, I would always wish that I were a bird because that way, I could just get up and fly away from everyone and everything. I could just head out for the horizon," she swung her arm out across the ocean as if to emphasize her point. ", Whenever I felt like it. I would just fly higher and higher, above everyone's expectations and broken dreams." "You know something Rose?" Jack looked up at her and then suddenly out across the beach to where he had heard a strange noise. At the opposite end of the beach, sat a man grooming a chocolate brown horse. Jack suddenly got an impulse as he looked from the horse back to Rose. "You know something Rose? You are absolutely right. Come on!" Jack quickly got up and pulled a dumbfounded Rose to her feet. "Jack what are you doing? What about our stuff? Jack-" But Jack wouldn't speak a word as he dragged her across the beach towards the horse. When they finally reached the man, Jack slowed down and walked right up to him. "Say mister, do happen to give rides?" The man smiled and nodded as he pulled out a sign from behind the horse. It read: "Horse rentals- 50 cents per hour." "I sure do son." Jack smiled and looked back at Rose. "Great. I'll rent your horse for 2 hours then." Jack dug in his pockets and pulled out a dollar bill. He grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her closer to the horse. She was completely speechless, stuttering on any words that did come out. "Jack…I…you…" "Come on…it'll be fun. Just think Rose- we can ride this horse all the way down the beach, right in the surf." Rose's nerves started to calm down. "But now, you'll have to ride it like a real cowboy…none of that 'sidesaddle stuff'." Rose was shocked. "You…you mean…one leg on each side?" Jack just nodded, giving her his sweetest smile and making her weak at the knees. Rose's heart melted and she felt that she couldn't stand it any longer. Being a stubborn person and not wanting to give in too easily, she started to slowly give in. "Well, can you show me?" "I sure can." Jack pulled her up towards the horse. Rose patted its head as she felt Jack's hand press against her back. "Just put your foot right in here and swing your other leg right over the other side…it's that easy." "Teach me to ride like a man." Rose mumbled to herself. Jack couldn't help but laugh. Rose stuck her still bare foot into the stirrups and pushed herself up, swinging her right leg over the other side like Jack had told her to. She fixed her skirts in front of her and to the sides of her as Jack quickly and efficiently swung himself right up behind her. She felt his sudden warmth fill her body as he pressed himself against her and wrapped his hand around her waist to pick up the reigns. She felt her body relax and lean into him as they slowly started to trot away and into the horizon. Chapter 12 | Story Index | Post Your Review | Email Author | Home |
