Lost Cause (23 page)

“At least you have a sweetheart. I still have
to pay for it. When there’s any available, that is. I wish ole’
Lupe would bring her girls back. Especially that thick lipped
one.”

“You’ll find a woman of your own, Carl,” Jack
said. “Once this war is over, they’ll be plenty of young women
looking for a beau. This conflict has taken so many young men. It
just doesn’t seem right, does it?”

“Not having a woman doesn’t seem right. I
have needs you know.” Jack shook his head and said,

“Will you never learn the difference between
your lust and the purity of loving a woman for all she is?”
Campbell looked confused.

“I’m not sure I know what that means,” he
said.

“I don’t either, actually. But I’m working on
it.”

“Let’s not talk about it anymore,” Campbell
said staring into the fire.”

“I agree. But not thinking about it, well,
that’s a different matter all altogether.”

They arrived in Laredo the next afternoon and
Jack went immediately to the hospital to find Marie Hayes. She was
with a patient and Jack had to wait outside until she had finished
her rounds. While he waited he thought about what he would say to
her. Of course the obvious came to mind; I love you, I’ve missed
you so much, I couldn’t wait to see you. But, beyond that, he
wasn’t sure what to say, especially when it came to the future.

She met him by the front door of the hospital
and they embraced and he kissed her softly and gently touched her
swollen belly. “My, it sure is big,” he said with amazement.

“Almost four months. I’ve missed you so,
Jack.”

“You know I’ve missed you too. Is there
somewhere we can go that’s a little more private?”

“My quarters, I suppose. I’ve been rooming
with Nurse Mason. It’s not far, just down the thoroughfare
yonder.”

They adjourned to the little inn where the
nurses and other hospital workers lived courtesy of the Confederate
army. Nurse Mason had a room on the first floor that opened to a
little terrace overlooking Chacon Creek. They sat on a bench
underneath a trellis of dried honeysuckle and Jack held her close
and she wept for a while. Finally she looked in his eyes and said,
“When will we be married?”

“Any time after I get back from
Brownsville.”

“But, you’re here now.”

“For a week only. Don’t you want to have a
fancy wedding with everyone we know attending?”

“You’re not worried?”

“Why should I be worried?”

“Because I’m pregnant, Jack. People know it.
They also know I’m not married. That makes me a—”

“It makes you my fiancé, that’s what it makes
you. And I could give a damn what people think.”

“Of course you don’t,” she said hotly.
“You’re not the one with a sullied reputation. How am I to make you
a good wife when I already have a bad reputation?”

“With who? Who says you have a bad
reputation?”

“Oh, Jack, everyone. Not with their words,
but their eyes transmit their thoughts and feelings. The hospital
administrator asked me to wear larger clothing so I don’t show so
much. In another month I’ll be asked to stop working
altogether.”

“Good. I don’t want you working anyway.”

“What about money?”

“I’m a sergeant now, Marie. I will see to
your needs.” She seemed dubious. And worried.

“The doctor said I should avoid taking on too
much weight,” she said. “Apparently I have a narrow pelvis and he’s
concerned about a possible difficult delivery.”

“What else did he say?” asked Jack.

“Nothing. I’m in good health. A bit
malnourished maybe, but that’s because of the morning sickness and
the poor hospital food.”

“Then you must eat better food.”

“Yes, I suppose. Marry me, Jack, marry me
tomorrow. Let’s get married so our child will be legitimate.”

“Of course I’ll marry you, I love you.”

“Tomorrow?”

“No, today. Let’s go find that priest and
have him read the vows.”

“But, we’ll need witnesses.”

“Carl can be one. And Nurse Mason.”

“Campbell’s here?”

“Yes. He rode up with me. For protection. I
suppose he’s visiting a local cantina right about now.”

“Really? He was very nice to me when you
left. Certainly we can have him in the wedding ceremony. Have you
told him you want to get married?”

“Only a thousand times.”

She grew quiet for a time fidgeting with the
hem of her shawl.

“What’s wrong, Marie?” asked Jack. “Tell me,
what’s on your mind?”

“I’m big with child now and I’m afraid you
won’t want me when I’m all swollen with lank hair and fat
ankles.”

“You seem to know a lot about it,” Jack said
frowning.

“I have a sister, and aunts. I’ve seen my
share of pregnant women. And they all looked the same. Fat.”

“Come on, Marie, you know how crazy I am
about you. I don’t care about fat ankles and such.”

“So you’ll have me the way I am? And the way
I’m going to be?”

“Just the way you are. And, yes the way
you’re going to be also.”

“Good. Let’s do it then. Let’s get married
right away.”

Jack rented a room in the inn paying for a
full week signing the register as Sergeant and Mrs. Jack Saylor.
Marie finished her shift at the hospital and told Nurse Mason she
would be staying with Jack for a few days. Nurse Mason was thrilled
to hear about the impending wedding and said she would be happy to
stand in as maid of honor.

After a supper of boiled pork and sweet
potatoes in a quaint little eatery near the camp, Jack and Marie
returned to their room and went straight to bed. Jack was hesitant
to make love to her fearing he might injure the child in her womb.
“She’s just a tiny thing,” Marie said drawing him close to her.
“You won’t hurt her. Just be careful that’s all.”

“Her, huh?”

“Of course.” Her name will be Madeline, after
my mother.”

“What if it’s a boy?”

“Then I shall be sad. But I will love him
just the same.”

Later, they both lay awake watching the moon
shine in through the window. Can’t you sleep?” she asked.

“No. I’m just thinking.”

“About what?”

“I was remembering how crazy I thought you
were when I first met you. Do you remember that?”

“You’re the one who’s crazy.”

“How so?”

“You’re marrying me, the crazy girl. That
makes you just a little crazy too, now doesn’t it?”

“I don’t think like that way anymore,” Jack
said.

“Good, because we can’t afford to be crazy.
We have a little one to think about now.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“I wonder what I should wear. Oh my, I have
nothing to wear!”

“Then we shall find you something,” Jack said
taking her hand. “First thing in the morning, we’ll go
shopping.”

“But, the money. . .”

“I’ve sat around in Brownsville for four
months with nothing to spend my pay on except home brew beer and
corn tortillas. Don’t worry wife to be, I have enough money to see
to it that you have a grand wedding day.”

Marie drifted off to sleep happy to know that
she would be Jack’s wife in a few hours, but finding sleep was much
harder for Jack. He lay awake for hours thinking about the future
and what it be like to be a husband and father. He finally managed
to convince himself that it would be a wonderful thing, although a
flicker of doubt plagued his thoughts as he drifted off to
sleep.

It was not yet daylight when Jack went to
find the priest to ask him to say the marriage vows. He said he
would be happy to and Jack went to find Campbell at the mess tent
and asked him to be his best man and he said he would be happy to
then Jack went to get Marie who was waiting by the door to the inn
purse in hand. Shops were limited, with only a general mercantile
store and a dress emporium and seamstress shop on the west side of
town to choose from. Marie found a dress she liked right away and
tried it on for Jack’s approval. It was a little snug in the waist
and the bustle was a bit higher than she liked but all in all it
was quite a lovely dress. It was made of light blue chiffon with
lace accents at the collar and the edge of the sleeves. A white
pill box hat with a lace veil and a clutch purse made of white
corduroy added a touch of elegance to the blended ensemble.

The ceremony took place at precisely nine
a.m. in the little church next to the camp. Campbell, dressed in
his cleanest shirt, stood with Jack as his best man and Nurse
Charlotte Mason stood with Marie as her bride’s maid. There was no
one to walk her down the aisle, so Jack took her arm and escorted
her to the front of the alter where the priest waited dressed in
his finest vestments.

The vows were simple: “do you Jack Saylor
take Marie Collins Hayes to be your lawfully wedded wife, forsaking
all others?”

Jack said, “I do,” and then Marie repeated
the vows adding,

“Till death do us part.”

“I don’t have a ring,” Jack said. “But this
means a great deal to me, so I would like for you to have it back.”
He removed the Saint Christopher medallion from his pocket and
placed it around her neck.

“Well, go on, kiss her,” Campbell said
grinning.

They embraced and kissed briefly and everyone
clapped and the priest shook Jack’s hand and for a few moments the
world seemed right and at peace and as far away from the horrors of
war as anyone could imagine.

And then it all faded as quickly as it had
begun and the reality that Jack had to leave soon settled over the
assembly like a cold rain.

Chapter 37

The months of March and April were
exceptionally warm in Brownsville and the wind blew continuously
and on the Ides of March it started raining. It rained on and off
the rest of the month and well into latter part of April before
tapering off just in time for a major deployment east of
Brownsville.

Since the beginning of April there had been a
gentleman’s agreement in place for both sides not to advance
without prior notice. But Confederate scouts had seen signs of a
Union Calvary build up along the American side of the Rio Grande as
far west as Boca Chica and Brazos Santiago. Colonel Ford was
understandably concerned. He called a meeting of his staff officers
to discuss possible counter measures. “I propose we send a regiment
up to Port Isabel and put eyes on the coast line,” Captain Caldwell
suggested. Colonel Ford was more or less in agreement, with the
caveat that they send a squad over to Boca Chica to scout that
location as well.

At mess that evening Jack and Corporal
Campbell were less than enthusiastic about engaging in more
hostilities so soon after the Spring rains had stopped. “Probably
get bogged down for sure in that marshy grass around the port,”
Campbell said sourly.

“I’m a little more worried about getting my
ass shot off,” Jack said. “I mean, I’m a husband now, and a soon to
be father. I have to keep myself in one piece for my family.”

“Personally I have to stay in good shape for
the senoritas,” Campbell said. “And I still haven’t had that train
ride with a nurse yet. As you can see, I have a lot to live for.”
He’d grown a thick beard that covered much of the scars on his
face, but his cheeks still looked oddly distorted especially when
he smiled.

“I just hate seeing us go into another summer
with this damn war still raging,” Jack said.

“Four years.”

“It was supposed to be over in six
months.”

“I signed up right after the first Bull Run
fracas,” Campbell said. “You?”

“Not until March of sixty-three. My granny
needed me around the ranch. Couldn’t just leave her high and
dry.”

“No, suppose not.”

“Maybe this will be the year,” Jack said
sipping his coffee. “Maybe Lee will punch north again and crush
Grant’s boys so badly they’ll give up and call it quits.”

“I don’t know, Jack, I doubt he has enough
left to do much punching with.”

“How many times do I have to tell you, it’s
Sergeant Jack to you,” Jack said grinning.

They rode out early the next morning ahead of
the sunrise traveling north by northwest. It was the eleventh of
May 1865, two weeks before Jack’s twenty-third birthday. He had
considered writing Marie to tell her he would be out in the field
for a while, but thought better of it figuring there was no need
worrying her unnecessarily. Their destination was the town of Port
Isabel located on the Gulf of Mexico about twenty-five miles
northeast of Fort Brown. Captain Caldwell figured to scout the
coast line around the town for Union gunboats and supply ships that
might possibly indicate a Union force build up in the area.

As they drew near the town, Captain Caldwell
called Jack aside and told him to take twenty mounted men and ride
east along the coast line to Boca Chica looking for any sign of a
Union presence. Jack selected twenty men including Corporal
Campbell and rode out about mid morning hoping to reach the port
town by lunch time.

They arrived at the heights above the town
just before eleven a.m. “What do you think?” Jack asked
Campbell.

“Don’t see much stirrin’ around.”

“Me neither. Better ride in slow and check it
out though. We’ll take three men with us. The others can stay here
and watch the road in and out of town.”

Jack along with Campbell and three other men
rode into the sleepy little coastal town and stopped in front of
the constable’s office. Jack went inside and spoke with a thin,
balding man who claimed to be the top law officer in town. “Seen
any Yankees around?” asked Jack cordially. The man shook his
head.

“Naw. Ain’t too keen on seein’ rebels in town
neither.”

“Why’s that?”

“Don’t want our houses burned down or shot
up. Don’t want all our goods plundered.