Beneath the Honeysuckle Vine (22 page)

Vivianna shook her head and explained,
“
I…I didn
’
t even see the man
,
but…but Justin told me…
”

She paused—afraid to continue—afraid to tell Mrs. Turner and Caleb how far more serious the situation was than it already seemed.

“
Justin told ya what, Viv?
”
Caleb urged, however.
He rose to his feet and strode to her.
Reaching out, he brushed a strand of hair from her forehead.
He was so kind
;
there was such a calming nature about him.
Caleb Turner made a body feel as if any secret could be revealed to him and kept safe—as if any worry or problem could be overcome.

“
He told me…the man out there in the woods was a guard at
Andersonville
prison,
”
she confessed.
“
Justin said his name is Powell…that he and Johnny both knew him
,
that this Powell man hated them both for some reason…especially Johnny.
”

Even as
Savannah
gasped and began sobbing—even as Vivianna felt the icy fingers of dread and doom encircling her throat—still Caleb
’
s deep blue eyes comforted her.
Caleb did not shout or yell or growl.
He only nodded
,
as if the information she
’
d just offered was of little consequence.

“
Caleb!
Caleb!
”
Savannah
cried.
“
They
’
ll hang your brother for certain if it
’
s known!
You know they will!
They
’
ll lynch him if nothin
’
else!
”

“
Calm down, Mama,
”
Caleb said, going to his mother and gathering her in his arms.
“
Just settle yourself.
We
’
ll work this out.
”

“
Work it out?
”
Savannah
cried.
“
There won
’
t be any workin
’
this out!
People are too angry about the war
.
We
’
re fortunate you weren
’
t beaten to death when you returned!
Oh, Caleb…we can
’
t tell anybody.
We can
’
t!
”

Vivianna turned when she heard the door open.
Justin and Johnny stepped into the house looking grave, weary
,
somehow defeated.

“
Oh, Justin!
”
Savannah
gasped, collapsing into Justin
’
s embrace as he approached.
“
What is all this, Justin?
How can this be?
”

“
Let
’
s sit down, Mama,
”
Justin said.
“
Let
’
s all just sit down and do some thinkin
’
.
”

But
Savannah
was overcome.
“
We can
’
t tell anybody, Justin!
We can
’
t!
You know we can
’
t.
”

“
Please, Mama,
”
Caleb said.
“
Let
’
s just sit down a spell and do some talkin
’
on it.
Everythin
’
will be fine
. W
e just need to decide what to do.
”

As Caleb led his mother to the kitchen table, Vivianna watched as Justin turned to Johnny.

“
You can run, Johnny,
”
Justin said.
“
There ain
’
t no need for you to linger and find yourself hanged just because
—”

“
I ain
’
t a coward, Justin,
”
Johnny growled.
“
I ain
’
t runnin
’
from this.
Chances are it was me Powell was lookin
’
for anyway…and you know it.
”

Justin nodded.
“
Come on then, boy,
”
he said, following his mother and brother to the table.
“
We better work this out as best we can.
”

Vivianna looked to Johnny.
He
’
d been standing near the front door
,
supporting himself by leaning on the back of a chair to one side of it.
As he took a step forward, however, he lost his balance and stumbled to one side.
Instinctively, Vivianna reached out, taking hold of his arm in an effort to steady him—but she wasn
’
t strong enough to keep the weight of his body from toppling over.
In the next moment, she found herself in a heap on the floor—Johnny Tabor on his hands and knees as he hovered over her.

“
You need some rest, John!
”
Caleb scolded as he and Justin helped Johnny to stand.

“
I need some backbone!
”
Johnny growled as Justin helped him to the table.

Caleb offered Vivianna his hand and pulled her to her feet.

“
You all right?
”
he asked.
Vivianna smiled at him and nodded.
Taking her hand, he led her to the table as well.

Once they were all seated, it was Johnny Tabor who spoke first.

“
Zachary Powell was a devil, Mrs. Turner.
One of the worst men I have ever in my life come across.
And he
’
s lyin
’
dead out there in your woods,
”
he began.
“
It looks to me and Justin as if he just simply fell down and cracked his head on a rock.
But the fact is
he
’
s a Johnny Reb
. A
nd me, Justin, and Caleb…
”
H
e paused
,
shaking his head with something akin to disbelief.
“
Me and your boys will be the first ones the folks in
Florence
look to blame.
”

“
No bullet?
No stabbin
’
?
”
Caleb asked.
“
He
’
s just lyin
’
out there dead?
”

Johnny nodded
,
and Justin said,
“
The back of his head looks to be bashed in…and there
’
s a big rock right there under him.
”

“
Blood on the rock?
”
Caleb asked.

Justin and Johnny both nodded.

“
Mm
-
hmm,
”
Johnny said.
“
It would seem he just fell down and cracked his head open.
Somethin
’
chewed him up pretty bad since though.
”

“
Well then
,
that
’
s what we tell the sheriff!
”
Savannah
suggested.
“
We just tell the sheriff the truth…that Nate and Willy found him out there and…and we just leave out the part about you boys knowin
’
him.
”

Vivianna felt her heart lighten—lighten as much as
Savannah
’
s hopeful expression lightened.
Surely if they simply told the truth
,
surely then there would be no danger to Justin and his friend
or
to
Caleb.

“
Yes!
”
Vivianna said.
“
Certainly no one would find suspicion with you boys if we just tell them the truth and they see the rock and
—”

“
Johnny said it
looks
like he hit his head on the rock,
”
Justin interrupted.
“
It could just as easy be someone bashed his head in with the rock and then put it out there in the woods under him.
”
He shook his head.
“
No…no.
Folks would still be pointin
’
their fingers at us.
”

“
Then we don
’
t tell anyone,
”
Savannah
suggested.
“
We just bury him proper in our own little cemetery
,
and no one ever has to know we found him.
”

“
Pardon me, Mrs. Turner,
”
Johnny began,
“
but I
’
m sure the boy has family.
It wouldn
’
t be right not to let them know what happened to him
,
to let a family go for eternity without knowing if he was alive or dead…where he was planted.
”
Johnny paused
,
glanced to Vivianna
,
and continued,
“
It seems to me that too many folks are already livin
’
with those kinds of ghosts.
”

Vivianna wondered how much Justin had told Johnny about Sam and Augie
. S
he wondered if he knew they hadn
’
t been heard from in over two years—that she would never know where they were buried or how they had died.

“
You
’
d want to know about your boys, ma
’
am,
”
he added.
“
I don
’
t think we can simply bury the boy and not tell a soul.
”

“
And what if someone did kill him?
”
Caleb asked.
“
If we bury him and don
’
t tell anybody
—
and someone around these parts is the one who killed him
—
we
’
d be askin
’
for danger to come knockin
’
on our own door.
”

Justin nodded.
“
I say we tell the sheriff,
”
he suggested.
“
Mama, Sheriff Pidwell…he
’
s known me and Caleb since we were born.
Surely, if we just went to him and explained
—”

“
Maybe he
’
d pretend he found the body,
”
Caleb suggested.
“
Maybe we could just tell the sheriff we found the body
but explain why we don
’
t feel safe about comin
’
forward
. A
nd maybe he
’
ll just find the Reb
,
and we
’
ll be done with it.
”

Vivianna felt hope rising in her for a moment.
Yet
Savannah
shook her head.

“
No.
No,
”
she said.
“
I don
’
t trust Sheriff Pidwell.
He lost three boys in the war…three boys who fought for the Confederacy.
I don
’
t trust that his heart is as soft as it once was.
”