Beneath the Honeysuckle Vine (35 page)

Vivianna tried to steady her breathing.
Yet the thought of Johnny leaving had caused her insides to quiver with trepidation.
“
Oh, I don
’
t know,
”
she told him.
“
We just now…just a minute ago…we just decided we need a little more time…a little more time to sort our feelin
’
s out.
”

“
What?
”
Johnny exclaimed
,
a deep frown furrowing his brow suddenly.
“
Did he tell you that he didn
’
t…what did he say to you, Vivi?
”

“
Nothin
’
bad, Johnny,
”
she explained.
“
Just that…he needs more time.
He thinks I need more time too.
So much has happened
. S
o much is hauntin
’
him…and me, I suppose.
”
She frowned
,
lost in her own self-estimation.
“
Sometimes I feel…I feel almost numb.
It wasn
’
t until today when…
”
Vivianna smiled
and
shook her head.
Certainly, it was true Johnny
’
s kiss had affected her.
Yet she did not want him to know how thoroughly it had done so.
“
Anyway,
”
she continued with a sigh and a toss of her head
,
“
I
’
m glad for your letter.
Letters mean the world when you
’
re separated from your loved ones.
”

“
Yes…they do,
”
he mumbled.
“
My sister had another baby,
”
he began.
“
A boy.
She named him after me.
”

Vivianna smiled.
“
How sweet!
It
’
s very flatterin
’
t
o have a baby named after you…
or at least I imagine it would be.
”
She paused
and
studied him for a moment
,
causing her breath to quicken
,
her heart to flutter once more.
“
I suppose
Texas
isn
’
t near as muggy as
Alabama
…is it?
”
she asked.

“
No,
”
he said
,
smiling at her.
“
But I sure prefer
Alabama
to
Georgia
.
”

“
Well, we do grow the sweetest honeysuckle sugar ya ever did taste,
”
she said, reaching up and plucking a large blossom from the vine.

She smiled as Johnny frowned when she began to separate the flower to find the sweet nectar within.

“
What
’
re ya doin
’
?
”
he asked, obviously completely perplexed.

Vivianna felt her mouth drop open with astonishment.
“
Johnny Tabor!
You do not mean to tell me you
’
ve never had honeysuckle sugar, do you?
”

“
No, ma
’
am.
I guess I haven
’
t,
”
he admitted with a smile and an amused chuckle.

“
Hmm,
”
Vivianna breathed.
“
Well, that
’
s just plum criminal if ya ask me.
Here,
”
she said, pulling the long white thread with its priceless droplet of nectar from the flower.
“
Open your mouth.
”

Johnny
’
s brow puckered.

“
Hurry, Johnny!
It
’
ll drop off before ya get to taste it,
”
she giggled.

Johnny opened his mouth
,
more to say something in response than to accept her gift of honeysuckle nectar.
Still, Vivianna placed the flower style on his tongue.

She smiled when his eyes widened.

“
It
’
s good, isn
’
t it?
”
she asked.

“
It
’
s almost as if…as if it ain
’
t there
. B
ut…but…
”
he stammered.

“
But it
’
s delicious all the same?
”
she finished for him.

“
Yeah,
”
he admitted.

Vivianna reached out and plucked another blossom.
“
Here
.
I
’
ll show you how to do it.
”
She pinched the blossom, holding carefully to the tiny green cup at its base.
“
Ya have to pull the blossom off slow…or you
’
ll crush the little green nectar cup.
”

She smiled as she placed another drop of nectar on Johnny
’
s tongue.
She wanted to kiss him!
She did!
She simply wanted to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him
.

“
There now,
”
she said instead.
“
You try it.
”
She plucked a blossom for him
,
giggling as she watched his callused fingers try to hold it carefully.

“
I don
’
t think I can manage it,
”
he mumbled
,
frowning as he tried to tenderly disassemble the tiny flower.
“
You do it for me,
”
he said once he
’
d managed to tear the blossom apart without even coming close to harvesting the sweet droplet of nectar it hid.

Vivianna giggled.

“
Viv!
Viv!
”
Willy called.
“
Help me!
”

Vivianna gasped as Willy suddenly burst into the arbor.

“
What
’
s the matter, Willy?
”
she asked.
It was obvious the boy was upset.
She felt her hand reach for Johnny
’
s arm—visions of another dead man in the woods owning her mind.

“
It
’
s the pollywog puddle! It
’
s dryin
’
up!
The little frogs are dryin
’
out
,
and the pollywogs will die if we don
’
t get them to the pond!
”
Willy explained, breathless and near to tears.
“
Justin wouldn
’
t help us
. H
e said he
’
s headed into town…and I can
’
t find Caleb!
”
He reached out and took hold of Johnny
’
s arm.
“
Come on, Johnny!
We gotta save the frogs at least!
”

Johnny was on his feet even faster than Vivianna was.
“
I
’
ll fetch a bucket for the pollywogs, Vivi,
”
he said.
“
You start gettin
’
those frogs over to the pond.
”

Vivianna nodded
,
her heart warmed by his willingness to help the boys with their task.

“
Come on, Viv!
”
Willy grumbled as he pulled her toward the pollywog puddle.
“
Ya don
’
t run near as fast as you used to.
”

Vivianna heard Johnny chuckle but kept her attention on Willy.

As they approached the pollywog puddle, it was to see a frantic Nate stuffing handfuls of tiny new frogs into the front pockets of his trousers.

“
Come on, Viv!
’
Nate called.
“
Some of
’
em are already dead!
I knew I should
’
ve added some water yesterday.
Willy and I didn
’
t check on
’
em this morning and
—”

“
It
’
s all right, Nate,
”
Vivianna soothed.
“
We
’
ll get the rest of them
. I
t
’
ll be all right.
”
Lifting her apron with one hand, she began filling it with tiny frogs with the other.
They were already high leapers, but she managed to keep most of them in her apron.

“
They
’
re all dyin
’
, Viv!
”
Willy sniffled.

Vivianna paused and placed her free hand on Willy
’
s shoulder.
“
We
’
ll save the rest, Willy.
Just help now, all right?
Try not to panic
. J
ust help me put as many as you can in my apron.
”

Willy nodded
and
brushed a tear from his eye.

Vivianna understood his pain.
Too much death had touched these young boys.
They didn
’
t need to see more
,
even in the form of pollywogs and frogs.

Johnny arrived with a bucket.
Dropping to his knees
,
he scooped up as many pollywogs as he could and headed to the pond.

“
Come on!
”
he said.
“
Bring what y
’
all got so far.
”

Vivianna nodded, bunched up her apron,
and ran
after him toward the pond.

Quickly, Johnny dumped the bucket of dying pollywogs into the large pond.
He plunged the bucket into the pond, filling it with water,
and
then turned and headed back to the puddle.
Vivianna shook the small frogs out of her apron into the safe water of the pond and nodded to Nate and Willy.

“
Empty out your pockets, boys
. T
hen go back for some more,
”
she instructed.
“
We
’
ll save as many as we can.
”

Hurriedly they worked
,
Vivianna and the boys collecting young frogs
,
Johnny scooping up handfuls of pollywogs and dropping them into his bucket.
Back and forth they went.
On their last trip to the puddle, Vivianna
’
s apron was sopping wet, muddy
,
and so full of frogs she wondered if she could make it back to the pond with all of them.

“
That
’
s it,
”
Johnny said, picking up his last bucketful of pollywogs.
“
Me and Vivi got the last of
’
em!
”
he told Nate and Willy with a smile.
“
Now, you boys run on home a
nd tell your mama what heroes y
’
a
ll are.
All right?
Me and Vivi will make sure they
’
re all swimmin
’
happy.
Go on now.
”