Beneath the Honeysuckle Vine (23 page)

“
How long do ya think that boy has been dead?
”
Caleb asked.

Justin shook his head.
“
Johnny thinks not more
’
n a day,
”
he answered.
“
Powell probably tracked us here.
Maybe he was waitin
’
for a chance to
—”

“
Why did he hate you so, Mr. Tabor?
”
Vivianna asked.
She was suddenly very angry.
T
hough she didn
’
t know exactly how
,
somehow she knew it was all Johnny Tabor
’
s fault!
Justin was in danger because of his friend.
She knew it!

“
It don
’
t matter,
”
Johnny mumbled.
“
Fact is he just hated me.
”

“
Why?
”
Vivianna asked, tears welling in her eyes.
“
Justin and Caleb
,
they
’
re both in danger because of you…because this man hated you.
Why did he hate ya enough to follow ya all the way to
Alabama
?
”

Johnny
’
s eyes narrowed
,
and he glared at her.
“
Because every time he tried to beat me to death…I wouldn
’
t die,
”
he growled.
“
Every time he
’
d whip me
,
I wouldn
’
t holler.
It
’
s that simple.
I got the best of him…simply by not dyin
’
when he wanted me to.
”

Justin nodded and said,
“
He told us…he told me and Johnny when we were released from
Andersonville
…he told us he
’
d see Johnny dead and wormy one way or the other.
We just thought he was talkin
’
though.
Just thought he was talkin
’
.
”

“
I-I
’
m sorry,
”
Vivianna said.
She glanced away from Johnny when he looked to her.
“
I
’
m sorry, Mr. Tabor
.
I
’
m just so…I
’
m just so tired of this war…so tired of death and fear.
”

“
Please don
’
t apologize to me, Miss Vivianna,
”
Johnny mumbled.
“
I
’
ve done enough things…things that make me not worth apol
o
gizin
’
to.
”

Vivianna wanted to run—wanted to cry, scream
,
and shriek!
She wanted the war to be over—really over!
She wanted to linger in Justin
’
s arms under the willow tree
,
wanted to share kisses with him beneath the honeysuckle vine!
She wanted to run and laugh—really laugh—wholeheartedly the way she
’
d laughed that morning when that rotten pigeon had doused Johnny Tabor
.
She didn
’
t want to talk about death or dead men or prison or anything else ugly and frightening.
She didn
’
t want to think about the fact her parents were gone
,
that she
’
d never see her brothers again.

Carefully, she placed her trembling hands in her lap
and
squeezed them tightly together in an effort to keep from screaming with frustration and heartache.
She could not stand by and see Justin hanged—or Caleb
,
for that matter.
Yet she also knew Johnny was right.
She knew what it was to never know the fate of loved ones.
She knew the haunting, the bitter sadness
,
the sickening nightmares.
Yet what was to be done?
It seemed there were only two choices before them
:
to sin
—
to lie and leave a man
’
s family in lifelong misery—or to tell the truth and risk the death of those she loved.
The dead man in the woods was the enemy, yes.
He
’
d tortured Justin and Johnny, yes.
Still, his family did not deserve to pay such a haunting and painful price.
Still, she could not see Justin hanged—nor Caleb—nor even Johnny Tabor.

Vivianna swallowed.
She inhaled a deep breath
,
attempting to calm herself.

“
We could just tell the sheriff everything,
”
Caleb suggested.
“
Just tell him the truth and…and hope folks know us Turners are good people.
”

“
No,
”
Justin said.
“
No.
They
’
ll lynch us sure.
We can
’
t tell the sheriff.
Maybe Mama
’
s right
. M
aybe we should just bury Powell and
—”

“
We can
’
t do that, Justin,
”
Caleb interrupted.
“
You know we can
’
t.
”

“
I do know it,
”
Justin admitted.
“
Least I think I know it.
”

“
I stand with Caleb.
We just tell the sheriff,
”
Johnny said.
“
If it comes to folks wantin
’
a hangin
’
…well
,
I
’
m the reason he
’
s lyin
’
out there dead
. O
ne way or the other I
’
m the reason
. S
o I oughta be the one to
—”

“
No!
”
Savannah
exclaimed.
“
I won
’
t see anyone hang for somethin
’
they didn
’
t do…not if I can help it.
There
’
s got to be a way.
We know everybody in
Florence
.
Every soul!
I can
’
t believe they
’
d hang my boys
—
or even you, Johnny
—
without proof of wrongdoin
’
.
I just can
’
t believe it.
”

Justin sighed.
Vivianna watched as he leaned back in his chair
and
ran a hand over his bristly
 
haired head.
She looked to Caleb
,
pale and worried at facing such a terrible and seemingly impossible situation.
She looked to Johnny
,
worn, weathered, and still so weak.
Savannah
seemed to have aged a decade in the past five minutes.
Her eyes were void of any light
,
the corners of her mouth downturned in a dismal frown.

She thought then of Nate and Willy.
For all they knew, there was simply the horror of a dead man lying out in the woods.
They knew nothing of what further horrors could come of it.

“
Well, we
’
re sittin
’
—
all five of us
—
we
’
re sittin
’
here until we agree on somethin
’
,
”
Savannah
said.
“
I won
’
t see my boys hanged…and…and I do think it would be wrong not to tell someone.
I
’
d want to know where he was if it was my son.
So we
’
ll sit here
’
til we know what we
’
re doin
’
.
”

Vivianna nearly stood up—nearly walked away.
After all, of what value was her opinion?
Savannah
was Justin and Caleb
’
s mother
. E
ven Mr. Tabor had more reason to contribute
,
being that he was most likely the reason the dead man had come to
Florence
in the first place.
But for Vivianna
,
it was one of the rare moments when she was brutally reminded that she wasn
’
t truly a Turner
—a
t least, not yet.
Furthermore, if the people of
Florence
did find out about the dead Confederate near the old cemetery
,
she might never be.

Thus, an hour passed—an hour during which it was again considered that the dead Reb simply be buried out in the Turner family cemetery.
An hour during which it was again suggested the truth simply be told.
An hour during which it was again though
t
that perhaps Sheriff Pidwell could be trusted to help keep the Turner boys and Johnny Tabor safe from a mob lynching.

Johnny Tabor even suggested he rep
ort the body to the sheriff so
the suspicion would settle only on him.
Oddly, this offer of martyrdom somehow caused Vivianna to shudder with her own suspicions.
No man was truly so self-sacrificing for his friends as this.
She wondered if Johnny Tabor knew something they did not.
Was he far more ill than he appeared?
He
’
d been so willing to die the night before—seemed so willing to hang for the death of an enemy.
She thought of the night before
,
when Johnny had ridden out on Caleb
’
s horse to retrieve his pack.
Was guilt eating at him?
Did he know more about the death of the Confederate man in the woods than he was telling them?
Had Zachary Powell come upon Johnny while he was retrieving his and Justin
’
s possessions?
Yet Vivianna shook her head.
Johnny Tabor could hardly walk
,
let alone have the strength to kill another man.

By the time the hour had gone, everyone
’
s temperament was strained.
Always the only choice seemed to be to tell the sheriff—to have faith in a man who had lost three sons in battle against the
Union
that Caleb, Justin, and Johnny had fought to preserve.
There seemed no other honest venue
,
no other road that did not include a deceit that would haunt all of them for the rest of their lives.

“
Let me go,
”
Caleb said, rising to his feet.
“
I
’
ve been home so long…people trust me again.
”
He pointed to Justin and then Johnny.
“
You two only just returned.
It looks bad enough…so let me go.
”

At that moment, Nate and Willy burst into the room—burst into the room by way of the front door
,
not by way of their bedroom.

“
You don
’
t have to worry no more!
”
Willy shouted, beaming with relieved joy.
“
Mama!
You don
’
t have to worry about Justin or Caleb or Johnny Tabor!
Everything is all worked out!
”