Hannah's Dream

Copyright©2013A.L Jambor

ISBN: 978-0-9896685-5-2

Woofie Publications

All Rights Reserved

AUTHOR'S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and scenes are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely unintentional.

The replication, uploading and distribution of this book on the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the author is illegal and punishable by law. Please only purchase authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author's rights is appreciated.

Cover design by Amy Jambor

Photo credits

[email protected] & 
Hot Damn Designs dba The Killion Group

Other books by A.L. Jambor

But the Children Survived

Pello Island Cassia

Darius Pello Island 2

Antonia Pello Island 3

Love's Destiny Pello Island 4

Kevin Chandler and The Case of the Missing Dogs

The Body in the Bungalow, a Divine Detective Agency Mystery Short

As Amy Jambor

Margaret's Choice The Tresterian Chronicles Book 1

Writing as Lenore Butler

Mary's Heart

For my grandmother, Dorothy,

the original strawberry blonde

Chapter 1

New Beach, New Jersey, 1892

The town of New Beach was nestled on the New Jersey shore just a few miles south of Long Branch.  The little beach town's residents had no interest in the tourist trade and had even rejected the addition of a train stop so they could keep their peaceful shoreline just as it was.

Twelve-year-old Hannah Dawes loved living by the ocean.  On Saturday mornings, she would get up early and run to the beach, where Johnny Liberty would be waiting, and together they would build sand castles, collect seashells, or chase seagulls.  Johnny had two tin pails, which his grandmother from Philadelphia had given him for his birthday six years ago.  They were rusty and battered, but he didn't care.  He also didn't mind lending his extra pail to Hannah because she was his friend, and he felt tender toward her.

She liked Johnny, too.  He was two years older than Hannah, and she liked the way his dark brown hair waved just a little, and how his brown eyes sparkled when she got close to him.  Hannah thought he had a nice face, the kind of face a girl could trust, and she often told her mother she would like to marry Johnny Liberty one day, but she would never say this to Johnny.

Johnny liked Hannah Dawes' strawberry blond hair.  Hannah wasn't the prettiest girl in school, but she had a sweet face.  Her brown eyes were round and her small nose turned up at the end.  But he liked her best when she smiled the way she did as she walked toward him the first thing every Saturday morning.  She had been meeting Johnny ever since she turned ten and her mother let her come to the beach alone.

They lived next door to each other on Maple Street.  Johnny saw her for the first time when she was two and her mother brought her outside for some air.  He was fascinated by the small girl and watched her toddle around the yard.  When she fell, he ran to help her up, and their mothers smiled.

"He's such a little gentleman," said Marian Dawes.

"Yes, that he is," said Sophie Liberty.

As the years went by, Johnny remained protective toward her, and would often take on the boys who teased her about her red hair.  They quickly learned to leave her alone.  As she grew older, Hannah became bolder and would deal with the bullies herself, but Johnny still kept his eye on her.

By the time they began meeting on the beach on Saturdays, Johnny was completely smitten with her, but he, too, kept his feelings to himself.  They had been friends so long that he wasn't sure Hannah would take him seriously.  She often teased the other boys at school with her sharp tongue, and he didn't relish being the object of one of her barbs.

So as he watched her approach, his heart began to beat faster and he smiled.  She smiled, too, and blushed, which only reddened her cheeks, giving her a nice, rosy glow.

"What took you so long?" he asked.

"My mother made me sit at the table and eat my breakfast.  She wouldn't let me take my toast," Hannah said.  "She says a lady doesn't eat on the street."

He laughed, for he always ate apples as he walked to school.

"That's what you get for being a girl."

"You be quiet, Johnny Liberty," she said.  "I couldn't help that, and you know it."

He handed her a pail and they began to walk to the beach.  It was the first weekend in May, and the sky over the ocean was a deep blue.  There were few clouds in the sky, and after a hard winter, people were coming to the beach to bask in the sun.  People walked along the shore, and children stuck their feet in the water, only to run from the freezing temperature of the Atlantic Ocean.

"I wish we could be here alone," Hannah said.

"Why?" Johnny asked.  "I like seeing people."

"Because I want to make a big castle, and the little kids always knock them down."

"They just want to have some fun.  You can always build it again."

"But I don't want to!"

She punched Johnny on the arm and he howled.

"Why'd you do that?" he said as he rubbed his arm.

"Because you're so mean."

She walked ahead of him, quickening her pace to put distance between them.  Johnny sighed.  She had been acting so strangely for the past few months, and he never knew what would arouse her anger.  She used to laugh and tease him, but now she got angry and hit him.  Then she would be sullen and not speak to him at all.

Hannah chose a spot as far away from the others on the beach as she could find and began to smooth the sand for her castle.  When Johnny caught up to her, he began to take off his shoes so he could get his feet wet, and Hannah clucked her tongue.

"What?" he said.

"Must you take off your shoes?"

"I want to get water to make the castle."

"But your feet are disgusting."

"Then don't look at them."

Johnny stomped off toward the water, leaving her alone.  She wanted to cry, but she knew he'd tease her if she did.  She never used to cry, but now that she had "become a woman," as her mother put it, she was completely at the mercy of her feelings.  Tears would come when she least expected them, and she hated having to wipe them away before anyone saw them.  She tried to be as carefree as she had been before the changes had come to her body, but it seemed as though no matter how much she tried to be lighthearted, she felt angry and frustrated.

Johnny got the worst of it for he had a way of irritating her more than anyone else.  She'd never noticed it before, but now everything he did made her mad.  When she saw him that morning, she was so happy, as his face was so handsome.  Why couldn't she just let him be?  She still liked him and wanted nothing more than to be his friend.  What was wrong with her?

She saw him coming toward her with a pail full of water and smiled.  He looked at her and approached her cautiously, unsure of what she would say next.