I Shall Be Near to You: A Novel

‘Let’s see—’ Hiram coils himself, making to come after me. That’s when Jeremiah runs the flat of his palm along the water, sending a wall of water right into Hiram’s face. Then those two yell and splash like schoolboys, until Jimmy comes to help and Hiram grabs him around the neck. He shoves him under the water and holds him there, his arms flailing and his legs kicking.

 

Sully yells ‘Hey!’ and charges through the water, punching Hiram in the jaw before Henry and Jeremiah and Edward all rush Hiram, leaving Will standing where he is. There is yelling and splashing and Jeremiah has got his arm across Hiram’s throat before finally Jimmy pops up, sputtering and coughing. That don’t stop the boys from throwing punches, and the difference between real fighting and playing is too close to call. I get out of that river as fast as I can, finding a place where the sun can dry out my wet clothes, keeping my arms crossed and my knees up.

 

Those boys keep grappling and fighting, water splashing everywhere, ’til three girls wearing bright colors come out of the trees on the other bank. Those red and green and blue dresses are a magnet to Hiram, who stops dead, and the rest of the boys, even Jeremiah, go still when they catch sight of what he is looking at.

 

‘You ladies like what you’re seeing?’ Hiram yells, puffing his chest out as he stands in the river.

 

The girls giggle and one of them, a tall auburn-haired girl wearing wine-red, says, ‘I don’t know yet. I can’t see much of anything!’ and that gets the other two pealing with laughter.

 

‘You lovelies ain’t afraid of a big trouser serpent, are you?’ Hiram calls, and starts moving through the water toward them.

 

‘You’d be better off with me,’ Edward joins in. ‘His trouser serpent bit a girl back home and he had to join up or take himself a wife!’

 

I ain’t ever heard such bald talk before, even when my Papa got to talking about bulls and cows with the men at church. The two of them, Hiram and Edward both, make me feel like I’ve just cracked open a rotten egg. There ain’t a bone in my body that don’t think they’d do something worse to me than Eli if they ever came to know the truth.

 

Hiram punches Edward in the shoulder like maybe they’ll go to scrapping again, but that auburn-haired girl says, ‘We ain’t looking for husbands,’ and lifts her skirt a little, showing her calf. That is when I know they are ladies of low virtue, and it ain’t right but I am glad for them getting the boys’ attention.

 

Sully and Henry trail after Hiram and Edward, leaving Jimmy and Will watching from where they stand, but Jeremiah wades back to me.

 

‘You all right?’ he asks.

 

‘I’ve got to get dry,’ I say.

 

‘We should go somewhere else, upriver a bit, you and me. I don’t like all them being here anyway.’

 

‘Won’t look right, just the two of us going.’

 

‘If there’s more trouble …’ Jeremiah says, looking at Hiram coming up out of the water toward those ladies.

 

‘Why do you think I’m sitting out here?’ I say. ‘You think it was an accident Sully brought those boys?’

 

‘Sully didn’t—’ Jeremiah takes a sharp breath like when he’s bluffing at poker, and I wonder what he’s playing at. ‘I mean, he wouldn’t—’

 

‘You go on. It looks like those boys have found other entertainments.’

 

‘You could still cool off a bit more,’ he says. ‘Get your feet wet at least. I’ll stay. I’ve already had enough swimming.’

 

‘I can’t get wet, Jeremiah. But don’t ruin your fun on my account.’

 

He reaches out to put a hand on my shoulder but I am too peevish.

 

‘You just go on,’ I tell him, only when he swims out to Will and Jimmy, closer to where the rest of the boys are still courting those girls, I wish I’d asked him to stay.

 

 

MOST OF JUNE is gone and it’s looking like the Army don’t care a thing about fighting season, when drums sound the long roll, just after supper one evening. The whole Regiment gathers on the parade ground, and there is Captain out front of his tent holding papers and Jennie Chalmers behind him, her hands twisting in her apron, looking worse than I feel.

 

‘General Ricketts has given us our marching orders,’ he finally says when we’re all hushed, and my whole self goes even more still to hear it.

 

Sully lets out a whoop like an idiot. Jimmy, hovering at Sully’s side, cheers. But there are plenty who are smart enough and don’t open their mouths, Will being one, and Jennie Chalmers, who walks away as soon as the cheering starts. Thomas stands quiet too, most likely picturing on his wife and children left at home. Jeremiah lays a firm hand on my arm, and I know right then what he is thinking.

 

When Captain can make himself heard again he says, ‘We’ll be leaving first thing Monday, heavy marching orders. Start getting your things in order and rest up.’ He surveys the lot of us. ‘You’re dismissed.’

 

The words no sooner leave his mouth than conversation hums and clumps of men start back across the parade ground. We are walking back too when Sully turns round.

 

‘We’ve got our adventure now!’ he says. ‘Lord knows I am sick to death of waiting!’

 

‘Waiting is a damn sight better than getting killed,’ I spit at him.

 

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