I woke to the sound of Blue barking on the front porch as he always does. He has an ongoing feud with a riverboat that makes its way up the river every other day. The sun was just rising and shown in the windows. The home was quiet as always other than blue. I called him and he came into the bedroom and put his big head on the bed and looked at me with his big soulful light-blue eyes and a silly look on his face. Blue is a large hound, originating in Australia and the breed is called Catahula Hound. They are known for their brown and black patches on mostly white fur. Blue’s ears are dappled with brown spots. He has the biggest mouth and teeth I have seen. A gentle dog that is good in the field and has never injured a rabbit.
I lay in bed for a while and thought of last night and how beautiful Terri looked in the moonlight. Her white skin and perfect body as she gave herself to me in the tub and then again on the soft new grass in the garden, played through my mind's eye. How complicated my life suddenly became, but how simple to respond to our needs. I got up and dressed and Cara was busy around the house already. She prepared breakfast for me in the kitchen in the out building away from the house. The kitchen was kept separately to ensure a fire would not destroy the home. I ate eggs and grits, with toast and fresh marmalade.
Today was a big day on the plantation. The sugar cane was ready for harvesting. Today Terri’s husband would lead his men into the fields to set them on fire to burn away the leaves and drive off insects and other vermin that populate the cane. After the fire has gone out the workers will gather the stalks onto wagons and bring heaping piles of cane to the processing plant at the end of the row of oaks, past the workers homes.
My job is pretty simple during these events. I was expected to ride around the fields to make sure everything was going as planned. Terri’s husband always kept everything going like clockwork, so there was really very little for me to do. I usually spend the time hunting, since all sorts of animals are on the move during the fires.
I went down the back stairs and into the garden. The day was warm and the sun was bright. I looked to the tub remembering and then I saw Terri beyond the tub near the first big oak tree closest to the home. She was painting. I walked over to her and stood at a little distance behind her. She was so absorbed in her painting that she didn’t see me. She was painting a scene with her son and two other children climbing in a tree. They were playing tag and leaping from branch to branch. Her rendering of the faces was inspired. She captured the joy and simplicity of a child’s world. Terri was wearing a pair of her husband’s bib-overalls and a short-sleeved cotton shirt underneath.
Her hair caught the morning sun. I walked quietly up behind her and put my hands on her waist and said, “Good morning beautiful.”
She turned to me and said, “I thought that was you. I didn’t think you would be up this early in the morning.”
I wanted to hug her and kiss her, but of course I could not. “I am going to take Blue with me and do a little hunting while I check on the work”, I said. Terri asked if I would like company, that she used to hunt with her father and was a pretty good shot. I said, “By all means, I would love some company. I planned to leave in about a half an hour. Will that give you enough time?”
She said, “I’ll be ready” and began to pack up her paints and canvas.
Blue can always tell when we are going to go hunting. He stays close to me and keeps looking at me to see if I am starting for the barn. I asked the groom to prepare two horses for Mrs. Anderson and myself. I went into the house and picked out a couple of flintlocks, one for me and a lighter one for Terri, then stocked enough powder and shot to last the day. As I was heading out the door, Cara brought a basket and said, “You’ll likely get hungry today and I fixed enough for someone else special” and she winked at me. Now, how could she have caught on so quickly?
Terri joined me on the way to the barn. She was wearing a loose skirt that came to her ankles just above her riding boots. She had on a black wide brimmed hat and a plaid shirt. When we got to the barn, the groom was finishing my horse and was getting ready to rig Terri’s horse. He apologized for not having them ready already. Terri said, “Non-sense, I will saddle my own horse. That’s the least I can do for her, if I am going to be on her back all day.” The groom looked at me a little surprised and I nodded that I thought Terri was right.
I watched Terri brush her mare and was taken by the contrast between her small body and the big Appaloosa. The mare did the usual tricks and Terri quickly let her know who was boss. We mounted and rode north to the first Oak tree where Terri was painting, where we turned left down the center of the rows of oaks and children climbing in the trees and playing in the grass. Blue came running to catch up with us, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. He took the lead and wandered from the left to the right side of the road ahead of us, just checking things out. He startled a few children that looked up from their game of marbles as he dashed by them.
At the end of the row of oaks, we saw the men getting ready for the days work, some on horseback, some in wagons and some loading equipment. Terri saw her husband and told him she was going to go hunting with me and wished him luck on the day’s fires. I was surprised that he did not even seem to pay any attention to the fact that his wife was going to be with me all day. We cued our horses on to the road by the swamp.
We rode along the dirt road with the swamp to the left and sugar cane to the right, until we came to an open grass field where the cows grazed. On the other side we saw a deer next to the cypress trees. She was a beautiful doe with a young dear with her. Blue began to work the field. We were interested in birds and rabbit today. We stopped in the shade of a large oak in the middle of the field and loaded our muskets. Terri was very familiar with loading the gun. I thought she had loaded a little more powder than the musket was designed to hold and was afraid the kick would be too much for her. I was just about to say something to her, when blue yelped and a rabbit darted out ahead of us at about twenty-five yards. Terri quickly took aim and fired. Right on the mark, the rabbit dropped. Blue ran ahead and sniffed it and then gently picked it up and brought it to me. I put it in the game-bag and tied it to my saddle. “Terri,” I said, “That was really good shooting. Your dad did a good job of teaching you. Remind me never to cross you” and we laughed.