Tuck Everlasting, The Continued Story.

Chapter 20

"Miles! Wait!" Winnie called out as she and Jesse climbed over the sandbags. They heard some gun shots fire ahead of them, but they ignored them as they continued to pursue Miles. Jesse caught up to his brother and tried to grab at his arm.

"Miles, Gettysburg??" Jesse repeated. "Civil War, Gettysbug?" Miles shook Jesse's hand away, and continued into the woods.

"Yep." Miles replied simply. "Civil War, Gettysburg." He offered no further explanation, and ran ahead, leaving Jesse and Winnie panting behind. When Winnie caught her breath, she realized that the gun shots had ceased, and the pursuing allies were already ahead. She watched Jesse with wide eyes, watching as he pushed his hair back out of his face.

"Is Miles telling the truth?" she finally asked. He looked at Winnie and met her pleading eyes. Her cheeks and nose were slightly pink from the cold, and she was covered in dirt from sleeping in the fox hole, but she still looked beautiful. He walked to her side and pulled her into his chest.

"I don't know Winnie." he said. He ran his hand lightly through her hair. "I don't know if this can even be possible," They heard the sharp sound of a branch breaking, and both of their heads snapped in the direction that Miles had dissappeared into. Winnie pulled away from Jesse and took a step toward the sound.

"Miles?" she called softly. They waited for a reply, but only heard silence. A cold breeze lightly shifted some loose leaves on the trees, and made Winnie shiver slightly. She turned on her heel to look at Jesse, and he shrugged.

"Come on." he said, extending a hand. "We should get back to camp." Winnie looked back at the woods, which had grown increasingly silent. The darkness between the trees seemed cold and unwelcoming, and Winnie couldn't even hear birds chirping. She turned back to Jesse and nodded, her loose strands of hair falling into her face. She placed her hand in Jesse's, and they began to walk briskly back toward the camp.

"Jesse." a low voice whispered harshly. Winnie and Jesse both spun on their heels to see Miles's head poking out from behind a tree. His face looked eerie with the sun breaking through the leaves around him. He glanced around hesitantly, and reached a hand out to gesture them over. Winnie and Jesse ran to the tree and crouched down next to Miles.

"What is going on?" Jesse whispered. Miles glanced quickly at Jesse and Winnie, and then looked around again, his eyes sweeping over everything.

"I've found him." he answered. He shifted on the balls of his feet and put his hands on the tree to balance himself. "The soldier from Gettysburg. It's miraculous! I thought that we were the only ones-" he trailed off, glancing at Jesse, and then shaking his head. "Right, you know that. Anyway," he looked around again, and Winnie wondered what he was so worried about. "I've hidden him in the forest until we can talk to him. I'm afraid that with the Nazi's so near, Von Kliest will find him, too."

Winnie shifted closer to Miles, her dress becoming soggy in the mud. "But Von Kliest has no idea that he is like us." she said. "He probably doesn't even know about Jesse." Miles shook his head.

"No," he replied. "I think that he knows about Jesse. The villagers knew he was my brother, they could have told him." Winnie sat on her knees, allowing her dress to get dirtier, but she didn't care. Jesse inched closer to Miles as well.

"But Winnie is right." Jesse said. "To Von Kliest, we are still the only people in the world who possess this immortality." Miles' hands slid down the tree as his eyes grew wide with realization.

"Tuck is going to be furious," he stated. Winnie looked up surprised. That was the first time Miles had mentioned his father since she had met up with him. She looked at Miles, and pushed the loose hairs out of her face.