"A rollicking adventure!"
The trilogy is now complete. I plan to publish Jack: Book 3, by August 1, 2017 as well as a separate volume with all three parts. Until then enjoy Books 1-3 here on Wattpad. I completed the trilogy on May 30, 2017. The c...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
In February, 1861, seven southern states individually declared their secession from the U.S. to form the Confederate States of America. War was coming and it broke out in April, 1861, when Confederates fired on the the U.S. fortress, Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor. It had started and Jack was unstoppable. The Confederacy grew to include eleven states and some of the western territories that were not yet states.
We had worked with Molly and Ginny for nearly three months - the girls reluctantly had gone to live with Molly and seemed to really like working with her and alongside Jack and me at Molly's vegetable and fruit stand.
The constable visited one day, saying, "Hello there Miss Molly, where'd ya get those pretty young negresses? You must be making one heck of a living here! His name was John Riker. Folks said he was well liked in the market because he was very friendly and always was right there any time anyone had a problem, theft being the main infraction. He had a long scar that went from his right cheekbone to his jawbone area. It gave him a menacing appearance. Jack said he was slashed in the face by a white slave catcher who was beating a slave nearly to death after he had caught him along one of the rivers trying to swim to the other side. Jack said the constable once told him that he had tried to stop the murder but the murderer pulled a knife and cut him. That's why Jack liked Riker, he had stood up to injustice and paid the price. But they always acted like they were enemies but actually they liked one another. And Riker had always been sort of fatherly to us both, but especially toward Jack.
"Oh, my sister's husband loaned them to me while they went on vacation to Europe. Kind of a second honeymoon. Some people, you know, they have all the luck. Me, I've got to be working seven days a week just to eke out meager living. But these girls are great to me and so are Jackie and Jeremy - you know them right constable?" Molly said.
"They don't look like they be slaves to me," said Riker. "But I ain't about to contradict anything you says," Miss Molly, "Cuz even if you were a'lying, I know it'd be for a good purpose," he said.
"Anyway, as I was a'saying, yeah, yeah, I knowed Jackie boy from way back. We be good buddies, right Jackie boy? Jackie boy used to throw rotten apples at me when he was a pipsqueak. That was up 'til last year. He ain't growed up that much in all the years I knowed him. He's a sneak. But he's okay. A good kid, you just got to watch him. He always was so sneaky about it I could never be sure it was him because whenever I turned around, there was Jackie boy acting like he was fixing something or playin' with his friends. He was a sneak all right. But I always knowed it be him, didn't I Jackie?" Riker said, adding, "Yup, one time I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and whaled him with my switch - a branch I used to carry for just such smart alecs, ain't that right, Jackie boy?"
"Yeah. That's right all right. Only problem dumb ass is you had the wrong boy, it wasn't me but you were so stupid, you couldn't see anythin' but what you wanted to see," Jack said.
"Oh sure, Jackie boy! Couldn't never have been you now, could it? By the way Jackie boy, I missed ya. Where ya been Jackie boy, haven't seen hide nor hair of you or Jeremy there for months? What youse been up to? No good, I bet?" said Riker.
"Yeah, no good. We been a'workin on a ship that went to the Caribbean islands - deck hands and we'll be a'goin' back soon," said Jack.
"You ain't be a'goin' nowhere. War's a'gonna start and you best be home with your momma," Riker said.
"If war starts, we'll be the first to sign up!" Jack said proudly. "Ain't that right, Jeremy?"
"Naturally Jack, of course we will, although I have no real idea why we would do such a dumb ass thing," I said.
"You boys ain't be 16 yet, you can't go," the constable said.
"Jeremy be 16 next month and I was 16 months ago so what do you know about it? Nothin' ", Jack said.
"Well boys, I can see no-one can talk any sense into you. No mind, no-one could talk any sense to me when I was your age either," he said. "Well, stay safe boys and I wish ye the best," Riker said.
"Thanks mister," I said.
"Yeah, thanks constable," said Jack. "It's always interestin' to listen to your bullshit."
When Riker left, Mauricia and America again tried to convince us to stay with them and work the market and stop the war talk and saying we we're joining up. But Jack again wanted to hear no arguments from them. We were going and that was it, he said.
"Look ladies. We had this discussion. It's done, no more, please!" said Jack.
Jack never was one to listen to anyone once he got something in his head. That was the one time that I most wish he had.
