by Jo and B
Bridgid took a couple of apples from her small saddle bag. She offered one
to each horse then returning to the saddle bag, she removed a sandwich.
Tearing it in half, she sat down beside the General and offered him the
bigger of the two.
"It's not much. Peanut butter and jelly. It is one of my favorites though
Jack can't see what's so good about it. I think it's just the simplicity of
it."
"I remember the first time Joimus gave me peanut butter," he smiled, taking
the proffered sandwich. "She is, you may remember, quite fond of it. I had
no idea what it was, this strange brown stuff that stuck to the roof of my
mouth and had a taste like nothing I had known. It was on a spoon, a large
spoon, and not on bread like this." HIs eyes turned inward for a moment.
"She has been the bringer of much that is new in my experience."
She smiled at him then looked upward through the leaves of the tree. Shading
her eyes from the dappled sunlight she closed them. "Sometimes I think the
things that I've exposed Jack to are not so pleasant. I'm different than Joi
in a sense. I think I'm a bit more rough around the edges. Joi is such a
lady. I've....lost that part of my being a long time ago, way back at Parris
Island. It's a military place."
Bridgid felt a little uneasy spilling her guts about this. She'd thought
about it often, how Jack would probably prefer someone more demure and
ladylike but she kept it under her hat. She knew he loved her but she
wondered if she didn't disappoint him sometimes.
"There were woman who were warriors in your time, eh, General?"
"Yes, there were some, though I never personally commanded any in the Felix
Legion." He smiled wryly. "I did face one or two in the great arena,
however. Not a very pleasant experience, to be sure. They were excellent at
what they did." He turned to study her upwardly-turned profile. "You have
an inner core
of strength, Bridgid. I have sensed that ever since I have known you. I
would not worry about what you call 'rough edges.' Truly I would not.
Especially where Jack is concerned. The man is, what is the word, besotted
with you." He smiled. "I do not think I have ever spoken that word before."
Opening her eyes she turned her head to look at him, squinting a bit from
the change of light. "Besotted?" she asked. "It's a very British word isn't
it, but you of all people should know what's on his mind and in his mind.
You're his best friend."
Sitting up, she leaned on his knees. "I know he loves me, Maximus. I love
him more than you can ever imagine. I just don't want to disappoint him. He
makes me feel so relaxed because I don't have to be in charge of anything
around him yet under those circumstances I tend to be myself. Myself is a
tomboy."
Smiling with a shrug she added, "This sow's ear can be a silk purse on
occasion, though. I guess it's probably my saving grace."
"Bridgid," he said in that serious way of his, "in my experience of life I
have found a great truth to the relationship between a man and a woman.
Where there is a foundation comprised of 'loving more than one can imagine',
whether one is a sow's ear or a silk purse is of no import. This I know for
a certainty, that
my friend, the good Captain, loves his Bridgid with everything in him that
loves." He touched her shoulder affectionately. "The difference in the eras
in which we grew to our adulthoods may tend to magnify some differences of
culture and behavior, but it is the person that one loves, not the culture.
Being here in these
modern times has been far from easy for me more often than I'd like to
think. I am so far removed from all that was familiar to me in the ways of
doing things, but when I love my Joimus, there is nothing unfamiliar to me
in the ways of love. It, above all, is the one thing that people like Jack
and I carry with us into this
strangely new world. And you, dear Bridgid, I hope you know how you affect
Jack in all that he must cope with in this time. How often he has told me
that it is because of you and you alone that he has a sense of home in this
far time. You are the center and the heart of all it has become for him. He
has even called you
his 'anchor' in that he has put himself into the harbor of you and found his
connection there in this world where 'belonging' is not so easily come by."
He smiled at himself. "A long speech, yes, for one not usually given to such
things?"
"Your voice has a familiar tone to it and it's soothing. It's nice to hear
you give a long-winded talk once in a while, especially when it eases my
mind."
Giving some further thought to what he just said she had to add something.
"You know, an anchor can be a double edged sword. It can be a security
blanket of sorts. An object that holds one fast and stable but it can also
be a burden. I think I'm just reflecting over things, though, my friend.
Jack and I had a little spat the other night over the fact that I'm wanting
something more from him. I'm feeling the need to settle down in a much
different way. It's silly of me, though. We've been together for so long
that there is no reason for me to ask him for any further commitment. I'm
talking about marriage, by the way," she affirmed. "I love him too much to
back him up against the wall with my notions."
Legion raised his head to look out over the field and Bridgid stood to see
what he was looking at. "Hmph. The horses must be longing to get back. Maybe
we should go back before Jack gets worried. I should have told him where I
was going. I'd expect no less from him."
Maximus also got to his feet, peering in the same direction as Bridgid,
thinking he saw a distant trace of movement. "Before we go," he said, "I
must say that I know Jack meant the anchor statement in the best possible
way. There has never been any indication from him that you are a burden of
any sort to him. When I see the smile on his face when you appear, it is
more as though you give him wings with your presence. As for marriage, he
will be ready for that when he is ready. You know him well. I do not need to
tell you that. There was a time when I thought I would never wish to marry
again." He smiled. "Things change when it is their time."
He sheltered his eyes with his hand. "Ah! Speak of the Captain."
It was Jack and he was aboard the big bay. Bridgid stood up on her toes and
waved to him. "I sure hope he is smiling this time."
As he grew nearer she could see that there was no such luck. He offered one
to Maximus as he dismounted but his sideways look at Bridgid was not as
charitable.
"General." he rumbled as he took the man's hand. "Thank you for watching out
for her. I was worried and when I noticed her riding boots missing I
gathered she was out. Thank God she was not alone."
"I was." she admitted "But I ran in to Maximus on the trail."
Jack looked her way . He couldn't help but notice the dirt on her backside.
"Explain this, Siren."
She looked at Maximus, then Jack, then the ground. "I took a little fall is
all."
"Are you injured?"
"No, I'm fine. It was a silly little fall."
Jack turned to Maximus. "Did you witness this ...little fall...my friend?"