I have stepped out on uncharted grounds again (for me) with a little romance mixed with drama. I hope you like it. Whether you do or not, please comment.

Guns are not for Little Boys
Chapter 2

"THIRTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL RESCUES EIGHT YEAR OLD BOY"

screamed the headlines of the Gazette. They had gotten the news from Jack’s parents.

Lizzie Jane had refused to give an interview because reporters always asked too many questions and she had promised to keep Jack and Steve’s meeting place a secret. She feared that she would have been asked to describe too much.

However, the news did not escape the attention of the two men who had discovered Lizzie Jane in the cave where they had set up their illegal counterfeiting operations when she was searching for Jack. They had found Jack earlier and had thrown him into a pit. When they discovered Lizzie Jane, they threw her in the pit with Jack and had left them both to die.

“Well, looks like we are going to have to get rid of Pocahontas — again!” said Jim, one of the two men, speaking about Lizzie Jane. “She is smart enough to have recognized us. Too bad for her. She could have looked forward to a long and full life.”

Seymour nodded.

**********************************************************

With the cave experience behind her, Lizzie Jane settled into what she thought would be normal life for a thirteen-year-old girl. Sally, the schoolteacher in the community’s one room schoolhouse, was proud of Lizzie Jane. She was a quick learner and mature for her age, so she helped teach the younger children about the things she had mastered, leaving Sally to instruct the older children.

Sally was trying to think of some way to get Lizzie Jane into a normal high school since most students only went through the eighth and ninth grades in the community school. She believed that Lizzie Jane had a great future if she could obtain a good education — maybe college.

For now, Lizzie Jane was a happy thirteen year old and had made many friends, both male and female. Jake still claimed to be her boy friend and tried to be around her as much as possible. Lizzie Jane was not serious about any boy, but accepted Jake as a good friend, so they were often seen together. Many of the citizens of Carter’s Bend assumed that they would eventually marry and thought that they made a cute couple.

Joe and Jack had regained their friendship, realizing that it was only a childish error when Jack accidentally shot Joe. They did learn one thing — guns are not for little boys. Parents used that incident as a lesson for the other children. Although the boys of the community became hunters at a very early age, they were always in the company of their father or some other relative when carrying a shotgun or rifle in the woods until they were old enough to be trusted around other hunters.

Lizzie Jane did not like guns and neither did most of the other young ladies. Guns made too much noise and very dangerous. However, Lizzie Jane was an archery expert and could make an arrow go any place she wanted. She kept that a secret as well as the fact that she could swing through the trees from limb to limb if they were close enough together.

However, she had to almost force herself to go back to the cave where she had rescued Jack to retrieve her bow and quiver of arrows. She still had the two spears she had gotten from the savages, but they were kept at home most of the time. Occasionally she would get one out and practice throwing it at targets in the woods.

Lizzie Jane had no idea that she was in somebody's plan to be murdered. When questioned by the sheriff about the rescue, all she ever told was that she got Jack out of a deep hole. She did not mention the men who had thrown them in the pit or the location, but Jim and Seymour, the two men from the cave, were not aware of that.

*********************************************************

“How about a Coke?” asked Jake. “The gang is meeting down at Sam’s place after school.”

“Well, Okay,” replied Lizzie Jane. “I don’t have anything particular to do. But, I cannot stay too late or Aunt Maudie will come looking for me. She claims that I get into too much trouble.” She laughed. If only Jake knew about her adventures….

Sam’s Place was the teen hangout in 1954 with the jukebox blaring with country and pop music, just before the major transition to rock and roll.

“Hi, Jake. Hi, Lizzie Jane” were the greeting as the couple walked in.

“Whadda you have?” asked the gum chewing waitress shortly after Jake found a good table in the corner of the café. She reached for the pencil behind her ear and retrieved an order book from her belt.

“Let’s see — how about a RC and a Moon Pie?’ replied Jake.

“Just a Coke for me,” answered Lizzie Jane. “Well, maybe a hamburger if ole rich pockets can afford it.”

“For you honey, I would rob a bank if I did not have the money,” joked Jake.

The waitress brought the order plus the ticket, laying it face down. Jack eased the ticket up long enough to glance at it. “Wow, forty cents,” said Jake when he saw at the charges.

“I think cold drinks have gone up to seven cents,” replied Lizzie Jane.

“Yeah, everything is going up. It cost three cents to mail a letter now-a-days.”

“Momma used to only buy penny postcards because she wrote so much,” said Lizzie Jane. The memory of her deceased mother brought a tear. Those were happy times. There had been so much love in their hearts toward one another.

“You miss your mother, don’t you?” asked Jake — realizing immediately it was a silly question and wished he could take it back. He saw the tears streaming down Lizzie Jane’s face and his heart went out to her.

All Lizzie Jane could manage was a weak “Yes”.

“Well, when we have children, you will know how to love them,” remarked Jake, wanting to get Lizzie Jane’s mind temporarily off her mother. It worked!

“Whoa now,” quickly replied Lizzie Jane, changing expressions. “Nobody had said we were getting married!”

A young boy at the next table said, “Well, it seems obvious to me.” The girl with him just smiled.

“I am only thirteen years old,” Lizzie Jane declared.

“Well honey, in these parts, if you go past sixteen, you are an old maid,” joked the boy.

Everyone laughed at Lizzie Jane. She was blushing so much that she wanted to crawl under the table. Well, in fact — she did. She looked up and saw Jake under there, too.

“Thought you would get lonesome under here all by yourself”, as Jake quickly stole a kiss.

“Darn. Can’t a girl have privacy anywhere?” An embarrassed, but smiling Lizzie Jane stomped off to the little girl’s room. “At least there, I can have some privacy.” Or so she thought. She was met with a waiting line.

Jake, seeing the predicament, walked over to Lizzie Jane and said, “Come on, we were just having a little fun. Let’s go. I will walk you home.”

He paid the bill and walked with Lizzie Jane slowly down the street to her home.

“Lizzie Jane, you know that I do love you and always have, since I first became acquainted with you. I am pleased that you are my friend, anyway.”

With that, he put his arm around Lizzie Jane as if he were trying to shield her against the cool autumn breeze. It was a little chilly, so she did not mind. Lizzie Jane explored her mind. Did she love Jake, but trying to keep her feelings imprisoned inside — scared to love — afraid of something that she could not understand? After all, she was only thirteen. Could a girl love a boy at that age — true lasting love?

Jake stopped, took Lizzie Jane by the shoulder and turned her toward him. Feeling that she knew what was coming, she closed her eyes. Their lips met. It was just a young kiss, but it was sweet and her arms automatically went around Jake’s neck. Likewise, he returned the embrace. For a moment, all doubt seem to melt away into nothingness.

When their lips parted, Lizzie Jane was breathless. This was a new experience. She had never known what it was like to be captivated by a young man’s charm -- to know romance — to know the emotions that swept over a girl, a warm flow spreading through her entire body.

She had done what she never expected -- to submit to the love and warmness of someone who really loved her. They stepped apart for a moment, facing one another, holding hands at arm’s length with eyes that sparkled with the unspoken words — “I love you.”

A strong male voice rang out, “Hey, Pocahontas”. Startled, Lizzie Jane turned toward the voice as the masked man intended for her to do.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. Lizzie Jane slumped to the street. Jake glanced toward a car that sped away and quickly looked back at his sweetie. She was not moving — as if she were dead. He knelt down and, cuddling her head up into his arms, he cried with a loud voice, “Don’t die! I don’t want to lose you!”

The other kids heard the shot and some saw what had happened — one moment a loving couple embracing and the next moment, one lying on the street dying from a gunshot.

“Let’s get her to Doc Brown’s” a young man exclaimed, stopping his car next to the scene. Lizzie Jane was quickly loaded into the back seat with Jake next to her crying, “Hurry — I cannot lose her. No — not now.”

The driver drove like a madman, blowing the horn almost continually for people to get out of the way, slamming on the brake at Doc Brown’s home with the wheels sliding on the chert surface.

Doc Brown came to the door and Jake, without waiting for an invitation, rushed in, Lizzie Jane cradled in his arms. “She’s been shot,” he screamed.

Doc Brown quickly began started cutting her dress in the area of the clotting blood. He looked up — “It’s bad. We need to get her to my office where I have better equipment. She needs immediate attention.”

Quickly, she was transported to the physician’s office and Doc Brown immediately began work. She was already unconscious, whether from shock or the gunshot wound, Doc Brown could not determine, but she was losing blood fast. The good doctor did not have any blood on hand and no time to match it anyway, so he began working with his skillful hands as only a doctor with years of experience could do.

He quickly discovered the source of the blood loss, so he took care of that first. Next, he took a quick x-ray to determine the location of the bullet. It had missed the heart, but was very deep; next he rolled his oxygen tanks in place and began the oxygen.

He was wishing for some help when Aunt Maudie came in. Looking up and seeing her, Doc Brown remarked, “Quick, you be my nurse tonight. This is an emergency. Just stay calm. I cannot handle a hysterical nurse right now.” Taking a deep breath and holding her emotions in as well as could be expected, Aunt Maudie quickly washed her hands and prepared herself to assist.

Jake was in the waiting room, walking the floor, crying, “I cannot lose her. I love her with all my heart.” Some of the young couples were there and tried to console him. Girls hugged him and spoke soft, comforting words and the boys would try to encourage him with remarks like, “Hang in there, ole man. It will be okay. Just wait and see.”

Doc Brown finally came out. “It is very serious,” he said. “The bullet is close to the heart and too deep for me to handle in a doctor’s office. We have to get her to a hospital and I suggest Birmingham. Right now, I have her stable, but I don’t even know if she will make it long enough to get to Birmingham. It will take some fast transportation — and prayer.”

“Somebody loan me a fast car, I will get here there,” volunteered Ted Walker.

“Good,” replied Doc Brown. “I will call the sheriff and see if I can get an escort since we do not have an ambulance service here — and this is an extreme emergency.”

The wheels were put into motion — the fast car — an excellent driver — an escort, with the sheriff of each adjoining county meeting the other at the county line until reaching the Blount County line where an ambulance from Oneonta would be waiting. The driver of that service had the reputation of being fast, even though Alabama Highway 75 was probably the curviest of any in the state. The entire route was chosen on the basis of having less traffic at that time of the night. Also, an ambulance assured quicker admittance to the emergency room.

Aunt Maudie rode with the patient, while Uncle Jed and Jake traveled in another car at a much slower pace. The pastor of the church was contacted, the church opened, and many of the community met to pray. Lizzie Jane had become a well-known and popular figure because she was always around to help others. Jack had remembered enough to tell of her climbing a straight wall without anything much to grasp and saving his life. Details and location of the cave and pit remained a secret between Jack, Steve, and Lizzie Jane.

Upon arrival at the hospital, Uncle Jed and Jake learned that Lizzie Jane had been admitted to ICU and in serious condition. They would not allow Jake in to see her because he was not a member of the family. Jake finally convinced them that he and Lizzie Jane were engaged to be married. The nurse raised her eyebrow, thinking about the age, but allowed Jake a chance to visit. The nurse did not know that it was an engagement that Lizzie Jane had not accepted.

Hours turned into days. Because of his deep love for Lizzie Jane, Jake stayed as close as he could. He had enough money for some cookies and soft drinks, but not much more. Another family, who had also a loved one in ICU, noticed Jake’s lack of food, so they invited him to join in their meals, which was brought often by another family member.

Jake’s bed consisted of a couch in the waiting area or a soft chair by the door. When he did get a chance to see Lizzie Jane, he was filled with sorrow -- to see the girl who had stolen his heart, appearing to be lifeless, with a tube in her nose, IV fluids flowing in each arm and wires attached to her body. He looked at the screen showing the activity of her heart, not understanding what it all meant. All he knew was that he might lose the girl he loved so dearly.

Jake would hold her hand, whispering sweet things to Lizzie Jane and sometimes it seemed that she heard and understood. He never left her side without tears blurring his vision and he had to feel his way back to the waiting area.

He cried -- he prayed -- he tried to bargain with God -- he walked the floor. He felt as if his heart would burst. He would jump every time a doctor entered the area with news about one of the patients.

Uncle Jed and Aunt Maudie had returned home, but through Doc Brown they kept up with Lizzie Jane’s condition. Aunt Maudie would have stayed with Jake, but her age prevented her from sitting in the waiting area with no place to go to rest. If only there were some relatives in Birmingham, things would have been much more convenient.

A week went by. Jake managed to bathe in the rest room, using paper towels and the small bars of soap the hospital furnished. He became exhausted with the hours — the days of waiting — hoping — praying for some miracle.

Then, it came. It was such a small miracle, but Lizzie Jane opened her eyes and smiled and tried to say, “Hi, Jake”, but it didn’t come out right. Jake whispered that he heard it and said, “I love you so much.” Lizzie Jane smiled again and her mouth tried to say, “I love you, too.” She closed her eyes in slumber, but that was enough for Jake to believe that a miracle had occurred.

Lizzie Jane continued to improve and a couple of days later, she was moved out of ICU and into a room with another girl. Jake continued regular visits until she was ready to go home. When Doc Brown came to get her, he saw a completely exhausted Jake, and said, “Boy, you had better get some rest when we get back.”

Still a little weak, Lizzie Jane laid down in the back seat with Jack in the front, checking the back seat every few seconds to see if Lizzie Jane was all right. Lizzie Jane saw him looking back and smiled. Doc Brown grinned. It was obvious that the love bug had bitten Jake.

-

Copyright 2007 by Starla Anne Lowry
under the pen name of Billie Sue Pilgrim