Blue Honor follows four tightly twined families during the course of the American Civil War. Sometimes yielding their own skirmishes is the only way to see friends and loved ones through the conflict. The only certainty they have is that nothing wil...
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I. Beginnings
Vermont Countryside, Near Montpelier
Summer, 1857
The halcyon morning gilded the quiet countryside of northern Vermont. In the center of a lush clearing, a white church cast its long shadow. Horse and carriage lined the lane, waiting for absent owners. The greenery was backed by fields lined with stone fences and tree lines, farmland. The landscape stretched as far as the eye reached.
The double doors of the church suddenly swung inward and the peace was ended along with that Sunday's mass. Below the soaring steeple, the congregation poured from within, spreading down the stairs and over the lawn, their chatter like the drone of a beehive. They drew into tight clusters, mimicking the flowers spotting the ground. Sunday was a day to parade in fine suits and gowns with countless trimmings.
A girl of fifteen sprang from the crowd jamming the doorway. She placed a lacy hand at her brow to shade her eyes. The action caused her gown to gap, so that she was forced to readjust the way it lay. In truth, the gown fit exceptionally well. Though the jade and ivory fabric blended flawlessly with the setting, the dress was the most daring there. Perhaps it was meant for other occasions and for a girl a bit older.
The girl peered at her figure and saw more of herself than she wanted. She quickly pulled up the neckline, and the motion caused the hat topping her mink-colored hair to slip over her brow. She blew a ragged breath and pulled the blasted ties of the cap tighter. Why had she decided to wear this awful costume?
While she twisted the silk ribbon of her bonnet, the girl investigated her surroundings for the exact reason she was dressed like that. Only the usual women, children, and old men of the local farms and town gathered before her. Annoyance took her pretty face, spreading over her body until her finger tapped the banister.
She balled her fists, as if she could squeeze whom she sought from the air. Her expectant eyes met several faces, after which she blushed with embarrassment at her mistake. The men tipped their hats and nodded, offering warm greetings as they exited the church. Heedless of their kindness, her focus was already elsewhere.
Like most girls her age, she wanted the company of a certain young man. Indeed, he was someone she cared a great deal for, but not in the manner most presumed. Knowing he was home again brought happiness into the bored old shadows. The corner of her lips curled. Of course, there was the matter of a pressing request.
While she sought this young man, the sermon played in her mind or, rather, the gossip during the sermon. Sources confirmed his presence, but, despite the small size of the church, he remained hidden throughout the proceedings. She remembered when they were children trying to glimpse each other from their respective pews. Once spotted, they traded contorted faces until their parents hissed them still, or one got a crack on the bottom for misbehaving, usually him. Through the entire oration, she forced her body stiff and straight, only watching ahead. The pain of her mother rapping her knuckles with a fan was not easily forgotten, and she would have died of mortification at being punished so at her age. Her dress helped to hold her still with the threat of other embarrassment.
