William Jackson Coleman - dark hair, dark eyes, quiet but proud. His father and two older brothers have already joined the british forces to fight against france on american soil leaving him, the youngest at age 22, to take care of his sickly mother. "Jack" is an expert marksman and proud of it. His name is well known to shooting competetors throughout the colony of Carolina. Kathryn or "Kate" Fairfax is the love of his heart and also his closest friend. The two have been courting for quite sometime and Mrs. Fairfax already considers Jack her son. Kate knows Jack better than anyone in the world. She knows he loves her and he knows she loves him and the the fact has never been in question between them, but Jack just can't find the courage to ask her to marry him.
When Jack's mother dies, Jack decides to put his skill with guns in good use since the burden of caring for his mother is no longer upon him. He joins a company of rangers and learns the art of Indian Fighting. Kate is extremely scared but, of course, good old Kate would never show it and discourage him.
Jack's first taste of Indian Warefare is a bitter taste indeed. The squad is ambushed in the forrest and two of Jack's friends in the company are shot down right infront of his eyes. Panic consumes Jack and he throws himself into a hollow for the battle. This act of complete cowardice loses for him the respect of the survivors. Well beaten, wounded, and exhausted, the rangers head home without having done anything successful. Jack goes to the Fairfax's in his free time and exposes his well contained shame to Kate. Kate, having known if this cowardly inside of Jack but having overlooked it because of her love for him, over looks it again and understands completely, telling Jack that he "will conquer it". Jack goes back to war and forces himself to fight the fear as well as the Indians. At first it doesn't look like he will succed at all, but then he musters the courage to kill an Indian and save the life of his captain and it looks as if there is still hope after all. Slowly, slowly, Jack begins to conquer his cowardice, just as Kate said, and he begins to regain the respect of his fellow rangers. Eventually, Jack's fear is like a thing from the far past and he becomes the pride of the rest of the men, his marksmanship having been the key to victory in many battles.
One day, as the troop heads for home, they are met by a messenger. The rider gives them word that the settlement, Jack's hometown had been completeoly destroyed in their absence and not a man, child, or woman was spared. All had died. No captives had been taken.
The news destroys all the progress Jack had made over the months and he is again reduced to the cowardly little marksman without Kate to hold him up and be his backbone. During his fighting against the Indians, Jack had recieved word (at seperat occassions) that his each of his brothers and his father had died in battle. This had only served to give him a fury that completely subdued his fear, for he had learned to live with out them. But Kate had always been there. Without her he was nothing but a fearful young man who was too young to go to war, too cowardly to fight for his country.
...no, that's not the end of the story.
1 comment:
um. where's the rest???
and i didn't realize that was poetry! I think I was just describing what was around me.
(The beach :D last night there)
but thank you!
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