Free Words Heard in Silence by T. Novan, Taylor Rickard Page B

skin, feeling the heat of her body, the silk of her as he continued to fasten the small buttons. By the time he finished the last button on the high collar, he was sweating and trembling.
    They stood there for a moment, his hands resting gently on her shoulders. She turned her head and softly brushed her lips over his fingers. "Thank you. You make the best ladies maid I have ever had."
    Charlie stood there, unable to move for a moment. From somewhere in the distance, they heard the neighing of a horse.
    "Come on, Colonel Redmond. The horses await us."
    Charlie shook himself and stepped forward to take Rebecca’s hand and escort her downstairs and to the horses.
    --*--
    "Oh, my. She is beautiful!" Rebecca went to the solid mount that was obviously prepared for her. In the afternoon sun, Shannon’s coat looked almost golden, and her mane and tail was a soft buff blonde, lighter than her coat. She was a good-sized horse, built like a warm blood but with the gentle eye of a saddle bred. And at over sixteen hands, Rebecca’s head did not top the gentle beast’s withers.
    Rebecca stood waiting expectantly for Charlie to lift her into the saddle. He took a deep breath to steady himself and laid his hands gently around her slim waist. She set one hand on the saddle, the other on Charlie’s shoulder. "Ready?" She nodded and with that, he lifted her gracefully into the saddle.
    She settled herself in and flicked her skirt to adjust it to lie comfortably.
    Charlie stepped away and ducked under his own mount’s neck. In the moment when he was hidden from her gaze, he pulled his handkerchief out and wiped his sweating forehead and upper lip. The heat that consumed his body was not from the weather –– that was cool and crisp. The woman beside him, on the other hand……
    Rebecca took a moment to put on well-worn riding gloves. "Come on, Colonel. Let me show you my land. It is the most beautiful place in the world, I do believe."
    "Well, then, Miss Rebecca, which way would you like to go?"
    "That is entirely up to you, Colonel. I am at your leisure."
    Then, ma'am shall we make a circuit? I have seen the northern and eastern parts of your property, but I am sure there is more." Charlie nudged his horse into an easy walk down the carriageway. Rebecca joined him and they rode down the carriageway to the road knee to knee, chatting as their horses walked along companionably.
    "There is much more. I am sure you will find all kinds of things that will interest you."
    "I am sure I will. I have lived with horses for many years, ma'am. From what I have seen, this is the most beautiful horse country I have ever been in."
    "Well, as I said before, sir. I have never been out of Virginia, but I cannot imagine a more beautiful place."
    "I thought that Buck County, Pennsylvania, where I did my basic training for the army, was spectacular horse country - rolling hills, sweeping pastures and plenty of water, but there is something about this place that is truly special. I have not been able to decide if it is the colors, the mountains like lavender ghosts in the west or something as intangible as the quality of the air that makes this place so unique."
    "Indeed. There is just something very special about the land here. My father always told me when I was growing up, that first, God created Virginia. Then he did everything else."
    Charlie chuckled at that conceit. "Well, ma'am, perhaps he was right. All I know is that even with the neglect of the past years, this is the loveliest land I have ever seen. The only thing I miss is the smell of the ocean."
    They reached the end of the driveway and turned right onto the dirt road that ran off to the southwest. Behind them lay the road to Culpeper and the encampment of the 13th Pennsylvania; before them lay fields that had been allowed to go fallow in the years since the war began, for lack of anyone to plant and tend them. Charlie saw a land rich with possibilities, nurtured over the years with loving