Caught In The River by Ronald Lee (best novels in english .txt) 📕

“I don’t want to lose you or my family. You promised me you would not leave! I’m scared to go back and start over,”
“I know,” Jack said. “I believe that God is going to work this thing out for you Cappy. You’ll get to have the life you were meant to live before the River brought you here.”
“But what if this is the life I was meant to live?” Cappy asked. “What if you are the man I’m meant to love?” She added.
“I believe,” Jack, said looking at her then his family. “I believe that if it’s God’s will for you and me to be together then we will be together. I don’t know a lot about him, but I’m going to learn. I love you Cappy,” he added and they kissed briefly.
“Son,” Robert called. “It’s time.”
Jack left Cappy standing with her family and walked towards his own. He hugged his mom closely and looked at the family he had grown to know in the River. Robert Woodle closed his eyes and raised his hands as his family crowded around him. He began to chant in the same ancient language that Charles Blackfoot and those gathered with him were. The wind began to blow and the river began to grow choppy. The water started swirling, and Jack thought he could hear the chants of hundreds of people along with the beating of Indian drums and crackle of campfires. As the noise intensified, he watched the settlers slowly start fading from view. The last image that Jack saw was the Freeman family smiling at him then slowly dissolving away. He felt his mother and sister’s grip let go. Jack found himself floating in cold black water.
Jack opened his eyes as his dad lifted him out of the chilly water of the Pee Dee.
“Son,” he heard the familiar voice of his father call. Jack felt his father shaking him and realized he was lying on the deck of the boat.
“I’m alright dad,” he said coughing. Jack sat up. “Where am I?” he asked. “Where are we?”
“I came down to the river to join you and saw you at the other end of the island caught in the River. Lucky for you I happened to have the key to the boat with me. I thought you were a goner.”
“Sorry dad,” Jack said. “I forgot safety first.”
“Safety first,” his dad repeated and hugged his son. The two laughed then Jack’s dad turned the boat around and headed back to the island. Jack looked up at the full moon and clear fall sky. It looked strangely familiar to him. He felt like he had been somewhere but he couldn’t remember where.
The next few weeks were uneventful for Jack Woodle and his family. He and his father returned home after their camping trip and related his near drowning experience to his mom and sister. Jack went to school, and continued to play football. His grades greatly improved as well as his sportsmanship. He found a new appreciation for his family and church life. The young man also discovered an interest in Native American culture that he never had before. The Woodles made several trips to the Pee Dee Indian reservation where Jack enjoyed meeting Soho Blackfoot and her husband Charles.
The only problem he had were his dreams. He kept seeing ghostly faces and events he felt he should have known but could not remember.
As Jack sat in church with his family one Sunday morning, he kept noticing a brown haired young girl. He asked his sister if she knew the girl, but Mary shook her head and whispered, “If I did, I wouldn’t put her through the torment of knowing you.” She smiled and hugged her brother. “Just kidding,” she said as her mother motioned for them to keep quiet. After the service, Jack asked his mother about them.
“That’s a new family son.” His mother said. “They just moved here from Ohio I think.”
“I’ve been meaning to introduce myself to them,” Robert said as he noticed his son’s interest in the young woman standing by her parents. “Want to come with me?” Jack looked up at his dad and smiled. The two made their way through the exiting crowd and introduced themselves.
“I’m Joe Hammer,” The tall father of the young girl said. “This is my wife Jackie, and my daughter Cathy.” Jack smiled at the family and shook their hands. He noticed a book in Cathy’s purse and asked her about it.
“Oh, it’s nothing really,” she started. “It’s a book on botany.”
“Tree’s right?” Jack said as Cathy handed the book to him. He opened it and saw the picture of the author. His name was Brian Freeman. He was a black professor from Stanford University. The profile of the author said he was married with two children. A girl named Cappy and a boy named Jack.
“Plants actually,” Cathy, said taking the book back. “I’m fascinated by the outdoors.”
“Me too,” Jack said. “My family goes camping all the time down by the river,” He nodded at his father who indicated it was time to go. “Hey,” he called as Cathy and her family walked down the steps towards their car. “Maybe you and your family would like to go camping with us some time.” Cathy smiled at Jack’s offer as she started to get into the white SUV.
“That would be really nice,” she said with a smile. Jack started following his dad to the family’s truck when he felt a piece of paper slip into his hand. He looked down and then back at Cathy who smiled at him.
“Call me sometime,” she said and ran back to her family. Jack got into the family truck and turned the piece of paper over in his hand repeatedly.
“If it’s meant to be it will be,” he heard whisper through his mind repeatedly. He thought about the young girl, and smiled. “Who knows?” he said quietly as he slipped the paper into his pocket. When Jack walked into his room,
he felt he had a revelation of what his dreams meant. He raced to the computer and sat down. The young man quickly opened his internet browser and typed in Stanford University. He pulled up the faculty list, saw the picture of Brian Freeman, and smiled. “Dad,” he called.
“What’s up son?” his dad asked after coming into the room.
“You remember me telling you about my dreams?” Jack asked. His dad sat on his son’s bed and tossed a baseball from hand to hand.
“Yeah,” his father said. Jack moved and let his father see the image on the screen.
“This guy was in my dreams. So was the girl I met today.”
Robert Woodle shook his head. “Maybe you saw her at school. She is very pretty. You might have seen his picture in one of the library books you read.”
“Come on dad,” Jack said. “I’m going to e-mail Professor Freeman and see if he knows us.”
“You might want to think about it son, I’m sure that professor is really busy.”
Jack ignored his dad and started typing an e-mail. It read:
DEAR PROFESSOR FREEMAN. MY NAME IS JACK WOODLE. I’M FIFTEEN YEARS OLD AND LIVE IN MARION SOUTH CAROLINA. I WOULD LOVE TO TALK WITH YOU BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE WE’VE MET BEFORE.
Jack stopped writing and thought about deleting the message. His finger hesitated then went to the mouse and he clicked the send button.
The following Tuesday Jack was sitting under a pine tree eating his lunch when Cathy walked up to him.
“Hi,” she said. “Can I sit with you?”
“Sure,” Jack said and patted the ground. “You want to share a ham sandwich?” He asked.
“No thanks,” Cathy said. “I’ve got some deer soup my dad made.” She produced the Tupperware bowl and smiled. “You want some?”
Jack seemed to remember having tasted the soup before. “I’d love a bite.” He said. He watched Cathy pull a spoon from her lunch bag and open the bowl. She was dressed in a simple blue flower patterned dress. Her long brown hair waved gently in the afternoon breeze. She put the soup to Jack’s lips and he took a sip.
“It’s delicious,” Jack, said letting the flavor rest on his tongue before he took a sip of Pepsi.
Cathy took a sip of Jack’s Pepsi after she had a bite of her lunch.
“Have you ever felt like you’ve known someone before?” Jack asked.
“No,” Cathy said after thinking a moment.
“Maybe it’s crazy,” Jack said. “But I feel like we’ve met.”
Cathy looked at Jack for a moment and took another sip of soup. “Now that you mention it,” she said. “Maybe we have.” The two spent the rest of lunch and many more getting to know each other.
Football season passed quickly and the Marion County Red Foxes finished third in the league. Jack received a reward as the most improved player. Cathy, her family, and his own were there supporting Jack the whole way. Robert Woodle continued to develop his friendship with the Blackfoot family and invited them to Thanksgiving Day dinner. Jack never received an e-mail back from Professor Freeman, even though he sent many.
When Thanksgiving dinner arrived, the Woodles, Hammers, and Blackfoot families gathered around a huge dinning table set up in the Woodles’ backyard. As Robert prepared to give thanks, he paused as a white Cadillac parked in the family driveway. Everyone turned to see a tall black man dressed in a dark blue suit, get out and open the passenger door for a petite young black woman. She wore a long brown dress and church hat.
Robert smiled at his son Jack who looked questioningly at his father.
“Everyone I would like to introduce to you Brian and Felicia Freeman,” Robert said as the couple approached. “Brian is. . .”
“The professor of botanical studies at Stanford University,” Cathy said smiling.
“It’s a pleasure to meet each of you,” Brian said helping his wife sit down at the table. “Mister Woodle, thank you so much for your invitation.” The professor shook hands with everyone then sat with his wife.
“I never thought I’d hear from you,” Jack said after the blessing and meal began.
“I apologize, Jack,” Brian answered. “Along with my work at the University I’ve been promoting my book and doing a lecture series. Your father’s invitation here is why we came, since we happened to be at Myrtle Beach for the holidays. I understand you think we’ve met before?”
“Yes sir,” he said hesitantly. “Well, not really. It’s almost like I’ve seen you in my dreams.”
Everyone stopped and looked at Jack with a worried expression. “It’s like I’ve known all of you before. Well, I mean you professor, Cathy, and Mrs. Blackfoot. I feel like we have shared something special together. We were in another place, another time.” Jack looked down and