Wildwood Flower

The heat was suffocating as Forrest made his way up to stills, his well worn shirt clinging to his damp skin as he found his way through the trees. He adjusted his hat with one large hand, wishing he'd left it behind with his cardigan, but he trekked on, his jaunt out into the woods wouldn't be a long one. Now that the Sheriff had that damn nosy district attorney sniffing around in Franklin county, he couldn't be too careful.

Forrest was nearly to the stills when he heard quiet splashing in the distance, out of instinct his hand went to his hip where his pistol was loaded and on the ready. Dipping his large frame beneath the shady branch of a Hickory tree, his adrenaline was beginning to flood him in that familiar way. His heart beat steady and strong within his ribs as he crept from tree to tree, toward the lazy splashes, his mind trying to rule out possibilities.

Craning his neck Forrest peered down into the valley that separated his land from the Whitaker farm, Forrest drew his pistol, now thinking that maybe he'd happen upon a mountain lion rather than a deputy.



Nora Whitaker was missing New York something fierce as she wandered through the woods on the outskirts of her Poppa's property. She'd been cooped up in the farm house all day with not so much as a radio to listen to and if she had to hear Momma tell her one more time about how much SHE hated Virginia, Nora might lose her mind.

The girl wondered how many city blocks she'd walked into the woods, wondering if this distance in New York would have been enough to get her to her favorite diner. Nora's thoughts bounced from the diner to her Daddy, he'd lost everything when the stock market crashed and, like so many other business men, finally took his own life when he realized there was no bouncing back from the plummet.

The tightness in Nora's chest nearly took her breath away, the sudden, stone like sadness felt like a weight pressing tightly against her ribs. The girl pulled her hair back, strands of chestnut brown sticking to her palms as she tried to breath the way her doctor had shown her, in through her nose and out of her rosebud lips.

The trickling sound of water pulled Nora from the throws of her fit, opening her steely blues she spotted a small pond just the other side of some trees. The cool, clear water looked like a shimmering oasis beckoning Nora into it's relief.

Once beside the water, she took a look around the woods, to be certain she was alone. Her dress was made from fine linen and if she went into the water in it, she'd have to retrace her steps back to the farm in a warm, wet dress. After just a moments hesitation her slim fingers were tugging down the zipper on the back of the dress, the royal blue fabric falling away and exposing her milky white skin to the warm sunlight.

Nora stepped out of the pooled dress and took care hanging it on a barren branch, her shoes were the next things to be shed. Left in only her underclothes, she battled silently with herself – should she leave them on or remove them? Anyone could happen upon her here, but...then again...she was in the middle of nowhere. Butterflies fluttered around her stomach as she slipped her underwear down her smooth legs and carefully hung the garment with her dress, her brassire following just a moment later.

Now naked as the day she was born, Nora slipped into the cool, clean water. It was unlike anything she'd felt before and she couldn't quite put her finger on why. Perhaps it was the oppressive heat, or perhaps the feeling of the weight lifting from her chest, or just maybe the fact that she was now skinny dipping among the trees. Whatever it was, Nora dipped her head back into the water to enjoy the feeling.



Forrest saw something blue blowing in the breeze from a branch of a Hickory and it didn't register to him just what it was until he heard her singing.

“Oh he taught me to love him and promised to love, and to cherish me over all others above,” The voice was bright and made him stop in his cumbersome tracks. Only now did Forrest's heartbeat pick up, he stood, silent as death and listened for more, “How my heart is now wondering no misery can tell, he's left me no warning no words of farewell,” The woman's voice lilted and fell in just the right places to make the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Forrest knew he should turn back, in fact, his instinct was screaming at him to turn away, to check the stills and get on back down to the Blackwater.

Then she came into his line of sight and his instinct died down, that nagging voice in the back of his mind telling him to turn back was silenced. The girl was naked, swimming in the pond, dipping her head back to wet her deep, dark locks. Forrest slowly replaced his pistol, taking care with the weapon and placing his right hand on a tree trunk. Stills? What about the damn stills?

It was only a moment before a new nagging began, it was ungentlemanly to peep on this girl. Hell, if Forrest happened upon this scene himself...well, he'd be trading blows with the man who was spying on an unknowing lady.

“Oh he taught me to love him and called me his flower, that was blooming to cheer him through life's dreary hour,” The girl sang, turning over weightlessly in the water, Forrest caught sight of her breasts and pulled his gaze away, shame settling over him as he turned to press his back to the bark of the Hickory tree. He could feel his blood pressure rising, his body reacting to the very beautiful, very naked young lady just yards away from him. Normally so calm and stoic, Forrest Bondurant did not often find himself in this state of being riled and especially not from a little singing and a veiled view, “How I long to see him and regret the dark hour, he's gone and neglected his pale wildwood flower.”



Nora stepped out of the pond, water dripping from her svelte body and evaporating quickly into the hot air. She took a moment to ring her hair out, twisting the long ropes together to remove as much of the water as possible. Her eyes scanned the treeline and her heart caught in her throat when she thought she saw a man walking away from her, into the thick of the trees. Nora blinked once, twice, and there was no sight of the man. Had he really been there or was her mind playing tricks on her?

Nora didn't ponder for long, not wanting to take the chance to find out the truth, she dressed quickly and retreated back toward the farm, glancing over her shoulder every so often just to be sure there was no one there.