Antebellum Wedding
Antebellum Wedding
It was a warm, late spring night. Mars was hanging in the sky like a rabbit eye shining red in a flashlight. The three teenagers, Mark, Jeff, and Jamie drove out of the small city that was just below the Alabama-Tennessee State line. They were in Mark's old white Mazda, which had been abused and seen better days. It still ran reliably, even so. This night, they were hunting rabbits with the headlights of the car.
Each one took turns sitting on the hood of the car with a single shot shotgun as they drove very slowly, just crawling, really. Technically, it was illegal to hunt this way and it was illegal to hunt at night. However, they were going down narrow back roads that no one traveled any longer, especially the cops. They traveled for hours.
There were occasional whisps of fog rising suddenly out of the dark as they reached some bottom land and the lights reflected back off of it. The night was humid, as was typical that time of year. The odd thing was that they didn't see any rabbits, not a single one! Usually, there were many rabbits darting out in front of a car. Not this night, however. Because of that, they kept going down the unpaved roads and somehow crossed the State line, unbeknownst to them. Eventually they reached an old, one track unpaved road that was long overgrown with grass in many places. They kept going, hoping to eventually come out on a black top road, again.
As the ghostly moon rose, it cast its spectral light on the houses that were long abandoned and fallen in. On that long dirt road, there were just two such houses. One was small, not more than an ancient shack, and one was a high two story wooden affair at least a hundred years old. The ancient windows that were not covered by the collapsed roof, looked out at them like the sightless dead eyes of a corpse as they passed. All in all there was a spooky feeling to the air.
Just past that old house they reached the end of the dirt road and Jamie got off of the hood of the car so Mark could safely turn around. However, the light from the car showed Jamie that there was a gap or something behind the screening brush at the end of the road.
"Mark, wait a minute. Hand me that flashlight," Jamie said.
He took the light and disappeared into the brush and it swallowed him up in the dark as if he'd never been. The other two boys began to get nervous when he didn't immediately reappear. Just as they were getting out of the car to go look for him, Jamie reappeared.
"There's a road on the other side. The old road butts up against this patch of land and stops, just like this one does. I think we can drive through this brush and bushes. It's about thirty yards. Follow me with the car and I'll guide you," Jamie said.
Slowly, with Jamie walking ahead and leading, the car pushed its way through the dense growth, the bushes scaping on the car with screeching sounds, like the far off screams of the damned. The branches of the bushes often obscured most of the windscreen, but Mark carefully continued to follow Jamie, who was walking in front with a flashlight, helping Mark avoid places where the car might get damaged or stuck.
Suddenly, the brush parted and they were on an old road. It wasn't just any old road. It was a lost road from another time, another era. It was made of ancient red brick of the kind used in the early 1800's. Both sides of the road were lined with a single line of trees each that arched over the narrow roadway forming a dark canopy. All of a sudden, headlights appeared far down the road in front of them. As they got closer, they were startled to see that it was a horse drawn coach, its two coach lights ablaze. The driver, an elderly black man in an old fashioned suit lifted his top hat in greeting. The man and woman in the back merely looked at them and the coach passed with a clop, clop, clop, clop of the horse's hooves on the bricks.
"Must be one of those costume rides up head somewhere. You know, those where you can rent a horse and buggy and the driver is dressed up old timey," Mark said.
"Must be coming from up yonder," Jeff said, pointing off to the right and ahead.
The ground beyond the line of trees on the right began to rise into a long, low hill. Right at the crest they could see a large house or mansion or something. It was all lit up as if for a holiday. As they got closer the road bent in that direction and soon they could see that the huge two story house was of the antebellum type and had four giant white columns on the front. There were coaches pulled round to the side yard and people in old fashioned clothing were walking about. Women in long hoop dresses and men is odd looking suits with coats that came far down their upper legs. The men's suits were mostly black, though they had vests of gray, or ivory, or brocade red silk. The women's dresses were gaily colored, some yellow, some pink, some blue.
"Some kind of costume party. Hey! Let's crash it!" said Jamie. At sixteen, he was always looking for adventure.
The road continued and then a red brick drive turned off and went up the hill. On a sudden lark, Mark turned the car up the road and parked off to the side where the carriages were parked. The boys got out of the car and went up to the house. People nodded and smiled. No one challenged them. There were nearly a hundred people at the party and three more weren't going matter, apparently.
A distinguished looking man in a black coat, dark red vest, and gray pants met them soon after they came inside. "Well, you must be Col. Whelen's boys. Welcome! Refreshments are over yonder. You tell him for me that I appreciate his sending you boys. I know he can't get around much, anymore."
They just nodded and thanked him. They walked into the large room their host had indicated and on the table was a large wedding cake that had been cut, and there were trays of sweets, pies, and meats. The boys helped themselves. The food was delicious and since growing boys need a lot of fuel for their growing bodies, they ate greedily. As they ate they looked around. The people were nice and a couple of times people came over to speak to them with soft drawls. They felt kind of shabby in their blue jeans and denim shirts, but nobody seemed to mind. A trio of cute girls giggled at Jamie and turned their backs on him, obviously interested and talking about him. Just as he was about to go talk to them, their parents broke up their group and they headed out of the door. The girls climbed into coaches and carriages with their families and the drivers left the wedding party and drove off into the night.
Suddenly, their host was beside them. "I know you boys came a long way. It's too late to go back, tonight. Highwaymen might be lying wait. The rooms are all full up, but I'll have Cassie put three pallets down in the kitchen for you all. Y'all can sleep over by the fireplace out of the way and go back after breakfast. Follow me," he said.
In the kitchen, Cassie, a rather rotund black woman laid out some long hall bench cushions in three places and spread blankets over them. She got three pillows and bid them goodnight.
"Why're we stayin'? It can't be more than thirty or forty minutes back home by car," Jeff grumbled.
"Well, we don't know where we are. Besides, the liquor is good and I want some more, so let's stay a while longer and then maybe we'll leave," said Mark. He was eighteen and the oldest, so the other two naturally listened to him.
They went back into the dinning room, filled three glasses to the brim with something they later found out was port, and began to drink and talk. The last of the guests were leaving. Their host had already gone upstairs, leaving them alone in the dining room. After a few drinks, the potency of the port became apparent. Soon, the boys were a bit intoxicated and they made their ways into the kitchen and laid down on the pallets and went to sleep.
The sun was up and shining in their eyes and they heard a voice, "Hey, you boys can't camp in my pasture! Better get up and get moving."
Looking up they saw a farmer in a checked shirt, blue ball cap, and blue jean overalls. There was no house to be seen. They were sleeping on the ground out in the open. Startled, all three jumped up. "What's going on, here!? How did we get out here?" Mark demanded.
"You boys on drugs or somethin'? the man asked.
"No! I'm telling you. We were sleeping in a house, in the kitchen! Yes, there's the tree and there's my car. There was a big, white house with columns and women in hoop skirts, and everything! It was some sort of costume party for a wedding. It was right here!" Mark exclaimed. All three nodded vigorously.
"Boys, that can't be! This here is my land. Been in my family two hundred years. There was a house like that on this hill, but it burnt down a hundred and fifty years ago!" said the farmer.
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