Dishonoring Jack

Chapter Seventeen - Part One

 Jack and Donovan lollygagged in the empty field for hours, neither anxious to return to their demanding duties and the pressures of everyday life. Something magical swelled in the vacancy of the expansive field and their utter solitude. Jack no longer felt like the aging, eclectic spinster; she felt young and wild and free.

Donovan sprawled in the grass on his stomach, chewing on a strand of wheat while Jack leaned against one of the automobile's large wheels, her ankles crossed.

"I've always been a city person," Donovan said, eying the wheat stalk. "I never thought I cared much for the country, but maybe it was just the reservation that I disliked. This is quite pleasant."

"Are you sure it's not the company?" Jack teased and Donovan smiled. There was something more carefree and open about him today as compared to their previous encounters; nothing hid behind his dark exterior. "You never missed the reservation while you were in Boston?"

Just as quickly, storm clouds fell over his expression. There was something about his past as a Powhatan that he kept carefully under wraps. "I missed people on the reservation, but I never missed the reservation. Never."

"Why aren't you still in Boston, then? Not that I'm complaining, of course. I'm quite glad you're here."

Donovan pulled himself to a sitting position facing Jack, and she studies his features, hoping he would give something away. Trouble, Minnie had said. There was trouble on the reservation. Would he tell her what happened?

Donovan sighed, running a hand through his long black hair. "My brother died. He was the only one left in my family after disease swept through and killed my parents."

Jack leaned forward, taking one of his large hands in hers. "I'm so sorry, Donovan."
"I...it's hard to talk about," he said, staring at her small hand in his. "Perhaps I'll tell you more eventually."

As much as Jack wanted to pester him into confession, he was resolute in his reticence and not the sort of man to be badgered into divulgence. She would have to be patient and hope that he would learn to trust her.

"I'm sorry," Jack finally said. "About your brother. I can't imagine."

"Yes. He left behind a wife and a son with no money or work to sustain them. And now I'm out of a job and--there's so little I can do for them."

Jack started to scheme a little--if he were staying here, perhaps she could help him some kind of job or stability so he could support his family. "Well, do you plan on staying in Irvington for a while?"

He smiled at her. "Would you like me to?" Jack rolled her eyes at him and kicked him in the arm. "I suppose I shall, for at least a while. I wasn't intending--I came here merely for a brief respite. But perhaps I'll stay longer. The Bookers, they've been so welcoming, and you, Jack. I never imagined." Donovan stopped speaking and smiled at her. "Yes, I suppose I shall stay. I can't return to the reservation."

Jack asked him no more questions but leaned her head against the automobile, her mind broiling with ideas. "Well, then we'll just have to find you a job. Almost every able bodied man and woman in this town must work to support the war."

"Yes, the war," he said, voice hardening.

Jack didn't dare to ask him what the note of bitterness in his voice entailed--could he be a pacifist or a dissenter? "Yes, the war!" she cried. "The men fighting overseas demand our support, Donovan. Minnie and Julius and I are all helping in any way we can, and you should too. Perhaps you could also earn some money for your sister-in-law."

"What could I do?" Donovan said. "I've worked all my life, but in Boston, they don't care as much about heritage. Here, I saw a man cross the street just to avoid walking past me on the sidewalk."

"Oh, let me think," Jack said, touching her chin. "You're quite educated, right? Why don't you teach?"

Donovan cocked his head and studied her. "Do you think they would hire me?"

"I'll convince them," Jack said. "The reverend listens to me and he has some pull with the schoolmaster. You could teach history or English or whatever it is you've studied."

"You're quite indomitable, Jack," he said, reaching for an errant hair that had escaped her hasty pinned hair.

She brushed his hand away, face turning pink. "Oh, stop."

"How is it you're not married, Jack?" Donovan asked.

She laughed, throwing her head back. "You must be joking. Me? Who would want an independent woman who works for a living, travels the country alone, and runs about in men's trousers?"

Donovan, however, didn't laugh at Jack's antics. He studied her even more intently. "I would."

Jack looked away, unable to face the sincerity in his gaze. "Well, it matters little. There was a fellow once, but he didn't--we weren't to be. He didn't care for my wild ways, and I refused to be tamed."

"I'm glad."
Jack's face heated, and she didn't know what to say. She'd long grown used to the idea of her perpetual singledom and rarely contemplated marriage--except for when Roy left her. He was the only one who had forced her to consider another future.

"I've never married," Donovan continued, filling the silence. "Perhaps I could have, at one time, but I didn't want to stay on the reservation. I wanted to wander, and few women wish to be attached to a nomad."

Jack's skin tingled at the thought--did he know that was the very future she dreamed of? Jack loved to travel, but the prospect of traveling with someone enthralled her even more. The things Donovan could show her about the Powhatan people...but no. This was no offer of marriage. These were the musings of a man to a friend. A friend he just so happened to enjoy kissing.

"I suppose that someday," he continued, oblivious to Jack's thoughts, "I should like to settle somewhere. Not on the reservation, but somewhere."

Jack gnawed on her lip and said nothing. What could she say? That his dreams in life were terrifyingly parallel to her own? No, she could say nothing. She could not contemplate marriage to a man she'd just met who was so obviously harboring secrets. 

Are Jack and Donovan as similar as they seem to be? And are their dreams for the future compatible? Will Donovan stick around long enough for them to be a reality?