Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2006 19:07:49 -0700 (PDT) From: Thomas Gaige Subject: Aaron Gets His Wish - Chapter 13 DISCLAIMER: The following story is FICTIONAL. It contains descriptions of sexual activities between teenage boys. If you are not over 18 years of age, or if you find this type of story offensive, or viewing this material is illegal where you are, then please DO NOT READ IT! If you choose to read it, then - I hope you enjoy it! Aaron Gets His Wish Chapter Thirteen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mark froze in horror with Aaron's hard cock stuffed fully in his mouth, the head of it lodged between his tonsils, as the boy smiled, moaned, and arched his back up off the bed. "Fuck!!!" Mark thought frantically! "He's waking up!!!!!!!" Aaron moaned again and pulled his pelvis downward slightly, then shoved it forward again, effectively beginning to fuck Mark's mouth. Instantly, praying that Aaron was still at least half asleep, Mark pulled off the boy, and in one fluid movement spun around and laid down on his back, next to him. As he lay there with his heart pounding in his chest, Mark looked carefully at Aaron. The boy's cock was still sticking out of his fly, standing at attention, glistening with Mark's spit. It was twitching slightly - keeping rhythm with his heartbeat. As Mark's eyes moved up Aaron's body and he looked at his face, it appeared that he was still asleep. Of course, he'd pretended to be asleep before though when he wasn't, so Mark still wasn't sure he was safe! As he laid there frozen with fear, Aaron suddenly rolled over, away from Mark, and turned onto his stomach. Automatically, his hand reached down and he adjusted his penis, so that it was lying comfortably under him, pointing to the left, right at Mark. Mark could see the tip of it. A moment later, Aaron began moving his hips back and forth, from left to right, incorporating a slight up and down humping motion as well, so that the underside of his hardon was being ground against the mattress. With each left and downward motion of Aaron's pelvis, Mark could see the whole head of Aaron's cock. It almost completely disappeared under him as he move right. Mark heaved a silent, thankful, sigh of relief. Aaron was definitely sleeping yet. There was no way he'd hump the bed in front of Mark, unless he was asleep, and didn't know it. As Mark lay quietly, breathing again, Aaron continued pumping his pelvis up and down, and left and right, grinding his hardon against the mattress. After a few seconds, Mark began to pay closer attention to Aaron. The boy's face was turned, so he was facing him. His eyes were closed, and he wore a look of extreme arousal. His mouth was open a little and he was breathing more heavily. He began moaning softly again, and humping the bed faster. Mark's cock was throbbing as he watched Aaron fucking the bed, masturbating in his sleep. Suddenly Aaron groaned in a low gutteral way, and his eyes flew open. His hips were still going though. "Mmmmmmm...." he moaned, and a look of passionate joy swept momentarily across his face. Then his eyes focused and became fixed on Mark's. Suddenly his joyous look changed to one of extreme mortification, and he turned bright red. Instantly his hips stopped moving. It was too late to stop his orgasm though. A second later, he gasped involuntarily and his face cringed for a split second as his slight frame shuddered. A large glob of semen shot out of his urethra onto the sheet. His face turned a deeper shade of red, and he looked even more mortified than he had. Quickly he twisted his head so he was facing away from Mark. Mark heard him draw in his breath sharply again, and saw his ass cheeks clench and release in his boxers, as he ejaculated onto the mattress again. Aaron spasmed one more time, adding still more semen to the puddle lying next to him. His body relaxed slightly then, as his orgasm ended. Ordinarily, his pleasure would've continued a few seconds longer, but Aaron had tried to stop it, once he saw Mark watching him. "Good dream huh?" Mark asked, smiling at the back of his head with a slightly jocular look on his face, once it was clear Aaron's orgasm had ended. Poor Aaron turned and looked miserably at Mark. His face was nearly purple with embarrassment. "I-I was-" he started to say, but Mark cut him off. "I know!" he said, benevolently. "Don't sweat it. Wet dreams happen to all of us!" "Easy for you to say!" Aaron croaked, ruefully. "You're not the one who got caught fucking the bed, and you don't have a puddle of your own jizz lying next to you, while I'm watching you!" He looked almost ready to cry. "It's OK," Mark said, reaching over and mussing his hair. "I'll look away, so you can clean up. And you really don't have to be embarrassed. I have seen you get off before after all. More than once in fact!" He turned away from Aaron then. "I suppose," Aaron said, sounding less upset. "Thanks for looking away though. Somehow this seems more embarrassing." "No problem," Mark said, smiling to himself, hoping that by facing away from Aaron, that the boy wouldn't see the prominent tent in his boxers. "Yuck!" Aaron muttered then, and Mark felt him getting up. He heard several Kleenexes being ripped from the box on Aaron's night stand. Then, Aaron deftly swiped at the spots he'd made on the sheets, trying to clean and dry them. A minute later, Mark felt Aaron getting back into bed. "Damn! It's all wet over here!" Aaron moaned, disgustedly. Mark snickered then and turned over onto his back again and pulled the covers over him. He looked at Aaron then, who was still pink, but looked less upset. "Turn out the light and scootch over here. You can sleep on my side with me," He said. He reached for his own light then and turned it off. "Thanks," Aaron said, sounding both grateful, but also a little embarrassed. He turned off his light, then crawled into the middle of the bed, next to Mark. "C'mon, snuggle up," Mark said, smiling. Somewhat shyly, which Mark found odd, since they'd snuggled together often in the past, but also gratefully, Aaron rolled onto his side and snuggled up against Mark's left side, nestling his head in the crook of Mark's arm, and slinging his own arm over Mark's torso. He yawned again then, as he settled in. "Let's try and get some sleep now," Mark said, giving the boy a squeeze. "OK, G'night!" Aaron said. "G'night!" Mark said. The two lay quietly then. A few minutes later, Aaron fell into a peaceful, happy slumber, wrapped in Mark's protective embrace. Mark on the other hand, lay awake a while, frustrated by the hardon he had, that wouldn't go down without some help, which he knew he couldn't give it. Eventually, he did fall asleep himself, although his sleep wasn't as peaceful as Aaron's. * * * The clock on the bedside table said 7:56AM when Aaron's eyes fluttered open the next morning. He was lying on his side, staring right at it. Mark was spooned up against his back, with his arm wrapped around Aaron, hugging him snuggly. Aaron could feel the underside of Mark's hardon nestled comfortably in his ass crack, so that it was pointing upward between the two of them. This of course caused Aaron's penis to stiffen as well. From the snorts and snoring sounds behind him, Aaron could tell that Mark was still asleep. "Mmm..." Mark groaned slightly, and pressed his pelvis forward a little, grinding his dick a little deeper into the crease between Aaron's buttocks. Aaron's eyes got bigger, as did his own penis. Mark relaxed again then, and his breathing returned to normal. Aaron relaxed again then too, and smiled a little to himself, as he nestled more snuggly back against his step-brother. Mark's arm tightened slightly around him at the same time. As Aaron lay quietly enjoying the intimacy of Mark's embrace, the older boy suddenly began slowly moving his hips back and forth, rubbing the underside of his penis up and down against, Aaron's ass crack. Aaron's eyes opened wide again, and again, he felt a surge or arousal wash through him, as Mark's penis pressed deeper into his groove. "Mmmmm..." Mark groaned softly again. His hips began to move a little faster. "Shit!" Aaron thought, frantically. "If I don't stop him, he's gonna jizz all over me!" Although it was Aaron's fantasy to have sex with Mark, if it was ever going to happen, he wanted Mark to be awake, and aware of what he was doing, and to want to be doing it. He knew that the only reason Mark was doing it now was he was asleep and unaware. If he kept it up and had an orgasm, it would wake him up, and cause an embarrassing situation for both of them. Mark would be embarrassed for having done it, but Aaron would be mortified for having a hardon because of it. He couldn't let Mark know he had enjoyed being humped. Carefully, Aaron lifted Mark's hand up and away from him, and tried to push it behind him. As soon as he'd laid it down on Mark's hip though, before Aaron had a chance to carefully scootch away from Mark and get up, Mark flopped his arm back over Aaron again. Again, he hugged Aaron to him, more tightly this time though. Then, he started humping the boy even harder. Frantic to stop Mark, Aaron pressed back against Mark's chest with his elbow. "Wha-???" Mark groaned, stirring, and starting to wake up. His hips stopped moving. "I gotta go pee!" Aaron said, jumping up quickly and running for the door, before Mark had a chance to see the bulge in his boxers. "Huh?" Mark groaned, rolling onto his back, only half awake, and not sure what had just happened. * * * Aaron raced down the stairs then, dashed through the kitchen and into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Panting, Aaron looked at his reflection in the mirror a moment. Then, he looked down at his boxers. His erection was poking straight out, severely tenting them. Smiling slightly, Aaron stripped his boxers off, then squatted and looked under the sink for some hand lotion. Finding a bottle he smiled and shook it. Then he opened it and squirted a little out on his fingertip. Still smiling, he reached under himself, then up to his asshole. His smile broadened into a grin as the cool lotion on his fingertip made contact with his tight pucker, and he started rubbing it on himself. Aaron rubbed his rosebud for a moment, then, finally he stood up. Picking up the bottle, he squirted some lotion into his hand. He mushed it around in his hand a moment, warming it up, as he watched his penis dance up and down slightly with each pulse of his heartbeat, as blood was pumped through it. A minute later, Aaron opened his hand and grasped his cock with it and began sliding it up and down, slathering himself with hand lotion. "Mmmmmmm...." he moaned softly, as he smiled at his reflection in the mirror. He spread his legs apart and squatted slightly, then reached down through his legs and pressed the index finger of his other hand between his ass cheeks, pushing upward, until he reached his anus, which he then began rubbing. * * * While Aaron masturbated in the bathroom downstairs, Mark woke fully. He wasn't really sure what had happened that caused Aaron to race out of the room, but he was glad he did. He was hard as a rock, and wanted to jack off in the worst way. Quickly he pushed the blankets and sheet down off him, and pushed his boxers down, exposing his hardon. He would have liked to lube up and have a nice slow jack off, but he wasn't sure how soon Aaron would return, and he was so horny as it was, he knew he was going to blow his load soon. Quickly he grabbed his boner in his hand and began pumping on it. "This is why they call it 'beating off'!" Mark thought to himself, smiling, as his hand began to fly up and down as if he was beating on his pelvis. Within a few seconds, Mark could feel his orgasm forming. He continued stroking away. A few seconds later, the pressure was building inside him. His legs spread apart involuntarily a little, and he reached for his scrotum with his left hand and cupped it, gently kneading his testicles. "Mmm!" Mark grunted as his orgasm mounted. He hastened his stroke a little, so he was jerking off as fast as possible. "AAAwwwww!!!" he groaned as he burst over the pinnacle of his climax, and launched a long thick streak of sperm from his urethra, that shot in an arc and landed on the underside of his chin, stretching down over his neck to the top of his chest. "Fucckkk!!!" he gasped, a second later, blasting another glob of cum from his dick. It landed on his chest, in a thick line, ending in a glob at one end. "MMmmmm!!!!" he moaned, as more semen sprayed from his piss slit. Mark kept on pumping his cock and kneading his balls, as he blew still more jism all over his chest and belly. Eventually, his orgasm ended, and Mark slowed his pace and squeezed his balls slightly. "Fuck that was good!" he whispered to himself. A final shudder of pleasure swept through him and a bit more cum oozed from his piss slit then, dribbling down the top of his dick, and running over his thumb. Smiling, Mark licked the bit of cum off his thumb and savored the slightly salty, tangy flavor, as he reached for the Kleenex box. He ripped several tissues from it, then he began cleaning himself up. * * * As Mark was wiping himself clean, Aaron was on the brink of his climax, as his well-lotioned hand slid deftly up and down his 5" rod, while he stared at his reflection in the mirror over the bathroom sink. His face had taken on a passionate look, that proudly, Aaron thought looked rather mature. Suddenly he forgot about looking mature. He sped up his stroke slightly, and rubbed his asshole a little harder. A moment later a wave of pleasure swept through his body, and he gasped almost silently, as a string of semen shot out of his dick, and landed in a curved line on the vanity in front of him. "Mmmmmm...." he moaned in a barely audible tone, hoping anyone who might be in the Kitchen wouldn't hear him, as he ejaculated more cum onto the countertop. Closing his eyes, and tilting his head back, Aaron blew another glob of his boy juice. He kept on stroking his dick and rubbing his hole for the next several seconds, until eventually, he'd squirted a couple more times, and then his spasms ended, leaving him feeling happy and relaxed. He smiled at himself in the mirror then, as he pulled his hand from his ass, and released his penis, so he could reach for some Kleenex, which he used to clean himself and the counter top off with. He used one last tissue to wipe the tip of his dick with again, just before it disappeared back inside his foreskin, wiping the last bit of cum off it, then he reached behind him and wiped his ass quickly as well. Aaron threw the soiled tissue into the toilet, then flushed, and reached down to the floor for his boxers, which he picked up and put back on. A moment later, he opened the door and peered out. He was alone. Quickly he dashed across the kitchen, and headed back up to his and Mark's room. * * * "Feeling better?" Mark asked, smiling knowingly at Aaron when he walked back into their bedroom. Aaron blushed slightly, smiled shyly and said, "Yeah." He grinned then when he saw the relaxed look in Mark's eyes and added, "How about you?" Mark grinned and said, "Yeah, me too!" Aaron's grin widened for a moment as the two enjoyed sharing the knowledge that they'd both just been jacking off. "So, are we gonna read more of the diary and letters?" Aaron asked after a moment. "You didn't keep reading after I fell asleep did you?" "Only a little... I can read it again though," Mark said, reaching for Elijah's diary. Aaron laid back down and pulled the covers up over him, as Mark opened the diary and began reading again. After reading entries for a couple days further on, things got a little more interesting. "Aha! We're gonna find out more about Josiah now!" Mark said, grinning. "The next entry is dated August 30, 1861, Seneca Mills, MD. It says 'More Picket duty tonight on the river. How many nights of this are we to endure? Good news tho! My guts feelin better now! Better news!!! FINALLY a letter from Josiah!!!!! Sweet Jesus I miss him! And, he misses me too!!! 5! It was so good to hear from him finally! I still can't figure how come he got split off to the 43rd! We was supposed to be together! Leastwise, it appears he's as miserable as me! Not that I wish him to be, but I'd hate it if he was havin a good time, and I weren't!' "What was the '5' in the middle?" Aaron asked. "Don't know. It's just a number five with an exclamation point right in the middle of the paragraph! Kinda weird!" Mark said. "Is there a letter?" Aaron asked. "I think so. First one from Josiah to Eli," Mark said, reaching for the top letter on the stack that he'd put in order to follow the diary dates. "Yup! Here it is." "It's addressed to 'Pvt Elijah Shaw 34th NY Vols Washington DC'. The Washington DC is crossed off and someone wrote 'Seneca Mills, MD' instead. The return address is 'Pvt Josiah Barrett 43rd NY Vols'," Mark said. He opened the letter and began reading. "August 9, 1861, Albany. Dear Elijah, Hope you are well. I'm doing fine. The heat's miserable though. Hard to be without family and friends. Especially you! Much of the time I am busy though. They keep drilling us daily. I'm dreaming each night about it of course. I sure wish our company'd move out at times like this. We are in good shape to join the others. Don't have enough hay for the horses. Must mow some soon they say, and look at me. I wish they'd let me as we ain't doing much. They was thinking we should go back home, because there's hay there. I'd go there directly! My right shoulder and my hand hurt. I expect it is from drilling. There is no rest. Should've used a substitute like Hanlon did. Good for nothing he is. I'm being honorable and know it inside and so too are You! Momma wrote to me. Pray she said, that soon we will be able to both come back home and live our lives. We'd go to church, farm together, and go hunting. Each Build a home and get us wives and each have kids and be forever happy on Earth together living in old Cedarville again. I don't know Elijah. All that's far off. Wish'n my life away though. I love Momma's idea and will always! Your friend, Josiah 5" * * * "There's that five again!" Aaron said, as Mark finished reading the letter. "I know!" Mark said, looking at it curiously. "Wonder what the hell it means?" "Maybe it's some secret code!" Aaron said. Mark raised his eyebrows and looked at Aaron. "You've been watching too many spy shows on TV," He said chuckling. "NO!" Aaron said. "Really! I heard how during war times they used letters to send coded messages!" "Well... yeah - but that was for official orders and stuff like that!" Mark said. "But maybe they wanted to say something to each other in code!" Aaron said. "Well... how's a number five gonna help us decode it?" Mark asked. "Try reading every 5th letter and see if it spells anything," Aaron suggested. Curious now, Mark grabbed a sheet of paper and a pencil from the drawer in his night stand and started working out the letters. Together he and Aaron started with the first letter of 'August' and counted out every fifth letter. It was all gibberish. They tried it starting with all five of the first five letters of 'August', it still didn't spell out words - none made sense. They started with 'Dear Elijah' then, and repeated the process. Still nothing. Then they tried it on just the body of the letter. Again nothing. "Guess I was wrong," Aaron said, dejectedly. Mark puzzled some more, looking at the letter. Suddenly his eyes opened wide. "NO WAY!" he said incredulously. "What?" Aaron asked, suddenly alert. "HOLY SHIT AARON! You were right! But it's not every fifth LETTER - it's every fifth WORD! Watch!" Mark said. He proceeded then to pick out every fifth word in the body of Josiah's letter and wrote them down. When he was finished, this is what he'd written out: "I'm miserable without you! I keep dreaming of our times in the hay mow and wish we was back there. My hand is no substitute for being inside you! Pray we both live to go home and be together again. All my love always!" "OH MY GOD!" Aaron said, staring incredulously at the page Mark had written. "They were gay!" Mark said, equally as incredulously. The two sat staring for a moment at the page, then Mark picked up the photo frame with the pictures of the two young Civil War soldiers in it, off his night stand, opened it, and gazed at the young men's images. "That'd explain the hair I guess!" Aaron said, looking over Mark's shoulder at the pictures. He felt his dick tingle at the thought of the two young men going at it in a pile of hay in an old barn. "Yeah," Mark said, also feeling his dick stiffening. "Wow!" Aaron said. "Yeah," Mark said again. The two sat looking down at Elijah's and Josiah's pictures, each lost in his own train of thought. Mark was wishing he had been Josiah. Elijah was cute as hell, and he sure wouldn't mind putting his dick up his butt! Aaron's thoughts returned to the pile of hay in the barn. Suddenly, he imagined he was in a hay-filled barn with Kyle, or even with Mark, and that they were doing the things Elijah and Josiah had done! After a moment, both boys had fully developed hardons they hoped the other wouldn't see, and as such, each was careful that their lower half remained under the covers. Finally, Aaron said, "It's weird. They seem different to me now." "How do you mean?" Mark asked, looking closely at Aaron, wondering if the boy was going to declare his hatred for them now that he knew they were gay. "I don't know," Aaron said, blushing a little under Mark's scrutiny. "I just never knew anyone who was gay before!" Mark snorted and smiled slightly and said, "Well, it's not like you know these guys - they've been dead for years!" Silently he added to himself, "Besides, you do too know someone gay. You sleep with him each night!" Mark tinged slightly pink then, almost as if he were worried that Aaron could read his mind. "I know," Aaron said. The he continued a little uncertainly. "But it seemed like we did know them... but now.. they're - different!" "Well," Mark said, cautiously. "Yeah - I guess they are different. But, just because someone's gay doesn't make them bad!" "I know," Aaron said, tinging pink, wishing they'd get off the subject before he said something to give away his true feelings. Suddenly, Aaron had a thought. He looked curiously at Mark and said, "Do you know anyone who's gay?" "Sure!" Mark answered, before he really had considered Aaron's query. "Really?" Aaron asked, looking at Mark a little suprised. "Well... yeah," Mark said. He felt his face warming up a little more. "Who?" Aaron asked, curiously. "Just a couple guys I know out in California," Mark said, hoping to drop the subject. "So, are you friends with them?" Aaron asked. This was a side of Mark he didn't know anything about. "Um... I guess," Mark said, non-committally. "Um... So you don't care if someone's gay then? - I mean, you'll still be friends with them?" Aaron asked, scrutinizing him rather carefully. Mark thought a moment, and decided to push the envelope a little and see what Aaron's thoughts were. He said "Yeah. I don't see why a person can't have a gay friend. People who are gay are born that way. They don't have a choice. I mean do you think if they did they'd stay gay with all the assholes who harrass them all the time? Anyway - it's just something about them that's different. And you can't catch it, so... I guess if someone's gay it doesn't bother me." "Wow," Aaron said, genuinely surprised. He wondered if Mark would feel the same way though if he knew he was sleeping with a gay boy each night. Suddenly he had an urge to just blurt out to Mark that he was gay. His eyes grew larger though when he realized what he was thinking of doing! There was no way he could tell Mark he was gay! What if Mark had just said that, but didn't really feel that way? if Aaron opened up, making himself vulnerable, what would Mark do then? "So... does it bother you that Elijah and Josiah were gay?" Mark asked a little intensely, oblivious to Aaron's inner turmoil. Aaron's thoughts stopped swirling through his mind and he frowned slightly at Mark's interrogation, and thought a minute. Then, realizing that Mark had just said he didn't mind having gay friends, his relaxed a little and he said "I guess not. I still like them I guess." "Cool! Me too!" Mark said, smiling. "C'mon, we should go tell Mom, Dad, and Gran," Aaron said, grinning with relief that he and Mark seemed to feel the same way yet. "NO! Wait!" Mark cried suddenly. He paused a minute and blushed slightly. Something was nagging at him to keep it all a secret. He looked at Aaron and said, "Listen, I don't know why, but I have this weird feeling that we shouldn't tell anyone about this! Not even the rents! It's almost like it was Elijah's and Josiah's secret, and they let us in on it, and now that we know about it - they want us to keep it a secret. I think we should guard their secret for them!" Aaron's eyebrows rose and he looked strangely at Mark, then he looked down at the soldier's pictures. A moment later, he looked up at Mark again said, "OK... I think I know what you mean! It's just the whole coded letter thing's so cool, I wish we could tell someone about it!" "I know, but I just don't think we should!" Mark said, gazing at the pictures. He felt a sudden closeness to Elijah and Josiah - almost like they were sitting on the bed with he and Aaron and that they were happy with his decision. "OK," Aaron said. "How about we read some more then?" "OK," Mark said, smiling. "Wait!" Aaron protested, as Mark picked up Elijah's diary. "Aren't there more letters from Josiah?" "Yeah, a couple more I think," Mark said. "Well, let's read those!" Aaron said anxiously. Mark grinned and said, "Nope! We're reading everything IN ORDER!" "NO!" Aaron cried! "We can read the rest in order, but why can't we read Josiah's letters right away? I wanta see if there's anymore codes!" "We'll see soon enough!" Mark said, still smiling. "These diaries aren't really that thick, and they're going quickly!" "That's Bogus!" Aaron grumbled, frowning, causing Mark to laugh at him. "We'll get back to Josiah's letters soon enough," Mark said. Then he rolled toward Aaron and grabbed him, and began tickling him, illiciting peels of laughter from the boy. "Stop!" Aaron cried after a minute, between gasps for air, and hysterically laughing from Mark's tickling. "I'M GONNA PEE!" Chuckling, Mark tickled Aaron unmercifully for a few seconds longer, as the boy squirmed helplessly all over the bed, gasping for air, and beginning to look desperate. Finally, Mark let go of Aaron, who immediately stopped writhing and grabbed for his crotch, squeezing it hard. "Jesus Christ!" he cried, between gasps for breath, with a mixed look of alarm and relief on his face. "I almost... pissed the bed!" Mark chuckled and said, "Well, ya didn't. And now you had your morning exercise!" He made as if he was going to grab Aaron again and start tickling him. "NOOO!!!" Aaron cried, kicking against Mark and pushing himself right out of the bed, onto the floor. "Owww!!!" he complained, with a painful look in his eyes, as Mark roared with laughter. "Jerk!" Aaron muttered, as he got up and rubbing his tail bone, crawled back into bed, causing Mark to laugh longer. "I'm sorry," Mark said finally. Smiling broadly he reached over and tossled Aaron's hair. "I didn't mean to make you hurt yourself, and I wouldn't make you pee the bed either. I mean... I have to sleep in it too! Despite the "abuse" he'd just suffered, Aaron couldn't help smiling slightly though because of Mark's attention. Before Mark could make another move and grab him again he said, "C'mon. Let's read some more!" Chuckling yet, Mark picked up Elijah's diary again. * * * The boys spent the next couple hours reading through Elijah's diaries and letters. As they read along, they found a letter to Elijah from his father, that was in response to the letter Elijah had written to his mother about how Caleb, the young Rebel had died. Although Elijah hadn't wanted her to, his mother had apparently shared Elijah's letter about the young Confederate's death with his father. Mark and Aaron were pleased to see that Elijah's Dad had written him a kind and encouraging letter, telling his boy he was very proud of him, and not to worry that he was damned to Hell for all eternity because of the deaths he'd caused. His father told him that he'd only killed the Rebel in self defense, and it was he who'd in turn shot, accidentally shot and killed Caleb. Elijah's father went on to say that God forgave those who killed only in self defense, or accidentally, and that it was his belief that only premeditated murder would damn a person's soul to Hell. The journal entry that accompanied the letter from his father, showed that Elijah appeared somewhat relieved. Shortly afterward, Elijah wrote "I received a letter today from Mrs. Batchelor regarding the death of her son Caleb. Apparently my letter reached her. I find it interesting that even though we're at war with the south, letters can still be gotten across enemy lines. I really didn't think the Reb saw while on picket duty that night, who I gave it to, was really going to send it. Maybe some of 'em aren't so bad afterall. From what Caleb's mother said, it sounds as if he was a nice boy too. I feel worse now about his death! I was surprised though to find that his mother was not angry with me because her boy died, and in fact thanked me for risking my own safety and staying with him, while he died. This war needs to end before more innocent boys die!" The letter from Mrs. Batchelor was among those with Elijah's diaries. It said: "Dear Private Shaw, Please accept my thanks for the letter you wrote concerning my son Caleb's death. Although I am greatly distressed that he is gone to be with Jesus, I am comforted knowing that he had a kind young man with him in the end. I am sure, it helped him to be less frightened. Please accept my heartfelt thanks for all you did to help Caleb, and know that I do not hold you responsible in any way for his death. It's this damnable war! Please forgive my vulgarity. If it weren't for the war though, my boy would still be here at home with me, and possibly someday, you two would have met anyway. I'm sure if you had, you'd have become friends. Caleb was a good, kind boy, as I believe you to be as well. I do thank you sir for being with my boy while he was dying. Should you ever find yourself in Buckingham, please accept my heartfelt invitation to drop by for a visit. Sincerely, Mrs. Auguste Batchelor" "Wow!" Aaron said, looking at the letter with large eyes. "Yeah," Mark said. "It's not everyday someone is so gracious toward someone who accidentally caused their kid's death!" "I bet it made Elijah feel better," Aaron said. "I sure hope it did!" Mark said. "He was pretty fucked up over it!" "Um... can we take a breaK?" Aaron asked. "I'm hungry!" Chuckling, Mark said, "Me too!" "I'm just going to get dressed and skip showering for now. I want to read more after we eat," Aaron said. "Sounds good," Mark said. They both got up and pulled on some clothes, then ran down to the kitchen for a snack. Since it was almost 11AM, their snack turned into brunch, as Gran insisted on cooking them eggs, bacon, and toast, and serving up orange juice with it. When the boys were finished eating, they thanked Gran, then ran back up to their room, and resumed reading. * * * "Here we go!" Mark said. "Josiah wrote again! In his diary Eli sounds all happy about it. 'Thank God! Josiah wrote again finally! I was getting worried! He sounds OK, and still misses me!!! God how I miss him too! I wish it was last Christmas again. It was great that both our families had a lot of company, and me and Josiah got to sleep in our barn together! I know Josiah feels like I do - we both wish this infernal war would get over with!'" "Here's the letter!" Aaron cried, grabbing it off the top of the pile and handing it to Mark. Smiling, Mark opened the letter and read it: "December 2, 1861 - Alexandria, Virginia. Dearest Friend Elijah, I can't believe it's Christmas time again. And we won't be home - able to be together this year celebrating the birth of our lord, same as every year. Being without family and of course you! I've no idea what I will do Christmas, but wish the war over so we could go. If we were walking in as they're celebrating and we could be together I know Momma would like that best! You know last year she said next year won't be good, and when she said it, well I didn't believe it. I slept real poorly last night with funny dreams. I remembered you and me sleeping up in the barn cause of the company we had. That hay was comfortable in the loft! Remember the owl there! Oh! You were spooked and I told you how we need just be quiet. Then your brother came in all bare headed, saying how a body needs some rest and next thing the owl goes to fly away, just misses me and lands up above again! He pooped on Nate! And Nate got mad'n left. I'll never forget that. I love that story and think you and I'll remember it forever! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Your friend, Josiah 5" "Sounds like they had fun that year before!" Aaron said. "Yeah. Bet they had more fun than the letter says. Let's decode it like the last one. Maybe we'll find out more!" Mark said. Aaron grinned and handed Mark a pad of paper and a pencil he'd reached over to the desk for. Quickly, Mark decoded the letter, writing down every fifth word of the message. "OK," Mark said. "It says 'Christmas won't be the same without you! I wish we were celebrating together like last year when I slept with you in the hay loft! Oh! I need your bare body next to me again! And I'll love you forever!'" "So, they slept naked in the hay?" Aaron asked, looking at Mark. "Sounds that way," Mark said. "It was winter!" Aaron said. "Wouldn't they have gotten cold?" "Sounds like they were busy keeping each other warm!" Mark said, smiling. Aaron looked at him with a funny look on his face. "What?" Mark asked. "Nothing," Aaron said. "I was just wondering if they were completely naked, and if they stayed naked all night." "Does it matter?" Mark asked. "No," Aaron said, blushing slightly. "Bet the hay was kinda prickly though!" The two laughed then. "Guess I'll add this to the other letter from Josiah!" Mark said, taking it and putting it in his night stand drawer. * * * The boys read more journal entries and letters for a while, before they came up on another another entry in the journal that read: "Received a letter from Josiah. If this war doesn't end soon, I fear things will not return to the way they were before the war for us! Why did we ever sign up?" There was a corresponding letter from Josiah. The letter read: "April 18, 1862, Alexandria, Virginia, Dear Elijah, I hope you're well. Last time I wrote about night pickets. They continue, but the captain says that every man will stand on duty. I am very happy to share this duty too, as my body is weary. My tent cannot be slept in with daytime noise. And getting caught sleeping on duty, to me is not a very pleasing thing. I have got myself a new tent mate as Bennet has been discharged. I find him OK, but thought that I really would of rather had it been you. That wasn't the case. Before that ever will happen I expect Hell will freeze! could have been worse. Can't stop his snoring. I Like him though. I think that he will help when I'm exposed to enemy fire. Thinks himself a good shot. Went to Washington last week with me. We had a delivery. Then went to Willard's and he got drunk! When he leaned over outside he fell down into the horse trough and caused a comotion! He gave his hat'n gun to me and went to dry his clothes. I kept my mouth. shut. So did he. It's just a week we been bunking together now. Seems so different. Had Bennet a long time. Wish t'was you Elijah. None are as good as I would have if I could soldier with you. Can not really trust anyone to stop bullets for you! Not him! No one! It's only God who'll be there to help us out. Momma sent me a long letter and it was good news. It felt funny hearing the news so late! It was really good though. Ben took Rosanna as his wife! So finally he is married. They all drank a wedding toast for my safety. They drank grape Juice! I wrote Ben saying I'm happy for them and sorry that I wasn't there for the wedding. The war's hurting our families, me and you! I pray it ends! It can't go on! It won't cause any good to happen unless we reunite together again! Instead it gets worse! I hear rumors of worse still to come. I would love us to quit! Then, you I could go home and stay on the farm always therafter! Wish t'were God's will! Your friend, Josiah 5" Anxiously Mark and Aaron decoded Josiah's letter. They were surprised by the message, which read: "Last night the man I share my tent with caught me pleasing myself as I thought of you. Before I could stop him he exposed himself to me. Then he leaned down and gave me his mouth. It's been so long Elijah. I could not stop him. God help me it felt so good as he drank my juice! I'm sorry for hurting you! It won't happen again! I still love you and always will!" The two sat stunned after reading the decoded message. "Oh my God!" Aaron said finally. "Does that mean what I think it does?" "Looks like Josiah's new tent-mate is gay and likes Josiah!" Mark said. "He took advantage of Josiah... but... Josiah let him too!" "Poor Elijah!" Aaron said, sadly. "Yeah," Mark said. "Look! I don't care about the order of the letters! Are there anymore from Josiah?" Aaron asked, anxiously. "I gotta know what happened!" Mark felt the same way at that point. Quickly he grabbed the letters and leafed through them. "No more letters. But, here's a post card in Josiah's handwriting, even though it's just signed with his first initial," he said. He looked at the message on it. "I don't think it's in code," Mark said. "It seems straight forward, giving Elijah a clear message, but being vague enough so anyone who doesn't know them won't catch on. It's dated about a month later and says simply: "Dear Elijah, Nothing's changed! I meant it when I said it wouldn't happen again, and it hasn't! Nor will it! I anxiously await getting home, to resume our partnership together! Yours, J" "Sounds to me like Elijah wrote back to Josiah after that last letter and was upset," Mark said. "But Josiah sounds like he's not cheating anymore!" Aaron said. "Yeah," Mark said. "Let's see what Elijah wrote in his diary about this." He picked up the diary and leafed ahead to the corresponding date, and smiled when he read the entry. "Josiah wrote! I'm most relieved! All's well with him, as it is with me! He can't wait to get home, and neither can I! He wants to be business partners again! Tomorrow, we leave for a place called Glendale. I hate this place! I want to be home again. Now more than ever!" "Cool! So... things are OK again?" Aaron asked. "Sounds that way!" Mark said, grinning. "Business partners - cute way of putting it!" "Um... is it weird that we're happy that Elijah and Josiah are in love with each other and have sex together?" Aaron asked, suddenly looking up at Mark questioningly. Mark looked at him for a minute, frowning slightly, then he said, "Like I said before... it's OK to like gay people! I know you like Elijah and Josiah. I'm glad you do - because I like them too! I think it's OK for us to be happy for them!" Aaron smiled then. Mark smiled back. "OK, let's go back and read through the rest in order," Mark said. "OK," Aaron said. Mark returned to the spot they'd been in in the diary before. The entries after Josiah's letter reporting his "disloyalty" sounded dull, and depressing for a while. They noticed though that after his postcard arrived, the entries sounded less depressing and more lively again. As they read on, the war became grimmer and more violent. Elijah's unit was involved in many skirmishes. They read through various entries telling of the battles they were involved in that summer, and of the grotesque and appalling injuries and deaths suffered by some of Elijah's fellow soldiers. They fought in Yorktown, losing a considerable number of troops. They made camp on the Tyler farm and protected a bridge over the Chickahominy River. In June they fought in the battle of Fair Oaks, near Richmond, then, the day after Elijah received Josiah's post card, they went on to Glendale. They fought there on June 30th. Mark remembered studying some of these battles. This particular group of them was part of what was to become known as "The Seven Days War". In early July Elijah's unit was at Malvern Hill. Sometime after that they returned to Harrison's landing. They moved then to Newport News, and then went on to Fort Ethan Allen. It was while he was at Fort Ethan Allen that Elijah received devastating news. "OH SHIT NO!" Mark burst out, reading ahead. "WHAT?" Aaron cried, alarmed. Mark looked sadly at Aaron, then read: "'August 30, 1862... Fort Ethan Allen, Virginia. Today is the worst day of my life. Our mail caught up with us. There was one letter for me. It was from a soldier in the 43rd - the guy Josiah shared his tent with. It said that'.....it gets smudged here. I think he might have been crying....' Josiah was killed on June 26 at Mechanicsville. I cannot write anymore now.'" "NO!" Aaron cried, his eyes rapidly filling with tears. He stared at Mark, stricken. Mark's eyes watered as well. Both sat breathing deeply, fighting back tears, as they looked at each other. "Listen," Mark said, rubbing his eyes, and swallowing a lump in his throat. Snuffling he said, "Remember that Elijah got captured not long after this, and he died too. So - at least he didn't go home after the war, and not have Josiah. I'm not really sure if that's a good thing or not. But it just seems to me that if he'd lived, and Josiah had died, Elijah would've had a miserable life!" "I suppose," Aaron said, sniffing sadly and rubbing a tear from his cheek. "Still...." "I know," Mark said. He picked up the picture frame with Elijah's and Josiah's pictures in them, and the two stared at the young men's images silently for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts of their tragic lives. "C'mon..." Mark said, finally, setting the picture frame down. "Let's finish up. We're almost through all of it." "OK," Aaron said, somewhat subdued. The rest of the entries in the diary - there were only another four weeks worth - were short and terse. They lacked feeling, and demonstrated well, the depression Elijah was feeling over Josiah's death. The last entry in the diary, prior to the notation by Elijah's brother Nate about Elijah's capture and imprisonment in Andersonville, and subsequent death there, was dated September 29, 1862 - Antietam, Virginia. It said "The fighting continues. It's the worst we've seen yet. Again today I hurt some men and took some lives. If I hadn't, I'd be dead myself. I'd like to believe Daddy that I won't go to Hell for defending myself. Maybe I should've let them kill me. Then I'd be with Josiah in Heaven! I used to wish this Hellish war would end - with Josiah gone though - it no longer matters. Nothing matters anymore. I must go. They're calling us to fight again." "How awful he felt!" Aaron said. "I know," Mark said. "And then, he was captured a couple days later and put in Andersonville. That had to be even worse. What a fucked up life these guys led!" The two sat and looked at each other. "Now what?" Aaron asked after a minute. "I don't know," Mark said. "I was kind of thinking we might find out a little more about them if we went on-line. Maybe there'll be something about them on some Civil War site. At least their Army Unit histories might be there." "Let's check!" Aaron said, perking up a little. Mark got up and went and sat at his lap top, and fired it up. For the next thirty to forty minutes, they surfed the internet, searching for any sites that might mention Elijah and Josiah, or their army units. They found a history of each unit, and rosters of all the soldiers in them. On the roster for the 34th infantry they found Elijah listed. There were two foot note notations next to his name - reading the corresponding foot notes, it said, "Captured" and "Died Andersonville". On the roster for the 43rd infantry they found Josiah's name. The foot note for him said, "Died in battle". They boys looked up Andersonville and found a site that listed the prisoners that were held there. On that list they found an entry for "Pvt. Elijah Shaw - 34th NY Inf. - died of dysentery February 17, 1863 - buried: grave 378". "Ewww! He died of diarrhea!" Aaron said, making a face. "What a miserable way to go!" Mark said. "I hope he went quickly." "Yeah," Aaron said. They surfed the net a little more, and didn't find anything else. * * * "I wonder how this trunk got in our attic to begin with!" Aaron said, after a dry spell during their searching. "Good question!" Mark said. "Think Gran knows about the previous owners of the house?" "Maybe!" Aaron said. "Let's go ask her!" "OK," Mark said. "I gotta go pee anyway!" "Me too," Aaron said, grinning. The two got up and went downstairs. While Aaron used the bathroom, Mark asked Gran if she knew anything about who had owned the house before her. She thought a minute, then excused herself to go look for her file of "house papers". By the time Gran was back, Mark had used the bathroom too, and he and Aaron were sitting around the kitchen table waiting for her. "I think this might help!" Gran said, smiling. She handed Mark a thick document. "What's that?" Aaron asked. "An abstract of title!" Gran said. "It tells all the names of all the owners of this property! Take a look at the first entry!" "Micah Granville and Sarah Eliza Granville nee' Shaw!" Mark read, grinning. His smile faded and he looked thoughtful as he added "Elijah's mother and... who???" "No dear," Gran said. "When it says nee' - that means it was her maiden name. I believe maybe it was Elijah's brother Nathaniel's daughter and her husband! Especially if you look at the date of purchase! Micah and Sarah bought the land and built the house here back in 1890! Nathaniel would've had a house of his own long before that!" "Cool!" Aaron cried. "Back to the internet!" Mark declared, getting up. "Can I hold onto this for just a while Gran?" "Certainly dear, but be careful with it," Gran said smiling. Grinning, Mark said, "C'mon Aar - let's go see if we can't find Sarah on-line somewhere!" Aaron grinned and got up and the two ran back up the stairs to their room. * * * "Look at this!" Mark cried excitedly, 20 minutes later. They'd been searching for Micah and Sarah, and Mark had finally found an entry for them on a genealogical bulletin board. "Micah Granville was married to Sarah Eliza Shaw, who was daughter of Nathaniel Samuel Shaw and Mary Rose Culver. Nathaniel was son of David and Sarah Shaw!" "OH MY GOD!" Aaron cried, as he read over his shoulder. "IT IS OUR NATE!" "And look at this! Here's a line right down to Nate's great grandson who was living in Trenton, NJ just a few months ago. He's doing his genealogy and posted this message!" Mark said. "Oh my God!" Aaron said, with big eyes. "You mean we really found a living relative of Elijah?" "Looks that way!" Mark said, grinning. "So... what do we do now?" Aaron asked... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next chapter of this story will be published soon.