On the Wings of the Wind
by
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Good fortune always seems to smile on young Robert Holcomb, or Robbie as he is known to his friends and family. Good luck just seems to embrace him. He is one of those fortunate few who always seems to be in the right place at the right time. Every day seems to be his lucky day. Everything just seems to go his way, to fall precisely into place. It isn’t that he is lucky or fortunate some of the time; it seems that he is lucky all of the time. He was aware of this seemingly good fortune at an early age, yet he more or less took these things in stride. He seemed to be neither impressed nor distressed by these happenings.
Nor was he alone in recognizing what seemed to be the presence of good fortune that always seemed to embrace him. His parents noticed it, their friends noticed it, his friends noticed it and the townspeople noticed it. He just seemed to have been born under the right sign, under the right star; it was as if some magical or mysterious force was constantly hovering over him, constantly protecting and providing for him. Even more astounding than his apparent good luck is the fact that no one seems to resent it. Contrary to logic, he is extremely well liked throughout Bedford Springs, New York, a town of some 2,000 people on the banks of the Hudson River.
Everything always seems to go well with him. Occurrences seem to be predestined. He had been born on July 4, 1842, the son of Robert Livingston Holcomb and Mary Hancock Holcomb. His parents are third generation descendants of men who had signed the Declaration of Independence. Patriotism is highly regarded in the families of his parents. God and country always come first over all other matters. Robbie would learn about patriotism and its importance as he matured, what it means and why the Constitutional freedoms of America must always be protected against all intruders and that these freedoms must be respected at all costs. By birthright and birthplace Robbie is a genuine Yankee; an all-American boy in an all-American family living an all-American dream. He is in truth and in spirit a dyed-in-the-wool Yankee Doodle Dandy.
Although sharing the same first name with his father, he was not given a second name. He is not a junior, nor is he ever so addressed. However, having two Roberts in the same family could be confusing, so early in life he was referred to simply as Robbie. Seldom thereafter was he ever again addressed by his given name. To those who knew him or met him he was always Robbie Holcomb.
The family, although not extremely wealthy, is nonetheless well-to-do. They live in a large white twelve-room house on one of the hills overlooking the town of Bedford Springs and the nearby Hudson River. The house is not a mansion, nevertheless it is an imposing structure; a far cry from the usual working class homes found in Bedford Springs and in other towns and villages along the river. The architecture is distinctively Federalist with a quaint New England twist. Robbie’s father is the third generation owner.
The Holcomb place, as it is called, is a well-recognized and established landmark, visible from every point in Bedford Springs and from many miles in either direction up and down the Hudson River. The view from the house naturally has many advantages by overlooking the town and the river. It is a spacious house with a grand view. From nearly every window on the front of the house the Holcombs enjoy a panoramic picture-perfect scene. They can identify every home, every business and every public establishment in the town below. They are privy to observing the commerce on the river, what is shipped in and what is shipped out, what goes up river and what goes down. They have a perfect view of the Holcomb Mill, a family-owned textile manufacturing business operated by Robbie’s father. Anything and everything that happens in Bedford Springs is in full view of the Holcomb place.
The rooms to the rear of the house are an exact opposite of the frontal view. They overlook a private secluded garden and vast acreage of wooded land. The garden is the Holcomb’s place of solitude; their place to meditate and relax; a place to dream. The garden is a different world, an earlier time in history, a place for a young boy to dream.
The Holcomb house is more than a family residence. It is the centerpiece of the Bedford Springs community. The interior is elaborate and stately. Every room is picture perfect, magnificently detailed and furnished, as intriguing as it is beautiful. A spiral staircase leading from the spacious entry hall to the second story is breathtaking. Hand crafted mantels, doors and window facings complement the furniture and the decorations. Everything is precisely in place as if the rooms and the furnishings had all been designed as a single unit.
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About the Book
Experience America before & during the early Civil War engagements. Real and fictional people react to war, its circumstances, tragedy and love through the best and worst of times. In the end, love prevails. This novel is about our nation, during perhaps its most critical time in history. Our nation’s leaders were at odds — northern leaders and southern leaders failed to reconcile their differences over slavery and other issues. Young Robbie Holcomb, reared in abolitionist traditions, ventures south to further his education. He finds friendships and love as well as minor hatred and bigotry. Even so, he finds more good than bad in his southern life experience. Subsequently, when civil war comes, Robbie finds himself in the Confederate army. The story is entertwined between fact and fiction.
About the Author
I was born and reared in West Virginia. After graduationg from Keyser High School, I worked in and around the coal fields until 1950, when Uncle Sam came calling during the Korean War. I served with the 28th Infantry Division during my training. Afterwards, I was sent to Korea where I served with the 25th Infantry Division. I was wounded in combat and spent the next eleven months and twenty-three days in various Army hospitals. I was honorably discharged from the Army in August 1952 at which time I enrolled at Potomac State College in Keyser, WV. Two years later, I transferred to West Virginia University at Morgantown and graduated in Jan. 1956. I spent the next thirty-one years with the Internal Revenue Service, retired, then worked for Hantzmon Wiebel LLC in their tax department for the next fifteen years. Afterwards, I wrote this novel, On The Wings of the Wind. I am now retired and spend my retirement years with my wife Bobby of fifty years, our son, Frank Cody Pancake III, his wife, Sherri and our granchildren, Frank Cody IV, Cole David and Cassidy Ruth. I do considerable reading and dabble in writing.