by Jerri Hines
Cathryn was exhausted. It was late December. For over two weeks she had nursed Sumner and Juriah. Thankfully, the threat lay in the past. She returned to her bed. She slept when the news came that Savannah had fallen and the British had taken control of the Southern city.
* * * *
Sumner didn’t want to leave, Colonel Percy had sent for him once more. His plan to take everyone into Charles Town hadn’t occurred, not with the fever. No one wanted to be exposed to the sickness.
Soon, it would be Mary’s time. Israel had been given instructions to taken everyone into Charles Town if the need arose. Sumner had sent word to Henry Peterson of the situation.
Moreover, Juriah was in no shape to deliver the babe. She couldn’t even manage to get out of bed for an extended period of time.
“Tacy, I hope you are ready to deliver another baby, for I believe it will be us.”
“It’ll be you again, Miss Cathryn,” Tacy said. “You know I have no stomach for it. I’ll watch the young ones.”
Cathryn prepared. She had everything in readiness. She had washed all the twins’ infant clothing in preparation.
Sumner had been gone less than a week when Mary’s pains began. God bless the dear, Cathryn thought, she did not complain. Anxious perhaps after her previous experience, but unlike the previous confinement, this baby was greatly wanted. Mary would endure whatever was necessary to give birth to a healthy babe.
“Momma!” Lucy cried and clung to Cathryn’s skirt.
“Darling,” Cathryn leaned down, “you are about to gain a cousin if you are a good girl. Don’t you want a real baby to play with like your doll?”
Lucy nodded her blond curls. Philip made a face and turned back to the battle figures his uncle had bought for him. In the end, Cathryn had to move the children into the adjoining room for they didn’t want their mother to leave their sight.
“Voomp! Whaam!” Philip screamed at the most inopportune times. Cathryn jumped upon his utterances.
Her nerves were frayed. She told her son to whisper. Returning to her patient, she found Lucy had crawled into bed with her aunt. Mary smiled sweetly, for Lucy was rubbing her stomach to help her.
Cathryn could have cried. She had no control over anyone. She jumped when she heard the door slam downstairs.
Who would have come? Her mind raced. The pistols Sumner had left for her were down stairs also.
“Tacy!” she called. Tacy ran into the room. She commanded, “Stay with the children!”
Cathryn squeezed against the wall as she descended down the staircase. Holding her breath with each step, she saw a figure standing with his back to her in the foyer. He turned. She screamed, but Maddy appeared from behind him.
“I’m sorry, my lady.”
It took a moment for Cathryn’s heart to return to her chest. She breathed in deeply, trying to calm herself. It was Lieutenant Leckie.
“We didn’t mean to startle you. Maddy said you were within. The plantation seems so quiet.”
“You scared me to death,” Cathryn acknowledged. She sighed. She didn’t need another problem at the moment.
“It’s time, my lady,” he said. “Major Pennington sent us to collect you and your children. I have two more men outside the door. But we need to leave quickly.”
How long she had waited to hear those words! She had prayed for it! But now she couldn’t go. She shook her head, “I can’t.”
“My lady, you don’t have a choice. We haven’t the time to debate. I thought you in readiness.”
“You don’t understand, Lieutenant Leckie. It’s not that I don’t want to. I can’t,” she replied, looking up the stairs.
Tacy appeared on the banister.
“Miss Cathryn!” Tacy screamed. “Miss Cathryn! Come quick! It’s bad.”
Cathryn wheeled upon the declaration and ran back up the stairs. Lieutenant Leckie and Maddy followed. The children cried. Tacy cried.
Mary screamed out in pain. Cathryn reached over and soothed her in a calm manner. “Squeeze my hand.”
Squelching in pain, Mary squeezed Cathryn’s hand so hard Cathryn wanted to scream. The moment relented. Cathryn breathed again and looked over at the two in the doorway.
“Now do you understand? My brother’s wife is delivering. There is no one else here that can do so. There is no doctor or midwife. Juriah is sick,” she said, unable to contain her distress. “I have waited for months for this moment and you come now! Can you not wait but a day?”
Cathryn saw it in his eyes. He couldn’t wait. Her heart sank. She could have wept. “I can’t leave.”
Lieutenant Leckie stared at her for a moment, as if racking his brain for a solution. “The hard part is transporting the children. We’ll take them now and return for you.”
“I can’t do that!” Cathryn declared. “I can’t be parted from my children.”
“I have heard of the attempted raid. What if this renegade returns? Your brother left less than a week ago. And it might not be only the Frenchman to worry about. We have a strong hold now within Savannah, my lady. It’s not as it was. Trust me. You saved me. Trust me with your children. What would you think Major Pennington would want? He’s in Savannah, my lady. He would have come himself if General Durham had allowed him.”
How long she had worried about her children! She would be sending them to Jake? Then the remembrance of the fear she held when Jean-Louis Renton rode up to Elm Bluff resurfaced. Nothing came before her children’s wellbeing.
“They will be safe in Savannah? You promise upon your life, Lieutenant?”
“I give you my word. I will lay my life down for them.”
Her heart broke, but she realized she would do what she must.
* * * *
“Listen, carefully, my darlings. Momma has to stay with Aunt Mary. I’ll be coming soon, I promise. You remember the British officer that came to your party.” Cathryn watched as Philip’s eyes lit up.
“Red ’iform,” he cried. “He liked my pony!”
Cathryn nodded. “You’re going to him. Tacy is going with you. And you know Maddy. I need you to be brave, Philip, and look after your sister. Promise me.”
“Yes, Momma,” he answered straightaway. He wiped the tears that had escaped her eyes. “I’m strong ’nough.”
She laughed through her tears. Lucy clung to her neck, though. Cathryn whispered to her precious daughter, “You’re going to ride a big horse, Darling. You’ll like that.”
She drew them into her arms and kissed them. “Remember always how much your mother loves you.” She looked up at Lieutenant Leckie. “Take them before...”
Tacy had their bags. Her maid ushered the two down the stairs, not allowing them to look back at their mother who collapsed upon the floor.
She heard the door close behind them.
* * * *
Cathryn had no time to contemplate her children’s departure. Mary had need of her. The birth was not to be an easy one. Juriah managed to find the strength to leave her bed. The three women waited.
Hours ticked by, Cathryn became worried. Juriah checked Mary.
“The baby’s breech, Cathryn,” she said in a feeble voice. “You’re going to have to reach in and turn it.”
“What?” Cathryn cried. “I can’t. I don’t know how.”
“Both will die if you don’t.” Juriah grasped Cathryn’s arm. “I don’t have the energy. I will tell you how.”
Cathryn shivered. The room had grown cold for the fire had died. Juriah called for someone to rebuild one. The baby would need a warm room to make his entrance into the world. Cathryn watched as Careen came in with wood and reignited it.
Juriah leaned down and soothingly touched Mary’s face. “Mary, my dear, you are going to feel pain as you never have before. But we have to do it.”
Rounding Mary’s knees, Juriah looked again at a terrified Cathryn. “You will have to reach all the way in and grasp hold like this,” Juriah gestured with her hands. “When you are in place, tu
rn the baby. Yes, now, Cathryn. Commit to your action. Don’t hesitate.”
Cathryn almost stopped upon Mary’s scream, but Juriah wouldn’t let her. “You have to. To save them both.”
The next moment, Cathryn stepped back. A head emerged...a dark head of hair. Juriah smiled. “We are almost there.”
As the morning sun rose over the horizon, Caleb Jed Meador had made his presence known, crying loudly, but he was healthy and...alive.
Cathryn cried as hard as Mary. Cathryn saw Juriah wipe her tears back, also. Cathryn wrapped the babe up and handed him over to his mother. She had never seen Mary look happier.
Cathryn excused herself and left Mary gazing lovingly at her baby with Juriah. She needed to wash herself. She passed the nursery. Only then did their departure seem real. She leaned back against the wall and grasped hold of her stomach. She felt a spasm of nausea. They were gone...her babies were gone.
Chapter 7
In the privacy of her room, Cathryn’s tears fell unheeded. Three weeks had passed...there had been no news...only silence. Were her children safe? They had to be. She refused to consider any other outcome.
She couldn’t sleep or eat. She had a dreadful fear every time she closed her eyes. Her mind raced with a million thoughts. The one that troubled her the most—the British had gotten what they sought—her children—and would leave her here to face her fate alone.
Late one afternoon, the sound of a galloping horse broke the stillness of the house. Cathryn raced to the window. Sumner had come home...he had gotten to come home. She walked out of her room to the hall, only to realize he had already ascended the stairs. He had gone straight to Mary and their child. As well as he should, she reprimanded herself.
Juriah stood at the bottom of the stairs and met her eyes. Cathryn tried to smile. Sumner was home. He would get to see his son and hold him. All was well...except she was as the walking dead.
At dinner, she finally saw her brother. She said nothing about her children. How could she? She had willingly given her precious babies to the British. Instead, she talked of Caleb Jed. Cathryn talked of the weather, of the militia, of everything except her children. Sumner didn’t ask.
At the end of the week, Sumner sought her out. “I’m sending everyone into Charles Town, Cathryn. It is not safe here any longer for you women. I have to return to the militia. I will sleep better at night knowing you are safe in Charles Town.”
“You are right,” she agreed. “Juriah, Mary and the baby need to go. I will stay and see to the plantation.”
“Cathryn, you are going, also,” he stated plainly. “I will not leave you here.”
“Do not tell me what to do, Sumner. Do you think I care what happens to me now? My children are gone. The only link—”
Sumner took her by her shoulders. “I’m sorry, Cathryn. Truly I am. I haven’t been able to tell you that we received word. Colonel Percy asked General Lincoln to inquire. The twins made it to Savannah safely, but...”
“What? Are they sick? Do they need me?”
“No, as far as I am told, they were healthy, but, Cathryn, the British sent them on the first ship out of port to London.”
“No, no. He promised me,” she uttered in a faint voice. Her head spun; she felt her legs collapsed underneath her. Sumner caught her in his arms right before she lost consciousness.
* * * *
Shortly before sunset, Cathryn visited her parents’ graves. The bitter February wind cut through her. Clutching her cloak tighter, she shivered. She wanted only to find a semblance of peace. She had none since her children had left.
Sumner tried to reason with her. It had been told the British commander General Henry Clinton had a standing order in the best interest of the children for the two to be evacuated upon retrieval. Had they not come for her as well? Upon that reasoning, Sumner stated, she, too, would have been upon the ship to England had she not stayed.
She wasn’t as certain. Would she have gone with the twins? Had she not been branded a traitor? Or would have Jake been there to defend her?
Jake! Her heart echoed his promised. What if he came and she wasn’t here? Then the doubts reemerged. He had left her shattered before. It mattered little. She had tried so desperately to have been a daughter her father would have been proud of. She had loved the wrong person, trusted the wrong people.
She steadfastly refused to leave the only place that had been her home. She had grown up in this house; bore her children here. The truth...she had nowhere else to go.
Mary had pleaded with her, but to no avail. Sumner had said little else. Cathryn suspected he was going to physically remove her from the property...or try.
Fear lived in Sumner’s eyes. He had spoken no more about his concerns, but she saw it. He had wanted to depart last week, but Mary was still weakened from her ordeal with childbirth.
The poor dear had developed a dreaded infection after the birth. Juriah had seen to her care, but the illness had dried up her breast milk. Caleb had been exclusively fed by a wet nurse, Marmie, a field slave who had recently given birth to a stillborn.
Sporadically, Mary would develop a pain-wrenching fever. The others of the household had not been infected, certainly not little Caleb, who had grown in leaps and bounds. A happy baby. Sumner’s worry lay with Mary’s health, but he would delay no longer. His concern grew daily.
Cathryn raised her head in response to a noise. Through the bare trees, she saw a dust cloud in the distance. Riders! Friend or foe...instinct cried foe!
Picking up the hem to her skirt, she rushed back toward the house with only one thought. She had to warn her family.
She raced through the back door into the corridor. She screamed, “Sumner! Sumner!”
A moment later, Juriah emerged on the banister and looked down at Cathryn. “He’s down at the stables...Cathryn, you look scared to death. What’s wrong?”
“Riders are coming! Oh, Juriah, what if it’s a raid?”
Cathryn opened the front door for a clearer view. Raiders! She gripped her foundering emotions with a tight rein of determination. She turned back to Juriah who saw the same.
“The baby!” Juriah uttered under her breath. “The baby!”
Looking worried, Mary appeared behind Juriah. “What is the commotion?” Then she saw. “A raid...Caleb!”
Mary turned and disappeared from Cathryn’s view. A moment later, she held Caleb in her arms, wrapped tightly in a blanket. She made her way down the stairs followed by Juriah and Marmie.
“Sumner?” Mary asked. Her voice shook; her hands trembled, caressing her son’s face.
“I have sent for him,” Cathryn said, nervously glancing over her shoulder. Closer...closer they came.
Mary clutched Caleb with such feeling that the babe awakened. She bent down and kissed his cheek. He cooed softly as she handed him to Marmie.
“Take him, Marmie. Guard him with your life,” Mary directed with trembling lips. “Protect him and you will be rewarded well. Take him now and keep him quiet. Go deep into the woods away from the coming madness. Do not return until it is safe.”
Cathryn’s heart ached at the heartbreaking scene. It was the right thing to do...but ever so hard.
“Go with her, Mary,” Cathryn said.
Mary shook her head, holding back her tears. “He needs to be hidden. The men that come will expect me here.”
Cathryn gave her no argument. She, too, feared there would be no mercy.
“Take this and keep him warm,” Juriah told Marmie, giving her another quilt. She gestured to another house slave. “Go with Marmie now and don’t look back. Go.”
The three women gripped tight to each other. Relief flooded Cathryn when she saw Marmie slip out the back and into the woods. A small victory. But they had no time to rejoice. The raiders were upon them.
An eerie stillness enveloped the house in the glow of the setting sun. Outside, Cathryn watched men ride up the lane. Where was Sumner? Surly he had heard all the commotion. Had not
Israel found him?
Then she saw as her eyes fixed on the clear leader of the group. She recognized him immediately, Monsieur Jean-Louis Renton.
“Here,” Juriah said, thrusting a pistol in Cathryn’s hand.
Cathryn could not hold back a sudden urge for tears. For a brief moment, she gripped Juriah’s hand. “It will do no good. There are too many of them.”
“But we will fight, for that is who we are,” Juriah said. “Show no fear.”
Strange in that moment, she remembered her father saying that everyone and everything had a purpose in this world. Life is not for us to hold to, but to live. That was what she intended to do.
“Hide,” Cathryn said and looked into Juriah’s eyes. So much she wanted to say, but now she had no time.
Slowly, Cathryn walked out the front door to greet their guests.
* * * *
Cathryn raised the pistol and aimed. Suddenly, she was knocked down. The pistol dropped onto the porch. She rose on her knees. She tasted blood in her mouth from the blow.
“Shame on you, Lady Tinsley. Do you take me for a fool! I did not return unprepared.”
Renton’s eyes were cold blue ice. He kicked up his left foot on his saddle and rested his elbow on his knee. He appeared quite pleased with himself. It terrified Cathryn.
“There is nothing for you here, Monsieur.”
“You think not?” Renton considered her with a furrowed brow. “Save us the trouble of dismantling your home. Call your children down.”
“You are not as prepared as you implied,” she sneered. “It would be an impossibility to call my children. They are in England.”
He swept his hat from his hat off and brushed aside his hair. He chuckled, “You are not much of a liar, my lady. Pray forgive me if I do not trust you. I will have a look for myself.”
He looked back over his shoulder and motioned to his men. “Do what you need.”
Immediately, they dismounted and brushed by Cathryn. She crawled to her feet, only to be pushed back toward Renton. She straightened herself.
“Tear up my home, Monsieur. You will find nothing. My children are gone. The Brits tricked me and took my babies. They won! They won and have my children. So do what you will for I care not!”