by Ginny Dye
Carrie made her rounds of the beds, glad to see that most of them were empty. Spring meant renewed activity at Chimborazo because of battles, but it also meant relief for the people in the black section of town that suffered so much from the bitter winter cold. They had not lost even one patient that winter, but Carrie knew that serious illness could break out at any time.
She smiled when she got to Johnny’s bed and knelt down to meet him at eye level. “Hello, Johnny.” She was glad to see that the six-year-old’s dark eyes, glistening with fever the last time she was there were now clear.
“Hello ‘dere, Miss Carrie! I be feelin’ a heap much better!”
“It sure looks that way, Johnny,” Carrie agreed. “Are you eating?”
“Yessum!”
“Drinking?”
“Enough dat I figur’ I gonna drown in it!”
Carrie laughed as she looked up at the nurse, one of the women who volunteered at the hospital, and got her nod of agreement.
“Well, then, I figure a boy like you would rather be out playing in such fine weather.”
Jimmy’s eyes widened. “You mean I get to go home? I gets to leave?”
“Don’t be so happy,” Carrie teased. “I’ll think you don’t like me.”
“Oh, no, ma’am”, Jimmy cried, suddenly alarmed. “I didn’t mean nothin’ like dat!”
Carrie laughed and pulled back the covers of the bed. “I’m just teasing you. I’m thrilled you get to go home. One of the nurses will take you back to your parents.” Then her voice turned stern. “You are not to overdo it. Take it easy for at least another week, or the fever could come back. Do you understand?” She waited for his eyes to meet hers.
Johnny nodded his head vigorously. “Yessum. I be real good. I for sho don’t want to be comin’ back here!”
Carrie laughed again, gave him a hug, and watched as he disappeared out the door. Jimmy’s pneumonia had almost taken his life. She would never tire of the knowledge she could help people get well.
Janie moved over to stand beside her. “There are no new patients. Spring is helping everyone.”
Carrie smiled but immediately grew serious. “Everyone but the soldiers waiting to fight,” she said somberly. Then she forced a smile. “Let’s go home. We can still make it in time for dinner.”
Carrie and Janie were laughing and talking when they walked into the house with Hobbs. “We made it in time for dinner, Father,” Carrie called, turning to head up the stairs to wash up.
Staring at their unexpected guest, she stopped dead in her tracks.
Chapter 2
Carrie recovered quickly, dismayed to see the uncomfortable flush on their guest’s cheeks because of her shocked stare. She moved forward and took his hand. “Jeremy Anthony! What a pleasure to have you here,” she said warmly. “I’m so sorry for my surprise. I’ve just spent the afternoon with your father and was thinking about all my patients.” She chose to ignore the disbelieving look on Janie’s face, knowing she would have to dodge questions later.
“To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?” she asked, still trying to gain her balance, and knowing there was not one person in the house who could know why she was struggling.
“Jeremy is my guest.” Thomas Cromwell strode into the room and laid his hand on Jeremy’s shoulder. “I met this fascinating young man several weeks ago when we were working on a budget for the city and have developed profound respect for him. I convinced him to join us for dinner tonight. I didn’t realize you already knew each other.”
Carrie smiled at her father and then turned back to Jeremy. “I’m so glad you’re here. I haven’t seen you since the day I met you down at the hospital.” She answered her father’s unspoken question. “Jeremy is Pastor Anthony’s son. We met briefly some time ago.”
“Why, I had no idea,” Thomas exclaimed. “Your father has been here as a guest before. He’s quite a remarkable man. That helps explain why he has such a remarkable son.” He waved Jeremy into the dining room. “May almost has dinner finished. Let’s have a drink while we wait.”
Carrie moved toward the steps. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go and wash up. It was rather a dusty carriage ride. I’ll be back down in just a few minutes.”
She wasn’t surprised when Janie followed her up the stairs and then cornered her as soon as the door was closed. “Why were you so shocked to see Jeremy?” she demanded.
Many possible responses ran through her head, but Carrie knew Janie would see right through all of them, so she merely shook her head. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you,” she said simply. She had not given Pastor Anthony her word, but she had told him she didn’t know what she would do with the information she had gained. She owed it to him to go to him first once she had decided.
Janie looked at her for a long moment, then simply nodded her head, and turned around to wash her hands.
Carrie sprang forward and wrapped her in an impulsive hug. “Thank you.” It was so wonderful to have a friend who wouldn’t press for information. Hardly a day passed that she didn’t feel immense gratitude for the friendship that had developed when she helped save Janie from a drunken soldier early in the war.
“You’re welcome,” Janie responded. “If you ever need to talk about it, you know I’ll listen.”
Thomas and Jeremy were deep in conversation when Carrie and Janie joined them at the table, along with Hobbs and the five other men, all her father’s associates, who were living with them because of Richmond’s crowded condition. There was hardly a home in Richmond that was not also operating as a boarding house.
Thomas had bought the elegant three-story brick home before the war began, thinking it would be a haven for his family if it were ever needed. After his wife’s death it had become his haven from the painful memories of the plantation, and he had buried himself in Virginia politics.
Conversation continued as Carrie and Janie took their seats and reached for the platters of simple food that was now their steady diet. Everyone was tired of beans and cornbread, but few complained because there were many more who had nothing at all. Thousands had died during the winter from malnutrition.
“Surely things can’t be as bad as all that,” Stiles, one of the boarders protested, his round face flushed with disbelief.
Jeremy shrugged. “Richmond’s finances are dire, as are the finances of Virginia, as well as of the entire Confederacy. When we decided to become a nation, we were not planning on three years of war. We also hadn’t planned on losing the income from most of our crops because of the blockade.”
“What do you know?” Stiles scoffed. “You’re just a boy.”
Jeremy merely looked at him and smiled slightly, making it obvious that he was used to being dismissed because of his age, and had ceased to let it bother him.
“This boy,” Thomas said strongly, “has the fullest confidence of our government. Governor Letcher counted on him until he left office. Now Governor Smith does the same.”
“I’ve found that age has nothing to do with it as long as one has the skills and talents for the job.” Carrie spoke into the quiet, well aware she and Jeremy were just weeks apart in age. “Since Jeremy has been serving Virginia for the last three years, obviously he is well qualified.”
“But we have all the munitions plants here,” Stiles protested. Realizing he was getting no sympathy or support, he had decided to change the subject.
“That’s true,” Thomas conceded, “but right now there are too many drains on the money for that to make up for the losses.”
“People in Richmond are starving,” Janie said darkly, “but it’s mostly because of the speculators.”
Jeremy nodded. “Sadly, that is completely true. The speculators are greedy and ruthless. It’s not that food isn’t available; it’s just not being made available. They are buying up huge quantities of flour, sugar, bacon, salt, and other supplies, but they are merely storing them in warehouses.”
“Knowing that the longer they hold
onto them, the higher they will go in price,” Carrie said with disgust.
“President Davis has tried to stop it. Governor Letcher abhorred the practice, and now Governor Smith is making an attempt to stop it,” Thomas said, “but the greed is too great.”
“People are afraid there will be nothing left after the war, so they’re making all the money they can now,” Janie observed.
“Not realizing that if their greed means we lose the war, their money will have no value whatsoever,” Jeremy said wryly.
“People like that don’t look at the long-term effects of their actions,” Thomas replied heavily. “It’s enough for them to live the high life right now. They don’t realize that every choice they make has an impact on someone else – usually many others.”
Carrie remembered something she had seen coming through town. “I thought you said a law had been passed this winter against the importation of nonessential luxuries, Father. I’m sure I saw new gowns in some of the store windows.”
Jeremy nodded. “Your father was right. Unfortunately, it is very often Richmond’s leading citizens who are engaged in the importation of things like perfumes, silk stockings, dresses and liquors. The profit is rather enormous. We haven’t found an effective way to stop them.”
“Perfumes and silk stockings,” Janie mused, “while our men are in agony because we can’t get medicine and drugs.”
Silence fell over the room as they absorbed the irony, and the impact, of people’s choices.
Daring to broach the subject all of them were avoiding, James Crater, another of the boarders, broke the silence. “Dare I ask if we stand any chance against the 100,000 Union troops sitting on the other side of the river?”
Thomas scowled. “General Lee has worked miracles before. I have hopes he can do it again.”
“With an army that is outnumbered, underfed, and exhausted?” Crater asked.
Thomas shrugged. “Those soldiers are fighting for their home. I can only determine the Confederacy has lasted so long in this war because we are fighting for something, not against something.”
Carrie pondered that for a moment and then said, “I daresay the Union would say they are fighting for the continuation of our country.”
“That is true,” Thomas agreed, “but so far very few of their soldiers have had their homes and family destroyed or threatened. That reality brings out a passion that is hard to conquer.”
“How long though,” Carrie protested, “can we afford to lose tens of thousands of men in every battle?”
Thomas settled back in his chair. “I don’t know,” he admitted with a deep sigh. “It can’t continue. We are running out of men, and there is no one else to fill the troops.”
“I know General Lee proposed that slaves be recruited to fight, in exchange for their freedom when the war is over,” Janie said.
“It’s a ridiculous idea!” Crater snorted. “Arm the slaves? We might as well give up the fight right now. We’re fighting for the right to keep our slaves, and now we’re going to arm them and promise them freedom. Preposterous!”
Carrie sat back, waiting for her father to reply. She knew it would do no good to point out to Crater that if they lost the war all the slaves would go free anyway, and she didn’t have the energy to defend her position that she believed all the slaves should be freed now. She was quite sure Crater was aware of her beliefs, anyway. She was used to being a topic of discussion in Richmond. It had long ago ceased to bother her.
Thomas just shook his head. “I know Lee believes it would be a good thing. I also know there is far too much opposition for it to happen. At least for now…”
“It will quite simply never happen,” Crater stated vehemently. When Thomas did not reply, he looked at him more closely. “It will never happen. Right?”
Thomas shrugged. “I simply don’t know. There have been so many things that have happened since the beginning of this war that I could never have imagined, that I’ve given up trying to read the future. I find that just getting through today is enough.”
Carrie gazed at her father, took his hand, and gave it a gentle squeeze. She knew how far he had come to let go of the bitterness and anger that seemed to swallow him for the first three years of the war. Her heart swelled with love for the man who had always supported his headstrong daughter.
The war had exacted a heavy toll from him. He was still tall, handsome, and distinguished, and his eyes were still a glorious blue, but his salt and pepper hair was now solid silver, and his face was heavily lined.
Carrie knew that in spite of the conversation, his mind was solidly with the army lined up to fight Grant’s army waiting on the other side of the Rapidan. She was relieved when all the boarders pushed back from the table and left, leaving just her, Janie, Jeremy and her father.
No one said anything for several long minutes with the warm spring air pushing through the curtains and causing lantern light to dance around the room. It was far from a peaceful feeling, but for just a moment there was stillness and even relative quiet in a city that seemed to be collectively holding its breath.
Thomas finally turned to Jeremy. “I’m sorry, but I shouldn’t have expected our meal would be any different.”
Jeremy smiled briefly, white teeth flashing from his tanned face topped with blond hair, and lit by vibrant blue eyes.
Carrie stared at him, stunned by his good looks, and wishing she could…
“It was more than enough to have a good meal,” Jeremy said cheerfully.
“You call beans and cornbread a good meal?” Thomas asked with disbelief.
“It’s more than what my father has right now. Everything I bring home he pours back into his congregation.”
“Do you resent it?” Thomas asked carefully.
“Not at all,” Jeremy replied quickly. “The free blacks of Richmond have so little, and the war has made it even harder. Carrie helped them get through the winter by insisting they all plant gardens last year, and by turning the land behind the church into a huge garden, but it’s run out. It will be a while before the new gardens will produce.”
Carrie’s heart warmed as she listened to him and saw the genuine caring on his face.
“My father has given his life to his congregation,” Jeremy continued. “The least I can do is give a few meals.”
Thomas smiled at Jeremy. “Your father is a lucky man.”
“As are you, sir,” Jeremy replied. “Carrie is well loved by many people who owe their lives to her. And to Janie, too.”
“I’m well aware how lucky I am,” Thomas agreed, his face lighting with a genuine grin. “I hope you’ll join us more often.”
“I would like that, sir. Now that the days are getting longer my father is usually gone, working with his parishoners. I eat most meals alone.”
“It must be lonely for you,” Carrie observed thoughtfully. “All the men your age are fighting.”
Jeremy shrugged. “I suppose I get lonely at times, but I also find it rather positive to have a skill that keeps me from being someone’s target. I never agreed with this war from the start, so I’ll admit I’m glad I don’t have to fight.”
Thomas smiled. “I see I have several young people in my home who have no trouble speaking their mind.”
“Does that bother you, Mr. Cromwell?” Jeremy asked.
Carrie grinned at Janie, her liking for Jeremy growing by leaps and bounds.
“Not at all!” Thomas responded quickly. “I have discovered that I find complacent people who go with the flow to be rather tedious.” He smiled over at Carrie. “My headstrong daughter has probably shortened my life from fear many times, but she certainly has made it less boring!”
Thomas leaned back in his chair and lit his pipe, something he saved for special ocassions because of tobacco shortage. “There is one thing that bothers me though, Jeremy. I know I’m old enough to be your father, but I have already gained a tremendous respect for you. I would appreciate it if you would call me Thoma
s.”
Jeremy grinned easily. “I’ll be happy to, Mr… I mean, Thomas. I have tremendous respect for you too.”
Carrie watched them, her insides churning with her secret. She pushed back her chair and stood, “I hope you all don’t mind, but it’s been a long day, and I suspect tomorrow will be even longer. I’m going to say goodnight.” She leaned over to give her father a kiss on his cheek.
“Of course, dear,” Thomas said instantly. His expression said he knew something was troubling her, but she knew he would believe it was just the impending battle and her worry about Robert.
“It was wonderful to see you again, Jeremy. I hope you’ll return soon.”
“Good night, Carrie,” Jeremy responded. “Thank you for a wonderful evening.”
Janie smiled at her. “I’ll be up in just a little while.”
Carrie smiled back at her and knew Janie was giving her time to be alone in the room they shared when Robert was away fighting. Both of them appreciated the comfort it provided, but Janie would know she needed time to think.
Carrie sank down onto the windowseat, grateful for the soft spring air wafting in and almost able to block out the sounds of carriages, trains, and industry that kept the city awake twenty-four hours a day now. So much was racing through her mind and heart.
Carrie’s mind flew back to the day when she had discovered that Rose - her young slave girl she had grown up with and who had become her best friend, was actually her aunt – the result of her grandfather’s raping Old Sarah, Rose’s mother.
That same day not too many years ago she had discovered Rose was a twin, but that her brother, born white, had been sold as a slave by her father to protect her grandfather.