by Diana Ballew
Lucy forced back tears. “I guess it was too much to hope for with the war going on. I don’t know what to do, Eden. I can’t get word to family and friends in time to stop the wedding and reception.”
“Let’s go. Don’t worry, honey.” Eden rubbed the small of Lucy’s back, trying to mask her own disappointment. “Let’s return to the house and wait. Perhaps he sent word to Aunt Marth—”
“Oh, sweet heavens!” Lucy wailed.
At the sound of Lucy’s shriek, Eden’s heart skipped a beat, stopping her dead in her tracks. She spun around. There stood Isaac, trying to manage the last step of the train with his bag under one arm and her little dog, Beauregard, tucked under the other. True to his unpredictable nature, Isaac had stopped at Oak Hill before coming to Richmond. “Oh my!” she gasped.
Upon spotting Eden, Beauregard squirmed excitedly.
“Whoa, little Beau.” Isaac stepped off the train and smiled. “Hello, ladies.”
Lucy threw up her hands and ran toward him.
Eden took a step forward and stopped. She wanted to run to her brother, wrap her welcoming arms around him, and kiss his cheeks. But with Lucy visibly upset only moments earlier, she allowed them their privacy.
“Oh, Isaac, my darling.” Lucy smothered his face with kisses. “I began to think something terrible had happened. The news coming into the city today has been dreadful. I was so worried.”
Isaac handed Beau to Lucy and draped his long arm across her shoulders, drawing her to his chest. “Surely, dear, you didn’t think I’d miss my own wedding.”
Lucy puckered her nose and poked his shoulder. “Oh, don’t tease me, Captain Blair. I was worried and with good reason. Surely, you haven’t forgotten a war is going on.”
He arched his eyebrows high. “And whose idea was it to plan a wedding during a war, might I ask?”
“Oh, stop.” Lucy laughed. “You know it was you.”
Isaac drew Lucy into an intimate kiss. An instant flush of embarrassment rushed to Eden’s cheeks. She coughed and smoothed the folds of her dress, wishing she could hide.
Isaac craned his neck. “Eden, what are you waiting on, gal? Get on over here and give your big brother a hug. I brought you a little something from home.”
Lucy grinned and waved the small white dog in her direction.
Unexpectedly, the reality of it all hit her. The brother she adored had arrived safely from the fighting in the Shenandoah Valley. In all the months Isaac had been gone, it had never dawned on her just how much she really missed him. He looked gallant in his uniform with his new sandy blonde whiskers, but noticeably thinner, too. While his blue eyes still sparkled with the playfulness Isaac was so well known for, there was a new look—a look she couldn’t quite explain—etched deep within the small lines of his face.
Tears pooled in her eyes, and she swallowed the lump forming in her throat. Brimming with emotion, she ran to her brother and buried her head against his chest.
“Come now, Sis,” he whispered, resting his chin on top of her bonnet. “I’ve never known you to cry for no reason. I’m in one piece, honey.”
Eden wasn’t sure why she stood there blubbering. She had been an emotional ninny ever since she spotted the obscene cad spying on her in the bedroom window. She looked into Isaac’s face.
Really looked at him.
There were no visible wounds or scars; it was obvious he was safe. Without warning, her words and tears came spilling out. “Oh, Isaac...Isaac, I’ve just missed you so much, and I thought I might never see you again. And—”
“There you are.”
Eden’s hands turned to clenched fists the moment she heard that familiar shrilled voice. All eyes turned toward Ann, scurrying out of Aunt Martha’s buggy.
“My dear Isaac.” Ann reached up to tidy her chignon with freshly manicured fingertips. “I just knew I’d be late, but Eleanor Radcliff had me rolling bandages at that smelly hospital earlier.”
“Why Ann...” Isaac raised a single eyebrow and smiled. “I mean, Stepmother, how wonderful to see you, too.” He released Eden and placed an obligatory peck on Ann’s cheek.
Ann snapped her fan open with a flick of her wrist and stuck her bottom lip out. “Oh, don’t be mean, Isaac. You know how much I hate it when you call me that. No one needs to remind me you’re older than I am. Surely, you appreciate the delicate position I’ve been put in with your father’s unfortunate death.”
Eden heaved a dramatic sigh. Yes, Ann was indeed younger than Isaac, and only three paltry years older than she was, but she had never been placed in any sort of delicate position. Isaac was in charge of Oak Hill, and with him away at war, the job thankfully fell to her—not Ann.
The spring rain had stopped, and a sliver of sun now poked through the gray clouds. Eden snapped the parasol shut, scooped Beau from Lucy’s arms, and turned away from the others.
“Why, you look like an ol’ white rat, Beau. What have you been messing in to look so scruffy? I’ll most certainly need to give you a good bath when we get back to the house.”
Beau replied with a yawn and snuggled against her body.
Ann chattered like a wild chipmunk while Isaac and Lucy stood listening, each displaying the patience of Job.
As Eden stood on the walkway with little Beau in her arms, she thought about Patrick. What would her life be like now had they married; had he stayed loyal to her and to Virginia? Would she be meeting him at a train depot, greeting him with loving kisses? Would she be living at the large McDowell plantation, perhaps with a baby? Or, would he have been one of the early casualties of war and she a young widow?
She had lost count of all the hours spent lying in bed crying, wondering what had gone wrong. He had never let on—not even once—he would side with the North when everyone talked of the stirring possibility of Virginia seceding from the Union. Time and time again, he had professed his undying love to her. So, why did he leave her humiliated and with a shattered heart?
She thought back to the time she had almost lost her virginity to him one warm summer evening along the riverbank. Despite her objection, Patrick had been more persistent than usual that night. Luckily, she had kept a cool head, even when her first stirrings of adolescent ardor had been exciting.
But the past was a world away now. Her life, as she had once known it, had changed in every conceivable direction.
With her composure reclaimed, she turned to join the others.
Eden sat on the divan in Aunt Martha’s parlor and looked at the joyful faces of her family. The eve of the wedding and reception was upon them, and everyone joined together to sip cider and reminisce about old times.
Eliza entered carrying a large sterling tray with more warm cider, molasses cakes, and homemade peanut brittle. “I’ve been busy as a bee in the kitchen. Made peanut brittle just for you, Captain Blair.”
“Isaac, my boy, will your friend Jimmy be coming?” Aunt Martha asked between cooling blows to her cider.
Isaac's shoulders wilted, and the lines around his eyes grew deeper, but a small smile strained the corners of his mouth. “The men are having a rough time in the valley, and most furloughs have been cancelled. I’m blessed I got away myself, I assure you. Lucky for me, General Jackson owed me a favor. It’d be wonderful if he could come, but it’s not likely.”
With the mention of Jimmy McDowell, the name of his now infamous younger brother, Patrick, often came up in the conversation. Eden shifted uncomfortably in the chair, hoping no one would notice. Thankfully, not a soul in Richmond had been ill-bred enough to bring up the subject of his dishonorable behavior to her and the Confederacy.
Ann turned and glared in her direction.
Don’t you dare.
Eden’s heart stopped dead. Silently, she prayed the woman would not be so callous to bring Patrick up now. With an equally challenging gaze, she glared back at Ann. Luckily, Aunt Martha piped up, unwittingly breaking up the silent confrontation.
Aunt Martha’s eyes brightened. “
Oh, that’s right; I heard you boys are together. It surely must be of some comfort having your best friend fighting alongside you.”
Isaac sighed and set his cider on the table before glancing at everyone. “You know, I was thinking about ol' Jimmy today. Seems like only yesterday we were both knee-high to a grasshopper and learning to ride and shoot like all the other country boys. People thought we were brothers because we looked so much alike.” He paused and his jaw tightened. “I liked pretending we were brothers when we were young bucks, but I’ll tell you this, we never knew someday we'd be fighting such a damn bloody war!”
He shot up and walked to the window. Darkness slowly crept into his eyes, and the pulsing muscles tightened in his jaw. He suddenly looked a decade older, and it frightened her.
Lucy hurried to the window next to him. “Dear, perhaps Jimmy will make it here...I mean, you know him, he likes a good surprise.”
Isaac stared out the window without replying.
With Isaac's back to the others, Ann leaned in and whispered, “What's the matter with him? He sure isn't acting like a man getting hitched tomorrow, if I do say so myself.”
“Oh, hush up!” Eden whispered between pursed lips. “I'll talk to him in private. You just keep your nose out of it.”
Ann’s face twisted. “Why, your father would roll—”
“I know...I know...would roll over in his grave—now, hush.” She got up to join Lucy and Isaac.
Ann reached for her lace handkerchief and turned to Lucy’s aunt. “My goodness...” she sniffed.
Aunt Martha replied with an innocent shrug and crammed another wedge of cake into her mouth.
Eden placed her hand on Isaac's shoulder. “Let's go for a stroll. It's been so long since I've seen my big brother, and Lucy will have you all to herself tomorrow.” She winked at Lucy. “Mind if I borrow him for just a bit?”
“Of course I don't mind. You two catch up all you want. I have a few things to tend to anyway, don't I, Aunty...Aunty?”
Having just crammed another piece of molasses cake in her mouth, Aunt Martha sat frozen, her wide eyes darting from person to person. “Uh hmm.”
Eden looked heavenward at the flickering stars as she and her brother walked silently, arm-in-arm, toward Capitol Square. His quiet demeanor for most of the day troubled her.
“I hope you know I do so approve of Lucy as your wife and the mistress of Oak Hill. She's a dream.”
“She's a jewel; you're right. I'm a lucky man.” He gestured toward a nearby bench.
“She adores you, Isaac. When the two of you met at the cadet dance, I think she knew right away you were the only man for her.”
“Ah, the cadet dance,” he mused. He combed his fingers through his hair and took a seat next to her on the bench.
“Even when she came to stay with us at Oak Hill before the war, we all fell in love with her right away. Even Mama Claire said she was an angel, remember?”
“Ah...yes, of course I do.” He coughed.
“Even Ann is fond of her, and that's really saying something considering she doesn't think about anyone except herself.”
Isaac rubbed the whiskers on his chin. “Ann. Lord, if she doesn’t make my blood boil sometimes.”
Eden bit down on her bottom lip and smiled. “Do you remember the time we saw that big ol’ black snake wrapped up in the elderberry bush alongside the barn?”
“The thick, six-footer?” His brows knitted together. ”Yeah, why?”
“Well, I never told you, but after we saw the snake in there, I told Ann I thought I may have seen her missing cameo under that bush.”
Isaac winced. “Oh, you didn’t.”
“I did.” Eden laughed. “Of course, she started snapping at me as to why I didn’t just go pick it up myself, and how she has to do everything, which, of course, you and I know is ridiculous. But she marched out there just to prove her point, and I ran out back and hid in the barn before she got there.”
“Oh, Lord, what happened?”
“Oh, Isaac, it was so funny. Ann was there tiptoeing around that bush, trying not to get any mud on her shoes. Then I saw her lean closer. She reached in and started moving the branches aside, and then, suddenly, her hair stood on end and she screamed and fell right on her backside into the water trough. ’Course, father was angry with me, and Mama Claire threatened to skin me alive if I ever did that again, but it was worth it.”
Isaac watched the people walking by, birds in the trees, the boots on his feet. Everywhere except directly into her eyes. “Isaac, are you even listening?” she asked.
He cleared his throat. “Eden, there's something I need to talk to you about.” His gaze shifted from the ground to meeting her eyes, dead-on.
“What...what is it?” The tone in his voice caused a shiver to travel the length of her spine. Using the iron armrest on the bench for support, she slowly stood. Instinctively, she knew something awful had happened, and her body responded with a full flush of panic.
“Honey...” He stood to join her. “I’ve been thinking all damn day of the most delicate way to tell you...I mean, you’ve been through so much this past year with father’s death and, well...” he paused, “and with Patrick.”
With the mention of Patrick’s name, her jaw instantly tightened. “Isaac, what is it? Please stop trying to protect me.”
“And you know you’re the last person in the world I would ever want to upset. In fact, I wouldn’t involve you, but—”
“Upset me about what? Land sakes. You know I despise surprises—tell me!”
He held his hands up. “All right...all right. I didn’t just happen to stop by Oak Hill. I went there after receiving word at camp there was going to be trouble.”
Feeling as though she had just entered a dark cave, her vision thinned to shadows, and her heart beat like a fluttering bird trapped inside her chest. Then, she remembered where she had heard the same intonation in his voice...
Oh, no, no, no! She slammed her eyelids shut, remembering the dreadful moment when Isaac announced that father had passed away in the back bedroom.
“Indeed, there was trouble,” he added.
“Trouble?” she croaked, opening her eyes.
He nodded. “I received word problems were developing near Oak Hill—at the Brewster Farm. Some of ol’ man Brewster’s negroes were planning a riot, and Oak Hill and some of the other farms might be involved.”
“Involved—how? Why, our negroes are like family. Ol’ Uncle Asa, Ezekiel, Jeremiah—they’re more than field hands to us. And Mama Claire...why, she’s been there our whole lives, and father’s, too! Something’s not right. We’ve always been good to our own, why—”
“Sweet Jesus, Eden!” Isaac paused and lowered his voice. “It wasn’t our negroes. I’m talking about ol’ man Brewster’s negroes, and they were stirring up a hornets’ nest of trouble. Mama Claire's the one who got word to me of what she'd overheard.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think I want to hear about this anymore.”
“Eden, stop making this so damn hard.” He lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him. “Father and I did our best to spare you the unpleasantness of real life. All you saw growing up was how we treated our negroes. There are people, unfortunately, too many people, who are not as kind—look at Brewster. His negroes live a wretched existence. When he’s not hittin’ them with a blacksnake whip, he’s selling them at the auction house and even worse things. Half those slave babies there he fathered. We all knew about his behavior, and yet we turned a blind eye.”
As long as Eden could remember, she never liked the bellowing neighbor with a vulgar disposition. Mr. Brewster’s dark hair was always thickly plastered to his skull with greasy pomade, and his eyes looked as if they'd been pickled in corn liquor and left to dry. Originally from Richmond, he’d moved out of the city, buying land and settling near Oak Hill when she was young. She remembered overhearing gossip about a business he owned in the seedy bowels of the city near Shockoe Cre
ek, where prostitution boomed as well as nightly knifings, shootings, and rowdy fights. She heard talk about his fathering babies with young slave girls, but up until now, she had never accepted the gossip as truth.
Isaac searched her face. “You don't think the Yanks are fighting this war for unjust reasons, do you? These people wish to be free and are not free—”
“I’ve never heard you speak like this before.” She swatted his arms away. “What side of this war are you on? You're no better than Patrick!”
“Eden...” his voice cracked. “You know damn good and well I side with Virginia, but war changes a man, honey. War forces a soldier to see life from different angles. I’m just trying to say, don’t be blinded by...ignorance.”
“Ignorance!” She jerked away from him and turned to leave.
“Eden, would you please stop making this harder than it already is?”
Still fuming at his unfair portrayal, she frowned and spun on her heels to face her brother. As she looked at him, a lump formed in her throat. The lines of his face looked etched with misery, and his blue eyes had grown dark and clouded. “Go on, I'm listening,” she whispered.
He heaved a heavy sigh. “The Brewster place was torched and old man Brewster, well...he was hanged by his negroes.”
Eden covered her mouth with a shaky hand.
“Then the mob hit the McDowell's—”
“Oh, no! Did Mrs. McDowell and the girls get away?”
He nodded. “They did. They hid down near the creek bed. Their foreman extinguished the fire in the barn, but the main house and most of the outbuildings and crops were torched.” Isaac flicked at an imaginary speck on his sleeve. “Oak Hill was hit next.”
Frozen. She couldn’t move or speak.
He guided her by the elbow back to the bench. “It's a mess, honey. I only wish I had arrived in time.”
The flush surging through her body only minutes earlier suddenly drained away, leaving her dizzy. She took a deep breath and whispered, “Go on. What happened?”
Tears misted his eyes. “When I got close, I saw flames consuming the Brewster and McDowell farms and the woods running between. I knew Oak Hill would not be spared. I rode as fast as I could, but by the time I got there, the fields, seedling sheds, barn, and some of the main house were already burning, including the drawing room. I knew father’s ledgers and papers had already perished. I found Uncle Asa and Jeremiah, and some of the others with buckets of water putting out new fires as they started.”