A Simple Singing

by Leslie Gould

  “Pleased to meet you.” Annie placed the two platters on the table, not bothering to explain to George that she already knew Ira, but she could hardly believe that he was Kate’s son. “I’ll go look in on Noah and Harriet while you two talk.” Why hadn’t Kate told her whom she would send?

  When she came back with Noah propped on her hip ten minutes later, the two were negotiating the price of a few loads of hay. She wondered if it was for Kate’s horses or for the army.

  Annie continued to hold Noah as she ladled porridge into a bowl for him. He reached up and placed his sticky hand against her face as she did. She’d grown quite fond of the boy, and he’d warmed to her too.

  “The teamsters will be by,” Ira said. “In a day or two.”

  “I’ll have the load ready.” George stood and put Noah in his chair. “So, tell me what all you’re doing for this army that’s headed our way?”

  “A variety of things,” Ira said. “But because I know farmers in these parts, I’m helping round up supplies at the moment.”

  “So it’s true then? The army is headed this way?”

  “I can’t really say.” Ira’s face reddened. “Although I imagine it’s pretty clear what’s going on.”

  “I read that Lee is headed north,” George said. “I’m guessing Meade is marching toward him.”

  When Ira didn’t answer, George sighed. “It must take a lot to feed an army of men and horses.”

  “Yes, sir,” Ira said.

  George leaned forward. “And you don’t have any qualms about being a part of all of it?”

  Ira countered with, “Do you have any qualms about selling to the army?”

  George smiled a little. “That’s one way to look at it. But I’d rather sell to you than have the Rebels come through and take it.”

  Annie shuddered as she put the spoon in Noah’s hand. Harriet had told Annie stories of southern soldiers wiping out entire farms in Maryland. Livestock. Food in the cellar. Bags of grain. Coops full of chickens. And leaving families with nothing to get them through another year. But even though they were on the border, Annie still didn’t believe the Rebels would cross into Pennsylvania.

  “Well, you don’t want the Rebs to take it,” Ira said, “and I don’t want any being to starve, man or horse. So I guess we’re in this together.” He grinned.

  George shook his head. “We still have a fair amount of potatoes—white and sweet—in the cellar, along with onions, turnips, and parsnips. And I have a cow that’s gone dry that I can sell too.”

  “Much obliged,” Ira said. He began writing with a pencil on a piece of paper in front of him.

  When he stopped, George said, “Is your Mamm doing all right on her own?”

  Ira nodded. “She keeps busy with her midwifery.”

  George stood and said, “Annie, go down to the cellar and fill two burlap bags with potatoes. I’ll get the cow.” He turned toward Ira. “Come on out with me.”

  By the time Annie cleaned up Noah and they headed to the cellar, the men were in the pasture.

  She quickly bagged the potatoes, with Noah’s help. The men returned with the cow and then retrieved the bags from the cellar, carrying them to Ira’s wagon. Annie guessed it was the same one he’d been driving the night before.

  Noah began to fuss, and she picked him up as the men came up the steps with the last of the potatoes. George led the way, and as Ira passed by, he met her eyes. The deepness of his dark pupils startled her. “Your cargo is safe,” he whispered.

  She didn’t answer. She had no reason to trust Ira King, but she did trust God. And in the moment, she hoped she could trust Ira too. He was either sincere or the biggest fraud she’d ever met.

  The day grew hotter and muggier. Annie spent the afternoon mopping Harriet’s sweaty body with a cool rag. The woman was miserable from the heat and was hardly eating. Annie forced her to drink water and then some tea.

  By the time Annie should have been fixing supper, it seemed Harriet’s contractions had started.

  “Go get George,” Harriet said. “Send him after Miss Kate.”

  Since Annie didn’t want to leave Noah unattended in the house, she hoisted him on her hip and hurried down the back steps. Dark clouds gathered on the horizon. She lowered Noah over the rail fence and then climbed over herself into the pasture. They hurried across to the fields. Along with alfalfa, George grew wheat, barley, and oats. She didn’t see how he could keep working so hard, all alone, without ruining his health.

  He was on the far end of the field, turning the hay. Annie hoped that the gathering clouds didn’t mean a heavy rain was coming that would damage the crop.

  She yelled and waved, but he didn’t hear her. She picked up Noah and began running through the field, over the cut hay that quickly worked its way into her boots, gouging her skin. She yelled again, and finally he saw her.

  “Harriet said to fetch the midwife.”

  “Is she sure?” he asked.

  “Jah,” Annie yelled back.

  “All right.” But he didn’t stop turning the hay.

  “George,” Annie called out. “Kate said to get her right away.” Annie didn’t want to deliver the baby by herself.

  He looked up. “I’ll get going in a minute. It took a couple of days with Noah, and I’ve delivered enough calves to know this isn’t going to happen in an hour.”

  Annie wanted to remind him that Kate might not be at her house, she might be checking on a patient or at a birth, but she doubted it would do any good. George probably thought he could easily get in another hour or two of work.

  By the time they climbed the fence back to the yard, Annie could hear Harriet’s screams. She wished she’d left Noah with George, but it was too late to take him back now.

  “Ma Ma.” The boy pointed to the house.

  “Jah, your Mamm will be all right,” Annie said. “I’ll help her while you eat your supper.” Then she would put Noah to bed and hope George returned with the midwife soon.

  Harriet writhed on the bed, and Annie remembered what the midwife said about finding a different position. “George is going after Kate. Let’s get you up.”

  Harriet had been in bed so long that she was unstable. Now being in labor added to her weakness.

  “No,” Harriet moaned. “I feel as if I’m dying. This is so much worse than with Noah.”

  Annie grabbed the cloth in the basin of water and sponged Harriet’s face and then her arms. She hadn’t dressed at all that day and still wore her nightgown.

  Harriet allowed Annie to help her stand. And she even took a few steps, but then she hung onto the footboard of the bed and wouldn’t move.

  Annie slipped out and fed Noah a cold supper and then put him to bed, praying as she did that he’d have a baby sister or brother by morning.

  When she returned to Harriet and George’s room, her sister-in-law was back on the bed with her eyes closed.

  Hoping she was asleep, Annie went back to the kitchen and quickly mixed up biscuits. George and Kate would need to eat something when they arrived, but Harriet’s screams forced Annie back to the bedroom. She whispered a prayer that George and Kate would return soon. The last thing she wanted was to deliver a baby.

  “Help me into a better position,” Harriet said.

  Annie did as she asked, helping her sister-in-law scoot forward on the bed to her knees, and then Annie climbed onto the bed beside her.

  Harriet gasped. “I think the baby is coming.”

  “No,” Annie said. “Not yet . . .” Annie especially didn’t want to deliver a baby that was breech. She’d heard whispers of such things between her Mamm and Eva back home. One woman in their district had lost a baby a few years ago who had been breech.

  Harriet started to groan. “You’ll have to catch it,” she gasped.

  Annie had seen cows give birth, but never a woman.

  Harriet lifted her nightgown to her hips and then groaned again. The baby’s foot extended down and Annie grabbed it.
/>   On the next push, Annie pulled. After a few more tense pushes, the rest of the baby slipped out all the way. It was another boy, and at first he didn’t make any noise, but as Annie held him, she rubbed his chest. Finally, he sputtered and began to cry. Annie cut the umbilical cord and wrapped him in the bed cover, whispering a praise of thanks. The birth had gone much better than what she’d feared.

  Harriet began to shake though, and Annie, with one hand, started to pull the quilt at the bottom of the bed on top of her, but as she did, her sister-in-law began to bleed. It seemed like a lot. Alarmed, Annie tucked the baby beside Harriet and hurried to the chest at the end of the bed for blankets or rags or something to stop the bleeding.

  A half hour later, nothing had changed. Annie remembered that the cows delivered the placenta too and wondered if that was what was causing the bleeding. She regretted not going after Kate and having George attend his wife, but it was too late now.

  “What do you remember about the placenta?” Annie asked Harriet.

  “It came out quickly last time,” she said. “But Kate massaged my belly to help it.”

  Annie began doing that, keeping an eye on the baby. He was small but alert. His eyes reacted to Harriet’s voice, and he seemed to be breathing all right.

  Harriet grimaced.

  “Does it hurt?” Annie asked.

  “Jah, but keep doing it.”

  Finally, the placenta delivered, and although the bleeding slowed, it didn’t stop. Annie got fresh water from the spring and began cleaning Harriet up as best she could, packing a blanket between her legs to hopefully help stop the blood. Harriet closed her eyes, but Annie told her not to sleep. She was afraid she might die if she did.

  Night fell, and as Annie lit the lamp, she prayed, asking God to save Harriet.

  Annie took the baby and cleaned him up and then put a cloth on his bottom and wrapped him tightly in a blanket she found in the chest. She stood in the lamplight, talking to Harriet as she nursed the baby, when the front door flew open.

  “Sorry it took so long,” George called out as he rushed into the room. He froze and then managed to say, “Oh.”

  Kate was right behind him. “Is everything all right?” she asked. “The baby? Harriet?”

  “I think the baby is fine,” Annie answered. “But Harriet is bleeding. It slowed some when she delivered the placenta, but it hasn’t stopped. I don’t know if it’s normal or not.”

  “George, you take the baby to Harriet. Annie, make a tea . . .” Kate was digging in her bag as she spoke. She handed Annie a jar with dried herbs in it. “A quarter cup in hot water, in a pot. Let it steep for forty minutes.” She turned toward Harriet. “You need to stay awake. That’s your only job right now.”

  Annie filled the kettle and then put the herb in the teapot. When the water started to boil, George came out of the bedroom.

  After Annie poured the water, she said, “There are biscuits here and leftover stew.”

  He thanked her as she dished the rest of the stew on the back of the stove into a bowl for him.

  As Annie handed him the food, she asked, “Was Kate off on another call?”

  George shook his head. “I was delayed by a group of Confederate soldiers.”

  Annie’s heart skipped a beat. “What’s going on?”

  “They were headed north, it seems to York.”

  “And then what?”

  George shrugged. “Ira was still at Kate’s house. I let him know, and he left immediately to warn his commander.”

  Annie shivered even though it was so hot. Confederates in Pennsylvania. Had the war come this close to home? Did that put Felicity in danger? Annie knew that Confederates would sell any blacks they came across, whether they were free or not. Felicity and Mingo wouldn’t have a chance.

  When enough time had passed, she poured a cup of the tea and headed into the bedroom.

  Kate took it from her. “Thank you—would you pick up the baby?”

  Annie took the little one from Harriet’s side.

  Kate handed the tea to Harriet. “Drink all of it.”

  Annie stepped back with the baby and asked Kate what the herb was.

  “Witch hazel.”

  Annie made a mental note of what Kate had said. The baby began to fuss, and she started swaying back and forth as she’d seen mothers do.

  “Has the bleeding stopped?” she asked Kate.

  The midwife shook her head. “But it’s slowed.”

  The baby began to fuss again.

  “He needs to nurse,” Kate said.

  “I can’t,” Harriet muttered over the rim of the mug.

  “Finish the tea,” Kate said. “Then you’ll be able to.”

  The little boy fussed more and Annie sat on the edge of the bed and put the tip of her little finger in his mouth. He sucked hungrily.

  “He’s healthy and alert,” Kate said as she felt Harriet’s forehead. “Thanks be to God for that.”

  Annie nodded in agreement.

  Harriet took the last sip of tea and then Kate reached for the baby. He wailed as he left Annie’s arms. A few minutes later, he was nursing, and although Harriet still seemed miserable and in pain, she stroked the little one’s head.

  Everyone knew how dangerous childbirth could be and that many mothers died during childbirth or from bleeding or from childbed fever. So many babies died too.

  Annie silently prayed that both Harriet and the baby would survive and that Harriet would regain her strength.

  George slept in Noah’s room that night, while Kate and Annie continued to care for Harriet and the baby. The bleeding continued, but Harriet slept some while Annie held the baby boy.

  “Do you think she has childbed fever?” Annie whispered to Kate.

  The woman shook her head. “She isn’t running a fever. But she may have torn inside.”

  Shame rose in Annie. “Was it because of something I did?”

  “Oh, goodness, no.” Kate put her arm around Annie. “You did a fine job, with this and the other task God gave you too.” She gave her a knowing look with her deep blue eyes.

  Kate certainly trusted her son. Annie simply nodded, hoping Ira was what he seemed.

  10

  George was up early the next morning to finish getting the hay ready for the Union soldiers. Annie feared a battle might take place nearby with both Rebels and Union soldiers in the area, but George reassured her the number of Confederates he’d run into was small. Probably a scouting party.

  Annie asked if they’d named the baby.

  “No. We will after I’m done with the hay.” He grabbed another biscuit and headed out the door.

  Annie fed Noah and then took bowls of corn mush to Kate and Harriet. The baby was nursing, and Harriet seemed better. In the morning light, she was pale, but she didn’t appear deathly so as she had the night before.

  Kate announced that the bleeding had slowed more and Harriet was on her way to recovery. “I’ll be back this evening to check on her,” she said.

  Annie retreated to the end of the bed. “I hope you can get some sleep.”

  “I will, eventually.” Kate grabbed her bag and took out more of the witch hazel. “Give her the tea every four hours.”

  Annie said she would, suppressing a yawn. She’d dozed some, but she hadn’t really slept, although she had slept more than Kate.

  “Make sure the baby nurses regularly. Wake him up if you have to. And make Harriet nurse him, no matter how she feels.”

  Annie assured her she would, but she feared she didn’t feel as confident as she sounded.

  Late in the afternoon, three unfamiliar Union soldiers driving three large wagons rolled past the house toward the barn.

  A few minutes later, one of them knocked on the door asking for George.

  “He’s out working in the field.”

  “We need the hay.”

  “He has it ready, I’m sure.” At least Annie hoped he did. She knew the payment would help the family.

&n
bsp; She and Noah stood on the side of the porch and watched as George drove another wagon full of hay to the side of the barn. He already had a stack waiting. Annie went back into the house to fix their supper, but every fifteen minutes or so, she and Noah would check on the men’s progress. George worked with the soldiers to transfer all of the hay to their wagons and then accepted a stack of bills. He shook the oldest man’s hand, and then the soldiers drove off in their wagons.

  Annie fed Noah and then Harriet. Her sister-in-law ate more than she had since Annie arrived, and then nursed the baby.

  As dusk fell, George came into the house, exhausted. He went straight to Harriet, and Annie couldn’t help but overhear him apologize to her.

  “No,” she said. “You had to do it. It would have been foolish not to fill the order. And you accomplished it. That’s what matters.”

  George thanked her and then said, “The soldiers said they think there’s going to be a battle soon.”

  Harriet’s voice was full of alarm. “Near here?”

  “No, they said the Confederates are headed for York. But they’re not sure that’s where the battle will be. Both sides are moving thousands of troops.”

  “We’re lucky the Confederates you saw didn’t come here.”

  “Jah,” George said. “I’m afraid they would have cleaned us out.”

  Annie’s heart skipped a beat.

  “I’ll stay close to the house tomorrow,” George said.

  Annie knew it wouldn’t do any good. He wouldn’t use violence against anyone, no matter what they tried to take or do. And it wouldn’t matter if he did, not if it was one against many.

  Her brother’s voice fell as he talked with Harriet, and Annie, embarrassed that she’d been eavesdropping, turned her attention to dishing up the baked sweet potato and ham that she’d made for her brother’s supper. When she was done, she walked out to the front porch, hoping for a breath of fresh air.

  That’s where George found her when he came out carrying the baby.

  “Annie,” he said. “Meet Nathaniel Bachmann.”

  She patted the baby’s head and cooed. “I’m pleased to meet you, Nathaniel.”

  George appeared exhausted but happy. “Harriet told me what good care you took of her and the baby. She said you’re gifted at caring for others and you could easily be a midwife someday, if you wanted to.”