by Ginny Dye
“Moses! What in the world are you doing home this time of day? Did you lose your job?” Then she looked at him more closely. There was a huge grin on his face.
Moses shook his head. “Nope. I quit!”
Rose stared at him. “What in the world did you do a thing like that for?” In spite of his obvious happiness, she felt a pang of uneasiness. “Did something bad happen?”
Moses laughed and stepped forward to take her hand. “Nothing happened. At least not anything bad. Come over by the window. I want to talk to you.”
Rose followed him to the window, took a seat, and then turned to him. “All right,” she said with a smile. “I’m listening.”
Moses gave her a brilliant smile. “I was accepted as a Union spy today,” he said triumphantly.
Rose gasped and sank back against the pillows. She knew Moses wanted her to be excited. All she could think about was that they were going to be apart. “Why don’t you tell me about it?” she managed.
“McClellan is finally going to make his move. I heard he met with Lincoln two days ago. The pressure is on. The plan is to take Richmond. They figure if they can take the capital, the Confederacy will collapse. They are going to go in from the coast.”
“Past the plantation,” Rose murmured, suddenly frightened for Carrie.
Moses read her face. “I’ve thought of Carrie, too,” he said with a troubled look. “I’ve taken a look at the map. We don’t seem to be going too awfully close to the plantation. It looks like we’ll be north of it.”
Rose nodded, but she was still troubled. “What will you be doing?”
Moses shrugged. “Whatever they tell me, I reckon. They need someone who knows the area. Who can get around without raising too much suspicion. Someone who can help them figure out the best way to get where they’re going. I’ll help anyway I can.”
Rose looked at him. She had rarely seen him so excited. She knew how much he wanted to play a part in helping the Union win. He hoped it would mean the end to slavery. She also knew how much he wanted to return to the South in the hope of finding his family. She took a deep breath and smiled. “When do you leave?”
Moses hesitated and then looked her straight in the eye. “Tomorrow.”
Rose felt as if she had been kicked in the stomach. “Tomorrow?” she whispered.
Moses nodded. “I know it’s sudden, honey, but they are already beginning to pull together the troops. Now that the decision has been made, everything needs to move quickly.”
Rose shook her head, too stunned to really comprehend what he was saying. “How many of you?”
“How many Union troops?”
“No,” Rose answered. “How many black spies?”
Again Moses hesitated. “Just one. Me.”
Rose stared at him. “You’re going to be the only black man with all those white men?”
Moses nodded again, the excitement returning to his face. “I could be blazing the way for more blacks to follow. If I do a good job, if I can prove myself, maybe they’ll let other blacks serve. There are thousands eager to enlist!”
Rose struggled to push down the bile of fear rushing to her throat. “Let me get this straight. You are leaving tomorrow to be the only black spy with thousands of white men?”
Moses stood and walked over to her; then he lifted her from the chair and took her into his arms. “I’ll be fine, Rose. You know I’ve got to do this.”
“Yes, I know,” Rose murmured into his broad chest. Then she wrapped her arms around him and began to sob.
Dinner that night was a somber affair. Aunt Abby had been just as stunned as Rose when she arrived home and received the news. She had insisted on fixing a special dinner. Now, an hour later, Rose could hardly remember what she had eaten. Whatever it had been, it was sitting like a lead weight in the bottom of her stomach. Moses was still talking quietly to Aunt Abby when she excused herself and climbed heavily up the stairs to their bedroom.
When she entered the room, all she could do was stare dully at the canopy bed. Soon she would be sleeping alone. Soon she would be spending all her nights wondering whether Moses was dead or alive. She knelt now beside the window and stared out at the swirling snowflakes dancing in the light of the gas lamps lining the street.
“Lettin’ go of someone you love... why girl, that be the hardest thing you ever have to do.”
Rose lifted her head as her mama’s words rang through her heart. It was as if her mama was right in the room with her. She could almost feel her wrinkled hand smoothing her hair as she talked.
“You gonna think ‘bout him every day. You gonna miss him with an achin’ every day. That’s how you gonna keep him alive in your heart, girl.”
“But, Mama, what if I never see him again? What if something happens to him?” Rose moaned softly.
“Then you’ll cry and go on livin’. But girl, you be borrowing trouble ‘fore there be trouble to borrow. You done be lettin’ that fear take over your heart again. What happened to your trust, chile’? What happened to your trust?”
Rose bowed her head on the windowsill. What, indeed, had happened to her trust? How could she totally trust God one minute and wallow in fear the next?
Trustin’ done take a lifetime, Rose girl. Every time, it seems like you got to learn it again. But it gets to be some easier. You finally figure out that God does really love you. Then the trustin’ get easier. God done already know how you feel. Let him take you through the hard times. He’ll teach you to trust...
Tears filled Rose’s eyes when she finally looked up from the windowsill. A strange peace had entered her heart. Along with it came an understanding. Moses needed to leave secure in her love. Secure in her belief in him. “Thank you, Mama,” she whispered.
She was ready for Moses when he finally entered the room. His eyes glowed tenderly when he saw her waiting on the bed for him. Not taking his eyes from her, he undressed and then lowered himself onto the bed beside her.
Rose gazed into his dark eyes for a long moment. “I love you, Moses.” She kissed him tenderly and then whispered, “And I’m very proud of you.” She allowed her fingers to trace a pattern on his muscular back, moving gently over the whip lash scars he had gained in his early years of slavery.
“Oh, Rose,” he groaned. “I love you, too.” He kissed her then, his tenderness quickly changing to passion.
It was a long time before they rolled over to face each other and talk quietly. Moses held both of her hands while they talked.
“I’m coming home to you, Rose. This war is a horrible thing, but we’ve just started new. We still have a lot of living to do. I’m coming home.”
Rose nodded and put her finger to his lips. “I believe you, Moses. I know you have to do this thing. I’m proud of you. I believe you’re going to open up the way for many more black men to follow.” She paused. “One of the reasons I love you is that you’re a leader. I’m sorry I let my fears get the best of me. I guess I’ll always have to fight them.” She paused again. “I just don’t want to lose you,” she whispered softly. “You hold all my heart, you know.”
Moses nodded. “Just like you hold all of mine,” he said gently, leaning forward to kiss her again.
Rose never wanted this night to end. She returned his kiss and pressed her body close to his. Once again they were lost in the passion of their love. If there was no more - at least they would have this one last night.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Eddie had a worried look on his face as he strode in the door and threw a quick glance back over his shoulder as if he was afraid someone was watching him.
Fannie glanced up from her sewing and frowned. “Something wrong?”
Eddie shook his head. “I don’t know. I guess I’s a little spooked. This city be making me more and more nervous.”
Opal put down her own sewing to watch the exchange. Once again she was trying to patch the only other dress she owned. For a brief moment, she longed for the plantation. Their clothes hadn�
�t been fancy, but they were always in good condition. She was ashamed of the two dresses she owned now. Of course, things might be as scarce on the plantation as they were becoming in Richmond. She could have made herself a new dress if the material that could be found was not so exorbitant in price. She sighed, finished her last stitch, tied a knot, and broke the thread.
Fannie’s face had grown more anxious. “Do you think they know what we doing?” Her tone was furtive, and she kept her voice low even though the windows in the house were closed and no one was home but them.
Opal understood. You couldn’t be too careful right now. Martial law had been declared in Richmond. It was impossible to enter the city without a pass. Alcohol and firearms had been outlawed. The city had become desperate to find a way to stop the lawlessness sweeping its streets. At first Opal had been glad. At least she was sleeping without sporadic gunfire jolting her from her bed all hours of the night. It was the crackdown on Union sympathizers that had them all worried. People were being taken from their homes and put in jail for not avowing wholehearted loyalty to the Confederate cause.
Eddie shook his head. “I don’t know how they could. We been so careful. But I don’t know,” he sighed. “I can’t get out of my head how that policeman watched me walk away after I stopped to help Spencer and Miss Carrie. I knowed I shouldn’t’ve stopped, but I couldn’t see Miss Carrie getting hurt.” He shook his head firmly. “No, sir, I couldn’t see her getting hurt. I done the right thing.”
“Of course, you did,” Opal said quickly. “That policeman couldn’t have known anything. I think everybody is just nervous right now.”
Fannie nodded, looking at Opal in gratitude. Opal knew her cousin lived in constant fear something was going to happen to one of them. Because of their activities, much information had been smuggled out to the Union authorities. But so far, it seemed the crackdowns were concentrating on white people.
Eddie took a quick glance at Fannie’s face and tried to reassure her. “I be sho’ ain’t nobody knowing what we doing. I just extra careful, I guess. Anyway, we seem to keep gettin’ by with things.”
“Like not havin’ Miss Carrie walk right in the middle of one of our meetin’s?” Fannie asked, with a glimmer of her normal humor.
Opal laughed. “I would have so loved to see her, but not that Sunday. Not with the house full of people supposedly here for lunch. We wouldn’t’ve got any planning done!”
Eddie nodded. “I felt sorry for that little lady the soldier tried to have his way with, but I sho was glad I had a chance to tell Miss Carrie you wadn’t home.”
Opal nodded. Seeing Carrie would have been wonderful, but what Opal and the others were doing that Sunday was much more important.
Fannie nodded, her face once more composed as she picked up the dress she was mending for Sadie. “I guess the good Lord done be looking after us.”
Eddie nodded and then dropped his voice. “He get another chance tomorrow.”
Fannie looked up sharply. “A delivery?”
Eddie nodded, his eyes bright with excitement. “Mrs. Hampton done bribed one of them prison guards. I guess he need the money real bad. Anyway, she say she got some information the Union will find real helpful.”
“When?” Fannie asked.
Eddie shrugged. “I go downtown to one of the drops tomorrow morning sometime. They put the sign out when the way be clear.”
Fannie merely nodded, but the worried look had returned to her face.
Opal searched for the other hole in her dress she wanted to mend, wondering how long they would be able to get away with what they were doing. Just then the back door opened and shut quickly. The children had been told in no uncertain terms to not let any precious heat out of the house. Spring was on the way, but winter was still teasing them. Opal pulled her coat closer around her as a draft of cold air whirled past. Firewood had become scarce in the whole city. There had been many days when there was no heat in the house at all.
“Mama, I’s hungry,” nine-year-old Amber announced.
Fannie looked even more anxious as she got up and headed to the kitchen. Minutes later Amber, holding a piece of cornbread, walked into the room.
Opal frowned at the pinched look on the little girl’s face. There simply was not enough food to keep them all satisfied. At first Opal had felt guilty for being another mouth to feed. Then Eddie had reminded her they would have even less than they did now without her paycheck to help. Prices had skyrocketed, and the staple items could oftentimes not be found. The food from the garden had run out about a month or so ago. It would be several more months before the garden would produce again. Thin, watery soup, along with cornbread, had become the mainstay of their diet. All of them were feeling it, but Opal felt worse for the children. She thought longingly of the stocked cellar and smokehouses of the plantation. What she would give to see the children well fed!
Opal waved good-bye to Fannie as she made the turn that would take her to the state armory building where she worked. Fannie returned the wave and continued on her way to the Tredegar Iron Works perched on the banks of the James River.
Opal sighed when she entered the building. She didn’t miss working in the tobacco fields, but she did miss being outdoors in the sunshine. Coming in to work at seven o’clock in the morning and not leaving until seven o’clock at night made it seem as if the whole world were shrouded in perpetual darkness – especially during the long winter she had just endured. At least now with spring just around the corner, she could enjoy a little light while she walked to work.
She nodded pleasantly to the other women around her before she moved to her place on the sorting bench. The work of sorting shells was tedious, but at least it wasn’t dangerous. Fannie’s job of packing shells with gunpowder had already injured more than one careless worker.
“Howdy, Opal. You goin’ to the meetin’ at church tonight?”
Opal smiled at Mabel, the cheerful old woman who worked next to her. They had become friends during all the hours they worked side by side. “Why, I suppose I am,” she said absently. Her mind was with Eddie - wherever he was. They had talked at home again this morning about how important the message was that he was trying to send on. She had been worried about the anxious look in his eyes. Was he not telling them something? Was there a reason for people to suspect him? Was he hiding something to keep Fannie from worrying?
The questions twirled in her brain as her fingers nimbly sorted the shells in front of her. As soon as one container was done, she rose to get another one, grateful for the brief respite to stretch her back and flex her hands. She smiled at the women who glanced up, then carried her new box back to her place, and settled down to sort more shells. She was only on her second box. She usually made it through ten boxes before the day was over. She sighed heavily and let her thoughts carry her out of the armory. It was going to be a long day.
She was on her fourth box when she heard a commotion at the door. Her supervisor, Mrs. Whiteside, strode into the room and looked around.
“Is there someone in here by the name of Opal?” she called loudly.
Opal stared at her with a sick feeling in her stomach. Something was wrong.
“I say, is there an Opal in here?” she called again. “I was told I would find her here.”
Opal stood slowly and walked over to her. “I’m Opal,” she said, her voice trembling.
Mrs. Whiteside looked at her closely. “You got a cousin named Fannie?”
Opal nodded, her eyes wide with fear. She waited silently, too frightened to speak.
Mrs. Whiteside’s rough face softened a little with compassion. “You’re needed over at the Iron Works. Fannie is asking for you.”
Opal finally found her voice. “Fannie... is she all right? Has something happened?”
“There has been an accident. An explosion. Fannie is asking for you,” she said grimly.
Opal swayed and then straightened. Fannie needed her. At least she was alive. Her voice was fir
m when she spoke this time. “May I go right over?”
Her supervisor nodded, her voice strangely soft for one who was so hard and demanding, as she said, “You may take the rest of the day off.” Then her voice became rough again. “Just today, though. I will expect you back here tomorrow.”
Opal nodded, ran back to grab her coat, squeezed the hand Mabel reached out, and then dashed out of the room. Unmindful of what people thought, she ran all the way down the hill to the Iron Works. Her first look reassured her somewhat. All the buildings were still standing. There were no flames. The explosion must not have been a bad one. Fannie could not be too seriously injured. Then she remembered the look of compassionate pity on Mrs. Whiteside’s face. She ran faster.
She was gasping for breath when she broke through the door into the office of Fannie’s building. A young lady behind the front desk looked up immediately.
“You’re Opal?”
Opal nodded, her fears increasing as she saw the serious look on the lady’s face. “Come with me, please.”
“What happened?” Opal pleaded.
“There was an explosion. Some of the gunpowder went off. We’re still not sure why.”
“How many people were hurt?”
“Just Fannie. She was carrying a box of shells to be stored.”
Opal stopped in her tracks. “Fannie was carrying a box that exploded?” she whispered. But the young lady kept walking. Opal stuffed down her feeling of horror and ran to catch up with her.
They rounded a corner, and Opal caught sight of a figure on the floor. With a moan, she dashed forward and knelt down next to her cousin. “Fannie...” she said softly, trying to control the tears rolling down her face. Her cousin lay on the ground where she had fallen. Opal fought the nausea crowding her throat. She had to be strong. Fannie needed her.