Memphis

by Sara Orwig

  “If you’re patient, the time will come when you’ll forget it ever happened,” he said, snapping shut his black bag.

  “No, Doc. I’ll never forget that battle. Not ever. War isn’t what I thought it would be.”

  “I expect a lot of men are saying that right now and a lot more will say it in months to come.”

  “Years, Doc.”

  “If we have years like this past April, I don’t know how this nation will survive it, Confederacy or Union.”

  “I don’t know either, but the Bluebellies can fight like demons.”

  “So can our boys. A Southern man can outshoot and outride anyone, bar none,” he said. “If I were younger, I’d be out there where I’d be more help.” He ran his fingers through his long white hair. “I’ll be back Thursday. That leg isn’t healing as fast as it was. Are you on it a good part of the day?”

  “No, sir.”

  “See that you aren’t.”

  Caleb headed back toward the center of town to look at the buildings and as he listened to the steady clop of the hooves of the team, he thought about Sophia Merrick. Seventeen years old. She was a baby. When he said that aloud, she had come back with a heated denial—and in some ways she was right. She ran a household, tended injured men, operated a weekly paper. He hadn’t ever known anyone like her. She hadn’t ever been kissed. She’d never been to a party. The fund-raiser was tomorrow night. Now that she was so angry with him over his gambling, he didn’t know whether she would go or not, but Hannah Lou had come to call every day and constantly urged Miss Merrick to go.

  He gazed at the tree-lined street and remembered pressing against her, bending his head to kiss her. He felt a hot stirring of desire that he knew was simply from being without a woman for so long. She hadn’t kissed like ice. He had kissed Hannah Lou and Desirée—damned if it hadn’t been more fun to kiss innocent Miss Merrick. He thought she would be cold and stiff and unresponsive, particularly since she was angry. But she had melted against him, yielded to him with a fiery sweetness. He remembered the surprise in her expression when she glanced up at him. She knows nothing about men, he mused, except how to get along with brothers and how to work like a man.

  He thought about the enameled silver and emerald necklace he had bought at the jewelers to take home to Amity when he returned to New Orleans. He could get something else for Amity and give the necklace to Miss Merrick to wear to the party. He hadn’t ever seen her wear any kind of jewelry.

  What would happen to her if the Federals attacked? Mayor Park had asked for volunteers for a militia, but the men who wanted to get into the war had enlisted and left Memphis long ago. The others seemed to be avoiding it as long as possible.

  He drove leisurely along Adams and looked at the houses, passing St. Peter’s Church, and then trying to remember the plain house, recalling that Miss Merrick had said it was the Macgevney house and one of the older homes in town, that Eugene Magevney was Memphis’s first schoolmaster, teaching in a log cabin in Court Square during the 1830s.

  He went to the cotton exchange, mingling with town leaders, picking up what news he could about Memphis and the righting.

  Next he stopped at a tailor’s to have a new uniform made. As Caleb stood still for a fitting, he gazed out the long window at the empty building across the street. “How is property value in town?”

  “People are selling. Many folks don’t want to get caught in a battle. Others don’t want to live in an occupied town,” the diminutive tailor said. He shrugged. “I expect my business to thrive either way.”

  Caleb looked down at the tailor’s round, bald head. “Think they’ll get a railroad going through Arkansas?”

  “Mister Topp and Mister Trezevant and Mister Brinkley and some others have the land and charter. The war interfered with their plans. Now who knows how long it’ll be?”

  Caleb was silent, thinking about the land and possibilities. When he left the tailor’s, he stopped at the general store to talk to the men gathered there. He strolled to Court Square to talk to politicians at the courthouse. Enjoying the spring day and seeing the town, he rode up and down streets, greeting people, stopping to talk.

  As he recovered, he was seeing less and less of Miss Merrick. She was away from the house more and when she was home, she didn’t stop to see him as she had. Was it because of the gambling? Or because of his kisses? Or because she was too busy?

  He waited in the parlor that evening until she returned home.

  “Miss Merrick?” he called softly.

  She entered the room with papers beneath her arm. “I have this week’s paper and I had a letter from Morris today and one from John. And there are two letters here for you.”

  “Ah, a letter from Darcy,” he said, taking them from her hand, “and another one from Rafe.” He looked up. “We’re going to the fund-raising party tomorrow night, aren’t we?”

  She frowned. “I printed the programs, and I can send them with you.”

  “No. You need to go to give your support to the Cause.”

  “I don’t—”

  “I’ve been riding around town today and everyone who supports the Confederacy is going. If you don’t go, it’s the same as saying you are a Union sympathizer.”

  “Of course, I’m not!”

  “Fine. We’re going to the party then.”

  “I don’t have a party dress,” she said, smoothing her letter and reading.

  “During wartime how many ladies do you think will have party dresses?”

  “Hannah Lou will,” she said, glancing up and then looking at her letter again. “Amos misses being home, but he’s well and he said conditions are not bad.”

  “Good.”

  “He hasn’t really fought in a big battle yet.”

  “Good thing he doesn’t know you’ve been in one.”

  She pursed her lips and turned, leaving him alone. He grinned as she left, unable to resist teasing her.

  In minutes she was back with a bag in her hands. “Where did you get this? Mazie said you brought tea and salt today.”

  He shrugged. “I didn’t realize you were running so short on supplies. I brought a few things home.”

  “You can’t buy tea or salt in Memphis with the blockade! Where did you get this?”

  “Some things you can buy if you know the right people,” he said.

  “You came by them illegally.” She stared at him and he stared back. Suddenly she smiled. “Thank you, Major O’Brien.” She turned and was gone and he grinned. He wouldn’t have been surprised if she had thrown them at him and refused the gift, but he was glad she wanted it. He hadn’t realized how great the shortages were until he talked to Mazie and to townspeople and tried to get supplies.

  The following night he wore a white linen shirt and dark coat. The sleeve of the coat was pinned up over his right arm. He waited for Miss Merrick in the parlor and she appeared, coming through the door, her chin lifted, her eyes glinting defiantly.

  Chapter 6

  Caleb’s gaze swept over her. Sophia wore one of her pale green muslin dresses, with its high collar and long sleeves, and it was as plain as a blade of grass. Her blond hair was braided and wound around her head; she looked the same as she had at eight o’clock that morning.

  Caleb held out his arm. “How do I look in Brother John’s clothes?”

  Suddenly her eyes sparkled, and he thought she was trying to avoid smiling. “I hope they don’t fall off,” she said, teasing.

  He grinned and tugged at the belt. “I punched another hole in the leather belt and after the war, I’ll send your brother a new belt.” He crossed the room to her. “Now, Miss Merrick, close your eyes and hold out your hand. I have a surprise for you.” He wished he could step behind her and fasten the necklace around her neck, but he couldn’t use his right hand.

  She tilted her head to look up at him. “What are you talking about?”

  “I have a present for you. Close your eyes and hold out your hand.”

  �
��A present?”

  “Didn’t your father allow presents either?”

  She closed her eyes and held out her hand and he wondered what her answer would have been. What kind of solemn, narrow-minded man had Thaddeus Merrick been to raise his family in such a parsimonious fashion?

  Caleb placed the necklace in her palm and the moment it touched her hand, her eyes flew open, looking at it and then at him.

  “I can’t put it on you or I would.”

  “A necklace!” she exclaimed, her breath going out in a rush. He felt pleased; it was obvious that she liked it. She held it up as if she hadn’t ever had a gift before. “It’s beautiful! My goodness, thank you.”

  She hurried to the mirror, and he silently cursed the sling around his arm, because he wanted to fasten the necklace on her. She held the oval twists of enameled silver with a glittering emerald in the center. Her eyes sparkled, and he was surprised how much the gift pleased her.

  She turned to face him. “It’s beautiful!”

  “It looks very pretty,” he said, thinking about her, still wondering how she would look in a silk dress with her hair in a more fashionable style. He remembered her in the white nightgown sleeping in the rocking chair with thick golden tresses spilling over her shoulders. She looked beautiful then with her pale skin and thick lashes, her full rosy lips. He longed to reach out and unwrap the braids from around her head. “You wear green often, so it should go with your dresses,” he said softly.

  “It’ll remind me of your eyes,” she said and then blushed.

  “Miss Merrick, I didn’t know you noticed,” he said, grinning.

  She smiled at him. “Of course, I’ve noticed. They’re unusual.”

  He wondered if she knew what flirting meant. Smiling, he offered his good arm. “Ready? I told Henry I would drive the buggy.”

  “How kind of you. I worry about him; he’s getting old.”

  “He worries about you, too.”

  “Henry?” she asked, sounding surprised.

  “Of course. He remembers when you were born. So does Mazie. They’ve told me.” Outside the air was cool. Magnolias were in bloom, large waxen white blossoms showy against the dark green leaves that blended into the night. “This is as close as you’ll get to a coming-out, Miss Merrick. Of course, you’re young for a presentation party.”

  “I never would have one. I think to the town, my family is an oddity. Eccentric is what I’ve heard some people say.”

  “Did they say that to you?”

  “No. I’ve overheard conversations. I don’t get invited to parties, because I don’t move in the circles of people who have parties. Hannah Lou and I became friends because she lives only a short distance away and when I was small, I roamed around the neighborhood while Papa was busy preaching and getting out the paper.”

  “I didn’t know your father was a preacher.”

  “Not officially. Not with a church. He simply preached temperance and what he thought the world should do. But Papa helped people who needed help and so townspeople have tolerated us. Except on occasion.”

  “What occasion?”

  She shrugged as Caleb helped her into the buggy and climbed up beside her. “Once he tried to destroy a saloon on Whiskey Chute—that’s the street of saloons between Main and Front. Some ruffians were going to hang him. The sheriff came to his defense and brought him home.”

  Caleb glanced at her. What kind of childhood had she had? he wondered. A father who was almost hanged for his preachings, a man who demanded constant work from his children. As they drew closer to the Needham house where the party was held, she became quiet.

  When they entered the house, Sophia took a deep breath. Lights blazed from every room, and in spite of shortages and the war, the ladies were dressed in green and red and golden dresses of satin and silk. Sophia started to panic. I shouldn’t be here. They won’t want me and I don’t know what to do. Major O’Brien linked her arm through his, moving so she was on the side of his good arm.

  “Major, I don’t belong here,” she said solemnly, feeling cold with fear. To her amazement he flashed a broad grin. In an instant he generated so much warmth that she completely forgot the crowd and her fears.

  “Sophia,” he said, the word causing a tingle in her. “Can I believe my ears? You who have dressed in a Yankee uniform and spied on General Grant; you who have thrown men twice your age from your house and smashed their whiskey and tried to burn my cards and defy me; you who brought two unconscious men miles across open land and saved our lives—you’re afraid to walk into a house filled with people you know? I never thought I’d see the day. Sophia, shaking in her shoes! There is something that frightens the intrepid, self-sufficient Miss Merrick.”

  “Stop that!” she said, annoyed with him in spite of his dazzling smile. She lifted her chin. “This is entirely different, and I’m sure you don’t understand because you have the manners and the constitution of a jackass!”

  He chuckled and squeezed her hand. “Ah, me. I knew you were only teasing me. I thought I’d found something that stirs fear in even as dauntless a heart as yours—here’s our hostess. Good evening, Mrs. Needham. How I’ve looked forward to this night. It has been a thousand years since I’ve been to a party or to a fete given by such a beautiful hostess.”

  “Major O’Brien, how you do tease! Miss Merrick, I’m so glad you talked him into coming. My, we’re all going to hate to see the major go. We almost wish you wouldn’t get well so you would stay with us.”

  “What’s that, Eudora?” Patrick Needham asked, coming to stand beside his wife. “Good evening, Miss Merrick. And Major O’Brien. Everyone has asked about you, and Doctor Perkins assured us he gave us permission for you to attend tonight.”

  Sophia stared at him. How had he won over the Needhams in such a short time?

  After a while they excused themselves from their hosts and moved into the ballroom. When he paused every few seconds to greet someone, Sophia stared at him in amazement. When had he met so many Memphians? How did he know people better than she or just as well? she wondered. In minutes she relaxed. No one knew she was present. Major O’Brien was the center of attention, charming them all. To her amazement when she tried to withdraw to join some of the ladies at the refreshment table, Caleb held her hand tightly against his side and turned to her. “You can’t leave me. I might fall down without your support. My leg hurts.”

  He was lying blatantly. She had stopped changing the dressings on his wounds since Dr. Perkins told her they were healing nicely. Now it was only the broken arm that was taking time to heal. Major O’Brien could stand and walk without the slightest aid.

  Hannah Lou joined them and took every advantage to flirt with the major. While they talked, Sophia noticed so many men in uniform with bandages, arms in slings, men leaning on crutches. Injured men seated in chairs lined one side of the room where they could watch the festivities. Many of them had been brought over from the hospital.

  “Sophia,” Will Stanton called out as he approached them. He was gaunt and pale, but he was standing on his own and she was delighted to see how well he had progressed.

  “Will Stanton!” she exclaimed. “You’re better.”

  “Finally. Look at this,” he said, pointing at Major O’Brien. “He’s as tough as old leather. You don’t look as if you’ve ever fought a battle, except for your arm,” he said, grinning at Caleb.

  “You look great.”

  “I know better, but I’ll make it. I wrote your sister-in-law.”

  “Chantal?”

  Will laughed. “Your body may be fine, but your mind is cotton. No. Miss Therrie. Amity.”

  “Did you now?” Major O’Brien asked and Will blushed, grinning at him. Would such a question ever make the major blush? she wondered. She couldn’t imagine anything that would bring a blush to his cheeks other than anger. And did he care if Will wrote Miss Therrie?

  Musicians strummed a few notes and noise of the crowd lowered as everyone turned towar
d the stage at one end of the ballroom. Mayor Park stepped to the edge of the stage. “Ladies, if you will line up along this side of the dance floor, the gentlemen will pay to dance with you. The money must be in gold please, and we can melt down watches and rings. We’ll have all the aldermen—Samuel Tighe, Mister Morgan, Mister Merrill—lined up beside the stage. Find your alderman who is ready to take payment. Any contribution you can make will buy you a dance with a beautiful lady.” He paused while there were cheers and applause. “All the proceeds from tonight will go to buy shoes for our glorious Confederate army.”

  Another rousing cheer came. As soon as it died down, Mayor Park raised his hand.

  “Now step right up, gentlemen, for a dance and for a good deed in helping our fighting men. We want them home by Christmas.”

  Hannah Lou batted her eyes at Major O’Brien and turned to leave.

  Will nodded to Caleb. “Let’s pay and see if we both can do ten steps without collapsing. You’ll probably do a hundred.”

  “However many, I’m going to enjoy them.” He looked down at Sophia as she stepped back. “Sophia, join the ladies.”

  She shook her head. “You know I don’t dance. I’ll wait with the matrons.”

  “No, you won’t. I’ll dance with you, and we will barely move. Everyone will know it’s because of my injury. Now go join them or I’ll drag you there.”

  “There is something about you, Major O’Brien, that is both kind and extremely irritating,” she said lightly.

  “That’s my natural charm,” he replied, and she capitulated.

  “You always get your way!”

  “Maybe on the dance floor. Unfortunately on the battlefield, I don’t get what I want at all,” he said solemnly and she realized just how deeply the memories of the battle continued to plague him. But at that moment she was overcome by her own worries as he left her with a slight push and she had to join the group of beautiful women lining the side of the ballroom. She felt plain and out of place. Hannah Lou was far up the line and gave her a surprised look. Sophia stood between Lydia Hobson and Eunice Mott who glanced at her without speaking. They chatted constantly to each other across her and to the women standing beside them. She knew who both of them were, but years ago they had ceased speaking to her.