“She prob’ly would if we said it was a thank you gift for all she’s done for us. Why don’t you start it up, Chris?”
“I will, and I’m the first to kick in my dollar.”
“I still don’t know. If she and the colonel are involved with each other, we don’t want to let her know we overheard all this.”
Reverend Browne came around the corner of the house to see what the ruckus was about. He was in time to hear the argument rise to a new level.
“Nellie, dear Nellie, please be reasonable,” he heard the colonel say. “There’s nothing more you can do for these people. When we leave, their owners may come filtering back, and they won’t be coming to welcome a northern nurse into the family.”
“But what if they don’t come back? Uncle Bob runs the house well when he has someone to order his supplies and pay for them. But he can’t keep this whole staff alive on the produce of that pitiful little garden out in the yard. You might as well be sentencing them to death.”
“I’m doing no such thing. And you are being melodramatic. Maybe Reverend Browne was right about you being an actress at heart.”
“That was a low blow. I thought you were fonder of me than that.”
“It doesn’t matter how fond of you I am. I’m doing what is best for all concerned.”
Outside, eyes rolled and heads nodded. “Who would have thought the colonel. . . .” one soldier said, as Reverend Browne caught at his arm.
“Who would have thought—what? It’s a sin to bear false witness, Son. Don’t you go accusing the colonel of things unless you know they are true. And even then, it would be none of your business.”
“Hey, Reverend, it sure sounds like a lovers’ quarrel in there.”
“And you have too much time on your hands. Be off with you and find something useful to do.” The chaplain managed to embarrass most of the listeners into moving away, but that did not keep him from remembering his own accusations. He stayed as the argument inside took off on a new tack.
“If I have to leave, can I at least take little Glory with me? She is a sweet child and she really wants to start going to school. I could teach her during my time off, and she could help around our camp.”
“Nellie, Nellie. You sound like one of the worst of the slave owners. Would you break up her family, take Maybelle’s daughter away from her, just because you want her? You have no claim on that child, and I don’t want you to mention it again. We’re departing in two days. You will be packed and ready to board the transport ship, and you had better be alone. And don’t plan on taking that damned cat with you, either!”
Nellie gasped in fury. “You’re no better than Otis Leath, dictating my every move and taking me away from everything I love.”
“I won’t hear another word on this subject. Talk to me again when you have stopped being a silly woman.” The colonel slammed his way out of the office and out the front door.
Reverend Browne barely managed to duck around the corner so as not to be caught eavesdropping. He watched speculatively as Leasure made his way across the street and stood staring at the water’s edge. He’s cooling off, Browne told himself, but I still have to wonder why he lets that foolish woman bother him so.
The quarrel had been heated, but both Leasure and Nellie soon regretted their disagreement. Leasure, for his part, was sorry he had called Nellie a “silly woman,” and murmured an apology the next time he saw her. And Nellie? She was learning that emotional reactions usually netted her the exact opposite of whatever she had been trying to accomplish. She, too, was ready to apologize. With a warm smile, she acknowledged the colonel’s effort and reassured him she carried no grudges.
The word to move out came quickly. On July 9th, General Stevens received orders calling for the entire brigade to depart for Newport News, Virginia, by 10:00 a.m. the next morning. Some of the men from the Roundheads, along with the Forty-Sixth New York and the Seventy-Ninth New York were still pitching their tents at Smith’s Plantation when they were told to pack what they needed and report to the harbor at Beaufort.
“What about all this camp?” asked one private. “I just now pounded in the last peg of this rickety tent.”
“We’re leaving the tents behind. They’re ragged and they’ll take up too much room. Take only your personal belongings and your weapons, ammunition, and food supplies,” his sergeant said. “These old canvas rags are too worn out to do us any good in Virginia. Leave ‘em where they stand.”
The men worked far into the night, ferrying their supplies from shore out to the transports. Then they boarded the steamer Cosmopolitan, which would carry them to Hilton Head. Waiting for them there was their ocean transport, the newly-christened Merrimac on her maiden voyage.
Nellie and the staff officers watched the boarding from the railing of the ship as the morning sun lit up the shoreline of the island. “South Carolina can be so beautiful,” Nellie said. “I almost wish it had been rainy and muggy this morning so I would not be reluctant to turn away from the view.”
“You did like it here, didn’t you?” Doctor Ludington smiled at her pensive expression.
“Yes, despite the pluff mud and the bugs and the sand, I found it warm and welcoming. Life seems to move more slowly here than it does in the north. And the birds and fish and wildlife are strange and wonderful. The sky is bluer, the water more inviting, the sea grass—oh, I do sound silly. But I’m regretting much more than leaving the scenery.”
“Still worried about the slaves?” asked Colonel Leasure as he joined the group.
“Yes, Sir, I am. I feel as if we are leaving a huge job undone here. We came to free the slaves, but all we’ve really done is disrupt the way of life they knew. The invasion chased away their masters, but we didn’t know how to help the slaves they left behind. We’ve been floundering, falling into a pattern of master and slave because that’s all they understood. And we had no alternatives to offer them.”
“I understand,” Leasure said. “We could have done much, and we’ve done little. Trouble is, I feel the same way about our military efforts.” He shook his head.
“So we’ve wasted our time?” asked young Geordy. “I can’t accept that. We’ve lost too many good men, suffered too much, worked too hard. . . .”
“I didn’t say we had wasted our time, Son. Of course what we’ve done was important. Our presence stopped the Confederate forces from turning this vast harbor into the center of a naval initiative that might have destroyed the Union blockade. We’ve disrupted communications and transportation between two of the most important cities of the Confederacy. But there is always more that could have been done. And it is not wrong to regret those failures and omissions. Awareness of them is what helps us do a better job the next time.”
“You may be right, Sir, “ Nellie responded. “I wish I could believe I will have another chance some day to right the wrongs I have seen here.”
“Well, you may not be here. But somewhere else? Surely that’s possible. The key to loving what you do is the continuing belief there is hope for a better future. Soldiers keep fighting because they believe in their country and because they have a vision of a better world than the one in which they are living.”
“So you think we’ll have another chance to redeem the defeat we suffered at Secessionville?” Geordy asked, looking at his father doubtfully.
“I do. There’s a major offensive developing in Virginia, and we get to be a part of that. Put the South Carolina experience behind you, enjoy your sea voyage, and get ready for your next challenge. That goes for you, too, Nellie. This ship has its own medical facility, so you can relax completely for a change. You deserve a few days off.”
“Thank you, Sir. I’ll probably be sticking close to my own quarters during the trip,” she replied as she moved off, clutching her hand satchel possessively.
Nellie had good reason to hold her bag close. Once she reached her cabin, she opened it and pulled out a bedraggled and irritated young cat. Cotton glare
d at her for a moment before she began pointedly to wash her face and paws. Then, shaking herself, she began to pace the cabin, looking for a convenient box and something to eat. Nellie rushed to put down some sheets of newspaper and two feeding bowls, hiding them as best she could underneath her berth. The young cat was not easily mollified. She gave Nellie a flick of her tail and scooted away each time Nellie tried to pet her.
“All right, then, be mad at me if you want. But at least I didn’t leave you behind!”
Cotton couldn’t hear her, but she mimicked Nellie’s open mouth and gave a tiny squeak, the best she could do, since she had never heard a real meow.
For the first couple of days at sea, Nellie managed to hide her secret, and she took great delight in sharing her berth with that soft bit of fur. But then the ship steamed into a patch of rough water, and the movement of the deck startled the cat. She shook her head and stumbled on her usually nimble paws.
“You’ll get used to it,” Nellie tried to tell her.
The cat’s response was a hoarse hack Nellie recognized as the preamble to the appearance of a hair ball. “No, please don’t get sea-sick,” Nellie begged. But it was too late. The cat gagged and disgorged her recently-eaten breakfast. Then in a panic, she scampered toward the door, just as it opened.
“I’m sorry,” Mary Pollock said. “I’ve gotten the wrong door. Oh! What was that?”
“That was Cotton. Quick! You’ve got to help me catch her before anyone else sees her.”
“Nellie! You didn’t bring that cat after the colonel told you not to?”
“Of course, I did. Come on!” Gathering their skirts above their ankles, the two women ran pell-mell through the passageway.
“Call her,” Mary suggested.
“She’s deaf!”
“Maybe a piece of yarn?”
“Don’t happen to have one.”
The cat hesitated at the foot of the gangway, not knowing which direction to turn. And from above descended the dapper little General Stevens. “Look out! A rat!” he shouted.
Mary began to giggle, but Nellie’s face blanched.
“I’m sorry, Sir. It’s just a cat.”
“I hate cats!”
“I’ll take care of her.” Nellie scooped the kitten into her arms and cuddled her protectively.
“Miss Chase! Is that the famous animal you and Colonel Leasure fought about?
“Yes, Sir.”
“You’ve disobeyed a direct order of a superior officer! I’ll see you court-martialed for this,” he said.
“Well, technically, Sir, I’m a volunteer. I never signed the papers to join the Army in any capacity, so he couldn’t have given me a military order. But I promise. I’ll take care of this. She’ll never bother you again.”
“Humph! We’ll see about that.” The general snorted as he walked away.
“Oh, Nellie. You’re going to be in such trouble,” Mary said. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going back to my quarters, and I’ll thank you to knock before you barge in the next time.”
“Please don’t be angry. I didn’t realize the cat would get out. I’m sorry.”
“I’ll keep the door on the latch from now on,” Nellie said. “It wasn’t all your fault.”
“If there’s anything I can do. . . .”
“No. Now I wait for the sword to fall on my neck, I suppose.”
The blow was not long in coming. If Nellie had been above deck, she would have seen a livid Colonel Stevens shouting at the Roundheads’ commander. “Colonel, I have lost patience with you and that little lady-friend of yours!”
“General? What in the world are you talking about? Who are you talking about?”
“Nellie Chase, of course. She’s gone too far this time, and it’s your fault she thinks she can get away with doing anything she wants.”
“Nellie? She’s not my lady-friend, and I don’t like the implication she is,” the colonel said.
“She certainly seems to think she has you wrapped around her finger. Why else would she have had the temerity to bring that animal aboard this ship?”
“That animal? What animal?” Then the colonel’s eyes narrowed with understanding. “She brought the cat with her.”
“Yes, indeed. And I almost fell over it in the passageway just now.”
“I can’t believe it.” Leasure shook his head. “I’ll take care of the cat, Sir.”
“You’d better take care of the lady, instead,” Stevens said. “Get rid of her, Leasure. This is no place for someone like her. She’s impertinent and pushy, undisciplined, and arrogant.
Thinking the general was somehow now making fun of the situation, the colonel smiled. “Well, I could throw the cat overboard for you, Sir, but I can hardly throw the lady overboard with her.” It was the wrong thing to say, since the general was not joking.
“So I understand. You must have a special relationship with ‘the lady’. She herself told me she never signed the papers to become an official member of the regiment. She has come along as . . . as what, Colonel? Is she your mistress? Your personal white slave? Perhaps a daughter whose existence you have never admitted?”
“General Stevens! That is uncalled for, and an insult to both me and Miss Chase. She has her own reasons for not wanting to leave behind a paper record of her whereabouts, and I sympathize with her circumstances. She is not, and never has been, anything to me other than a efficient matron, one who has helped to keep my regiment running smoothly. I resent the slur on her character and on mine.”
“Resent anything you like, Daniel. The fact remains the entire regiment is talking about the two of you. Something in your behavior, or hers, must have given the men that impression,” the general said.
“It’s nothing but gossip, Sir, and I will put an end to it.”
“Start by getting rid of the cat now! That’s an order. And when we reach Newport News, you will send Miss Chase packing. I do not want to lay eyes upon her again. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Sir.”
Leasure was still shaking with rage as he returned to his stateroom. His son, Geordy, soon joined him there, latching the door behind him. “What’s going on, Father? Half the crew witnessed that confrontation between you and the general.”
Daniel buried his face in his hands for a moment. “What are they saying, Geordy?”
“Well, most of the men are snickering about General Stevens being scared by a huge rat that turned out to be Nellie’s kitten. They say he was hopping around, screeching and pointing his finger at the threatening beast, when Nellie and Mary came racing down the passageway, their skirts hiked up to their knees. They were chasing the cat, apparently, and didn’t expect to run into anyone else. That part has become a joke.”
“That part. What else?”
“Then he and Nellie got into a shouting match, and you know how she can get when she is really angry. She sounded the way she did talking to you the other day—uh, so I’ve been told.” Geordy was floundering, realizing he had said too much.
The father knew his son too well to misunderstand the truth. “So you heard that, too. Were there others? Why didn’t you tell me then?”
“I didn’t want to embarrass you, Father. And I didn’t realize the rumors about the two of you were going to spread all through the regiment.”
“All through the regiment, Geordy? Does everyone now believe Miss Chase and I are somehow involved with each other?”
“I’m afraid they do now, since they heard the general accuse you of it.”
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