“I’m the nurse, Mrs. Watkins, and I tell you the doctor don’t want no one seeing Mr. Carter!”
Sarah’s mouth went firm, and her eyes half shut. She was a mild-mannered girl, but she recognized insolence when she saw it. “Mrs. Watkins, I’m telling you right now, we’ve come to take care of my uncle. Now you can either let us in, or we’ll go get the authorities, who will see to it. Now which will it be?”
The sharp-faced woman hesitated. She gave them a baleful look and then said, “Well, you can come in for a little while, I suppose.” She stepped back. “He’s down here in this room, and you can’t stay long. He don’t feel like seeing visitors.”
Sarah and Leah exchanged glances, and Sarah gave her head a warning shake. They followed the gray-haired woman down a short hall. When she opened a door, they stepped inside.
Mrs. Watkins said, “There’s two women here claim to be your kin. You don’t want to see them, do you?”
Sarah looked across the room to see a thinfaced man with snow-white hair lying in a bed. Two pillows propped him up. His face was pale, and his mouth was drawn tight in an invalid’s look, but his eyes were bright blue and took them in carefully.
“Why, you must be Dan’s girls!” he said in surprise. “Come in! Come in!”
“Yes, I’m Sarah, and this is Leah.”
They walked to the bed and shook hands with the elderly man. His hand, Leah thought, felt like a bird’s bones, it was so fragile. She smiled, saying, ”Pa wanted us to come and take care of you till you’re feeling better, Uncle Silas.”
“I’ll do all the taking care of he needs,” Mrs. Watkins said. She stood there with an angry look on her face. “He’s a sick man, and he doesn’t need anybody fussing with him.”
“I think that’ll be enough, Mrs. Watkins,” Sarah said firmly. “You may go now.”
The woman’s mouth dropped open. Evidently she was not accustomed to being challenged.
Sarah said, “We won’t be needing you for a while. I’ll talk with you later to see if it will be possible for you to stay on. Shut the door on your way out.”
Mrs. Watkins gasped, and her face flushed. “Well, I never!” she muttered, then turned and left, slamming the door so that the pictures on the wall trembled.
Suddenly Silas Carter laughed aloud. It was not a hearty laugh, and his voice seemed rusty as though he had not used it much, but he was smiling, and his eyes twinkled. “Well, dog my cat! I never seed the beat of that! That woman’s had me buffaloed, Sarah, but I can see you know how to handle her.”
“Who is she?” Sarah asked. “She doesn’t seem like very good company for someone who’s not well.”
“She’s the awfulest pest I ever ran across,” Silas Carter said, “but she’s all I could get. Her and that sister of hers, who’s worse.” He looked up hopefully. “Are you girls here for just a short stay?”
“No, we’re here till you get well, Uncle Silas,” Sarah said at once. Looking sharply into his face, she said, “Would you like for me to tell Mrs. Watkins and her sister they won’t be needed anymore?”
“Would I! That would be a blessing!” The old man groaned. “Here!” He fumbled in the drawer of the bedside table and brought out a purse. “I owe them for this week. Pay them and tell them thank you and never to come back again.”
Leah laughed. “It’s a good thing we came, Uncle Silas. I don’t think you’d have lasted long with those two.”
“Leah—that’s your name, is it?” Uncle Silas said. “Well, you’re right about that, girl. Hope you two can cook better than they can. They could make a tenderloin steak taste like a piece of shoe leather.”
“Oh, we can both cook real good,” Leah said. “You go fire those two women, Sarah, and I’ll stay here and talk to Uncle Silas.”
Sarah took the purse, asked the amount owed the women, and then left the room. As soon as she was gone, Silas drew a deep breath and seemed to settle. “I was never so glad to see anybody in all my born days. Now, you tell me all about my nephew, Dan, and your ma and all about your family.”
Leah sat beside the bed and talked to him cheerfully, stopping once to open the window, pull back the drapes, and let sunlight flood the room.
Uncle Silas seemed fascinated by every detail, and when Leah mentioned they had two friends in the Confederate army, he looked at her quizzically.
“Well, that’s something, ain’t it! Tell me more about these young fellers.”
Sarah came in as Leah was still talking about Jeff and Tom. She stood at the bedside for a moment, and then, when she found a place to interrupt, she said, “Well, the Watkins sisters are not happy, but you’ll not have to see them anymore, Uncle Silas. Now, what would you like for supper?”
“Ice cream and cake”—he grinned—“but I’ll take whatever I can get. Just surprise me.” He looked closely at Sarah. “What’s that about this young feller Tom that’s stuck on you? Tom Majors, is it?”
A flush touched Sarah’s cheek, and she cast an irritated look at Leah. “We’re just good friends.”
“You are not,” Leah spoke up. “He wants to marry you. That’s not just good friends.”
“Hush, Leah.” Then she laughed. “I see our family will have no secrets from you, Uncle Silas. Well, I’ll go fix supper. Leah, come see to our things. Where do you want us to put them, Uncle Silas?”
When the girls were outside, Leah said, “It’s a good thing we came. Those two women would have driven a saint crazy.”
“Well, you go up and put our things away and then come help me with supper. We can talk about how we’re going to divide our duties up later on tonight.”
Sarah watched until her younger sister had ascended the stairs, carrying a suitcase, and then turned to the kitchen. As she began pulling groceries off the shelves to prepare the meal, she looked out the window. A soldier in a gray uniform walked by, and her heart jumped.
Then she laughed at herself. If you’re going to think every Confederate soldier you see is Tom Majors, you’ll go crazy!
Still, from time to time, she’d look out the window and examine the soldiers who walked by.
* * *
“Look what I got! Look what I got!”
Tom Majors had been cleaning his musket, and he glanced up with a blink of surprise as Jeff came running across the field waving a sheet of paper. “Look! Read this, Tom!”
“What is it? We done won the war?” Tom asked, grinning at his younger brother. He took the paper and then stood up abruptly, dropping the musket. “Is this right? Is this true?”
“That’s what it says, isn’t it? Leah and Sarah are here in Richmond to take care of their pa’s uncle. Look! There’s the address. And what’s more, we’re invited to supper.”
Tom grinned broadly and could not seem to stop staring at the paper. “Well, I’ll be a swaggletailed duck! I would have thought of anything but this.”
He glanced up quickly and saw Lieutenant Ormsby walking by. “Jeff, you wait here. I’m going to talk the lieutenant into letting us go into town tonight.”
“Be sure I go with you,” Jeff called after him. He stood waiting, anxiously shifting from one foot to the other.
After a short conversation, Tom came back.
“Did he say it was all right?”
“He said I’d have to stand an extra watch, but that’s all right. Come on! Let’s get our best clothes on and get to town.”
By the time they had their best uniforms on and had made the trip to Richmond, the shadows were beginning to lengthen. They had walked until they caught a ride with an army supply wagon, so they were dusty when they arrived at the tall white house.
“There it is,” Tom said. “See that number?” He ran up the steps, followed quickly by Jeff, and knocked on the door.
It opened almost at once, and Leah came out, her face beaming. “Tom! Jeff! Boy, I’m so glad to see you!” She threw herself at Tom and hugged him. Then when he released her, she looked at Jeff.
Jeff’s face grew
crimson. As glad as he was to see her, he just stuck his hand out as he would to another boy. “Well, hey, good to see you,” he mumbled.
“Oh, Jeff!” Leah cried and gripped his hand hard.
Then Sarah was at the door. She was wearing a pink and brown, oversized, checked gingham dress with puffed sleeves. There were satin ribbons fastened with a brooch to hold each sleeve tightly, and her dark blue eyes were fixed on Tom as she whispered, “Hello, Tom—so good to see you.” She put out her hand. Tom took it, and she said, “Ouch! Not so hard!”
Tom was wearing Confederate gray with a campaign cap, which he pulled off, allowing his dark hair to fall over his forehead. “Sorry, Sarah. I’m just so all-fired glad to see you, you and Leah both! What in the world are you doing here?”
Sarah explained their mission, then said, “Come on in and meet Uncle Silas.”
Their uncle was sitting in a wheelchair in the parlor. When the two tall soldiers were introduced, he put out his hand. “Glad to meet both of you. I want to tell you, these two young women have about saved my life.”
Tom grinned broadly. “I tell you what, we’re glad to see them too, aren’t we, Jeff?”
“Sure are,” Jeff muttered. He was happier to see Leah than he’d ever thought. She was wearing a pink dress trimmed with blue ribbons, and her hair was parted away from the center and tied back the way older women did theirs. He wanted to say how pretty she looked, but he was too bashful for that.
“Well,” Sarah said, “you men get acquainted while Leah and I finish setting the table. Supper’ll be ready in a few moments.”
She left with Leah, and Silas plied the two soldiers with questions. When he had their story, he said, “So you grew up friends with my nephew, Dan.” He shook his head, “I haven’t seen much of Dan lately. I sure think the world of him though.”
“So do we, sir,” Tom said. “I guess Leah and Sarah told you how their family has taken our sister to raise.”
“Why, no, I didn’t hear about that.”
“Yes, our ma died when the baby was born. Esther’s her name. We couldn’t take care of her—all three of us in the army. So Mr. Carter and his wife, they sent a letter saying they’d keep Esther till we were able. So that’s where she is—in Pineville.”
“That’s just like something Dan would do. Mary too. That pair is mighty special,” Silas said. He fixed his bright blue eyes on Tom. “I guess it’s a little bit hard on you, isn’t it? I mean, being in the Confederate army and some of your friends back home, such as the Carters, being on the other side.”
Tom took a deep breath, then released it. There was sorrow in his eyes. “I guess there are folks all over this country torn apart like us. But I don’t think of the Carters as Yankees—they’re just friends and neighbors. I guess that’s what Mr. Lincoln meant when he said we must not be enemies. We’re one people. After this is over I hope it will be that way again.”
At that point, Leah came in. “All right, time to eat!” She went behind Silas’s chair and pushed him into the dining room. “Now, you sit here by me, Jeff, and you can sit over there by Sarah, Tom.”
Jeff grinned. “You’ve gotten real bossy, haven’t you? Who died and made you queen?” Nevertheless, he sat down.
Silas said, “I reckon we’ll have the blessing, if you boys don’t mind.” He said a quick prayer and then looked up over the food and took a deep breath. “Well, this is something. You fellows pitch in. You girls too, and I’ll show you how a sick man can start to get well.”
Food was not yet in short supply in Richmond. They had pork chops and beans and sweet potatoes and fried chicken for the main meal, with fluffy biscuits and glasses of frothy white milk.
Afterward, when Sarah brought out a peach pie, Tom groaned. “Why didn’t you tell me you had peach pie, Sarah? You know that’s my favorite, and I didn’t save room for it.”
“That’s all right. I did,” Jeff said. “I can eat yours.”
But Tom rapped his hand and told him to mind his own business.
After the meal they sat around talking for a while, but very soon Uncle Silas grew tired, and Sarah went to help him into bed. “Come on, Jeff, I’ll show you around the neighborhood,” Leah offered.
“All right.” Jeff got up, and the two went outside.
They walked along the streets of Richmond. Leah pointed out various trees and birds’ nests she’d already spotted. The air was calm now and getting cooler. The moan of doves was in the air.
“I like that sound, don’t you? It reminds me of home.”
“Yes, it is nice.” Suddenly Jeff said, “Say, Leah, I’m sure glad you’re here. How long are you going to stay?”
“I don’t know,” she said, pleased to hear Jeff admit he was glad to see her. “We’ll have to stay until Uncle Silas gets well—or well enough to get along without nursing. Now tell me all about Fort Donelson. Did you see any of the fighting?”
As they walked along, he told her the story of the fall of Donelson and how they had escaped with General Forrest and made their way back to Richmond.
Listening, she thought, My, he seems to have gotten taller in just the short while since I saw him. He’s going to be as tall as his father, I bet—and maybe as good looking.
Inside the house Sarah returned to find Tom looking at the pictures on the parlor wall. “Where did Leah and Jeff get off to?” she asked.
“They’re out looking at birds’ nests, I suppose—trying to find an ostrich egg. You know how they are.” Tom came over and stood close. “I’ve missed you,” he said simply.
Her cheeks flushed, and she looked very pretty. “I’ve missed you too.” Then hastily she added, “Come along. We can go for a walk too—before it gets too dark. Uncle Silas will be all right.” They walked outside, saw Jeff and Leah far down the block, and followed them slowly.
He talked about the army. “You know, Richmond’s not the safest place for you to be now, Sarah. Everybody in the North and South knows General McClellan’s coming with the Army of the Potomac. Word is, he’s ready to come. You’ll be trapped here in Richmond—a city under siege.”
Sarah said nothing for a moment. Then she murmured, “It’s all right, Tom. We know that God told us to come here, so He’ll take care of us. Now let me tell you about Esther.” She told about all the things that the baby had done, how sweet she was, how she looked. “I wish I had a picture of her. She’s the sweetest baby I’ve ever seen. It was a real blessing when she came to be with us. Even Morena is taken by her.”
By now they had nearly caught up to Jeff and Leah.
“Are you still trusting God about your pa?” Leah asked.
Jeff had noticed his brother and Sarah approaching. He quickly said, “Well, I’m still praying. I got to admit getting him out of prison doesn’t look very possible, but I’m not giving up.”
“I guess it’s never easy to follow God, Jeff. But the two of us, we’ll never give up!”
11
Sarah’s Admirer
If Tom and Jeff had had their way, they would have been back to the home of Silas Carter every day. However, General McClellan had landed his troops, and they were moving up the peninsula, straight for Richmond. Every available man was brought together by General Joe Johnston for the defense of the city, so the two young men were kept busy.
Leah complained one day to Sarah, “I don’t see why they won’t let Tom and Jeff come and see us—at least once in a while. Just the two of them won’t make any difference to the old army!”
Sarah looked up from the peas she was shelling, dropping them into a bowl in her lap. “I’ve never seen any people as serious as these, Leah. They know if they don’t stop General McClellan and the Northern army, the war will be over for them.” She slit one of the pea pods, slipped a finger in the gap, and the peas drummed into the bottom of the bowl. “In a way I wish it would be like that. All I can think of is that somewhere in that army our brother’s got a part. I don’t sleep well thinking about him.”
“And about Tom too, and Jeff.” Leah nodded. “I know what you mean.” She looked down at the peas in her own bowl. “I hate shelling peas. I think sometimes I’d rather dig a ditch.”
“You like to eat them well enough. You’re going to be fat as a pig if you keep on eating so much. You’re growing up to be a big girl anyway.”
Leah flushed. She was still self-conscious about her height. At thirteen she was already almost as tall as Sarah, who was seventeen. “Well, I may be a giant in height,” she said, “but I’ll never be fat. I’ll see to that!”
Later in the morning, a note came in the mail. It was addressed to Silas.
Their uncle opened it as soon as Leah handed it to him. He scanned the message quickly and said, “Well, you girls are going up in society it looks like.”
“What do you mean, Uncle Silas?”
“This is an invitation from Mrs. Mary Chesnut. She’s one of the social leaders in Richmond. Her husband is President Davis’s military adviser.” He scanned the note again. “She wants you and Sarah to come to a tea she’s having tomorrow afternoon.”
“But we don’t know her,” Leah said. “How would she know about us?”
“Oh, I’ve got a few friends high up, and I’ve told them—and I suppose they’ve told Mrs. Chesnut. She’s a very kind lady. Her husband and I did some business together more than once. So get your best dresses out because you’re just liable to run into anybody at her house—maybe even the president, or General Lee.”
“Not General Lee, I bet,” Leah said. “He’s out getting the soldiers ready for the battle. I’ll go tell Sarah.”
The two girls were excited about the Chesnuts’ tea. At 2:00 the next afternoon they went in a carriage at Silas’s insistence. The Chesnut home was a large, two-story house in one of the better sections of town. Carriages lined the street outside, and Leah said, “My gracious, it looks like everybody in town is here. I never saw such a crowd for a tea party.”
The two girls dismounted from the carriage and walked inside, where they were met by a tall, dark-haired lady, very attractive and with a warm smile.
Yankee Belles in Dixie Page 8