by Unknown
“Reach, I have you covered!”
They turned and I emptied my gun. I felt the blast of the shotgun as it took off my hat. I threw my gun to the ground and drew the second so quickly that the two men with the pistols were still trying to see where I was. As I pulled the trigger Mary and Cecil both fired their guns and the two men fell dead.
I picked up my spare gun and leapt over the wall. “Are you all right Mary?”
She was pale but she smiled, “Yes. See to Dago and Ritchie.”
I could see that they had both been cold cocked and were lying on the ground; blood was seeping from their heads. I knelt next to Dago, he was still alive. I remembered David telling me that you never leave an unconscious man on his back and I turned him to his side. Ritchie was also alive but his breathing was more irregular.
Mary appeared at my side with a wet cloth. “Cecil, keep a watch. These bushwhackers might have friends.”
She cleaned his wound. “That’s a deep cut. I have some cat gut and a needle. It will need sewing. You clean Dago’s wound while I go and fetch them.” As she stood she kissed me on the cheek. “Thank you. That’s twice you have saved my life.”
Dago started to come around while I was wiping the blood away. His eyes were wide with terror until he recognised me. “The bandits?”
“Dead.”
“Sorry Jack. They got the jump on me. I must be slipping.”
“Not to worry. Copper’s nose saved us again.”
Mary returned and she sewed Ritchie’s wound. “Better lay him in the back of the wagon.” She looked at Dago. “Do you want to ride in the wagon?”
He shook his head and regretted it immediately. “No ma’am. I’ll ride and try not to get caught again.”
I retrieved Copper and we set off again. “What happened, Dago?”
“We got tricked. It was my fault. I should have seen the ambush. One of them was lying on the ground. We stopped and Ritchie went to see him. When he rolled him over the man hit him with an iron bar and the others had us covered with shotguns.” He shrugged apologetically, “If we had tried anything then we might have got Mary hurt.“ He suddenly stopped, “Hey Mary, you better get here. Jack got shot.”
As Mary ran to my side I said, “What the hell are you talking about? I feel fine.”
Mary was pale as she said, “He is right. You have shotgun pellets in your face. Dago, get some whiskey.” She ran to the wagon and her bag. Cecil looked frightened. I put my hand to my face and it came away bloody. Then I remembered my hat being hit. Once again I was lucky.
Mary washed my face with water and then dabbed whisky on my face. I frowned. “Don’t frown it will make this harder. The whisky is to numb your face a little.” She then picked each pellet out one by one. When she had finished she wiped more whiskey on my face. “You might smell like a distillery but you look better and it will stop an infection. The sooner we get to your house in Charleston the better.”
Ritchie had recovered by the next day but we took no more chances and kept a guard each night as we camped. I had thought that the ending of the war meant less danger for me. There was more in this apparently peaceful Carolina.
The peace ended as we approached Hanahan. Union ships were firing at Fort Sumter and the harbour. We halted and watched the smoke from the burning buildings and ships. I turned to Mary. “This may not have been such a good idea.”
“Not a good idea to find your sister who travelled here to look for you?” She looked at the map she and Cecil had been using. “Where is your house?”
“It is to the south of the city close to the colonel’s plantation.”
“Then let us get there and get there quickly.”
As Dago and I led the way he said quietly, “Not the kind of woman you get the wrong side of eh Jack?”
“So I am learning.”
We took the ferry across the Ashley River. The ferryman was grateful for our business and our dollars. He was quite garrulous as he pulled us across. “How long have the Yankees been bombarding the city?”
“Oh some months. Folks keep on working. Course there’s no ships coming in, leastways not during daylight. Our guns keep ‘em away and we have sunk some of them but there’s little business around here. You folks passing through?”
“No, I have a house further south and we are heading there.”
He nodded sagely, “You might be alright there. You are the other side of the river and they just seem intent on making the city uninhabitable. Damn Yankees.”
I liked the ferryman and gave him a healthy tip. He had a better attitude than the town marshal at Raleigh. Even though it was late afternoon, we kept going. I was determined to sleep under my own roof that night.
The house was in darkness when we approached. It was however still standing. I wouldn’t have blamed Aaron if he had deserted it. I had not been a particularly good employer. He had not heard from me for over a year. For all he knew I might be dead. We left Mary and Cecil in the wagon. Bearing in mind our recent experiences the three of us took loaded weapons with us.
The front door was locked. I frowned. I didn’t blame Aaron for deserting me but how was I to gain entry to my own house?
“Let’s try the back.” We moved around the side of the house. Dago rattled the back door but it too was locked. Suddenly, from behind us we heard the unmistakeable sound of a gun being cocked.
“Now I told you white trash before, this house belongs to a soldier fighting in the war now skedaddle before I cut you all in two.”
I raised my hands and turning, said, “And that soldier has returned now, Aaron. Thank you for watching out for me.”
I saw his white teeth as he grinned and lowered the shotgun. “You come back! Thank God you come back.”
I strode up to him and shook him by the hand. “You know Dago Spinelli.”
“I sure do. Good to see you again Corporal Spinelli.”
“I finished up a lieutenant but that is behind me. Good to see you again too. This is Ritchie, he was with the Wildcats too.”
“Aaron we have a wagon and a lady out front. Can you open the house for us?”
“I sure will.”
We returned to the front of the house to get Mary and Cecil. We watched as lamps were lit in the rooms and then the door opened. “I would have had the fires lit if I knew you was coming sir.”
I led Mary forwards, “We didn’t know. Aaron this is Mary, she will soon be my wife and we will be living here.”
I thought he was going to burst into tears. “What a wonderful day. I’ll go and get the beds aired.”He started to run upstairs and then stopped, “We ain’t got any nice food for you folks. Just what me and the missus eat.”
Mary laughed, “Don’t you worry Aaron. We have food. You air the beds. Cecil get the wagon unloaded and Jack, you show me the kitchen.”
Dago laughed as he left, “Like a tornado Jack, a veritable tornado!”
Aaron and his wife had kept the house immaculate and Mary was delighted with the kitchen. She hugged me, “My first ever kitchen and it is wonderful!” She kissed me. “Now go and help the boys to bring in our things.”
By the time we had seen to the wagon, its content and the horses, food was ready. Cassie, Aaron’s wife had appeared, fearful at first, and the two women had knuckled down to the task of providing food. As ever, Sergeant Major Mulrooney organised Ritchie and Dago so that everything was put in its proper place.
“Jack, ring the dinner gong.”
There was a gong in the hall way. I had never noticed it but my sharp eyed Mary had. I rang the gong. Aaron came down the stairs and we went into the kitchen. “Now let’s get this food into the dining room.”
I had a blazing fire going. It was not cold but it made the room brighter and cosier at the same time. “Now everyone sit down and help yourself.”
Aaron and Cassie started to back out of the room. “And where are you two going? We are all eating together here tonight. This is a celebration that the house is st
ill here and we are all alive!” Mary had her hands on her hips and a look which brooked no arguments.
Aaron looked to me for help and I smiled and, putting my arm around him, led him to a chair. Mary did the same with Cassie, “You will soon learn, Aaron, that when Mistress Mary speaks, we all jump.”
Their embarrassment lasted no more than two spoonfuls of the superbly cooked food. We chatted away and I discovered how hard life had been. “Lots of slaves ran off and there was no one left to work the fields. We weren’t as badly off as most for we had free men working for us. Colonel Boswell’s place, well that suffered. My pappy couldn’t stop the boys from running. We had to help him out.”
“Well Colonel Boswell is dead now so I will have to go into town tomorrow and see Mr Abercrombie.”
“It sure is good to have you back Captain Hogan.” He lowered his voice. “She sure is a fine lady. When did you get married?”
“We haven’t. I’ll need your help to organise that.” He seemed delighted at the prospect. “How many workers do we have now then?”
The worker’s quarters were some way from the main house. “We are down to ten, sir; six men and four women. But they are all hard workers.”
“I’ll see you all get the pay you have coming to you.”
“That don’t matter sir.”
I remembered my father in Ireland scraping a living together and I knew that it did matter. “You will get your pay.” I was not certain if I had any money to pay them but I could see the horses I had brought back with me. Somehow they would get paid.
“You thought we were white trash. Have you had trouble?”
“Yes sir. Some of the poor white folks see this big old house and don’t like a nigra living here. That’s why I had the shotgun.”
Just then a stone was thrown through the window and a voice shouted, “Come on out nigger! We don’t like it that you live in the slave quarters but we ain’t having you living in white folk’s homes.”
Cassie looked terrified but I winked at her and put my finger to my lips. I gestured for Ritchie, Dago and Cecil to get their guns and go out of the back door. I fastened my holster around my waist.
“You better come out quick or we’ll whip your black skin off’n your miserable black back.”
I nodded and pointed to the door. He gave a half smile and went. I was pleased to see that Mary was not put out by this at all. When we reached the door I stood to the side and Aaron opened it.
“That’s better now…”
The leader got no further and I stepped out next to Aaron. I saw that there were about fifteen men with wooden staves and shotguns. There were a couple of cheap looking women at the back too.
I stepped in front of Aaron. “Now before you are thrown from my land, which one of you threw that stone through the window?”
The large man at the head of the crowd said, belligerently, “Me and what will you do about it?”
He was just four yards from me and I covered it in a couple of heartbeats. I had my pistol out and I smacked him across the face, hard. He fell screaming to the ground. “I will do that and I trust you to speak a little more politely to me. I am used to my orders being obeyed. Now tomorrow you will arrange to have my broken window repaired.”
He laughed and I was pleased to see teeth come out when he did so. “You talk mighty big for one man.” He stood. “You wouldn’t talk so big without that hog leg.”
I nodded, holstered my gun and then hit him in the stomach with my left hand before punching him on the side of the head with my right. He fell to the ground and I picked him up and head butted him. He lay on the floor this time he was still.
“Apparently I can talk that big without a gun.”
His cronies moved forwards and a smaller version of the man I had felled yelled, “There’s just one of him and his gun is in his holster.”
He rushed forward and I pulled the Colt out. It was aimed at his face and he was less than two yards away. “Now my gun is out of my holster and you are about to die.”
I then heard Aaron cocking his shotgun. “And my two barrels will take a whole bunch of you others out.”
Then I heard the guns of my comrades being cocked and Dago’s voice called out. “And I am pretty certain that we can kill the rest.”
They turned to run and I, firing my gun in the air I yelled, “Stop! I need reparations.” I pointed to the broken glass. “I want the money for that before you leave, or you ain’t leaving.”
They went to their unconscious leader and took money from his pocket. They handed it to me. One of them said, “That enough?”
“It’ll do. Now if I ever see any of you around here again I will shoot first and ask questions later and if any of you insult my estate manager, Mr Jarvis, again, I will horsewhip you. Do you understand?”
They all nodded dumbly. As they carried their fallen friend one asked, “Who are you sir?”
“I am Captain Jack Hogan formerly of Boswell’s Wildcats and me and my friends are here to stay so spread the word.”
When they had gone we returned to the dining room. The glass had been cleared and Mary said sweetly, “Dessert anyone?”
“I’m starving,” I said.
Cecil laughed, “Well it looks like it could be fun around here.”
Chapter 19
The next day I left Dago to watch the house while Aaron and I rode over to see his father. Mary, of course objected as she didn’t think there was any danger.
“Ma’am, I am still tired after that long journey and my wound is playing up. You wouldn’t object to an old soldier resting up for a day on the front porch would you?”
She was not taken in but she smiled sweetly and said, “Of course.”
Cecil and Ritchie rode into Charleston. We needed supplies but they also needed somewhere to stay. Both had jobs they wanted to start as soon as possible.
Aaron and I set off on the few miles ride to the old Boswell plantation. “How is your dad these days?”
“Not so good. He remembers it from the days of Colonel Boswell. He complains it needs a lick of paint and some loving sir.”
I was not sure that it would get that. I had hoped that it would have ridden the storm of war but then I remembered that the colonel had spent little time there and he had put all of the money into, men, horses, uniforms and weapons. Most of those lay on the field of Gettysburg. He had wasted his money.
When I rode up the long drive I saw that the white paint on the fence was flaking and the grass was longer than I remembered it. It was sad to see the faded beauty of a once beautiful building. From a distance it looked as though nothing had changed but closer up you could see the boards which needed repairs and the broken windows which needed fixing.
We tied our horses to the metal negro jockeys which stood on either side of the colonnaded portico. One of the steps was loose and creaked alarmingly as we walked up. Aaron looked at me and shrugged. “It’s sad isn’t it captain?”
“It sure is and it seems we came back none too soon.”
Jarvis’ hair was whiter and his eyes seemed to have sunken back into his head. He beamed a smile at me. “It is good to see you sir.“ He noticed my uniform, “Captain Hogan!” He looked beyond me, “Where is the colonel sir?”
Aaron put his arm around his father as we led him into the house.
“The colonel won’t be coming back Jarvis. He fell at Gettysburg.”
It was fortunate that Aaron was holding his father or he would have fallen. We took him to a chair and Aaron scurried off. “He fell bravely Jarvis, leading his men.” It would do Jarvis no good to know that he had been leading them in a disastrous retreat.
“But the end result is the same Captain Hogan. He won’t be coming back.” The old servant swept a hand around the room. “What will happen to his lovely home?” The words, ‘and me’ remained unsaid but hung in the air like an early morning mist.
Aaron brought a glass of, what smelled like whiskey. The old man was going to refuse
it but I said firmly, “You will drink that Jarvis and then we can begin to plan a way out of this predicament.”
He nodded and drank the whiskey. Aaron and I sat on two of the other chairs. I thought back to when I had sat here and planned the purchase of my own home in those hopeful early days of the war. That was a different world and those dreams were dead. We had to be practical and plan for a different future.
“Now the first thing I will do is to see Mr Abercrombie. We need the legal niceties of the colonel’s death tying up. If things do not turn out the way we hope then you, your wife and your family will come to live with us at my place.” Aaron’s eyes filled with gratitude.
“What do you mean sir?”
“I do not know what debts the colonel left. It may be that the lawyer needs to sell the house to pay his debts. He may have left the house to one of his family.”
“No sir!” Jarvis’ voice became harsh. “He would never do that. He said that you boys were his family.” He suddenly remembered something. “Mr Murphy?”
“He died too, and Harry and Jed.” A name suddenly came into my mind. “What happened to Jem?”
Jem had been invalided out of the Wildcats early in the war. Jarvis shook his head. “He died last year when the Yankees raided the town. He was walking down the street and he got killed by a shell from the Yankee ships.”
It was a shame. I liked Jem. “We have to carry on without these good people. It’s the living who will need our help.” I stood and rubbed my hands. “Now I will go to Charleston. Aaron here will stay and give you whatever help you need. I have men getting some supplies in town and we will bring some here.” I turned to Aaron, “Make a list of what needs doing eh Aaron?”
He nodded, “Thank you captain. You are a good man.”
I shook my head, “I am repaying the debt I owe to the colonel. He saved me when he came aboard the Rose that day and gave me a life. I will try to save his home for him.”