by Ginny Dye
“What are you doing now?” Carrie asked.
Alvin shrugged. “Some of this, and some of that,” he said evasively. “I find work wherever I can find it. I want to move into the city, but Amanda don’t want to take the children away from their school.” He frowned. “We may have to, though. Jobs are hard to come by in the South now, but they are harder to come by outside a city. I’m going to learn as much as I can, and then I’ll have to figure out what comes next.”
Carrie nodded, well aware of the struggle Confederate veterans were facing daily. The struggles they faced in the defeated South were many times as difficult as the struggles of the freed slaves. They had come home to a ravaged economy, a decimated countryside, and a government that had no idea how to help them rebuild their lives. She laid a hand on his arm. “If you decide to go to Richmond, please let me know. I’m sure my father would have a place for you at Cromwell Factory.”
Alvin’s eyes shone with appreciation. “Thank you, ma’am. I’ll remember that.” A distant call made him swing his head around. “I’ve got to go. The barn raising is about to begin.”
Carrie nodded. “Thank you for being here. I know it means so much to Perry and Louisa.”
Alvin met her eyes. “What them vigilantes did was nothing but wrong. Not all white men are as ignorant as them. The only way to make the South different is for everyone, both races, to show they know the right thing to do. If I want my kids to have a better country to live in someday, then I have to do my part, too.”
Carrie smiled and squeezed his arm, then headed for the porch where Louisa was standing.
“Good morning, Carrie.”
Carrie climbed the stairs to stand beside her friend, looking out over the throng of men milling around in the yard. “Astonishing.”
“Yes, it is,” Louisa said softly.
Carrie gazed at her, happy to see the defeated look in Louisa’s eyes after the attack was gone. “Jeremy told me a mountain of stones have been gathered for the foundation.” She looked in the direction of where she knew the barn was, but the thick border of cedar trees kept her from seeing anything.
“Actually,” Louisa reported, “the twenty men Franklin sent over from Cromwell, already laid the foundations for all the barns.”
Carrie gasped. “All of them?”
Unshed tears glimmered in Louisa’s eyes. “The main horse barn, the cattle barn, and three tobacco drying barns. It’s been remarkable how hard everyone has worked.”
“It’s what happens when you treat people right,” Carrie said, her heart swelling with gladness for her friend.
Louisa took a deep breath. “You’re right, of course.” She smiled. “We’re staying,” she announced.
Carrie sighed with relief as she grasped Louisa’s hand. “I’m so glad.”
Louisa nodded. “I’ll probably still worry every day about what might happen to the people I love, but we have decided we’re not going to let ignorance and bigotry destroy what we’re working so hard to accomplish. We’re going to keep treating our workers the way they should be treated. We’ll deal with what comes.”
Carrie squeezed her hand more tightly. She recognized the fear lurking in the defiant statement, but that only made her prouder of Louisa’s stance. True courage could only be experienced in the face of fear. “I’m proud of you,” she murmured.
Louisa turned to stare at her. “We have you to thank,” she replied. “I was ready to leave. I had no idea where we would go, but anywhere seemed better than here. Then you reminded me that we can’t run from the hatred, but we can decide to face it where we live. Perry and I have decided to do that.”
Their conversation was stopped when Perry and Simon climbed on top of a small platform that had been hastily erected.
“Thank you for coming,” Perry called, his loud voice snapping through the frosty morning air. He glanced up at the sky. “We all know those clouds are threatening snow, but some of my men have assured me it won’t come before tonight. Since this southern Georgia boy doesn’t know a lot about snow, I’ve decided to believe them.” He waited for the laughter to die down.
“We’s got time iffen we get to work,” one of the men called. “You just tell us where you want us!”
Perry began shouting instructions. It was only minutes before groups of men broke off to go toward the areas where the barns would go up.
Carrie watched them depart before turning to Louisa. “What can I do?”
“We’re going to make sure those men have all the food and hot coffee they need to keep going on such a cold day.” She looked toward the line of wagons. “June is already getting everything put together. Simon had the men build a big cooking fire this morning near the barn area. We’ll keep it going for as long as anyone is still here.” Louisa turned back toward the house. “We have a few minutes before we are needed.” She raised a brow. “Who was that tall good-looking man who rode in with you this morning?”
“That was Anthony Wallington,” Carrie murmured, knowing it would do no good to pretend she didn’t know who Louisa was referring to. “He’s the man who handles all the transactions with the Cromwell horses. He has relocated to Richmond, and is living with Father and Abby when he’s not traveling.” She kept her voice deliberately casual.
Louisa narrowed her eyes. “That’s all?”
Carrie shrugged. “What more do you want to know?”
“You could attempt to explain why he was watching you the whole time he was waiting for the work to begin.”
Carrie blushed, but had no answer. She hadn’t been aware of Anthony’s scrutiny, but she couldn’t say she was surprised.
Louisa waited a few moments, her eyes narrowed on Carrie. “All I can say is that it’s a good thing I’m married this time.”
“Oh?” Carrie asked lightly, intrigued by the amusement lurking in Louisa’s eyes.
“Yes. Since I’m happily married, we won’t have to fight over Anthony like we did Robert,” she said demurely.
Carrie was surprised when the mention of Robert’s name didn’t cause a flash of pain. Instead, she was able to remember the intense jealousy Louisa had experienced with amusement. “Thank God for that,” Carrie teased. “You were quite the shrew.”
Louisa laughed. “The whole world should be grateful I finally grew up,” she admitted. She linked her arm through Carrie’s. “June will be bringing in women soon to take out the huge urns of coffee we made this morning. Let’s go get everything ready.”
Carrie was happy to get to work, relieved Louisa was too preoccupied to say anything more about Anthony.
*****
The ride back to Cromwell was mostly weary silence, but every single person had a look of deep satisfaction on their face. All the barns had been erected in record time. It would take the Blackwell men another day to finish off the inside work that still needed to be done, but by tomorrow night, the horses would all be back in their stalls, and all the equipment would be back in the storage rooms. Cromwell men would drive wagons over with enough hay to take care of their animals through the winter. The second-story loft in the new barn was watertight and ready to receive it. The hay supply would be tight on both plantations, but there was no thought of doing anything else. They would all do the best they could, and pray for a short winter so the pastures would turn green sooner in the spring. If necessary, Carrie would pay to have more hay delivered. It was a sacrifice she was more than willing to make for her friends.
Within a few minutes, the sun, obscured all day by clouds, had sunk far below the horizon. Darkness swallowed the road, but all of them knew the way home. Clouds that had been present all day thickened and began to swirl overhead as the winds picked up.
Carrie shivered and burrowed deeper into her coat. She thought longingly of her bed and the crackling fire she knew would be waiting in her room, but there were still hours to go before she would feel anything but numbing cold.
She wasn’t aware Anthony had ridden up beside her until she heard h
is voice.
“Long day.”
“I had no idea a city boy could work that hard,” Carrie teased, glad for something to take her mind off her discomfort.
“City boy?” Anthony asked indignantly. “I was raised on a farm.”
“Which was a couple decades ago,” Carrie reminded him with a laugh. “Now you’re just a city businessman.” She was certainly not going to reveal that she had watched him for most of the day, impressed with his energy, strength, and knowledge.
Anthony barked a disbelieving laugh. “And here I’ve been under the impression you were more intelligent than the average woman,” he said solemnly. “It hurts to discover how wrong I was.”
“Oh,” Carrie said casually, “you were right about me being more intelligent. I’m intelligent enough to realize men have very fragile egos. I apologize for pointing out to you what a city boy you are.”
“Hmmm…”
Carrie waited for Anthony to say more, but several minutes passed in silence while they trotted down the road. “It’s not usually so easy for me to have the last word,” she taunted.
Anthony chuckled. “You’re only showing your lack of intelligence again,” he said calmly. “There is no sense in debating a woman whose brain is obviously fogged from the cold. I will take pity on you for the night, but be prepared. When I have been unjustly accused, I always find a way to get even.”
Carrie let the silence stretch out again before she replied in a proper, demure voice. “I look forward to the challenge, Mr. Anthony Wallington. I look forward to the challenge…”
Chapter Seven
Carrie reached out a hand and groaned, quickly burrowing back under the covers when she woke late the next morning. Marietta, as promised, had made sure there was a fire burning in all their rooms when they returned home last night, but the flames had long since died down. Carrie knew she would see clouds of her breath if she emerged from the cocoon of her bed. She cracked the covers just enough to peek out, not surprised to see snow clinging to the branches of the guardian oak outside her window.
The first snowflakes had begun to fall a few minutes before they arrived home. Normally, she was thrilled by the first snowfall of the year, but she had been too exhausted to do much more than lift her face to the flakes before trudging up the stairs to the house. Annie had met them with warm milk and cornbread, but Carrie drank only a few swallows before she climbed the stairs and collapsed into bed.
She closed her eyes and considered going back to sleep, but then she remembered Thomas and Abby were arriving today with Moses, Rose, and their family. The thought was enough to make her scramble out of bed, throw on warm woolen clothes, and dash downstairs to the kitchen. She pushed in through the door, ravenous for the bacon and eggs tempting her with their aroma.
“About time you got up.”
Carrie peered at Anthony sitting in a chair in front of the blazing fire. A cup of coffee was in his hands, a plate of cinnamon rolls balanced on his lap. “Cinnamon rolls?” she breathed.
Anthony looked at Annie with a forlorn look on his face. “I thought she would never get up,” he complained. “It’s sad how much becoming an important doctor has softened her.”
“Softened me?” Carrie scoffed. “Only in your wildest dreaMiss”
“The evidence would indicate otherwise,” Anthony continued in a sad voice. He looked at Annie. “Does she always sleep so late?”
“No,” Annie agreed readily. “You might just be right, Mr. Anthony.”
Carrie glared at Annie. “What are you talking about? Whose side are you on, anyway?”
Annie shrugged her shoulders innocently. “Ain’t on nobody’s side,” she protested. “Just makin’ an observation.”
Amber pushed through the back door before Carrie could respond. “Carrie! Carrie! You’ve got to come outside and see this. I promise you ain’t never seen anything like this.”
Carrie yawned and sipped the coffee Annie had poured for her. She reached for a cinnamon roll. “Can it wait until I eat?”
Amber sighed and looked at Anthony. “I guess you were right,” she murmured.
“Right about what?” Carrie demanded as she cast a glare at Anthony. He merely smiled benignly and lifted a shoulder.
“I came looking for you earlier. Anthony explained you were still sleeping because you’ve gotten soft now that you’re an important doctor,” Amber answered with twinkling eyes.
“He what?” Carrie sputtered, pushing aside her coffee. “That is complete nonsense.” She shoved back her chair. “What do you want me to see?”
“It’s right out here,” Amber said eagerly.
Carrie looked longingly at her coffee and then marched to the back door. She had only taken a few steps down when she felt strong arms grab her from behind and lift her into the air. “What in the…!”
“This is what is called getting even,” Anthony murmured in her ear.
Carrie shrieked as he ran to a deep snowdrift and dropped her. Cold whiteness encased her body, sliding down her neck and freezing her hands. “I’ll get you back for this!” she cried as she scrambled to push herself up from the ground, dodging his groping hands. She flew back up the stairs before he could stop her.
She raced to stand in front of the fire, and then whirled around to stare daggers into Annie. “And you. You went along with this scheme.” She watched out the window as Anthony gleefully shook Amber’s hand. “And Amber? How could she betray me like this?”
Her words were hanging in the air as Anthony pushed back into the kitchen. “You’ll find that women can’t resist my charms,” he said with a laugh. “Once I explained to them how you callously insulted me after a day of hard labor for our friends, they came to my side.” He paused. “It was the right thing to do.”
Carrie glared at him for several long moments before she doubled over in laughter that almost stole her breath. When she could finally stop laughing, she raised her eyes to his. “Let the war begin,” she vowed. She looked back at Annie. “Don’t think you’re forgiven, either.”
“Don’t need to be forgiven for doin’ the right thin’,” Annie responded. “You gonna up and say things like what you said…” She shook her head. “Well, you gots to learn to live with the consequences.” Her eyes were bright with mirth.
Anthony smiled serenely. “And you heard her declare war, didn’t you, Annie?” He turned his teasing eyes to Carrie. “Be careful you don’t start something you can’t finish.”
Carrie rolled her eyes and snorted a very unladylike snort. “I promise you I can finish anything I start.” As she reached for her coffee and cinnamon roll again, she realized she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun.
*****
Rose studied Moses carefully as they approached the gate to Cromwell Plantation. She couldn’t miss the look of peace that suffused his face as they rolled in through the brick pillars.
Felicia and John cheered, and jumped up and down in the carriage. “We’re home!” they hollered. “We’re home!” Hope shrieked and clapped her hands happily, her face barely visible above the pile of warm blankets.
Rose smiled as their excited voices rang through the frigid air. The snow had been deep enough to slow them down, but not enough to stop them. Now that they had arrived, she hoped there would be more snow. It was Christmas!
The train ride from Oberlin had been brutal in the crowded cars, but they’d been able to rest at Thomas and Abby’s the night before. It still amazed Rose that they could come home so often. She knew it was only the income from the plantation that gave them the financial freedom to return when they wanted. She turned her face toward the sky, reveling in the crisp, fresh air after two days on the train and a night in Richmond, a city daily growing more crowded and clogged with smoke. Rose knew growth was inevitable after the war, but she was surprised to discover how much she did not want to be in a big city. She frowned, wondering how that would impact her desire to teach, and then shoved it to the back of
her mind. All she wanted to do was enjoy the next two weeks. She and Moses had already decided they would not return to the South again until the following summer.
“I love it here so much,” Abby said softly.
Rose turned to gaze at her. “I don’t know how you stand to be in Richmond. The city is so clogged and dirty now.”
Abby sighed. “I know, but it’s where the factory is. There are so many people who depend on us for their jobs.”
Rose was sure Thomas and Abby had accumulated enough money to stop working. “Don’t you sometimes want to walk away from all of it?”
Abby met her eyes. “Of course,” she replied honestly. “But the economy in Richmond is just starting to rebound. With Jeremy leaving, we don’t have anyone we trust to take over the factory. We encouraged him to leave, and the factory in Moyamensing will benefit from his management, but it will take time for things to stabilize here. We have great hopes for the new manager we’ve hired, but only time will tell if we can trust him. Now is simply not the time to walk away.”
Rose turned to Thomas. “Do you want to come home?”
“Every day,” he admitted, his eyes sweeping the landscape they were rolling through. “But, my beautiful and brilliant wife is right—now is not the time to make a change.”
Rose narrowed her eyes, but her questions were squelched by cries of welcome from the house. She laughed when she saw Carrie, Annie, Jeremy, Marietta, Anthony, Susan, and Lillian lined up on the porch, waving wildly. She was surprised when she felt tears prick her eyelids. It had been less than two months since they left, but she was thrilled to be home.
*****
Carrie breathed in deeply when she entered the house on Christmas Eve Day. The last week had flown by in a medley of horseback riding, snowball fights, long walks, and hot chocolate by the fire. Annie and Marietta had kept a steady supply of food coming from the kitchen, and Carrie had to admit Marietta’s Irish oatmeal cookies were as good as Annie’s. The fact that even Annie admitted it, was something akin to a Christmas miracle.