Drummer Boy at Bull Run (17 page)

“Will we have time to go by home?”

“Sure, it’s right on the way.” Tom grinned suddenly. “This way we’ll have a chance to see our baby sister. Get yourself ready now. We’ll be leaving in a couple of hours.”

Jeff gave him a fond look. “I wish we could just go on to Washington and get Pa out of that prison hospital.”

“Well, we can’t, but at least we can go see how Esther is doing,” Tom said and then left quickly.

* * *

“I declare, you two certainly look fine!” Mrs. Carter met the boys as they came into the yard and dismounted.

They had sent on the other two soldiers to begin gathering the horses and took a shortcut to the Carter household.

Jeff looked around anxiously. “The place looks just the same, Mrs. Carter. It sure is good to see it again and you too.”

Sarah came out to stand beside her mother. She was wearing a light blue dress that went with her dark blue eyes, and Tom could not take his eyes off her.

“I’m glad to see you, Tom—and you too, Jeff,” she said quietly. “I guess I’m surprised to see you in civilian clothes, although I should have known better.”

“No, it wouldn’t be very smart to wear our uniforms here in Kentucky. I guess it’s still kind of a no-man’s land here, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is, Tom,” Mrs. Carter said. “Our people still are divided, so it’s better you just wear what you’ve got on.” Then she said, “Come on in now and see that fat, old baby sister of yours.”

Eagerly the two young men went into the house.

Mrs. Carter went over to a cradle and picked up the baby, who began screaming at the top of her lungs.

“Here,” she said, thrusting the squalling infant on Tom. “She’s glad to see you. That’s why she cries so hard.”

“I’d hate to hear how much she hollered if she wasn’t glad to see me.” He held the baby awkwardly and looked down at her.

Suddenly Esther stopped crying and looked up at the face above hers. Her eyes were very blue, and her hair was fine and blonde.

“Why, she looks like Ma,” Tom murmured and put his finger out to touch her soft cheek. “I don’t know much about babies, but this one seems especially fine to me.”

“She is! She’s the most beautiful baby in the world,” Sarah said.

Morena, who had been standing to one side, joined them.

When Jeff spoke to her, saying, “Hello, Morena,” she gave him a bright smile.

“Morena loves the baby,” Sarah said. “She will sit and hold her for hours. She’ll have that child spoiled to death.”

“Here, let me hold her, Tom,” Jeff said. “I have more experience than you have.” He took the baby, held her so that he could see her face, and then smiled down at her. “You and me—we’ve already done some traveling together, haven’t we, baby sister?”

“You come in,” Sarah said. “We’ll have something fixed for you to eat in no time.”

“That sounds good to me, Sarah.” Tom smiled at her. “I think I could eat a hawk.”

“Well, we don’t have any of those, but we do have a chicken ready to fry and some sweet potatoes like you always liked.”

“Oh,” Tom groaned. “Don’t talk about it! I’ve eaten so many beans and hardtack, I believe I’ve lost my taster.”

“I doubt that.”

Sarah was obviously very glad to see Tom, and all during the meal she kept her eyes on him as if she couldn’t bear to look at anything else.

As they ate, Jeff did most of the talking. “I don’t know what we’d a-done if it hadn’t been for Leah and your husband, Mrs. Carter,” he said. He stuffed his mouth full of sweet potato, swallowed, and started to talk again.

But Mrs. Carter interrupted him. “I declare, Jeff Majors. I don’t think you ever taste anything. You shove your food back and swallow it in one gulp like a snake or something. Eat slowly—you’ll enjoy it better.”

Jeff grinned, unabashed. “I can’t help it! This food is so good after what we’ve been eating. I just want to gobble it down like a bluetick hound.”

“Well, there’s plenty of it, and you’ll have time to eat all you want,” she said. “How long can you stay?”

“It’ll take two or three days to gather the herd together,” Tom said. He glanced at Sarah. “I hope we get to spend most of it here, though we’ll have to help the other fellows collect the horses.”

“We’ve got plenty of room now. You can sleep in the attic room upstairs.”

“Did you know that Leah and her father are on their way back from Washington?” Mrs. Carter asked.

“I didn’t know when,” Jeff answered, “but she said in her letter they were coming back. I sure hope they come before we leave. I’d like to see them both again.”

“And you and Leah will go out hunting birds’ eggs, I expect.” Sarah laughed. “You ought to have enough birds’ eggs collected to fill this house.”

Jeff was a little embarrassed at the reference to the hobby he and Leah had developed, but he grinned. “That’d be more fun than having our legs walked off by Stonewall Jackson.”

The two sat and enjoyed their meal.

That afternoon Jeff and Tom walked over to their old home place and visited with the family that had bought it.

“It makes me a little homesick,” Jeff said as he and Tom came back to the Carter house, “seeing strangers living in our house.”

“It’s not our house anymore. Virginia’s our home now. I guess it always will be.”

His words depressed Jeff. He decided to go off to fish in the creek.

* * *

Tom looked for Sarah. “Come for a walk with me?”

“Shall we bring your sister along?”

He saw the mischievous look in her eyes and shook his head, “No, I have to get used to having a baby in the family. Right now I just want to stretch
my legs. That was a long ride, all the way from Richmond.”

They left the house and walked along the pathways Tom knew so well. They crossed the creek, then followed its winding down to the woods. It was quiet there. Only the trickling of water over stones and the soft crying of birds was heard as they made their way through the forest.

Once there was a scurrying in the brush ahead of them, and Tom reached out to take Sarah’s arm. “Wait a minute,” he whispered.

They stood and watched as a very young deer stepped nervously from behind a thicket. He seemed to be searching the forest, and Tom knew that as long as they stayed absolutely still, he would probably not see them. Then, with a startled snort, he bounded into the air and disappeared into the woods.

“Beautiful,” Tom said. Then a thought came to him, and he grinned. “He’d better not get around that camp of ours. He’d find himself roasting over a fire somewhere.”

Sarah sat on a fallen log. She looked up at him, and the sun flickering through the green foliage overhead fell on her with an amber light. Her dark hair and dark blue eyes were beautiful. He studied her oval face, noting again the beautiful creamy complexion.

“Was it very bad?” she asked gently. “The fighting?”

“Yes, terrible,” Tom said frankly. He sat down beside her, picked up a stick, and began to draw a pattern on the ground. “I thought I knew what to expect, but it wasn’t anything like that.” He began to tell her a little of the horrors of battle, of the men that fell like bundles, the screaming of the wounded,
the crying out for water. Finally, he tossed the stick away and turned to face her. “It’s the most terrible thing in the world, war. I wish I didn’t have to go back to it.”

Sarah reached out and took his hand.

She was not a demonstrative girl, and this surprised him. But her eyes were intent as she whispered, “I wish you didn’t have to go back at all, Tom. I wish there wasn’t any war, and things were back like they were when we were younger.”

“That was a simple time, wasn’t it?” He was very conscious of her hand on his, and he caught the scent of violets, which she always wore. Without thinking he reached over and pulled her forward.

It was a natural thing to do to kiss her on the lips, and she clung to him for a moment.

“Oh, Tom,” she whispered, “will we ever be able to have each other like we’ve always planned?”

“One day.” He held her close and ran his hand down her silky black hair, the blackest hair possible, and then held her out at arms’ length. “One day,” he said, “it’ll be over. Then we can get married.”

She bit her lip, and he saw that she was not far from tears. “I try to think like that, Tom. Then I think about Royal and about you and your father and Jeff, about thousands and thousands of young men just like you. And sometimes it seems like there’s no hope.”

He pulled her close again and held her. The quiet ran on for a long time. Finally, he drew back and sighed. “Some day it’ll be different. But until then, we’ll just do what we have to do.”

Sarah brushed her eyes with her hands. “Come on,” she said, “let’s go back to the house. I’m going
to make one of those squash casseroles you like so well—and anything else you want to eat.”

“That’s the way I like to hear you talk.” Tom grinned. The moment had passed, but as they returned to the house he knew that there was a sadness in him that was tied up with the doubts that the war had brought.
It’ll be a long, long time before I can have this girl
, he thought.
A thousand things could happen. I could get killed or even wounded so badly I couldn’t ask her to marry me
.

When he saw Jeff sitting on the front steps playing with Esther, he breathed a little prayer.
Lord, you’ve brought us this far, now take us the rest of the way
.

J
eff, I can’t believe you’re really here.”

Jeff grinned self-consciously as Leah came up to him. He thought for a moment that she meant to throw her arms around him. Then she must have seen her parents smiling—and Tom and Sarah as well.

Awkwardly he put out his hand. “Why, it’s good to see you again, Leah!”

Leah took the hand he held out and held on to it. Her eyes were on his face. “You’re so brown!” she exclaimed. “And I declare, I believe you’ve grown taller! Isn’t he taller, Pa?”

“I think he is, Pet.” Her father smiled. He looked tired, for the trip had been wearing—but he was obviously glad to see the two boys. “Let me get some of this dust knocked off of me, then I’ll tell you about your pa.”

His wife led him off, asking about his trip, and Leah looked down at herself. She was wearing a pair of faded overalls, which would have been very comfortable on the trail, but now she seemed embarrassed to be dressed in such old clothes. She said, “Let me go wash up too, Jeff.” She could not resist squeezing his arm and saying, “I’m so glad you’re here!”

She ran lightly away, and as her footsteps echoed on the stairs, Jeff gave another self-conscious look toward Tom and Sarah.

“Well, what are you two laughing about?” he demanded, his face growing rosy. “I don’t see anything funny.”

Sarah took pity on him. “We’re just happy to see Pa and Leah,” she said quickly.

Tom, taking the hint, agreed. “Yes, that’s it. It’s good to see them both.”

Thirty minutes later the men were all sitting at the table preparing to eat the meal that Mrs. Carter had put together—baked ham, potato salad, corn-bread, fresh onions, and two loaves of freshly baked bread.

When the food was on the table, she went to the landing and called up, “Leah, get yourself down here. These men are starving to death.”

“That girl’s going to be late for the resurrection,” her father said, but he smiled. “I don’t think I could’ve made it without her. She’s got enough energy for any two girls I ever saw.” He continued to talk about how well Leah had done as they followed the troops. At the sound of her footsteps in the foyer, he looked up and urged, “Come on in, daughter—” and then he stopped abruptly.

Everyone turned to look and discovered that the dusty girl in overalls had disappeared.

“Well,” Tom said, “who is this young lady? I don’t believe I’ve ever met her before.” He winked at Sarah, who smiled back.

Leah had put on her best dress, something she usually wore only as Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes. She wore a deep green, cotton sateen dress with bands of satin ribbon stitched into place with white
silk thread. A pair of fine black shoes that she had been saving for a special occasion peeked out from under her skirt. Her fine, blonde hair was parted in the middle, and the curls were pulled to the side from the center part. They curled in front of her ears, giving her a rather saucy look. The hairstyle made her eyes seem larger, and it appeared she had borrowed some of Sarah’s rice powder for her face.

Now that she was the target of every eye, she suddenly blushed. “Well, I don’t know what you’re all staring at! Can’t a girl get dressed up every once in a while?”

Tom grinned at her. “You look fine, Leah, just fine.” He couldn’t resist adding, “If you drop dead, we won’t have to do a thing to you except stick a lily in your hand.”

“Tom, what an awful thing to say!” Sarah admonished him but could not restrain a giggle. “Come on in, Leah. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you look so pretty.”

Leah took the seat across from Jeff, who was staring at her with wide-open eyes.

“Shoot,” he muttered, “you make me feel like a tramp, Leah. I didn’t know we were supposed to get dressed up just to eat dinner.”

“Stop picking on her, Jeff,” her mother said. “After weeks of traipsing all over the country wearing those old overalls, I don’t wonder that she wants to dress up. You look beautiful, dear. Now, ask the blessing, Dan, and make it a short one—everyone’s hungry.”

He looked up at her with a smile. “I’ll be as brief as possible, but I must give thanks for having these special guests with us.”

He prayed, and then they all plunged in. As they ate, Dan Carter, who ate little himself, reviewed what had happened to the boys’ father. He did not try to lessen the seriousness of his illness. “He really ought to be in a regular hospital. I’m afraid that the authorities give the Northern boys the best of things, and the prisoners have to take what’s left over.”

Tom said sharply, “That’s not right—” Then he paused and shrugged his shoulders wearily. “But I guess it’s probably the same in the South.”

Jeff said, “How did he look when you left?”

Leah and her father exchanged a quick look.