Secret of Richmond Manor (12 page)

“Yes, I heard about that,” Silas said. “What about it?”

“Well, he didn't get 'em.” Rufus laughed gleefully. “He cut the time back to nine months, and even then he didn't get 'em. I don't guess you could spare one of them peaches, could you, Miss Leah?”

Silently Leah gave him a dried peach, and he chewed noisily. “I'll tell you what Lincoln
didn't
do. He had a chance to get two regiments of black soldiers—I forget what state—and he turned 'em down cold. That shows how much Yankees think of Negroes. Won't even use 'em for soldiers. Lincoln's got more sense than that, I reckon.”

For what seemed an hour, Rufus Prather sat talking. At last he got up reluctantly and said, “Well, I guess I'd better get back, or Mr. Driscoll will have my hide. Thanks for the tea.”

He left the house, and as soon as Leah heard the wagon move out, she said, “That's bad, isn't it, Uncle Silas?”

“I think it might be. It's dangerous enough the way it's been, but with patrols moving around, I just don't see any hope. How is Ezra?”

“Oh, he's better. I'm going to go out and see how he is today—and take him something to eat.”

She left the house with a plate of pork chops, boiled cabbage, and cornpone and the pitcher of sassafras tea.

When she stepped inside the barn, as usual Ezra was there to meet her. “Dinnertime already?” he asked.

“Yes, sit down and eat. I'll have maybe a peach pie tonight.”

Ezra's appetite had returned, and he ate all that she had brought him and drank a great deal of the
sassafras tea. “We never had anything like this tea you make. Sure is good,” he commented.

“I'm glad you like it, Ezra.” She gave him a curious look and saw that his eyes were bright. There was no more fever. He moved much easier and seemed alert. “You're better, aren't you?”

“Yes, sure am. Seems like yesterday I just got better all at once.” He took a deep breath and stretched his chest out. “Sure feels good to feel good again.”

For a while they talked, but apparently he could see she was disturbed. He asked, “What's the matter, Leah? Something's wrong.”

Leah bit her lip, wondering whether she should tell him about the escape. She decided it would only be fair. “Some Federal officers escaped from Libby Prison, Ezra. The government's mad about it. They've got orders out to find them, no matter what. Rufus Prather came by and told us about it.”

Ezra turned the glass around in his hands. He took the last swallow of tea and nodded. “I've been watching through cracks in the barn. I saw a patrol go by. Cavalry, some of it. They was moving slow, not like soldiers usually move. I wondered what they were doing. Now I guess I know.”

Leah moved her hands nervously over her hair. She said quietly, “It makes things harder for us.”

Ezra gave her a sharp glance. “Yes, it does. Time for me to get out of here.”

“No! Now would be the worst time. Those patrols will be everywhere, and people are looking for prisoners. It would have been better if you had gone before, but you weren't able.”

“Well, I can't stay here. I've got to try it.”

He got up slowly, and Leah stood in front of him. He smiled, and she noticed again what a nice smile he had. He was very little taller than she was and seemed not at all like the fierce Yankee soldiers that the South had portrayed.

Suddenly Ezra reached for her hand.

Surprised, she put it in his.

He held it for a moment and said, “You've been mighty good to me, Leah.” He raised her hand and kissed it and then laughed shortly. “I never did that before.”

Leah took her hand back, her cheeks red. “Neither did I.”

They stood silently, embarrassed by the moment, and then Ezra said, “I thought it was pretty hard going to prison, losing out on everything. And when I was so sick and thought I was going to die, I thought God didn't care.” He added quietly, “But I guess God knows all about us. I reckon He brought me to this place so I could find out about Jesus. Now that I have, it won't be so hard going back.”

“Oh, Ezra, I wish you didn't have to go.”

“Well, I've got to get away from here. That's all there is to it. I can't get you and your uncle in trouble. Not after all you've done for me.” He frowned. “I don't think it's likely we'll see each other again, so this is good-bye.”

Leah said, “Don't do anything just yet. Let me talk to Uncle Silas first. Do you promise?”

Ezra looked at her curiously and cocked his head to one side. “Sure, I promise. I'm not going anywhere until after dark, but I don't see how he can do anything.”

“You remember the Bible story I read you about Joseph?”

“I sure do. That was a good one.”

“You remember where he wound up after his brothers sold him?”

“Why, sure. He was in jail, and he didn't do anything wrong.”

“That's right. But later on, in the last of that story, he told his brothers, ‘When you sold me, you meant it for bad, but God meant it for good. He sent me before you to prepare the way.'

“Don't you see, sometimes bad things seem so awful, and we just want to cry and kick and scream, but if we could just believe that God lets these things come—for His own good reasons—I think we'd be better off.”

She turned and left the barn.

The young man went back and sat down on the hay. “She sure is some gal,” he murmured to himself.

L
eah and Uncle Silas stayed up late, talking about the problem, trying to find a way out. But no matter what they thought of, the situation seemed hopeless.

Then Silas said, “Let's pray about it, Leah. It looks like it's going to take God to get us out of this one.” He asked softly, “You've gotten pretty fond of that young Yankee, haven't you?”

Leah flushed. “Oh, don't be silly, Uncle Silas. He just was so helpless.” She half laughed at herself, adding, “I used to take in every sick kitten that came around the farm. Everybody laughed at me for it.”

“I don't reckon that young fellow's gonna be laughing. You sure saved his bacon. Well, maybe we'll think of something tonight. I don't plan on sleeping much.”

Leah lay awake for what seemed hours. Her thoughts swarmed, and all she could think of was something bad happening. She thought of Ezra trying to escape and being shot. She thought about the patrols finding him in the barn. And she thought about what would befall Uncle Silas and her if that happened. At last she just said wearily, “Lord, I can't even think anymore, but I ask You to help Ezra. Help Uncle Silas and me to get him out of this somehow.” Then she drifted off to sleep.

She was awakened some time later by Silas calling for her. “Leah! Leah!”

Opening her eyes in alarm, she saw that dawn was beginning to lighten the eastern skies. She jumped out of bed, grabbed her robe, and put it on as she ran.

She found her uncle standing in the middle of the living room. His hair was rumpled, and he was running his fingers through his beard as he did when he was excited.

“What is it, Uncle Silas? What's wrong?”

“Wrong?” Silas grinned at her. “Why, nothing's wrong. Everything's right.”

Leah stared at him. “You mean you found a way to get Ezra out of here?”

“I guess I didn't sleep two hours last night.” Silas shook his head, and his voice filled with wonder. “Must have made up a hundred and five different plans, all of them bad. Then finally, I just gave up, and I said, ‘Lord, You'll have to do it.'”

“Why, that's what I did,” Leah said, wonder in her voice too. “But I still didn't think of anything.”

“Well, it was a funny thing. As soon as I woke up this morning—you know how it is when you're not quite awake, not quite asleep, sort of both? Well, there I was, and all of a sudden this plan popped in my mind, just as clear as if I was seeing it on a printed page.”

“About Ezra?”

“Yes, about Ezra—and about you too, Leah. Sit down. Let me tell you about it.” Then he said, “No, go get Ezra and bring him into the house.”

“But isn't that dangerous? Somebody might see him.”

“It's part of my plan. Go get him.”

Leah ran back to her room and changed into her clothes. She hurried so fast that she almost stumbled over a shoelace she left untied. “I'll be right back,” she called to her uncle.

She left the house at a run, stepped inside the barn, and called, “Ezra! Ezra! Come here, quick!”

“What is it?” Ezra almost slid down the stairs. He was fully dressed, even wearing his shoes. “What's wrong?”

“Nothing's wrong, but Uncle Silas says he's got a plan. Come on!”

She took his hand, and they ran across the yard. It was just growing light. She glanced apprehensively at the road, but no one was stirring. “Come on in the house, quick!”

As soon as they were in the living room, Ezra looked around and said, “First time I've ever been in this part of the house. All I ever did was steal food out of the kitchen.”

Silas said, “You must be a quiet-footed fellow and nervy too, coming into a house where you knew there were folks.”

“I guess if a fellow gets hungry enough, he'll try anything.”

“Here now! You two sit down. I want to talk to you. I think maybe I've got something that'll work.” He waited until they were seated, then he sat down in front of them. “You ever hear of a fellow called Edgar Allen Poe?”

Ezra shook his head. “Nope, never heard of him.”

Leah said, “I think I have, but I can't remember where.”

“He writes stories—sometimes they're in the paper.”

“Oh! I remember them now. Some of them are just awful.”

“They sure are,” Uncle Silas agreed. “But he wrote one that I thought was the best thing I ever read. The name of it was—I forget the name of it. Something about a letter.” His eyes were bright with excitement, and he looked over at Ezra. “Now our problem is, we've got to hide you. Isn't that right?”

“Yes, sir. That's right.”

“Well, what do people do when they hide things?”

Leah thought quickly. “They put them in a place where nobody will look for them.”

Silas pounded the arms of his chair, “Right, but that's exactly the places people
do
look. I mean, if they came in looking for a place where we might hide money, they'd look in the drawers or the chest. They'd look for a box under the bed. They'd look under the mattress, because that's where people put money they're trying to hide.” He grinned at them and said, “But what if you put it in a place where they'd never think to look?”

“I don't understand,” Leah said, puzzled.

“Well, in this story a man had to hide a letter. He couldn't get rid of it, had to keep it. He knew the police would be coming to search for it. And they did come, but they didn't find the letter.”

“Where'd he hide it, Mr. Carter?” Ezra asked.

“You won't believe this, but he left it right out on the table with some other letters. He kept his letters in this little holder out in the open, and he just stuck it right in the middle of 'em.”

“Why, I don't understand,” Leah repeated. “Didn't they look at the letters?”

“No, they didn't, and that was the point of the story. Nobody dreamed he'd be dumb enough to leave a valuable letter out like that, so they tore the house apart, and they didn't find a thing.”

Leah was a quick-witted girl. She looked over at her uncle and then glanced at Ezra. She said slowly, “So you're saying we should really stop trying to
hide
Ezra.”

“That's exactly right, and that's exactly what we're going to do—if you've got the nerve for it, young man.”

Ezra smiled. “Well, if it's any chance at all, it's more than I've got now. I could never escape by myself, I know that. Right here next to Richmond with about a million Confederate soldiers everywhere you look. Exactly how do you plan to do this?”

“All right. Here's what we'll do. Tomorrow you two are going to get dressed up. You're gonna take a load of grain in to town and sell it to the commissary.”

“Sell it to the army?” Leah asked in astonishment.

“That's right, and you're going to get a receipt from them, and you're going to tell them you're from Kentucky and you want to go back there and get some more grain.”

Leah let this run through her mind. Finally she asked, “But what if somebody asks who Ezra is?”

“Who's gonna ask? Do you go up to young fellers and ask them who they are?”

“Well, no,” Leah admitted, “but I'm not a soldier on patrol. Why, they'll take one look at him—”

“They would if he was wearing that Federal uniform, but he won't be wearing
that
. He'll be wearing
just regular clothes—my clothes. We're about the same size, so he'll put them on, and you two will go. They're pretty hungry, the army's horses are. There hasn't been enough feed. They'll be glad to get a wagonload, and they'll be even more glad if you tell them more's coming.”

“Let me get this straight,” Leah said. “We sell them the grain, we get a receipt. Then if anybody stops us, we show them that receipt.”

“That's right. You can even ask them for a pass to get you through the lines until you're through to where the Union troops are.” He smiled. “You won't even have to lie. You do live in Kentucky, Leah, and you can bring some grain back. Of course—” he looked at Ezra then “—you won't be coming back with this young fellow. But they won't notice that.”

Now Ezra shook his head. “It's risky, Mr. Carter. Why, if they caught me, Leah'd be caught too. I just can't—”

“Now, son,” Silas Carter said, “I believe the Lord's made me think of this. I sure couldn't think of anything else, and neither could Leah. And I believe it'll work. I just want you to promise me one thing. Don't go back in the army. That's what they do all the time—a soldier ‘gives his parole,' that is, he promises not to fight if they release him.”