The Last Confederate (42 page)

He seemed to float endlessly through space, at moments drifting near consciousness. Sometimes he heard voices and felt the cold pressure of a hand cool his brow. Time was nothing to him—a vapid endlessness that refused to remain fixed. It seemed to roll aimlessly—from days to weeks to years . . .

Consciousness arrived softly, and he opened his eyes. For the first time he saw the wall around him, the gray blanket over his body, and Pet beside him.

“Hello, Thad,” she said.

“What time is it?”

She smiled at the question. “Ten in the morning.”

“What morning?”

“September the twenty-fourth.” She leaned over and brushed his hair back. “You’re in the hospital at Richmond—Chimborazo. How do you feel?”

He didn’t answer, but lay there staring at her. Her lips were red and her eyes were moist. He whispered, “Bend forward,” then lifted his hand and caressed her cheek. “You’re real,”
he murmured, searching her face. After a moment he added, “Vance Wickham is dead.”

“I know.”

He stared at her for a long time, then as though the single gesture had worn him out, he drifted off to sleep. She tucked the blanket around his shoulders, kissed him, and sat nearby, her lips moving and tears streaming down her face.

When he awoke again, he saw that Belle was beside him. She was wearing a simple black dress, and he tried to speak, but his lips were dry. She poured a glass of water and held his head up while he drank the refreshing liquid.

“Hello, Miss Belle,” he said, and knew intuitively why she had come.

“You’re better, Thad. For a while, we all thought you’d die.”

She was different, he saw. Not just the plain black dress, but there was a change in her eyes, in her face. She was no less beautiful, but there was something missing, and he recognized that it was the joy that had always flowed from her in a steady stream. Her dark eyes were filled with sorrow, and he felt the anger and bitterness that lurked beneath them.

“I’m sorry about Captain Wickham,” he said softly.

“You were there when he died, they say.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He closed his eyes and the memories of the battle rolled over him. He didn’t want to think of them, but knew he must—for the captain’s sake. “He saved us all, Miss Belle . . .” he began, and told her the entire story, minimizing his own part. As he spoke, her eyes devoured every detail, clenching her fists until they were a waxy white. “So,” he finished, “just when the Yankees had us, Captain Wickham was there with his men. He killed their officer and two or three more with his pistol, then took them back up the hill.” He hesitated, then said, “That’s when the ball hit him, right when he was at the top.”

“He was very brave, was he not?”

“Oh yes, ma’am!” Thad hesitated, then continued. “I got
to him as soon as I could. Major Lee was there, thanking him for saving his life, and then he saw me and called me over.”

“What did he say?” she whispered.

“He said, ‘Tell Belle I loved her to the last.’ “ She closed her eyes, and he went on, “And then, just before he died, he looked up and smiled, and he whispered, ‘She was the best thing that ever happened to me!’.”

Belle’s head jerked slightly as if the words had been a blow, and her face was paler than he had ever seen it. She sat like a stone, her fingers digging into his arm unconsciously. Finally she rose and murmured in a tight voice, “Thank you, Thad.” With that she walked away, her body stiff and her head held at an unnatural angle.

He felt terrible, and when Pet hurried in a few minutes later, he said, “Miss Belle—she’s taking it awful hard.”

Pet looked toward the door and said slowly, “That Yankee bullet, Thad—it killed her just as sure as it did Vance!”

“Are your brothers all right?”

She smiled. “Yes. Tom was shot in the side, but it was just a graze. Mark didn’t get a scratch.”

“We lost a lot of men. You remember Studs Mellon?” Thad told her of the heroism of the big man, and finally said quietly, “I sure am glad he called on God.”

“Dooley told me about you baptizing him. I wish I could have seen that!”

He grinned sheepishly. “A man does strange things sometimes.”

“That wasn’t strange, Thad,” Pet said firmly. She got up and walked to the door. “Now don’t go to sleep. I’m going to get you something to eat. You’ve got to be on your feet for the victory ball.”

“Victory ball?”

“Yes. Lincoln announced after the battle that all the slaves were free, so President Davis asked for a celebration for all of us. There’ll be a review of the troops and then a ball. And this time, Thaddeus Novak, you
will
dance with me!”

****

Although Thad’s wound was serious, it healed cleanly, so the doctor did not argue when Pet took the young man out only three days after he first awakened. He protested that he was not able to walk, but Toby came with her and carried him out to the soft bed that she had made in the carriage.

“Seems like we done dis befo’,” Toby grinned as he put Thad down gently. “But you is done growed a mite since I pulled you outta dat snowbank.”

Pet had Toby carry Thad up to a spare bedroom at Belle Maison, and for several days he was pampered beyond anything he had ever known. Pet couldn’t do enough for him, and he loved having her around. “I should have gotten shot sooner,” he said one morning as Lucy cleared away the breakfast dishes. He settled down with a sigh in the feather bed and closed his eyes.

“Never mind getting comfortable,” Pet responded in a bossy voice. “Get out of that bed. You can’t dance with me at the ball if you can’t walk.” She yanked the covers back and he let out a yell.

“I don’t have any pants on!”

“Well, aren’t
we
modest all of a sudden!” she said, standing there with her hands on her hips and a saucy smile on her lips. “Who do you think bathed you while you were unconscious?”

He reddened, but said stubbornly, “I’m not unconscious now—so you just scoot out of here. I can put my own pants on, woman!”

She sniffed and moved over to the large wardrobe. Taking his clothes out, she tossed them on the bed, and left the room, threatening, “If you need help to dress, I’ll be right outside.”

As Pet waited, her mother came down the hall and asked what Thad was doing.

“He’s trying to put his clothes on,” she grinned. “I offered to do it, and now he’ll either get dressed by himself or die trying.”

“Does he know about the surprise Major Lee is planning?”

“No, and everyone better keep quiet,” Pet warned firmly. Just then, Thad called out, and both women went in to find Thad shaky, but on his feet.

“Whole room is spinning!” he complained, holding on to the bedpost.

“Help me, Mama,” Pet said, and they took position on either side of Thad. “Come on, now. You’ve just been lying around too long. Time to get you’re dancing shoes on,” she teased. “Let’s go for a walk.”

He felt ashamed of his weakness, but was delighted to be on his feet. They steered him out to the porch, and he breathed the fresh air. “Oh, glory, but it’s good to be out of that room!” They walked him the length of the porch twice, and then his legs folded and they seated him in a rocker.

“I’m shelling peas and you can help me—that is, if you’re able,” Pet laughed. “I’ll go get them.”

As Pet left, Rebekah said, “Thank God you’re getting well, Thad.” She took a deep breath, then spoke quietly. “All my boys are well—except Vance. Some women have lost all their sons in this war.”

“I’m real sorry about Captain Wickham,” Thad replied. “He was a friend to me right from the first. Remember how he taught me to shoot?”

“I remember.” She looked across at him. “You came here as a boy. Now you’re a man.”

Just then Pet returned with the peas and Rebekah got up, asking, “What would you like for supper?”

“Catfish and greens,” he answered.

Rebekah laughed and agreed with his choice, then left.

As Thad faced Pet he accidentally twisted his body and felt a twinge, but said, “I’m gonna keep wearin’ my pants from now on. They’re too hard to put on—besides, you don’t have any notion of a man’s modesty.”

She laughed and looked up as she heard someone coming down the road. “Look, there comes Dooley.”

Young came tearing across the yard at a dead run, pulled the chestnut mare up so hard she almost reared, and slid off her back in a fluid motion. “Hidee, Thad. See you got your breeches on for a change.” He mounted the porch and sat down on the rail. “Thought I’d say hidee to the big hero of Sharpsburg.”

“Pet, kick him off that rail, will you?” Thad snapped.

Dooley grinned at the threat. “Thought you’d be interested in the war.” He saw Thad’s eyes light up, and Young began telling of the retreat of the Army of Northern Virginia from Maryland.

“We wasn’t singin’ ‘Maryland, My Maryland’ like when we rode in,” he remarked. “I hear quite a few sayin’ ‘Damn my Maryland’ now, though. We lost a lot of our fellers, Thad. Out of about 600 in the regiment, we lost nearly 200.”

“How many out of our company?” Thad asked.

“More’n half,” Dooley answered shortly. “We come back mighty thin, but recruitin’ picked up some, so I guess by the time you git back, we’ll be up to nigh a hundred. Lieutenant Winslow is captain now, and Beauchamp is first lieutenant.”

He went on to tell how the whole army was resting and reorganizing, drilling new recruits, and rebuilding its strength. “Longstreet and Jackson was made lieutenant generals. The Army of Northern Virginia’s gonna be two corps: Longstreet headin’ the first and Jackson the second.”

Pet let them talk for half an hour, then seeing that Thad’s face was weary, she shooed Dooley off.

“Come back tomorrow, Dooley,” Thad pleaded as Pet steered him back toward the bedroom.

“You better soak up all this easy time, boy!” Dooley called out as he mounted. “When Marse Robert and ’ol Blue Light git movin’—you won’t have no fine lookin’ girl like that to tuck you in!”

Thad gained strength rapidly, so that by the time the Grand Review took place on August 5, he was able to dress himself in the fresh uniform that Pet laid out for him. He still moved
carefully, but when he walked out to where the rest of the family were waiting, he did so without favoring his right side.

Mr. and Mrs. Winslow smiled and made him turn around, and Mark, with his captain’s bars, remarked, “You look good, Corporal.” Tom stood beside Dan; and off to one side, Belle watched. She was dressed in black, as was her custom now, and there was no joy in her face as she got into the carriage.

They rode in two carriages, and when they reached Richmond, they turned in to the parade grounds and hitched the horses. Thad got down carefully and walked with Pet at his side toward the grandstand. “You have to sit down,” she said, and forced him to sit in a chair while she and the others stood beside him.

It was a day of celebration, and as the troops marched by, Thad was proud. Jeb Stuart’s cavalry led the way, followed by the artillery and dozens of field pieces. Finally, unit after unit in their best uniforms marched by with their flags flying and their company bands bravely playing.

“There’s the Third!” Pet cried, and Thad got to his feet as his own brigade went by, with Colonel Barton and Major Lee at the head. “Look, there’s Company A!” she said.

Thad saw many new faces in the ranks, which were headed by Captain Winslow and Lieutenant Beauchamp. “Aren’t they wonderful!” Pet breathed, and he nodded as they passed.

After the parade, there were speeches. President Davis addressed the army; then Robert E. Lee stood before his troops, and they gave him a resounding cheer. When it was quiet, Lee said, “Since your great victories around Richmond, you have defeated the enemy at Cedar Mountain, expelled him from the Rappahannock, and after a conflict of three days, utterly repulsed him on the plains of Manassas. Without halting for repose, you crossed the Potomac, stormed the heights of Harpers Ferry, and made prisoners of more than 11,000 men. While one corps of the army was thus engaged, the other insured its success by arresting the combined armies of the enemy. On the field of Sharpsburg, with less than one-third of
his numbers, you resisted from daylight until dark the whole army of the enemy and repulsed every attack along his entire front. The whole of the following day you stood prepared to resume the conflict on the same ground and retired the next morning without molestation across the Potomac.” He paused and a vast silence lay on the entire army as he said in a ringing voice, “History has recorded few examples of greater fortitude!”

The troops cheered wildly, and when their officers calmed them down, a great many medals were awarded. Thad stood there as the citations were pinned on, and then the officer in charge said clearly, “Corporal Thad Novak, will you escort Mrs. Belle Wickham to the front.”

Pet gave the stunned Thad a push, and he blindly moved forward as Belle took his arm. Actually, it was she who led him, for he could not think clearly. He stood beside her as Robert E. Lee came to stand before them, with Major Shelby Lee at his side.

“Captain Vance Wickham paid the full price of devotion on the field at Sharpsburg . . .” he said, and in a few words traced Wickham’s heroic act. “I give this citation to the wife of Captain Wickham, well aware that her grief can in no manner be assuaged by this act. But it is all that a grateful nation can do, and we award it with a full heart.”

Belle took the medal, curtsied to General Lee, saying, “In my gallant husband’s name, I accept this award.”

She turned, and Thad moved to go with her, but General Lee said, “Corporal Novak, I would like you to wait.” He turned to his nephew and said, “Major Lee, would you read the citation?”

Major Lee read something from a paper, but Thad did not understand a word of it. The shock of being in front of Robert E. Lee and in front of the vast army addled him. He heard words about “heroic conduct,” “in the best tradition of the service,” and then Major Lee stepped back.

General Lee stepped forward and pinned a piece of ribbon
to Thad’s blouse, and then he put his hand out, saying, “It is always good to hear of the bravery of our men, but it is especially gratifying to hear of a young man who shows great initiative under the terrible pressures of battle.” He stepped back and Major Lee handed something to him. Lee’s deep eyes were happy, Thad thought, as he said, “On the recommendation of your officers, I appoint you brevet lieutenant of Company A, Third Virginia Infantry.”