The Last, Long Night (#5 in the Bregdan Chronicles Historical Fiction Romance Series) (25 page)

Matthew finished his wire and settled back to stare at Peter.  “It’s sent.”

“Mine, too.”

Atlanta has fallen and is now in Union hands.  Story to follow.

Matthew stared off into the distance.  “This will save Lincoln’s election,” he said quietly. “Sherman didn’t do everything he set out to do…”
              “Like destroy Hood’s army.”

“Right, but he has secured Atlanta for the Union.”

“The thing Sherman probably cares the least about.  He’s the most apolitical man I know.  All he cares about is winning the war,” Peter replied.

  Matthew shrugged, “Whether he cares or not, the fall of Atlanta will be just the kind of news people want – something positive that says this whole war effort is worth it.”

“You sound less than enthusiastic,” Peter observed.

Matthew gazed at him.  “I really don’t know what I am,” he finally murmured.  “I’d like to say I think all of this has been worth it.  I’d like to say that when this war is finally over things will go back to normal.”

Peter held up his hand.  “Say no more.  I’m with you.  When this war finally does end, it’s not really going to
end
anything.  Most people don’t want to acknowledge it, but it’s simply going to open a new chapter of struggle and change.”

“I wonder how many more people have to die before it’s over,” Matthew said heavily.  “How many more towns will be destroyed?  How much more of our country will be decimated before it is done?”  He paused. “The only good I can see from all this is the re-election of Lincoln.  I still firmly believe he’s the only man who can lead our country out of this mess and into a new beginning.”

Perry pushed through the door just as Louisa made her way down the stairs.

“I’m afraid I have terrible news,” he said, reaching for her hand and continuing when Louisa just gazed at him.  “Sherman is demanding all citizens leave the city.  There are to be no exceptions.”

He paused, but Louisa still just looked at him.

“I appealed to the mayor and told him about your mother, but he reaffirmed there are to be no exceptions.”  He took a deep breath.  “We’ll figure it out.  I’m sure we can find a way to transport your mother from the city.”

Louisa’s complete silence finally registered.  So did the blank look when she turned to stare out the window.

“Honey?”  Perry reached for her hand, shocked to find it slack and cold.  “Louisa,” he said more urgently, turning her to face him.  “What is it?”

Louisa glanced at the stairs briefly and then stared up at him.  “Mama,” she whispered.  “You won’t have to worry about moving her.”  She gasped and allowed the tears to fill her eyes.  “Mama is dead, Perry.  She’s gone to be with Daddy and Nathan.” 

Perry drew her close as sobs wracked her body.  He said nothing, just rocked her silently, letting her sob out her grief. 

When her tears finally stopped, he sat silently for a while more and then lifted her chin so her eyes would meet his.  “We’re going home, honey.  We’re leaving Atlanta, and we’re going home.  We’ll deal with what we find when we get there.

“Home,” Louisa whispered finally, her hand resting on her belly.  “Home.”

Chapter Fourteen

Rose could barely contain her happiness.  She grasped the letter in her hands, hurried back to the cabin, and laughed when she saw June on the porch.  Wait until June found out! 

“It’s way too hot to walk that fast,” June observed, wiping her face with a cloth as she hid from the sun under the narrow overhang of their porch covering.  Both boys slept on a blanket she had laid on the porch to escape the stifling heat of the cabin.  She peered at Rose harder.  “You don’t seem too upset, so it must not be bad news.”

Rose waved the envelope in the air.  “I just got a letter from Moses!”

June smiled broadly.  “How’s that brother of mine doing?”

“He’s doing just fine,” Rose said joyfully.  “The hard fighting for Richmond is over right now.  Our soldiers have Richmond under siege.  The conditions aren’t pleasant, but they’re better than they were.”
              June stared at her and cocked her head.  “And that makes you happy?  What about Carrie?”

Rose nodded and frowned.  “I absolutely hate to think of Carrie having to survive in Richmond right now, but there’s another reason this letter makes me so happy…”  She paused, her eyes twinkling, and let the silence stretch out.

“You planning on telling me sometime today?” June finally demanded. 

Rose shrugged, enjoying the game she was playing, but knowing she wouldn’t hold out much longer without blurting it out.  “It’s good news,” she admitted playfully as she waved the envelope, and then fell silent again.

“You gonna make me jump down off this porch and take that letter?”

“Going to,” Rose corrected automatically and then laughed when she saw June’s eyes narrow with threat.  “Okay.  Okay.  I can’t wait another second to tell you, anyway!” 

Rose flipped the letter to the second page and began to read…

We had a new batch of soldiers join us yesterday.  I spent some time talking with them to get to know them.  One of them, a big fellow, told me had been hired out by his owner to work on the fortifications around Richmond.

She heard June’s gasp, but Rose just kept reading.

He said he had escaped when he found out about the North taking on black soldiers.  Evidently, his escape is quite a story, but he made it and then joined up. He said it was the only way he knew to reunite with his wife, who was still a slave on a plantation outside Richmond. 

Rose, it’s Simon!  June’s husband, Simon.

“Oh, my God,” June whispered, tears streaming down her face.  “Is there more?” she demanded in a broken voice.

Rose turned back to the letter.

You should have seen his face when I asked him if he was June’s husband from Saunders Plantation.  We both danced around like lunatics when I told him I was June’s brother, and that June was safe with you in the contraband camp.  My men thought we were both crazy until they got the whole story.  We stayed up and talked for hours. 

“Simon… Simon…,” June kept repeating his name, her tears falling in a cascade of joy.

You tell June her husband is safe and well and that he can hardly wait to see his little boy.  We will watch after each other until both of you have your husband back with you.

Rose finished reading and then leapt onto the porch to give June a big hug.  “Your Simon is okay.  He’s with Moses.”

June took a deep breath and finally the smile broke through as she gazed tenderly at her sleeping son.  “It’s been so long… almost two years… I was about to decide I had dreamed him up, but then I would look at little Simon and know our love was real – that my man was real.” 

Simon woke up and raised his arms.  June scooped him up and cuddled him close.  “Your daddy is alive, Simon.  He’s alive!” 

Simon leaned back to stare at his mama’s glowing face.  “Dadda?”

“Yes!  Your daddy!”

Joy suffused June’s face as she looked at Rose.  “He’s alive!”

Rose knew the reality was still working its way into June’s heart and mind.  “That he is, June.”  The same penetrating joy danced in her heart.  “I’m so happy for you!  For you and Simon.”  Rose reached down and lifted John when his eyes opened and he looked up at her in sleepy confusion.  “He and Moses will take care of each other.   Moses has felt so lost without Pompey.  Now he’ll have his brother-in-law with him.”

June nodded as her little Simon buried his face into her breast and began to nurse.  “I reckon we’ve got some celebrating to do.”

Rose looked at the cabin and tried to imagine walking into the heat to cook some food.  “Anyone bring food by today?” she asked hopefully.

“What do you think?” June asked, laughing.  “There isn’t a day that goes by that your students don’t bring you food.”

“Any celebrating food?”

June cocked her head and considered.  “Only if you figure two blackberry pies and the sweetest cornbread you ever imagined are celebration foods.  And that’s after we eat the collard greens and corn that is still piping hot on the table.”

Rose laughed happily, her eyes shining with joy.  Both their men were alive, and June had finally had word from Simon after two years.  This was a day to celebrate.  “Let’s go eat under the Emancipation Oak,” she said suddenly.

“That’s a perfect idea!” June agreed.  “When Simon is finished eating, you take the boys over.  I’ll bring the food and a blanket for us all to eat on.  It’ll be a sight cooler under that big oak tree.”

When Simon was finally full, Rose grabbed both boys by the hand and walked to the tree while staring up at it with wonder.  The huge sentinel oak never ceased to awe her.  This was the tree that Mary Peak, the first black teacher in the camp had taught under before there was a schoolhouse.  It was also the tree where everyone had gathered to hear the Emancipation Proclamation read.  She couldn’t help wondering how many generations of her people would stand under its mighty branches.  Would they be able to grasp the power it had because of the stories it had seen unfold?

June walked up beside her quietly. 

Rose glanced at her and then looked back up.  “I hope it stands here for centuries,” she whispered.  “I hope generations of black children will stand under this tree and understand the price that was paid for their freedom.”

June let the solemnity wrap them for a few minutes and then clapped her hands.  “The generations will come, but right now we have some celebrating to do!”  June broke away and danced a crazy jig around the tree, both boys staring at her in wonder.  “My Simon is alive and well!”

Rose laughed happily, her own joy about Moses sweeping through her in a huge wave of thankfulness.  She lifted up the hem of her dress and joined June in her wild dance.  Then the two wives laughed even harder when both boys stood and started bouncing up and down.

A voice broke into their celebration.  “You and Miss June sure seem real happy, Miss Rose.”

Rose looked down and saw Carla, her face a study of puzzled delight.  She grabbed the little girl’s hands and pulled her into the dance.  “That we are, Carla!”

Within minutes, children appeared in mass under the tree, all of them dancing wildly without a thought of why.  It was enough that there was happiness to celebrate.  Finally, everyone collapsed on the ground laughing.

Rose was the first to speak.  “It is way too hot for this kind of craziness,” she gasped. 

“I reckon y’all gonna need some water after all that dancin’.”  Diedre, Carla’s mother and the midwife who had delivered John, appeared with a bucket of cool water from the well and a tin dipper.

“Thank you!” June gasped, still doubled over to catch her breath. 

The children all crowded forward, drank their fill, and then Rose and June satisfied their burning thirst.

“You gonna tell me what this be all about?”  Diedre asked.

“Once you ask us correctly,” Rose replied.  She was determined every person in the camp would be as well-equipped as possible for the new life that drew closer every day.

“Don’t you ever get tired of teaching?” Diedre demanded.  “I’m just a mid-wife.  Wasn’t my bringing your baby boy into the world enough for you?  Are you forever going to pester me about the way I talk?”

Rose cocked her head and smiled at Diedre.  “Want to know why we’re dancing?”

Diedre scowled, but her dancing eyes gave her away.  “Are you going to tell me what this is all about?” she said clearly.

Rose grinned, patted the blanket next to her, and then told Diedre the story while the children drifted away into the shade on the far side of the tree to play. 

Diedre gave June a huge hug.  “You must be happy enough to pop!”

June nodded.  “I’ll pop with relief when I have him in my arms again, but knowing he is alive and with Moses is enough joy to carry me for a long time.”

Rose’s heart swelled with emotion.  She couldn’t imagine going two years without hearing anything at all about Moses.  Two years of no news… of fear… of single parenthood….  “You’re a strong woman, June,” she said suddenly.  “Such a strong woman!”

June shrugged and filled a plate with food.  “We’re all strong women.  It’s not like we have a lot of choice.  Tough times bring it out in you.” 

“Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn’t,” Diedre said quietly.  “I see lots of women who just fold up and fade away in hard times.  They quit believing in life, and it sucks all the color away.  They just walk around in a gray fog, and their lives get swallowed up in bitterness.”

All three women fell silent and stared off at the horizon.