On to Richmond (13 page)

             
She was able now to think through Louisa’s other caustic remarks.  Nigger lover...  Carrie smiled at that one.  Louisa meant it as an insult.  Carrie considered it a compliment.  Yes, she loved all her black friends and was determined to do what she could for them.  Let other people think what they wanted.  She had made a decision she could live with.  She had known when she made the decision that slavery was wrong that hardly anyone in her sphere of friends would agree with her.  That was all right.  She had to live with herself. 

             
She could not deny the concern of what would happen if Louisa told her father about Adams’ being gone.    She was sure she could convince him that Adams should never set another foot on Cromwell Plantation, but she wasn’t as sure that she could keep him from appointing another overseer in his place. 

             
As Carrie pondered everything in her mind, she felt the worry connected with it slip away.  Finally, with a sigh, she let it all go. 

             
She would take one day at a time.  That was all she could do. 

CHAPTER SIX

July 10, 1861

              “We’ll take care of everything, Carrie.  Don’t worry about things back here.”

             
Carrie smiled.  “I trust you, Moses.  I know I’m leaving the plantation in good hands.  It’s not you I’m worried about.”  She paused for a moment.  When she spoke again, her smile had been replaced by a worried frown.  “I can’t get Louisa Blackwell’s visit out of my mind.  She seemed to think the neighbors were upset by what is going on here - or what they
think
is going on, anyway.   They’re bound to know I’m leaving the plantation for a while.  What if they come over here trying to start trouble?”

             
She could tell by the worried flicker in his eyes that Moses had thought the same thing, but his voice was strong and confident when he answered her. 

             
“Don’t be worrying none about things here.  People have their own lives to worry about.  They might be talking, but I reckon they have enough of their own problems to take care of without trying to make problems for us.”

             
Carrie tried to take comfort from his words.  Sarah had tried to reassure her the night before with similar words.  Why couldn’t she just let it go?  “Oh, I wish Father hadn’t called me to the city!” she burst out.  “I should have just told him I was too busy to come right now.” 

             
Rose walked out onto the porch just then.  “You know your daddy, Carrie.  He’s worried sick that something will happen and he won’t be able to take care of you.  Sounds like from his letter that the first real fight of the war is about to take place.  And right here on Virginia soil.  He’s not going to be able to rest until he knows you are safe in Richmond with him.  You can come back when the danger is over.”

             
Carrie nodded but didn’t say what she was thinking.  When would she be able to return?  When would her father think it was safe?  That wasn’t really what was bothering her, however.  She had faced the truth in the long hours of darkness last night when she had lain sleepless.  She was obeying her father’s anxious plea for her to come to Richmond because she hoped for one last glimpse of Robert before he headed into battle. 

             
That knowledge had filled her with both sorrow and self-contempt.  She had ended their relationship.   She should just let it go. 

             
Carrie gave Rose and Moses a final hug and then turned to walk down the stairs.  “I’m ready, Sam.  We should be on our way.”

             
“Yessum, Miss Carrie.”  Sam smiled warmly, raised his hands, and urged the team of horses to move the carriage smartly down the driveway.   Once they were past the protective hedge of boxwoods, he turned and said, “I think you gonna be mighty surprised when you get to the city, ma’am.”

             
Carrie thought to ask him what he meant, but she was too absorbed in her own thoughts.  She would find out soon enough anyway.  She did have another question, though.  “Sam, do you like being a driver?”

             
Sam shrugged and smiled a half smile.  “I don’t mind it none, Miss Carrie.”

             
Carrie watched him handle the team expertly and thought with sadness of her friend Miles.  He had been a slave on the Cromwell Plantation long before she was born.  The wise old man had taught her everything she knew about horses - had instilled in her his deep love for them.  He had disappeared the year before with the first group of slaves who had escaped from the plantation.   She still missed him

             
“Do you think Charles found him?” she asked suddenly.  She knew Sam would know she was asking about Miles.

             
Sam shrugged again.  “I reckon if anybody could, Charles could.”

             
Carrie waited for him to say more, but the large man fell silent again.  Why did she always feel that Sam knew more than he was saying?  She pushed that thought aside as her thoughts returned to Charles.  He had been Miles’ assistant, had taken over the stables when he had disappeared.  What he lacked in experience, he had made up for in commitment, but he had been one of the first to take her up on her offer to leave.  She was glad to think he was free somewhere, possibly reconnected with the old man  who had been like a father to him, but it had left a gaping hole on the plantation. 

             
Sam glanced back to look at her.  “What’s that worried look on your face fer, Miss Carrie?”

             
Carrie answered honestly.  “I’m just wondering how long I’m going to be able to keep plugging holes.  So far Father hasn’t become suspicious because everything continues to run smoothly.  But what happens when it doesn’t anymore?  I don’t regret letting the people go,” she said hastily, “but...”

             
“But you just decidin’ to borrow trouble ‘fore it be here.”

             
Carrie managed a laugh.  “I guess you’re right.”   She couldn’t let it go, though.  “What do you think Father will say when you come driving up with me, instead of Charles?”

             
Sam shrugged.  “He’ll probably thank me for stepping in when Charles is so sick back on the plantation. And plan to give me an extra gift at Christmas time.”

             
Carrie looked up at his words, caught the amused twinkle in his eyes, and broke out into a hearty laugh.  “You always could make me laugh, Sam.  Thank you.”  The laughter seemed to ease the weight of her heart.

             
Feeling suddenly weary, Carrie leaned back against the carriage seat. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift into a deep sleep.

              The sound of a train whistle woke her.  Opening her eyes slowly, she suddenly jerked to attention.   “We’re in Richmond, already?” she gasped.

             
“I’d say you needed to sleep,” Sam chuckled.  “Yessum, we be here in Richmond.”

             
Carrie looked around her in astonishment.   They had just entered the outskirts of the city.  A quick look at the sky told her they had probably gotten here just in time.  The sky that beamed hazy sunshine this morning had now taken on a yellow-gray tone, and the air was stagnant with humidity.  As they slowed to maneuver the traffic in the streets, the breeze that had been stirred by their movement died.  The sultry air seemed to reach out clasping fingers to grasp at her.  She immediately felt the unwelcome sensation of sweat trickling down her brow and back and reached under the seat to pull out a parasol.  It would at least offer some protection from the midday heat. 

             
“Do you think we’ll get to Father’s house before the storm hits?” she asked anxiously.  She was not averse to a little rain, but the threatening sky promised a severe storm.  She had no desire to dodge lightning bolts.

             
Sam cast a practiced eye on the sky.  After a few moments, he nodded.  “I think we’ll get there.  Leastways, if the traffic don’t stop up completely.”

             
Carrie stared around her and saw that Sam’s concern was justified.  “This is what you meant earlier when you said I would be surprised when we got here,” she guessed.

Sam focused on navigating the bustling street merely nodded.  Carrie had never seen Richmond like this.  There were people and carriages everywhere!  She had expected, after Louisa’s report, to see soldiers everywhere, but though they were in evidence, there didn’t seem to be a preponderance of them.  She quickly realized they must have all gone
north to prepare for the battle her father predicted.  Suddenly, she was very anxious to get to her father’s house.  Surely he would know whether Robert had gone to battle yet or not. 

             
As they inched down Broad Street, she craned to catch a glimpse of someone she knew.  Not that she really expected to see anyone, but the sight of a familiar face would make her at least
feel
she was in her favorite city.  Richmond seemed to have become a different world in the months since she been there last – less than three months ago!

             
Just as they drove past the train depot on Broad Street, an engine, pulling its load of cars, puffed up to the station.  A great horde of people swarmed off the train, but very few people got on it.  The cries of carriage drivers vying for passengers filled the air as the rattle of wheels and the yells of people trying to reach their destinations filled her ears.  Carrie leaned forward eagerly, to absorb it all, even though it frightened her just a little.  She had expected, and grown accustomed to, such madness in Philadelphia the summer before.  But Richmond?  The quiet, prosperous city on the James had exploded overnight. 

             
Rumblings of thunder over the cacophonous sounds of the city seemed to only heighten the anxiety she felt in the air.  Indeed, the whole city seemed to be gripped by a sultry spirit of fear and waiting that left no one the luxury of simply relaxing and living.  Now that war had indeed come, it was all business, preparation, and waiting - no matter what one’s position in life. 

             
As Sam continued to inch down the road, Carrie realized what it was about the crowd of people that was bothering her.  It was almost totally comprised of women, children, and older men.  The men were either quite old or dressed in the impeccable attire that spoke of a high government official.  Other than the occasional soldier she saw moving smartly down the street, the town seemed to be devoid of young men.  That, more than anything, brought home the sharp realization of what this war really meant.  The young men of the South had marched off to do battle with friends and family from the North.

             
Now, each face became a story.  Each woman was the mother, wife, sweetheart, or sister of the soldiers now preparing to fight the first big battle.  Children had brothers and fathers off at war.  The older men had the responsibility of these young lives resting squarely on their shoulders.  Carrie shuddered and sank back against the cushion.  The excitement had lost its appeal for her. 

             
It seemed hours before their carriage reached the bottom of Broad Street and headed up Church Hill to her father’s house.  She turned her head away from the sight of St. John’s steeple reaching for the sky.  It brought too many painful memories.  She jumped as a jagged streak of lightning bolted across the now leaden gray sky.  The wind was blowing fiercely, causing dust to fly through the air and laundry to whip on the lines.  As she watched, one door on a house banged open as a plainly dressed woman dashed from her house and ran out to scoop the dried laundry into her arms.   Thunder rumbled and the first raindrops splashed onto the carriage as they made the final turn onto 26th Street. 

             
“Hang on, Miss Carrie!”

             
Carrie gripped the sides of the carriage and smiled as Sam urged the horses into a quick sprint.  It was a good thing the storm had driven everyone inside.  A wild dash like this could hurt someone.  She knew, though, that Sam was just trying to keep her dry.  Now that she knew they would make it to the house, she was able to enjoy nature’s fireworks show.  The wind felt wonderful after the cloying heat of the day.  

             
Sam had just pulled the blowing team to a halt when the sky opened up.  Huge raindrops splattered on them in a downpour.  “Run for it, Miss Carrie!” 

             
Laughing, Carrie jumped from the carriage and dashed into the house.  As soon as she reached the porch, she turned to watch Sam turn the carriage down the drive next to the house.  She knew he would be safe and dry with the horses in the small barn behind the house in just minutes.  Content to watch the furious lashing of the storm, she leaned against the porch railing of the three-story brick house.  She ignored her drenched condition as she watched the trees bend and sway in harmony with the wind.

             
“Miss Cromwell!”

             
A startled voice caused her to turn and smile at the anxious black face peering out at her.   “Hello, Micah.”

             
“I’s didn’t know you was here, ma’am.”  Eagerly, her father’s butler opened the door.  “Come in, come in!”

             
Carrie cast one last wistful look at the storm and moved inside.  Sam was just     coming in the back door with her luggage.   “Is Father here, Micah?”                               
              “No, ma’am.  He done sent a messenger a while back.  Said he got to be in a meetin’.  He be home ‘round dinner time.” 

             
Carrie looked at the large grandfather clock just striking three o’clock.  That gave her a couple of hours.  She was anxious to see her father, but she was glad for the opportunity to take a bath.  The long, dusty drive had left her feeling grimy.