On to Richmond (65 page)

             
Rose bowed her head on the windowsill.  What, indeed, had happened to her trust?  How could she totally trust God one minute and wallow in fear the next? 

             
Trustin’ done take a lifetime, Rose girl.  Every time, it seems like you got to learn it again.  But it gets to be some easier.  You finally figure out that God does really love you.  Then the trustin’ get easier.  God done already know how you feel.  Let him take you through the hard times.  He’ll teach you to trust...

             
Tears filled Rose’s eyes when she finally looked up from the windowsill.  A strange peace had entered her heart.  Along with it came an understanding.  Moses needed to leave secure in her love.  Secure in her belief in him.  “Thank you, Mama,” she whispered. 

She was ready for Moses when he finally entered the room.  His eyes glowed tenderly when he saw her waiting on the bed for him.   Not taking his eyes from her, he undressed and then lowered himself on
to the bed beside her. 

             
Rose gazed into his dark eyes for a long moment.  “I love you, Moses.”  She kissed him tenderly and then whispered, “And I’m very proud of you.”  She allowed her fingers to trace a pattern on his muscular back, moving gently over the whip lash scars he had gained in his early years of slavery. 

             
“Oh, Rose,” he groaned.  “I love you, too.”  He kissed her then, his tenderness quickly changing to passion. 

             
It was a long time before they rolled over to face each other and talk quietly.  Moses held both of her hands while they talked. 

             
“I’m coming home to you, Rose.  This war is a horrible thing, but we’ve just started new.  We still have a lot of living to do.  I’m coming home.”

             
Rose nodded and put her finger to his lips.  “I believe you, Moses.  I know you have to do this thing.  I’m proud of you.  I believe you’re going to open up the way for many more black men to follow.”  She paused.  “One of the reasons I love you is that you’re a leader.  I’m sorry I let my fears get the best of me.  I guess I’ll always have to fight them.”  She paused again.  “I just don’t want to lose you,” she whispered softly.  “You hold all my heart, you know.”

             
Moses nodded.  “Just like you hold all of mine,” he said gently, leaning forward to kiss her again.

             
Rose never wanted this night to end.  She returned his kiss and pressed her body close to his.  Once again they were lost in the passion of their love.  If there was no more - at least they would have this one last night.

CHAPTER THIRTY

             
Eddie had a worried look on his face as he strode in the door and threw a quick glance back over his shoulder as if he was afraid someone was watching him.

             
Fannie glanced up from her sewing and frowned.  “Something wrong?”

             
Eddie shook his head.  “I don’t know.  I guess I’s a little spooked.  This city be making me more and more nervous.” 

             
Opal put down her own sewing to watch the exchange.  Once again she was trying to patch the only other dress she owned.  For a brief moment, she longed for the plantation.  Their clothes hadn’t been fancy, but they were always in good condition.  She was ashamed of the two dresses she owned now.  Of course, things might be as scarce on the plantation as they were becoming in Richmond.  She could have made herself a new dress if the material that could be found was not so exorbitant in price.  She sighed, finished her last stitch, tied a knot, and broke the thread. 

             
Fannie’s face had grown more anxious.  “Do you think they know what we doing?”  Her tone was furtive, and she kept her voice low even though the windows in the house were closed and no one was home but them.

             
Opal understood.  You couldn’t be too careful right now.  Martial law had been declared in Richmond.  It was impossible to enter the city without a pass.  Alcohol and firearms had been outlawed.  The city had become desperate to find a way to stop the lawlessness sweeping its streets.  At first Opal had been glad.  At least she was sleeping without sporadic gunfire jolting her from her bed all hours of the night.  It was the crackdown on Union sympathizers that had them all worried.  People were being taken from their homes and put in jail for not avowing wholehearted loyalty to the Confederate cause. 

             
Eddie shook his head.  “I don’t know how they could.  We been so careful. But I don’t know,” he sighed.  “I can’t get out of my head how that policeman watched me walk away after I stopped to help Spencer and Miss Carrie.  I knowed I shouldn’t’ve stopped, but I couldn’t see Miss Carrie getting hurt.”  He shook his head firmly.  “No, sir, I couldn’t see her getting hurt.  I done the right thing.”

             
“Of course, you did,” Opal said quickly.  “That policeman couldn’t have known anything.  I think everybody is just nervous right now.”

             
Fannie nodded, looking at Opal in gratitude.  Opal knew her cousin lived in constant fear something was going to happen to one of them.   Because of their activities, much information had been smuggled out to the Union authorities.  But so far, it seemed the crackdowns were concentrating on white people. 

             
Eddie took a quick glance at Fannie’s face and tried to reassure her.  “I be sho’  ain’t nobody knowing what we doing.  I just extra careful, I guess.  Anyway, we seem to keep gettin’ by with things.”

             
“Like not havin’ Miss Carrie walk right in the middle of one of our meetin’s?”  Fannie asked, with a glimmer of her normal humor. 

             
Opal laughed.  “I would have so loved to see her, but not that Sunday.  Not with the house full of people supposedly here for lunch.  We wouldn’t’ve got
any
planning done!”

             
Eddie nodded.  “I felt sorry for that little lady the soldier tried to have his way with, but I sho was glad I had a chance to tell Miss Carrie you wadn’t home.”

             
Opal nodded.  Seeing Carrie would have been wonderful, but what Opal and the others were doing that Sunday was much more important. 

             
Fannie nodded, her face once more composed as she picked up the dress she was mending for Sadie.  “I guess the good Lord done be looking after us.”

             
Eddie nodded and then dropped his voice.  “He get another chance tomorrow.”

             
Fannie looked up sharply.  “A delivery?”

             
Eddie nodded, his eyes bright with excitement.  “Mrs. Hampton done bribed one of them prison guards.  I guess he need the money real bad.  Anyway, she say she got some information the Union will find real helpful.”

             
“When?” Fannie asked.

             
Eddie shrugged.  “I go downtown to one of the drops tomorrow morning sometime.  They put the sign out when the way be clear.”

             
Fannie merely nodded, but the worried look had returned to her face. 

             
Opal searched for the other hole in her dress she wanted to mend, wondering how long they would be able to get away with what they were doing.  Just then the back door opened and shut quickly.  The children had been told in no uncertain terms to not let any precious heat out of the house.  Spring was on the way, but winter was still teasing them.  Opal pulled her coat closer around her as a draft of cold air whirled past.  Firewood had become scarce in the whole city.  There had been many days when there was no heat in the house at all. 

             
“Mama, I’s hungry,” nine-year-old Amber announced.

             
Fannie looked even more anxious as she got up and headed to the kitchen.  Minutes later Amber, holding a piece of cornbread, walked into the room. 

             
Opal frowned at the pinched look on the little girl’s face.  There simply was not enough food to keep them all satisfied.  At first Opal had felt guilty for being another mouth to feed.  Then Eddie had reminded her they would have even less than they did now without her paycheck to help.  Prices had skyrocketed, and the staple items could oftentimes not be found.  The food from the garden had run out about a month or so ago.  It would be several more months before the garden would produce again.  Thin, watery soup, along with cornbread, had become the mainstay of their diet.  All of them were feeling it, but Opal felt worse for the children.  She thought longingly of the stocked cellar and smokehouses of the plantation.   What she would give to see the children well fed!

Opal waved good-bye to Fannie as she made the turn that would take her to the
state armory building where she worked.  Fannie returned the wave and continued on her way to the Tredegar Iron Works perched on the banks of the James River.

             
Opal sighed when she entered the building.  She didn’t miss working in the tobacco fields, but she did miss being outdoors in the sunshine.  Coming in to work at seven o’clock in the morning and not leaving until seven o’clock at night made it seem as if the whole world were shrouded in perpetual darkness – especially during the long winter she had just endured.  At least now with spring just around the corner, she could enjoy a little light while she walked to work. 

             
She nodded pleasantly to the other women around her before she moved to her place on the sorting bench.  The work of sorting shells was tedious, but at least it wasn’t dangerous.  Fannie’s job of packing shells with gunpowder had already injured more than one careless worker.

             
“Howdy, Opal.  You goin’ to the meetin’ at church tonight?”

             
Opal smiled at Mabel, the cheerful old woman who worked next to her.  They had become friends during all the hours they worked side by side.  “Why, I suppose I am,” she said absently.  Her mind was with Eddie - wherever he was.  They had talked at home again this morning about how important the message was that he was trying to send on.  She had been worried about the anxious look in his eyes.  Was he not telling them something?  Was there a reason for people to suspect him?  Was he hiding something to keep Fannie from worrying?