Shifted By The Winds (25 page)

Robert shook his head. “Where are the children?”

“John went down to play with the other children in the quarters. Hope is just stirrin’. Rose fed her before she left for school, and then that sweet little girl went right back to sleep.”

Robert’s eyes were trained on the curve of the driveway. “Go on inside with her,” he suggested. “Clint and I can handle whatever this is.”

“The rifles are just inside the door,” Annie murmured as she turned and disappeared.

Robert stepped up to the edge of the porch.

“Want the guns out here?” Clint asked quietly.

“Won’t do us much good if they’re sitting inside,” Robert replied, hoping with all his heart they wouldn’t be needed.

Robert was relieved by the sound of the guns being deposited on the table just beside him. He was also grateful he had taken the time to teach Clint and his father, Gabe, how to handle a rifle. His pulse quickened as he waited for the carriage to round the curve.

When it did, it was still too far away to identify the occupants, but he was relieved to see there were only two people. There were no additional horsemen to indicate an increased threat. Still, he waited patiently, every muscle tensed for action. When the carriage drew closer, the first thing he felt was confusion. “Is that…?”

“Who is it?” Clint asked. “Looks like one of them is a woman.”

“That it is,” Robert agreed, stepping off the porch to wait for the carriage to pull up to the house. “We’re not in any danger.” The carriage rolled up before he could explain further. “Hello, Louisa,” he called courteously. “And I’m assuming the man with you is your husband, Perry Appleton?” He laughed when a third head popped up, blond hair glistening in the sun. The boy was the spitting image of his father. “And this must be your son.”

Louisa smiled brightly. “Robert Borden! I’m so glad to know you survived the war.”

“As am I,” Robert said mildly. Louisa was as beautiful as ever, though fine lines around her eyes at twenty-four said the years had been full of stress and hardships. “To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?” His brain whirled with questions, but he needed to let them tell their own story. The last he knew, Louisa and Perry were in Georgia. The Blackwell Plantation had sat empty for the entirety of the war. As far as he knew, it was still unoccupied.  It had not been destroyed, but he was sure everything worth taking had been raided by Union troops when Richmond was under siege.

Clint stepped forward. “I’ll be happy to take your carriage to the barn and give your horse some water.”

“I would appreciate that,” Perry said, his voice and manner dismissive.

Robert narrowed his eyes. “This is Clint. He is my stable manager and right-hand man. Your horse will be in good hands.”

Perry shot him a look Robert couldn’t interpret as he stepped from the carriage. Carrie had told him Louisa’s husband had lost his leg during the war, but still he winced.

Perry caught his expression. “It doesn’t bother me anymore,” he said. “I’ve learned there is very little I can’t do on a wooden stump. Sometimes it takes me a little longer, but it still gets done.”

“My husband is amazing,” Louisa said proudly as she walked to the base of the porch and gazed up. “Cromwell Plantation is still so beautiful,” she said. “It’s almost as if the war never happened. Nothing has changed.”

Robert understood the envy in her voice. He was also grateful there was none of the angry vindictiveness he had grown to associate with her. “We’ve been very fortunate,” he agreed.

“Mama! Can I get out?”

Louisa smiled and reached out her arms to swing her son to the ground. “This is Jasper.”

“Two years old?” Robert guessed.

“He’ll be three this winter,” Louisa answered, her eyes soft with love and pride as she watched Jasper dash up the stairs. “He was born in the middle of a terrible snowstorm in Georgia. He and Perry are the greatest joys of my life.”

Robert smiled. Carrie had been right. The self-centered plantation daughter had changed.

Louisa looked at the house eagerly. “Is Carrie here?”

“She’s in medical school in Philadelphia.”

Louisa’s eyes widened, but she just smiled. “I suspected she would make her dream come true.”

“And you’re all right with your wife being away?” Perry asked.

Robert met his eyes evenly, not sure yet what he thought of Louisa’s husband, but suspecting they believed differently about many things. “I miss her every day, but I knew from the first week I met her that she wanted to be a doctor. I would never stand in the way of what she wants to do. I’m very proud of her.”

“Of course,” Perry said hastily, looking away to scan the pasture. “Those are some beautiful horses.”

Robert nodded. Now that the babies were weaned and their mother’s milk was dried up, he had allowed the mares to rejoin them in the fields. He knew what a beautiful sight they were because he stood right where Perry was and admired them every morning. “Thank you. Cromwell operates now as a horse breeding facility, as well as a tobacco plantation.”

“Congratulations,” Louisa said warmly. “Robert, the last time I saw you I was totally horrid. In fact,
all
the times I saw you I was horrid. I’m so very sorry for how I treated you. I’m hoping you can forgive me and start fresh.”

Robert didn’t bother to refute her statements, but he was more than willing to accept her apology. “The war changed us all,” he said graciously. “I’m not proud of who I was before the war, either.”

Louisa nodded, her eyes radiating her gratitude.

Robert was still puzzled, however. “I thought y’all were living in Georgia now. What are you doing up in Virginia? Have you returned to check on your family’s plantation?”

Perry scowled. “There’s not much in Georgia for us now,” he said bitterly.

Robert looked at him sympathetically. “Your farm was in the way of Sherman’s Army?” he guessed.

“They destroyed almost everything. Louisa’s quick thinking saved some of it.” Perry’s expression was a mixture of shame and pride. “I was hiding back in the woods with our livestock and as much food as we could load up. Louisa stayed behind, believing they would not burn our home if there was a lone pregnant woman in it.”

Robert’s heart caught at the look in his eyes. “I can’t imagine…” He knew how hard it would have been for him if he had been the one hiding while Carrie stayed behind.

“It worked,” Louisa said brightly. “Our home and most of our food were saved.”

“But they still destroyed our barns and the cotton gin I was counting on to rebuild after the war. Perry’s voice was thick with anger. “Sherman’s plan was to bring Georgia to its knees. He succeeded.”

Annie opened the door and walked out on the porch with a tray of tea and cookies. “I hear there be a little boy out here who might want a cookie,” she called.

Jasper grinned and scampered across the porch on his chubby legs. “Me!” he yelled. “I love cookies!”

Louisa smiled, but also looked confused as she gazed at Annie.

Robert interpreted her look. “Annie, this is Perry and Louisa Appleton. Perry and Louisa, I’m pleased to introduce Moses’ mother, Annie.”

“I’m so pleased to meet you,” Louisa said quickly, but her face was still perplexed.

Again, Robert understood. He didn’t know what the rumor mill had already told them, so he would have to try to clarify things. “Rose and Moses used to be slaves here on the plantation.”

Louisa nodded slowly. “Rose was Carrie’s slave. I remember now.”

“Yes. Now Moses and Rose are co-owners of Cromwell Plantation.” He stifled a laugh as both Perry and Louisa stared at him, their mouths gaping open with shock. “Moses’ mother, Annie, lives here with us and takes care of the kitchen and children.”

Annie grinned, obviously enjoying the look on their guests’ faces. “I do believe I hear a little girl hollering,” she said easily. “Y’all sit down and enjoy this tea and cookies.”

Robert continued to hide his smile. “Moses and Rose have a four-year-old son, and a ten-month-old baby girl. As well as a ten-year-old they adopted after the race riots in Memphis back in May.”

Perry was the first to find words. “I see.”

Robert made no attempt to hide his laughter now. “Surely you had heard things were rather unconventional on Cromwell Plantation.”

Louisa nodded. “We had,” she said faintly. “We just hadn’t heard the whole story.”

Carrie could smell death before they entered the cholera hospital. Classes and clinic work had kept her going nonstop in the last several weeks. She was still struggling with what to do, but she’d had no time to explore further or make any decisions. Or maybe she was using the activity as an excuse to avoid the issue.

The death rate from cholera was rising. In spite of her misgivings, she had volunteered to use her one free afternoon to visit the hospital. The city had provided nurses and doctors. Carrie knew she wouldn’t be welcome if it was discovered she was from the Female Medical School, but she couldn’t stay away.

She smiled warmly when a harried, weary-looking nurse met her at the door. “Hello.”

The nurse had a kind face, but it was evident she was completely overwhelmed. “What can I do for you, ma’am? You do realize this is the cholera hospital, don’t you?”

“I do,” Carrie assured her. She had decided to do whatever it took to get inside. She had to see what was happening for herself. Up to this point, she’d only heard stories. “I served as a nurse during the war.” At least that much was true. She didn’t feel the need to say it was a Confederate hospital, or that she had actually worked as a doctor. “I’d like to help.”

“The city has sent nurses,” the woman replied.

“Yes, but do you have enough?” Carrie knew by the look on the woman’s face that they were woefully understaffed. “I have experience with cholera patients.” She didn’t feel the need to explain that her experience was only from the books she had been devouring in the last weeks. She hid her smile when the woman’s eyes lit with quick interest.

“Experience?”

Carrie nodded. “I work in one of the other hospitals, so I don’t have a lot of time to give, but I’d like to help if I can.”

The nurse, evidently accepting her explanation, led her back toward one of the rooms. “There’s not much we can do but try to make them comfortable,” she said sadly.

“How many are dying?” Carrie asked, trying to keep the concern from making her voice sharp.

“All of them,” the woman answered weakly.

Carrie jolted to a stop. “
All
of them?” Her heart pounded wildly. “
Every
single patient is dying?”

The nurse shrugged her shoulders helplessly. “There is nothing to do for them. When they get here, the disease has already claimed them. We keep them warm and try to give them some fluid, but that doesn’t stop their death.” Her eyes filled with tears. “At least they aren’t alone,” she murmured, turning toward the room again.

Carrie followed her numbly, her brain spinning. Modern medicine had offered many remedies in previous epidemics that had proven completely useless. She had the thought that perhaps she should at least be grateful they were not bleeding the patients here, but the stench of death filling her nostrils as soon as she entered the room wiped away any feelings of gratitude. Her eyes fell on the long rows of beds, where most of the patients seemed to indeed be on the very verge of death. Their eyes, if they were open, were blurred and numb. Pale faces with blue-tinged lips hovered above bodies racked with spasms. Hoarse voices called weakly for help as hands fluttered feebly.