The Last, Long Night (#5 in the Bregdan Chronicles Historical Fiction Romance Series) (38 page)

“There are still things we can do,” Louisa replied evenly, knowing she had to be the voice of reason right now.  Perry had lost too much to see beyond more loss right now.  “We’ve got to save the horses and the cow; the pigs and chickens, too, if we can.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?” Perry asked, his eyes dark with defeat.

Louisa gripped his hands.  “We have to try,” she said earnestly.  “I remember you telling me about the cave you found in the hills a few miles from here.”

Perry stared at her and then nodded his head slowly, his eyes telling her he was trying to latch on to her hope.  “That could work.  We could all go there and wait for the army to leave.  If Sherman is headed for Atlanta, he’s got a lot of ground to cover. He won’t stay in any one area for long.”

Louisa thought quickly.  “We’ll load as much food and hay as we can into the wagon.  I know you can’t pull it into the cave, but if it’s way back in the woods, perhaps no one will find it.”  She saw the protest in Perry’s eyes.  “We have to at least try.”

Perry took a deep breath and reached for her hands.  “You’re right, Mrs. Appleton.  We’ll move fast and be out of here within the hour.”

Louisa shook her head.  “Just you,” she said simply.  “I’m staying.”

“You’re out of your mind,” Perry growled.  “I will not leave you alone here,” he snapped angrily.  “Don’t even bother trying to change my mind.”

Louisa understood his fear and anger, but she knew she was right even if the idea of it terrified her.  “Think about it, Perry.  If the soldiers get here and they find an empty house, they may decide to go ahead and burn it.  You heard the messenger; they’re not hurting people or destroying homes if no one resists.”  She fought to think clearly.  “They’re certainly not going to hurt a pregnant woman who can’t put up a fight.”

“But what if they burn the barn and it catches the house on fire?”  Perry asked wildly.  “No!  I can’t take that chance.  You’re coming with me.  I can handle losing the house, but I can’t handle losing you.”

“You won’t lose me,” Louisa insisted and then softened her voice as she laid her head on his chest.  “Please.  Let me do this for our family.  Our baby is due in two months.  If they burn our home, we’ll have nowhere to go.”

“But if they destroy all our food, we can’t stay here.”

“Which is why you have to take the animals and the wagon full of food to the cave,” Louisa said calmly, certain her plan would work. 

“The gin,” Perry said thickly.  “What about the future?”

Louisa thought about all their bright hope just minutes before.  “Our future is each other,” she said firmly.  “You and me.  Our baby.”  She prayed her words would penetrate his defiance.  “Everything else can be replaced as long as we have each other.”

She saw Perry’s eyes accept the truth.  “We’ve got to move fast,” she said quickly.

Five hours later Louisa watched from behind her curtains, her heart beating in terror as a cluster of soldiers, their guns drawn, approached the farmhouse.  Immediately, she very much regretted sending Perry away.  The idea of facing these men on her own was more than she could bear.  A swift kick from her unborn baby reinforced her earlier courage.

“Anyone home?”  An officer broke free from the group and rode to the porch.  “If anyone is in there, you need to come out,” he called authoritatively.

Louisa took a deep breath and stepped out onto the porch.  “What can I do for you, gentlemen?” she asked calmly.  Now that the moment had arrived, she must implement her carefully thought-out plan.

“We are soldiers of the Union army,” the man said crisply.  “My name is Lieutenant Hansen.”

“Why hello, Lieutenant,” Louisa said sweetly.  “It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?”

The lieutenant’s eyes narrowed.  “That it is, ma’am.”  His eyes settled on the open door.  “Your husband home, ma’am?”

“I’m sorry to say he’s not,” Louisa said, letting tears fill her eyes.  “He was killed two months ago when you took Atlanta.”  She let her voice drift off sadly.  “I’m afraid it’s just me and the baby,” she replied, laying her hand on her belly, knowing from the look on the lieutenant’s face that her blue eyes still had their magical effect on men.

While Louisa and the officer talked, his men had spread out to poke into the surrounding outbuildings.  “Hey, Lieutenant!  We’ve got a real nice cotton gin over here!”

“Your husband worked in cotton?”

Louisa nodded sadly.  “Yes, but now that is over.  You boys are welcome to that old gin if you want it.  It won’t do me any good now.”  She already knew they would destroy it, so it made sense not to fight it.

“Ask the woman where her livestock is!” another soldier yelled.

Louisa answered the question before it came.  “I’m afraid things have been rather difficult since my husband’s death, Lieutenant.  I’ve had to sell both our horses and the one cow I had left to keep food on the table.”

The lieutenant looked sympathetic but then gazed over at the garden.  “Looks like you had a garden this summer.  What happened to all the food?” he asked sternly.

Louisa hid her chuckle as she opened her eyes wide and blinked back big tears.  “Oh, Lieutenant, I’ve had such a difficult pregnancy since the death of my husband.  It seems like the sorrow sucked right into my baby, too.  I’ve hardly been out of bed at all since returning from Atlanta.”  She shook her head.  “My neighbors tried to help, but no one had the time to put up my garden.  They bring me food when they can, but I’m having to make do the best I can.” 

“I’m sorry, ma’am.”

Louisa gazed up at him again, almost wishing Perry was here to see her act.  What fun she would have telling him!  A sudden vision of what would happen if he was found hiding in the cave caused the fear on her face to become very real.  “Winter is on the way, Lieutenant.  Selling off our livestock was the only thing I could think to do.  Most of the hay went with the animals,” she added, thinking quickly as she saw his men head toward the hay barn. 

“Hey, Lieutenant!  What if the animals are in the woods?”

Louisa straightened.  “Your men are welcome to search the woods,” she said with quiet dignity.  “I assure you they will find nothing.”

The lieutenant smiled apologetically but waved for his men to go search behind the house.

Suddenly Louisa gasped and doubled over.  “Oh, my,” she cried. 

“Ma’am?” The lieutenant’s voice was full of alarm.

Louisa slowly straightened.  “I’m so sorry, Lieutenant.  Seems all the ruckus is making my baby a little anxious.”  She tried to smile; only this time it wasn’t acting.  Fear filled her heart as she tried to think what she would do if she went into labor right here on the porch.  Her face twisted when another spasm stole her breath.

“Sit down, ma’am!” the lieutenant ordered and then turned to his men.  “Destroy the cotton gin and take whatever hay and feed are left,” he ordered.  “Then torch the barns and outbuildings.”

“There’s a bunch of pumpkins and apples our men will sure enjoy!” one yelled.

“Take them.”

Louisa didn’t have to fake the tears that rolled down her face as the men sprang to do the officer’s bidding.  All she could do was sink down into the rocking chair on the porch and watch as the buildings begin to curl with smoke and flames.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I have my orders.”

Louisa gazed at the lieutenant for a long moment.  “I do believe you are sorry, sir.  I thank you for that.  I also thank you for leaving my home standing.  At least my baby and I will have a home.”

“We’re under orders not to destroy any homes or harm anyone as long as they don’t resist,” the officer informed her.  “Your baby should be glad it has such a smart mother.”

“Smart enough to know one very expecting woman wouldn’t stand much of a chance against twenty men with guns?  I’m not sure that’s intelligence, Lieutenant.”  Louisa tried to smile through her tears as smoke and flames created a roaring noise.  She prayed the wind wouldn’t shift and blow sparks onto the house.

The lieutenant read her mind.  “We’ll stay until the fire dies down to make sure your house is safe,” he said gruffly.

“What about food?” one of the men yelled.  “We need to find out what she’s got down in her cellar.”

“Not here,” the lieutenant barked.  “I hardly think we need to take food from a woman all alone and about to have a baby.  The apples and pumpkins are enough.” 

The charred buildings disappearing before her eyes tempered Louisa’s gratitude.  However, she could be grateful Perry was not here.  She was not at all sure he could have held his temper when the buildings were set on fire.  She was
quite
sure how the soldiers would have handled his anger.

Louisa sat quietly until the flames had subsided enough to ensure the house was safe.  All the while she struggled to take deep even breaths, grateful the spasms had passed. 

When the soldiers had the rest of the hay and feed loaded into their army wagon, the lieutenant turned to her.  He exchanged a long look with Louisa.  Neither said a word; they simply looked at each other before the officer touched the brim of his hat, turned, and cantered off to catch his men.

The sun had set, but Louisa refused to leave the porch.  Her one concession had been to walk inside and pick up a thick quilt along with a pitcher of water.  She had done nothing but rock and croon to her baby since the soldiers had left, letting the tears that streamed down her face wash away the bitterness as she stared at the burned-out remnants of their farm.  It took every bit of energy to focus on gratitude that their house was standing and the baby was unharmed.

Every sound had her straining forward in her chair as she prayed Perry would come home.  She had tried with very little success to block out images of him hurt and wounded in the woods, attacked before he ever reached the safety of the cave.  She’d also had very little success blocking out images of what her life would be like without him.

All she could do was rock and croon, her hand involuntarily stroking her stomach with maternal instinct, trying to give as much comfort to the baby as the baby was giving to her.  Louisa wrapped the blanket more tightly around her swollen body and tried to breathe evenly.  “Perry,” she whispered, for what must have been the hundredth time. 

A sudden rustle in the woods had her jerking forward, holding her breath as the baby kicked in protest.  Perry materialized next to the porch.  “Louisa?” he asked softly.

“They’re gone,” she cried, jumping up and hurrying down the steps to throw herself into her husband’s arms.  “They’re gone!”  The tears flowed freely again.  “You’re safe.  Thank God, you’re safe!”

Perry gathered her close and stroked her hair until her breathing became more even and the tears stopped flowing.  “It’s okay,” he murmured over and over.  “Everything is okay.”

Louisa finally took a deep breath and pulled back in his arms to look up at him.  “The livestock?  The wagon?”

“Everything is safe,” he assured her.  “I left them there so I could come back to check on the farm.  I’ll get them tomorrow.”  His jaw clenched with fury as he looked past her at the burned-out hulks of their farm buildings. 

Louisa gripped his face in her hands and forced him to look at her.  “We still have each other.  We still have our home.   We can rebuild everything else in time.”

“Our food?”  Perry asked.

Louisa’s laugh rang out through the night until she doubled over.  She glanced up at Perry’s concerned face and started laughing all over again.  “Oh, Perry,” she gasped, “you should have seen me.  I do believe I may take up acting.”

She relayed her conversation with the lieutenant until both of them were holding their sides in laughter.  “So, yes, Mr. Appleton,” she said demurely, batting her lashes at him, “our food is just fine.  The lieutenant didn’t want to take the only food supply from the poor fragile widow with child.”

“The poor man,” Perry finally said, once his laughter had died down.  “He didn’t stand a chance against you.”

“That would be correct,” Louisa said primly.

Perry wrapped her tightly in his arms as he stared out over the ruins of their farm and then led her inside and closed the door firmly.  “I will start to rebuild tomorrow,” he said firmly.  “Right now I’m just grateful we still have the most important things.”  He looked at her tenderly.  “And you, my love, are the most important thing.”