The Last, Long Night (#5 in the Bregdan Chronicles Historical Fiction Romance Series) (73 page)

Carrie stared at the envelope in her hand for a long moment and then walked back into the room.

“We’ll leave you to read it,” Aunt Abby said.

“No,” Carrie said quickly.  “All of you are my family now.  I want all of you to hear what he has to say.  If any of it is private, I’ll leave it out.”

Everyone nodded and settled back in their chairs again, expectant looks on their faces.

“When is it dated, Carrie?” Matthew asked.

“April ninth.”

He nodded thoughtfully.  “He wouldn’t have known yet about the surrender.”

“He wrote the letter the same day Lee surrendered,” Carrie murmured, and then began to read.

Dearest Carrie,

I hope this letter finds its way to you.  I made it safely to Lynchburg and Granite is safely in a stable.  He’s already put on a little weight.

Carrie smiled with relief and then went back to reading.

Governor Smith is quite determined to set up a new Virginia government here in Lynchburg and continue the fight.  I also hear President Davis remains committed to the Confederate cause from his new headquarters in Danville.

“Not anymore,” Matthew muttered, and then clarified when everyone stared at him.  “We just received word before we came over tonight that Davis got notice of Lee’s surrender.  He is evacuating Danville, as well.”

“He’s on the run,” Jeremy commented. 

“Yes,” Peter agreed.  “Lincoln is more than willing to pardon anyone who pledges allegiance to the Union again, but I suspect your president is far from that.”

“I suspect that is true,” Carrie agreed.  She turned back to the letter.  Right now she didn’t care about what President Davis was going to do; she was only concerned with her father.

I wish I knew what Lincoln’s true intentions are.  In spite of the determination of both the governor and the president to continue the fight, I know it is over.  I discover I have no real desire to be on the run.  I’ve heard many plans to escape to Mexico, or Cuba, or even Peru.  While I admit to curiosity about those lands, I find I want nothing more than to go home to the plantation.

Carrie’s eyes filled with tears as she envisioned her father lonely and alone.  “Matthew, do you know what Lincoln intends with government officials?”

Matthew nodded.  “President Lincoln wants an easy peace,” he said confidently.  “He’s not looking for hangings and reprisals.  He wants a real peace that will allow our shattered country to grow together again.”  He paused.  “I’ve heard he’s actually hinted that he wished Davis could somehow manage to escape from the United States and go to some foreign country where vengeance could not reach him.  He wants the soldiers to go home and pick up their lives.  Lincoln also wants to begin re-establishing civil government in the Southern states.”  He took a breath.  “Of course, the war has to end first for all this to happen, but he’s fulfilling his vision of sending all the soldiers home as proof of his intentions.”

Carrie thought about the numb, aimless soldiers wandering the streets of Richmond.  “At least the ones who have somewhere to go,” she commented.

“Will the Federal government allow all this to happen?” Rose asked.  “There has been a lot of talk that not even all of Lincoln’s cabinet agrees with his approach.  Add in the Radical Republicans, and there are many who feel the South needs to pay heavily for what has happened, and they are demanding martial law.”

Matthew shook his head heavily.  “Only time will tell.  President Lincoln is an astute politician who knows how to wield his power.  It won’t be easy, but I tremble to think what our country would be like without him at the helm.”

“What else does your father say, Carrie?” Janie prompted.

I’m praying you are safe in Richmond, though I cringe to think of you living in a city under Union control.  I know you said you would return to the plantation to wait for me when you are able.  I don’t know if that is truly possible, but I find the idea of it gives me great comfort. 

I know you and Robert have a life of your own to live.  I’m going to do all I can to find my way back home quickly, hoping it is possible for me to live out the rest of my life in peace.

I love you so much, Carrie.

Father

Carrie blinked back the tears stinging her eyes and cleared her throat.

“He’s tired,” Aunt Abby said quietly.  “He’s given all he has to give for the Confederate cause and now he just wants peace.”

Carrie nodded.  “Yes.  There was a time, after mother died, when leaving the plantation and working in the government was the only thing that gave him peace.  Now all that has dissolved around him and he wants what he spent his life creating.”  A fierce longing clutched her heart.  “I so hope he is allowed to have it,” she whispered.

“The war will soon be over,” Jeremy said comfortingly.  “I truly believe Lincoln wants an easy peace.  We’ll be out on the plantation soon and then all of us will have a chance to rebuild our lives.”

Three days later, while the sky was still dark, only a faint glimmering revealing that dawn lurked beneath the horizon, a sudden banging on the door reverberated through the house.

Carrie’s eyes sprang open in alarm, and she felt Robert shift beside her.  “Go back to sleep,” she whispered, noting his breathing was a little easier.  He still had yet to do more than whisper a few words, but his eyes were getting clearer on a daily basis.  He still thought he was at Oak Meadows, but at least he knew who she was.

She could hear Miles shuffle toward the front door, grumbling at the early morning intrusion.  Sensing bad news, Carrie jumped up and slipped into a dress, not bothering with her hair. 

Rose and Aunt Abby were already at the head of the stairs, eyes wide with alarm when she hurried out of her room.  Moses was right behind her. 

“What in the world is going on?” Moses growled.

“Mr. Matthew!” Miles’ sleepy exclamation rose up the stairway. “What be wrong?”

All of them exchanged looks of deep concern and started down the stairs.

“You need to wake everyone,” Matthew said quickly.

“We’re awake,” Moses assured him. 

Janie, Clifford, Jeremy and Hobbs descended down the stairway from the opposite wing of the house. 

“What has happened?” Jeremy asked, his eyes heavy with sleep, but his voice clear and full of concern.

“Sit down,” Matthew advised in a heavy voice.  “This is indeed a dark day for our country.”

Carrie sank down along with everyone else, staring at him with fear.  “Matthew, you’re scaring everyone,” she said unsteadily.  “What is going on?”

Matthew took a deep breath and looked around the room.  “President Lincoln has been assassinated.”
              There was not a sound as everyone stared at him with complete shock.

Finally the words penetrated Carrie’s mind.  “He’s dead?  President Lincoln is dead?”  She heard the words come from her mouth, but couldn’t quite connect them with reality.

“Matthew!” Aunt Abby gasped.  “Tell us… what happened,” she stammered.

Matthew sank down heavily into a chair.  “Lincoln was attending the theater with his wife two nights ago.  They’ve identified his killer as a southern

actor, John Wilkes Booth.”
              “Oh, my God!” Carrie gasped, horrified by the president’s death, and also immediately recognizing the consequences that would come from it.

“Booth snuck into his box and shot him point-blank in the head,” Matthew said grimly. 

Carrie began to weep.

There was not a dry eye in the room as the horror sunk in.  Tears flowed freely in a room engulfed in silence. 

Carrie was the first to speak.  “What will happen now?” she whispered. 

Silence was the only answer to her question as they all exchanged lost looks. 

Many minutes passed before Aunt Abby rose and walked to the center of the room.  “We will be carried forward by hope,” she said firmly.  She gazed around on all of them, standing in the room like a prophetic angel, her eyes shining.  “A terrible thing has happened.  Carrie asked what will happen now.”  She looked around the room again, and then locked eyes with Carrie.  “We will be carried forward by hope.”

Carrie allowed the words to burn through her disbelief and horror.  She knew Aunt Abby was offering her a rope – a beacon of light in the midst of darkness. 

Slowly… very slowly… the atmosphere in the room shifted as Aunt Abby’s words sank into their hearts and mind.  The sun, just beginning to peak over the horizon, cast a rosy glow into the room. 

“You’re right,” Carrie whispered.  “Nothing will change what has happened.  We will all have to live through a dark time because of what Booth has done.  But we will survive this darkness, just as we have survived the darkness of the last four years.  We will create new lives as we reunite our country.”  Her voice grew stronger as she talked, and then she rose to stand beside Aunt Abby.

“We will be carried forward by hope.”

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The Bregdan Principle
 

Every life that has been lived until today is a part of the woven braid of life.  It takes every person’s story to create history.  Your life will help determine the course of history. 

You may think you don’t have much of an impact.  You do.

Every action you take will reflect in someone else’s life.

Someone else’s decisions.

Someone else’s future.

Both good and bad.

The Bregdan Chronicles