Yankee Belles in Dixie (11 page)

“Yes, our ma died when the baby was born. Esther's her name. We couldn't take care of her—all three of us in the army. So Mr. Carter and his wife, they sent a letter saying they'd keep Esther till we were able. So that's where she is—in Pineville.”

“That's just like something Dan would do. Mary too. That pair is mighty special,” Silas said. He fixed his bright blue eyes on Tom. “I guess it's a little bit hard on you, isn't it? I mean, being in the Confederate army and some of your friends back home, such as the Carters, being on the other side.”

Tom took a deep breath, then released it. There was sorrow in his eyes. “I guess there are folks all over this country torn apart like us. But I don't think of the Carters as Yankees—they're just friends and neighbors. I guess that's what Mr. Lincoln meant when he said we must not be enemies. We're
one people. After this is over I hope it will be that way again.”

At that point, Leah came in. “All right, time to eat!” She went behind Silas's chair and pushed him into the dining room. “Now, you sit here by me, Jeff, and you can sit over there by Sarah, Tom.”

Jeff grinned. “You've gotten real bossy, haven't you? Who died and made you queen?” Nevertheless, he sat down.

Silas said, “I reckon we'll have the blessing, if you boys don't mind.” He said a quick prayer and then looked up over the food and took a deep breath. “Well, this is something. You fellows pitch in. You girls too, and I'll show you how a sick man can start to get well.”

Food was not yet in short supply in Richmond. They had pork chops and beans and sweet potatoes and fried chicken for the main meal, with fluffy biscuits and glasses of frothy white milk.

Afterward, when Sarah brought out a peach pie, Tom groaned. “Why didn't you tell me you had peach pie, Sarah? You know that's my favorite, and I didn't save room for it.”

“That's all right. I did,” Jeff said. “I can eat yours.”

But Tom rapped his hand and told him to mind his own business.

After the meal they sat around talking for a while, but very soon Uncle Silas grew tired, and Sarah went to help him into bed. “Come on, Jeff, I'll show you around the neighborhood,” Leah offered.

“All right.” Jeff got up, and the two went outside.

They walked along the streets of Richmond. Leah pointed out various trees and birds' nests
she'd already spotted. The air was calm now and getting cooler. The moan of doves was in the air.

“I like that sound, don't you? It reminds me of home.”

“Yes, it is nice.” Suddenly Jeff said, “Say, Leah, I'm sure glad you're here. How long are you going to stay?”

“I don't know,” she said, pleased to hear Jeff admit he was glad to see her. “We'll have to stay until Uncle Silas gets well—or well enough to get along without nursing. Now tell me all about Fort Donelson. Did you see any of the fighting?”

As they walked along, he told her the story of the fall of Donelson and how they had escaped with General Forrest and made their way back to Richmond.

Listening, she thought,
My, he seems to have gotten taller in just the short while since I saw him. He's going to be as tall as his father, I bet—and maybe as good looking
.

Inside the house Sarah returned to find Tom looking at the pictures on the parlor wall. “Where did Leah and Jeff get off to?” she asked.

“They're out looking at birds' nests, I suppose—trying to find an ostrich egg. You know how they are.” Tom came over and stood close. “I've missed you,” he said simply.

Her cheeks flushed, and she looked very pretty. “I've missed you too.” Then hastily she added, “Come along. We can go for a walk too—before it gets too dark. Uncle Silas will be all right.” They walked outside, saw Jeff and Leah far down the block, and followed them slowly.

He talked about the army. “You know, Richmond's not the safest place for you to be now,
Sarah. Everybody in the North and South knows General McClellan's coming with the Army of the Potomac. Word is, he's ready to come. You'll be trapped here in Richmond—a city under siege.”

Sarah said nothing for a moment. Then she murmured, “It's all right, Tom. We know that God told us to come here, so He'll take care of us. Now let me tell you about Esther.” She told about all the things that the baby had done, how sweet she was, how she looked. “I wish I had a picture of her. She's the sweetest baby I've ever seen. It was a real blessing when she came to be with us. Even Morena is taken by her.”

By now they had nearly caught up to Jeff and Leah.

“Are you still trusting God about your pa?” Leah asked.

Jeff had noticed his brother and Sarah approaching. He quickly said, “Well, I'm still praying. I got to admit getting him out of prison doesn't look very possible, but I'm not giving up.”

“I guess it's never easy to follow God, Jeff. But the two of us, we'll never give up!”

I
f Tom and Jeff had had their way, they would have been back to the home of Silas Carter every day. However, General McClellan had landed his troops, and they were moving up the peninsula, straight for Richmond. Every available man was brought together by General Joe Johnston for the defense of the city, so the two young men were kept busy.

Leah complained one day to Sarah, “I don't see why they won't let Tom and Jeff come and see us—at least once in a while. Just the two of them won't make any difference to the old army!”

Sarah looked up from the peas she was shelling, dropping them into a bowl in her lap. “I've never seen any people as serious as these, Leah. They know if they don't stop General McClellan and the Northern army, the war will be over for them.” She slit one of the pea pods, slipped a finger in the gap, and the peas drummed into the bottom of the bowl. “In a way I wish it would be like that. All I can think of is that somewhere in that army our brother's got a part. I don't sleep well thinking about him.”

“And about Tom too, and Jeff.” Leah nodded. “I know what you mean.” She looked down at the peas in her own bowl. “I hate shelling peas. I think sometimes I'd rather dig a ditch.”

“You like to eat them well enough. You're going to be fat as a pig if you keep on eating so much. You're growing up to be a big girl anyway.”

Leah flushed. She was still self-conscious about her height. At thirteen she was already almost as tall as Sarah, who was seventeen. “Well, I may be a giant in height,” she said, “but I'll never be fat. I'll see to that!”

Later in the morning, a note came in the mail. It was addressed to Silas.

Their uncle opened it as soon as Leah handed it to him. He scanned the message quickly and said, “Well, you girls are going up in society it looks like.”

“What do you mean, Uncle Silas?”

“This is an invitation from Mrs. Mary Chesnut. She's one of the social leaders in Richmond. Her husband is President Davis's military adviser.” He scanned the note again. “She wants you and Sarah to come to a tea she's having tomorrow afternoon.”

“But we don't know her,” Leah said. “How would she know about us?”

“Oh, I've got a few friends high up, and I've told them—and I suppose they've told Mrs. Chesnut. She's a very kind lady. Her husband and I did some business together more than once. So get your best dresses out because you're just liable to run into anybody at her house—maybe even the president, or General Lee.”

“Not General Lee, I bet,” Leah said. “He's out getting the soldiers ready for the battle. I'll go tell Sarah.”

The two girls were excited about the Chesnuts' tea. At 2:00 the next afternoon they went in a carriage at Silas's insistence. The Chesnut home was a large, two-story house in one of the better sections of town. Carriages lined the street outside, and Leah said, “My gracious, it looks like everybody in
town is here. I never saw such a crowd for a tea party.”

The two girls dismounted from the carriage and walked inside, where they were met by a tall, dark-haired lady, very attractive and with a warm smile.

“I'm Mary Chesnut, and you must be Silas Carter's nieces.” She took their names and said, “Come now, let me introduce you around.”

The two girls soon had their heads swarming with names. The room was full of officers in ashgray uniforms with shiny brass buttons and black leather boots. It was not long before Sarah had attracted a small group of them around her. Her dark hair and dark eyes and attractive figure drew them like bees.

Mary Chesnut stopped beside Leah, who was sitting off to one side watching her sister. She said, “Your sister is very attractive. She's going to have lots of admirers, I think. There are so many men and not enough ladies to go around.”

“I'd think they'd all be off getting ready for the battle.”

Mrs. Chesnut had a smooth forehead, but it wrinkled now with a distinct sign of worry. She touched one pearl earring. “Yes, there will be fighting soon, so my husband says.”

She spoke for a while of the battle that was to come, and Leah could see that this gracious lady was very concerned indeed.

Finally Mrs. Chesnut glanced again at Sarah, who had been taken over, it seemed, by a young captain. Mrs. Chesnut said with a smile, “It looks like your sister has made a conquest. That's Captain Wesley Lyons. He's the son of one of the wealthiest
men in Virginia. Half the young women in Richmond, if not all, have set their cap for him.”

“He's nice looking,” Leah admitted, taking in the young man's tall form. Lyons had a wealth of brown hair that lay neatly on his head and a trim beard. “But I don't think my sister would be very interested in him.”

Mrs. Chesnut gave Leah a curious smile. “Surely every young woman is interested in an attractive, wealthy young man. Why wouldn't your sister be interested?”

Leah hesitated, then said, “She's—she's already interested in a young man.” When Mrs. Chesnut gave her an inquiring glance, Leah felt she was getting out of her depth. “But he's joined the Confederate army, and we're Union. My brother is in the Army of the Potomac.”

Mrs. Chesnut was a sensitive woman and said, “Oh, my dear! That must be very hard for you and for your sister. So many families are like that, some even here in Richmond—their sons and brothers have gone to fight for the Union. Such a time!”

* * *

   In the meanwhile Sarah found herself besieged by the young captain. He was, she saw, accustomed to having his own way with young women, and she thought,
My, he's fine looking—but spoiled to the bone! Any man as rich and good looking as he is probably never heard a woman say no. But Captain Wesley Lyons is going to have to hear that—at least from me
.

Lyons was balancing a small teacup on his knee as the two sat together. “You must allow me to show
you around Richmond, Miss Carter. I've lived here most of my life, and if you've never been here there are many fine sights to see.”

Sarah smiled but said rather pointedly, “I understand there is a battle to be fought very soon. Won't you be involved in that, Captain Lyons?”

“I wish you would call me Wesley,” he said. Then he shrugged his shoulders. “I suppose I'll be involved. I'm working with the Quartermaster Corps right now.” He seemed defensive about that. “People make fun of us because we don't fight on the front line, but if the soldiers didn't get uniforms and guns and food, what fighting would they do?”

“I'm sure you do a fine job,” Sarah said. She avoided the issue of his coming to call, but finally by sheer perseverance he wore her down, and she agreed that he might come.

She was not too surprised when, the next day, Captain Lyons arrived and invited her to go for a drive around the streets of Richmond.

As she got ready, a thought came to Sarah. She was putting on her bonnet when suddenly she looked over at Leah, sitting beside her dressing table and chatting. “Leah, I want you to go with us.”

“Me! Why, he didn't come to call on me, Sarah.”

“I know that.” Sarah adjusted the bonnet and looked at herself critically. “I don't really want to see him, and perhaps having a pesky younger sister along will scare him off.” She came over and tousled Leah's blonde hair. “I know how pesky you can be when you want to—so just outdo yourself this afternoon, will you? Make yourself absolutely obnoxious.”

Leah said indignantly, “I am not pesky, but just to show you, I will be today.”

Leah kept her word, to the captain's sorrow. When they got into the carriage, she planted herself firmly between Captain Lyons and Sarah, then turned and winked at her sister. All afternoon she kept herself between the two, talking non-stop and driving the young captain crazy.

Leah enjoyed the outing because she enjoyed puncturing the ego of Captain Wesley Lyons. However, things ended on a depressing note.

They were driving down Elm Street when Sarah noticed a crowd filing into a large, red brick building. “What's that, Captain?”

“Oh, nothing much,” he said. “Just a slave auction.”

Sarah gave Leah a sudden look, and somehow Leah knew what her sister was thinking. Both of them had grown up in a state that had slaves, but Pineville had fewer than most. In fact, there was strong Union sentiment in Pineville, and most slave owners had gotten rid of their slaves.

“Let's go inside,” Leah said impulsively. “I've never seen a slave auction.”

“Oh, I don't think you'd be interested. It's not for little girls,” Lyons said pompously.

This, of course, made Leah more determined. She enlisted Sarah's aid, and finally Captain Lyons shrugged and said, “All right, we can at least look inside.”

As they walked in, Leah saw a poster proclaiming that a firm named Johnson and Kelly was conducting a sale of Negroes. The room was large, perhaps fifty feet square. It had no furniture except for a few scattered benches and chairs. The whitewashed walls were about twelve feet high, and a pair of steep staircases led to the floor overhead. A
single door at the back apparently opened to another room.