SIXTEEN
It was too dark for Elijah and Rebekah to make their way back. They would all stay here for the night and reassess in the morning. Lydia would worry, but there was nothing they could do.
Rebekah and Maggie slept in Levi and Abigail’s room, and Elijah returned to his old bed in the loft.
Morning came and the three went outside to inspect the damage.
A blackened heap of charred timber was all that remained of the barn.
The outhouses were completely gone, leaving spots similar to a campfire.
All the work that Abigail and Maggie had done on the garden was once again ruined.
Boot prints and ruts from wagon wheels compacted the tilled soil down.
The cross in the lower field leaned, but was at least still standing.
When she had first arrived and witnessed the untarnished farm, she had asked Levi how he had remained so lucky. Well, that luck had run dry.
“What happened to the flock?” Elijah asked in a tight voice.
“Your father had taken them to the upper pasture. We should check them before you take Rebekah home.”
Almost in a trance, Maggie followed Elijah and Rebekah up the mountain.
There was one small mercy that she thought of—the Calvary arrived after Sullivan and Griffen had gone.
If they’d been here, it would have been a skirmish, with either the two corporals killed outright or taken prisoner.
No doubt the Yankees would’ve burned the house over their heads for harboring them. And they would’ve lost the flock.
Maggie frowned. They should be hearing the flock by now. They were just on the other side of this next turn…
The sight before her turned her stomach. Kneeling over, she vomited. Elijah collapsed on the ground and Rebekah rushed to his side.
All around the field lay the carcasses of their beloved flock. Every one of them slaughtered. Their wool still thick, and meat still on their bones. Their bodies were swelling in the sunshine, already starting to rot. Soon, buzzards would come, and other animals would prey on them.
There had been no purpose in this brutal attack. Only to make the people of the South suffer.
One tiny sound cut through the rage and anguish that threatened to tear Maggie apart. Wiping her mouth, she panted, “Did you hear that?”
But grief had absorbed Elijah and Rebekah.
There. The sound beckoned Maggie again and she shot off towards it. Scanning, she tried to pinpoint it.
It can’t be.
Disbelief stunned her as she got closer. Hidden against its mother’s body, the little lamb cried out. When the mother was killed, the lamb must’ve stayed by her side all throughout the night. It was a miracle it wasn’t heard by a predator.
Maggie gently scooped it up, trying to soothe it. “Shhh, you’ll be alright. We will take care of you.” Watching her step, she carried it back to where Elijah and Rebekah still sat.
“It survived?” Rebekah was as shocked as Maggie.
“It’s got to be hungry. All we have is water.”
“We can take it back to Mother. She has bottle-fed many sheep before, when necessary.”
Nodding in agreement, Maggie headed down towards the farm.
“Wait,” Elijah called. His voice was ragged. “Count the bodies. See if any were taken.”
Maggie didn’t really see the point, but she still waited. Rebekah stood by her side as Elijah went around the pasture. When he finished, he looked absolved. “Aside from the lamb, half a dozen are missing. Either they ran away, or the Cavalry took what they could.”
“Does thee want to search—” Rebekah started to ask, but Elijah stopped her.
“No. I just pray that Father didn’t witness this utter waste.”
That they all agreed on. If he had, God help him. It would have gutted Levi.
Maggie knew Rebekah was antsy to get home to her mother, as Lydia would be fearing the worst when her daughter and Elijah hadn’t returned.
Elijah, however, didn’t want to leave Maggie alone.
They argued until Maggie gave in, promising to stay for a day or two while they decided the next steps for the farm.
Rebekah had been correct in her prediction concerning her mother, for as soon as they came to the top of the hill of the Brown’s farm, Lydia and the children flew out the door.
They shouted dozens of questions to them all at once. Lydia held her daughter tightly and ushered them all into the house. Sarah took the lamb from Maggie’s arms to care for it.
Joseph Jr. circled around Elijah, desperate to know what had happened.
Had Elijah seen the Calvary? Was there a battle?
But Elijah didn’t even glance at the boy.
Hannah and Joseph Jr. were sent out to the barn to help Sarah tend the lamb.
Once the children were out of earshot, Rebekah told her mother the news.
“This war continues to take everything,” Lydia raged while crying. “I never would’ve dreamed… How undeserving those people are. Abigail will heal them with all that she can, and then she’ll return home. She must. They all must.”
Only when Maggie heard the urgency in the last sentence did she realize that Lydia wasn’t only speaking of Levi and Abigail, but of her own husband as well.
The little children returned shortly after, and Lydia tasked them with filling the tub. She instructed the boys to go back outside once it was full. “Maggie, thee can go first.”
Embarrassed, Maggie knew she was filthy and reeked of smoke. She couldn’t turn it down. She scrubbed and rinsed as quickly as she could, hidden behind the screen. Thankful that she had the foresight to bring another set of clothes, she changed into them and came out.
The tub had to be emptied and filled once more before it was Rebekah’s turn.
She lingered longer than Maggie, taking the time to pin up her hair so that Elijah wouldn’t see her disheveled.
But when Lydia called back out to have the tub emptied and refilled for Elijah next, only Joseph Jr. came inside.
“Where’s Elijah?”
“He said he’d rather wash in the creek.”
“The creek? But he’ll freeze!” Lydia exclaimed.
Joseph Jr. just shrugged. Lydia’s eyes met Maggie’s in concern. But Maggie knew it was Elijah’s way of getting a moment alone to process it all. She, above everyone, could understand that.
Two days passed and Maggie was ready to go home. She didn’t belong here. The children were delightful, and it was comforting to see them care for the lamb, but after living in the house with them all, she felt like a sojourner. Displaced for a second time.
It’d be hard to be alone, but she couldn’t stay here. Maggie had done as Abigail had asked. She had checked on Elijah and he was safe. It would take time to come to terms with what had happened, but he would be okay.
She was preparing how to say goodbye when an unexpected visitor arrived.
He had come on foot, walking the several miles from Albemarle. Lydia at once welcomed ‘Mr. Thompson’. Elijah knew him as well, though he was not a Friend. After giving Maggie the once-over, the man paid more attention to Elijah and Mrs. Brown.
The reason behind the odd visit was soon revealed—he’d brought news from town.
“The whispers of a Union Cavalry raiding western North Carolina drifted in a few days before they came. Tales of torn-up railroad lines, towns burned to the ground, and sheer destruction. We all thought the town would be burned to the ground. But something strange happened when they arrived. A group of soldiers had propped their guns up in the town square after ransacking the remnants of the general store. One of the guns fell and misfired, shooting one of them. Evidently, the soldier was related to one of the officers, and they demanded that the local physician treat him. But Dr. Miniac’s been gone a long time— joined one of the Stanley County regiments at the start of the war.
This wasn’t welcome news. That’s how your mother’s name came up,” Thompson nodded towards Elijah.
An anger Maggie had never seen in Elijah before turned his face a dark shade of red. “Thee offered my mother up on a silver platter to save thy own neck.”
It didn’t faze Thompson. “Son, I didn’t spend the better part of two days dragging my arse up these hills to beg for your forgiveness. I said I had news for you.”
“More than the reason she was taken?” Elijah asked hotly.
Thompson paused and laced his fingers together, waiting for Elijah to pull himself together. Lydia intervened. “Please, if thee has other news, share it.”
The old man leaned forward. “Officers were gathered outside of the church, debating on what to do next while they loaded up, ready to move out. The reverend was inside and heard their plans. They’re going north, towards Salisbury.
Another general’ll meet them there. Once they’ve captured the town, they’ll split off.
Half of the troop’ll head on to Tennessee, to prevent any sort of retreat from our boys.
Didn’t say where the other half was going…
Salisbury or Tennessee. That’s where you’ll find your mother. ”
The information silenced them all. Maggie could see the wheels turning in Elijah’s head as he mentally calculated how he would bring his parents back.
“That’s got to be hundreds of miles away…” Maggie said slowly. “They’d let Abigail go once she healed the boy. Right?”
Old man Thompson looked at her funnily but shook his head. “Not until they reach Salisbury. And that’s banking on the fact that a physician or medic team accompanies the other general.”
“Or until their physician becomes well again.”
He snorted. “That’s what they told her? Their physician is gone. Killed by the militia at the last town they raided. Probably why they decided to pick up the pace when the boy was shot in town. Accidental or not, two hits in two towns—a bad omen.”
Her heart sank. Levi’s bad leg prevented him from walking more than a few short miles uphill. How would he navigate a few hundred?
Elijah slammed his fist on the table. The women all jumped, unaccustomed to such an outburst. “How will they ever get back?” He asked weakly.
Seeing that his news had hit its mark, Mr. Thompson made for the door and bid them all a good day.
No one answered Elijah. Maggie wracked her brain, desperate to think of a solution. She knew of only one person in the Union who might be able to find Abigail and help…
“Henry,” she whispered.