Tennessee Twilight: A Civil War Novel – Free Online Novel – Webnovel

This is a work of fiction. The main characters and the incidents in their lives are fictional. The setting, historical personages, and events in the Civil War are real.

Chapter 15 << – Index – >> Chapter 17

Chapter Sixteen

Sally came to the house to get Amanda one afternoon. There was a small woman with dark stringy hair standing near the gatepost.

“Can I help you?” Amanda asked as she approached the woman.

“My husband was a Rebel, ma’am,” the woman said, her eyes pleading. “Killed at the second Bull Run. I know most of you folks here are for the North, but can I still join your commune? I’ve nowhere else to go.”

The woman wore a mere shred of a dress, underneath it an old pair of men’s trousers, which were badly tattered. Her arms were bare from her elbows to her fingertips, and she was shivering so badly that her teeth chattered when she spoke. On her feet were pieces of an old rug that she had cut up and tied to her feet with twine.

“Are you going to harm me because my husband was a Yankee?” Amanda asked.

“No, ma’am,” she stammered.

“Then I won’t worry about your husband being a Rebel. Our only requirement is that you take an oath not to help either side.”

“Then I swear.”

“It’s not quite that simple,” Amanda said. “Come inside. You must sign the oath.”

“I don’t feel right about—”

“Then, I’m sorry, but you can’t stay here.”

“Is that the only way?” the woman asked.

“Yes, I’m afraid so.”

Emily had told Amanda that a certain woman might be coming to join the commune, and she didn’t know if she could be trusted. Amanda disliked disqualifying people based on rumor, but she had to be careful.

“Are you Velma Parker?”

“Yes,” the woman said. “How did you know that?”

“There are people who tell me about such things.”

“They told you some things about me, didn’t they?” Tears welled in the woman’s eyes. “It probably won’t do no good to tell you I’m a different person than I was a year ago, but I am. I won’t hurt nobody. I’ll die if you don’t take me in.”

The woman began to sob. The way her collarbone protruded from the neck of her loose dress told Amanda that she was already close to starvation.

“Listen,” Amanda said, “I’m willing to take a chance on you, but you’d better not disappoint me.”

“I promise I won’t,” the woman nodded, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “Then, can I stay?”

“Yes, but I’ll be watching you. It’s hard work here. Can you do your part?”

“Yes ma’am,” Velma answered, “I’m stronger than I look.”

“Come inside, and we’ll find you some warm clothes.”

Amanda still had that prickly feeling at the nape of her neck, and was afraid the woman was hiding something.

“Do you have anything to contribute?”

“Yes ma’am. A few apples,” she said as she drew them from the deep pocket of her trousers. “It took all my strength to keep from eating them, but I was told that I would be expected to bring something.”

“Apples? How did you save them from the foragers?”

“I buried them under the privy,” she said shyly.

“Oh, my,” Amanda said, jerking the apple away from her nose.

“They ain’t nasty or nothing,” Velma said quickly. “I buried them in a paper sack inside two burlap bags, and I washed them real good in the creek.”

“Clever girl,” Amanda said. “Come along,”

Several days later, Amanda asked Velma help her dig some potatoes from the root cellar. Velma had kept to herself since she joined the commune, and some of the members were suspicious of her.

“I’ve been troubled about something since I came here,” Velma said, as they worked. “I was afraid you’d send me away if you knew. Being with you here has brought it to my mind again.” She stopped talking. A look of fear and shame crossed her face.

“What is it?” Amanda asked, sitting down on the cold ground.

“I was here that night when them people came to scare you and your little Negro boy. Since I’m so small they made me crawl under the house and beat on the floor.”

“I knew there was something not quite right with you, but you work very hard, and you never cause me any trouble.”

“Believe me, I’ll never do anything like that again,” Velma said.

“I believe you.”
* * *
Rachel Harris came running into the kitchen early one morning. “Velma’s in the hayloft with a nigger man,” she said excitedly.

“You know better than to say that word in my house,” Amanda said angrily.

“Sorry,” Rachel said. “A Negro man. They’re curled up together asleep. Looks like they been there all night.”

“I’ll handle this,” Amanda said, brushing past Rachel.

Amanda climbed the ladder to the hayloft and crept quietly to the corner where they lay. Just then, Velma opened her eyes. The daylight and the sight of Amanda standing over them caused her to panic.

“Elias, wake up,” she whispered as she jostled the man’s shoulder. He quickly sat up, fear in his eyes. They moved apart and crawled backward.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no,” Velma said, as she retreated. “I’m sorry, ma’am. We didn’t do nothing wrong.”

“Who is this man, and what is he doing in my barn?”

“This is Elias Powder,” Velma said. “He’s an escaped slave from Georgia. I happened upon him in the woods one night on my way to guard duty at the pigsty. I heard him moaning in the bushes. He’d been beat up real bad by some Rebel soldiers who kidnapped him, intending to make him their slave, but they beat him so bad he wouldn’t be of any use to them, so they left him to die. How he made it this far I can’t imagine. By the time I found him, his back, where they slashed him with a whip, was full of infection.”

Velma couldn’t seem to explain fast enough. The words poured out of her mouth, almost one on top of the next.

“I’ve been taking care of him, and he’ll be able to travel again real soon. He’s trying to get to the Union state of Kentucky, where he’ll be a free man. Last night I told him to sleep here,” Velma continued. “There’s a cave where he’s been staying, but last night was so cold, and he didn’t have any wood for a fire. When my turn at guard duty was over at midnight, I told him to go back to the cave, but he followed me here. I sneaked him in here to get a few hours sleep. I laid down with him to help him get warm, but I didn’t mean to stay with him.”

“I see,” Amanda said.

“I think God meant me to find him,” Velma said, “or he’d be dead by now. When I have guard duty in the woods, he goes with me. I feel so much safer with him there, and he stays on the lookout so I can sleep a little while.”

What am I going to do about this?

The man looked back and forth, from Velma to Amanda. Though he was sitting, his hands and feet were all on the floor, prepared for a quick escape.

“Please, don’t tell the others,” Velma begged.

“I’m afraid they already know, or soon will.”

“We’ve got to get Elias out of here quick,” Velma said, in a panic.

“I’ll talk to the others,” Amanda said, kneading her brow. “It’s too dangerous to have him wandering about. Is the cave safe?”

“I think so,” Velma said, “but it’s so cold. He’ll need help getting more firewood.”

“Go in the house for breakfast, as if nothing’s happened. Then you can help him get settled in the cave, but he can’t stay around here long.”

“Just a couple more days, and I’ll send him on his way,” Velma promised, and headed toward the house.

“And, Velma,” Amanda called to her.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“You really have changed.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Velma smiled with satisfaction.

“You must be very careful,” Amanda told Elias. “Wait behind the barn, and I’ll bring you some breakfast.”

“Bless you, ma’am,” the man said, his hands trembling.
* * *
Food began to disappear. Just a little at first. Widow was in charge of the kitchen, and she knew exactly how much food was left the night before.

Amanda gathered everyone on the rear terrace one morning after breakfast. She stood on the porch so she could see their faces.

“You all know food’s gone missing over the past few days. It will make this matter easier if the guilty party will step forward and take her punishment.”

The women looked suspiciously at each other, but no one moved.

“Your work load will be much heavier because of your crime, but that’s the only punishment I’ll give you.”

Again, the women held their places. Amanda watched everyone closely. Any person with a conscience couldn’t sustain a lie of this magnitude very long. It was soon evident to her who the culprit was.

“Everybody go to your work,” Amanda said. “I’ll deal with this later.”

“But,” Emily stuttered, “who is it?”

“Go to work,” Amanda said firmly.
***
Amanda went to the pigsty that afternoon. Becca had found an old sow and two young males wandering aimlessly in the woods a few weeks earlier. The women had finally managed to capture them and put them in the pen in the woods. The stench of hog manure assaulted Amanda’s nostrils. She had rather smell anything but pig shit. It always made her nauseous.

“Come over here,” she called, pressing her left index finger under her nose to block the smell.

“How could you?” Amanda shouted. She slapped the woman’s cheek. “I believed in you.”

“What?” Velma cried.

“Don’t even try to deny it.”

“How did you know?”

“You couldn’t look me in the eye.”

“I’m sorry,” Velma whimpered. “I stole the food, yes, ma’am.”

“Why?” Amanda said, her voice filled with rage. “Are we not feeding you enough? Or are you feeding someone else?”

“It’s Elias, ma’am,” Velma whispered.

“You told me he was long gone from here.”

“He would be if not for me.”

“I don’t understand,” Amanda said.

“I love him,” she said, averting her eyes.

“Are you crazy?” Amanda shouted.

“Yes ma’am, probably am,” Velma sighed. “I love a Negro man.”

“You know what people think of this kind of thing!”

“He’s so kind to me, ma’am,” Velma said. A wistful smile came to her lips. “I’ve never known a man so kind. I just kept coming up with excuses why he couldn’t leave yet.”

“Don’t think you’re the first,” Amanda said gently. “I’ve heard there lives a white man with his former slave on one of the high ridges east of here. They live mostly off the land. He makes occasional trips to Greeneville for flour, sugar, and such.”

“It wouldn’t be so bad if we could get to Kentucky,” Velma said. “He’s got relatives living free up there.”

“Will they have a problem, you living with him?”

“I asked him that very question, and he says not.”

“It might be dangerous for a black and a white traveling together.”

“I’ve come to love y’all, and it’ll be hard to leave.” Velma began to weep.

“I wish you’d come to me before you resorted to stealing food,” Amanda said. “I told the others Elias was leaving, and I trusted you to keep your word. Now they’ll know. I’ll have to give you some punishment.”
***
Amanda stumbled across the rear terrace in the light of early dawn, stretching her arms, and trying to coax her eyes to open. Ben had visited her dreams again, looking as strong and handsome as the day he left. They did in her dream what they had been too shy to do in real life.

Half conscious and cold, she continued toward the privy. Her eyes were trained on the ground to keep her from tripping. She noticed some odd brown stains on the terrace. It looked like paint.

On the white stone walk that led to the privy, the spots became larger and looked more red than brown. Fully awake now, she followed the trail from the stone walk to the fencerow.

“Velma!” she cried as she knelt beside the slumped form, half-hidden by some evergreen bushes at the edge of the yard. Amanda pressed two fingers to Velma’s neck and was surprised to find a weak pulse.

Velma’s face was puffed out grotesquely, her eyes swollen shut. Blood covered the bodice of her dress, and had spilled out on the ground around her, her head wounds bleeding profusely. Amanda ran back to the terrace and called for Emily.

Emily came running. Widow was behind her. They carried Velma to the sitting room and put her on the old chaise. Amanda retrieved her kit of roots and herbs, and made bandages for Velma’s wounds. There was a deep cut in her throat, which had clearly been made by a knife or some other sharp instrument.

“Who did this to you?” Amanda asked.

Velma shook her head slightly.

“You didn’t see them?” Widow asked.

Velma shook her head again. Amanda wasn’t convinced.

That evening, after they finished eating supper in the kitchen, some of the women rose to tend to their chores.

“Wait just a minute, ladies,” Amanda said. “I’ve been thinking all day about the attack on Velma Parker, and what I should do about it.”

Amanda paused. The women began looking at each other.

“This was a vicious assault,” Amanda continued. “I have told you that you cannot attack your fellow members because their beliefs are different from yours. That’s the only way we can live together peacefully.”

She paused again.

“When I checked the boot box in the sitting room this morning, only one pair had fresh mud on them—like somebody had been walking in the yard out there. And this somebody must have attacked Velma this morning, when she left the house to take her turn at guard duty. Who got off guard duty this morning?”

“Rachel,” Emily said.

Rachel’s face went white. “I didn’t do it.”

“I know you didn’t,” Amanda said, “but somebody hoped you would be blamed for it.”

“Who is it?” Emily said, looking around.

“It was you, wasn’t it, Nell?” Amanda said.

“No, ma’am,” Nell said with conviction.

Nell was a large woman, close to six feet and a hundred and eighty pounds. She was a good worker, and she did the heavy chores that some of the smaller women couldn’t do.

“Let me see your hands,” Amanda said calmly.

Nell held out her hands, palms up. “I’ve go a few blisters from cutting wood.”

“Turn them over,” Amanda said.

“You’re trying to blame me for something I didn’t do,” Nell said, but she finally turned her hands over.

“Why are the backs of your hands so dirty?” Amanda asked.

“I didn’t take time to wash them good, I guess.”

“Bring that basin of water over here,” Amanda told Sally.

“Wash the backs of your hands,” Amanda ordered.

When she washed the caked mud off of her hands, every knuckle was split and bloody.

“All right!” Nell shouted. “I did it! And she deserved every lick I gave her. God’s law forbids the mixing of the races. I’m only sorry I didn’t kill her!” She paused for a minute, and then said in a lower voice. “I thought I had.”

“Now you know what I must do,” Amanda said.

“You can’t throw me out!”

“You’re a big girl, perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. Go back to your cabin in the hills. You can hunt and trap to get through the winter. We’ll send a little food with you.”

“I’m not leaving!”

“Yes, you are,” Amanda said, pulling her revolver from her pocket.
* * *
When Velma and Elias were well enough to travel, Amanda and Emily escorted them to a Union encampment a few miles up the Greeneville Road. The colonel there promised that they would receive safe passage into Kentucky. Amanda bid them a sad farewell. The commune had done all they could for the couple. God would have to see to the rest.

Amanda had read once that what happens to us in this life is what we need to balance out our past lives here on earth. Too much joy would cause complacency, and the expectation of only joy to come. Too much pain and grief would cause us to despair.

I must have had plenty of joy in my previous lives.

Christmas 1864
Amanda thought of the food she once had at Christmastime: cookies, fruit, nuts, and hard candy—left to melt in your mouth for hours. Her salivary glands went wild, and she had to go to a spittoon and spit.

“Josie, stop doing that,” Amanda said, opening the door to the center hall. “Why are you being such a bother today?”

He had been running from one end of the hall to the other.

“I’m cold,” he whined.

“Come in here where it’s warm.”

He came slowly, stomping his feet all the way, his lips in a pout.

“It’s Baby Jesus’ birthday today. Have you forgotten?”

“Baby Jesus forgot me,” Josie whined. “I didn’t get any presents.”

“Christmas is not just about presents. We had a wonderful dinner with our friends, didn’t we? ”

He nodded grudgingly. “It just isn’t the same without presents. No orange. Not even candy.”

“What about that nice slingshot Silver made for you?” Amanda said.

“I can’t go outside because I don’t have a coat,” Josie continued, “and I can’t play with it in the house.”

“No, you certainly may not. You might hit somebody. You can’t always have things your way, my little man.”

“Am I your little man?” He smiled and clasped his hands together.

“Who else would be, if not you?”

“I don’t want to be a bother.”

He acted so grown up most of the time; she tended to forget he was so young.

Amanda went to the attic and carried a large wooden box downstairs to the sitting room.

“You remember Luke?” she asked Josie.

“He’s dead,” Josie said. “I saw him.”

“Yes, darling, I know. These are the toys he played with when he was a little boy. I know he’d want you to have them.”

The box contained every toy Luke had played with as a child—a spinning top, wooden blocks, a cloth storybook, little metal trucks and whirligigs that Juba had made. And with that thought, Barbé came to her mind—how was she spending Christmas? She missed her old friend every day, and prayed every day that she was well.

She and Josie sat on the hearth and played with Luke’s old toys for hours.

Chapter 15 << – Index – >> Chapter 17