Chapter Seven
A shot came through the window, shattering it and scattering the glass all over the floor. The women screamed and huddled against the wall. Abigail checked Noah to make certain he had not been harmed then told him to go back with the other children who were huddled down in one of the cells. She sighed, ran, and grabbed her rifle then loaded it before going back to the window and quickly brushing the glass on the floor aside. She knocked out the rest of the glass with the butt of her rifle. Looking out, she spotted a man in gray on the roof of a building across the street. He was shooting soldiers as they ran toward the battle that was raging at the end of the street, shooting many of them in the back. Abigail aimed carefully and shot him. She was a little surprised when he fell screaming into the street for she had not thought her shot was that accurate.
She reloaded her gun and when she looked back out a Union soldier was crouched over the Reb, relieving him of all weapons. He then grabbed him, put him over his shoulder, and hurried to the house being used as an infirmary. Abigail wondered what the man was thinking as he gave aid to the enemy, one who had killed a number of his fellow soldiers. She swiftly prayed that both men survived the day.
“I think I smell smoke,” said Julia and hurried over to crouch down near Abigail.
“You do. Someone set the Boardman house on fire. Set the fire at the back from what I can glimpse through the windows.”
Mrs. Beaton suddenly appeared at Abigail’s side, knelt down, and looked out at the burning house. “That is Betsy’s house. I pray her and her children can get out. There she is!”
Abigail watched as a woman rushed out carrying a baby, three other small children following her. A man came out behind them. Mrs. Beaton stuck her head out the window to call to the woman. Abigail quickly yanked her back inside and looked out in time to see a Reb come around the side of the house and shoot the man who fell onto his stomach and clutched at his leg.
The soldier stepped closer and Betsy obviously told her children to run because the three bigger ones started racing for the jailhouse. Betsy stood by her husband, baby still clutched in her arms, and appeared to be arguing with the soldier, as she moved her own body between him and her husband. Abigail had to wonder what the woman thought she could do.
Using the confusion to her advantage, Abigail again took careful aim. Betsy clearly decided arguing was getting her nowhere and had begun to hurl insults if the look on the man’s face was anything to judge by. The soldier abruptly aimed his weapon at her and the angry look on his face told Abbie the woman had only succeeded in making sure she died next to her husband. Abigail shifted her aim a bit and fired, hitting the soldier in the arm he was using to aim his gun. All the ladies in the room stared at her as she reloaded.
Mrs. Beaton recovered first and yelled at Betsy to get moving. Still somehow holding on to the babe, the woman put her husband’s arm around her shoulders, then put her arm around his waist and they started moving toward the jail quickly if awkwardly. They presented a very easy target and Abbie tried to keep a close watch on every possible way an enemy could come at them. Then there was another shot fired. Abbie cursed and looked around even harder to see who she had missed spotting. Betsy’s husband was hit in the arm. It caused him to stumble into his wife, nearly sending them both to the ground.
Abigail cursed because now the pair was nearly helpless. Finally she saw there was another soldier in gray in the alley next to the burning house. He was in shadow but she took aim and hoped for a good shot, good enough to put the man down long enough for Betsy to get inside the jail with her wounded husband.
Taking another steadying deep breath, she fired. The man should have fallen backward if she had hit him but, instead, he fell facedown. Abigail was puzzled by that until a man in a blue uniform stepped out of the same alley and ran toward Betsy and her husband. When he stopped to put his arm around the man, she could see it was Matthew. She was wondering where he had come from when she realized there were far more important things to worry about. Matthew was now exposed to anyone who was still able to shoot.
“Mrs. Beaton, you should let them in and make sure the children are not standing right in front of the door.”
The woman glared at her but did what she had asked. Abigail shook her head and returned to watching the street to make sure no one attacked Matthew while he helped Betsy save her husband. Mrs. Beaton might have once been rich and pampered, but by the time this war was finally over, Abigail had to wonder if the woman would still be. When she heard the sound of Matthew’s voice just outside the room, she relaxed.
“Someone get a couple of blankets to put on the floor,” she called out, and heard the women hurry to obey what even she recognized had sounded like an order. “And try to stay out of the line of the windows.” She did not move from her post until Matthew crouched by her side.
“I can watch now,” he said. “The man needs help.”
Abbie set her rifle down and looked toward the man he had helped inside. The women had not only brought blankets, they had found a cot in one of the cells to spread them on. It was going to make it easier to tend his wounds. His wife knelt beside him after handing her baby over to Maude, gripping the hand of his unwounded arm and whispering what were probably encouraging words. Abbie quickly studied the man’s wounds and decided if she did not have to dig around for a bullet, they would not prove to be too much trouble for her. Even better the wound on his leg was not so high up that there would be any difficulty in maintaining his modesty. Bracing herself for what was to come she took a closer look that told her both bullets had passed through and she breathed a sigh of relief.
“I need his shirt off,” she said and the wife quickly complied. “Julia? My sewing basket, please, and some whiskey if there is any to be found.”
A quick look told her the bullet had not only gone through the arm but appeared to have missed anything vital. “I hope you have no sentimental attachment to these pants,” she said as she knelt by the cot and took scissors from her basket to cut off the pant leg above the knee then cut the long johns he wore beneath them.
“You are a very lucky man, sir,” she said when she saw that the bullet had passed right through his leg as well.
“Lucky? I got shot! Twice!” he said, his voice hoarse with pain.
“True, but both bullets had the courtesy to leave cleanly. I don’t have to go digging around for them, sir.”
“Oh. Guess that does sound lucky. Name is Harvey, Harvey Boardman.”
“This is going to sting, Harvey,” she said as she held up a bottle of whiskey and idly wondered if someone had stolen most of the sheriff’s supply, “but I need to make certain the wound is clean.” She got ready to pour some whiskey on the wound in his arm. “Take deep breaths and let them out slowly.”
“That helps?”
“Sometimes. Ready?”
As she washed out his wounds, he breathed as she had suggested but still choked on a scream. Abigail was pleased when she was done and dabbed his wounds dry. She then wiped the blanket as clean as she could. She grabbed her needle and began to stitch up the wound on his leg. First the entrance wound and then the exit one. After she tied it off she looked at her work then stared at the needle and the tiny piece of thread left.
“Oh, dear.”
“What?” demanded Betsy. “What is wrong?”
“Oh, nothing with him or the wound.” Abigail sighed. “I just happened to notice that I forgot to change the thread from my embroidery work to a nice black thread.” She looked at the man and grinned. “I fear I just closed the wound in your leg with yellow thread. Bright yellow.”
Betsy laughed and her husband smiled, although the expression quickly turned to a grimace when he inadvertently shifted his wounded arm. Abigail hurried to rethread her needle with black thread and went to work stitching up his arm wound.
When she was done, she told his wife to clean the sweat from his face as she bandaged up his wounds. By the time Betsy was done and looked up, the three children had moved closer to stand by their mother. Their father tried gamely to smile at them and Abigail stood up.
“He should rest now.” She looked around for Mrs. Beaton but could not find the woman so she just placed a blanket over the man. “It looks as if you will be staying here for a while.”
As she left him to his family, Abigail cleaned up what she could then went back to the window to sit near Matthew. “Any trouble out there?”
“Nay. Think this skirmish is as good as done. We even blew their cannon up.”
“One less thing to worry about.”
He leaned over and brushed a kiss over her mouth, smiling when she blushed and looked around to see who had been watching. No one had been hurt aside from Betsy’s husband so she began to relax. Julia was asleep in one of the cells and the children were watching Betsy’s children after drawing them into the cell they were sharing. Matthew was astonished at how calm everyone seemed to be.
“Soon I will have to go and see how James is doing. He was watching my back,” he said, drawing Abbie’s attention his way again.
“I pray nothing happened to him. Do you think this attack will continue?”
“Nay. As I said, I am fair certain it is almost done. Some of the Rebs in a camp we were watching clearly decided they could not tolerate us so near without doing something. I was even thinking it might not be the men from that camp but some of the marauders who plague these hills.”
“But they wore gray.”
“Many of them do. They probably are considered part of the Rebel army but they usually do just as they want and are far more brutal and uncaring about what one calls the innocents.”
“Well, one of them is in the infirmary so you may get an answer to that.”
“Since these men got inside the town limits I believe I should go check on the doctor.”
“It might be wise. Even if the doctor remains blind to the uniform someone wears, I suspect such men as you think these are would not care about that. I glanced toward the infirmary when I was coming here and saw no sign of trouble, but it is only lightly guarded.”
“Stay here until I send word that it is safe to go back to the house.”
“I will.”
Matthew kissed her again and chuckled at her blush. He then stood up and after making sure the back door was secured well, went out and headed to the infirmary. He found Boyd standing and holding a basin of water for the doctor. Then he glanced at the man the doctor was working on and tensed. It was young Robert whose new wife was resting peacefully in a jail cell. Edging closer he sighed because the man had several wounds and, by the looks of the rags tossed to the floor, had already lost a lot of blood.
“It is bad,” Boyd said quietly. “The doctor can’t seem to stop the bleeding from the gut wound.”
“Think I should get Julia?”
“If it is safe to do so,” said the doctor as he stood up, “then get her. The man doesn’t have much time,” he added softly. “He was posted in a tree and was shot out of it. The landing was hard and there is a lot of internal bleeding I can’t seem to ease.”
“Aw, hell. I can get her.” Matthew left and his steps slowed rapidly as he neared the jail, but he took a deep breath to steady himself and rapped on the door.
Abbie opened it and frowned up at him. “Is it clear for us to leave?”
“I think so but that is not why I am here. Where is Julia?” He watched Abbie’s eyes widen and knew she had just realized why he was back so soon.
“Robert,” she whispered.
“I fear so. Can you get her?”
Abbie went and roused Julia then led her back to Matthew. A soft moan escaped the woman as Matthew told her about Robert and how he would want to see her. When Julia grabbed her hand, Abbie was startled.
“Come with me,” Julia said, a note of pleading in her voice.
Abbie nodded and with Matthew’s agreement told the others to go back to the Beaton house. Several of the women moved to help carry the cot with Harvey Boardman on it. Abbie walked with Julia to the infirmary and suddenly Julia stopped. The woman was so pale, Abbie feared she would pass out on the street. Matthew went inside and reappeared at the door a few moments later. Abbie suspected they had tidied up the scene as much as they could.
“Come on in, Julia. Robert will want to see you. He has been calling your name,” Matthew added softly.
It was enough of an inducement and Julia followed him over to Robert’s cot. Julia let go of Abbie and rushed to the man’s side, kneeling down so she could whisper in his ear and kiss his pale cheek. Seeing Boyd standing there, Abbie moved next to him. A sad-eyed Boyd met her questioning look and shook his head. He did not have to say a word; the look on his face said it all. Abbie fought back the urge to cry because she knew Julia needed her to be strong.
“Ah, Julia, we would have been good and our child would have been happy,” Robert said in a very weak voice.
“It will be. You just have to hang on.” Julia clung to his hand while tears streamed down her face.
“Want to. Can’t. All broken inside. Take the babe to my family. They will help you.”
“No, Robbie, no. You will come with me.”
There was a high note of burgeoning hysteria in Julia’s voice and Abbie stepped closer. She noticed the doctor did as well. Julia just wept and held Robert’s hand to her wet cheek. It was heartbreaking but Abbie knew the girl would need strong people to be at her side once Robert slipped away. And he would, Abbie thought sadly, because he already had the smell of death on him.
“Let my kin know when the babe comes. Promise me. Let them know,” Robert said with a sudden show of strength.
“I will. I promise. But you can help me do it.”
“No, darlin’, I don’t want nuthin’ as much as I want to stay with you, but I can’t. My luck has run out.”
“Please don’t leave me. Please.”
“Give me a kiss, love.”
Still weeping, Julia bent near and kissed him. She was just straightening up when the man lost his grip on life. Abbie jumped when Julia screamed but quickly grabbed her when she reached for Robert’s body. Matthew stepped up and took over for Abbie, holding Julia firmly even as the woman started to slump down. When Julia was finally out cold he swung her up into his arms and looked at Abbie.
The doctor stepped up before she could and did a quick examination before turning to Abbie. “She has had a severe shock. They can often bring on labor in a woman close to her time so she will need to be watched. It could happen soon or take a few days depending on how well she recovers.”
“I understand. I also fear she is not one who will overcome the shock easily,” Abbie replied and accepted the small bottle the doctor gave her. “What is this for?”
“If she is too overwrought, it will calm her. Try to give her as little as possible since she is with child. You just want to try and keep her calm.”
Abbie nodded. “Maybe she will be a quiet griever.”
The doctor nodded and patted her on the shoulder. “It is very sad. He was very happy about his child, even talked to me about how one can best care for a babe. I think he would have been a good father.”
Abbie suspected the same. She also had the feeling he would have been a pretty good husband, too. It was all just so sad, even Abbie felt choked up and knew she would have a good cry about it all later. She led Matthew out of the infirmary.
“It is sad,” Matthew said.
“So sad. I wish I had another word for it. It seems like it deserves a much better word. She is not going to take this well. Julia is not a strong woman. She is one who is easily hurt. I think she had a lot of dreams wrapped around Robert and their marriage. Funny thing is she asked me earlier this week if I believed in people who can sense something bad or good happening to them.”
“What did ye say?”
“I did not say yes or no, just pointed out a few ways it did not make sense to put much weight on a feeling. Now I am wondering if she was having a bad feeling about her future.”
“Who has not had one in this war?”
“True.”
She entered the Beaton house, pleased to see everyone had returned. The women all rushed over when Matthew stepped in holding Julia. “What happened to her?” asked Rose.
“Robert died,” said Abbie.
“Oh no,” said Rose, and all the others clapped a hand over their mouths as they gasped in shock.
“She at least got to speak to him before he passed,” said Abbie, who then looked at Matthew. “Do you think you can get ahold of his information on his family? He was quite desperate for her to get in touch with them.”
“If it is there, I will find it. Now, where is her bed?”
Abbie led him up the stairs. When he set Julia down, she took off the woman’s shoes and tucked her in. It was her hope that Julia would sleep for a long time. It was what she needed and it could be enough to take away some of the shock. She doubted it could ease her pain. That would take a very long time.
Matthew took her by the hand and tugged her out of the room. He had the feeling she would be stuck in there a lot over the next few days. Julia did not strike him as a strong woman, and Abigail’s words had confirmed that. The woman would carry her grief deeply and for a very long time, requiring a lot of sympathy and care. He would make sure he came by and dragged Abigail away from time to time.
“He will be buried as soon as can be. Do you think she will want to know?”
“Maybe. Just let me know and I will decide then. I have no idea how soon she will be able to handle anything. It is a decision I can only make at the last moment.”
“All right.” He brushed a kiss over her mouth. “Don’t forget to get some rest.”
“I won’t.”
She watched him go down the stairs, sighed, and then went into the room she shared with Julia. The woman was still sound asleep but she had turned onto her side so there was a chance she had already slipped into a natural sleep. Abbie threw herself down on her bed and then realized she still had her coat on. Forcing herself back up, she took it off, hung it up, and then changed into her nightgown. Once set, she checked again on Julia before climbing under the blankets and closing her eyes.
For a few moments, she gave in to the sadness she felt for two young people who had lost their chance at a full and possibly happy future. All because the two sides of the country could not agree. They were slaughtering their young with this war, she thought, and used a handkerchief to dab away the tears on her cheeks. Women were losing their beaus and husbands, the ones they had and the ones they might have had. Mothers were weeping over their sons and so many children had no fathers now. She closed her eyes, forcing herself to stop thinking of what was lost today, and trying to go to sleep. Just as she felt it slipping over her, pulling her mind and body down, she heard Julia.
Turning over, Abbie looked at Julia who was thrashing around in her bed. She got up wondering what could be done to soothe her when Julia sat up and screamed. Even as she hurried to the bed to grab the woman, she heard all the other women racing up the stairs to come to stand in the doorway.
“No, no, no, no!” Julia cried, and Abbie took her into her arms. “My beautiful Robbie. No, no, no, no. I want him back, Abbie. I want him back.”
Stroking her hair, Abbie said, “I know you do, Julia. I am so very sorry.”
“It is not fair,” she whined then sobbed. “We would have been such a good family.”
Abbie glanced at the women in the doorway and found no help because they were all crying silently and searching for their handkerchiefs. “I know and, yes, you’re right. It is not fair but I fear, quite often, life is not fair. Robert should not be dead. Boyd should not be maimed in one arm. That man in the bed next to him should not have to be facing life with his legs gone at the knee. Children should not have to stand at their father’s grave and wives should not have to bury their husbands. Parents should not have to weep over the grave of a son who never had the chance to give them grandchildren. All I can say is I am sorry. More sorry than I can ever say. It is the horrible cost of war, Julia.”
“I know that.” She sniffed and then continued crying. “I know it in my head. But my heart, Abbie! My heart keeps crying that it is not fair,” she said, her words ending in a wail. “I would have made him so happy.”
“Yes, you would have. Even the doctor thought so.”
Julia pushed Abbie away and lay back down. She then noticed all the women standing in the doorway. “Oh. Hello. Sorry I am such a mess.” She used the sheet to wipe at her eyes and all the ladies crowded around the bed, but it did little good because the tears kept flowing.
“No, dearie,” said Maude as she patted Julia’s arm. “Don’t apologize. We just want you to know you are not alone.”
“Thank you.”
As the women comforted and soothed, a few even offering the truth of their husband’s death, Julia calmed a little but Abbie was not fooled. She knew she was in for a few exhausting days. Julia saw her loss as unfair and Abbie was sure that was going to cause her to cling to her upset for quite a while. She did not expect the girl to get over her loss quickly under any circumstances—she certainly had not—but she did hope Julia did not hang on to this kind of grieving for too long. It could damage the child or worse, cause it to come before its time.
By the time the women left, Julia’s eyes were closing. Abbie sat beside her until she fell asleep and then crawled into her own bed. She fell asleep quickly but suddenly she was yanked awake by deep wracking sobs. She glanced at the squat clock on the bedside table and saw that she had slept barely three hours. Getting up again, she glanced at the bottle the doctor had given her. Not yet, she thought, as she sat on Julia’s bed and began to rub her friend’s back. It was going to be a very long night though. Just once, she thought, she would like to have a peaceful night’s sleep.
* * *
Abbie woke to Noah leaning over her and groaned. Then she recalled why she was so tired and looked over to find Julia fast asleep. She wished she could do the same but looked at Noah who grinned at her.
“What do you want?”
“Just wondering if you are going to sleep all morning.”
“That would be nice.” She rolled over, turning her back on him, but he tapped her on the shoulder.
She rolled back to look at him. “What?”
“You told me I had to tell someone if I was going somewhere, and I am.”
“Where?”
“I am going to the store.”
“Alone? Do you understand the money part of it all and do you have any?”
“I have a little. I want to see if the store man can get us some books.”
“Can you wait to do that for just a little while? I will get up soon and we can go together.”
“Okay.”
The moment he left she rolled over and closed her eyes. For a few minutes she enjoyed it, but then a nagging thought kept her from falling asleep. Noah was a child. A child would not understand that a little while could be a few hours. He would probably be back in a few minutes. Sighing, she got out of bed and rubbed her hands over her face. She promised herself a nice long nap in the afternoon.
Getting dressed, she washed her face and tied back her hair. After donning her shoes and gathering up little money she had, she trudged down the stairs. She found Noah in the kitchen eating a lovely cooked breakfast. Mabel served her a big cup of coffee the moment she sat down at the table then proceeded to cook her a breakfast. After some coffee, Abbie woke up enough to wonder where the woman got the food.
“Have some supplies come in?” she asked.
“They did. Two full wagons, so your lieutenant brought us over some.”
“That was good of him. I hope they could spare it.”
“I didn’t ask, which was a bit rude of me, but I was not about to do anything to make him take it back.”
“Probably wise.”
“I did make him a nice breakfast from it though.”
Abbie smiled and then proceeded to eat the plateful Mabel set in front of her. She was just wondering if Matthew would come back, when he appeared at the back door and rapped on it. Mabel gave him a gesture to come in and he did, then took a seat opposite her. He looked well rested she thought a little sourly and then felt guilty for the thought.
“Ye are up far earlier than I expected.” He looked at her face. “Earlier than ye wanted to, I suspect.”
“Was that a polite way of telling me I look exhausted?”
He smiled. “My poor attempt at it, aye. Julia?”
“Yes, Julia. She is taking it very hard. It wakes her up in the night.”
“And then wakes ye.” He glanced at Noah who was concentrating on his food. “But I suspicion it was not Julia’s grief that woke ye up this morning.”
“I didn’t wake her up. I was just looking at her to see if she would wake up and then she opened her eyes.”
Abbie could tell that the way Matthew had a hasty drink of the coffee Mabel set in front of him that he was fighting to hide a grin. “Noah wants to go to the store to see if he can get Mr. Darby to get some children’s books in.”
“Ah. Read all the ones ye have, eh?”
“Yes,” said Noah.
“Weel, I can have a look through town and see what I can find if you want.”
“That would be helpful, but I don’t think we ought to just steal from anyone who left them behind.”
“Nay, it isn’t stealing, it is borrowing. We will put them back when they are done.”
She rolled her eyes and pushed her empty plate aside. Seeing that Noah was done she added his empty plate to hers and carried them to the sink. Then she sat back down to finish her coffee. When she finished her coffee she looked at Noah.
“We can go now.”
The boy jumped out of his seat and waited with obvious impatience for her to join him, but Abbie looked at Matthew. “Perhaps I will see you later.”
“I think that is a real possibility.”
Walking off with Noah to get their coats, Abbie decided that Matthew was a bit fresh in the morning. She caught the boy by the hand and they walked off to the store. It did not surprise her to find no books there, but the man kindly lent her two that he and his wife had kept around for their grandchildren when they came to visit. Then she walked back to the house and, once inside, looked at Noah.
“I am going back to bed for a while.”
“Why?”
“Because Julia is very upset and kept waking me up all night long and I got very little sleep.”
“Oh, but will you be awake later to read us a story?”
“I will do that when it is time for you to go to bed.”
“Okay.”
She shook her head as she watched him run up the stairs and into the children’s room. Then she slowly made her way back to her own room, found Julia still sleeping and, after hanging up her coat, she got ready to go to bed. She prayed no one had any emergency or upset because she intended to sleep for a few hours, and if someone woke her before then, she suspected she would not be pleasant. She crawled into bed and snuggled down beneath the covers, tensing when Julia whimpered. When no other sound came after a few moments she closed her eyes and went to sleep.