by Emily Woods
Katie May didn’t feel like a light as she surveyed the damage to Hallow Hill. It had been a shock to see the once-majestic plantation in shambles, but Lydia held her head high as the two women strode into the house. “We must be brave,” Lydia commanded. “For the Lord has His plans for us, Katie May, and even if those plans do not include our beautiful home, we are alive and safe.”
Katie May had nodded dutifully, but alone in her bedchamber for the first time in a year, she began to sob. “Oh, Lord,” Katie May wept, crying for her dead father, her deceased brothers, and her lost beau. “Lord, deliver us from this nightmare! Deliver us left here in the broken, torn South. Our men are with You now; my love is with You now. Please, Lord, help us find our way through this.”
2
Lawrence Edwards kissed the heads of his two small daughters, Barbara and Karon, as he tucked them into bed. It was later than their usual bedtime, but Lawrence had gotten carried away telling the girls stories of their mother. Their routine was the same each night: Lawrence would nestle between the girls in their shared double bed, and they would plead for another story as he finished one. The girls’ favorite subject was their mother. She had been dead since they were very young, but they were fascinated with tales of her triumphs and adventures.
“Good night, my girls,” Lawrence whispered as he closed the door behind him. His stomach sank as he recalled the stories he had shared with the girls, and he imagined his wife’s beautiful face as he treaded down the narrow staircase and into his own bedroom. Lawrence knelt beside his bed and folded his hands, ready to climb into bed and end the evening.
“Lord,” Lawrence began to pray as he closed his eyes. “Thank You for my girls. Thank You for Your faithfulness.”
Lawrence rose from the wooden floor, shaking his head as he settled into bed. His prayers had felt forced and half-hearted for months now. Lawrence was angry with the Lord, and he could hardly bring himself to speak with Him each evening. Still, he continued to say his prayers aloud, knowing it was important for his girls to grow up in a Christian home despite his frustrations.
Lawrence had grown up in a good, faithful Christian family. His parents had raised he and his seven siblings to honor God and live like Jesus, and when the war broke out a few years ago, Lawrence’s brothers felt as though God had called them to battle.
“We must enlist,” Hubert, Lawrence’s oldest brother, insisted. “Down South, they are keeping people as slaves! Lord Jesus calls us to love others, and it is our Christian duty to help our country and all of its people live in His freedom!”
Chester, Lawrence’s youngest brother, emphatically agreed. “In the Bible, there were many battles in the name of the Lord, and this war is the battle of our time! We must enlist.”
Lawrence’s heart had ached as all four of his brothers enlisted in with the 3rd Battery, Indiana Light Artillery. The unit marched out of Connersville, Lawrence’s hometown, in August of 1861, and nearly every one of the men had been killed in battle over the last two years. Lawrence and his two sisters, Opal and Mary Lois, had been devastated with the news of each brother’s death. All four Edwards brothers left behind a grieving widow and children, and Lawrence and his sisters did everything they could to help provide for their nieces, nephews, and sisters-in-law.
Now, several months after receiving the news of the death of John, the second-oldest Edwards brother, Lawrence felt hardened and cynical. The Lord had taken so much from him, and he struggled to even open his Bible each day.
Karon and Barbara were his only sense of joy. At five and ten years old, the girls were precocious and sweet, each with a tangle of honey-colored curls. They adored their father, Lawrence showered them with love and attention, and the Edwards girls lived happily despite their lack of a mother. During the day, while Lawrence ran the Connersville General Store, the girls attended the little one-room schoolhouse in the square, but in the evenings, they were glued to Lawrence’s side.
“Papa! Papa! Play with us!” Karon would beg as she skipped into the house each day. “We want to play with you!”
“Papa, I learned to read a new passage at school today,” Barbara would boast. “Let me show you!”
While Lawrence was delighted to have so much time with his daughters, he fought intense feelings of shame. Why was he home with his children when his own brothers would never watch their offspring grow up? Why had he been kept from the war?
Lawrence knew the answer: he had unusually flat feet. This condition did not affect him in his day-to-day life, but as he was being examined by the military physician on the day he went with his brothers to enlist, he was rejected.
“I’m sorry, sir,” the physician had said. “I cannot, in good conscience, allow you to enlist.”
Lawrence was infuriated. “They are flat feet,” he pleaded. “I’ve never noticed this condition before in my life! I work all day on my feet running the general store. How can this be a problem now?”
The physician shook his head. “Sir, you won’t be able to walk the miles that your fellow soldiers will be able to walk,” he explained. “If you can’t walk properly, you’re of no use to the Union Army. I’m sorry. This is my answer.”
The physician had left the makeshift examining room without another word, and Lawrence began to weep, feeling utterly emasculated. He was being kept from the army because of his feet. Every other young man in Connersville was enlisting, and he would be the only one left behind.
“Why, Lord?” Lawrence had asked as he buried his head in his hands. “Why would you keep me here? Why would you keep me here when my brothers, and every other man in Connersville, is leaving to fight for our country? Why me, Lord?”
3
“We have no choice, Katie May,” Lydia lamented to her daughter as the two women knelt over their dinner plates. There was hardly any food on the plates—Katie May had scrounged up two thin potatoes in the remains of the plantation gardens, and Lydia had roasted a squirrel she had caught in a trap.
“We’re running out of options, Katie May, and I’m not sure what else we can do,” Lydia said sadly as Katie May nodded. The two women had been back at Hallow Hill for nearly a month, and the scarcity of food was becoming more evident by the day. Katie May could count her ribs now as she undressed, and Lydia’s cheekbones were looking more angular than ever.
“What do you propose we do, Mama?” Katie May asked, her blue eyes wide.
Lydia took a deep breath. “I’ve been praying about this, Katie May,” Lydia began. “I knew the Lord would show me the answer, eventually, and He did, Katie May.”
Katie May nodded. “What is He telling you, Mama?”
Lydia inhaled. “Katie May, you are nearly seventeen. You are a woman now, and you are of marriageable age…”
Katie May raised a blonde eyebrow. “What does that have to do with anything, Mama? You and I both know that all of the men around here are dead! The war is over, but only a few families have returned to the county. There’s no one here to marry, Mama.”
Lydia smiled softly. “Exactly,” she whispered. “There is no one here. Katie May, last night, as I was sweeping out the old servants’ quarters, I found this!”
Katie May stared as Lydia held up a tattered, yellowed newspaper. “A newspaper? Mama, I’m puzzled by this…”
Lydia opened the newspaper to the back page and handed it to Katie May. “Read these,” Lydia quietly ordered her daughter.
Katie May peered at the back page. There was a column, each with a small box giving a description of a man.
“Mama?” Katie asked.
“Just read one,” Lydia pleaded.
Katie May looked down and read the first box aloud.
Christian Widower, Father, Seeking Wife
Midwest, Business Owner, Good Health
Looking for healthy, faithful woman
Must be fond of children
Serious Inquiries only
Katie May pursed her lips and looked up at her mother. “Do you mean�
��”
Lydia nodded. “Yes,” she replied. “Men place advertisements looking for brides, Katie May. You are young, beautiful, and clever, dear, and I think any man would be lucky to have you as his bride…”
Katie May looked at the advertisement again. “But, Mama,” Katie May said. “This is from over a year ago! What if none of these fellows are looking for wives again? We don’t have any newspapers around here anymore. Nearly all of the newspaper businesses were destroyed in the war!”
Lydia closed her eyes and tilted her chin up toward the sky. “I can just feel this is right,” she told her daughter. “The Lord spoke to me when I found these advertisements, Katie May. I think you should respond to some of them and see what happens. We can pen a nice response together, and the next time we see someone trustworthy nearby on horseback, we’ll dispatch the letters with them.”
Katie May’s blue eyes were mournful as she took her mother’s hands in hers. “Mama,” Katie May murmured. “You are a woman of faith, and I admire that so much. I just don’t know if we should depend on some marriage advertisements from over a year ago to save us.”
Lydia shook her head. “My dear,” Lydia lamented. “We are running out of food and options. The Lord spoke to me, my daughter. We can’t live in this broken, rundown plantation house forever. It isn’t safe here, Katie May. This might be our only way out, and we need to try.”
Katie May nodded. “Yes, Mama,” she said obediently. “What’s the worst that can happen?”
Lydia smiled warmly and pulled her daughter to her. “No, dear,” she whispered. “Think about the best that can happen…”
4
“I can’t believe she’s on her way here!” Mary Lois gushed to Lawrence as she adjusted his brown Sunday suit. “You posted that marriage advertisement years ago, and now, a bride is on her way to you! And not just any bride, but a good, Christian bride! It’s truly the Lord’s work, Lawrence.”
Lawrence glanced at his reflection in the mirror, running a hand through his short, black hair. He bit his lip, nervous as Mary Lois fussed over his clothes. “I don’t know, Mary Lois,” Lawrence admitted. “I’m not sure if I’m ready for a bride.”
Mary Lois narrowed at her eyes at her brother. She grabbed him by the collar of his suit and pulled him close to her. “Lawrence Edwards,” Mary Lois hissed. “Those daughters of yours deserve a mother, and you deserve a wife! You need help raising your family, Lawrence, and it’s about time you thank the Lord for bringing you this woman!”
Lawrence nodded, knowing his sister was correct, but he still nervous at the prospect of the stranger who would be arriving at the Connersville Train Station within the hour. He slowly backed away from Mary Lois and took her hands in his.
“Mary Lois,” Lawrence began. “You know how grateful I am that you’ve helped with my girls over the last few years, especially with everything that’s happened…”
Tears welled in Mary Lois’s large eyes, and Lawrence’s heart sank. He knew how desperately she missed her husband, who had been killed in the war, along with their brothers. Mary Lois, Opal, and the sisters-in-law had leaned on each other in their grief, spending their days and evenings together with their children, playing and working alongside each other as they stoically marched on with their lives. Lawrence was in awe of the strong women in his life, and he did his best to take care of his sisters and sisters-in-law, but he was not sure if he was ready for another woman in the family to look after.
“I just want you to be happy, Lawrence,” Mary Lois whimpered. “I just want you to be happy, and I want your girls to have a mother. All of our children lost their fathers in the war, but they still have their mothers. A child needs a mother, Lawrence. Especially when that child is a daughter.”
Lawrence shrugged. “You’re right,” he agreed. “You’re right, Mary Lois. This woman will be good for our girls, and for our family. I just hope she gets on well with my girls.”
Mary Lois smiled. “She will,” she assured Lawrence. “She’ll be the best thing you never knew you needed, brother. I promise you.”
Katie May stared at her mother as the train began to glide to a stop. Lydia’s countenance was peaceful, but the lines on her forehead and the heavy, dark bags underneath both of her eyes were telling of the difficult journey they had made to meet Lawrence Edwards, Katie May’s groom-to-be. Katie May had been shocked when two months after posting a letter to Lawrence, she received a response and a proposal to marry.
“It’s so fast, Mama!” Katie May protested as Lydia beamed. “Mama, I sent him one letter! How can he be proposing a marriage already?”
Lydia shrugged. “It’s the Lord’s hand, dear,” Lydia cooed. “You must trust in Him. He is in control, and it seems it is His will that we go north!”
Upon receiving Lawrence’s proposal, Katie May and Lydia had packed their meager belongings into a torn carpetbag Lydia had hurriedly repaired. The mother and daughter walked nearly ten miles to Duncanville, where they procured passage on a wagon bound for Tuscaloosa. In Tuscaloosa, Lydia had bartered her engagement ring with an attendant at the train station for two third-class tickets.
“Mama!” Katie May gasped. “Not your engagement ring!”
Lydia shook her head. “Katie May, we must get out of the South. Your father would understand. It isn’t safe here anymore for two women alone, and we are alone in the world. This is what your father would have wanted.”
It had taken nearly a month on the train to reach Connersville, Indiana, and Katie May looked ragged as they finally reached their destination. Her long, blonde hair was in two messy braids down her back, and her cheeks were hollow from the minimal meals on the train. Katie May’s skin was pale, and her figure was gaunt. She felt like a ghost of her former self, the Katie May who had been the belle of every ball back in the glory days of the South.
“This is not what I thought my life would look like,” Katie May thought as she stared out the grimy window at the endless cornfields. “I thought I would be a married lady by now, minding a plantation of my own and looking after babies. I never dreamed I would be tired, shabby, and traveling north to marry a man I have never met.”
Lydia stirred as the train jerked to a complete stop. She groaned, reaching her pale arm up to wipe the sweat from her forehead. “Are we here?” Lydia asked her daughter.
Katie May nodded. “We’re here, Mama. We’re in Connersville, Indiana. I never imagined we would ever leave the South, let alone venture to Indiana, of all places…”
Lydia peered out the window. “The skies are blue, and the fields look abundant,” Lydia declared. “The crops are still alive here after the war, and I see houses and pretty buildings over there! This may not be what we’re used to, but it sure looks better than the burnt, dilapidated buildings and empty fields we’ve seen over the last few years, yes?”
Katie May stared at her mother, remembering the days when Lydia had been the picture of elegance as she reigned with grace and patience over the family plantation. Lydia had always turned every head as she walked into a room. With her tiny waist and perfect posture, Lydia was the perfect matriarch for the Brooks family, and she easily garnered the respect of everyone around here. She had impeccable taste in clothing and furniture, her manners were faultless, and she was the kindest person most people in Alabama had ever known.
Now, as Lydia collected her things on the motionless train, Katie May’s stomach churned. She ached for the past, for her life at Hallow Hill, and for her mother’s former days of looking like a proper southern woman. With her now-graying hair, in her limp, dirty dress, Lydia had never looked farther from the wealthy, refined woman she once was.
“Katie May,” Lydia said, interrupting Katie May’s thoughts, “you needn’t look nervous. The Lord carried us here, and He will carry us through the rest of this journey. We’ve endured the hardest part! We’ve traveled long and far, and soon, you will be a beautiful, blushing bride! This is a wonderful time, dear! A blessed time!”
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br /> Katie May bit her bottom lip, anxious to meet Lawrence. She knew practically nothing about him. In his proposal letter, he mentioned having two daughters, and many relatives who lived nearby, but Katie May knew nothing of his character or personality. She cringed as she imagined the wedding night. Lydia had instructed her on the physical expectations of a wife, and Katie May could hardly stand the thought of becoming so intimate with a perfect stranger.
“What’s wrong, dear?” Lydia inquired. “You must put a pleasant look on your face. The first impression of your husband-to-be is very important, and I want you to look as beautiful as you are!”
Katie May gave her mother a small smile, and Lydia patted her daughter’s knee. “That’s the spirit,” Lydia said. “Just trust Him, Katie May. That’s all you can do.”
“Papa! Papa, where is she?” Karon asked excitedly as Lawrence scanned the bustling train station for the first glimpse of his bride-to-be. “Where is our new mama?”
Passengers brushed past Lawrence and his family, and Barbara tugged on Lawrence’s suit. “Papa,” she whispered. “Will our new mama like us?”
Lawrence bent down to look Barbara in the eyes. Her small face was filled with concern. She nervously pulled at her green dress and kept brushing at the tight, honey-colored curls that grazed her narrow shoulders.
“Barbara,” Lawrence said softly. “Your new mama will love you. Hasn’t your Aunt Mary Lois told you how she came here? Your papa sent a letter far away, all the way to Alabama, and your new mama agreed to be his wife! The Lord has brought her to us, Barbara, and she will love you. I promise.”
Barbara nodded solemnly. “Yes, Papa,” she murmured.
Lawrence rose from the ground and squinted, looking at each passenger as he searched for his soon-to-be wife. He knew she was young, and he knew she was from the war-torn South, but he did not know much else.
