The Cellar

by Curtis Richardson

  “No, you know you can’t leave her here like this Ikey, you gotta’ help her. You don’t know who else might be hangin’ around out there.”

  “Johnny, this is my chance, I need to get out of here. I saved her life, isn’t that enough?” Ike said out loud. He stood there a few moments staring up at the moon and looked back down the steps at the woman. George’s head was on her shoulder as if they had both went to sleep in passionate embrace. He would at least have to get the man’s body off of her.

  “I suppose you’re right Johnny.” Ike replied with a sigh.

  “Of course I’m right. Now settle down a little bit and let’s see if you can carry that poor ol’ gal back up stairs. Maybe you oughta’ wrap somethin’ around her for modesty’s sake. Now don’t go pokin’ or grabbin’ anything. I gotta admit Teddy was right, she does look pretty good yet.”

  “Johnny, would you quit chattering like a squirrel.” Ike said out loud forgetting himself again.

  “Did you notice how the lantern went out Ikey? I did that, somehow I managed to make me a little wind and blew it out so it wouldn’t set fire to everthin.” Johnny crowed.

  “You always were full of wind, I think you’ve gotten worse since you died.”

  He dragged George’s heavy body off the unconscious woman and carefully wrapped her in his bed sheet and quilt. He was anxious to cover her as soon as possible, seeing her like this aroused him in spite of himself. He felt guilty for his reaction and embarrassed that she would know he had seen her like this. The moonlight was sufficient for him to see as he carried her up the steps. He blinked and looked around to get his bearings. She was light and Ike had recuperated his strength to the point that she was easy to carry, but the feel of her body so close to his made him uncomfortable and he was eager to unburden himself of her. Light from the kitchen window illuminated the back steps and he carried her into the house.

  There was a day bed in the kitchen and Ike laid his burden on it. One shapely breast fell out from the tangle of bedclothes and Ike quickly rearranged her coverings with as much propriety as he possibly could.

  “You’re a good boy Ikey, back in the day I probably would have had to give that a squeeze.” Johnny chortled.

  “Well, I’ve got my guardian angel here with me so I have to behave now don’t I.”

  “Wonder what happened to old Marcus?” Johnny mused. “Maybe he’s not dead, I don’t see no big black ghost wanderin’ around anywhere. He’d have to come round and see ‘bout “Missy”.”

  Ike looked around the house and found a stairway. The thought occurred to him that if there were night clothes that fit him there might be other clothes as well. At the top of the stairs was a bedroom with no bed. Thinking this must be Todd’s room he rummaged through a chest and found the items he needed. Everything fit well and before long he was clad in plain but well made clothing including underwear and boots that fit him perfectly. He found his old uniform in one of Todd’s drawers, it appeared to have been cleaned and repaired. It didn’t seem like a good idea to be wearing a Union uniform this evening, so he left it where it was. He wondered why she had kept it.

  “Maybe she thought she might have to bury you in it.” Johnny chortled as Ike headed back down the stairs.

  “Looks like you got you some travelin’ clothes Ikey.” Johnny chuckled. “Good idea even if you stole ‘em.”

  “I didn’t steal them Johnny, I traded my uniform for them.” Ike replied sending Johnny into a gale of laughter. “They definitely fit me better than Marcus’s clothes too.” He thought briefly that if he were caught in civilian clothes he could be taken for a spy and hanged, but wearing a uniform still seemed to be the worse of his options. Todd Pendleton’s clothing was less scratchy than the wool of Ike’s uniform and might be less conspicuous.

  Mrs. Pendleton was still unconscious but breathing steadily. She had a knot rising on her forehead where George’s head had hit hers.

  Ike was pondering what to do next when he heard a noise in the back yard that sounded like a cow bellowing. Looking out he saw a pitiful figure making its way to the house.

  Marcus was crawling toward the back steps on his hands and knees. Blood dripped from a gash in his forehead but he was moving toward his mistress as if drawn by a magnet. “Missy…. Missy……. where is she?” he sobbed. The big man’s anguish was pitiful to see. It was all Ike could do to get the overwrought giant to his feet and walk him up the steps into the kitchen. Once he saw his mistress and determined that she was still alive he relaxed and sat heavily in a chair to keep vigil over her.

  Ike took charge of Marcus and cleaned the gash in his forehead as the big man sat as if in a daze, ever watching Mrs. Pendleton as if she might disappear at any moment. “He looks like a stunned ox.” Johnny said in wonder. “Big as a young one, I ‘spect a normal man would be dead by now.” Ike found some salve that smelled like what Marcus had put on his own forehead and returned the favor before bandaging the silent man’s head. Ike edged toward the back door and stood looking out at the moon, thinking that now might be his chance to leave when Micheline Pendleton began to stir.

  She blinked a few times and looked at the two men who were staring at her. The situation registered in her mind after a few moments and she looked down in horror at her state of dress. She sat up primly, carefully keeping the bed clothes drawn around her.

  “Marcus, can you talk?” she said, looking at her servant with concern. She moved close to him and put her hand on his arm. The big man had been looking down as if in shame. At her touch he looked up and made eye contact. Micheline Pendleton smiled warmly when their eyes met, eliciting a look of relief and adoration from the wounded man.

  “Hey Ikey, while them two’s a comfortin’ each other don’t you think you might be getting’ outta’ here?” Johnny said in his stage whisper.

  Ike moved quietly toward the door, but turned back to catch the exchange between Mrs. Pendleton and Marcus.

  “I’m just restin’ a spell Missy. Feel better now that you’se alright. Don’t quite know what happened, somebody hit me in the head with a shovel I thinks.”

  “There were two of them, I was afraid they might have killed you, they tried to take advantage of me in the cellar, but Mr. Lowery ……” she said trailing off and turning to Ike, who had been forgotten for a few moments and who was standing at the back door looking out at the moon and trying to decide which direction to run. “Did you kill them?”

  “I’m afraid so, I may have gotten carried away, but I don’t think there was a lot of choice.” He hesitated, thinking this was the time he should be bounding out the door. Marcus and Mrs. Pendleton were well enough to take care of each other and he didn’t think Marcus would be up to pursuing him just yet.

  Hoof beats in the yard interrupted their conversation. “Get under the bed, quick!” Mrs. Pendleton ordered Ike, “Stay here Marcus, I’ll handle this.” She took one quick look to make sure Ike was hidden before she readjusted the bedclothes she was wrapped in and headed for the front of the house.

  There was a frantic knock on the door as the woman gathered herself and walked to the front door with as much dignity as she could manage under the circumstances. When she opened the door a man’s voice could be heard. “My God, Micheline what happened to you?”

  “I’m so glad you came Colonel, I have been attacked in my own home, it was awful. There were two of them, Yankee deserters I think. My man Marcus managed to chase them off.”

  “It must have been the same two that the home guard spotted early this morning, we thought they might have come this way. I’m so sorry we didn’t get here sooner to spare you. I hope they didn’t……?”

  “They attempted to assault me, yes. They were looking for valuables and when they didn’t find anything else that suited them they tried to have their way with me. Brave Marcus caught them and beat them badly and they ran away in the direction of the swamp. I can only hope they fall into it and drown. One of them fetched Marcus a blow to the head, bu
t he will recover shortly I believe.”

  “Can I see him?”

  “He’s back in the kitchen, do come in. I bound his wound, which was minor for a man of his strength.”

  Ike heard the tromping of a big man’s feet coming down the hall. He plastered himself to the wall under the day bed and tried not to breathe. He watched the muddy cavalry boots approach and stop next to the chair where Marcus was slumped. Micheline Pendleton’s feet followed, she was still wearing the shoes that were about all her attacker had left on her body. Her feet seemed to move about nervously as the Colonel began to speak. Ike realized that she was as frightened as he was. While she was not likely to be shot, hanged, or imprisoned if her account of the evening were to be discovered as the fiction that it was, she was still bent on keeping Ike’s presence a secret.

  “Marcus you big rascal, sounds like you’ve had a hard night. Did you get a good look at them?”

  “Jus’ like Missy said…. couple…. boys in blue. She can ‘scribe ‘em better….kinda hurts to talk Colonel, one hit me in ‘da jaw.” Marcus mumbled theatrically. Ike heard the scratching as he rubbed his massive jowl.

  To his horror Ike noticed the muddy tracks coming in the back door, one set led directly to where he lay trapped. If the Colonel saw the line of mud leading under the day bed that indicated Ike’s presence there he didn’t acknowledge it. He kept staring at the muddy tracks as Mrs. Pendleton described George and Teddy.

  “Those are likely the two that murdered our boys earlier. I think we’d better take off after them, maybe we can catch them yet. I’ll post a few of my men around your place this evening Micheline, in case they come back. These are cowardly but dangerous men, they killed a couple of our home guard, just young boys on picket, cut their throats before they could make a sound. It was bad enough when the damned Yankees came down here and invaded us, then they started stealing from the populace, and now that we have pushed them out we have their dregs to deal with.”

  One of the “dregs” was developing a cramp in his leg from being crammed in under the day bed in the Pendleton’s kitchen. Ike gritted his teeth so hard that he thought the grinding noise would give him away and earn him a painful death or imprisonment.

  “Are you alright Micheline?” the Colonel asked. “You don’t look well.”

  “I will be fine Colonel, it has just been a very stressful evening.”

  “Frankly, I have been worried about you staying out here by yourself since Jasper died. I’m glad you have Marcus, but I wish we had enough men to keep someone out here all the time.”

  “I appreciate your concern Colonel, but we will be fine, as you can see, Marcus can handle about any situation.” The woman said. Ike was afraid he would pass out from the pain and moan out loud when the Colonel finally left the kitchen. He distracted himself by thinking what might have happened had he escaped out the back door. Chances are he would have been caught by the Colonel and his men and he might well have been killed or at least imprisoned.

  After the Colonel took his leave Ike crawled out from under the bed. He stood and stretched and massaged the muscles in his leg. Marcus was still sitting in the chair looking mournful. “Gettin’ old, let them two get the best of me and they hurt Missy. I thanks you for what you did.” He looked toward the stairs where his mistress had retreated to dress herself properly. “Don’t know what I do if anything happened to Missy.”

  “He sure looks after that woman don’t he Ikey. Wonder what that’s all about? Guess tonight ain’t so good for you gettin’ away from here.”

  Mrs. Pendleton stepped into the room and stared at Ike in his purloined clothing. “Were you planning on going somewhere Mr. Lowery?”

  “It had crossed my mind. Not knowing what else might be required of me this evening I thought it might be a good idea to be dressed in something other than that nightshirt.” He met her gaze and tried to remain expressionless. Tension hung in the room like a fog. “It looks like we have some problems here, at least two down in the cellar, with the house being guarded it will be difficult to dispose of them discreetly.”

  “Moon be a settin’ in about a hour.” Marcus said, breaking the silence. “They’s that ol’ dried up well behind the barn. Some quicklime and dirt take care of they carcasses.”

  “Can we get them out there without being seen or heard, Marcus?” Ike asked, relieved at the thought of a solution.

  “I go walk around and see where them boys posted befo’ the moon sets.” Marcus said, standing up slowly. “Head’s feelin’ better now. Thanks sodjur.”

  With Marcus outside determining where the Colonel had placed his pickets, Ike and the woman resumed their challenging stares. Neither spoke or even blinked for a few minutes. “Can’t read her mind Ikey, but I think she’d like to get you back down in the cellar.”

  “At this point Johnny, it might be the best place for me. If I try to get away and get caught by the home guard or the cavalry about the best I could hope for is to be shot on sight. Their blood’s up and I can’t entirely blame them. I’m the one that went crazy and killed those two for assaulting the flower of southern womanhood and I’m a damned Yankee.”

  Mrs. Pendleton finally looked away, tired by her evening’s travails and not being able to gain an advantage in the contest. Ike stood up and walked toward her peering at the knot on her forehead.

  “Shouldn’t we put something on that?” he offered. When she did not respond, he went to the cabinet and retrieved the salve. He led her to a chair and helped her sit down. She did not resist as he knelt beside her and cleaned the abrasion on her forehead and applied the balm tenderly. When she finally turned to look at him there were tears in her eyes.

  “I am afraid that I have treated you badly Mr. Lowery. Thank you for all you’ve done this evening. It’s likely that you saved my life.” She said putting her head on his shoulder and began sobbing, “This war has been so ugly and taken so much from so many.”

  They remained there in silence Ike instinctively put his arm around the woman’s shoulder as she clung to him and vented her pent up sadness. Marcus stepped into the kitchen and registered no surprise or dismay at the scene. “Nobody anywhere close to the well and the moon behind a cloudbank. We better do this thing now if we gonna’ do it.”

  “Marcus, is there any chance we could get them into the creek behind the barn so they could float away and maybe be found?” Ike asked, mentally picturing the landscape he had seen when his squad first reconnoitered the area.

  Marcus looked thoughtful for a moment. “Creek is up right now and everthin’s in shadow, ain’t but about ‘nother fitty’ yard. Dat way iff’n the ‘Federts find ‘em they be settlin’ down a while an’ won’t be lookin’ around so much. Good idea dere sodjur.”

  Teddy was the lighter of the two dead men and had only voided his bladder at the moment of his demise. George on the other hand was heavy even after having evacuated nearly all of his internal contents as well as bleeding from his head wound. “It’s going to stink down here for days.” Ike groaned in disgust as he and Marcus rolled the dead man’s mortal remains onto an old piece of canvas and carried him up the steps and onto a wheelbarrow. Ike shed his borrowed clothing and floated the dead men out to the center of the stream and sent them on their way

  “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, if the good Lord don’t want ‘em, the devil must.” Johnny intoned as the corpses drifted away.

  “That’s very angelic Johnny.” Ike replied, thinking of all the men he had killed in the last two years. These two had worn the same uniform as he and his comrades but their deaths were less troubling to him than a number of the enemy that he had seen crumple to the ground when he shot them. These two men’s demise had been close at hand and he had stopped them from the commission of rape, multiple murder, and arson. Still he wondered if these two had families somewhere. It was possible that one or both of these miscreants had people who would always wonder what had happened to them. He had seen no identification on either one of t
hem, but he hadn’t searched them thoroughly either. It had crossed his mind to try to purloin any knife or other weapon that might be on the men’s bodies, but Marcus had been too close to make that a possibility. The thought of using a weapon against Marcus was abhorrent to him anyway. He went in to the barn to put his clothing back on. The moon peeked out from behind the cloudbank for a few minutes before it sat behind the trees. The pale light reflected on the water and illuminated the wake of George and Teddy’s last journey.

  Marcus said little as he and Ike went about cleaning up the cellar and erasing the traces of the two intruders. “See ya’ in da mawnin’” he finally said as he went up the steps for the last time and closed the door. Ike heard the bar and the stone being replaced as usual. He also saw the brandy bottle sitting on the table. He stared at it for a few moments, and then changed back into his nightshirt which had been returned to him, and blew out the candle and went to bed.

  “That bottle is a callin’ you ain’t it Ikey.” Johnny intoned. “You’re wantin’ more than just a nightcap.”

  “Yes, Johnny it’s tempting me, but I think I can get through this without it. Some people can handle the beast, and some can’t. It’s never brought me anything but grief.”

  Ike turned his back on the bottle that he could not see but whose presence he could feel. He prayed fervently for the strength to resist a temptation that had gotten the best of him so many times before. Johnny’s voice was silent as Ike prayed. After a time, he slept and dreamed of home for a while. Then his dreams turned to loss and death and flames. The violence of the previous evening was revisited as he once again witnessed George and Teddy dragging Micheline Pendleton down to his abode. Scenes of other violent events swam through his mind, he saw the first man he had killed jerk with the impact of the bullet and crumple to the ground and felt the horror that had frozen him in his tracks until Jimmy had grabbed him and drug him back into the retreating line of soldiers. Once again he was in the cellar as two Union Soldiers drug Mrs. Pendleton down the steps. This time it was Ike and Johnny laughing and abusing the woman as she fought and sobbed. He awoke to the screams of a woman dying as her house burned down around her. He listened intently to make sure that the screaming was not for real, but only heard the ringing in his own ears.