So Little Time

by Al Lacy

  As Richard was sliding under the covers, Laura completed the braid, feeling relief that her husband would be watching their visitors. She crossed the room, doused the lantern, and snuggled in close to him.

  Soon both were asleep.

  The next day was spent with John Wilkes Booth in bed, and David Herold helping Richard do some work in the barn and the small shed near the barn where the horses were kept at night. All the while, Herold kept an eye on the road and the lane, fearing the federal troops might come along at any time.

  That afternoon, when the wagon Jack drove from school pulled into the yard, Saul’s friend McClain Reardon was aboard with the Garrett children. McClain was introduced to Harold Smith at the barn as the wagon and team were being put away. Jack told him that he and Saul had explained about his friend Sergeant James W. Boyd being wounded at Petersburg on April 2, and that Smith was helping him to get home to Fairfax. Richard was putting the horses in the shed as Herold walked to the house with the boys.

  Moments later, after Saul and McClain came back downstairs from Saul’s room, McClain was introduced to James W. Boyd, who was now in the parlor. McClain told him he hoped he would get home to his family in Fairfax soon.

  When supper was on the dining room table and everyone was seated, Richard looked at Saul’s friend and said, “McClain, we’re so glad you could stay with us tonight. Would you lead us in prayer as we thank the Lord for the food?”

  “It would be my pleasure, Mr. Garrett,” said the boy.

  When the amen was said, Booth and Herold were nervous again.

  A few minutes after they had all begun eating, Saul said, “McClain, tell Mama and Papa about Tommy Stone.”

  The impostors’ nerves tightened even more when McClain told Richard and Laura about the joy he had that very day in being able to lead his schoolmate Tommy Stone to the Lord at school during lunchtime.

  “Isn’t that great?” said Rya. “I like Tommy very much. It’s wonderful to know that he’s a Christian now.”

  “It sure is,” said Richard. “This is very good news. McClain, you’ve led several of your friends at school to the Lord, haven’t you?”

  “Yes, sir,” said the boy. “So many of our schoolmates don’t have the privilege of being raised in a Christian home. I’m so thankful that I have that privilege, and I want to share the gospel with as many of them as I can. Tommy is coming to church Sunday and is going to be baptized.”

  “Wonderful!” said Laura.

  Jack took a drink of milk and wiped the white film from his upper lip. “Talking about Tommy made me think of Derk Waters, McClain.”

  The Garretts all knew that McClain had led his schoolmate Derk Waters to the Lord just about a year ago. And only a month after Derk was saved, he was killed when he was thrown from a horse on the Waters farm.

  Tears welled up in McClain’s eyes. “Oh, yes. Derk. Can you imagine how happy he is in heaven with Jesus?”

  Richard smiled. “I can guarantee you this, McClain. Derk wouldn’t want to come back to earth again. This old world would be too dark a place now that he has basked in the light of the Lord’s presence for a whole year.”

  McClain wiped away his tears. “That’s for sure, Mr. Garrett. That’s for sure.”

  Rya’s adoring gaze was fixed on McClain. This did not escape the notice of her big sister.

  When supper was over and Laura and her daughters were doing dishes in the kitchen, Ella smiled at Rya and said, “You really admire McClain, don’t you, little sis?”

  “Yes,” replied Rya, returning the smile. “He’s such a good Christian, and loves the Lord so much.”

  “He’s going to make some young lady a wonderful husband,” commented Laura.

  I wish it would be me, thought Rya. But he will be married long before I’m old enough to be a wife. Then tugging at one of her auburn pigtails, she said, “He sure will, Mama.”

  When the Garrett sisters and their mother entered the parlor, Rya saw that Saul and McClain were sitting together on the parlor’s smallest sofa. Boyd and Smith were on straight-backed wooden chairs next to them.

  Rya moved up to the sofa. “McClain, would you like to see some of the pictures of horses that I drew?”

  McClain smiled. “You’ve drawn some new ones since I was here last?”

  “Uh-huh. Wanna see ’em?”

  “Of course! You really have a talent with a pencil, Rya.”

  She giggled. “I just happen to have ’em right here in the drawer of this table by the sofa.”

  “Yeah, just happened to have them right there,” Saul said in a playful tone.

  While pulling several drawings from the drawer, Rya gave her brother a disdainful look She returned to the front of the sofa, and with a little effort, squeezed herself between her brother and his friend. Saul frowned while she was wiggling to get settled and moved closer to the arm of the sofa, giving her a bit more room.

  She gave him a big smile. “Thanks, Saul. You’re such a wonderful big brother.”

  While Rya was showing McClain her drawings and explaining why she had made each one, Richard and Laura were talking to their boarders while Ella and Jack sat nearby, listening.

  Looking at Booth and Herold, who were sitting together, Laura said, “Have you gentlemen heard about General Robert E. Lee?”

  “Must not have,” said Booth. “What about him?”

  “It was in the newspapers a couple of days ago. Maybe you didn’t see it because the front pages have all been John Wilkes Booth, the assassination, and his flight with David Herold to evade capture. Anyway, General Lee has just become president of Washington College in Washington, D.C.”

  “Oh, really?” said Herold. “That’s good. He deserves a position like that and the honor that goes with it.”

  “He sure does,” agreed Booth.

  “Great man,” said Richard.

  “As far as I’m concerned,” said Laura, “he was the greatest general in the Civil War, on either side. He showed more brilliance and more—” Laura’s words were cut off by the loud sound of pounding hoofbeats and the blowing of several horses at the front of the house.

  Jack jumped from his chair as his father started to get up, and headed for the parlor door. “I’ll see who it is, Papa.”

  Booth and Herold exchanged a furtive glance, their eyes showing the fear they felt. Only McClain noticed it.

  Jack was almost to the front of the house when a loud knock shook the door. When he opened it, the bright moon showed him a cavalry officer before him, with several uniformed men on horseback.

  Everyone in the parlor heard a husky voice ask, “Is Mr. Garrett home, son? I’m Lieutenant Edward Doherty, United States Army. I need to talk to him.”

  “Yes,” they heard Jack reply. Then, even as Richard was getting out of his overstuffed chair, Jack called, “Papa, federal troops are here! Lieutenant Edward Doherty wants to talk to you!”

  While Richard was hurrying out of the parlor, Laura said, “I didn’t know they rode at night.”

  “They want that John Wilkes Booth and his pal pretty bad, Mrs. Garrett,” said McClain.

  Booth pictured himself rushing out of the parlor and hopping down the hall on his crutch. Even though the hallway could not be seen from the front door, there was no way he was going to get up those steep stairs to the attic in time. He looked at Herold, ran his eyes to McClain, and both of them sprang off their chairs.

  Booth left his crutch leaning against his chair and grabbed Rya, who was closest to him. In less than a heartbeat, Herold seized McClain. Both children looked shocked.

  Laura stood up and started to cry out, but stifled it when Booth hissed in a whisper, “If you holler, I’ll break your daughter’s neck! And if any of you follow us, both Rya and McClain will have broken necks! We’ll kill them, understand?”

  With a hand over her mouth and fear in her eyes, Laura nodded.

  Ella sat frozen on her chair, her face pale. Saul was the same on the small couch.

&
nbsp; Herold pointed a stiff finger between McClain’s widened eyes. Keeping his voice low, he said, “One peep outta you, kid, and you’re dead. Do you understand?”

  The boy nodded.

  Rya gave her mother a fearful look as Booth dragged her through the door into the hall with Herold and McClain following. They could hear the voices of the lieutenant and Richard Garrett at the front door as they hurried toward the rear of the house.

  In the parlor, a strangled moan escaped Laura’s lips as if someone was choking her from the inside. Saul and Ella rushed to their mother, clinging to her.

  Booth was limping as he held Rya by the arm, forcing her down the hall. She was numb with terror, and when her mouth came open as if she was going to scream, Booth locked her neck in the crook of his arm, lifted her off her feet, and clamped a hand over her mouth. She thrashed against him, kicking his legs, and when her booted feet struck flesh between the slats of the splint, he ejected a moan, then said angrily, “Be still and do as you’re told, or I’ll come back here when the troops are gone and kill your parents!”

  Behind them, McClain was also struggling to free himself from Herold’s strong grip. “Settle down, kid, or your parents will die, too!”

  “Do as they say, Rya,” said McClain quietly. “It’ll be okay if we don’t try to fight them.”

  With tears spilling from her eyes, Rya gave a little nod and stopped the effort to free herself.

  They were almost to the kitchen. Booth remembered that Richard kept a rifle by the back door. He hoped it was still there.

  When they entered the kitchen, he saw the rifle leaning against the wall by the door. He removed his hand from Rya’s mouth and picked it up. They quickly passed through the backdoor into the night.

  At the front door of the house, Lieutenant Edward Doherty was explaining that he and his men were searching for assassin John Wilkes Booth and his accomplice, David Herold.

  “We’re quite sure those two have come into Virginia, Mr. Garrett,” said Doherty. “Let me describe them to you.”

  “That won’t be necessary, Lieutenant,” said Richard. “I heard you give their descriptions in church on Sunday morning. I haven’t seen two men with shaggy hair and mustaches, and one of them with a splinted leg, traveling through these parts together.”

  The instant Laura Garrett heard the back door close, she rushed out of the parlor with Ella and Saul on her heels. She headed toward the front door where her husband was talking to the lieutenant. “Richard! Oh-h-h, Richard … !”

  Richard turned from Doherty and opened his arms as he saw the intense fear and panic in Laura’s eyes. “Honey, what’s the matter?”

  Throwing herself into his arms, Laura said with a shudder, “Boyd and Smith took Rya and McClain out the back door! Boyd said they will kill the children if anybody follows them!”

  As Richard’s body stiffened, Lieutenant Edward Doherty asked, “Who are Boyd and Smith?”

  Richard cast a glance toward the rear of the house and said, “Boyd is a Confederate soldier who was injured in the Petersburg battle on April second. His friend Harold Smith is trying to get him home to Fairfax without Federal interference. We’re allowing them to stay with us while Boyd rests up. But something’s wrong.”

  “What kind of injury does Boyd have?” asked Doherty.

  “It’s his left leg. It was broken severely when a cannon wheel ran over it. The leg is in a splint.”

  “Mr. Garrett,” said the lieutenant, “I’ll tell you what’s wrong. You’ve got John Wilkes Booth and David Herold! They must have shaved off their mustaches and gotten their hair cut.”

  “But Smith is completely bald,” said Richard.

  “He’s blond. He had it shaved, and it just looks bald. I’m telling you, it’s Booth and Herold who have taken the children.”

  By the pale moonlight, the fugitives headed toward the small shed that housed their horses.

  “The shed is locked,” said Rya. “Papa puts a big padlock on it at night because there have been some horse thieves around.”

  Herold started to say they would kick the door in, but remembered how solidly the shed was built.

  “Dave,” said Booth, “if I shoot the padlock off, or even if we try to break it off, they’ll hear it and be here before we can saddle the horses and be gone. We’ll have to hole up in the barn. Let’s go.”

  As they headed toward the barn, Booth said, “When the troops come back here, we’ll demand two of their horses and threaten to kill these two if our demands aren’t met. We’ll ride away with Rya on a horse with me and McClain on a horse with you. We’ll warn those low-down Federals if they follow us, these kids will die. We’ll make it. They aren’t gonna take any chances on getting these kids killed.”

  The night sky was clear and the moon was bright as the fugitives took their captives inside the barn and closed the door.

  McClain looked at the man who favored his left leg and held on to Rya. “You’re John Wilkes Booth, aren’t you?”

  Booth fixed him with a hard glare. “Yes, I am! I killed that no-good Abraham Lincoln, and I’ll kill the two of you if those soldiers don’t do as Dave and I tell them.”

  Suddenly Rya broke down and started to weep.

  “Stop that crying, girl!” snapped Booth. “Shut up, right now!”

  Rya was so terrified, she could not control her weeping.

  “Stop it, I said!” Booth demanded, shaking her.

  McClain asked, “May I talk to her?”

  Booth glared at him. “All right, go ahead,” he said, shoving the girl at him. “You’d better make her quit bawling real quick, or I’ll do it myself!”

  Herold was peering out one of the windows that faced the house as McClain took Rya in his arms and began talking to her in a soothing tone, trying to quiet her.

  Richard let go of Laura and darted toward the rear of the house.

  “Hey!” called Doherty, moving inside and running after him. “Wait!”

  Richard halted halfway down the hall and pivoted at the lieutenant’s word.

  “Where do you think you’re going, Mr. Garrett?” asked Doherty, drawing up to him.

  Laura, Jack, Saul, and Ella were now in the hall, accompanied by two soldiers.

  There was a strong look of determination in Richard’s eyes as he fixed them on Doherty. “That’s my daughter and another farmer’s boy they’ve got, Lieutenant. I’m going after them!”

  With that, Richard turned and ran to the kitchen. When he saw that the rifle that usually leaned against the wall by the door was gone, he opened the pantry and picked up a second rifle, checking the loads.

  “Wait a minute,” said Doherty. “I understand you’re wanting to free the children from those men, but you might just cause more problems, and even get them killed. My men and I are well-trained for situations like this. You wait here. We’ll bring the children back safely.”

  Laura, the other three Garrett children, and the two soldiers drew up as Lieutenant Doherty laid a hand on Richard’s shoulder. “Trust us, Mr. Garrett. We’ll bring those children back safely.”

  Laura took hold of her husband’s arm. “Please, Richard. Let them handle it.”

  “Listen to her, sir,” said Doherty.

  Richard looked at the lieutenant with tenacity etched on his countenance.

  “Sir,” said Doherty, “you are far too overwrought to take on those two men and make the proper decisions that will come with facing them. Don’t endanger your daughter and that boy further. Let us do our job.”

  Laura squeezed his arm. “Please, darling.”

  Richard met her pleading gaze, then looked directly into the lieutenant’s unswerving eyes. His shoulders slumped and he lowered the rifle so the butt rested on the floor. “Okay, Lieutenant, you win. But if you fail in your job, you will answer to me.”

  “We won’t fail, Mr. Garrett,” Doherty said levelly.

  Jack, Saul, and Ella looked on, their faces void of color.

  Richard took
a deep breath. “Lieutenant, Booth and Herold have one of my rifles. They can’t get into the shed where the horses are kept without making a lot of noise by breaking off a padlock or shooting it off. There haven’t been any such sounds, so they’re out there on foot.”

  Doherty turned to the two soldiers. “Go tell the others that we’re going after Booth and Herold right now. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  As the two uniformed men hurried away, Jack stepped up, his features twisted in agony. “Lieutenant Doherty, if those evil men see you and your troops coming after them, they’ll kill Rya and McClain! Maybe if you let them go, they’ll leave Rya and McClain behind when they know they’re safe from capture.”

  Doherty shook his head. “No, son. Those two children are hostages now, but when Booth and Herold no longer need them, they’ll kill them. Booth is a cold-blooded killer. I’m telling you, that’s what will happen. We have to hunt them down quickly and get the drop on them in order to save Rya and McClain’s lives. Being afoot, they can’t get very far away. With the moon so bright, they’ll be easy to find. When we catch sight of them, I’ll deploy my men so as to surround them without them knowing it, then surprise them suddenly. When they find themselves facing seven gun muzzles, they’ll surrender.”

  “Lieutenant,” said Richard, “they just might be hiding out there in the barn.”

  “That’s where I was going to start.”

  With that, Doherty turned and dashed up the hall. When he reached his men at the front porch, they got out of their saddles, guns ready.

  Doherty explained the situation and his plan of action. Then marshaling his troops, he led them into the deep shadows of the trees in a wide perimeter, and the soldiers scattered to surround the barn.

  Still looking a bit frustrated at being left behind, Richard put his rifle back in the pantry, then looked into the faces of his family. Leading Laura by the arm, he sat her down at the kitchen table.

  To Jack, Saul, and Ella, he said, “Let’s all sit down. We must go to God, our great Protector, in prayer.”