“Yes, sir.” Marshall turned and passed the orders to the sergeants that were there. The command went out to roll up the camp and move to the cabins.
Tents started coming down en masse as men ran back and forth, depositing their tents into stalled wagons, and running to the cabins with their bedrolls in hand. The ominous look of the storm overhead was all the prompting they needed.
“Jackson, what about the horses?”
“I didn’t ask, but we need to move them, too. Let’s pull the wagons closer to the barn and give them more security. We’ll un-harness the horses and move them to the corral near the structure. Several horses and cows are already in the barn. The barn is small, but twenty or so horses should not take up too much more room.”
Within an hour, the men had moved their bedrolls, tents, and all the rest of the camp equipment. Soon the area that had been covered with tents and wagons was had become a vacant field, once again. There were paths worn into the ground and any grass left had been worn down, but other than that, there wasn’t a sign of the camp.
The back of the house was abuzz with activity as the cabin community became alive once more. Doors from the cabins where a few of the field help still resided opened up and heads popped out to see what was going on.
Seeing what was needed, the cabin occupants all came out to help the soldiers get sheltered. They passed out candles and lanterns from the supply house. Some women brought pieces of wood to help cover broken window glass. The last few horses were led to the barn.
As the barn door was latched shut, the wind began to kick up, and the rain started once more. This time, rain came down with a fury. Lightning crashed, and thunder boomed. Jackson and Marshall lost no time as both took off for the front door of the house.
Ella looked out the library window and watched the men picking up the camp. She didn’t have long to get Ol’ Indie to Nolan. How was this going to work? If Nolan were discovered, he would be arrested.
But then, there was the matter of the deep blue uniform he was wearing. That was confusing. She had not had a chance to ask him about that. It was barely noticeable, but Union issue, all the same. What in the world had her brother been doing wearing that?
She was sure that Aiden had not noticed that or there would have been questions. Had he killed somebody? Well, silly, she thought to herself morosely, of course, he has. This is war. Nolan is an officer.
Yet here he was, at home, sick.
She wondered about that. She was afraid it might be yellow fever, but Lizzy called it ague. What if Aiden caught it? How long had he been exposed to Nolan?
Her hands fisted in her skirts. Ol’ Indie would know what to do. She was the closest thing to a mamma that Ella had. The dear woman always took care of Aiden, just as she had when she and Nolan were children. She nursed them. When her mamma had died, Ol’ Indie kept Aiden alive. She found a nursemaid. She had wanted to be free, so they gave her papers. But after she had them, she had stayed. Her family, she said, was here.
Well, you cannot get too much done staring out the window, now can you?
There was a lot to do. Ol’ Indie needed blankets and water for Nolan. Grabbing up the stack of quilts by her side, she walked to the closet in the entrance hall. She opened the door and quietly pulled it closed behind her.
Stepping to the back of the cloaks, she pressed on the back panel in its secret spot, allowing it to silently slide open revealing the tunnel opening.
Ella turned up the oil on the sconce on the wall and the light brightened the path. The door shut behind her, its sound soft on its hinges. Satisfied she could see well enough, she slowly descended the steep stairs to bring the quilts down to Nolan.
He was still resting there, but now he was shivering violently. “Ol’ Indie should be here soon,” Ella spoke softly, assuring her brother that she was here.
“No, don’t get close to me,” Nolan muttered, his teeth chattering loudly.
“You are awake. Here, I’ve got blankets.” Her nose wrinkled a little from the smell even though she tried not to let that happen. “You don’t smell as bad as before.”
He opened his mouth to talk and then shut it. He tried again. “C... Carter cleaned me up. S... s... said I s… s... stunk. He l… left a l... little while a… g… go” Frowning, he pulled up the covers, trying to get what little warmth he could.
“Shhh. Don’t talk. We will catch up soon. But right now, save your strength. We have problems. I need to tell you that the Yankees have decided to camp here.”
She felt a little guilty when she said it that way. But why? Ignoring that niggling feeling of remorse, she went on. “They intend to set up what they are calling a per-i-meter. They say that they need to be here to defend me, humph! And they are looking for renegades and others, determined to keep them from harming the citizens.”
She huffed and continued her rant. “And of course, that isn’t all of it. They intend to set up stuff. A hospital. Oh, and schools for the Negroes. But not on our property. At least, I don’t think so. It wouldn’t be a bad thing, though, if they did.” She hesitated. “And Nolan, they are planning, no insisting, on staying in the house—our house. The library has become their office.”
She was out of breath when she finally got it all out of her system. Curiously, she wasn’t as angry as she had been before. Maybe she was slowly getting used to the idea.
Maybe she was attracted to the colonel.
Shaking her head, she persisted, “The colonel and lieutenant colonel seem nice enough, but I cannot let them know about you.” She looked around the room. “You cannot stay here, Nolan. Not now. It just isn’t safe.”
A tear escaped and rolled down her cheek. She was turning away her own brother, but it was for his own good. He would be captured if he stayed. Maybe killed. Another tear followed the first. This was his home, too. Damn those Yankees. They caused this.
“I s… saw.” Nolan rasped.
“You saw the colonel? Then you know how dangerous…”
A door opened on the other side of the room and Carter and Ol’ Indie entered. The tension was so strong that Elle leaped up from where she was and hugged Ol’ Indie.
“Now, girl.” Ol’ Indie gently wiped the tears from Ella’s face. “Carter says our boy’s sick again.”
“Again?” Ella sniffed and looked over at Nolan.
“Yes’m. He was bit purty fierce by a cott’nmouth on the battlefield. I was looking over deem men that wuz hurt, seein’ if I could help. But I seen him lying there. I know’d Massa Nole soon as I seen him lying yonder on dat field. He was wet and ‘peered to be 'bout dead. Mo than cott’nmouth got him down. He had da fever.”
“Nolan, you had the fever?” Her voice strained. “Could he have it again?”
“It be like that with some people. When Massa Nole’s fever broke, he left. I figured he be okay, but then, in my bones, I started feeling that sump’um was wrong. Next thing, Carter came and brunt me here.” She looked down at the young man she had always nursed back to health.
“Oh heavens! Aiden was with him. Ol’ Indie, my little brother… will he get sick from Nolan?”
“Calm yourself, Miss Ella. We best get Massa Nole okay again. I’ll see to Massa Aiden, directly. Does he show signs of being sick?”
“Not yet… but he was with him…” Her face turned red. “I’m sorry, Ol’ Indie. I’m not going to borrow trouble.”
“It’s natural for you to worry. But let’s get Massa Nole well. You is a good little mamma, Miss Ella.” She smiled at her former charge, then, cleared her throat and placed her hand on Nolan’s face. Ol’ Indie looked up at Ella, concern etched on her face. “He got a bad fever. Has he been throwing up the black?”
Ella shook her head. “Not that we know. He smelled really bad. Carter cleaned him up. He had been hidden in the root cellar. It stinks, and we still have to clean it, but there was no black stuff that I saw.” She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I’m worried about Aiden. I can’t help it.�
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Ol’ Indie looked down at Nolan. “De fevers kin come back right smart. If young Massa gets sick, you send for me. It’s hard to say if he will catch it. I think Massa Nole here might be with the ague. He has de fever and the waters. I may have sump’um for it.” She dug into her pockets, bringing out a small vial. “Tonic from the cinchona bark. Let me tend to Massa Nole. And now you should get upstairs and leave me to my bidness.” She gave a quick, pointed nod towards the door.
Ella left through the hidden access in the pantry. She stayed as quiet as she could to make sure the coast was clear in the kitchen. Silently, she left out of the kitchen into the yard and walked back in through the front door. She briefly opened the front closet to make sure it looked the way it should look. Satisfied, she pushed the cloaks back in place and secured the closet, before heading into the parlor.
Her little brother and his puppy were both curled up on the floor in front of the fireplace. It was unusual to have the fire going on a day like today. As wet as it was, it seemed to help cut a chill out of the air. Aiden snored softly, with Bo curled up next to him. Picking up a small shawl from the back of a nearby chair, Ella used it to cover the two sleeping adventurers.
What a long night this was going to be. She listened as the storm raged on outside. Branches banged against the library windows. The loud noise reminded her that they still needed securing.
She couldn’t sleep with that going on. She would have to see to them. Carter tried hard, but with so much to do, he couldn’t get everything done.
Lizzy came down the stairs just as she was heading to the front door. “Miss Ella, I seen that the colonel is finished getting his men in the shelters.”
“Good, I think. But that means he will be back here to do whatever they plan to do with the library.” Ella smirked. The colonel could secure all the remaining windows. If he was going to live here, then he could make himself useful.
Returning to the parlor, Ella picked up her book and sat in the large wingback chair next to the fireplace and Aiden and Bo. She realized she had not relaxed all day.
Ella tried to focus but found it nearly impossible. Her mind kept drifting back to the safe room. How was this to work out? Her brother lay sick, likely to be arrested if he is found, and she was hiding him under the nose of the enemy. And she felt confused over the way she was reacting to the colonel. If he accidentally touched her, her body tingled in places that had never had such a feeling. And her thoughts… her thoughts continually drifted to him. She constantly wondered where he was… what he was doing… was he smiling? She loved his grin. He was so strong and a natural at taking charge. Yet he was kind. Even Aiden and Bo were becoming attached to him. She found herself becoming more and more attracted to the enemy.
That varmint was taking over her property, commandeering her privacy—all this and a horrible storm, too. She felt frustrated and powerless to do anything. There seemed to be nothing for it. At that moment, Ella decided to do that, exactly—nothing. She leaned back and closed her eyes.
The loud knocking on the front door should have roused the whole household, except it competed with the furious storm raging outside. Lizzy opened the door, showing the colonel and the lieutenant colonel to the parlor. Soft snoring drew their attention to the sleeping boy and his dog.
Bo raised his head, looked, then lay back down. He seemed satisfied that these men were okay.
“Miss Whitford, we have secured the men and the horses. I wonder if you would mind if we bunked in the library. That has never been my intent, but the dry space was limited, and we ran out of room out there.”
Ella shushed him with her finger to her lips. “Gentlemen, they just went to sleep. We anticipated your need. Lizzy created pallets hours ago. You both can sleep here.” Ella stood and walked towards the library. It was worth it to see the looks of surprise on their faces. Ella bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling. “We are staying in the parlor tonight together. I think it’s best for us all to stay on the ground floor. You’ll be much more comfortable down here with the rest of us. This will not be a habit, I trust?”
“We will be fine in the library. We appreciate your hospitality. I will make better arrangements tomorrow. I don’t want to head back to town in this.”
Ella put on her biggest smile, hoping it conveyed she was accommodating. “Should you need anything, just holla. Oh, the windows. Colonel, if you don’t mind, I would ask a favor of you. Could you secure the hurricane shutters for the parlor and the library? With so much to do, we didn’t get a chance to do latch them, and Carter is helping to ready other areas of the house. He will be finished any minute, but I’ve got another item or two I need him to take care of for me.” She locked her eyes on Colonel Ross’s. “Would you mind, terribly?”
“No, no we wouldn’t. Marshall, come with me.” The two men left to secure the windows.
Lizzy glanced at Ella and both exhaled slowly. This was not what she had imagined, but for now, she would stay in charge of her home, and her wits—at least until things were resolved with Nolan, whatever that meant.
Chapter 11
Strange dreams plagued her. She was running from someone. His face was unclear, hidden by shadows, but she could hear his voice. She tried to identify it. Who was he?
Still shaking from the dream, Ella lifted her head from the sofa and looked up at the window. She wanted to see if there was any damage. A large crash sounded from outside. What was that? Shuttered windows kept her from seeing a thing. Thunder and lightning had raged all night, and now only an eerie stillness, a quiet stillness, filled the room.
The fire was out and the room was cold. She shivered. How did we let the fire go out? Wiping her eyes, she glanced over at Aiden and Bo, still cuddled together under the heavy quilts near the fire. Aiden’s innocent face ignited her emotional side.
She caught herself brushing back a small tear. He could not play outside since the invaders had arrived, and now water soaked the ground.
Loud drops fell on the ashes in the cold fireplace, drawing her attention. She gave her head a slight shake. Guess that answers that! No doubt the fire had been out for hours. At least the two small beings tucked under the quilts stayed warm. Nolan was in the safe room with Ol’ Indie. She worried about him but had absolute faith in the care that their cherished healer could offer.
The warnings that renegades and deserters could be out there must have caused her dreams to be so frightening. The large goosebumps on her arm were not part of her dream, though. That was from the cold room, but the dream had been scary.
She remembered the dream. The man chasing her was trying to kill her. Dark shadows hid his face. Arms came up and grabbed her. She couldn’t see anything but darkness. Ella shuddered as she opened the front door. Dreams like this foretold.
She pushed back a branch that had fallen against the front door and stepped outside on the porch. A faint breeze stirred. It was a far cry from the roaring winds of the last night. She ventured out to survey the front of the land.
The sun was up over Silver Moon, and the birds were trumpeting their survival. It was almost as if the birds were trying to tell everyone it was over and safe to come out now.
Water stood in the areas beside the house where a small creek once ran. There was no way to identify where the creek meandered. Today it looked like a glistening lake. Had the tents and bedrolls not been removed, they would have been floating. Those men were lucky to have gotten a better shelter. She hoped the cabins held. It would be a few days before the men pitched the tents again, judging from the standing water.
Large boughs from the graceful magnolias hung heavy with water. Once the water finished running off of them, perhaps their shape would resume. Some of the heavier boughs had split from the tree and sliced through the fencing.
In one area, six sections of smashed and broken fencing lay scattered on the ground. Luckily, the pasture being used by the horses and cattle was a little hillier and attached to the barn area on the other side.
They still had access.
Leaves and branches littered the driveway into the plantation. The closer to the road, the worse the conditions became.
A small branch of water behind the plantation house ran into the Neuse River. The river ran to Kinston, some forty-five miles west of New Bern, and dumped into the inlet. The fingers ran into the main streams and ended in the main river.
Normally, the stream on the plantation was an innocuous little threadlike creek. It barely had movement of water. The depth wasn’t more than a foot or two. That was before the storm. The overflow from the storm would take time to recede, maybe weeks. The increase in wetland only magnified the dangers of the mosquitos and snakes that were already hazardous in the area.
Ella grabbed her arm to quell the shiver that ran up, thinking of those creatures. She looked up at the sky. While the rain had stopped, for the time being, clouds still filled the sky. There would be more rain soon. Shivering from the cool breeze, she wrapped her arms around herself.
Colonel Ross and Lieutenant Colonel Jameson had spent the night in the library. Ella wondered how they slept. She imagined them bunking on the floor, huddled under their blankets—not together. A giggle escaped.
Their fireplace was likely cold. She had offered more blankets, but they had insisted they needed none. The weather was unusually cool for the eve of a summer’s start, a product of the storm.
She thought about Colonel Jackson Ross cleaning up and washing, and a warm feeling took root and moved up to her face, heating her cheeks. Was he awake yet?
As if in answer to her question, the door to the library opened and the colonel walked her way. She turned her attention to the nearest window and pretended to look outside.
Embers of Anger (Embattled Hearts Book 1) Page 10
