Buried Roots

by Cynthia Raleigh

  “It isn’t all that far from our hotel. That’s why we picked a hotel in Midlothian where we’d be closer to the event. But, we should go into Richmond tonight for supper.”

  “I’d love to look around Richmond. I haven’t been here before. What about Tom?”

  “He’ll be eating with his troop, or regiment, or whatever it is he will be in this time. We are free to wreak whatever havoc we can create by ourselves.”

  “That sounds pretty ominous, but yeah, we definitely are good at the havoc thing. We have standards to live up to.”

  The two friends enjoyed the rest of the short drive in quiet. “Here we are.” Nina slowed as they passed a hand painted sign attached to a pole. Beneath the word ‘Parking,’ a large arrow pointed to a scrubby field packed with vehicles; cars, trucks, and vans. Some had trailers hitched behind them and one large pickup truck was hitched to a horse trailer.

  Nina found a spot at the end of a row of cars and parked the big SUV next to a yellow jeep with a matching covered trailer. "People are here from all over, this one's from Kentucky," Nina said as they got out and she pressed the lock button on her key fob, slipping the keys into a zipper pocket on her bag.

  Perri slung her purse on her shoulder and hung her camera around her neck. As they came nearer to the gated entry to the event, she could hear shouting and musket shots. “Sounds lively.” After paying their entry fee to the lady and gentleman in smart period attire, the man in a long-coated suit and the woman in a day dress, Nina and Perri walked into another world.

  ***

  After passing through the gates, Perri and Nina took in the sights and smells. Beyond the information booth, there was an arrangement of wooden tables and chairs in front of an open kitchen area where people in 1860s garb were making and selling food. Several open fires burned with skillets on grates or iron pots hanging over them. Wood smoke wafted upward through the tree branches. Mixed with the aromas of food cooking, it gave the air a delicious smell that reminded Perri of the camping cookouts she had with her family when she was little.

  As they strolled through the food area, they could see bubbling stews and beans in the iron kettles, grilling meat sizzling on flat iron surfaces, and various types of breads baking. "I'm kind of wishing we hadn't just had breakfast," Perri said wistfully, sniffing the air.

  "We can always eat again," Nina suggested hopefully.

  "Yeah." Perri considered. "Let's walk around for a while and then I'll feel justified in coming back here for more food. I should never let an opportunity like this pass though; it's part of gaining knowledge about another period in history and…" Nina elbowed Perri in the arm and snorted. They walked on into the throng of people.

  Directly ahead was a large open field, mown closely, with clumps of soldiers dotting the landscape. Men in both gray and blue uniforms were addressing groups gathered to hear about weaponry and ammunition, strategies, military gear, and in one far corner, a man on a horse was giving a demonstration about cavalry maneuvers. Along the right and facing the field, just under the cover of a stand of trees, Perri could see a double row of canvas tents put up with wooden stakes. There were camp stools and packs piled on the already foot worn grass around and in front of them.

  All along the left side of the field, where a slightly overgrown track led from the highway to the back of the property, large open-sided tents were erected. Inside, tables of goods were lined up nearly end to end, attended by both women and men in period clothing.

  Nina gestured toward the tables and said to Perri, "This is Sutlers Row. Let’s go through here and see what they have for sale. There is something I want to get for Tom.”

  “What are you looking for?” Perri asked.

  Nina turned around to face Perri, her eyes bright. “I have been saving up money for a while now, a little at a time, to get Tom a knife for his kit. He picked one out on one of the reproduction weapons sites last spring, but hasn’t gotten it yet. I checked with the event schedulers to make sure there would be a weapons sutler here, and there are three. I want to surprise Tom with one today.”

  “That’s a great idea. He'll be ecstatic. Do you know which kind you want to get?”

  “I printed the photo of the set he wanted.” Nina dug in her bag and pulled out a folded paper. “This is it.”

  Perri took it and unfolded it. “Do you think they’ll have this exact one here?”

  “It doesn’t have to be the exact one, but something close, and I’m sure I can find something.” Nina took the paper from Perri and turned around as they walked toward the row of merchant tables.

  Chapter 5

  Nina found one of the sutlers with the type of item she was looking for. She and Perri browsed the goods on display while the two attending merchants, a man and a woman, dealt with other customers. There were knives, bayonets, a couple of swords, handmade leather pouches, and many other implements Nina couldn’t identify. She was inspecting one gadget, trying to figure out its use, when the woman asked, “May I help you, ma’am?” The woman had finished her transaction with the other customer and had stepped over to help Nina.

  Perri pointed toward an area of benches and left Nina to her discussion. Perri had made two purchases of her own and she looked them over again while she waited. The first item was a pair of scissors, very sharp and all metal, no plastic handles to break, as well as a pair of filigree leaf earrings. She figured she would wear them the weekend Nick was to visit. She rewrapped the items in the paper and replaced them in her purse then settled back on the bench, leaning against a tree, to watch the men on the field.

  A line of Confederate soldiers with weapons ready advanced toward an opposing line of Union soldiers, following the direction of an officer on their flank. The line would stop and more instruction would be given, then resume. Tom was among them, concentrating hard and apparently thoroughly enjoying himself. Perri knew he loved his job, teaching history at a local community college, but getting out into the countryside and living some of what he taught every day must be a joy. After engaging for a few minutes, the men retreated, smiling and clapping each other on the back.

  Nina trotted up to Perri waving a bag. “I got one! Well, I got both, or a set, or whatever you call it. I got a side knife and a sheath. The knife looks pretty close to the one Tom was wanting. The price was a bit more, but I think that is because it has more decoration and came with the scabbard, so I got it. Here, I’ll show you.”

  They stepped away from the flow of foot traffic around the tables. Nina pulled a long package out of her tote bag. It was wrapped in paper and tied with string. She slipped the string off the end and folded back the paper. She had just reached in to pull the knife out of the wrapping when a man walking rapidly by jostled Perri, causing her to bump into Nina. He didn’t turn to apologize, just kept going. “Well. Guess he doesn’t subscribe to the manners of the time, right?”

  “I’ll say.” Nina removed the knife from the paper and held it up.

  “Wow, it’s bigger than I thought it would be. Can I hold it?” Perri asked.

  “Sure. Don’t worry, it’s a reproduction, but they are supposed to be accurate reproductions.”

  “Oh, ok.”

  “Tom will probably immediately spot anything not exactly correct, but, that’s his job I suppose.”

  Perri took the scabbard and slid the knife halfway out. The metal of the blade was more grayish than it was shiny. The scabbard was dark leather that was very hard with little cracks spidering over the surface. It had a brass tip about two inches long engraved with a beaded design around the circumference of the wider end. “They do an excellent job making it look authentic, don’t they?”

  Nina pointed to the brass tip, “That’s the chape. I know that because Tom has talked about it often enough. This part right here,” she pointed to the knife itself, “is the crossguard, I think it’s brass. The grip is leather and wire wrapped. He’ll like that. And the end, this brass piece here, is the pommel. Pretty cool, huh?”

/>   Perri slid the knife back into its sheath. “I don’t know much about it, but it looks like you got a good deal. There’s a lot of detail of ornamentation. The seam of the leather sheath, or scabbard, is tightly sewn together instead of glued or something chintzy. Even the brass pieces look a bit aged, like it is tarnished. And the blade is a little, um, kind of pitted, is it supposed to be?”

  “I don’t know, I guess. It won’t look brand new if it isn’t bright, shiny, and reflecting every ray of sunshine out there on the field when he’s giving his demonstrations. Tom is going to love it. I’ll give it to him tonight and he can wear it tomorrow.” Nina rewrapped the gift in the brown paper and put it back in her tote bag. “Now, let’s go watch the guys do their drills for a while and then check out the grub!”

  ***

  After a little more than two hours of watching various exercises and skills lessons, Perri and Nina were seated on a bench, each with a bowl of beans that had been simmered with salt pork in a cast iron pot, and a chunk of flat, hard bread perched on their knees. “Oh my gosh, this is good.” Perri said after swallowing a mouthful.

  “It is. I would say I’d make this at home, but I’m fresh out of open fires with iron cauldrons. I’m sure my version would taste nothing like this. I’m not even sure what kind of beans these are.” Nina held her spoon close to her face and examined the legumes.

  Perri laughed, “You are hopeless sometimes.”

  “I’m a nurse, not a chef.”

  “I know, I know, it’s just funny.” They people-watched as they ate in silence.

  Perri finished her food and stretched her legs out in front of her. Enjoying the shade and warm breeze, she half closed her eyes. Without turning her head, she asked Nina, “When tonight do you think you’ll have a chance to talk to Tom and give him his gift?”

  Nina swallowed and opened her mouth to answer but never got the words out. A man, dressed in full Confederate uniform, careened into their bench as he ran through the area, rocking the bench forward. Perri’s heels dug in to the soil and, as the bench went over, she flopped onto her rear end hard. Nina was sent forward off the bench and went to the ground. Her almost empty bowl landed upside down. The bread flew out of her hand and skittered across the path, coming to rest between two gnarly tree roots. Nina was on her knees, hands stretched out in front of her, palms down, after skidding across the dirt in an attempt to break her fall. Perri jumped up and put her hand on Nina’s back. “Are you ok?” Nina held her position and continued to face downward. Perri knelt down next to her. “Hey, are you ok?”

  “Yes. Don’t send for help or call 911.” Nina croaked out a hoarse laugh. “Oh man.”

  Perri looked in the direction in which the man had continued to run. “What the heck was that all about?” They could hear a disturbance near the gate entry. Perri knelt down next to Nina, “Let me see your hands.”

  “I’ll be fine, just skinned up.”

  “Ouch.” The palms of Nina’s hands were scraped and bleeding in spots, although not much. “They’re pretty grubby. Here, I have a bottle of water in my purse, let me wash the dirt off so it doesn’t get down into the tissue. Who knows what might be in the dirt with all the people in and out. Take this extra napkin, I didn’t use it.”

  “Yes, Nurse.” Nina laughed.

  Perri slowly poured water over Nina’s hands. Nina gingerly blotted the excess away from the scraped areas. “How are your knees?”

  Nina swung her legs around in front of her to examine them. “Fine, my jeans didn’t tear, just got dirty. What was that guy doing anyway, running and shouting like that?”

  “I don’t know, but there’s something going on.”

  Perri helped Nina to her feet. They each took one end of the bench, set it right again, and sat down. As they were trying to see or hear anything coming from the gate area, Tom put his hands on Nina’s shoulders from behind. Nina jumped and yelped at the same time. “What??” She twisted around, “Darn it, Tom, don’t do that!”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t know it would startle you.” Tom looked contrite and worried, the lines on his forehead were pronounced.

  “Nina just got slammed to the ground,” Perri told him. “A man came running through here at top speed and knocked her off the bench. Her hands are scraped up. He didn’t even stop, he just…”

  “That was Darren. He was…”

  “Tom, what’s wrong? You’re out of breath, are you having trouble breathing?” Nina and Perri both looked concerned. Nina put her hands on Tom’s arms, “Sit down, honey, what’s going on? Are you having chest pain or…”

  “No, Nina, no. Let me just think here.” Tom leaned back and blew out a breath. “Have a seat.” They both sat, Tom stood behind the bench and bent down to rest his forearms on the back. Perri and Nina each turned to be able to see Tom. He continued, “Ok. We were going through some infantry drills out on the field.”

  “I saw you, we watched for a long time,” remarked Perri.

  “There had been some discussion about clandestine approaches through different terrains, one being a wooded approach, being quiet, all that.”

  “Yes?” they said in unison.

  “Since we have a stretch of woods here we can use, after the instruction, the Captain decided to take us through a drill in the woods to see how we would do. We headed into the woods that run behind our camp and all along the western edge of the property line, over there.” Tom turned and pointed to the line of tents Perri had seen when they arrived. “Our instructions were simple, just get to the other side of the woods being as quiet as possible. They’re only about five hundred feet across at this point. The Commander was following alongside us to critique.” Tom paused.

  “Uh-huh.” Nina encouraged him to continue.

  “We were about two-thirds of the way through maybe when Owen stopped. He was on my right about ten feet from me. I kept going but when he didn’t catch up I looked back. I couldn’t see him, so I backtracked. Just as I got close to where he was, he popped up out the underbrush and hollered, ‘Help.’ I shushed him but he started yelling again, ‘Help, over here.’ I gave up being quiet and rushed over to him. There was a … man there on the ground, right behind a giant rotting log.”

  “A man.” Nina and Perri both waited, nothing. “A man, honey? What man?” prodded Nina.

  “I mean a body. A man’s body.”

  Nina recoiled a bit at Tom’s statement, “A body!”

  “Shhhh! Not so loud.”

  “Not so loud? There’s a body in the woods and you think that’s going to stay a secret?”

  Tom exhaled, “No, but in this crowd, we don’t have to be the ones to start a mad dash to see it or for the exit. Let’s keep it down. He was obviously dead.”

  Perri shifted further sideways on the bench, “What did you see? I’m being morbidly curious, yeah, but tell us about it.”

  In low tones, Tom described what he had seen. “When I reached the spot where Owen was standing, I walked around the fallen log and saw the body. There was a little blood on the upper part of his shirt and braces, but I couldn’t see where it came from. His hat and glasses were lying several feet away on the other side of the downed tree. One of the glasses lenses was broken with the cracks radiating out from the center. It could have been from an impact or have been stepped on. The body was lying face up, eyes open, but it was kind of shoved up as close into the angle where the tree met the ground as it could get. It looked like someone was trying to keep it hidden, make it as unnoticeable as possible, but they hadn’t picked up his hat or glasses.”

  Perri and Nina were both looking at Tom, aghast at his story. “Oh my God,” the words barely audible from Nina’s lips.

  “I have to wonder if he fell across the log first and then the attacker moved him to the ground, behind it, so he wouldn’t be visible. His shirt was white muslin and would have stood out like a beacon in the green of the woods.

  “How do you think he was killed? You said there was a little bl
ood, do you think he fell and hit his head or something?” Nina asked.

  “Well,” Tom hesitated. “He definitely fell, but I don’t think that’s what did him in. There wasn’t a lot of blood and I couldn’t see an actual wound anywhere, but there wasn’t an exit wound like he’d been shot in the back. Of course, we didn’t turn him over, but I think it more likely he was stabbed or something. But that’s just a wild guess.”

  “Maybe he got attacked by something in the woods?” Nina asked hopefully.

  “It was something in the woods, but not the local wildlife, No, I don’t think so hon.”

  “Animals try to hide what they kill sometimes.” Nina offered hopefully.

  “Lions and tigers and bears, Nina. This was done by a human.”

  Nina glanced around the crowd with a worried expression, “Is it one of your guys? Is anyone missing?”

  “No, no, that’s the thing. He isn’t in uniform. He’s in civilian clothes.”

  Appalled, Perri asked, “You mean he’s a visitor here, like us?

  Tom spoke quietly, “No, I mean re-enacting civilian clothes. He wasn’t taking part in the military exercises but was here as a re-enactor. I don’t personally know him.”

  Each of them thought their own thoughts as they waited quietly for what was going to happen next.

  Chapter 6

  Tom was still leaning on the backrest of the bench that Nina and Perri occupied when red and blue flashing lights could be seen arriving beyond the entry gate. A murmur ran through the crowd as people stopped eating, browsing, whatever they were doing and slowly gravitated toward the entrance.

  Four police officers entered the event area, two remained by the entrance, and just past the kitchen area, the other two were met by a man in a Confederate uniform with very short red hair and a closely cropped beard and mustache. He was holding his hat in his clenched left hand.

  "Who is that?" Perri whispered to Tom over her right shoulder.