The Widow of Rose Hill (The Women of Rose Hill Book 2)

by Michelle Shocklee

CHAPTER TEN

  Several heated moments ticked by before regret took hold of Natalie. She had no right to accuse the colonel. While she didn’t know if he had participated in the burning and pillaging in the South, it wasn’t her place to condemn him. Oh, but the man could rile her like no one had in a very long time.

  “I apologize,” she began contritely at the same time he said, “You’re right.”

  When he inclined his head, she offered a slight smile. “I should not accuse anyone of things I know little about.”

  “As I should not assume all slave owners are of the same ilk.”

  The deep brown of his eyes held hers as they faced one another. When she could bear their intensity no longer, she looked away. “Since you are a military man, perhaps we can agree on a truce during the time you’re at Rose Hill. I don’t believe we’ll see eye to eye on the subject, but arguing serves little purpose.”

  A moment passed before she looked up and found his gaze still on her.

  “A truce then.” He bowed, a half-smile on his mouth. “If Generals Grant and Lee can come to agreeable terms, I am certain you and I can as well.”

  The humor of his words eased the uncomfortable tension. He could be quite charming when he put his mind to it.

  Resuming their walk, Natalie gave him a brief tour of the quarter and the barns. As they made their way back to the house, she stopped to admire a pale pink rose in full bloom.

  “My mother-in-law, Martha Ellis, brought cuttings of these bushes when they came from Virginia. Luther named the plantation in her honor.” She bent to smell the fragrant flower, inhaling deeply of its heady scent. When she straightened, she found the colonel’s attention not on the flower but on her hands. Too late she remembered to keep them hidden.

  “Might I inquire about the bandages?”

  Embarrassed, Natalie held out her hands, both wrapped with strips torn from an old chemise. She’d doctored the painful sores herself, not wishing for Harriet or Carolina to see them. Both women had asked after her, but she’d declared herself fine. The pain was excruciating when she’d hauled water to the garden that morning, but she wouldn’t let it keep her from doing her fair share of work. “It’s nothing. Just a few silly blisters.”

  He raised his brow.

  Ashamed at her ineptitude at plantation chores, she tried to wave him off. “I was helping to water the garden. A few blisters were my reward.”

  “May I see them? You wouldn’t want the wounds to become infected.”

  “Truly, they are fine, Colonel.” As she spoke, a line of wagons entered the yard. Corporal Banks and several other soldiers accompanied them on horseback. She turned back to the colonel, glad for the interruption. “We best see to the new arrivals.”

  She started to move away, but he clasped her arm.

  “Mrs. Ellis, I would very much like to see the wounds for myself. Even something as small as a blister can become a larger problem should infection take hold.”

  A long moment ticked by as she considered his words. “Very well,” she said, unhappy to remove the bandages yet fearful he might be right. The cloth stuck to one of the open sores, and she grimaced when she gave a slight yank on it, tearing the tender skin. She opened her palms as much as she dared to reveal four giant blisters on one hand and three on the other. Stretching the wounds, she’d discovered, was nearly as painful as carrying a bucket.

  With a touch far more gentle than she’d expected, the colonel took her hands in his and examined the sores. “You say these are the result of watering the garden?”

  “Yes.” She tried to tug her hands free, but he wouldn’t release them. “Harriet and Carolina and I must carry water from the well to the garden. I never realized a bucket of water was so heavy.”

  He continued to study her hands for a long moment, his thumb lightly caressing her skin. When he met her gaze again, she thought she saw a hint of compassion in the brown depths rather than the scorn she’d anticipated. “I’ll have Corporal Banks attend your hands. He served on a medical detail the first years of the war.”

  Without another word, he strode toward the wagons. Natalie felt foolish for allowing him to look at her sores. After years of watching men fall in battle, a few blisters were obviously not worth fretting over. Replacing the cloths, she was surprised when he returned to her side a few moments later.

  “Here.” He held something out to her.

  Looking down at his offering, she gasped. Gloves!

  When she met his gaze, a question surely shining in her eyes, he shrugged. “You need to protect your hands if you insist on carrying heavy buckets of water.”

  After accepting the gift, she watched him stride away again, her emotions a whirl of confusion. Why had he shown such compassion toward her? Especially when he’d made his dislike of her obvious, despite their truce?

  “Miz Natalie,” Carolina said, coming down the steps, a puzzled look on her face. “What them folks doing back here?”

  Thankful for the distraction, Natalie glanced at the people in the yard. “These are the workers the Army hired to help us with the crops. Some of the men had families, so the colonel allowed them to bring them along.”

  “That un’ over there, and them two back there … they’s all Rose Hill slaves.”

  Astonished by the news, Natalie turned back to the group. Several of the men and at least one woman did look familiar. Carolina made her way over to the woman and gave her a hug, tousling the curly head of a small boy standing next to her. They talked for some time before Carolina returned to Natalie’s side, wearing a smug look.

  “Ol’ Adline there says they’s had it hard since they left Rose Hill,” she said, her voice lowered so only Natalie could hear. “Says they ain’t eaten much since freedom come. When her man heard the Army hirin’ out to work Rose Hill’s cotton, they jumped, wantin’ to come back. Them others done the same.”

  Colonel Maish and Corporal Banks approached with Moses on their heels. “We’ll need a place to store the supplies where no one will have access to them but you or whomever you put in charge of distributing them.”

  Natalie looked to Moses for a suggestion.

  “The bachelor’s quarters ain’t been used in some time,” he said, nodding toward the long one-story building behind the kitchen yard. “Figure the colonel’s men can bunk in one room, the supplies in the other.”

  “Bachelor’s quarters?” Levi asked.

  Natalie smiled at the bewildered look on his face. “It is a guest house now, but when my husband was a teen, he lived there. It was also used when the plantation received male visitors who were unmarried, since they were not allowed to sleep in the main house for propriety’s sake.”

  “The bachelor’s quarters it is then,” the colonel said, an amused look in his eye. “I have six men who will rotate in and out as needed over the coming weeks. They’ll see to their own meals, assuming there is a fireplace or stove they can utilize.”

  “There is,” Natalie said, secretly wishing he would join his men in the guest house. Even with their disagreements over slavery, his presence brought a calmness that permeated the air around him. His men seemed fond of him, showing him a level of respect she sensed had been earned as opposed to the sort simply given because of his rank. Even Moses, who’d grown decidedly guarded toward strangers once the war had begun, had warmed up to the colonel.

  Corporal Banks issued orders to the new men to unload the wagons while Colonel Maish had Carolina take the women and children to the quarter to get settled. Everyone bustled about except Natalie, who felt rather useless in spite of being the mistress of the plantation.

  Samuel—drawn by the noise, no doubt—ran to the yard from the creek, the lower portion of his pant legs damp despite her instructions not to go wading. Fearing her son would be in the way and might get hurt, she was about to call to him when Colonel Maish knelt beside the boy. A conversation ensued, although she couldn’t make out their words with all the clattering of boxes and barrels and the ca
lls of the workers. A moment later, the colonel stood, put his hand on Samuel’s shoulder, and walked the boy toward her.

  “Mama,” Samuel hollered. He broke free of the colonel and ran the short distance. “So’diers gonna live in the bach’lor house. They got lots of food.”

  Natalie smiled at her son. “Yes, they do, but they’ll share it with the new workers.”

  “I’m gonna be a so’dier like my papa when I get big.”

  Her eyes shot wide at the startling announcement. Samuel had never said such a thing before. She glanced at Colonel Maish, who watched as though waiting for her response. Had he said something to her son to put this idea in his head?

  “I’m sure you don’t need to decide just now what to be when you grow up,” she said, forcing a smile. The thought of her son perishing in battle like his father sent a tremor of terror through her. “Being a soldier requires a great deal of hard work. You wouldn’t have time to go fishing or play with your friends. It isn’t much fun being a soldier.”

  Samuel seemed to contemplate her pronouncement then looked up to Colonel Maish. “Co’nel, do you think so’diering is fun?”

  The colonel glanced to Natalie momentarily, then returned his attention to Samuel.

  “I wouldn’t say soldiering is fun.” He knelt on one knee to get eye level with the boy. “But if that is what you want to do, it is a noble occupation.” He reached out to chuck Samuel under the chin. “Your mama is right, though. You have lots of time to decide what you want to be.”

  Samuel grinned at the colonel. “I a’ready decided. I’m gonna be a sol’dier, like you and my papa.” With that, he ran off, headed back to the creek where Isaac and another Negro boy played on the bank. Their fishing poles were nowhere in sight.

  When Colonel Maish stood, she glared at him. “I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t encourage Samuel with this silly idea of his. I realize he’s far too young to truly consider joining the army someday, but suffice it to say I would rather he didn’t even speak on such things, lest it take root in his mind.”

  “Mrs. Ellis.” His words and expression conveyed surprise. “Joining the army is not a silly idea. I was not much older than Samuel when I knew I wanted to be a soldier.” Giving her a thoughtful look, he added, “I would think you’d be proud your son wants to follow in his father’s footsteps. While it is regrettable he fought for the wrong side and lost his life, I’m sure he believed it his duty to serve. There is nothing shameful in that.”

  His answer didn’t please her. Not in the least. She didn’t wish her son to ever believe it his duty to put on a uniform and leave his family, never knowing if he would see them again. That was not the life she desired for Samuel, and she would do everything in her power to see that he stayed safe, preferably right here on Rose Hill lands. Clearly, she needed to establish boundaries where her son was concerned while the soldiers were in residence.

  “Colonel, once again we find ourselves in disagreement.” Glancing toward the bachelor’s quarters, where several uniformed men stood on the porch, she knew she had to be firm. Returning her attention to the colonel, she squared her shoulders. “While you and your men administer my agreement with the Union Army, I forbid you speak to my son without my permission. Is that understood?”

  Levi leveled a stare at the widow. Was she a mite touched in the head? Her ridiculous edict would make it seem so.

  The chuckle started deep in his gut. It rumbled in his chest, moved upward to his throat until, finally, his shoulders shook as laughter burst from his lips. When her face mottled with outrage, he laughed all the more.

  “I do not see what is so funny, Colonel.” She crossed her arms, a storm gathering behind her blue eyes.

  “You are,” he said, chortling. “You forbid me to speak with a four-year-old boy?” She scowled while he continued to chuckle. He had the strongest desire to grab her in a fierce embrace and kiss that pout right off her lovely face. Sobering, he pushed the foolish thought away. Kissing her was as ill-advised as trying to explain a man’s call to soldiering.

  “I am perfectly serious about this. I don’t want you or your men speaking to him about the army or war or anything of that nature.”

  As his amusement subsided, he glanced in the direction of the creek. Samuel, Isaac, and the new boy were clustered together, looking into a can that more than likely held worms. They had yet to put their hooks into the water.

  Returning his attention to Natalie, he chose his words carefully. “Mrs. Ellis, I understand your concern for your son. Raising the boy without his father can’t be easy. But the truth is, he will grow up one day, probably sooner than you wish. Trust me when I say, you don’t want to raise a boy to become a man who hides behind a woman’s skirt.”

  She continued to glare at him, unyielding. But after a long moment, ever so slowly, her rigid posture softened, and her arms fell to her sides.

  “Of course I don’t want my son to be that kind of man.” She watched the boys chasing each other, a look of longing in her eyes. “I want Samuel to be strong and confident, but I also want him to have compassion for others.” She turned back to Levi. “I don’t want to lose my son, Colonel. Although Texas was spared the worst of the fighting, the effects of war have changed our lives forever. I pray he never has to experience battle firsthand.”

  “That, Mrs. Ellis”—Levi looked into her troubled eyes—“we can agree on.”

  She studied him, measuring his words. “Thank you. That means a great deal, coming from a man such as yourself.”

  Whether she intended a compliment or criticism, he wasn’t sure. Either way, he understood her fear for her son. He hoped to have children of his own one day when God brought a woman into his life he couldn’t live without. But even though he wasn’t a father yet, he held much the same sentiment as Natalie. After what he’d seen and experienced the past four years, he wouldn’t wish war upon anyone’s children.

  He grinned, hoping to lighten the mood. “Am I still forbidden to speak to Samuel without your permission?”

  Her pert mouth twitched until she finally lost the battle and smiled. “I suppose my decree was a bit melodramatic.”

  “A bit.”

  Her eyes held him captive for a time. They were the same color as the summer sky above, bright and full of life, looking up at him with far more vulnerability than he’d seen in her before. If he lost himself in their depths, would he discover a woman vastly different from the one she appeared to be on the surface?

  Long lashes fluttered downward under his perusal, and a pink flush filled her pale cheeks. “I’m sure you have many things that need your attention, Colonel. Don’t let me keep you.”

  The dismissal served its purpose. He had no intention of discovering the woman’s secrets. Nor did she seem willing to reveal them. At least not to him.

  The image of Señor Lopez flashed across his mind’s eye as he strode toward his men. Had the Tejano uncovered the womanly mysteries Levi felt certain were hidden behind those blue eyes?

  The unanswered question left him in a foul mood.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “Miz Natalie, you don’t need to tote them buckets to the garden no more. These gals can see to it.”

  Natalie had just set her bucket under the nozzle of the pump, dreading the chore ahead, when Harriet approached with two of the new female servants following. Although Corporal Banks had tended her blistered hands, they were still tender. He’d given her a salve for the sores, but still, the flesh beneath the blisters remained red and painful.

  Eyeing the three women, Natalie straightened. “I don’t mind helping.”

  The two new women glanced at each other, astonished expressions on their faces.

  “There be lots’a chores you can he’p with that ain’t so wearing on ya,” Harriet said. “Ruth and Adline here is used to workin’ in them fields. Totin’ water be easy on them.”

  Natalie turned to the newcomers. She offered a hesitant smile. “Thank you. I truly appreciate th
e help.”

  The younger woman named Ruth smiled shyly, but Adline’s eyes remained wary.

  Leaving her bucket for the women, Natalie followed Harriet to the kitchen wing. Yesterday, after the soldiers had departed, she and Moses and Harriet discussed where to put the women to work. Colonel Maish was adamant that they were not to work in the fields, and she found herself agreeing with him. Slave women may have been forced to labor alongside the men, but free women would be assigned much less strenuous tasks. With Harriet knowing far more about the needs throughout the plantation and house, Natalie put Moses and his wife in charge of the new employees.

  Laughter came from the quarter. Natalie glanced in that direction to see Samuel playing with Isaac and several Negro children. One of the new women stood nearby, tending to the youngsters while their parents worked. Natalie recalled how the ancient Mammy cared for the Negro babies up until she passed on to glory a few years ago. “It’s nice to have more children on the plantation again. Things were much too quiet after they all left.”

  Harriet nodded. “Ain’t nothing as sweet as the sound of happy chillens.”

  Following the woman into the kitchen, Natalie inhaled the aroma of baking bread. She glanced around the neat room. Despite the early hour, everything was in its place. The breakfast dishes were washed and put away, the floor was swept, and errant crumbs had been removed from the table.

  Watching the stout woman bustle over to the pantry, Natalie asked, “Is there something I can do to help you in here?” She’d given the idea of learning to cook some serious thought the past few days.

  A brief look of alarm swept Harriet’s face before she masked it. “Nothin’ much needs doin’ in here, Miz Natalie.”

  Natalie kept her annoyance in check. She could guess why Harriet didn’t want her help. Just that morning, Natalie had accidentally spilled a pot of chicory root coffee when the hot handle burned her blistered hand. She’d reached for a towel to mop up the mess, but she hadn’t realized the edge was caught beneath a stack of dishes, and she sent them crashing to the floor.