Secret of Richmond Manor (15 page)

The sergeant seemed to relax. “Well, we need all the feed we can get. These horses are living on nothing but grass.” He touched his hat, then said, “Just checking.” He turned and went back to his horse. Stepping into his saddle, he said, “All right, let's head back. It'll be a long ride, but I want to be back in town tonight. Good night!”

Leah and Jeff sat there tensely, and finally Jeff let out his breath. “Well,” he said, “I reckon that's that.”

Leah found that her hands were trembling. “I was really scared, Jeff,” she confessed. “How'd you know we'd be here?”

“Well, you said so in the letter.”

“Oh, that's right. I forgot.” She looked down the road. “We'd better go get Ezra. He's not very good with a horse.”

They walked down the road a short distance, and when Leah called out they heard a faint answer. They stood waiting, and soon Ezra appeared—leading the horse, not riding him.

“It's all right, Ezra. They're gone.”

Ezra handed the reins to Jeff. “I guess I owe you a lot, Jeff,” he said. “They'd of got us sure if you hadn't come.”

Jeff stared at the Yankee soldier, then shrugged. “Come on back. We'll talk about what we've got to do.”

Back at their camp, Jeff tied the horse, then stood looking at the other two. “I'm not sure this is over,” he said. “I asked Pa if I could take you as far as you're going and see you get safe back home.”

“Oh, Jeff.” Leah reached out and took his arm. “Would you really do that?”

Jeff said, “Why, sure. What'd you think?”

“Come on, sit down,” Leah said. “I've got a surprise for you.”

The two boys sat, and Leah went back to her provision bag. “I baked these yesterday, so they're not fresh, but they're your favorite, Jeff.”

Jeff looked at what she was holding out. “Fried pies! My land! I haven't had one of these in I don't know when.” He grabbed one and sank his teeth into it. “Try one of these, Ezra,” he said. “You ain't had no pie in your life until you've tasted one of Leah's fried pies.”

Leah had learned to make fried pies from her mother. She simply cooked the dried fruit and wrapped it in dough and then dropped it into hot fat. They fried with a crispy brown exterior, and inside the fruit was juicy and tender.

The three consumed the six pies that she had brought, each eating two.

“I wish there was a hundred,” Jeff declared, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “I could eat every one of them.”

The fire crackled and hissed, and finally Jeff said, “I reckon we'll get an early start tomorrow.” He looked then at the Yankee soldier. “Looks like you're gonna make it, Ezra.”

“Well, I won't be fighting anymore. I promised Mr. Carter I wouldn't. So I'm out of it.” He looked at Leah. “I'm glad of it too.”

Jeff said, “I wish I was out of it. I wish all of us were.”

From far off Leah heard the sound of a night bird making his last cries of the day, and then quiet settled down over the camp. They sat silently looking at the fire for a while, and she wondered what the future would bring.

After a while Leah said, “I guess we'd better get to bed.”

They all got up then, and she went over to Jeff. “Good night, Jeff. And I can't thank you enough for what you've done.” She turned and climbed into the wagon and rolled into her blankets.

“Guess we'll bunk out here,” Jeff said. He took the blanket that Leah had given him, and Ezra did the same.

The two young men lay in the darkness, watching the moon. Then Ezra said, “Funny, isn't it—I signed up to fight the Rebels, and here's one that saved my life. I sure do thank you.”

“That's
all right,” Jeff said. He was already thinking of the time he would have to return to the fighting, and it depressed him. “Good night, Yank.”

Ezra lifted himself up onto one elbow and smiled in the moonlight. “Good night, Johnny Reb,” he said, then lay back and went to sleep.

E
zra sat in the rocking chair, holding the baby. He was singing to her a nursery song he had learned from Sarah Carter. There was a look on his face that Leah had never seen before.

“He sure is foolish about that baby, isn't he, Ma?”

In the next room, Mrs. Carter looked up from her sewing and smiled. “I never saw a young man take to a child so. Girls do sometimes. Sarah and I, of course, are silly about that child. But a young feller like Ezra—I never seen anything like that.”

“I think it's because he didn't have any home life,” Leah said. “He told me yesterday he'd never held a baby in his whole life. Isn't that terrible?”

“Well, as much as he loves Esther, I think he ought to have a dozen of his own. Unusual to see a young man like that.”

She put her sewing into a basket and got up, pausing long enough to say, “You two have gotten to be pretty close, haven't you?”

“I guess so.” Leah watched Ezra, who held the baby up now and squeezed her to make her chortle. “I felt so sorry for him when I first saw him, of course. He was about as sick as I ever saw anybody. Then after he got better, I got worried about him
having to go back to that prison. I'm glad we were able to get him away.”

She looked out the window to where Jeff was splitting wood. “I think it was noble of Jeff to do what he did. If he hadn't come for us, they would have caught us for sure.”

“I wish Tom could have come back to see Sarah,” her mother said.

“Does she say much about him, Ma?”

“No, she doesn't talk much. You know Sarah. She's just quiet. Half the young fellows in this neighborhood are trying to court her, but she just won't have anything to do with any of them.”

“I think it's the same way with Tom. At least that's what Jeff says. It's a shame, isn't it, Ma? Two young people like that, wanting to get married and can't because of this old war.”

Outside, Jeff was saying about the same thing to Leah's father.

Dan Carter was a thin man with brown hair and faded blue eyes. He was not in good health but had managed his job as a sutler better than anyone thought possible. Now he sat on an upturned box and watched Jeff split sections of beech.

Every time Jeff landed a blow, the wood fell as splintered as a cloven rock. “You're the best wood splitter I ever saw, Jeff,” he said. “Don't waste your strength like so many fellers do.” He watched the young man take aim, drive a hard blow, then reach down and pick up the wood and toss it onto a pile.

“Nothing hard about splitting wood.” Jeff shrugged. “Kinda fun. I like it.” He looked over then toward the house. “Not sure I did the right thing yet, Mr. Carter. Been worrying me some.”

“You mean about helping an enemy soldier escape?”

“Yes, sir.” Jeff frowned. “I know what would happen if I got caught doing it. I'd probably be shot or hanged. After all, he is the enemy.”

“I suppose technically that's true, son,” Mr. Carter said, “but somehow he just don't seem like he's much of a threat, does he? Never saw a quieter, meeker boy.”

“Well, that's true enough. But some of these quiet ones, when the battle starts they turn into wildcats. I've seen it happen.” He stacked an armload of wood and then said, “This ought to be enough to get you through a while. I'll cut some more before I leave.”

They went back into the house, and Jeff dropped the wood into the woodbox. Then he turned to wash his hands at the sink.

“Why, Jeff,” Leah's mother said, “you've cut enough wood to last for two weeks, I do believe. Why don't you rest a while?”

“I'm not gonna rest. I can do that when I get back. I'm gonna walk around and take a look at the country. I sure do miss it, Miz Carter.”

“Well, why don't you and Leah go out and hunt birds' eggs? You haven't done that in a while.”

Jeff laughed. “No, we haven't. Maybe we'll do that after lunch.”

“It'll be ready soon. Don't go too far away.”

Jeff walked into the living room and saw Ezra with the baby.

Ezra looked over and said, “This sister of yours, she's some girl, Jeff. Look at these dark eyes. I never seen such dark eyes.”

Jeff grinned at Esther, who smiled at him and doubled up her fist and struck herself in the eye with it.

Both boys laughed, and Jeff said, “Yeah, she's growing up so fast, I can't believe it.”

Leah joined them then. “Let me hold her a while. You haven't let her get out of your hands, Ezra.”

Reluctantly Ezra surrendered the baby, and Leah kissed her on the cheek. “You're a precious thing,” she whispered, “and going to be the prettiest girl in these mountains.”

Ezra said quietly, “Well, maybe the second prettiest.”

Leah's cheeks turned rosy.

Jeff gave the Union soldier a direct look but said nothing.

Later on they all sat down and ate the meal that Mrs. Carter and Sarah had prepared.

Sarah had dark hair and dark blue eyes, and Ezra had told Jeff, “I don't blame your brother for liking her. She sure is pretty.”

Now, as they sat around the table, Mr. Carter said, “Well, we don't have all the family here, but we're grateful for what's here. Let's thank the Lord for the food.”

They all bowed their heads.

He said a quick blessing and afterward smiled and said, “All right, pitch in. Your mother's a terrible cook, Leah, but no matter.”

Mrs. Carter sniffed. “I notice you haven't turned anything down.”

They ate heartily and then enjoyed some of the peach pie that Leah had baked.

Ezra said, “I'll sure miss this cooking when I'm gone, Mrs. Carter. I never ate such food in my life.”

Dan Carter looked over at his wife.

Leah was watching, and she saw a look pass between them. She had often wondered how those two could understand each other without saying a word, but they did.

“Where are you going now, Ezra?”

Ezra shrugged his shoulders. “Don't rightly know, Mr. Carter. Not going to be in the army. I gave my parole to your brother, so I guess I'll go get a job somewhere.”

Mary Carter looked at him over her coffee cup. “Don't you have any people at all, Ezra?”

“No, ma'am. Nobody. I guess I'll go back up North since it's the only place I know.”

Dan said abruptly, “Why do you want to go up there? Do you like it up there, Ezra?”

“It's the only place I know,” he repeated.

“I've been thinking,” Mr. Carter said, “since I'm gone with the sutler business, this place sure needs a man's hand. We had a good helper, but he quit and went to the city. Why don't you just stay around here? Plenty of work for a young fellow like you.”

Ezra stared at Dan Carter with a startled expression on his face. “Why, I never thought of it!” he exclaimed. His glance shifted at once to Leah, who smiled at him, then he nodded. “I can't think of anything in the world I'd rather do than work on a farm, specially with you folks. You wouldn't have to pay me—”

“Pay you! Why, of course, we'll pay you. The laborer is worthy of his hire.” Dan slapped the table, making the dishes jingle.

“Now you stop that banging on the table,” Mrs. Carter scolded her husband. Then she smiled at Ezra. “I don't know how good a hand you'd be in the field, but you're mighty good at taking care of younguns. You can give me and Sarah a rest now and then with Esther. You wouldn't mind that, would you?”

They all saw that young Ezra Payne was struggling with his feelings. He was staring down at his plate, and his fork was held so tightly in his right hand that his knuckles were white.

Silence fell over the table, and when Ezra looked up he had to blink. Finally, he muttered, “I'll do my best to please you.”

After the meal was over, Jeff said, “Guess I'll go out and look things over.”

“Take the gun along, Jeff,” Mr. Carter said. “A rabbit or two would be pretty good in the pot.”

“All right.”

“I want to go too, Jeff,” Leah said, “and I get to take a shot.”

“Why, you couldn't hit a barn!”

“That's what you say. Come on, let's go.”

As Leah and Jeff made their way down the road and disappeared into the woods, Ezra watched them. Then he said, “They're real good friends, aren't they, Miss Sarah?”

“Yes, they are. They've known each other all their lives. I think it broke Leah's heart when Jeff had to leave.”

Ezra said nothing, but his eyes did not leave the place where the two had disappeared.

For Jeff, coming back to the old paths he had walked so many times growing up was pure joy. He held the shotgun in the crook of his arm, his eyes going everywhere.

“Look,” he said, “you remember the time Old Ranger and Pink treed the bobcat over there in that big sycamore? We tried to knock him out with rocks. Remember that?”

Leah laughed. “Weren't we birds, though? If that cat had come down, I bet you would have seen a pair of scared kids taking off.”

Jeff grinned. “We really got into some pickles. It's a wonder your folks—or mine—didn't wear out a peach tree switch on both of us.”

“They did once or twice.”

“Yes, they did,” he agreed.

As they crested a rise, he looked down on the valley and said, “I don't want to go see our home place. It'd just remind me of what things used to be like.”

They walked for an hour and shot two rabbits. Jeff expressed amazement that Leah actually hit one. “First time you ever hit anything,” he teased. He put the rabbits in a sack and carried them. “Here, you carry the gun.”

They finally came to the creek and made their way down to the bridge.

“Don't have time to go trying to catch Old Napoleon”—the huge bass that inhabited that part of the river. Jeff had caught him once and let him go. “I hate to go back,” he said suddenly.