CHAPTER 8

The sun was slowly going down in the west when Sarah and James reappeared at the camp, still arm in arm. Sarah ran and picked up Elisha, who seemed pleased to see her. “I’ll take over now, Effie. Thanks so much. Have you had something to eat? We’re not hungry because we stopped in at the general store and snacked on cheese, bread, and some apples. In fact, we’ve brought you some cheese, apples, and molasses candy.”

“Well, how nice. That will make a great evening meal for me,” said Effie. Picking up her cheese, apples, and candy, she said, “Now look, Sarah, you come all this way to be with James. You’ve seen enough of me on the trail and will see more of me on the way back. So I’m going to take my things and Lizzy, and we’re going to move our camp down over on that little hill right over there.”

“But won’t you be afraid alone, Effie?” Sarah asked.

“No, I don’t think so. Maybe I could use a little privacy. And, who knows, if I find I like sleepin’ alone out in the woods, I may take it up as a hobby when I get back home.

“I’m takin’ my rifle with me, but won’t be too far away. Within yellin’ distance. So if you get attacked by a bear or somethin’ just yell and I’ll come runnin’.

“Also, I’ll prepare the breakfast in the mornin’, and you can join me when you wake up if you like. So, good night, then,” she called out as she and Lizzy walked away.

“Isn’t she great?” said Sarah. “I couldn’t possibly have picked a better person to bring along on this trip. She’s been perfect.”

“Yes, you are so right, and we must remember to do somethin’ nice for her in repayment for her kindness and help in this.”

Sarah insisted that James hold his son for a while before putting him down for the night. They talked about what he would be like as he grew up and their hopes for him, as most parents do.

They did manage to sleep some that night. But the joy of just being together, to look into each other’s eyes and hold each other close, was too important to waste sleeping. They could sleep tomorrow night, they thought. This was a night they would remember forever.

At one point, Sarah began to cry. “How can I bear to leave you tomorrow, James,” she said, “not knowin’ when I’ll see you again.”

He replied, “Let’s don’t think about that, now. Just enjoy the time we have together. Maybe the war will soon be over.”

“Maybe I could stay another day and you could get leave for a couple more days,” she said.

“No, Sarah, havin’ been in the Army for several months now, I know that wouldn’t be possible. Besides, our group is scheduled to leave on another mission tomorrow, so I’ll have to report back early in the mornin’. Just think about how lucky we’ve been to have had this time together. I’m the envy of every guy back at that base right now. Just think of it. The memory of it will last us forever.”

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Daybreak came much too soon and with it the realization that they must get up and move about, for as soon as they had breakfast, James would have to leave to report back at the base. They could see activity over on the hill where Effie and Lizzy were. She apparently had a good fire going and cooking away.

Before long they heard Effie call out that everything was ready whenever they were. So, picking up Elisha, they made their way over to join her to eat some scrambled fresh eggs with toasted bread that she had found at the general store. Plus a pot of hot coffee.

Reluctantly, James decided that he couldn’t delay leaving any longer. He had appreciated the time off so much that he didn’t want to get into trouble. So again Effie suggested that Sarah leave Elisha with her and walk back with James to say goodbye.

Shaking hands with Effie and thanking her again for everything – in fact, giving her a kiss – and with a final peek at his son, he and Sarah started walking back toward camp. Effie found that she had tears in her eyes. “What a nice young couple they are,” she thought, and what a shame they had to be parted again.

It was a while before Sarah returned, and Effie knew she had probably been having herself a good cry. The big question now, she thought, was would Sarah be content now and happy living on the farm without James? Maybe she would be OK through the winter, and maybe the war would be over by next spring, she hoped.

When Sarah reappeared, she grabbed Effie and hugged her tightly, saying, “Oh Effie, I know I should be grateful for the time I’ve had with James, and I am, but I do hate leavin’ him now.”

“I know, I know, my dear, but that’s just the way it has to be. You hurt terribly right now, but it will get easier. The thing for us to do right now is to pack our things and immediately start back on the trail. As you’ve said to me many times, the days are gettin’ cooler and we must be back home before it gets too cold, mainly for Elisha’s sake. We don’t want him to get sick.”

“You’re right as always, Effie. So let’s get started.”

It didn’t take long for them to load the provisions on Lizzie’s back and get ready to leave, making sure the fire was extinguished and no litter was left behind.

“Let’s see how far down the trail we can make it today. If you remember, the last farm we stopped at was the home of Mandy Newton, so I think we can easily reach there by noon. You know I promised the sheriff I would look in on her.”

Later that morning, Effie recognized the area where the Newton shack was. As they drew closer, everything looked the same – the littered yard, the falling down fence – with one difference, however. The shack was no longer there! Instead there was just a pile of ashes and burned rubble. Effie walked closer up to the front rock step that was still standing, and felt the ground. It seemed warm as though the fire had been recent, although it could have been her imagination. There was no sign of life whatsoever and no way of knowing what had happened.

She walked back out of the yard. “Well, I don’t suppose we’ll ever know what happened here, and I’ll always wonder. Did the woman herself accidentally set it on fire, or did someone else set it ablaze?

“But there’s one thing we know for sure. There’s nothin’ we can do to help Mandy Newton anymore.”

When it finally came time to pull in for the night, they were both ready and eager to do so. Sarah had been pretty quiet most of the day, but was now beginning to at least try being a little more upbeat.

As soon as she unpacked Lizzy, Effie got to work frying some salt pork. She then sliced some of the yams they still had on hand from Clara and fried them in the drippings. That and some fried corn cakes made a delicious meal, which even Sarah enjoyed.

It was another beautiful starry night and all three slept soundly.

- * - * - * - * - * -

Several days had passed since the Union officers took Jessie away from the farm to serve in the armed forces. Emma was still heartbroken, but had gotten used to it a bit. The house was quieter, though, and Nell tried to spend as much time as possible with her. She encouraged Harriett to bring little Nancy up as often as she could get away from her duties.

It was necessary, however, for Nell to be away at times for a short while, buying supplies from the general store for one thing. One day, seeing that they were in need of several items, she decided to make a quick trip in the wagon. She told Emmaline that she would be back shortly, suggesting that she take a nap and not answer the door if anyone knocked. Nell expected to be back in less than two hours.

About thirty minutes after she left, a couple of ruffians rode up to the front gate and dismounted, tying their horses to the hitching rail. After looking about the yard for a bit and seeing no signs of life, they walked up to the door and pounded heavily. Emma, waking from her nap and forgetting Nell’s suggestion, slowly walked to the door.

When she opened it, she was startled by the appearance of the man standing there. It was obvious from his dress and unkempt appearance that he wasn’t a neighbor or an Army person – certainly not anyone she had ever seen before. He asked to speak to the man of the house, saying they were lost and needed directions. Without thinking, Emma said, “There’s no man here.”

“Well, who is with you, ma’am?”

Realizing her mistake, Emma said, “That’s none ‘a your business, mister.”

With that, the large man pushed the door open and walked inside, followed by an equally unkempt person, saying, “We’ll have a look for ourselves if you don’t mind.”

After a quick tour of the house, including upstairs, the man said, “It looks like you’re here by yourself, lady.”

Emma, her hands shaking, said, “I’ll have to ask you to leave. You have no business being in my house without my permission.” She immediately realized this was a mistake. The man grabbed a gun he had inside his shirt and struck her across the face with it, causing her to fall heavily to the floor, bleeding and in pain.

“Don’t get smart with me,” he said. Then after looking around a bit, he went back to the door and called the other man back in who had stepped outside. “Come on in, Lonnie, there ain’t no one else here, and there’s a lot of good eatin’ in the kitchen. Bring a large tow sack.”

Emma, in shock, managed to say, “Who are you? What’re you doin’ here?”

The man said, “Ma’am, we’re Army agents sent out to gather items needed to feed the guys.”

“I don’t believe you,” she said, still on the floor and unable to get up.

The huge man gave her several big kicks and said, “You’d best keep ‘yer mouth shut if you know what’s good for ‘ya. We can cause you a lot of big trouble.”

Emma groaned and lay still. The two men were now in the kitchen, helping themselves to the food she had prepared for the meal they were to have when Nell returned – a large pot of beans with ham and a sweet potato pie. The men started filling the large sack with everything edible they could find. They worked as quickly as possible, hoping that nobody would come in and catch them.

Back outside, however, they made a quick trip down to the root cellar and grabbed a number of things, including a lot of their fresh apples, before galloping away. As a parting gesture, the biggest of the two gave Emma a final message: “You tell anyone about this and we’ll come back and work you over again!”

- * - * - * - * - * -

An hour or so later, Nell arrived back from the store and began unloading the supplies she had bought. As she came in the door, she called out to Emma but got no response. Assuming she was asleep, Nell continued unloading some things to take around in back of the house.

Again entering the house in front and starting toward the kitchen, right away she saw Emma lying on the floor. She looked terrible. Nell screamed and ran outside calling for Caleb in the barn. When she couldn’t find him, she ran down to try finding Harriett.

Thank goodness, Harriett was at home and all right. By then, Nell was out of breath and shaking so that she had a hard time telling Harriett what had happened. She finally managed to say, “Grab Nancy. You have to come with me. Something’s happened to Ma.” And with that, she started running back to the house.

Caleb was working a short distance away from the barn, but heard a faint cry and stopped to listen. He walked up to the top of a little hill and listened again but didn’t hear anything further. He started to go back to work, but decided that maybe he should look into it. He needed a break anyway, so he turned and started walking toward the barn.

He was walking toward the house just as Nell came running back up the road. She yelled, “Caleb, thank goodness you’ve come.” By the time she reached him she was exhausted and just slumped to the ground.

“Nell, what is it? What’s happened?”

“Help me into the house,” Nell finally managed to say. So Caleb picked her up and carried her inside and put her down in a comfortable chair. She pointed and said, “Look over there. It’s Ma.”

“Oh my gosh! Do ‘ya know what’s happened?” he said.

“No, I just returned from the store and found her like that.”

“Well, since you have the wagon hooked up, I’m goin’ to lift her in it and take her in to the doctor’s office. That’d be quicker than havin’ him come out here. She’s in bad shape. It looks like she’s been beaten.”

Just then Harriett burst in the door, out of breath from running and carrying Nancy. She was shocked to see her mother and wanted to know what happened.

“We don’t know. Nell just found her this way,” said Caleb. “Can you grab a pillow and blanket? I’m goin’ to take her to the doctor’s office in the wagon.”

In the meantime, Nell had walked into the kitchen and called them to see the mess there. It was obvious that someone had eaten all the cooked food or had taken everything away. In looking further, she decided someone had simply taken all the food supplies they could find in the kitchen. She ran down to the cellar and could tell right away they had helped themselves to most of the food supplies there.

Later they were to learn that a choice prized hog had been stolen from the pen, the next one due to be slaughtered for the winter supply of meat.

Caleb quickly fixed a soft bed in the wagon and placed Emma in it. Calling to the girls to hurry along, he jumped in the driver’s seat ready to go. Nell sat down by Emma. Harriett was just about to climb up in the driver’s seat by Caleb when they suddenly remembered that Sam would be home from school before they got back, and somebody should be there to be with him and tell him what had happened. So Harriett stayed there with the baby to wait for Sam.

Caleb drove as fast as he could, not wanting to injure Emma more if he could avoid it. She appeared to be asleep. They had washed some of the blood from her face so she didn’t look quite so bad.

Fortunately, the doctor was in. He came out and took a look at Emma. He asked Caleb to bring her in immediately so he could start examining her injuries while listening to Nell tell him all they knew about the situation.

“I’ll never forgive myself for leavin’ her there alone, but I had no idea such a thing would ever happen.”

“Now, Nell, don’t blame yourself that way. If you had been there they would probably have knocked you around also, ‘cause according to the horse tracks at the gate, there was more than one horse involved,” said Caleb.

As the doctor worked, Emma gradually began to open her eyes. She immediately began fighting the doctor, pushing him away, saying, “Leave me alone, leave me alone!”

The doctor said to Nell, “You’d better try to speak to her and tell her she’s OK now,” which Nell did. Emma finally calmed down and seemed to drop off again.

Saying that he wanted to remove some of her clothing, Dr. Brown asked Nell to undress her partially. Caleb walked into the outer room. When the doctor finished, he called Caleb back in. He told them that most of Emma’s injuries were external and would heal fairly soon. His biggest concern, he said, was what it had done to her mentally. “It will take a month at least for the external injuries to heal. See that she stays in bed, and force her to eat if necessary.

“I’m bandaging the wrist and giving you some medicine for the pain to help her sleep, and salve for the cuts and bruises. I’ll drive out to check on her sometime tomorrow to make sure she’s OK. And if you like, I’ll report this to Sheriff Hawkins. He’ll want to come out and look into it, I’m sure.”

After they got back home, the girls put Emma to bed. She still didn’t respond to them, appearing to be confused, so they gave up questioning her. After she was comfortable, Nell filled Harriett and Sam in on what the doctor reported. Sam was quite concerned about his mother, and they tried to assure him that what was needed most was rest and time to heal. Nell thought it best perhaps not for now to mention the mental concerns the doctor had.

Later in the day, Sheriff Hawkins arrived and looked all over the place to see if he could find anything to give him some idea who had done this terrible thing. He agreed that there had been at least two horses involved. Unfortunately he was not able to get a description of the men from Emma, which would have been helpful.

Without such a description, he said, it would be almost impossible to learn who did it, saying, “These devils are hard to catch up with. They are probably miles from here by now.” As he left he said, “But believe me, I would give anything to get my hands on the two of them, so if your mother gets able to talk, I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know, and I’ll be back out.”

The doctor came back the next morning and found Emma in much the same condition. She looked up at him briefly, and just shook her head back and forth and pushed him away. He told Nell and Harriett he was afraid her recovery would take longer than he had hoped.