Sarah's Roses, Book II: Roses of White

Chapter XIII

Chapter XIII

A hand touched my shoulder.

“Sarah.” It was Elsie.

“He’s gone, Elsie,” my voice was a little muffled because my face was still buried in his hand.

She knelt down beside me; prying my head free from my uncle’s hand, she pressed it to her chest. “Be brave, Sarah, you have to be brave. It was his time.”

I shook my head. “I’m all alone again, I don’t want to go through this all again,.I can’t bear it Elsie, I can’t! Once was enough for me.”

“Sure you can bear it; others have borne worse and come out just fine. You have to be strong, Sarah.”

“What’s the matter?” George’s voice now sounded.

“Massa Greensten is dead,” Elsie explained in a soft voice.

I turned my head a little so I could catch a peak of what was going on. George had walked up and placed two fingers on against my uncle’s neck.

“He’s a goner, must have happened in his sleep. You’d never guess he was dead by the look of him, his face looks so serene.”

“It’s too soon, too soon,” I mumbled, “he was only fifty four.”

“Ah, Miss Sarah, you should know it is never too soon. It comes when it comes.”

George spoke the truth, but at that moment I wasn’t willing to accept it.

“What will happen to me now?” I kept on sobbing, “only God knows where Jeff is, Uncle and Aunt are dead, I have no one in the world.”

“Now Sarah,” Elsie’s voice was filled with reproach, “I’s know you are filled with grief, but there is no need for you to get rude.”

I lifted my face to look at her.

“Miss Sarah, we’s here,” George knelt down next to us, “why do you think you are alone? Remember we’s people too, and we’s not going to leave you.”

“I thought you wanted to go away,” I said, looking earnestly at him.

“I’s never said I would go away, I just wanted to know how serious you were when you said you would grant mama and me freedom. We’ll see what I will do when the war finishes, for now, we’ll stick around.”

With those words George got up and called Kristoffs and Lulu. Between the three of them they managed to carry Uncle Andrew to his bed. I rose to follow them, but was stopped by Elsie.

“Now, Sarah, you are not going to lock yourself in that room and sit by your Uncle’s dead body. You are going to come with me and each your lunch like a good girl.”

Her seemingly lack of sympathy was irritating, yet at the same time, I was more than grateful to her for keeping me from drowning in self pity. Now, more than ever, I had to keep my head together.

My tears poured over my simple meal. I still couldn’t believe he was gone. I expected him to walk in any minute, leaning on someone for support. We had just fnished our lunch when we heard a pounding on the front door. I heard George go to answer it and soon he walked in, followed by a man. The stranger looked positively wild. He was dressed in the uniform of a Confederate soldier, but it was so ragged and tattered that he reminded me more of a beggar than a man in the army.

“Please, Miss,” he blurted out as soon as he saw me, “they’re after me. Hide me, for pity’s sake, hide me. Don’t let them catch me.”

I guessed maybe he was being chased by Union soldiers.