Sarah's Roses, Book II: Roses of White

Chapter XIV

 Chapter XIV

With the death of my Uncle I moved into the little slave quarters of our house. I had never been much of a supporter of slavery anyway, and even though they were black and I was white, they were the only family I had left in this world. I was terrified of being alone, but in the company of Lulu, Elsie and Kristoffs I felt safe. George was still a little aloof and distant when it came to me, an entire life of slavery is hard to forget, but I knew he was dedicated enough to stay until the war came to an end and for this I was grateful.

Soon the bleak weather began to change and it was with a welcome spirit that we greeted spring. With the sun shining brightly and the flowers beginning to bloom, a ray of hope crept into my heart. Somehow, all the hardships were a little easier to bear when the weather was agreeable.

The terror still hung about us, even spring and sun could not get rid of it. One night, in late April, just as we were preparing for bed, the silence of the night was broken with the sound of gunfire.

“The gunshots are sure loud,” Elsie pointed out. “It seems to me like a skirmish is going on out there somewhere. Maybe some Union soldier came across the Home Guard. Didn’t that captain fellow tell you they had a base seven or so miles from here?”

“That was two months ago, I don’t know if they are still there or if they have moved. You are right about one thing, the gunshots do sound dangerously close.

Evy’s lip quivered and she ran and crawled onto my lap. I put my arms around her.

“Do you think they’ll come here and shoot us all?” She asked.

“What a notion, child,” Elsie scoffed, “course they won’t.”

I wished I could be as sure of that as Elsie was. “We’re safe, Evy, God will take care of us,” I spoke the words to try and reassure myself almost more than Evy.

“From the sound of it, I’d say it was coming from the Thompson’s Plantation,” Arthur spoke up.

“We can always count on you for reliable source of information,” Elsie rolled her eyes. She never did have much patience with active boys. I remembered how annoyed she would get at Sammy. Arthur stuck his tongue out at Elsie in response to her words. He was certainly a lot more arrogant with her than Sammy had been. Elsie replied to his disrespect by reaching over and slapping him on the back of the head with the palm of her hand.

“Mind your manners, youngster, especially to your elders.”

Arthur grumbled and rubbed his head, but said nothing more.

I found it hard to sleep that night. The fighting was a lot closer than it had been before. Was it really at the Thompsons? Where they safe? Poor Mrs. Thompson and Prissy where all on their own out there. Most of the freed slaves had long abandoned them, and Mr. Thompson had been dead for well over a year. I had never liked the Thompsons, but I  still prayed that they would be alright. Evy had been frightened and had climbed into bed with me. After she fell asleep, I slipped out of the bed and tiptoed to the window. In the distance I could see a red and angry sky, contrasting with the midnight blue of the night. Something out there was on fire.

“Oh, Lord, keep the flames from coming here. The cotton fields burning was bad enough, if the house burns down, I really won’t know what to do.”

A peace came over me, and for the first time I truly felt God’s presence around me. The grace and assurance that always eminated out of Lulu finally settled on me that night and I climbed back and snuggled next to Evy’s sleeping body. Within moments I was asleep.

The next morning I made up my mind to go over to the Thompsons and see how they fared.

“Absolutely not.” Elsie blocked the front door. “We don’t know what went on there last night and you are not going out! The place might be swarming with Yanks who would only love to take advantage of you.”