Beth Peamble turned from the window with a sigh. “I’ve lived all my life in the South. This snow and cold is nearly more than I can endure. What do you people do during the winters?”
“Winter?” Sadie said thoughtfully as she put down the newspaper. “Why, all the things we don’t have time for in the summer. The menfolk suffer most; we women stay inside. The river traffic comes to a stop.”
Sadie roused herself and added, “Makes me think of Mike. Do wish we could hear from him. ’Twas was good to have the letter from Olivia, telling us all about the trip on the train and about Alex’s family. His father sounds like a—” She pursed her mouth and wrinkled her brow, and eyeing Beth she weakly added, “strong-minded man. But his mother sounds like a very lovely person.”
“A father like my father,” Beth said with a touch of bitterness in her voice. Sadie folded her hands in her lap and waited. “A Southern father knows more about running a plantation than—”
Sadie waited again. The words burst out of Beth. “I don’t suppose you want to hear about my home.”
“Thou needn’t justify thyself,” she said. “We don’t judge the past. Thou art welcome until thee chooses to leave.”
For a moment Beth hesitated, and Sadie watched the changing shadows in her eyes. Abruptly she moved and said, “Since my mother died—”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Two years ago. Since then Father hasn’t been easy to get along with. Y’all—” She paused and suddenly grinned. “All this business with the Quakers. It drives me wild to hear the language in church.”
Sadie chuckled, “Thee dost not have Quakers in the South?”
“Not where I live.” She eyed Sadie. “I know how you’ve been helping the slaves escape, but people like me—why do you take us all in? I know you took in Olivia and Alex as well as Mike Clancy.”
Sadie studied the unhappy face of the girl and felt a squeeze of pity in her heart. She recognized the symptom as nearly a daily occurrence. “The Lord’s laid it on us to do so. He’s blessed us bountifully, and we feel the need to bless others.”
Beth was silent as she watched the leaping flames of the open fire. Fingering the edge of the afghan on her chair, Sadie watched the glow of the fire intensify the brilliance of Beth’s unruly curls. At the same time the light pointed out the petulant, unhappy twist on Beth’s mouth. The low-cut cotton dress revealed too much of Beth’s chilled flesh. “I believe we ought to find something warmer for thee to wear, a good woolen.”
Beth’s smile flashed. “Me? Coming from a cotton plantation and wearing wool?” The smile disappeared. “Besides, I hate sewing! I’d rather wear rags than stitch another terrible frock.”
Sadie peered at her. “I didn’t think Southern girls stitched anything but fancy work.”
Beth’s face flushed. “I—Mother thought it was needful.” She jumped to her feet and started for the door. “I should be doing something.”
“The dishes are clean and dinner is simmering on the stove.”
“No, I mean something…to earn my way. I can’t impose myself on you any longer.”
“Well, if the problems continue to grow, thee wilt find a job most likely. Perhaps we’ll all be put to work.”
“Problems? What do you mean Sadie?”
“Nearly the end of January, it is, and look at this newspaper.” She lifted the paper and pointed to the lines of bold print as she read. “‘Since the first of the year, in concert with the attempt to reinforce Fort Sumter, the Southern states have been tumbling out of the Union. To date this is the list of those who have joined South Carolina.’” She flipped the page. “Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, and now Georgia and Louisiana have gone out of the Union. They’re expecting Texas to be added in February, and that’s most of the cotton states.
“Poor foolish ones they are, taking action that can’t be undone.” Sadie sighed and folded the paper.
“Oh, don’t take it so,” Beth said. “Everyone in the South knows it’s all just a push to get the North to give in.”
“I’m a fearing it won’t work this time; it’s gone too far,” Sadie said darkly, reaching for the paper again. “Horace Greeley’s quoted right here, saying to Mr. Lincoln that he’s fearing more than anything else that the North will back down and make a shameful compromise just to keep the Union together. He goes on to say such action would disgrace the Union to the place we’d never be able to lift our heads again.”
Beth studied Sadie’s face. “You sound as if you like Mr. Lincoln, but I know Amos didn’t vote for him.”
“I like him, but he’s a disappointment to us Quakers. They called him a black Republican, but I don’t see him as caring that much for the slaves. I’m of the opinion he will straddle the fence. He’s said over and over he’ll not set the Negroes free. The work done to get the Republican Party started in the first place was for the purpose of winning freedom for the slaves.”
Beth was silent for a long time. Sadie watched her, noting that she appeared ready to speak and then seemed to change her mind. Finally she said, “The fellows in town were talking about getting up a state militia, just in case there’s a battle. Sadie, do you think there’s going to be a war?”
Sadie picked up her knitting and took three stitches before answering. “I don’t know, but I get a shivery feeling down inside when I think about it.” She looked at Beth. “If there is, wilt thou go back to the South?”
“Father wouldn’t welcome me,” she whispered. “He told me if I left, I couldn’t return.”
“Seems a sad way to treat a young lady,” she glanced at Beth, saw her uneasy, quick glance. Sadie knitted in silence.
Finally Beth said, “It seems there’s just nothing to do except get married.” Sadie dropped a stitch.
As she concentrated on recovering it, Beth walked restlessly around the room.
When the stitch was safely on the needle, Beth stopped beside Sadie and said, “The problem is I wouldn’t want a Northern fellow; I can’t cook or anything.”
“You could learn.” Sadie’s voice was muffled as she bent over her knitting. “Olivia did.”
“A Southern girl would have to love a man terribly to go that far. I don’t think I could. But then the best thing would be to find a rich man.”
She sat on the stool at Sadie’s feet. “Sadie, are there any rich, single men in Pennsylvania?”
“There’s a farmer over in the next county. I hear he owns most of the land in that end of the state. Has livestock. He’s a widower. They said his wife didn’t lack for anything.” She glanced up and saw Beth’s face brighten, then added, “Heard his wife died from pneumonia last winter. Got it milking cows in January.”
Beth shuddered. “I can’t milk cows,” she said as she left the room.
Sadie watched her go. Pretty as a picture, she thought, but I don’t want our Mike Clancy tangled up with the likes of her. At least, not unless she comes around to getting close to the Lord like Olivia did. From the way she talks, there’s little indication she’s tender-hearted. At least it seems unlikely unless I do a lot of praying. She paused, pursed her mouth, and grinned. Might be a good idea to ask the Lord to be finding Mike a good girl, so I can pray for Beth without the added worry of Mike falling for her.
Thinking of the way Mike had behaved just before the last trip south, Sadie sighed, “Might be too late, Lord.”
****
On the sixth of March, Amos came into the kitchen expecting to find his dinner. He found Sadie hunched over the newspaper spread on the surface of the table. “Do we eat inauguration news today?”
With a sigh she looked up. “Thou art early. There’s soup from last night heating on the back of the cookstove. I’ll slice some bread for thee. But Amos, listen to this. ‘From the lack of long hair in the crowd packed elbow to elbow for the inauguration of President Lincoln yesterday, it appears only Southerners absented themselves from the glorious affair. From New York to California, as well as Vermont and down the Ohio, people flocked to the nation’s capital to see the inauguration of the President. Some visitors still carried carpetbags, for there were more visitors to the capital than hotel rooms available…. Mr. Lincoln rose at five o’clock this morning. He partook of a light breakfast while his inaugural speech was read to him….”
Sadie looked up. “Makes thee think thou art right there. They said the day before, visitors packed the Senate chambers to listen to debates. Must have been interesting.”
She sighed and moved the newspapers as Amos carried the soup to the table. “I think we’ll all end up liking Lincoln, no matter what he does about the slaves.” She looked at him and added, “It also mentioned Quakers from Pennsylvania being there at the inauguration. Here’s a comment on Mr. Lincoln’s speech. It says the President of the United States took an oath to ‘preserve, protect, and defend the government.’ Mr. Lincoln added he intended to do just that.” Sadie folded the paper and said, “I’ll look forward to getting a complete copy of his speech.”
****
In late March, Amos came into the kitchen while Sadie and Beth were preparing dinner. “Heard in town that the ice has broken on the Ohio. Might be that Mike’ll be coming back pretty soon. His last letter sounded uneasy about the squabbling in Tennessee. Said folks were mighty touchy, and the possibility of bringing more slaves out was unlikely. So I’ll not be looking for a crowd with him.”
Sadie nodded over the pan as she stirred. She had seen the way Beth’s eyes brightened when Amos mentioned Mike. Staring into the soup, she chided herself for being full of suspicion.
As they sat down at the table, Amos looked at Sadie with a troubled frown. “The newspaper hints at a continued rumble coming from the South. I’m wondering about Alex and Olivia. Haven’t heard from them for over a month now. It’ll feel mighty good to have them home again.”
Sadie left the table and went to the parlor, saying, “I think I’m hearing voices. A few minutes ago I thought I heard splashes in the river. I dismissed it, thinking it was the young’uns. Now—”
They all heard the sharp rap at the door and Beth flew past Sadie. It was Mike, his roustabouts, and three passengers. Sadie pulled them into the house. As she headed for the kitchen, she saw Mike and Beth in the hallway, smiling at each other.
The next morning when Mike carried his coffee to the table, he addressed Sadie with a troubled frown. “I wrote to Olivia and Alex, but didn’t hear from them. I have a feeling they didn’t receive my letter. Could cause problems for them, since we’d agreed I’d stay there until they returned this spring. When they left last fall, their intention was to spend the winter with his kin and return to Vicksburg in time to make a trip further south. Of course, that’s out of the question now. The South has the Mississippi heavily guarded right now.”
“Guarded?” Sadie asked.
He nodded. “It isn’t supposed to look like war, but they’re keeping their eyes on every vessel on the Mississippi. If—maybe I should say when—there’s trouble, they intend to keep the Mississippi under control.” He sipped his coffee and added, “I’m inclined to think, from listening to the people, that there’s not just slaves running; some of the pro-Union whites are also leaving.” He glanced at Beth. “It appears there’s a major final push to get out of the South.”
He waited a moment and then said, “If you have any desire to go home, Beth, this may be the last opportunity.”
“How would I get there?”
“I believe you could make it by railroad. I could take you down the Tennessee River and let you take a train from there.”
She shook her head. When she lifted her face, there was a small smile visible. “I closed the doors behind me when I left. Father told me I wouldn’t be allowed to come home. I guess I’m an orphan now.” The words were jaunty, but her smile seemed bitter.
Mike touched her clenched fist. “You know Sadie and Amos will always have a place for you.”
“I can’t impose forever.” She got to her feet and carried dishes to the dishpan. Turning she looked at Mike. “I may find a place up here where I can earn my keep.” She made a wry face. “What do ex-Southern belles do to earn a living?”