We stood, Carol and Viola and I, on the village square with about a hundred or so other women and children, I in my boys' clothes.
I was Sam Conners, Viola's little brother. I had run errands for my big brother Teddy in the mill.
At least fifty empty supply wagons were lined up on the side of the road ready to take us away. Yankee soldiers from company E of the 7th Pennsylvania stood ready.
We assembled in the morning sun, then waited. In the middle distance, across the street a ways, I saw Teddy watching. I nudged Carol and she smiled and waved.
At first he didn't see us. He was talking with Major McCoy. They were studying some papers. Then I saw them shake hands. They were conspiring over something. McCoy came toward us. Teddy nodded in our direction and I heard McCoy saying,
"Just a moment there, boy. You there, is your name Conners?"
He was talking to me!
"Yessir," I answered.
"What are you doing here with all these women?" His voice was stern. He was acting as if he did not even know me.
"They are my sisters, sir."
He grabbed me roughly by the arm and pulled me along with him to another Confederate soldier a distance away, who was lounging against one of the wagons.
"Sergeant Mulholland!"
The sergeant immediately straightened up and saluted. "Sir!"
"I've got a bummer for you. Name's Conners. What's your first name, boy?"
"Sam, sir," I told McCoy.
"Sam Conners. Brother owned the mill. He can shoot a gun."
"Good. I can use another bummer. Get in the wagon, boy."
"Not just yet," McCoy told him. "He's got two sisters on this trip. I'd like him to ride with them, at least to Marietta. They're under Garrard's so-called special protection."
Mulholland uttered an oath.
McCoy corrected him. "Enough of that! You'll have Sam whenever you need him on stops along the way. And I'll not have him mistreated, either. Got it, Mulholland?"
"Yessir."
McCoy was still gripping my arm. Now he let go. "All right, back to your sisters, boy."
I walked back. He followed me. When I got there, he demanded to look into my bag and I handed it over. Then, discreetly, while pretending to inspect the contents, he slipped in two pieces of paper. Having done so, he pulled the strings to close the bag, set it on the ground, put his hand on my shoulder, and gripped it. Then he winked at me and walked away.
***
Slowly and carefully the wagons moved out of town, even as I could not believe we were finally going. As we passed Teddy standing there watching, Carol was crying, and so was I.
He nodded his head and waved, and we kept our eyes glued to him until he was out of sight.
Then Carol broke down and I held her, weeping, on my shoulder.
We were not the only women in the wagon, to be sure. There were at least ten others, all mill women, all dressed in plain brown calico, all weeping copiously.
"We've got to stick together," one named Muriel Meadows said. "No matter what. It's all we've got."
All agreed.
"Well," another put in, "I heard they're sending us across the river, to Ohio. And they hate us in the North. What will we do?"
"Don't panic," still another put in. "I for one am glad to get away from that damned mill. I hated it. And I hated that damned Teddy Conners. Who in hell did he think he was? That whole family was a bunch of swells. I'm glad the mill burned."
Instantly, there was a chorus of hushes and whispers and some pointed at us.
"Oh," said the woman who hated Teddy. "So some of the family got their comeuppance, eh? Well, I'll say it to your faces. I hated Teddy Conners. So there."
It got silent then. Carol's sobbing had subsided somewhat. Then she whispered to me.
"Leigh Ann, I've got to tell you something."
"What?"
"I'm pregnant."
Would there be no peace, ever, in my world again? The words slammed in my face, gave me a headache. "What?"
"Yes. Can you believe it? After all these years? When we thought we'd never have a child?"
No, I could not believe it. "How far are you?"
"Two months."
"Does Teddy know?"
"No. I couldn't tell him with all the trouble going on. At first I thought I'd wait until things calmed down. But they never did. And then I decided I'd better tell him before he figured it out for himself. And I was just about to when the arrest notice came around for me. And then I couldn't. How could I? He'd never let me go. He'd do, oh..." She clutched the front of my shirt. "He'd do something terrible, Leigh Ann. You know your brother."
I certainly did. Likely he'd shoot Garrard and get himself shot in return.
"Don't worry." I patted her. "It'll be all right We'll take care of you."
"You sound a lot like Teddy."
Viola was sleeping already. So she hadn't heard. With the rocking of the wagon, a lot of the women had fallen asleep.
I figured it was safe enough to open my bag and read the notes McCoy had given me.
The first was directly to me and said:
Dear Child:
God be with you. Remember what I said. When you come through this, and I know you will, write to me and let me know.
Your friend, J. C. McCoy, 112 Canterbury Rd.,
Akron, Ohio.
The second one read:
I, Major J. C. McCoy, General William T. Sherman's aide-de-camp, do hereby direct the recipient of this notice to honor my wishes not to harm the bearer of said notice, or companions, in any way, either by starvation or beatings, and furthermore to aid and assist the same in any way possible.
If I, Major J. C. McCoy, hear anything to the contrary, severe disciplinary action will be taken against the offender.
It was signed with a flourish.
These must have been the papers McCoy and Teddy had been poring over near the town square. McCoy had shown my brother the protection order to ease his mind. And the note to me, asking me to write to him. McCoy had asked Teddy's permission for this first. So, it was more than his just asking for a note to know I was safe. And Teddy had obviously given his permission.
What was it then, if not just his need to know I was safe?
My head spun with the idea of it. How old was McCoy? Younger than Teddy, who was twenty-seven, to be sure. How old did you have to be to be a major?
I would ask Viola. She would know. She knew everything. The wagon continued to rock and I fell asleep.