"Mama! Come quick!" Beau shouted as he raced into the house, slamming the door behind himself. "There's a man in the front yard!"
Melanie winced as a stab of fear went through her body. With Yankee soldiers and newly freed slaves running rampant, no woman in the South was truly safe, and now that Ashley was gone, she felt especially vulnerable.
"I think there's something wrong with him," Beau added.
Melanie's compassionate nature overcame her fear, and she followed her son into the front yard of their home. The blue uniform set alarm bells dinging in her head, but the man didn't look like an enemy at this moment. He'd lost his cap, and he sat on the ground holding his head as if it were hurt. He wasn't bleeding, but to trusting Melanie, it never once occurred to her that he might be faking it. Concern washed over her as she approached him.
"Sir?" she asked.
He turned to look at her with wonder in his eyes, too startled to say a word.
"Can I help you into the house?" He offered no resistance as she took one of his arms and Beau took the other and, between them both, he somehow made it into the house, where he collapsed onto the sofa.
"Fetch him a glass of water," said Melanie. A couple of minutes later, Beau returned from the kitchen with the water, and Melanie watched the stranger's Adam's apple bob as he gulped it down.
"Thank you," he whispered, handing the glass back to her. She saw that he had soft blue eyes and that they still looked quite dazed and confused.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"My name is Jonas Hummel." He pronounced it 'Yonas'. She noticed that, although he spoke fluent English, his accent suggested it wasn't his first language.
"I'm Melanie Wilkes, and this is my son, Beau. What happened to you?"
"Darn horse threw me." He chuckled. "Must have hit his foot on something."
Melanie gasped. "You're lucky you didn't break your neck!"
"I know I am. God must have had his hand on me."
"So you're a Christian, then." She felt a great deal of relief.
"Baptized into the Lutheran church as an infant, in the Old Country. I came to Massachusetts with my brother and his family more than ten years ago. Unfortunately, Hans caught the fever and died at the beginning of the war, leaving behind a wife and six children. I wish I could have stayed behind and helped his family more, but my new country needed me."
Melanie didn't know what to say. She wanted to sympathize with Jonas, yet at the same time, she realized that it had been men just like him who had burned Atlanta, who had destroyed her family's way of life forever, who even now kept them oppressed and took advantage of their devastation. How could she ever really feel kindly toward him?
"If I've upset you in some way, please forgive me. I assure you that it wasn't my intention at all."
"You speak English as if you've spoken it all your life."
He smiled. "When I was a child, I had an English governess. She stayed with my family right up until I left home."
"Your family must be quite wealthy, then." She was thinking of her own childhood on the plantation, of the many comforts and luxuries she'd taken for granted, of how different her life was now.
"They did well enough, until my father's business went bankrupt. That's when Hans and I decided to seek a new life in America. Well, I suppose I'd better go find that runaway horse now. Thank you very much for your hospitality, ma'am."
"Are you sure you'll be all right?" Her kind nature had once again surfaced.
"It was just a little bump on the head. I'll be fine."
He stood, then collapsed right back onto the sofa.