A/N I should have put a note on "Off the Record" saying that story was inspired by the song "Was My Brother in the Battle"…except that the fact that the story didn't stick with the fact that it was a Union soldier who was being sought.
A/N This sequel came about after listening to the song "The Vacant Chair" sung by Kathy Mattea. John William Grout was an eighteen year old Union lieutenant who was killed towards the first of the war. A poem was written in his memory by the family and, later, put to music. I know I had Joe fighting for the South only his family would still feel the same. I would post links to both songs only this site forbids it.
Chapter One
The night sky was as black as could be, and only a handful of stars could be seen poking their heads out. Still, the crickets' songs could be heard throughout the night air, along with an occasional hoot of a night owl. With the blackness of the night, and no lights coming from the window, an onlooker might think the front of the Cartwright home to be completely vacant. Only, they'd be wrong.
Adam, dressed in his regular black shirt, pants and boots, sat on the porch with the top of the chair leaning against the outside wall, his right leg was resting on top of his left one. His arms held his guitar, but his fingers refused to play. The war had ended; he'd survived and came home, just as Joe had said he would. However, Adam had held onto the hope that, despite what his baby brother had said, that the doctor would be proven wrong. That dream had been dashed the day Colonel Parker had walked up, handed him a letter and said simply, 'It's from your father."
When someone turned on a light inside the house, and the light shone through the window, Adam set his guitar down and picked up the envelope that sat on the table next to him. He'd carried it with him until the day General Lee surrendered and all the soldiers went home; however, as he'd confessed to his father, he'd never opened it. No one had to tell him what his father had written; no one had to tell him Joe's heart had done as the doctor had said it would, and no one had to tell him Joseph was no longer walking among them. Why should they have to tell him when Adam had felt Joseph's presence before the letter ever arrived and heard him say, "Don't give up! Never give up on your convictions, even if they go against mine. Isn't that what you told me once?"
Adam looked at the letter and thought back to the day he stepped off the train, still dressed in his major's uniform. Hoss, Cynthia and his father had been at the train station to meet him. Then, later, when the family had gathered around the dinner table and Adam had looked at the vacant chair... his baby brother's glaring absence hurt him more than anything that had ever happened to him during the war. "You should be here, Joe. Why did you have to go play hero and take that bullet for the general."
Ben, who had realized his oldest son was not in the house, made his way out of the house and onto the porch, using a lantern. He sighed as he saw Adam looking at the unopened envelope. "You need to open it, son." Ben said as he stepped onto the porch and leaned against one of the posts.
"I figured it was from you telling me about Joe." Adam tilted his head against the wall and turned his face towards his father. "I didn't want to hear the truth when it arrived, didn't want to face the fact there'd be a vacant chair when I arrived home. I needed a dream to keep me going. Even after I'd feel his presence or hear words whispered to me in the midst of a battle. Crazy, huh?'
Ben felt a twinge pain in his heart. He understood more than he could say. How many times had he watched Joe do what he could with the little strength he had in him, and then lied to himself saying that Joe was getting better? How many times had he prayed that what he wanted to see really would be the case? "I put a letter about Joe in there; that's true." Ben said after a moment and then turned his eyes upwards. "But he wrote you too," Ben turned his gaze towards Adam; he wasn't surprised to see shock appear in Adam's eyes. The fact that he'd been carrying a letter around from Joseph was probably the last thing Adam had expected to hear. "Open it up son, he wanted you to have it." Ben said as he stepped away from the post and stepped off the porch. "He wanted you to read it." He then walked away, leaving Adam looking at the unopened letter in his hands.
After what seemed like an eternity, Adam did as his father had asked. He opened the unread letter and separated what turned out to be quite a number of pages …one from his father telling him that Little Joe had passed away in his sleep, and another that read 'Dear Adam' at the top. He put the letter from his father back in the envelope and began reading the one from Joe.
I don't know that I'll still be on the top side of the grass by the time you get this. Guess that doesn't matter, not really. I wanted to thank you for spending that last night with me, even if I did tell you to go. To know that you'd take a bedroll and sleep on the floor just to be with me one last time… I can never put into words what that meant to me.
Adam felt minor shock waves go through him. When he'd went back into the room he was absolutely sure that Joe had been sound asleep. And, when Adam had arisen the next morning, his baby brother's eyes were still shut. He'd felt blessed to at least have Joe awake and eating some chicken noodle soup just before he, Adam, had to leave. For months after getting the unopened letter, Adam had consoled himself by telling himself that he'd at least been given the chance to say goodbye to Joe. Now, Joe was telling him he'd known all along that he, Adam, had slept on the bedroom floor? His eyes went back to the letter. He couldn't help but wonder just what else his baby brother had to say.