Chapter 10
"It's so quiet," Rosemary mused aloud. "Almost too quiet."
"I'm glad of it," Melly sighed. "My ears ache from all the shells, and the poor little baby can barely sleep."
Despite all the noise of the past several months, there had been no actual sign of the Yankees around Richmond. On his last furlough, more than a month before, Charles had relayed to them that he had come to the conclusion that the Yankees had most likely abandoned their initial aim of capturing Richmond, preferring instead to set up a defensive position around Washington.
But they had levied a blockade around the entire coast, extending it across the South and making it extremely difficult to buy anything from fabrics to foodstuffs, to furniture…But Rhett was seemingly making a fortune off his fleet schooners, which periodically slipped past the Yankee gunners around the Virginia coast and brought the girls their pick of woolens and laces, the latest fashions from New York and Paris.
The danger of his new profession might have frightened off some men, but not Rhett; he seemed to revel in his occupation, finally explaining to Scarlett and Rosemary that he was in very little real danger, offering generous compensation in every port for friendly Yankees who would agree to let his boats pass through their waters unmolested. At that, Rosemary and Scarlett both expected an increase in their shares of the bounty - and Rhett did not fail to impress - each new batch of cargo promised something delightful and new, each piece in a different color, one for Rosemary, one for Scarlett and one for Melanie. And Rhett was rich too now, far richer than before.
It would only be a matter of time before he's married, Rosemary predicted over dinner. There's no place in the world that he could hide that goodly a sum of money where some shrewd woman won't sniff it out. Scarlett, for her part, had laughed at her friend, feeling keenly the sting of dismay that Rhett could be married to anyone. She preferred him much better as he was, a single man who had become her stalwart in her husband's absence. Much like a beau, only more entertaining. But Rhett had said that it would only be a matter of time before the Yankees would show up at the gates of the capitol. By June, he'd predicted. And since he'd said it, it had been impossible for Melly to rest easy, day or night. She was always watching from the window and leery of Scarlett taking Wade far from home at all. After all, the Yankees could be lurking behind any tree, waiting to capture and subsequently torture them all.
Yet, in spite of the dangers, Rhett had endeavored to keep Melly and Scarlett and Rosemary entertained whenever he was able to visit, regaling them with the sordid details of his seafaring adventures, revealing far more than what was entirely proper. He was constantly bringing books for them to read, which none of them did but Melly.
Despite the worry that never strayed far from their minds, the months following Wade's birth passed pleasantly enough for the three young women, even if they did retire rather fairly early in the evening and wake in the middle of the night, their schedules all revolving around the smallest member of the household.
Scarlett smiled up at her sister-in-law from her place on the settee. "I think that it's you who can't sleep, Melly, not Wade. He's always sleeping. Well, since Miss Amelia brought over that goop to put on his gums."
The sudden crying of the baby caused all three women to burst into simultaneous laughter.
"He has good ears," Rosemary smirked. "Want me to get him?"
"He's probably hungry," Scarlett stood up. "I'll go and see about him."
Her son was pumping his tiny fists in the air, announcing through his indignant cries that his needs were not being met.
She unbuttoned her blouse and enabled the baby to root around at her breast, placated at last as he found the source of sustenance. Mrs. Butler's advice had been remarkably accurate; she was the only one of the three new mothers who did not employ the services of a wet-nurse, and not only was Wade the biggest and happiest of the infants, she was the only one of the mothers who had experienced no lingering discomfort from the experience. That was certainly something to be cheerful about, that and the fact that she had largely regained her slim figure - not that Charles had a chance to admire it. He had been summoned back to his command in the Shenandoah Valley only a week after Wade's birth, and Scarlett had gotten the sense from the letters that she received from him and Melly from Ashley that conditions were nothing if not trying. Charlie had recalled entire weeks without proper food and witnessing men reduced to eating nothing but boiled potatoes and wild game, scarce in the winter snow. Shuddering at the thought, Scarlett allowed Wade to finish his meal, then patted his back as she had been taught, then set him back in his cradle.
Scarlett looked at the baby as he let out a tiny yawn. Dark hair was beginning to cover his tiny skull and his eyes were going to be brown like Charlie's. He was a handsome baby! Much prettier than General Lee's granddaughter little Myra or Mrs. Davis's youngest, Jeffie. Wade was, in a sense, the first real major accomplishment of her young life. He had grown at an enormous rate and was the darling of his father and of Hampton's Legion, if not the entire Army of Northern Virginia. He even seemed to impress his self-named Uncle Rhett, who had pronounced him as very fine indeed on his last visit from his blockade-running adventures. It was rather amusing to watch Rhett look upon the baby with such wonder and joy in his eyes, rocking him and talking to him as if Wade could understand every word out of his mouth. Rhett even had gone as far as to offer to change his soiled nappy, something that had scandalized poor Melly.
Yes, Scarlett could have never imagined how much she herself would have changed since that last barbeque at Twelve Oaks. Taking another look at her son with satisfied pride, Scarlett reflected upon the events of the last year, how they had exceeded anything she ever could have anticipated. She had found contentment in her life with Charlie and their little boy and true friends in Rosemary and Melanie; it was as if all the concerns of the ordinary world had suddenly faded, and her days passed by in maternally fulfilling bliss coupled with the excitement of living in the busy Confederate capitol. Whatever would she have been doing at Tara? Her mother probably wouldn't have even allowed her to go to any parties with a baby in the cradle.
Oh, Mother and Pa and home…Only yesterday had the fourth month's anniversary of Wade's birth passed, Scarlett mused, and she dearly wished that she could show him off to Mammy and her parents. They had written letters of congratulation, expressing their desire to visit her at the earliest possible opportunity; however, Scarlett knew that it would be impossible for them to sojourn from Tara. She did hope that Wade wasn't too huge by the time the war was over…
The chilly northerly wind had finally died away, and the sky settled into an ambiguous shade of grey when Scarlett relocated to a chair in the nursery and stretched broadly in an effort to relieve the kinks in her back. Wade was finally asleep, his tiny little fist settled under his chin. Rhett was due to visit in the next few days. Perhaps he would bring another length of that lovely green taffeta for a new frock…it was essential after all, that she look her best for the next gala in honor of President Davis…
Her train of thought was broken by the sound of a loud crashing sound. She hastened to the nursery window and opened it. The scent of smoke filled her nose, followed instantly by another bang.
"Scarlett!" Rosemary called from below. "Come down right now! It's the Yankees!"
Panic seized Scarlett as she grabbed Wade and swaddled him as best she could in blankets. Gingerly she crept down the stairs and placed him in Melanie's waiting arms.
"I'm going to take a look around," Rosemary said. She took the pistol that Rhett had given her and slipped it into her haversack.
"I'm going with you!" Scarlett whispered.
"No!" Melanie cried. "You can't!"
"I smell smoke, Melly," Rosemary snapped. "I want to see if it's from our boys or their's."
Peering intently through the window, Scarlett searched the street and surrounding buildings for any sign of a fire.
"I don't see anything. Perhaps someone's burning leaves - or a campfire."
"Just because it looks alright doesn't mean it is," Rosemary said warily. Scarlett followed her outside the front door, noting that the acrid scent was growing stronger by the moment. She lifted her gaze to the rooftops of the capitol city's buildings and again beheld nothing amiss.
Rosemary rechecked the pistol that she had been recently keeping by the front door and handed it to Scarlett.
"I'm going to have a look around. Stand by the door, Scarlett. Understand?" Scarlett nodded and glanced up and down the empty sidewalk as she stepped over the threshold. No one was on the streets, as though they were in an abandoned ghost town.
"I don't see anything," Rosemary said as she returned a few moments later. "I just wish that I could be sure. Surely if we were supposed to evacuate, someone would have let us know."
"Let's try and get some sleep," Melanie said softly, holding little Wade close. "We'll sleep in Scarlett's room, by the window, just to be sure…"
They did just that; moving the baby's cradle next to the big bed, the three of them rested uneasily next to one another, falling into a dreamless sleep to the low murmur of each other's voices.
A loud rapping at the door woke Rosemary with a start, and she almost knocked Scarlett out of bed with her sudden movement.
"Someone's here," she said softly, feeling around for the pistol. "I'm going downstairs, Scarlett. You light some sconces here in the hallway in case we need to run back up here and get the baby, okay?"
Again Scarlett nodded in unspoken understanding, making a cautious descent to the bottom floor a few moments after Rosemary did.
"Scarlett!" Rosemary called quietly. "Come here!"
The front door was ajar, and Scarlett saw instantly that Rosemary was on her knees, tending to a manly form crumpled across their threshold.
"It's Luke, Scarlett, he's badly hurt. Oh darling!"
Scarlett noted the bloody gash across Luke Bonham's brow and put a hand to her mouth.
"Dispatches," Luke was mumbling incoherently. "General Lee. Dispatches. For Davis."
"He was carrying these," Rosemary handed Scarlett a folded roll of papers. "For the President. I'll take them, darling. I'll take them myself. Help me, Scarlett, hurry, help me get him in."
Struggling to lift the young man between them, the two women heaved him onto the settee. Melanie was waiting on the landing, and cried in dismay as she saw the state Luke was in.
"Tend to him, Melly," Rosemary instructed. "He's had a nasty hit, but I think he'll be alright. I'm going to take these to the Davis's place. That's what he's in town to do."
"Yankees," Luke was muttering. "Around the city."
"What!" Melanie cried. "You can't be serious, Rosemary! There could be Yankees all around us and if those are dispatches - my dear - they could arrest you."
"They won't get into Richmond," Rosemary scoffed. "I promise you that. Our boys will burn it to the ground first."
Melly nodded and hastened to find a cold, wet compress for Luke's head. Scarlett took the pistol from the door and moved to follow Rosemary.
"We should both go," she said. "It's close to a mile to the Davis's." Damn the first family for staying outside of town while the Confederate White House was being completed!
"Hurry then," Rosemary said, moving towards the doorway. With a shaky hand, Scarlett lit the wick of a hurricane lantern and trudged on after her, hoping that Rhett had indeed taught Rosemary how to shoot straight should they run into trouble.
Together the two prowled through the empty streets, noting that there was not one light in the entire city on, yet both were keenly aware of the ever increasing smell of smoke.
"This way," Rosemary indicated, but Scarlett raised her gaze and squinted against the light from the lantern as she peered into the shadows of one of the dark alleyways, finally discovering the source of the smoke. The fence along the side of the street had clearly been burning for some time.
"Yankees," Rosemary declared through clenched teeth. "Sending a message that they can just march in here and hey - "
Rosemary cried out in alarm as a man's hand clamped tightly around her mouth. In his other hand, the man held a pistol directed toward Scarlett.
Another grabbed Scarlett's arms from behind her, pinning them to her sides.
"Search 'em," the first man said to another lackey. All three were dressed in dark, civilian clothes.
"Rebel dispatches, Major," the man said after he had spent a minute or two examining Rosemary's haversack. "This one was carrying 'em."
"Take them both for questioning, Corporal. The Rebs won't know what's hitting them if these two don't have a chance to talk."
"No!" Scarlett cried. "You can't!"
"I can, Ma'am. Make it easy on yourself and hush. I've not yet shot a lady but I will if you don't be quiet."
"Let my sister go." Melly's soft voice was calm and devoid of fear as she cocked her pistol, holding it against the head of the man who held Scarlett.
"Damnation!" the first man said, "how many of you are there?"
Melly was unwavering. "Let them go. You have what you want. Now, I want my sister and friend to go free, now do as I say or I shall shoot your friend."
The first man cackled with laughter, then moved his hand slightly, signaling for even more of them to emerge from the alleyway. A firm hand immediately knocked the pistol away from Melly, who let out a sharp cry of outrage as she was thrown to the ground. Scarlett watched in horror as Rosemary pivoted around and pummeled the man who held her with her fist and kicked him sharply in the groin. He turned on her with a snarl, lifting the hand that held the pistol and tapping the butt of the weapon against her chin, sending her reeling to the ground, where she moved no more.
Scarlett wanted to scream, but she didn't possess the strength - instead she watched as Melly was blindfolded and Rosemary was thrown over the first man's shoulder.
"Blindfold this one too," the man in charge said, indicating Scarlett. "If we hurry, we can make it to Washington before daybreak."
Without further warning, he thrust Scarlett forward and she hit the ground next to Melly. Her view obscured as the blindfold came down over her eyes, a feeling of ice-cold dread shot through her. They were going to die at the hands of these dirty Yankees, and her little baby would wake in a few hours, alone and with no one to see to him except a wounded soldier lying on the settee…