Chapter 2

The next day Face was too weak to even think of getting up and with a little nourishment off and on mainly slept the majority of the day away. The second day saw him feeling better and eating more and sleeping less but by the third day, Face was ready to get up and move around. He was fast becoming a handful for Sally to keep in bed. She knew that he needed to stay still for at least one more day to be sure that he wouldn't experience a relapse and get sick again and even though she tried many times to explain it to him he still tried to escape the bed.

"You get out of that bed one more time young man and you will regret it!" she threatened as she once again placed him back in bed. "I've got other things to do than keep a watch out for you and your escape attempts!"

"But I'm bored, Aunt Sally. There is nothing to do but lay here. I'm not sleepy, I think I'm slept out," whined Face.

Sally walked over and sat on the edge of the bed and looked lovingly at the young boy. "I know you are dear, but I don't want to take the chance of you getting sick again. I'll get Hannibal and maybe he can think of something you can do to help with the boredom, but you have to stay in bed."

Face nodded and watch as she left, already planning his next escape attempt. He was bored and had been in this bed for three days. In his mind, he was over the sickness that put him there and he was ready to leave. He was ready to get dressed when Johnny, Aunt Sally's son walked in carrying a checkers board and jumped up on the bed facing Face and asked.

"Do you want to play? I know what it feels like to be stuck in bed forever but my Ma only wants to make sure you are well before she'll let you get up."

Face's eyes lit up when he saw the checkerboard and nodded. "I play with Harry all the time. I would love to play you…black or red?"

"I'll take the red," replied Johnny as he handed the black pieces to Face. "Here," he gave Face a biscuit left over from breakfast, "I thought you might be hungry. I put a dab of honey in it."

By the time Sally and Murdock returned, Hannibal and Steven had taken the wagon into town to pick up his daughter and for Hannibal to stock up on depleted supplies, they heard laughter and walked into the bedroom to find both boys in a heated game of checkers.

"Who's winning?" Murdock asked.

"Face won the first one, but I'm aiming to win the second!"

"Not if I can help it…crown me!" Face had made a move while Johnny had looked up to respond to Murdock's question and hadn't noticed that Face's piece was so close to being crowned.

"You got to focus completely on the game Johnny or this kid will win every time. I learned that the hard way…cost me a couple of quarters." Murdock cautioned Johnny.

"Harry, will you bring me my drumsticks, please? Johnny was a drummer boy for the Confederacy Army…we want to have a drumming contest when he gets tired of me winning." Face smiled as he added the last part.

"Not this time!" Johnny crowed as he jumped several of Face's pieces leaving him only one to fight with. It would only be a matter of time before Face would be defeated.

"NO!"

"He got you, kid. You weren't watching the game close enough or you would have seen that your pieces were in danger!"

Murdock left to get the drumsticks with Sally murmuring, "I don't think you have to worry about him getting out of bed anytime soon. Your son showed up at the right time to prevent him from getting a warm bottom."

Sally only smiled and nodded. Crisis prevented and Sally was able to return to her kitchen and prepare the meal for them all.

Johnny stayed with Face for the remainder of the day. They talked, played checkers, and drummed the whole day away, and kept Face in bed. Johnny even ate his lunch and supper with Face. The only time he left him was after supper when he went to take his bath.

"Where are you going?" Face left as he saw his friend start to leave the bedroom.

"To take my bath. We always bathed on Saturday evening in preparation for church Sunday."

Hoo…hoo! You have to take a bath and I don't!" Face laughed at his friend.

Johnny gave him a sad smile. "I don't think so Face!"

"What do you mean?"

"You will not only be taking a bath tonight but coming to church with us tomorrow."

"Says who?"

"My Ma. She says that your Pa and brother will be coming with us as well. Mr. BA will be attending the church the freed slaves have built down the road. They all took a bath late this afternoon!"

Before Face could argue further Johnny left the room for his bath and left Face to think about what he had been told. He hated to take a bath. He didn't want to go to church tomorrow either…memories of sitting still for what seemed like hours while he was at the orphanage flooded his mind.

"Now that didn't take long…just get in and bathe quickly. You will be finished in no time." Johnny had returned while Face was lost in his memories and he looked up to see his friend walk back in wearing a clean nightshirt. "Ma said that it is your turn now."

Face shook his head, "I'm not going. I'm not that dirty."

Before Johnny could warn him about the futility of his statement BA burst in and yanked Face from the bed and pulled his nightshirt off seconds before depositing him into the tub of warm water.

"Bathe or I will do it, but you are taking a bath and then you will be going to church with Hannibal and Murdock Sunday!"

"BA! Noooo!" Face cried out but it was too late. He was in the tub of water having a wash rag and bar of soap thrust at him. After glaring at BA Face reluctantly took the rag and soap and began to soap the rag up to use on his body.

BA took the soap and began to soap Face's hair and washed not only it but his back as well; only then did he step back to make sure that he did a good job.

After watching for several minutes BA asked, "Are you clean?"

"Yes….can I get out now?"

BA grab a towel and motioned for Face to get up, and when he did BA enveloped him in the warm towel and quickly dried him off making sure that his hair was dry before pulling a clean nightshirt over his head. "Now let's get you ready for bed, little brother," and stayed to make sure Face didn't do anything to get dirty before bedtime.

"You really care about him, don't you?" Sally asked as she watch them interact.

"Yes ma'am. We met him when he was assigned to Colonel Smith's regiment as his drummer boy. We realized then that he was much younger than most drummer boys and vowed to watch out for him. It didn't take long before he became more than just a friend, he became family. Hannibal took him literally under his protection…some of the soldiers would have taken advantage of him, but with the Colonel's protection they left him alone. He slept in the Colonel's tent and during the battles, one of us tried to be nearby. We thought we had lost him during the Battle of Bentonville in North Carolina; he had been kidnapped from the battlefield by an immoral man who wanted to use the boy as his personal slave. It seems that the slave they had run off when President Lincoln freed the slaves and this man had replaced him with Face. Even though he abused the boy greatly Face managed to escape him and we found him before he could be hurt further. We are very protective of him."

"Where are you heading now?"

"Eventually, after we pick up my mother and the Colonel's wife then we are heading for Wyoming, to make a home for ourselves. When we get to St. Louis to pick up the Colonel's lady Hannibal and Maggie are going to adopt Face."

"The Colonel isn't his father now?"

"Not yet, but soon."

"He is not related, at all? The reason I ask is the boy kind of looks like him. They have the same color eyes and some of the same features."

"Hannibal is Face's uncle. That wasn't discovered until a few weeks ago. It seems that Face's mother was the Colonel's youngest sister…his favorite sister. Face is named after Hannibal. Face's full name is John David Davis. David is the Colonel's middle name. Once Hannibal adopts him he will be Davy Smith, at least on paper. He will always be Face to us."