Dec 29, 1863- dinnertime Sweetfern Farm Kirkwood, MS

By dinnertime that night, Mac had settled Harriet, Bud and little AJ, prepared and administered the draft for Lt. Rabb, and had actually had time to sleep for an hour and eat. However, she still had to tell the Roberts about the fugitive family that was hiding in her house, and the union soldier she was nursing back to health. She came to dinner dressed in the same rust colored skirt and white shirt she'd worn all day. And when she reached the kitchen, she was greeted by Gunny, Hannah, the Roberts', and, to her surprise, Sturgis.

"Mac," Bud said as he, Gunny and Sturgis all rose from their seats, "Sturgis has just been telling us how the two of you met."

"Well, it's an interesting story, isn't it," she said, motioning for them all to retake their seats, and giving Sturgis a dirty look, "There are probably some details he's leaving out."

"Actually, Mac, my account has been completely thorough," Sturgis assured her, "I'm just getting to the part in Jackson, where you bought my liberty."

Mac poured herself some milk, before she said, "You're almost finished with the story, why don't you finish it."

Bud and Harriet returned their attention to Sturgis, as Mac walked around the table and into the root cellar beneath the stairs. Sturgis, who knew what she was up to, continued his story, nonetheless. "So, Mac was there, at the slave auction. She was just fifteen then. Her uncle AJ had left her alone with his purse, and she used the money to buy me from my former master. She was so angry with the crowd's treatment of me and the other slaves, that she set me free in front of the entire crowd," he told them.

"That sounds just like her," Bud said smiling.

"She was just fifteen," Harriet said disbelieving, "I would never have had the courage to do something like that at that age."

"It took a lot more courage that I think even I had. She stood there in front of that crowd of slave traders, as they booed and harassed her. She refused to acknowledge them; instead, she walked me right over to the Jackson Town Hall, where she had the papers drawn up, securing my freedom."

Bud and Harriet were still staring at Sturgis in shock when Mac reappeared out of the root cellar, followed by the fugitive family. The family hung back behind her, as she faced the Roberts.

"Bud, Harriet, I'd like you to meet the Gibsons. This is Ezekiel, Margaret, Isaac, and Minnie," she told them introducing each person. Then, she swallowed and continued, "They're fugitive slaves, travelling the Underground Railroad."

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room for a moment before Bud jumped up from his seat and came to Mac and shook her hand wholeheartedly

"Mac, you could have trusted us with this," he said smiling.

"I didn't want to tell anyone at the risk of being discovered. The fewer people who knew the safer it would be," she told them, "Sturgis is their conductor."

Bud and Harriet both looked at Sturgis and then back at Mac, who was now shooing the Gibsons into seats at the dinner table. Little AJ was thrilled at the prospect of having more children around, even if they were quite a bit older than he was.

"You see, the rest of the story is that Mac gave me my freedom, but I chose to use it to help free other slaves," Sturgis said, "As soon as Mac's uncle was called to service, I contacted her, and she stepped in as a stationmaster. That was two years ago, and now, we've successfully helped nearly twenty families get into the North and onto Canada."

Bud shook his head. "You know, Mac," he said ruefully, but he was smiling, "I think you may have been more effective in your secret pursuits that I have in my public ones."

"Bud, there's more," Mac said, but she wasn't able to finish her explanation because at that moment, Bobbi came bursting into the room.

"Mac, he's shaking all over, and I don't know what to do," she said crazily, and Mac bolted from where she was standing and ran up the back stairs.

"Who is?" Bud asked, and Bobbi sat down to calm her nerves and explain all about Lt. Rabb and how Mac was helping him. She had just finished telling them the smaller details of the story when Mac yelled down the stairs for her to come quickly with hot water, bandages, her kit and Sturgis.

Sturgis helped Bobbi to carry the kit and other supplies up the three flights of stairs to the West room, where Lt. Rabb lay. Bud followed at their heels. When they reached the room, they same Mac laying over the soldier, trying to stop him from shaking.

"It's the fever," she said, and Sturgis and Bud came to help hold him down, "It's caused his body to spasm. I've got to give him something for it."

She flung open her kit, and pulled out a bottle. She poured a few drops of the solution into a cup of water, and then, holding his mouth open with one hand she poured the liquid into his mouth, waiting for him to swallow it. After a few tries, he finally drank the medicine. A few minutes later, his body was calm again.

"Now, Bobbi help me," she said, "I've got to look at that wound again."

Sturgis raised Rabb's upper body so Mac and Bobbi could cut off the bandages. When the bandages and poultice fell away from his shoulder, they could all see the angry wound was swollen and full of pus.

Mac swallowed hard, and Bobbi had to turn away in order to prevent herself from being sick. "It's alright," Mac assured her, "It means that the infection is working its way out. I've just got to help it a little."

Mac opened the whiskey bottle she'd used the night before and cleaned her hands, and the tools she was going to use. Bobbi tied a fresh apron around Mac's waist, and then she stepped up to use the chloroform as she had before. Mac handed her the cloth and the bottle. "You remember what to do?"

"'One drop a minute, enough to lightly soak the cloth, but not enough to drip through'," Bobbi quoted, and Mac nodded seriously.

As soon as she was sure the soldier was under, Mac washed away the pus, and cut the stitches out of the wound. The inside of the wound was just as ugly as the outside, and Mac went about cleaning it in much the same way. She used hot water and whiskey to wash out the infection. The cleaning had caused the wound to bleed again, but she stanched the bleeding and then re- stitched the wound. She motioned to Bobbi that she could stop the chloroform drip, and then Bobbi helped her to apply a plain, clean bandage to cover the wound. When she finished wrapping the wound, it was dark outside, and everyone around her sat in wonder at what she had just done.

She stood back from the bed a moment, and then she turned to the others in the room. Bud sat in a chair near the window; Sturgis stood at the foot of the bed, and Bobbi opposite her. She tried to smile weakly at them, "Why don't you all go down and eat your dinner?"

They all looked up at her unbelieving. How could she even think that they would leave her alone after what she'd just done? Bobbi immediately came around the bed and began to clean and organize the medical kit, while Sturgis had begun to straighten the blankets over Lt. Rabb. Bud, meanwhile, had come to Mac's side, and helped her to the pitcher and basin, which held clean water. Mac was so tired that she was grateful for his help in getting her apron off and helping her to wash the blood off her hands.

When everything was put back in order, Mac's hands cleaned, and Lt. Rabb resting, all four of them returned to the kitchen. Sturgis carrying the kit, Mac behind him, Bobbi following behind her supporting her, and Bud in the rear.

When they reached the kitchen they found Harriet and Margaret sitting with the mending, listening to Mr. Gibson read from one of the novels Mac had left in the kitchen for all of the battle had begun. Mr. Gibson was a fine actor, and he was taking advantage of the novel's many characters, by stretching his voice into the different parts. Mac smiled, as she sat down at the table to listen. She looked over the kitchen: Gunny sat tuning his guitar, Hannah rocked sleepily in her rocking chair, and Bobbi and Sturgis sat opposite next to each other listening to Mr. Gibson. Bud sat down beside Harriet and patted her stomach lovingly. Isaac and Minnie were playing with little AJ near the hearth, and lulled by their giggles, Mac drifted off into well-deserved sleep.