Storm Clouds Rolling In & On To Richmond (Books 1 & 2 in the Bregdan Chronicles) by Ginny Dye - HTML preview

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Carrie moved slowly but steadily all night. Only twice had she been forced to emerge from the protection of the woods to travel on main roads, and then only for a few minutes before she ducked back onto another hidden trail. She had gradually relaxed as she rode along. She had not heard anything other than animals and had not encountered another living being. She would be in Richmond in a couple of hours, just as the sun was coming up.

A crashing in the bushes alerted her, and Granite snorted and threw his head up in protest. “Easy,” Carrie whispered quietly. Granite planted his feet and refused to budge another inch, his eyes riveted on the clump of bushes in front of them. Carrie stared wide-eyed at the bushes. What was there? She knew it was something, or someone, but it was too dark to see anything.

She summoned her courage and spoke sharply. “Who goes there?” She tried to make her voice deep.

“I’m a Confederate soldier, ma’am,” a voice came back to her. “You ain’t got no reason to be afraid.”

Whoever he was, he surely didn’t sound dangerous.

“What are you doing out here?”

“Trying to figure out how to get to Cromwell Plantation, ma’am.” The voice grew a little more hopeful. “It’s real important I get there, ma’am. Can you tell me how far it is? I kind of got turned around.”

“Why do you need to get to Cromwell Plantation?”

Carrie demanded. Maybe this was another trick of some kind. Her heart started beating rapidly again as she imagined a Yankee soldier laughing derisively and striding out of the bushes once she had revealed her true identity. “And why are you hiding in those bushes?”

There was a slight hesitation and then he spoke again.

“Can’t really come out of these bushes, ma’am. I’m right embarrassed to say so, but I’m afraid I... I only... Well,

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you see, ma’am... I only got underwear on,” he finally blurted out.

“What?” Carrie exclaimed. “Why ever for?” Her confusion deepened. Why in the world was a Confederate soldier roaming around in the woods with only his underwear?

“I had a run-in with a good for nothing slave hunter,”

he said bitterly. “He knocked me out and stole my uniform and my horse.” He paused. “When I came to, I guess I was still a little fuzzy. Somehow I got all turned around.” His voice grew a little desperate. “I got to get to Cromwell Plantation. It’s real important.”

“Why?” Carrie asked. Her heart was telling her she could trust whoever was in the bushes. He sounded young and very vulnerable.

“My lieutenant sent me on a mission. That’s really all I can tell you.”

Carrie had a sudden wild thought. “Might that be Lieutenant Robert Borden?”

There was a sudden rustling in the bushes. Then a shocked voice. “You know my lieutenant, ma’am?”

“I might. Just who am I speaking to?”

“My name is Warren Hobbs.”

Carrie almost laughed aloud with relief. “Hobbs! Is that really you? I thought your voice sounded strangely familiar.” There was another shocked silence. She could imagine Hobbs’ frustration at his need to stay hidden in the bushes.

“Do I know you, ma’am?” came the careful reply.

Carrie was impressed with his caution. He wasn’t going to give away anything unless he had to. This time she did laugh aloud. “This is Carrie Cromwell, Hobbs. I met you when you were wounded after the battle.”

She heard a gasp and then saw the shadowy outline of a face staring through the bushes. “You’re all right! I’ve been worrying myself sick that I wasn’t going to make it to the plantation on time. The lieutenant would have never forgiven me.”

Carrie smiled to herself. “Hobbs, wait right here. I’m going back to get some clothes for you. I passed a little house not too far back. I’m sure there was no one there.”

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“You think there are clothes there, ma’am?” Hobbs’

voice was almost pathetically hopeful.

“I’m going to find out,” Carrie said.

“Are you sure it’s safe, ma’am?”

“I’ll be fine,” she assured him. “I’ll be back soon.”

She wasn’t nearly as sure as she sounded as she turned around to retrace her steps. Granite bobbed his head in protest of the change in direction. He, too, knew there could be danger lurking behind them, but she really had no choice. She couldn’t leave Hobbs standing in the woods with nothing on, and he certainly couldn’t show up in Richmond like that.

Her heart was pounding as she approached the deserted little house. She stopped and listened for several long minutes before she dismounted, gritting her teeth against the pain in her shoulder, and edged quietly toward the house. Her hand trembled as she reached for the doorknob, and the door opened easily under her touch. Fighting to control her desire to turn and run, she slipped into the tiny room and stood motionless, trying to steady her breathing.

Willing her eyes to adjust to the darkness, Carrie gazed around the room. Right next to where she was standing she thought she detected the outline of a coat or something on the wall. She reached out and encountered the rough feeling of wool. She grabbed whatever it was and pulled it toward her. It was indeed a coat. More groping produced a pair of pants and what seemed to be a shirt. Carrie clutched them under her good arm and left the house. She pulled Granite next to the porch so she could mount, knowing her shoulder wouldn’t allow her to swing up. Moments later, he was trotting down the trail. He, too, was eager to make up for lost time.

When Carrie came even with where she thought they had been before, she called softly, “Hobbs?”

“I’m right here, Miss Cromwell. I was afraid you might not be able to find me again.”

Carrie spoke quickly. “I have some clothes for you. I’m going to throw them down and ride several yards ahead.

Let me know when you’re dressed.”

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“Thank you, ma’am,” came the fervent reply.

Carrie waited, staring into the darkness and fretting at the delay. She felt better riding under the protective covering of night.

“I’m here, Miss Cromwell, and I got to tell you, I don’t know that I’ve ever been this embarrassed. I was supposed to be rescuing you. Now here you are rescuing me.” Hobbs’ voice was deeply chagrined.

Carrie felt a deep sympathy for him. She remembered his devotion to Robert. She was sure he had jumped at the chance to do something for his lieutenant. Then she remembered what he had said earlier about the man who had jumped him. “You said your attacker was a slave hunter?”

“Yes, ma’am. The fool even told me his name before he attacked me. A fellow by the name of Adams.”

Carrie’s lips thinned. “I take it he didn’t want you to reach the plantation.”

“No, ma’am. He wanted me to turn back and let him go on to the plantation to warn you. When I refused, he let me have it.”

Carrie flushed with anger. Once she told her father this story he could not possibly be angry with her for throwing Adams off the plantation. A small smile replaced the anger. “I guess it’s true that God knows how to turn the bad things to good, Hobbs.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind,” Carrie said briskly. “How do the clothes fit?”

“Well, let’s just say there’s plenty of room in here.”

Carrie’s laughter rang through the woods. It was good not to be alone anymore. The woods weren’t nearly so scary with someone else there, but the need to reach Richmond was still critical.

Hobbs stepped forward. “If you’ll give me a hand up, I can swing up beside you.”

Carrie hesitated, once more aware of the pain raging in her shoulder. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Hobbs.” Now that the newest excitement was dying down, she found it harder to hide the pain in her voice.

“Are you okay, Miss Cromwell?” Hobbs asked.

“I was shot during my escape.”

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“Shot?!” Hobbs cried in a horrified voice.

Carrie tried to sound matter-of-fact. “It’s nothing that can’t be taken care of when we reach Richmond. We just have to get there.” She paused and thought for a moment.

“I guess we’ll have to backtrack to that little house again.

You can use the porch to get on behind me.”

Hobbs followed her to the house, and within minutes, they were once more on their way toward safety.

Carrie was less than a mile from Richmond when the last trail dumped her out onto the main road. She hated to ride even that far in the open, but she saw no other choice. “Where are the military blocks, Hobbs?” she asked.

He peered over her shoulder, careful to stay far enough back not to touch her. “Not too much further,” he replied.

“I’m afraid we may have a hard time getting past them.”

“We’ll get past them.” She had come too far to be stopped by a roadblock. The pain in her shoulder was becoming unbearable. The long night had taken its toll.

Speaking softly, she urged Granite into a canter. She still imagined that pursuing Union soldiers could break from the woods at any moment.

“Halt!” A harried-looking soldier stepped out in front of them, his rifle drawn.

Carrie pulled Granite to a stop.

The soldier looked at both of them curiously. “I need to see your pass, please.”

Carrie stared at him but noticed he wasn’t really looking at her. He seemed to be studying Hobbs instead.

He didn’t seem to be alarmed, however. It was more as if he were trying to keep from laughing.

“I don’t have a pass,” she said.

He frowned and was immediately all attention. “I’m afraid I can’t let you enter the city, ma’am,” he said. He

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stared at her, as if he had just been shocked into reality.

“You’re a woman?” he asked incredulously.

“I’m afraid so, soldier,” Carrie replied, “and I have just escaped from my plantation, which is even now being raided by Union soldiers. I really don’t care to continue sitting here. I would like to go to my father’s house.”

The soldier continued to stare at her. She realized how ludicrous she must look in her father’s clothes. Finally he shook his head. “I’ll have to get the lieutenant.” He turned crisply and walked away to a small building set to the side.

Carrie’s wild hope that the lieutenant might turn out to be Robert was dashed as soon as a short, portly man hurried from the building. He stared in the direction the guard was pointing and then ambled over. “May I help you?” His tone wasn’t quite as courteous as the guard’s.

“I understand from your guard that a pass is needed to get into the city. I don’t have one. How do I go about procuring one, Lieutenant?”

“Why do you want into Richmond, ma’am?”

Carrie flushed at the patronizing tone in the officer’s voice. She was tired, hurt and running very low on patience. “See here, officer. I know we look a little unusual, but our circumstances have been a little unusual. My name is Carrie Cromwell. My father, Thomas Cromwell, works with Governor Letcher. Until yesterday morning, I was running my father’s plantation.

It now happens to be in the hands of Union soldiers.” She didn’t wait to find out if he believed her or not. “The man behind me is one of your own soldiers. Lieutenant Borden sent him out to escort me back from the plantation. He was attacked on the way and barely escaped with his life.”

She paused. “Now, may I please enter the city?”

The lieutenant shook his head. “I’m not saying I don’t believe your story, ma’am, but things are pretty tense around here right now. Our jails are filling up with people not too loyal to the Confederate cause. I’m going to have to do some checking to verify your story.”

“Check all you want, Lieutenant,” Carrie said quietly.

“My father lives at 318 Twenty-Sixth Street. His office is in the Capitol Building if you don’t find him at home.”

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Hobbs spoke up then. “All you have to do is go get Lieutenant Borden. He will be able to identify us.”

The lieutenant smirked. “Lieutenant Borden is a very busy man right now. Or did you two not know there is a war going on?”

Carrie flushed with anger, but she managed to bite her tongue. It would do no good to antagonize the man any further. He had a thankless job. “We will wait while you verify our stories,” she said.

The lieutenant nodded sharply and turned away.

Carrie was overwhelmed with exhaustion. She had had very little sleep for three days and no food for the last thirty-six hours. “Let’s get off, Hobbs. We can sit over on those rocks while we wait.” She felt Hobbs slide off behind her and then followed suit, thankful for Hobbs’

supporting arms to ease the pain of her shoulder. Every muscle ached from riding so many hours bareback. When she looked at Hobbs, however, she momentarily forgot everything else.

“Hobbs!” she cried. She bent almost double from laughter, mindless of the pain.

“I realized quite a ways back that I must make a very interesting looking fellow,” Hobbs finally admitted.

Carrie nodded. Hobbs could easily pass for a clown.

The pants were purple and hopelessly huge. If he weren’t holding them, they would have slid right down. The red shirt was almost as bright as the kelly green coat that was at least four sizes too big on his lanky form.

Everything had gaping holes. There must have been a large rat population in the old house. Carrie tried to control the twitching of her lips but failed miserably.

Hobbs smiled reluctantly, then looked down and managed a chuckle. In moments, they were both laughing uproariously. Carrie grabbed her sides as the laughter released the tension and pain that had been building to a crescendo.

“What seems to be the problem here?” she heard a commanding voice ask.

Carrie gasped and spun around.

“These two people claim to know you,” the lieutenant said in an exasperated voice. “I’m sorry to bother you.”

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Robert nodded and walked over closer to where Carrie and Hobbs were waiting. Suddenly his eyes narrowed.

“Hobbs?” he asked. He took a step closer. “Carrie?”

Carrie pulled her hat off and allowed her long black waves to tumble down her back. “I reckon it is, Lieutenant,” she said with a grin. To her chagrin, she began to cry.

Robert held his arms out, and she walked into them, forgetting for a moment the bullet lodged in her shoulder.

When he grabbed her to him, she cried out in pain before fainting.

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