Sarah’s first week was a slow, but steady recovery. By the beginning of the second week, I could see the rest she’d taken was paying off. Her strength was returning. She had worked her way through Thoreau’s work and chose to draw out in the garden. Sometimes, we’d sneak out the Whittier poetry or remember part of a speech of William Lloyd Garrison’s and read to one another at night in sounds just above a whisper. Every morning, I lit the fire in my summer kitchen and made her hearty broths with fresh vegetables and herbs. As she grew stronger Sarah enjoyed working a few hours each day weeding the garden and harvesting vegetables and herbs while I was away spending long days at the hospital.
I had no idea when Warren would return to the area. I knew that he’d stop by the house when he did return, and I considered what to say to Sarah by way of explanation. We had no secrets between us. It was time for me to tell her our story since she had the strength to hear it. I wasn’t sure how she’d react but I’d tell her in my usual straightforward manner and see how it landed. It was more than I had the courage to do with Warren.
I hadn’t received any messages from Warren for quite a while but I suspected that activities were picking up with General Lee and I’d better go over the routine of passwords should Sarah be caught at home by herself and have to make any quick decisions.
That night after a big salad and cooled tea I told Sarah it was time to fill her in on all my activities.
“Funny, I was going to ask you to explain what you’ve been up to,” she said.
It was twilight and the bugs were coming out so we moved into the kitchen. With a lamp lit and the windows open, it was a pleasant spot on a summer night.
“It’s about time that you met Katherine,” I told Sarah. “Frankly, I’ve been keeping you away from her place because she is a very strong-willed woman who would try to snap you up for her employ. It’s called the Three Lanterns, a tavern in town where a lot of the soldiers go for entertainment. ”
“You’re starting to sound like an older sister, Annie. I’d like to meet her and get a feel for this little town – maybe even have some fun,” she said.
“This is what you need to know, Sarah. Katherine is one of us. She found me this place, and her personal style is her strongest trait. She’s a business woman first and as a Madam she’s thrilled with all the troops and trains arriving almost daily.”
“Annie, a Madam?” Sarah said.
“No, we don’t have to have anything at all to do with that. It’s her business. Think of it as her livelihood. Still and all, she’s working for the Union and her livelihood has created some powerful connections, both North and South.”
“As for Mr. Beard; he’s the grocer. Messages going north go to him. I think he’s in with the telegraph man, K.O. Quimby. I usually hide my messages at the bottom of a basket of vegetables and Beard takes it from there.
Also, I have a friend, Lucy, and she’s apt to stop by here. This is something you must know. She is all southern belle and lives on a plantation. Of course, she knows nothing about our work. However, she’s become a good friend and we’ve had a few good laughs together. You see, she helps a great deal in getting help making tinctures and syrups, rubs and ointments for the hospital and, I think soon, I’ll be smuggling them into the prison as well. You’ll know Lucy when you see her. She’s blond, beautiful and has a dramatic mole below her eye. Lucy and anyone having to do with Lucy thinks I’m from the Washington area and that I support the Confederate cause all the way. So, as my sister, they’ll assume the same of you. One of the reasons that they think the way they do is the company I keep.”
“What do you mean? Oh…,” she paused. “Does this have to do with your trip a few weeks ago?” asked Sarah.
“Yes, Lucy and others have seen me with a Confederate Captain, Captain Warren Dodd.”
“Oh, Annie, really you didn’t.”
“No, listen Sarah, it’s not as bad as you think.”
“At first, I was only slightly attracted to him. I tried to talk myself out of it, but after Lucy’s dinner party, we walked home, we talked, I just…”
“Annie, I can’t believe you. You actually sound vulnerable.”
“Okay, let me tell you. Yes, I started to fall for him. I mean it’s difficult not to. He’s incredibly handsome, six feet tall, a little full of himself, but I could handle that. But it’s his eyes and the way he carries himself, sure and not too cocky. Even when he’s sitting down, cross-legged, he’s…” I paused, thinking. “He’s captivating. Really.” I hadn’t described Warren to anyone before, much less my impressions of him.
I continued. “Anyway, one rainy night a tramp followed me home, and he attacked me here, right here in this kitchen. I hit him over the head with my iron skillet and when Warren arrived shortly after that, he took care of me: he made up a bath for me and went to find fresh clothes for me to put on. I was scared and upset and he took care of me with incredible compassion. I’ve never met a man quite like him.”
Sarah poured more cooled tea for the two of us. We sat for a moment and sipped it. “Sounds a bit risky, Annie. Maybe you should break it off with him?”
“No, I’m not ready to do that and I’ll tell you why. Of course, he’s the gentleman I told you about when you arrived, the one who sent for me. While we were in Ashburg, just the two of us, I found out some of his history. It turns out he joined the war to get away from home, not to fight slavery. He wanted to get away and be with some of his old West Point buddies. You see, he’s not committed to this war, but I’m not sure what he really knows about me. I think he might have seen a uniform at the bottom of my trunk the night I was attacked. He went to find me something to put on while I was in the bath and when I think back, he returned to the kitchen with the quilt and an odd look on his face that I dismissed at the time. If that’s true and he did find a uniform in my trunk then he must think, or want to think, that I am working for the Confederacy. He’d get suspicious if I broke off with him for no apparent reason. And, I do love him, Sarah. That’s the thing. I’ve fallen in love with the man, though I tried not to. I did.”
Anyway, if he comes by, he won’t expect you to be here so just introduce yourself, but be sure it’s him. I have quite a few unexpected visitors. You never know who will come knockin’ at my door. If it is him, remember, introduce yourself but you came from Arlington. He knows I have a sister but everyone including Warren, thinks we’re from Arlington. Mind your accent. You’ve worked on it haven’t you?”
“A bit. At least the strong New England accent has faded. If I keep my head about me,” said Sarah.
I wanted to tell Sarah everything that I was working on. “I’ll probably be out at the hospital every day as I’ve been doing but soon, I hope, I’ll be able to make headway in the prison. I’ve been trying to move slowly so that we can exchange information. I worked my way down each corridor to where the Union men are being held. I’ve had to move very slowly, a little more each day, so they won’t suspect a thing. I’ll insist on clean hay for the men, regular waste bucket removal and clean water. If I can treat their illnesses, it will provide a grand cover for planning an escape —one by one —or maybe, in pairs. But it’ll take some time, two to three months the way I figure it, before anything can happen. I must get to know the prison leaders and gain their trust. I must also get to know their personalities to see if they can play along with me. I’ve been studying the maps and making a few of my own, showing where the safe houses are to the north, based on what the others have told me coming through. I mark the rivers and towns. I want to find those who can escape successfully, without giving away any hint to my identity.”
“I can help with the maps but back to Warren, do you think you can really love a Confederate, an officer of the Confederacy at that?”
“Sarah, I can see beyond his politics, he’s not an Abolitionist, I admit, but I do think he hates slavery. There will come a time beyond all this, after the war when we can have a life together, you know. Don’t worry. And please don’t be ups
et about me and Warren. You and I both know what’s important to us. I haven’t lost sight that we must succeed in this war, and in this effort, whether it is you or me or in a very different way, Warren and me, we need each other. He is helping me through this god forsaken war and I know that we can have a life together in the future. We must believe it, Sarah. We must believe in new times ahead otherwise, nothing will ever change and slavery will be with us forever.
“You’re right on that, m’dear,” she responded.
CHAPTER NINETEEN