“We shore is gettin’ our fill o’ strangers lately,” Carolina said when Natalie joined them.
They moved to the porch to await the vehicle.
“That look like women drivin’ that rig,” Carolina said, moving her head from side to side as though she could get a better view.
“I believe you’s right,” Moses said. He turned and leaned the gun against the wall inside the open door.
As the wagon stopped in front of the porch amid a cloud of dust, Natalie saw that two women, one black and one white, sat on the high driver’s seat, with the black woman holding the reins. The wide brim of their bonnets hid their faces, and Natalie couldn’t begin to guess who the company might be.
The white woman stood after the brake was set, revealing a rather rotund figure. She removed her bonnet, her graying hair plastered to her head, and met Natalie’s gaze with a glare. “Natalie Langford Ellis, I have a bone to pick with you.”
Although her aging face seemed vaguely familiar, Natalie could not place the woman. “I beg your pardon? And who might you be?”
Annoyance mottled the woman’s plump cheeks. “Well, that’s a fine way to greet your cousin.”
Cousin?
“Mrs. Eunice Porter, wife of the late Judge Porter from Shelby County. For pity’s sake, you stayed in my guest room on your honeymoon trip. And this is the thanks I get? Forgotten, in my greatest time of need.”
Cousin Eunice, her mother’s cousin.
“Forgive me, Cousin Eunice.” Natalie descended the steps while Eunice none too gracefully climbed down the wagon wheel. “I fear my memory isn’t as good as it should be. You’ve caught me quite by surprise.” She embraced the large woman, assaulted by the odor of sweat and dust clinging to Eunice’s clothes.
When they parted, Eunice glanced up at the manor. “So, this is Rose Hill. I’ve certainly heard many tales about it. That husband of yours was mighty proud of it. I heard he was killed early on in the war.” She sent Natalie a sour look. “’Course I had to learn that information from Sally Porter since you didn’t have the decency to write to us and let us know. That woman loves to lord it over me that she knows more about my own family than I do, what with her daughter living right here in Williamson County.”
Her loud voice and scolding words transported Natalie back to the night she and George had stayed with the Porters. Mama had insisted the newlyweds stop in Shelby County and stay with her favorite cousin on their way to New Orleans. The farmhouse was modest, as was the guest room, but it would have been a perfectly pleasant stay if not for Eunice’s nonstop gossip and the judge’s overindulgence from the liquor decanter. When they retired to their room, George had nothing good to say about the entire visit. They’d avoided Shelby County on their return trip.
“What brings you to Rose Hill?” She glanced up to the young Negro woman who remained seated on the driver’s bench. The poor thing looked exhausted with droopy eyes and slouched shoulders. Upon closer examination, Natalie realized she was heavy with child.
“The Yankees,” Eunice spat, her upper lip curled in a snarl. “Those no-account devils burned us out.”
Natalie gasped. “They burned your home?” She could hardly believe such news.
“It’s all them Negroes’ fault.” Eunice looked up at the servant, who stared straight ahead as though she hadn’t heard the accusation. “Ever since Judge Porter passed on two years ago, I’ve barely managed to keep food on the table. Then those Yankees showed up on my doorstep, demanding I set my slaves free. Well, you can be certain I refused. How was I to get along without my slaves?”
Natalie had asked the same question when Colonel Maish and his men arrived at Rose Hill. She couldn’t imagine where she’d be now if the Army hadn’t supplied her with workers.
“They threatened to burn the house if I didn’t comply. I told the lot of ’em to get off my property. ‘Them Negroes are mine,’ I said, ‘bought and paid for. If you want ’em, you can pay me for ’em.’” Her eyes filled with moisture. “That hateful captain said I had ten minutes to get what I wanted out of the house before they torched it. And that’s just what those devils did.” She sniffled loudly.
Natalie didn’t know what to say. She’d heard of homes burned to the ground across the South over the last few years of the war, but the war was over now. It seemed beyond heartless to burn out a widow because she wasn’t immediately in compliance with the proclamation. Surely the soldiers could have set the slaves free and left Eunice’s home standing. What difference did it make who delivered the proclamation Natalie herself had read to her people?
“I’m so sorry.” She wondered what the woman planned to do now.
“And that’s why I could not believe my eyes when we arrived at Langford Manor and saw a sea of Yankees on your land!”
“I had no choice.” Natalie felt like an errant child. “They declared the plantation abandoned. Nothing I said made any difference.”
“Your mama would be sick at heart to see those Bluecoats making themselves at home in the very house where you were born.” Perspiration dotted her upper lip, and she used her stiff bonnet as a fan. “A terribly arrogant colonel directed us to Rose Hill when I demanded to know what he’d done with you.”
Colonel Maish, no doubt.
“Please, come sit on the porch and have some refreshments. It’s much too warm to stand here in the sun. Your servant may join us as well.”
Eunice harrumphed. “Lottie there can take that wagon to the barn and tend the animals, is what she can do.”
The young woman’s tired eyes met Natalie’s. Far be it from Natalie
