She fervently hoped so. Seeing Levi bloody and unconscious when they brought him in was terrifying. Banks and Harriet set to work on him as soon as the wagon stopped, although they’d sent for the Union doctor as well. Levi now lay in a bed in the bachelor’s quarters, his head and shoulder swathed in bandages. He had yet to regain consciousness. The doctor said it could be days before he was aware of his surroundings. Moses volunteered to sit with him and tend his needs so the soldiers could carry on with their duties.
Samuel yawned.
“Time for bed, my love.” She stood with him in her arms. He wrapped his spindly arms and legs around her and rested his head on her shoulder.
“I like the co’nel,” he said, sleepily.
“I do too,” she whispered into his hair.
With her son tucked in for the night, Natalie knew she should retire to her rooms, as exhausted as she felt. But she longed to see Levi. She’d only caught glimpses of him since they’d brought him in.
She exited the house by the back door. A dim light glimmered in the open windows of the one-story building. The two soldiers who’d bunked there had moved into a tent by the slave quarter— the servants’ quarter, she corrected herself—to afford Levi some privacy to recuperate.
Carolina’s high voice came from the open kitchen doorway, followed by Corporal Banks’ even tone. Harriet’s deep hum soon joined them. With the aroma of strong coffee drifting out the doorway, Natalie suspected they would all be up for many hours, awaiting word on Levi’s condition.
She tiptoed across the grass that separated the bachelor’s quarters from the house and peeked through the window. Moses sat in a chair next to Levi’s bed. Although it was improper for her to be there, she continued to the door. With a soft knock, she opened it and peeked inside.
Moses smiled. “Miz Natalie.” She noted his Bible lay in his lap, open.
“How is he?” She kept her voice low, glancing at Levi’s pale face.
“Still sleepin’, but he breathin’ easier, seems.”
That was something. She stepped inside the room, feeling awkward and out of place but needing to see him for herself.
Moses stood. “Why don’t you come sit a spell with him? I could use me a break.”
The offer was tempting. “I don’t know that I should. It isn’t proper.”
“Ain’t nothin’ wrong with sittin’ at a sick bed,” he said, a knowing look in his eyes, “’specially when it someone you care ’bout. Maybe you could read some o’ this here book to him.” He held up the Bible. “I be back in a bit after I has me some coffee and stretch a bit befo’ we all settle in for the night.”
She nodded.
Moses set the book on the chair and left, closing the door gently behind him. Natalie stood where she was, watching the covers over Levi rise and fall with his breath. After a long moment, she settled in the chair, clutching the book to her chest while she studied Levi’s still face.
How handsome he was, even in slumber. His dark beard and thick brows contrasted with his pale skin, but his lips were pink and full, and she warmed at the memory of their kisses. A bandage covered one shoulder. Oh, how she longed to feel his strong arms around her again, to hear his whispers of love.
A pang pierced her heart. She didn’t deserve his love. She’d been a fool to trust Alexander, and her foolishness had put Levi in danger. How could he ever forgive her? He’d come to warn her, and all she’d done was defend Alexander. A cattle thief. A murderer had Levi not survived. She’d been so blind.
After a few minutes of listening to his even breathing, she relaxed back in the chair. Moses had the book open to the Psalms. They’d always been her favorite. She looked at Levi’s unconscious face.
“Moses thought I should read to you,” she whispered, her voice loud in the quiet room.
Levi didn’t move. Could he hear her? The flame of the lantern on the bedside table flickered in the warm breeze wafting through the window.
She turned the pages until she came to the eighteenth Psalm. Swallowing her nerves, she took a deep breath. “‘I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.’” She paused and glanced to see if Levi would stir at the sound of her voice. When he didn’t, she continued. “‘The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.’”
Levi mumbled, and she leaned forward to listen. “‘I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised.’”
Her eyes flew to his, but they remained closed.
“‘So shall I be saved from mine enemies,’” he murmured, finishing the verse.
“Levi.” She touched his hand. She waited, but he didn’t say anything more. “Levi?” she said louder, but still there was no response.
She read the remaining words of the Psalm, but he didn’t open his eyes. He looked exactly as he had when she’d first sat.
Had she only imagined him speaking?
Moses returned a short time later. “You best get some rest, Miz Natalie. It been a long day.”
She nodded, glancing at Levi’s sleeping form one last time. When she reached her room, she stood at the window in the dark, staring out into the starlit night. The words of the Psalm echoed in her mind. God had indeed saved Levi from his enemy. And her, too. What if she had gone through with a marriage to Alexander? She would have put not only herself in danger, but her son as well.
She shuddered at the thought.
As she readied for bed, the reality of her situation weighed heavily on her. Without Alexander’s money for leasing her land, she had no way to make the mortgage and tax payments. As ill-gotten as the funds had been,
