Blood Moon (26 page)

Chapter Forty-Seven

Mercy read the newspaper with her mouth open in shock and horror. She gulped down her tea, scarcely believing the words that met her eyes; she felt a rare moment of pessimism enfold her. On the morning of 10 May, thousands of Union soldiers had landed on Willoughby Spit and within hours had arrived in Norfolk. Mayor William Lamb was named in the article. She remembered him well – he was Jacob’s friend. She continued reading and sighed with relief. Mayor Lamb had apparently surrendered the city to the Yankees without firing a shot. Mercy was grateful for that at least.

Portsmouth had also been handed over to the Federals. Confederate forces had run, burning the Gosport Navy Yard before they left and taking all the weapons and arms they could get their hands on. Mercy closed her eyes. She could just imagine the retreating army in and around Portsmouth, with wagons filled with weapons, running to God only knew where. At least the poor men would have something to fight with, she thought.

Private and public houses had been confiscated, Plantations were being seized, and slaves were already running into the city asking for refuge.              “Dear God,” Mercy said to Anna, “my friends live there – poor Belle and Dolly. What if they have lost their homes? And what about Stone Plantation and all its slaves? I can’t believe what I’m reading – Norfolk and Portsmouth gone?” Mercy read on. The Confederate ships based in Gosport Navy Yard had also lost their home base. How would Hendry get back? she wondered. If he had made it into the Atlantic and was crossing it with cargo, he wouldn’t know anything about this.

              She dressed quickly. She had purchased new breeches, boots, and a shirt only days ago, in anticipation of a day like today. They had been made especially for her. She had even managed to find leather braces to fit her small figure. She gazed at herself in the long mirror. Every time she wore breeches, memories of past triumphs and failures flooded back, but with them also came thoughts of adventure. She could already feel her energy and passion for life returning to her. She was thrilled to be on the move again, she admitted, for she had sat around for far too long wishing for change.

Mrs Bartlett was her greatest obstacle, she thought, lacing up her boots. Over a week ago, she had spoken with her hostess at length about her desire to leave the city, and she had faced a barrage of reasons that she shouldn’t. Mrs Bartlett was against the idea of Mercy going anywhere, and she had made her feelings known. But Mercy’s mind had been set on it then, and she was even more determined now.

              Her heart was racing. She needed a gun – a good one. She should also get a few supplies together. She had to find a decent horse too, and there were not that many of those lying around for the taking. The army was snapping up all the horses it could get its hands on.

She combed her hair and then grabbed her satchel. She put a comb, some soap, and her bone-handled toothbrush inside it. She didn’t have room to pack clothes; a few undergarments would suffice. She looked in the wardrobe at all the fine gowns she had accumulated and shrugged. They would be here waiting for her when and if she returned. Her finery was the last thing she was worried about, or even cared about, for that matter.

Mercy found Mrs Bartlett in the drawing room. She was reading a newspaper with her small spectacles sitting on the bridge of her nose. She looked unusually pale, Mercy observed, as though she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Mercy stood in the centre of the room and coughed nervously. She was going to appear very ungrateful and selfish in Mrs Bartlett’s eyes, but this was her life, no one else’s, and her mind was truly set on its course. “Good morning, Mrs Bartlett. Did you sleep well?” she asked.

              Mrs Bartlett’s eyes left the newspaper, and her face froze in shock. “Lord have mercy. Whatever are you wearing? Why in heaven’s name are you in those ridiculous garments? I declare, at first glance I almost mistook you for a boy! You cannot possibly go out looking like that. Why, my dear, what will folks think? I forbid it.”

Mercy swallowed hard. She shifted her feet nervously, slowly feeling the power she had felt earlier ebb away. “Mrs Bartlett, I am wearing these garments today because I am going on a journey.”

“I don’t understand – what kind of journey?” Mrs Bartlett asked her.

Mercy shuffled her feet again and said, “I’ve come to love you very much. You know that, don’t you?”

“Why, thank you. What a lovely thing to say. But what journey?”

“I’m leaving Richmond today. Please believe me: I’ve tried not to disappoint you, I really have, but my heart is not in this city. It’s with Belle and Dolly. I have to go to them.”

“My dear Mercy, we’ve talked about this. You cannot leave the safety of Richmond. Why, its madness. There are marauding Yankees roaming all over South Virginia. Look, Norfolk and Portsmouth have fallen!”

“I know. I read about that. I still can’t believe it. I’m so desperately sad, but this is why you have to understand my need to leave. I have had a wonderful time with you and your family, but I can’t sit here doing nothing when Belle and Dolly might be in danger. I know you’re set against my leaving but please give me your consent. ” Mercy watched Mrs Bartlett fold the newspaper. Her face was filled with unhappiness. “Please, Mrs Bartlett. Give me your blessing.”

“The day I met you, I knew you were far too spirited for your own good. Captain Stone will find no pleasure in this. He begged me to keep you safe, and I have fulfilled my promise to him. What is he going to make of your leaving? You do know he thinks you highly irresponsible at times?”

“I know he does. Jacob knows me better than anyone, but it’s not as if I’ll be in danger.”

“Of course you will! Do you think these blue coats will bid you a good morning like fine upstanding gentlemen? No, there are stories about their cruelty and rough behaviour. They’re taking or destroying everything in their path. They’re like a bunch of bloodthirsty heathens, and they won’t think twice about taking a woman’s innocence!”

“Well, we both know I’m not innocent, and anyway, I don’t believe half the stories I’ve read. There are good and bad men on both sides. I don’t think war changes the measure of a man’s character … or kindness of heart … or cruelty of soul.”

“Have you thought about what this will do to Captain Stone’s mood? Doesn’t he have enough to think about? You are being very selfish.”

“You might be right, but I will truly be selfish if I remain here whilst the people I love are being occupied by the enemy, and possibly living on the street,” Mercy said stubbornly.

“My dear, I can see your youthful passion for life and adventure. It shines through you. It’s part of who you are. I declare, there are times when I’m of a mind for setting off on an adventure of my own, but this really is very foolish of you.”

“I promise I’ll be very careful,” Mercy said.

Mrs Bartlett nodded absently, as though her mind had already moved on to an entirely different matter. “I suppose I could direct my talents towards medical issues. There are bound to be casualties among our gallant soldiers – what a dreadful thought. Whatever am I going to do without you? You make my life less tedious.”

“Does this mean I have your permission?” Mercy asked.

“You are not my prisoner. You do not need my permission. Have you thought about how you are going to arrive in Norfolk?”

“Yes,” Mercy told her. “I would like to buy a horse.”

“No, no, you will go by train.”

“No, Mrs Bartlett, I want to ride. I know how to get to Norfolk from here. I won’t be in any danger. I don’t like trains.”

“Are you going to be obstinate?”

“Yes, I am afraid I am.” Mercy smiled.

Later that day in the stable, Mercy mounted the horse she had just purchased and stroked its mane. “Well now, what am I going to call you?” she said. “You’re as black as coal. How about that? Do you like the name Coal? Yes, that’ll do nicely.”

She smiled at Anna, saddened to leave her and still perplexed with the young slave, who had earlier refused her freedom papers. Anna had stood before Mercy in the bedroom and had frowned at Mercy’s declaration that she, Anna, was a free woman. Mercy had hidden the freedom papers for weeks and had looked forward to giving Anna a gift that most slaves could only dream about. “Anna, I don’t understand,” she had said. “Are you telling me that you don’t want to have the choices that free people have? Is there nothing you want to do with your life apart from looking after white women and being told what to do?”

Anna had been unable to read a single word written on the piece of paper that Mercy had handed her, but she’d understood its meaning, and it had made her miserable. “Oh, Miss Mercy, I ain’t got no use being a free woman,” she’d sobbed. “I’s doing just fine with my life right here. I’s real happy in this house, and I’s scared to be free.”

Mercy tightened the leather belted gun holster and made sure that her new Colt was sitting firmly in place. Her satchel and a rolled-up blanket were attached to her stiff newly bought saddle with rope straps. She also had a map, a canteen, and some dried bacon. She was ready. She looked again at Anna, who was staring up at her. The girl looked terrified.  The sight of the Colt had scared the life out of her. “Are you sure you don’t want to be free, Anna?”

Anna nodded vigorously. “I’s sure, Miss Mercy – I’s real sure. I don’ like no streets an’ no guns, an’ white folks scare me.”

Mercy shook her head. “All right, then, but when I come back, you might change your mind, and that’s all right too.” She would be mystified about Anna’s choice until the day she died. She had seen Seth lose his life, trying to grasp the freedom that Anna was refusing. She would never understand anyone not wanting to strive towards one’s God-given right to choose and aspire to be something bigger and better.

She rode out of the stable and sighed with happiness. She
was
free to do what she wanted – and what she wanted was for Norfolk to wait awhile longer. She had an important stop to make before her journey southwards.   

Chapter Forty-Eight

The Union had taken over the hospital in Norfolk almost as soon as its army descended on the city. Isaac had not received a warm welcome on his arrival there and was disappointed that staff he already knew, from his years with Jacob and Hendry, had greeted him with silence or a begrudging nod of recognition, at best. The remaining hospital staff, refusing to work with the Union, had been thrown out of their jobs. Isaac had wasted no time in telling those that had remained that they would be wise to keep their rebel hatred to themselves. It was bad enough that he’d been posted here, never mind having to keep the locals in line.

In a somewhat pensive mood, he unpacked his medical instruments and medicines. He couldn’t rightly say if was happy or not about being back in Norfolk. His feelings were conflicted. He was exhausted and still reeling from the gruesome Williamsburg battle that he had just lived though. Being back here with old neighbours and friends who were now the enemy was not a comforting thought; it was a daunting one. He would not be received in homes once frequented, and his days of poker and drinking in Norfolk’s lively centre would remain a memory. The only good that might come from this posting would be the sight of Mercy, but even if she was in the city, he wasn’t sure if his heart could take another beating from her.

He hadn’t much cared for soldiering, that he did know. He had witnessed too much death at Williamsburg and had not slept easy since. He’d seen enough blood to last a lifetime. He’d amputated legs and arms under the most unsterile of situations. There had been no time to think, let alone prepare instruments, not when a man’s life was at stake.

He’d been as surprised as the next man when he’d heard about General McClellan’s decision not to follow the retreating rebels. At the time, he’d not been aware of the actual details of the battle raging, but he sure as hell heard it rumbling outside his tent when he was operating on injured men. He’d grasped a few bits and pieces of information from soldiers, and as far as they had known, the Union was winning. Isaac had been convinced that he would be heading towards Richmond, chasing rebels the entire way. It made sense to destroy the rebel army before it had time to regroup, he’d thought at the time. The general, however, had not seen it that way.

Isaac found Nelson sitting on a low wall just outside the hospital entrance and couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. He sat down, put his hand on Nelson’s shoulder, and said, “You know you can’t sit here worrying all day. You need to be working, not filling your head with troubling thoughts. You got a job to do, and there’s no use in you tormenting yourself about things that ain’t goin’ to happen.”

“It might happen, Mr Isaac,” Nelson said moodily.

“Nelson, it won’t. You’re under the protection of the army you serve in. No sheriff or marshal is going to come looking for you for murders committed over a year ago. No one knows what you look like. I recall seeing the wanted poster of you back when we were looking for Miss Mercy, and it looked nothing like your handsome facial features. C’mon now, I reckon lawmen have better things to turn their minds to – and you have too.” Isaac sighed with growing impatience. His words were not appeasing Nelson.

“Look, I don’t reckon we’ll be here for long. We’re too valuable to the army, and I know for a fact that they ain’t done with us on the peninsula.”

“I hears you, Mr Isaac,” Nelson said. “How long we got to stay here?” I’s real scared of gittin’ hung. I don’t want to be back here, south of that James River. There ain’t nothing in this world gives me more concern than coming to the place where white men are just itchin’ to hang me. The white people here still want to kill me. I knows it. I’s bettin’ they ain’t forgotten ole Nelson. Nope, Mr Isaac, I reckon even seeing Miss Mercy again ain’t gonna  stop me hankerin’ for the fort. How long?” he asked again.

“Not long, my friend, but until we get our marching orders, I expect you to do your job. We’ll know soon enough.”

“I ain’t leaving this hospital. No, sir, I ain’t setting one foot outside them gates there.”

Isaac shook his head. Nelson was as stubborn as a mule. Mercy had more patience with the fellow than he ever would. “Get my horse, Nelson. I have a lady to call on.”

“You goin’ to see, Miss Mercy?  You see her, you tell her from ole Nelson that she did wrong by you.”

“I’ll tell her if I see her. Now go on and get my horse; then get back to work. Patients need tending, and they sure as hell don’t want to see your cheerless face.”

As Isaac waited for Nelson to come back with the horse, he thought again about his decision to call on Dolly. He wanted to pay his respects to her. She was a fine woman. He also wanted to put his mind at ease regarding Mercy. Six months and not a word or explanation for disappearing led him to think she was in even more trouble now than when he last found her. She had cursed him. She’d put a damn spell on him, for he wanted no other woman but her.

The Norfolk mansions belonging to ships’ captains looked the same as they had on the day Isaac left for Boston. However, as he rode towards Jack’s sprawling house, he noticed a few grand houses with poles flying the Union flag. It hadn’t taken his army long to make itself at home, he thought. A thought struck him. What if Jack’s house had been confiscated? If that was the case, he’d have a devil of a time tracking Dolly down.

              He walked through the carriage arch connected to Jack and Dolly’s house and found a Negro slave tending to a carriage. He recognised the boy and gave him the horse to look after. He smiled. Dolly was still here, thank God.

Dolly stared at the Union officer for a second or two with suspicion and fear etched clearly on her face. She took a closer look at Isaac and then gasped with surprise. She stared again at his uniform, this time with condemnation, and said brusquely, “Isaac, so you’re a Yankee soldier. I might have known you’d join with your Northern folks. Have you come to steal the house that used to welcome you? It wouldn’t surprise me. Why, you Yankees have been going door to door these past days, throwing poor Norfolk folks out onto the street.”

“Ma’am,” Isaac said. He tipped his hat and stood with an awkward smile. “I have no such thing in mind. I figured I would call on you to ask if you need any assistance. Is this an inconvenience?”

“Your entire army is an inconvenience. Why, I don’t know how you can show your face here after what those nasty blue coat war mongrels have done to our glorious city.”

              “This war ain’t of the Union’s choosing, Miss Dolly,” Isaac said lamely. “Folks here in Virginia and all across the South asked for it. I reckon they just didn’t believe we’d fight them inch for inch, mile for mile with wholeheartedness.” He was not going to be invited in, he thought. “I have come to ask after your situation. Do you need anything? Anything at all?”

“From a damn Yankee – never!”

“What about Jack and Mercy? Do you have news of them? It would ease my mind to know they’re safe.”

              “I ain’t telling you nothing about my poor husband’s situation – or Mercy’s – and I won’t have you in my house, Isaac,” she stated. “I’m not your friend. No decent Confederate wants a friendship with you occupiers so you best be running along.”

Isaac had endured the terrible strain of battle, but this here, he thought, was cutting his nerves to pieces. She hadn’t answered the question about Mercy and Jack. He tried again. “It saddens me to hear you say these harsh words, Miss Dolly. Now, I understand why you think it best to send me away, but, ma’am, for the sake of past friendship, will you not grant me a measure of peace before I take my leave? I just need a word about Jack and Mercy – that’s all.”

Dolly’s expression softened. Tears settled on her lashes. She pulled out a handkerchief from her skirt pocket and sniffed loudly. “Isaac, you know I love you like a son, but I cannot invite you in. What would my neighbours think? How will our poor Confederate soldiers feel when they come back and find I had cavorted with a Yankee in my livin’ room without being forced into it? ,

“I’ll tell you what you need to know, but only ’cause you look like a lovesick puppy dog. Mercy has not been here for some time, but I do believe she may be in Richmond with Jacob Stone. She loves Jacob, Isaac, so you take the last piece of advice you’ll ever get from me. You best be forgetting her. She wants Jacob, that’s a fact, and there’s no use in you wasting your time thinking she’ll ever have affections for you.”

“I see,” Isaac said. He felt as though he’d just been punched in the gut.

“My husband is with Hendry. That’s all you need to know about him. Why, I don’t even know how they’ll find their way home now that your army has gone and taken every inch of the navy yard. May the good Lord forgive you, Isaac Bernstein, because I will not!”

“Please don’t upset yourself,” Isaac said. Damn it, he had made her cry. He should not have come here. He’d been a goddamn fool to look for Mercy. She had hoodwinked him, and like a damn blind man, he’d believed her. 

“Take your Yankee blue coat off my porch and don’t you dare come back here,” Dolly said, shocking him out of his thoughts.

              Isaac nodded. Dolly’s words hurt him, but she was hurting just as much as he was. He could see regret in her eyes, not to mention her anxiousness about Jack and Hendry. He was deeply saddened beyond words to have such a fine woman like Dolly turn him away.

He couldn’t get the news of Mercy being with Jacob out of his head. He was angry and sickened by Mercy’s subterfuge. “I am at the hospital, ma’am. If you ever need anything, you just come see me,” he said.

“I would rather die of yellow fever than have a damn Yankee doctor minister to me,” she told him.

“My apologies for the intrusion. I will sorely miss our friendship …”

The door was slammed in his face before he had finished the sentence. He stumbled towards the stable and felt the empty space in his heart grow bigger with every step. “You’re a dull-witted ass, Isaac,” he mumbled. “There is no more Mercy Carver – enough!”