Dark Chaos (# 4 in the Bregdan Chronicles Historical Fiction Romance Series) (46 page)

             
“Oh my goodness!”  She sat her and threw back the covers.  “No wonder the sun is so much higher than I thought it should be.”   Carrie moved to the window and was glad there was no one to hear her talking to herself.  If there had been frost the night before the sun had been up long enough to melt it all away.  Reaching over to grab a blanket off the bed, Carrie wrapped it around her closely and sank down onto her window seat.

             
The view from her room was spectacular.  Wave upon wave of gold, yellow, and red spread out as far as she could see, an undulating sea of color banked by the shimmering blue sky.  Small clumps of pine cast dark green splotches.  A few tufts of fluffy clouds floated slowly, casting an occasional shadow over the land as they tried to capture the sun. 

             
Carrie’s growling stomach finally forced her to tear herself away from the beautiful scene.  It took her just a few minutes to dress and braid her hair.  She wouldn’t put it up today.  She was home, and she wasn’t going to allow protocol to determine her actions.  Smiling into the mirror gaily, she headed for the muted sound of noise in the dining room. 

             
“Miss Carrie!”  Opal sprang up from where she was seated as soon as Carrie entered the room.  “It’s so good to see you.”

             
“It’s wonderful to see you, Opal,” Carrie said warmly, giving the older woman a big hug, then stepping back to inspect her.  “You haven’t changed a bit.” 

             
“Get on with you!”  Opal laughed.  “I know better than anyone that my dresses be tighter than they were the last time you were here.”

             
Carrie grew thoughtful.  “It’s wonderful you and the children have enough to eat.”  She thought of all the children with pinched faces and thin arms roaming the city streets.

             
“Things still bad there?”

             
“They get worse every day,” Carrie sighed.  “I don’t know what this winter will be like.”  She shook her head grimly.  “That’s one reason I’m here.  I’ve come for the herbs I have stored in the basement.”  She frowned, a sudden fear gripping her.  “They’re still here, aren’t they?  The Union soldiers didn’t take them, did they?”

             
“They still be there,” Sam reassured her.  “Them boys talk about takin’ them, but I hear them say they wouldn’t know what to do with them no way.  They be right where you left them.”

             
Carrie smiled in relief.  “Good.”  Then she looked around.  “Is Hobbs still asleep?”

             
“I ain’t heard not one sound from that room,” Sam chuckled.  “That boy sleeps like the dead.”

             
“He needed rest,” Carrie said.  “I’m glad he’s getting it.”  Then she turned to Opal.  “How are the kids?”

             
“Just fine,” Opal replied, her face lighting up with a proud smile.  “Being out here has done them a world of good.  They still miss their mama and daddy, but they’re happy.”  She glanced out the window.  “They should be here any minute.  I sent them out to finish up their chores.  Keeping them quiet has been some work,” she laughed.  “They been clamoring to see you ever since they found out you were here.”

             
“I can’t wait to see them,” Carrie said warmly.  She had been glad to provide the children a place to live after their mother, Opal’s cousin, had been killed in an explosion at the armory in Richmond.  Their daddy was in prison after being captured for spy activity.  Carrie’s attempts to find out how he was doing had been futile.  Castle Thunder, the prison where he was held, would release no information. 

             
Carrie heard the sound of a door being pushed open then suddenly three children swarmed into the room. 

             
“Miss Carrie,” Carl, the youngest at eight, cried.  “You really are here.”

             
“It’s good to see you, Carl.” Carrie laughed.  “Come here and let me see how you’ve grown.”

             
Carl raced over and stood in front of her proudly, his muscular body held erect.

             
Carrie stared at him in amazement.  “You’ve grown at least three inches since last winter.”

             
“Yessum.  Opal says my daddy won’t recognize me.”  A sudden frown puckered his face.  “You reckon that’s true?”

             
“Boy, you know your daddy will know who you are in one second flat,” Opal scoffed.  “He carries a picture of you that will never fade in his mind.”

             
Carl relaxed visibly then grinned.   Carrie reached out to give him a hug then turned to smile at the rest of the children.  Eleven-year-old Amber and fifteen-year-old Sadie smiled in return. 

             
“Hello, Miss Carrie,” they chorused together as they rushed forward to give her hugs. 

             
The next hour flew by as the three children regaled her with stories of their adventures on the plantation.   Finally Carrie pushed back from the table.  “Where is Susie?” she asked.  “I thought I would see her by now.” 

             
“I didn’t think you would ever ask,” Opal grinned.  “Susie is married.”

             
“What?”  Carrie asked in astonishment.

             
“She met a young man who came through here as a runaway.  All the way from North Carolina.  Heard we would help him here.”

             
“So she’s gone?” 

             
“Nope.  She told that boy - his name is Zeke - that if he wanted to marry her, he would have to stay right here until her daddy got out of jail.  She wouldn’t even think about leaving until she knew he was okay and that the other kids had their daddy back.”  Opal paused.  “They’re living down in Rose and Moses’ old cabin.  I hope that’s all right.”

             
“Of course, it is,” Carrie said instantly.  “I’m so glad she’s happy.”

             
“What about you?”  Opal asked suddenly.  “Whatever happened to that Robert fellow?  He ever come back?”

             
“I’m married, too,” Carrie announced happily. 

             
“Say what?”  Sam exclaimed.  “I think you better be tellin’ us the whole story.”

             
Another hour flew by while Carrie shared with them all that had happened since she last saw them.  

             
“Well, I be real happy for you, Miss Carrie,” Sam exclaimed.  “I know you be missin’ Robert somethin’ fierce though, ain’t ya?”

             
Carrie nodded wordlessly, tears springing to her eyes.  She brushed them away impatiently.  “It was my decision to stay.  You’d think I’d not be a crybaby about it.”

             
“Don’t change the missin’ none,” Sam said compassionately.  “How’s your daddy be doing?”

             
“Not good,” Carrie said sadly.  She told them of the bitterness and anger consuming him.  “He needs to come back to the plantation.  Maybe he can find some peace here.”

             
“You tell your daddy we be right here waitin’ for him,” Sam replied.  “It won’t be the same - his payin’ us a wage and all - but we’ll take the same good care of him.”

             
“I’ll tell him,” Carrie said gratefully.  Then she pushed away from the table.  “I have work to do.” 

             
“You want me to help you box them herbs up, Miss Carrie?”  Opal asked.

             
“No, thank you.  I think I’m just going down and sort through them.  I’ve lost track of what is actually down there.  You can have Hobbs come down to help me after he’s up and has eaten his breakfast.  Or lunch…,” she said with a grin.

             
Carrie eased down the stairway into the basement.  Cobwebs brushed her face and the air was musty.  Sam and Opal must never come down there.   She had wanted to come down on her own for a reason.   She was glad Opal hadn’t pushed to help her. 

             
Setting her lantern down on the table, she ignored the rows of bottles gleaming at her temptingly.  She wanted to do some exploring before Hobbs joined her.  Carefully she walked around the shelves lining the wall of the basement room.  They stretched from floor to ceiling in what looked like an unbroken line.  Close examination revealed nothing that would indicate a hidden opening to the maze of tunnels running underneath the plantation.  Carrie frowned, then reached for the lantern, and held it high to illuminate the shelves more. 

             
Her great-great-grandfather had been a crafty man.  He had concealed the door in her room so well no one would have ever guessed it was there.  It was all that had saved her when the Union soldiers had tried to capture her.  Her ancestor would have hidden this opening just as well.  The trick was to figure out what he had been thinking. 

             
Carrie walked back and forth slowly, staring at the walls of shelving carefully.  Maybe she had been wrong about her location when she had been down in the tunnels before.  She had been so sure that the crack of a door she had seen down there had led into this part of the basement.  Maybe she had been turned around.  She was about to give up when she suddenly noticed something.   One brick along the outside of the shelves seemed to stick out a fraction more than the ones surrounding it.

             
Carrie set the lantern down and stepped closer.  Putting her hand on it, she pushed it slightly.  Nothing.  It seemed to be solidly in place.  She sighed in frustration.  It was just her imagination.  She turned to move away but then stopped.  Time could have made the brick stick in place.  Once again she reached for the brick and began to try to shake it back and forth. 

             
Several minutes passed.  The brick remained in place.  Carrie was just about to give up when she felt the mortar move under her hand.  Her heart began to pound with excitement as the brick gradually became looser and looser.  There was just enough of it sticking out to enable her to grasp it with her fingers.  She smiled triumphantly when she pulled the brick out; then she raised the lantern to peer inside.  Her grin widened as she saw the rope handle hidden cleverly in the recess. 

             
“You were really something,” she murmured quietly to her long gone ancestor.  As Carrie reached for the rope, she prayed it wouldn’t disintegrate in her hands.  She needn’t have worried. The rope was still strong and supple.  The brick had protected it all these years.  She grasped it and tugged firmly.  Slowly, but with great ease, a portion of the long wall of shelves swung toward her smoothly.  

             
Suddenly she heard footsteps overhead.  A quick glance, with the aid of the lantern, confirmed the existence of the tunnel sloping away gently toward the river.  Carrie nodded her satisfaction, then stepped back, and swung the door shut again.  She had just replaced the brick, shoving it firmly in place, when she heard Hobbs’ voice overhead. 

             
“You down there, Carrie?”

             
“Come on down, Hobbs,” Carrie called cheerfully.  “I’m just starting to work on the herbs.”

             
Moments later he was standing next to her and gazing in awe at the rows of bottles that stretched from floor to ceiling, on every wall of the big room.  “You sure did a lot of work,” he whistled. 

             
“I thought it might come in handy some day,” Carrie said.  “I’m glad I was right.”