Spring Will Come (12 page)

             
Suddenly he frowned.  He realized there were still many obstacles confronting them.   If there was anything left of his plantation after the war, all he wanted to do was go back and rebuild.  Carrie was determined to be a doctor.  How would they achieve both those things?  His plantation was in the South.  The only place Carrie could find a medical school that would accept women was in the North.  Questions rose up to taunt him as fatigue blurred his eyes and mind. 

             
How would they resolve their differences about slavery?  He had learned to respect what Carrie believed even if he could not believe it himself.  He knew there was no way he could run the plantation without a large number of slaves.  How could he give up all he had ever wanted and dreamed of because Carrie believed slavery was wrong?  She had made it clear she would never own a slave.   Robert ground his teeth in frustration.  He could see no way to solve the dilemmas facing them.   Yet there was no other choice.  He loved her completely and could not imagine living his life without her permanently.  Somehow they would have to find a way. 

             
The bright moonlight created a milky corridor as the horses wound their way through thick woods and across open fields.  Moonlight caught on leaves tossing gently in the breeze, casting off creamy sparkles.  A sea of stars twinkled their defiance at the world below.  Robert gazed around, astounded there could yet be this much beauty in a world so crazy and hate-filled.  The beauty seemed to call to him, seemed to pull him in as he crept along.   Slowly the confusion of his questions melted away to be replaced by confidence.  He was too tired to question it.  Gratefully he let the confidence seep in and fill him with a new strength he could not identify. 

             
Suddenly Robert recognized the strength.  It was the same strength he had experienced when he had somehow managed to pull himself from a ditch just before a wagon crashed down on top of him.  It was the same strength he had felt on the bitterly cold battlefield when he had been full of despair and hopelessness.  Somehow he knew the strength he was feeling was the presence of God.  Somewhere in the last year of war, he had stopped denying the presence of God, but he was still incapable of understanding it.  His heart told him God loved him, but Robert couldn’t fathom why.  Silently he stared up into the heavens.  He had no idea how to put his feelings into words. 

             
The clatter of rapid hoof beats roused Robert from his thoughts.  Startled, he straightened and automatically reached for his saber.  Had the pursuing Union troops caught up with them?  Gradually he realized the hoof beats he was hearing belonged to just one horse.  Relaxing a little, he watched as a lone horseman dashed toward them from the direction they were headed.  It could only be a scout sent ahead to report back to Stuart. 

             
It was not long before Stuart called his group of leaders together for a conference.  “One of my scouts lives nearby.   Forge Bridge has been burned out.”

             
Robert’s heart sank.  Crossing the Chickahominy was their chance to get away from whatever might be pursuing them.  Had they come this far only to be trapped?

             
Stuart smiled, but exhaustion lined his face.  “He knows of a shallow place where we can ford the river.  It will save us many hours of work if we don’t have to rebuild the bridge.  Once we reach the river, we can all gain a little rest.”

             
The sun was just dimming the glow of the moon when the front guard of the cavalry reached the place where they were to cross the river.  The men stopped and stared at the raging water wordlessly.  Was this the easy crossing that had been described to them? 

Robert frowned as he looked at the wide, swift, evil
-looking water that had exploded far from its banks.  He knew what had happened.  Spring rains in the mountains had turned the normally placid Chickahominy into a raging torrent.  There was only one way to find out if the ford was nothing more than a death trap. 

             
Robert vaulted from Granite’s back and stripped his uniform.  He handed Granite’s reins to a nearby trooper and walked resolutely toward the water.  No one tried to stop him.  Someone would have to determine if the ford was crossable.  The lives of twelve hundred men depended on it.   Stopping just long enough to take several deep breaths and stretch his cramped muscles, Robert forged into the water.   He was prepared for a battle, but the actual force of the river shocked him.  He was a powerful swimmer, but the river seemed determined to conquer him. 

             
He pushed forward with powerful strokes and swam slightly upstream as he made for the other side.  Still the river pulled him along.  His muscles ached and screamed their protest as he threw all of his strength into the effort.   He fought fear as the river tugged at him, pulled him under, and then thrust him back to the surface.  Finally, hating his weakness, he turned back.  It would do him no good to reach the other side.  All he would do was sit on the other side, separated from the cavalry until Stuart figured something out.  There was no way they could cross the river here.

             
Stuart was waiting for him when he pulled himself out of the water.  Robert managed a weary smile.  “I think we’re caught, sir.”

             
Stuart frowned but didn’t say anything.  Robert knew he was in deep thought.  Silence fell on the column as other men tried to disprove what Robert already knew.  A few men who were excellent swimmers were able to make it to the other side, but their efforts made it obvious another way would have to be found. 

             
As the morning wore on, the sun rose high in the sky, bringing with it fresh fears of a Federal attack.  Several plans were conceived but quickly aborted.  Finally Stuart gave the order.  “We will rebuild Forge Bridge.”

             
Robert pushed aside his fatigue and threw his energy into the job.  A large, abandoned warehouse became the means of their salvation.  Supervising the exhausted men in his unit, Robert directed them to use battering rams to knock down the frame of the hulking structure.  When it was down, they lifted the main timbers and carried them to the river.  The watching troopers held their breath as the retrieved wood was pushed across on a skiff and then with great effort lifted up to the abutments, the only structures left of the burned-out bridge. 

             
“We made it!” an excited trooper yelled as the timbers settled down securely on the abutments with just a few inches to spare on either side.   A shout of celebration rose into the air as renewed hope glistened in every face. 

             
Once more the men sprang into action.  More wood was hauled from the building to floor the bridge.  Within minutes the column began to flow over the new bridge.  Even the guns made it safely across.  Robert watched as the last men rode across then grinned as five men rushed forward with flames to fire the bridge.  There would be no way for the Yankees to pursue them.  There was a deep sense of satisfaction as the Confederates stood quietly watching what they had so quickly built shoot flames into the sky. 

             
Robert turned Granite to join the rear guard of the cavalry disappearing into the woods when a shot rang out.  He spun Granite around and laughed aloud at the sight of Federal uniforms on the opposing bank.  “Too late, boys!” he yelled defiantly as the men with him whooped in laughter and urged their horses into a swift gallop. 

Carrie made no effort to hide her excitement as she moved with the flow of people to the heart of Richmond.   She had received word that Robert was with the cavalry returning as heroes to the city.   Stories of their escapades flew around like missiles as crowds of excited Richmonders pressed forward to view the returning
men. 

             
Carrie had at first been frightened when her father had burst through the door the night before.  He had barely been able to contain his excitement as he told her of General Stuart’s daring exploits.  Stuart, once he was convinced his troops were safe, had ridden ahead to report to General Lee. 

             
“The city needs some good news, Carrie,” Thomas had said hopefully.  “With the exception of Stonewall Jackson’s victory in the valley, there has been nothing but bad news for too long.   Young Stuart’s bold mission will be like a tonic to the people.”

             
Her father had been right.  Excited voices rang through the air as each person tried to outdo the other with what they had heard about the mission. 

             
“That young Stuart rode all the way around McClellan’s army,” an old man boasted, waving his cane in the air for emphasis.  “I reckon we can handle those Yankees all right.  I bet there are some mighty red-faced men outside the city right now.”

             
“I reckon they’ll just turn around and head back to the North!” another cried.  “Why, if they can’t handle twelve hundred cavalry troopers, how are they going to handle General Lee’s army?”

             
“I heard the Union army was crossing onto that bridge when they set fire to it.  I wish I’d been there to see those Yankees dropping into that river.”

             
Carrie looked at Janie and laughed.  “I’m glad I know what really happened.  What they did was incredible, but if I listened to many of these stories, I would begin to think our soldiers were gods.”

             
Janie laughed with her.  “It’s good to hear the people like this.  Who cares if they embellish the stories a little?  It makes them happy, and, goodness knows, there is little enough to be happy about right now.”

             
Carrie knew she was right.  Many of the wounded soldiers had recovered and been sent back to the front, but the hospitals were still crowded with men too sick and weak to go back into battle.  The dead had finally all been buried or sent off to their own states for burial.  The stench of death was beginning to lift from the city, but everyone was aware it could be renewed at any moment.  McClellan had not budged from his position outside Richmond, and even though General Lee had dug in securely around the city, no one was relaxing. 

             
“It’s been ages since I’ve been down to the city,” Janie said, breaking into her thoughts.  “I feel like my whole world is the hospital.  It seems strange to know there is another world out here.”

             
Carrie nodded agreement and gazed around her.  She had heard from her father that shortages were beginning to be felt, but she couldn’t tell it from looking around.  She knew many of the people crowding into Richmond had brought money with them.  People were buying, but the supply was having a hard time keeping up with the demand.   “There are so many new shops,” she commented.  “And so many of the old ones almost look like they’re new.”

             
Janie shrugged.  “If things don’t change soon, everything will start to look a lot different.” 

             
“Why do you say that?”

             
“From what I hear, the blockade is getting harder to run.  It’s still possible to get most things in other places, but between the blockade and McClellan’s army perched out there, goods just aren’t getting through.  Not to mention the speculators,” she added darkly.

             
“Speculators?”  Carrie was beginning to feel she really
was
spending too much time in the hospital.  The world she was staring at seemed a foreign one.  It helped to remember Janie had been here since the beginning while she was still on the plantation until recently, but that didn’t change her desire to understand her surroundings.

             
Janie nodded and frowned.  “Inflation is becoming rampant.  There is no end to the number of people in town willing to buy supplies and then stick them away until their prices go up.  When the speculators sell them, they make quite a handsome profit.  I’ve heard that something bought one day will return a hundred percent profit in just a week.”

             
“But people can’t pay those kinds of prices!”  Carrie protested.  “Most of the men are off fighting.  How do they expect the women to feed their families and care for them?”