Black Angels (21 page)

Daylily had been away from the Riversons' place only to go to other plantations and country houses with her missus. Caswell had never seen a town either. Only Luke had some idea what it might look like from stories people who had been away from the plantation told him. People who had been sold to Massa Higsaw from far away, places like Charleston and Atlanta, told him there were more houses in towns and cities than all the cabins in the quarters and all the outbuildings, kitchens, stables, smokehouses and tobacco sheds put together.

Luke was sure they were close to the town when they started seeing people in wagons. As they saw more and more people, they walked slower and slower. Nobody seemed to notice them. A small White boy in one of the farmyards said, “Hey, y'all.” They all spoke back, but they didn't stop.

“How you know we goin the right way?” Daylily asked. “Let's stop and eat something.” She sighed and sat down by the side of the road where there was a vacant field. The two boys sat down with her. They were eating the last of the bread Betty had given them.

When they had finished their bread, they walked another half mile. There were times they had to walk up and down the hills, and then there was another farmhouse, and another across the road, and then another. And then they saw a girl about thirteen, hoeing potatoes.

“This here Harper's Ferry?” Luke called out to her.

“Yeah,” she called back. “Straight ahead. Y'all not from round here?”

Daylily and Caswell started to say no, but Luke said, “Yeah, we from down the road a piece, other side of the river.” And he said it very loud so she couldn't hear Daylily's and Caswell's “no.”

Her skin was light brown. She had on a washed gingham dress that used to be red and an old man's jacket over that. Her head was wrapped in a kerchief, and she was barefoot.

“Just keep goin a spell,” she nodded. Then she looked at them a little more carefully. “Y'all look real tired. Can I help you to a drink? Mammy's got biscuits from breakfast. That's all we got. What with the war we ain't got much, but y'all just wait a minute. I'll get you some water.”

Before Luke could say no, Daylily and Caswell had answered “yes,” and she ran off down the path to a whitewashed house with a stone chimney, not too far from where they were standing. Daylily noticed a chopping block.

“I wonder if they got chickens,” she said, her mouth watering.

Luke said quickly, “Come on, y'all, let's go.”

“No,” the younger ones answered together. “We thirsty,” said Caswell.

“And hungry,” Daylily said and shook her head. “I ain't goin nowhere. So they catch us. They gonna catch us anyway when we gets to that town, and I's tired of runnin.”

Luke looked at them, and then back at the little house. “Caswell,” he said, “when she come back here, you don't say nothin bout where we from, you hear? And don't tell her no names.”

The girl was coming out the door by that time with a jug and something in her hands. Two younger boys came out of the door to stare at the strangers. Luke didn't see any soldiers or White men, so he felt better.

“My Mam say come in and rest a spell,” she said, passing out three little biscuits. “That's all we got to offer y'all. Y'all free or slave?”

Caswell said, “Free,” Daylily said, “Slave,” and Luke said, “Naw, we just tryin to get to Harper's Ferry. We got people there.”

“Oh,” she said, knowing not to ask any more questions. She looked a little longer at Caswell, and then turned her head away.

“We's free,” she said. “My pappy bought us fore he died in the factory makin guns. My name Gracey.”

“What's it like,” said Daylily, “bein free?”

“Not much different,” she said. “Cept we can go where we want to and don't have to carry a pass or nothin. So if we don't make White folks mad or nothin, they leaves us alone. Sides, they say we all free now. Ain't y'all heard of mancipation? Massa Lincoln's paper sayin we's free.”

“Who tole you that?” said Luke. “That ain't true, is it?” He thought of Massa Higsaw.

“Sure is,” said Gracey.

Luke grinned.

“Can we put some of your water in our canteen? We got to go.” Freedom sounded good if it was true, but how could he be sure she knew what she was talking about? This girl was making him more and more nervous. Soon she'd start asking more questions about them. She might get them into trouble.

“Here I'll fill it at the pump, les you want to.”

“Thank you,” said Luke politely. “I'd be obliged if you would.” He didn't want the girl's mother, who was right then peeking out the door, to come any closer and get a good look, especially at Caswell. She had a baby on one hip. Gracey handed him the canteen.

“I thank you,” Luke said, “for your kindness.” He poked Daylily in the shoulder.

“Thank you, Gracey,” she said and poked Caswell, who also said, “I thank you too.”

They left the family and soon ran into several more little farms and then buildings bigger than houses with tall smoke-stacks, and lots of men working around them. The river ran right through Harper's Ferry, next to some kind of factory. Their eyes were wide, taking in this new world.

There were not so many workmen on their side of the river, so they were almost alone, but they could see the houses on the hills in the distance. Across the river, everybody they saw seemed to be busy doing something, carrying things like tools or stacks of wood in different directions. Wagons went by, hauling what looked like parts of rifles. They could hear the men shouting at each other.

“Wait now, y'all. We got to talk,” said Luke. They sat down on some plank wood on the riverbank. “Now, we don't know what gon happen here. This here's Harper's Ferry for sure, and we got to have a plan. First, Caswell,” said Luke, “you know we's colored and you ain't, right?”

Caswell's eyes filled up with tears. “That don't matter no more, Luke,” he said. “I thought we was brothers anyway.”

“Well, we is, but grown folks don't feel that way about it. They don't know what we done been through. They don't know we's brothers.”

“And sisters,” added Daylily.

“Right, and sisters,” Luke answered. “They just think you White, and we is colored, and that's all they is. Ain't no mixin up with some folks. So we got to remember the plan. If we gets separated, you got to remember. Count on your fingers to ten. Now, every year when them cornstalks get high, it gonna be warm and be summer and then it be harvesttime. And when that happen ten times, hightail it to Betty Strong Foot's before the first frost, so we can be together.”

“Luke, that's a powerful long time. We might be dead then,” said Daylily. She was about to cry, and so was Caswell.

“You stop that, girl,” he said. “You get little Caswell all upset. He ain't but seven year old. Just think about them stars we saw and how we said our mamas be up in Heaven. They up there together, and so we got to stick together too, even if it take ten years. We be grown then. We can do anything we want. In ten summers we gonna meet at Betty's house in the woods, no matter what. When you gets to ten, follow the river back to Betty's house, first time the corn high. Remember, first time the corn is high, then harvesttime. Caswell, count on your fingers too. War'll be over then. Every time y'all look at them stars, think about us, and we'll be together.”

Caswell counted to ten on his fingers, and said, “And Luke, I won't forget, your mama is an angel too, OK?”

Luke nodded, and they sat on the riverbank in a heavy silence for a while longer. Finally, Luke said, “Us got to find us some Black folks we can trust.”

“Gracey was Black, wasn't she?” Caswell said eagerly. “Let's go. Let's go back there. They had food.”

“Yeah, but they had a house full of chirren and nothin but flour and lard,” said Luke.

“Maybe they knows somebody though. They's free,” Daylily volunteered.

“We need us some Union soldiers, that's what we need,” Luke said. “This here might be a reb town.”

“Maybe they can tell us then. Let's go back, Luke, please?” Caswell pulled on Luke's coat and started up a chant: “Let's go back, let's go back, let's go back.”

Daylily joined him.

Luke didn't have any other plan so he told them, “Yeah, we goin back and ask. Ain't no harm in askin folks.” And they turned around.

When they got back to the potato patch, the girl was gone, and Daylily's face fell.

Luke said, “Betcha they in the house. We got to go see. Can't do nothin else.”

The girl, Gracey, was out in back of the little house with her brothers and sisters, and her mother was inside with the baby. She came to the open door when they walked up. A dog was barking somewhere near.

“Y'all came back, I see,” said the mother. The woman had a pleasant face that used to be round, but she was beanpole thin. She had a turned-up nose and a wide mouth. The baby had dark skin like the mother, and lots of curly hair. She pulled at her mama's ear.

“If you please, ma'am,” Luke started. “We just need to ask you . . . somethin happened and we can't find our people.”

The woman looked at Caswell a little more carefully. “Who's your people?” she asked, sitting down on the stoop in front of her door. She let the baby crawl all over her.

“Well, ma'am, you see . . . uh, really, all our peoples fighting with the Union, see, and we, uh, we just need to find some Union troops.” He sucked in his breath and held it.

The baby wanted to go to Daylily. She stretched out her little arms, and Daylily said, “Can I hold her, ma'am, please?” The woman handed the baby to Daylily. She looked glad for a little break.

“Son,” she said, “I see you got a problem here. Where'd y'all come from really? Are you runnin away from somewhere? And where'd you get this little White young'un? Cause I can see the White under all that dirt and sunburn.”

“Well, yes, ma'am,” Luke said, “I guess you can see that, and ma'am, well, we's just tired. We been runnin and walking, a long, long time. And we just needing somewhere to lay our heads, you see, and some food.” Luke sat down on the stoop and put his head in his arms. He cried like a baby in front of everybody. Finally, it was all too much for him, and he couldn't go on any more; he couldn't take one more step.

Daylily and Caswell sat down too, exhausted and past talking. They looked straight ahead, out of reasons, out of questions, even out of fear. There was nothing left to do about anything.

For a few moments, the woman let Luke cry, rubbing him between the shoulders. The rest of the family came out of the house to see what was going on. Then she said, “My name is Iona Madison, and these are my young'uns, Gracey, Zach Jr., Matt, Harriet and Vina. Now y'all tell me who y'all are, and I'll try to help you. That's only fair.”

CHAPTER 31

DANGER ON THE STREETS

Mrs. Madison explained to the children that they could stay a while, but they needed to understand that they had to be careful. Union soldiers were all over the place. General Sheridan had taken possession of the entire valley. When the Confederate rebels had been there, it was bad enough, but life for the Madisons and other families was worse than it had ever been, because Sheridan's soldiers had ruined everything they could to keep the rebs from burning it. Bridges were destroyed, crops were burned. Now there was very little to eat and it was dangerous to be out at night. During the day they should not talk to strange men. If anyone came into the yard they were to go immediately into the house. Everywhere there was destruction and suffering. Folks were starving and desperate. But she had to leave the children during the days when she could get work at the hospital, taking dirty laundry home and emptying dangerous slop jars. She was working only because Zach Madison's death had left his family desperate.

The first day Luke and the others were with the Madisons, Iona had to work in the afternoon. But when she was leaving her hospital job, she ran into some very scary men. She had wrapped her shawl around her to ward off the evening chill. The way home was down a street that had been burned out by Sheridan's men. Now only black skeletons of chimneys and stones rising out of the rubble were left of the buildings. There were piles of charred bricks everywhere.

She had stayed late because there were so many wounded that needed tending to, but she had stayed too late, and she was not comfortable. Iona walked quickly, looking for other people on the street. It was deserted, but she could hear some voices up ahead. As she turned the next corner, she almost bumped into two men who were pushing each other around. She knew they would be trouble as soon as she saw their scrubby faces and snarling mouths.

“Well, well, well,” one man said. “Ain't you the lady? Gimme that shawl.” He grabbed her shawl before she had a chance to stop him and danced around crazily while the other man laughed.

“They say all nigger gals can dance,” the first man said, and did an imitation of a dance with her shawl as a prop. Then the other grabbed Iona and forced her to dance with him. She could smell his foul breath, but she was trying very hard to stay composed because she knew those men would love for her to get hysterical. Somewhere in the distance she heard an ambulance bell and horse's hooves.

Oh, please, let them come by here, she prayed silently. Something had to happen soon or she might not ever see her children again. The men had dragged her into the middle of the intersection and had hold of her arm. Stalling for time, Iona said in a mock polite style, “Gentlemen, could I have my shawl? The night air is a little cool.”