Leigh Ann's Civil War (15 page)

But these days his problem with Carol took a back seat to other concerns.

I know he wrote to Grandmother in Philadelphia, telling her to be prepared, one of these days, for the arrival of his sisters, his wife, and perhaps even the wife of his brother, Louis. That he was corresponding with the owners of warehouses in Augusta, Newnan, Griffin, and Macon, inquiring as to who had room for his goods.

He and Louis had already shipped their prized horses to a friend of Louis's in northern Maryland, a Yankee who had a horse farm there. My brothers had, in the last couple of years, purchased thoroughbreds from Savannah, with the intention of raising horses after the war.

And Teddy was still courting Theophile Roche. The Frenchman had been invited to supper a few times since December. Teddy was counting on him to keep the mill running at full capacity even when the Yankees came.

I had not seen Mr. Roche for many weeks, though Teddy spoke of him often. He came at last, bowing and bearing gifts for my sister and sisters-in-law: perfume he'd had imported from France, or powder. He'd kiss their hands. Me? He'd turn and bow most exquisitely and kiss my hand and say something in French that Louis told me later meant "ah, my precious little princess." And, with Teddy's permission he'd give me a book.

One time he gave me
The Raven
by Edgar Allan Poe, another time
Frankenstein
by Mary Shelley, and still another,
Christine
by Alexandre Dumas.

"Père,"
Roche said to me. "He fought his first duel at twenty-three. In it his trousers fell down."

Everyone laughed. Teddy did not. I don't think Teddy liked the attention Roche paid to me, or the books he gave me, especially the one by the Frenchman whose trousers fell down.

***

As May came into its third week, Teddy called me and Viola, Carol, and Camille before him in his study, and we stood there like delinquent schoolgirls.

Louis, apparently knowing what Teddy was about, stood in the hall just outside the door.

"I want you all to pack up some clothes," Teddy said, "for me to send on to Philadelphia. Necessities and one dress apiece will do. You can buy what you need there. Grandmother will help you."

We looked at each other, aghast. Nobody spoke.

Then Viola did. "I don't want to go, Teddy," she told him.

He was ready for this. He was calm but firm. "The Union army is not far away. That means Sherman's men, and we've all heard enough horror stories about them. Now Louis and I have an obligation to protect our women. I'm sorry, but what you all want doesn't come into it right now. Please do as I say."

Camille looked at her husband. "Louis?" Her voice cracked.

He stepped into the room. "Yes."

"Do you want me to go?"

Everyone was silent for a moment.

Louis's face had about it that Indian mask that you could not read. It was a long enough moment for him to contact his inner spirit.

"I don't know what I'm going to be doing yet," Louis told us. "A lot of citizens have come to me, wanting to leave town, to go to places like Milledgville, Valdosta, Jacksonville, Waynesboro, and Macon. They want me, as mayor, to escort them. Colonel Marcus Wright from Atlanta wants me to continue leading the Roswell Battalion to hold this town and the line to Atlanta. Teddy says I should turn the battalion over to Captain Will Clark and escort the citizens to their destinations."

He hesitated a moment, then recommenced speaking. "If I do that, Camille comes with me. If I stay, Camille, you'll have to go to Philadelphia with the others."

She ran to him and threw herself in his arms. He hugged her. They said no words.

We all spoke at once, all except Teddy. We all told Louis to go and take Camille. They loved each other so much. Teddy gave a small smile and nodded yes.

"All right," he said, quieting us, "all right, it's Louis's decision. Leave him be. Now the rest of you, go pack your things. One valise, no more. You have half an hour before the stage leaves for Marietta."

Camille sent a valise, too, just in case Louis decided to stay. She wanted to please him.

***

Monday of the third week in May, Louis announced at breakfast that he had decided to escort the citizens out of town.

"We'll be leaving by the middle of June," he said.

We were all tremendously happy about that. But happiness in such times lasted only two minutes. I had learned already not to trust happiness.

In the next moment Teddy told Viola, Carol, and me that we should dress for our trip, that this afternoon we were taking the stage to Marietta, and from there the train to Philadelphia.

"Scouts say that Sherman's within a hundred miles," he told us.

I froze in my seat. My breakfast went cold on my plate. "I want to go with Louis," I said. "I don't want to go to Philadelphia."

Silence. So loud that Sherman could likely hear it a hundred miles away.

Teddy compressed his lips and looked down the table at his brother from beneath lowered eyelids.

Louis tightened his jaw and did not look back at Teddy.

They have been expecting this.

"I think I'll wear my flowered suit," Carol said lightly. "It's always comfortable to travel in."

"I want to go with Louis," I said again.

"Why don't you ask him," Teddy said.

So he would let Louis do the dirty work. I looked at Louis, who was sipping his coffee.

"Can I go with you, Louis?" I appealed.

He set down his cup. "I can't take you, sweetie, much as I'd like to."

"Why?"

"Because you belong to Teddy. He's legally responsible for you."

"Bullcrap," I said.

"That's enough, Leigh Ann," Teddy snapped. "I'll not have such language at the table. Now you are excused. You can go and eat breakfast in the kitchen."

"If we're leaving this afternoon, it's my last meal here," I protested.

"You should have thought of that before." Teddy did not look at me. "Leave, please."

I got up and ran, tears coming down my face.

Cannice, who'd heard it all, brought my plate and tea and set it down before me on the kitchen table. "You'd best eat, lamb," she said.

"I hate him. Why did he have to send me in here when it's my last meal with Louis and Camille and all?"

" 'Cause you been naughty. You know he doan like to hear you cuss. Why you hafta go and plague him so? You know how upset he be, you all leavin' today."

I sat there pouting, but I did not eat. They were all talking and laughing in the dining room like it was just a regular day.
How can they be that way?
I started to cry.

I don't know how much time passed, but Cannice went out the back door to the kitchen garden. And then Teddy came in.

"You didn't eat," he said. "Don't you know you'll be hungry on that stage to Marietta? Now stop that crying and put some food in your mouth."

But I couldn't do either one. "I can't wait to go away this afternoon," I said between sobs. "I can't wait to get away from you."

"I can't wait to get shed of you, either. You're nothing but a little brat who's always given me nothing but trouble."

"In Philadelphia I'm going to do just what I want. I'm going to stay up late and read racy books and use cuss words and you'll never know it. I'm going to kiss boys."

"I hope you have a good time."

He pulled up a chair, sat down, and, with a napkin, wiped the tears from my face. Then he picked up a forkful of scrambled eggs. I opened my mouth and he shoved it in, like I was a knee-baby.

It went on like that for three or four forkfuls, with neither of us saying a word. Cannice came in, looked at us, put her hands on her hips, shook her head, and made a throaty sound.

"You got a fierce bark," she told my brother, "but you sure do spoil her. You want a fresh cuppa coffee, Massa Teddy?"

He said yes. That sounded good.

He gave the fork over to me and I ate and he sipped his coffee and no words were necessary. All had been said. Except, from Teddy: "You remember what I taught you."

But before we got on the stage for Marietta that day, Louis got a telegram at the mayor's office. As of that day, the last Monday in May, train travel was forbidden to all civilians.

We were going nowhere after all.

That very night, at dusk, when Teddy had gone to the mill and Louis was still at the mayor's office, a telegram was delivered to the house for Viola.

Johnnie had been killed on the eleventh at the Richmond defenses.

Viola collapsed in a faint. When we revived her she got hysterical. Camille gave her rum. Carol put cold cloths on her forehead. Cannice told me to ride and get Teddy at the mill.

As I mounted my horse, Trojan, Careen told me that Viola was pregnant. I carried that thought with me, a sour taste in my mouth, as I rode to the mill.

Johnnie dead. Louis soon to leave. Viola pregnant. Yankees soon to come. Me saying vile words at the table, and Teddy sending me into the kitchen.

What had happened to my world?

In no time, it seemed, I was at the mill. Inside, the din that had always terrified me now validated the confusion in my mind. Quickly, I found Teddy's office. The door was closed, but behind the glass was a light. I knocked and saw the figure behind the desk come to the door and open it.

Teddy stood there in shirtsleeves, scowling. "What's wrong?"

"Johnnie's been killed defending Richmond. Viola's hysterical. They told me to come and get you."

I did not tell him that Viola was pregnant. He would not hear that from me. He had enough to cause him pain these days. I vowed to myself that I would not be the reason for any more of it.

Within a few minutes we were on the way home, where Teddy took charge.

Viola was on the Persian carpet in the front parlor. Neither Carol nor Camille could get her up. She wouldn't let anybody come near her, not even Cannice.

Why not Cannice?
I wondered as we came into the parlor. She always trusted our beloved housekeeper. Everybody did. But there Cannice stood, in a far circle that had formed around my sister, which included Careen. All kept their distance.

And then I saw why.

Viola had a gun, Teddy's .32 Colt navy revolver. She held it carelessly in one hand.

I gasped, standing beside Teddy. He put out his arm and held me from going any farther into the room. "Stay where you are, everybody," he directed. "Don't move."

He took a cautious step forward. "Hello, honey," he said to Viola. "I'm sorry for what's happened."

"Come near me and I'll kill you," she told him viciously.

Teddy squatted down. "The mill's powerful busy, but I've come home just for you."

"You don't care for me. Always want to scold me. That's all you want to do."

Teddy nodded. "I've done my share of scolding, I admit, but it was always 'cause I loved you and wanted to see you grow up and become a sister I could be proud of. And you are."

He shuffled a mite closer to her. "Damned proud of you, I am."

She raised the gun. "I said I'd kill you if you came closer."

"I know you did. But then, what would more killing do? You're not in charge of your senses, Viola, and if anybody around here has senses to be in charge of, it's you. Sometimes you've got more sense than all the rest of us put together. And if you kill me, why, then they'll have to take you away and hang you. You can't just kill people, even though there's a war on."

He stopped. Someone had come in the front door and was coming down the hall. We listened to the steady steps that halted at the doorway of the parlor.

Louis.

He stood there, taking it all in. From behind Teddy, and out of range of Viola's eyes, I signaled to him to stay where he was. He nodded at me.

"And then," Teddy was saying, "with me dead and you dead, and Louis gone away, who would take care of the family? Who, Viola?"

"I don't care," she said. "Johnnie's dead, so I don't give a damn about anything. I may even kill myself now. Save everybody the trouble."

She raised the revolver so the barrel was pointed at her face.

Everybody muffled screams.

Only Careen didn't muffle what she wanted to say but yelled it out: "Don't, don't, Miz Viola," she screamed. "'Member, you be's pregnant. You be's pregnant!"

In that moment Teddy leaped toward his sister, throwing himself at her. Everything happened at once then.

Teddy landed on top of Viola and his action pointed the gun away from her, over her shoulder. The revolver went off and the shot exploded loudly and went through the window. The glass shattered like ice, and servants came running from all directions, thinking the Yankees had arrived.

Teddy enfolded Viola in his arms and held her while she bawled out her misery. Louis quieted the servants and sent them back to their posts, saying no, there were no Yankees, that Leigh Ann had been playing with one of Teddy's guns and it went off accidentally and, yes, she would be punished. And Viola was crying because her betrothed had been killed. And yes, Johnnie's body would be shipped home and they could come to the funeral and sing some of their spirituals.

Viola stopped crying, finally, and told everybody how sorry she was. Especially, she told Teddy. "I was out of my senses," she said. "You should have slapped me."

"I've never slapped my sisters," he said, "and I never will."

Everybody calmed down then.

Cannice gave Viola a concoction to quiet her nerves. Carol and Camille readied her for bed. Teddy went back to the mill. I slept with Viola. Louis, being home, told me to wake him if she gave me any trouble.

Nobody said anything for many days after about Viola's being pregnant. All were hoping she would come through this and be all right. We just pampered her and fussed over her. Nobody wanted to upset her.

In early June the Yankees took Marietta.

Johnnie Cummack's mother did not come home from Virginia for the funeral of her son. Having heard that the Yankees were in Marietta, no civilians were allowed to travel on the trains, and most citizens were leaving Roswell, she was afraid to come.