Leigh Ann's Civil War (3 page)

"Yes, we're going to bury the box. And I'm going to ask you a very respectable favor this day and hope you will do it for me."

I'd once told him I'd do just about anything for him and he'd admonished me never to say that to anybody. Not even to him. Or Teddy. I was puzzled, but made no further inquiry because he'd used what I'd come to know as his "We don't want to speak of that now" voice.

We walked in the direction of the stream that ran beyond the cows' meadow. There stood a line of dogwood growing a little distance in front of a complete grove of pine trees. We sat down in back of the dogwood, cut off from the rest of the world.

"This is a good place to tell you," he said.

I sat across from him with my skirts billowing about me. In the distance I could see two fat deer, with their beautiful antlers etched against the sky, running through the rows of Indian corn. I felt a sense of peace settle over me such as I'd never felt before.

It radiated from Louis's smile. I often found that peace radiated from Louis's smile.

"Pa is a full-blooded Indian," he said quietly.

I just looked at him. But the smile never wavered. It remained the same.

"A Cherokee," he elaborated, just in case I needed to know.

My eyes were wide now. I don't know why I didn't cry, or say, "No, it isn't so," or get up and run away. I knew I couldn't do that to Louis.

Were the deer real, running through the Indian corn? Or were they sent to prepare me?
My friend Careen believes in such signs. She also believes in spirits, can read signals in clouds, visits the plantation graveyard and talks to the dead, and is very otherworldly.

"Are you all right, Leigh Ann?" he inquired gently.

That grave concern of his brought me back on track. What would he do if I wasn't? Take it all back? Say he was only teasing? I had to be all right. He was counting on me. I nodded my head yes.

"It'll take time," he said, "for it to sink in. But not long. There's nothing to be ashamed of."

My first thought was,
Do I look Indian?
My hand flew to my face.

"No, you don't," Louis said, reading my thoughts. "You don't look Indian at all."

He could do that sometimes.

"Does Teddy know you're telling me this?"

"Yes. We were going to wait until you were older, but then Pa went and spilled the beans. And Teddy said I'd best tell you. Did you learn about the Cherokees in that ridiculous school?"

"Yes, we learned this was their land, here on the northern banks of the Chattahoochee River."

He nodded his head in silent approval. My spirits were roused.

"What did the Cherokees call this place?" he asked.

"Enchanted Land. And they said the white people were forbidden to be on it. But they came anyway."

"You should know the Cherokees were the first American Indians to have an alphabet and written language. One of their chiefs, Sequoyah, was a talented silversmith. They had the first American Indian newspaper. They tried to get along with the white people. They had their own shops and businesses."

"Where does Pa come in?"

"He was one of the Cherokees who was living with the white men. He worked for one named Hunter Conners, who had no children and who gave him a fine piece of land and, in the end, his name. Then gold was discovered and hundreds of settlers came and the government took the land back from the Cherokees."

"Did Pa have gold?"

"No, he was growing tobacco. He made eight thousand dollars on two trips to Baltimore selling tobacco. That's where he met Mother. She was visiting her uncle, who purchased the tobacco. Pa had men working for him. Slaves. He made trips to Baltimore every year."

"What did he do with the money?"

"Well, he always thought that this area, with its big forests and its powerful waters, would be a good place for a mill. So the money, back in 1838, was enough to start building a mill."

"Oh, that's a good story."

"Do you know what else happened in 1838?"

"They got all the Cherokees together and marched them out of here, and everyone calls it the Trail of Tears."

"You don't know how lucky you are that you are aware of that. If you weren't, it would grieve me beyond belief."

I looked into his dark eyes. He was not teasing. This Indian inheritance must go deep with Louis. I threw myself into his arms and he held me close. "I never would do anything to grieve you," I said. "I promise."

Then he told me how Mother and Pa had wed soon after they met, and how successful the mill had been. And no, he didn't know why Viola and Teddy and I didn't have dark hair or eyes, but I must promise him never to be ashamed of the part of me that was Cherokee.

I promised. Then he said, "Now let's pay mind to the box."

He was about to move. I pulled away from him. "Not before you tell me why Pa is getting so strange in his mind."

He shook his head sadly. He shrugged. "Of course it's the money he's losing on the mill. He's paid more tariffs to the North than he can afford. But I think it started when he found out that Mother is a secret Yankee. To get back at her he changed his will and had her name taken off as inheritor of everything. We children are slated to inherit. Which is probably why she hates us so. And why Mother and Pa have been holding their own war since."

"And she's been running around with other men since, hasn't she?"

He scowled. "I won't have you talking that way about our mother, Leigh Ann," he said severely.

"That's what Viola says about her."

"I'm not concerned with Viola at this moment. I'm concerned with you. No matter what she does, she's still our mother. Do you hear me?"

"Yes, Louis."

"All right, sweetie. Now come along. We're going to bury the box under that pine tree right over there."

He took off his uniform coat, rolled up his shirt sleeves, picked up the shovel, and started digging.

"Why didn't you bring along Primus to dig for you?" I asked. I knew he and Primus had a special bond. Most of the negroes had feelings for him that went beyond common charity—Bench and Tumble, Cyrus and July, to name just a few. And Cannice, the "best cook this side of the Mississippi," as Teddy called her, mothered the boys by giving them special late-night treats in the kitchen, by overseeing the perfect laundering of their shirts, by listening when they wanted to talk.

"I didn't tell Primus," he said.

You didn't even confide in Primus? This must be important.
But I knew better than to say anything.

I did ask, "Can I know what's in the box?"

He stopped digging. He'd already dug a respectable hole. He took out his handkerchief, wiped his brow, knelt down, and pried the box open.

Inside was a heap of silver. It glistened in the sun. It was made into necklaces and bracelets, rings and armbands, all hammered with intricate designs.

I'd never paid mind to the silver shop Louis had set up in a simply built little cottage he and Primus had made in the line of outbuildings in the quarters a distance behind the house. He spent hours there sometimes. Pa had said, "Leave him be. He needs time alone to practice his hobby. Viola likes to paint, doesn't she? And doesn't Teddy like to hunt with a bow and arrow? And what do you like to do, Leigh Ann?"

"Read," I'd answered, "and gather sweetheart leaves to perfume the lye soap. Sometimes the servants let me mix them in. Teddy is teaching me to use the bow and arrow. And to swim in the stream."

He frowned. "I hope you wear clothes."

I laughed. Pa had taken a fancy, recently, to swimming naked in the stream. Teddy had caught him at it a couple of times and scolded him severely and made him put on some small clothes.

"I wear my chemise and pantalets. Viola says that's sufficient."

So I'd never bothered Louis when he worked on his silver. And, this,
this
is what he'd been about all that time. Like Sequoyah, the Indian chief.

I stared at him across the box of silver. "Can I touch it?"

"Go right ahead. It won't melt."

I did so. Gently, respectfully.

"Would you like a sample? A gift? On the occasion of my going off to fight for the independence of Georgia?"

"Not if you're giving it to me in case you don't come back," I told him.

He bit his bottom lip, trying to hide his feelings. "I'm coming back, sweetie. I promise you. Now go ahead, pick out a piece of jewelry."

"You pick one out for me. Was there any piece that, when you were making it, made you think of me?"

He started moving the jewelry around. "Matter of fact, there was." He drew out a medallion on a silver cord. The head of Sequoyah was in the middle. "I thought of you with this, yes."

Tears came to my eyes as he draped it over my neck.

"Can I wear it in front of the others?"

"I'd like to see anybody try to take it away from you. I've got these special Indian powers, remember. I can do some bad things with smoke and prayers."

He smiled innocently.
I think he is one of God's angels,
I told myself. Never mind the Indian business.

"Now we've got to bury the box." He stood up. "Can't waste any more time. The family will be wondering where we are. I've got a confab with Teddy tonight. We leave tomorrow."

"Why are we burying it?"

He talked while he worked. "It's worth lots of money, Leigh Ann. And we're going away, Teddy and I. And so, here's the favor I need from you. I want you to remember where it is and use it if it is needed in an emergency to help the family. Only you know it's here. You mustn't tell anyone.
No matter what happens.
Do you hear me?"

"Not even Teddy?"

He hesitated a moment. He rubbed his nose. "Only if things get real bad do you tell Teddy. If he's here. If things are bad and Teddy isn't here, get Primus to dig it up for you. And then use it. To save the family."

I didn't like all this desperate talk. It bespoke matters I could not contend with.

"And if I'm still ... well ... write to me. You understand?"

"Yes, Louis. But why didn't you ask Viola to do all this?"

He stamped the earth down over the hole with his boot, not looking at me. He put the turf back down and stamped it, too. "Viola is sweet, and smart, and I love her dearly, but she talks too much." He put his jacket on, brushed his hands together, and picked up the shovel.

"I have one more question."

"Have at it."

"If you're the oldest, why don't you want to be in charge of things? Why do you leave it to Teddy?"

He just smiled. "I guess I thought Teddy would do a better job of it than I would. It's a terrible responsibility. Ties a man down. I'd take
you
if he'd let me. But he won't. Said I'd spoil you. Said I'd likely take you west and let you ride bareback and learn the Cherokee alphabet. Besides which, I'm not up to the fight that's coming with Mother for ownership of everything. Teddy's not going to get off scot-free, you know. But he can outwit her. Does that answer satisfy you?"

"Yes, Louis. But you wouldn't spoil me."

He shrugged. "I can't stand to see you cry. Teddy can."

He leaned over and kissed me. "I love you," he said.

"I love you more."

"I knew you'd say that."

We walked back to the house, singing the country song: "
We are going down to Georgia, boys, To see the pretty girls, boys, We'll give 'em a pint of brandy, boys, And a hearty kiss besides, boys.
"

The sky was clouding overhead. Tears were coming down my face. Louis and Teddy were leaving tomorrow.

He never looked down at me, but before we went up the verandah steps Louis leaned over and wiped my tears away. "Remember, I can't stand to see you cry," he said.

Thanks to Louis, I went back into the house dry-eyed. He went straight upstairs to dress for supper because, he said, "There's going to be a feast this night so Teddy and I will never be hungry in the army."

I went in to change, too. Teddy was waiting for me in the doorway of his room. He motioned me in. Carol was in her private room in front of her dressing table, making lastminute touches to her beautiful straw-colored hair. Carol looked like all those pictures of princesses in my books. And she acted like one. Never did she lose her poise.

She was from the Balls, one of Roswell's first families.

Teddy sat down and drew me to stand in front of him. "Louis told you?"

"Yes?"

"You all right?"

"Louis made it all right. All's I got is a headache coming on." I was prone to headaches, and this one promised to outdo all my others.

"Louis is a fine fellow. He has a benevolence of spirit, a great drivi ng force, and he is gifted with moments of quiet. And patience. You still have the headache after supper, I'll give you a powder. It's something new, down from the North, Dr. Widmar says. It's what Abraham Lincoln takes for his headaches."

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Teddy," Carol's voice floated out. "It's one thing to have her emulate Louis, but do we have to hold up Abraham Lincoln as a model, too? You're confusing the child."

Teddy had a square jaw, a straight nose, heavy brows, and eyes that bore into you. You didn't fool around with a face like that. "I would hope that on our last evening together before I go off to war, you would desist with this bickering, Carol," he said.

She picked up a silken shawl and breezed on past us. "You'd best cut your Sermon on the Mount short. You're not dressed yet and neither is she." She went out and closed the door.

Teddy ran his hand across his face for a moment. "Look," he said, "just because we're half Indian, you're not to confuse us with wild Indians out west. Even Pa's generation removed themselves from that culture."

"I know. Louis told me."

"Good. Did he tell you that Chattahoochee is an Indian name meaning 'flowered stones'? For the colored stones on the bottom of the river?"

"No."

"Then I'm telling you. And when I come home, I will dive to the bottom of the river and fetch you some of those colored stones. Would you like that?"

I hugged him. "I love you, Teddy." I said.