Soldier Boy's Discovery (2 page)

“Only the good Lord knows that, Jeff.”

“I wish she would get better. She's so pretty!”

Dan Carter's face showed a trace of sadness, but he said firmly, “We can't know God's ways, Jeff. But we can know that God is good and that somehow in the end Morena will be as bright and active as any other child.”

“In heaven?”

“Yes, that's right. I kind of like to think of that time, don't you, Jeff?”

“You mean … heaven? When we get there?”

“Yes.” Dan smiled and added, “No wars, no droughts, no need for doctors—no politicians, either. Not like this place.”

Jeff's face clouded as he thought through Mr. Carter's comments. Finally he replied, “I guess I'm not a good enough Christian.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, I guess I'm not ready to go to heaven—not today, I mean.”

Mr. Carter laughed, and his eyes twinkled. “Enjoy the day, for the Lord has given it to us. ‘This is the day that the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.' We can't know when we'll go, so we live for the Lord here until we go there.”

Jeff didn't reply, his face darkening as thoughts of heaven led to thoughts of death—and how the war had brought death close to so many over the last year. He finally said, “Well, Ezra's out of the war, anyway. He won't have to fight anymore. Nobody wants a convalescing ex-prisoner of war on his front lines.”

“Yes, and I'm glad of it. I wish you were out too.”

“Me too, and Pa and Tom—and Royal, of course.”

“You know, Jeff, I think God put Ezra in that prison camp.”

“What for?” Jeff asked with surprise.

“Well, look at it,” Dan said slowly. “I can't go off with Leah and leave this farm all the time with Mrs. Carter and Sarah and the children all alone, can I?”

“No, sir, I don't think you can.”

“Well, it's hard to find good help for a small farm. I tried pretty hard, and all I could come up with was hiring Ray Studdard from across the way. I couldn't see doing anything else, as expensive as that would be. But here Ezra escapes from that Confederate prison camp, and he hides out in a farmhouse. How many farmhouses are there in that part of the country, Jeff?”

“Must be a thousand, Mr. Carter.”

“Yep, I'd say so. Ezra could have gone to any one of them. But he didn't. He went to the
only
one where he'd have a chance to meet Leah. Now, that just
couldn't
have been an accident!”

Jeff stared. “You think God does stuff like that? I mean … that He works things out for us?”

“He knows of the sparrow's fall, Jeff, and we're worth more than sparrows.”

Jeff shifted restlessly, then shook his head. “Too much for me to figure out,” he said finally. “Do you reckon Ezra will stay on for a long time?”

“The boy's got no place else to go.” Mr. Carter shrugged. “Why are you asking, Jeff?”

“Oh, no reason. Just wondering.”

Jeff's thoughts moved from Ezra—and Ezra's budding friendship with Leah—to what a fine man Dan Carter was.

Even though he was too old for the army, and too sickly, he'd determined to do his best for the soldiers in the Union army. He'd persuaded his family that he should serve God by becoming a sutler, stocking his old wagon with supplies—including Bibles and tracts—and following the Yankee army throughout the first year of the war. He'd taken Leah with him because, even though she was just a young girl, she was strong, healthy, and smart.

Especially when he had his bad spells, she took much of the work off his shoulders.

Jeff looked about as he started to get up from the floor by Morena and Esther. “Where's Leah?”

“Oh, she's gone with Ezra. I think they went hunting birds' eggs, Jeff.” He stopped abruptly, looking at Jeff's face.

The boy scooped up Esther. He swung her under his arm as he strode across the room and dumped her into Dan's arms. He muttered, “Should of known she'd rather hunt eggs than fish with me.” He left the room without another word.

Almost as soon as Jeff had passed through the door, Mrs. Carter entered, her hands white with flour. Looking around, she asked with surprise, “Where's Jeff off to?”

“He just lit out after Leah and Ezra,” Dan said. He gave his wife a look and shook his head. “I think he's a little bit upset.”

“Upset about what?”

“Oh, I told him Ezra and Leah had gone egg hunting, and he clammed up and left with hardly a word.”

She went over and looked out the window. She saw Jeff stalking off, his back straight and his steps almost military. Shaking her head, she turned back and said quietly, “Jeff hasn't taken much to Ezra. You'd think they would've become friends after Jeff helped Leah hide him the way he did.”

Ezra Payne had served in the Union army and was taken captive at the Battle of Bull Run. He had escaped from prison, and Leah and Jeff helped him get away to Kentucky.

“Well, you know how strong Jeff is about Confederate rights, Mary. Might be he can't get over
Ezra being a Union soldier.” Mr. Carter paused. “It's not like our Royal—or even my sutler work. Jeff's been like part of our family his whole life, but he don't have any history with Ezra.”

“You're at least right on that account, Dan,” she agreed. “Remember Leah told us about the set-to she and Jeff had when she first asked him to help her with Ezra.”

“I don't know what's going to come of this.” He shook his head. “Jeff's a good boy, but he's got hard feelings against the North.”

“That's not the main cause of it, though,” his wife murmured. She dusted the flour off her hands as she crossed the room, and then she lifted Esther out of Dan's lap. She pinched the baby's fat, rosy cheek, then turned to give her husband a direct look. “He's jealous of Ezra. I guess you see that, Dan. They've been awfully close, Leah and Jeff, all their lives.”

“Why, they're only children!”

“I guess you don't have to be fifty years old to get possessive of somebody. Leah would be just as possessive of Jeff. I'm sorry for it, though Ezra is a fine young man. He hasn't had much of a chance in this world.”

“No, he hasn't.” Mr. Carter shook his head as he remembered what Ezra had told them. “Nobody should have to spend his childhood an orphan, working like a slave on some stranger's farm.”

“I'm grateful we can give him some of the love he's never had.” Mrs. Carter's voice came with conviction.

“But Mary, neither one of us wants Jeff hurt over Leah,” he protested. “Maybe we ought not to ask Ezra to stay.”

“Oh, we've got to! We promised. We can't abandon him. Besides, you said yourself God brought him to give us the help we need now that Royal's off to the war. Ezra's such a good worker.” She put the baby down and sighed heavily. “Well, I have every confidence our prayers and Jeff's basic good sense will make the difference. Jeff's a good boy—he'll just have to get over this.”

“Look! What's this one, Leah?”

Leah Carter looked up into the thick foliage of the oak tree. She squinted at the egg Ezra was holding and said, “I can't tell. Bring it on down.”

“Do you want all of them?”

“No, just one. Leave the rest to hatch.”

Ezra Payne came down the tree, swinging from branch to branch, using only one hand.

When he jumped to the ground, Leah laughed at him. “You're just like a monkey, Ezra! I've never seen anyone who could climb a tree like you.”

Ezra smiled at the girl. He was not tall, but when he regained the weight he'd lost, he would present a formidable set of muscles to any opponent. His curly brown hair and sparkling teeth were in sharp contrast to his pale prison complexion. “Always liked to climb trees!” he said. “When I was with the army, they'd send me to the top of the tallest tree so's I could scout out the enemy. Why, one time General McClellan himself was down at the foot with his officers.” He grinned more broadly, “There I was, telling the general of the whole Union army how it was!”

Leah laughed again as she took the egg. “That's just another story you're making up. Let me see that egg.” She ignored his protests of innocence, studied
the egg, and announced, “That's a catbird egg. We've got plenty of those.”

“Have I got to take it back up to the nest?”

“Of course. You're not going to eat it raw!”

“I've seen the day I would, like when you found me stealing your groceries back in Virginia.”

“That's different.” Leah shrugged. She smiled at him suddenly, adding, “You weren't a very good burglar, Ezra. You made more noise than a wild pig.”

“Didn't have much experience.”

“I hope you never get any more.”

Ezra climbed the tree and replaced the egg. When he was back on the ground, he affectionately slapped Leah on the shoulder and declared, “You must know every bird's egg there is, Leah.”

“I ought to—been hunting them most of my life. Come on, let's go down by the river. Maybe we'll find a kingfisher nest. They're sure hard to find.”

The two of them picked their way down a path overgrown with summer ferns, vines, and saplings until they came to the creek. Leah chattered happily all the time, telling Ezra about birds of all kinds. Finally she turned to him and exclaimed, “I'm so glad you've come to stay with our family, Ezra. With my brother, Royal, gone to the army, the farm's about to fall to pieces. My folks say you're an answer to prayer.”

Ezra glanced at her quickly. His face grew serious. “Well, it's about the best thing that's ever happened to me, Leah. You can't know how different it is to work because you belong instead of just to get out of a beating.”

He looked at the trees surrounding them and cocked his head, seeming to listen to the creek bubbling at their feet, before he said, “I've never had a
home, not a real one anyhow—just living with people, and then the army—and then prison camp.”

“My folks think a lot of you.”

“I never met anyone kinder.”

“They're special, all right.”

“You're sure lucky, Leah, to have good parents like them.”

Leah glanced quickly into his face and saw the honesty there. Honest pain and honest yearning. She was glad she'd helped Ezra escape from Virginia. He had been so sick that she thought he wouldn't live. Now she said quickly, “Well, it's good for everybody.”

Ezra fell in beside her as they walked along the creek, saying nothing for a while. Finally Ezra said, “I'm afraid Jeff doesn't like it too much.”

Leah shot a glance at him. “He'll be all right. Jeff just doesn't warm up to people right away sometimes.”

“I like him fine, but he just doesn't take to me.”

“Jeff's too fast to make up his mind, I think. He does everything quick. He gets mad sometimes, then he's over it in a flash and feels bad about it. Don't worry about it, Ezra.”

They followed the creek for a while as it cut through the valley, then took a game trail across the meadow back toward the lane leading to the farmhouse. As they rounded the last bend, Ezra peered ahead, exclaiming, “Look! There's Jeff now.”

Leah watched Jeff stride toward them down the lane. She could tell at a glance that he was angry. His long legs ate up the distance, and his fists were balled at his sides.

Leah's voice betrayed her worry. “We've been gone longer than I thought, but he shouldn't be
mad. He's the one who wanted to go hunting by himself while it was still dark.” Jeff pointedly ignored Ezra and focused on Leah's face. “I've been looking for you.”

“I'm glad you got back, Jeff. Did you get any rabbits?”

“A few,” he said shortly. “I thought we were going fishing?”

“Oh, Jeff, I didn't think you would be back in time.”

“I was back in plenty of time.”

“Well, it's still not too late.” She rested her hand on his arm. “Let's go later this afternoon when the sun's not so hot. We can catch a few before supper.” Still grasping Jeff's arm, she turned to Ezra. “You can come too, Ezra.”

“No, it's too late now.” Jeff pulled his arm away, turned without another word, and loped down the road.

Leah whispered urgently, “Ezra, he's upset. Let me go talk to him.” She ran quickly and caught up with Jeff, half skipping to keep up with his long strides. “Don't walk so fast,” she pleaded, pulling on his arm to slow his pace.

Jeff paused, his face flushed. His lips were drawn tightly together, and he wouldn't look at her.

Leah bit her lip. She was annoyed. After all, he had been the one to leave and go hunting alone. Now she said sharply, “Jeff, don't be like that. We still have time to go fishing—and we can go run a trotline down by the rocks tonight.”

“No, I guess not.”

“You're just being stubborn.” She pulled him to a stop, and he turned to face her.

What Jeff saw was a young woman of fourteen with green eyes and blonde hair. She was tall for a girl and had sometimes complained that she was as tall as a crane. Jeff noticed that she had filled out a great deal since he had left and had become far more like a young woman than the scrawny girl he had left behind.

He said shortly, “I don't know why you have to spend all your time with him!”

“Jeff, you're just being silly.”

“I don't think it's silly. He's the enemy, Leah. He's fighting for the North.”

“Well, so is Royal, if you'll remember. We've been over all this before. Besides, Ezra's not fighting for anybody now.”

Hot words began to fall from their lips. Both had tempers, and, while they were growing up, more than one fiery argument had separated them for a time. They usually got over it pretty quickly, but this time Jeff refused to be pacified. Finally, he made a big mistake. He blurted out, “You're nothing but a Yankee, Leah Carter!”