The Face of Heaven (25 page)

“I understand,” she replied. “Would you rather we did away with these walks altogether?”

“Oh,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t feel
that
guilty, Miss Keim. I guess if they could, my men would do the same as I’m doing right now, so I’m not ready to let go of you just yet.”

“I’m glad. According to Hiram we may have little enough time left together as it is.”

Nathaniel made a face. “What’s his latest theory?”

“Pouting makes you less handsome,” she teased.

“Does he have us on the march by the end of the week?”

“It’s Friday now. That would be short notice indeed. He believes your brigade will receive substantial reinforcements in a few days and that you’ll be back in Virginia by early November.”

“Under McClellan?”

She picked up a long stick and pretended for a few moments that
she was moving cattle, swishing it about in the air. “Well, for all the affection the men hold for the general, it’s not generally shared by those in the capital, according to Hiram. Congress feels he should have gone after Lee the day following the battle and torn the Army of Northern Virginia to pieces. It might have ended the war then.”

“It certainly would have killed more men.”

Lyndel’s look darkened with the sunset. “I know. It’s so easy to talk when you’re seated in a warm room far from the shellfire. But Hiram’s sources tell him that if McClellan continues to find excuses not to pursue Lee’s army it will be his undoing. Hooker or Burnside may be given orders to take his place.”

“Hooker or Burnside?”

“I don’t mean to upset you. Let’s talk about something else. What did your men think of Mr. Lincoln’s visit today?”

“It was better than the one yesterday when he didn’t show up,” Nathaniel said. “They’re not much for standing out in the hot sun like blades of grass. But they allow as Lincoln is one of us since he wears a tall black hat.”

Lyndel laughed and Nathaniel took pleasure in seeing her eyes shine. So often her eyes were tinged with the pain of those who tend the dead and the dying.

“Mail came today,” Nathaniel mentioned as they continued to stroll, horses and soldiers moving by on either side of them. “Did you hear anything from your mother or father?”

“I wrote them and sent it off. But I don’t know why I bother, Nathaniel. They’re not talking to me.”

“You think they’ve shunned you and your brother?”

“Levi has taken up arms. He has fought in a battle and killed other men. Most certainly he is shunned.”

“But you—”

“I’m a nurse who contributes to the war, you know that. I help nurture men back to health and some of them return to their units to fight.”

“I suppose your being with me has something to do with their silence.”

Lyndel swung her stick back and forth. “You’ve been shunned for almost a year and I’m speaking with you and…consorting with you. Most certainly that’s another good reason for Bishop Keim to enforce the
Meidung.
”

“Still, they might have sent you a letter to explain their thinking rather than leave you in the dark.”

Lyndel made a final swipe and tossed her stick to the side of the road. “
Ja.
”

Nathaniel coughed. “Here come the other lovebirds. It looks like they might have walked clear to the Pennsylvania border and back.”

Lyndel squinted. “How can you tell who that is? It just looks like two black specks to me. You must have the eyes of a falcon.”

“Hiram has a particular swagger.”

It was indeed Hiram and Morganne. Once the two couples came within greeting distance of one another, Morganne began to talk rapidly, her face a mixture of pleasure and annoyance. “Hiram has been relating to me the most astonishing things.”

Nathaniel smiled. “If he didn’t, you would soon realize Hiram Wright wasn’t the man courting you.”

Morganne’s blue eyes narrowed. “No one is being courted, Nathaniel King. However I am being dazzled and bewildered. Mr. Wright here claims General McClellan is against emancipation of the slaves. That he said he would turn runaway slaves around and send them back to their rightful owners.”

Hiram shrugged. “Anyone who covers Washington politics knows that. The general believes slavery’s a constitutional right. Our constitution, not just Jeff Davis’s. Lincoln felt the same way until this past summer.”

Morganne folded her arms over her chest. “You see?”

“Go read his speeches in the papers. Plain as day, the president said if he could preserve the Union without ending slavery he would do it and had no intention of interfering with it.”

Lyndel saw that Nathaniel’s face looked very sharp-edged. “Why did he change his mind then?”

“Our losses in Virginia,” replied Hiram. “He realizes it’s going to
be hard to defeat the rebellion. So freeing the slaves in the Confederate states is a blow against the South’s culture and its cotton industry. It also alienates France and Britain from the Confederacy. Lincoln is a good man, Nathaniel, but he’s a politician and a war president and his priority is to win the war and save the Union. I honestly don’t know how much he cares for the plight of the slave apart from that.”

“Only God knows the heart of a man, Hiram. I doubt President Lincoln knows himself what he really believes about all the matters at hand. But if what you say is true, I will pray he changes his mind one more time.”

Hiram shook his head. “So he can be like your Amish platoon? A lot of the Northern boys don’t think much of the African race, Nathaniel.”

“I’ve heard the talk,” Nathaniel replied. “That too can change just as the president can change.”

Hiram had a look of disgust on his face. “With prayers and hymn singing?”

Nathaniel’s face was cold. “Yes.”

“I wish,” Lyndel quickly interrupted, “this had all been dealt with in 1776.”

Hiram, aware he had offended Nathaniel, awkwardly put his hands in his pockets and looked away from his friend to Lyndel. “It was. Thomas Jefferson put the clause in the Declaration of Independence. Or perhaps Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine worked hard to make sure it was there. It doesn’t matter. A lot of American patriots wanted a clean start for our country when it came to slavery. But South Carolina and Georgia wouldn’t join the Union against Great Britain unless slavery in the colonies was retained. So the Declaration was mangled for their sakes. The Continental Congress never even knew about the antislavery cause, they never debated it, they never put it to the vote.”

“So then we’re fighting a second revolution to correct the errors of the first,” Nathaniel said. “Whether Abraham Lincoln is aware of it yet or not, the day will come when he’ll know the truth of this in his heart and soul. You talk about McClellan saying he would return all runaway slaves to their rightful owner? Good. Their rightful owner is
God. That’s what me and my Amish platoon are fighting for, Hiram. But you’re mistaken if you think we’re the only ones.”

He moved ahead along the turnpike and Lyndel rushed to keep up with his long strides.

“I hope you’re not angry with me,” she said.

“Why should I be angry with you? Hiram fills his head with too many words and arguments. He’s smart about some things but not so smart about others. And he always leaves God out of it. As if anything worthwhile is going to happen without prayer and faith.” He suddenly stopped walking and looked at Lyndel. “I’m sorry. Fifteen minutes ago the only thing that was in my head was wanting to ask if you would be coming with the brigade when we march.”

Lyndel put her hand on his arm. “When the surgeons pack up I pack up too. We may not leave on the very same day, Nathaniel, but the doctors and ambulance corps will not be far behind the army. And neither will I.”

“I love you, Lyndel Keim. You know that?”

“
Ja
, I know it.”

He put his arms around her. “Hiram told me we would be on our way to Virginia before the end of the month. But I’d like more time here with you. Perhaps he’s wrong about the marching just as he’s wrong about how many of us are fighting for a nation free of slavery and slaveholders.”

But Hiram wasn’t wrong about the brigade’s marching orders. They moved out of their bivouac on October 20th and left the cornfield and the Dunker Church and Dave Miller’s farm behind them, slogging through torrents of rain and days of heat, until they crossed into Virginia on the 30th of October, a new regiment of recruits marching with them, the 24th Michigan. Not long after, Lyndel, Morganne, Hiram, and the ambulance corps followed the brigade along the same muddy roads, Lyndel parting company with her friends for a night and taking a wagon into Washington to gather fresh supplies.

Her old residence was quiet but the butler knew her well and let her in. He said the Palmer family had retired but that her room was
always left clean and ready should she come in from the battlefront and require it. Smiling her thanks, Lyndel walked softly up the curving staircase to the second floor carrying a candle he offered her. Opening the door to her room she was startled to see a lamp lit on a table and make out a figure seated in a chair.

“Who are you, sir?” she demanded.

The man turned up the lamp so that she could clearly see his face.

“Have you and I changed so much in one year,” he said, “that you no longer know your own father?”

15

T
hey held each other tightly. Lyndel felt tears come quickly, as did her father. His hug almost made her bones crack, but to her it was a welcome sensation.

Over and over again he spoke in Pennsylvania Dutch of how much he loved her and how Lyndel’s mother pined for her and her brother Levi.

“Papa.” Lyndel smiled as her eyes continued to fill. “It’s so good to see you. But it’s such a long journey for you.”

Bishop Keim stepped back and used his handkerchief to wipe at his face. “I’ve been in Washington a week. I knew the army was on the march and I hoped I might catch you here. I pestered them at the Armory Square Hospital until they told me where your lodgings were. Your hosts have been good enough to give me a room. I was standing at my window when I saw you come up the drive in the wagon.” He stopped to smile again, then added, “I quickly came up here to surprise you.”

“You certainly did that, Papa.”

“I knew I wouldn’t be able to see Levi but I thank God he has brought us together.”

“
Ja. Gelobt sei Gott.
”

He nodded and put the handkerchief away in a pocket. “Your mother and I have been praying about this trip for weeks. You might have carried on with the army and gone into Virginia but God has
arranged for you to be here.” He paused. “I have come to bring you home.”

Lyndel stared at him. “What did you say?”

“If I could bring Levi with us I would, but he has enlisted. You have not. You have done your best to alleviate others’ suffering. It is enough now. You are only making the war worse. It is time to return to Pennsylvania.”

Lyndel felt a sharp cut inside. “I’m not making the war worse, Papa.”

“Of course you are. You patch them up. They return to their regiments,
ja
? Fight again. Kill again.”

“Many of them go home to their families.”

He lowered his voice. “Let us speak softly. Our hosts are asleep. Your mother and I have discussed this. Asked of the Lord. It is prayer that brought me here.”

“Papa. It is prayer that brought me here as well.”

“Please pack your things. There is a train to Harrisburg in a few hours.”

“I hope you are not serious about this.”

“
Ja
, I am serious. Why would I travel all this way and leave your mother, who is already alone enough?”

“But—I am of age now—and doing what I feel the Lord wishes me to do—the surgeons and the other nurses count on me—there will be more fighting—more wounded.”

He folded his hands in front of him. “
Ja.
And more fighting and more fighting. The conflict will drag on for years. Why did any of us expect it to be over in a few months? These are Americans battling Americans. Neither side will easily surrender. Never.”