A Corner of Heaven by Raine Cantrell

Author:Raine Cantrell
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781626816909
Publisher: Diversion Books
Published: 2015-02-26T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Thanksgiving passed quietly and the prayers continued that winter would come, making movement of the armies impossible. The first day of December saw ice covering the water pitcher in Elizabeth’s room, a bitter wind bearing testimony that hopes could be realized.

A few days later, news came that Fredericksburg was under fire and the night was once more warm. Fear became a daily companion. The Yankees had crossed the river. Rumors flew, battles were won and lost, and there was victory to cheer, defeat to moan.

Colter didn’t come again. But there were mornings when evidence of his stopping, or having sent someone, awaited her. A wooden top with string for Nicole, a leather-bound volume of Tennyson’s poems for Emily, whose reading of “Nothing Will Die” infused them all with hope.

Elizabeth cherished the memory of Rutha’s smile when she would find a packet of cinnamon bark or a length of soft calico. Another time there was real coffee to share, and even Josh was remembered with a finely made knife. For herself, there appeared one morning a brown velvet-and-satin hair bow and much needed gloves of black Marseilles kid, trimmed with an embroidered spray of yellow and brown silk flowers.

Yes, she cherished his thoughtfulness toward all of them, but she longed to see him, for the fear for his safety rose as the weather turned to a springlike warmth. On Monday morning at work, Elizabeth learned that the fighting had taken the lives of General Cobb and countless others. General Hood was severely wounded, but the Yankees had been repulsed.

As she worked, a litany played over and over in her mind. The waiting and waiting without news of Colter was going to drive her mad. She thought of visiting the secretary of war—after all, Colter had claimed friendship with the man—but if her suspicions about Colter were true, no one would tell her anything.

The wounded began to arrive and women were asked to volunteer their time at the hospitals. Elizabeth wanted to give her time, but Emily cautioned against it.

“What if you are recognized? Would you undo all we’ve taken pains to ensure?”

Conceding that she was right, Elizabeth made her excuses and was left with a vague feeling that she had lost the respect of her fellow workers.

News came from General Lee that Burnside had withdrawn to the hills beyond the Rappahannock. Winter brought them a time of peaceful security.

Elizabeth now waited with restless anticipation for Colter to return. Her feelings toward Jenna began to border on mistrust. Twice now, Hugh’s wife had revealed information that Elizabeth knew she could not have gathered from reading a newspaper or hearing talk from their own military. Yet some instinct cautioned her not to reveal what she believed.

Everyone talked about the congressional elections held in October and November, which had increased the Democratic delegation from forty-four to seventy-five, but the Republican majority was saved, to the surprise of many, by the New England and western Mississippi regions. A few days after the battle of

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.