Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt

Author:Irene Hunt
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Penguin USA, Inc.
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

7

Men from all over the county came to Matt Creighton’s aid that spring. From as far away as Newton, Ross Milton and Sam Gardiner were able to collect enough for a set of double harness and a wagon; one man brought over a plow; others brought in loads of grain and hay for summer feeding. They cleaned his well, and more than a dozen offered a day’s work in the fields whenever they had time to spare it. Immediate neighbors gave Matt their promise of raising a new barn as soon as the pressure of summer work had eased a little, and a dozen men from other communities volunteered their services in the project.

The great mound of ashes in the barnlot was soon beaten into a hard-packed mass by driving rain and the heat of spring and early summer. Jethro became used to the sight of it after a while, but he could not become used to the fear that lived with him every night during the early weeks of that summer. One of Ed Turner’s boys brought over a dog to take the place of the shepherd that was never found. It was a huge dog, as fierce looking as a wolf, but soon devoted to Jethro after young Sam Turner had taught the boy how to become the dog’s master. It brought some comfort to every member of the family to know that the big animal lay stretched at the foot of Jethro’s bed, his sharp ears alert to every sound outside the cabin. But from Matt down to John’s youngest boy there was a nagging fear that even the presence of the dog did not dispel altogether, an anxiety that lurked in the backs of their minds by day and came out boldly in the night.

More and more stories of Shiloh came through to the county as Illinois boys who had been wounded in the battle began pouring into Cairo, Illinois, during the months of May and June. George Lawrence from over near Grandville heard that his youngest son had arrived in the river town, and he made the long trip by wagon to bring the wounded boy back home. It was Dan Lawrence who brought news of Tom Creighton.

Israel Thomas and his son-in-law had volunteered a day’s work in Matt’s fields the day George Lawrence brought his boy over to the farm. They stopped their horses at the end of the furrow and went out to the road to talk to the two in the wagon; later they called to Jethro asking him to tell Ellen that they would not be up to dinner that day; they would work straight through the noon hour and go home a little early.

Dan Lawrence was not yet twenty; he was still weak from his wounds and loss of blood, still under the cloud of a horror that only subsequent horrors could make him forget. He walked slowly with his father’s help up the path to the cabin where Matt

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.