Tennessee Rose by Jane Kendall

Author:Jane Kendall [Kendall, Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-375-98731-1
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2012-08-07T04:00:00+00:00

He lifted his head, and the light of battle came into his rheumy eyes. Act like the intelligent horse you are and not some foolish human … and never volunteer for anything. Oh, go on now. Get along.

I’ll see you again, I said fondly. Everyone says the war will be over by Christmas.

Humans always say that, he said glumly. It never is.

We were going by train, and it had taken two days to organize the wagons and the horses and the supplies for the trip. We lined up in a long column, the captain at the head. The house servants were on the steps of the Big House, behind the family. Although Lafe was seventeen and old enough to serve in the army, his father had forbidden it. Lafe was to stay home as overseer, and you could tell he was mad as a wet peahen. (“That’s one recipe for a slave rebellion,” Levi had laughed when he heard the news, slapping his thigh in glee.) Miss Minnie was weeping loudly, and Miss Martha-Anne was trying to be brave.

“Oh, Jeff,” she said, reaching up for his hand. “I worry so. Promise you’ll write.”

“Every day, my dear,” he said gallantly, and bent down to kiss her cheek. “Every day.”

Be very careful what you wish for, Fleur once said. It might come true. I had been caught up in all the excitement. I wanted to go to Virginia with the captain because I did long for adventure—and where Levi went, I went. But when we came to the end of the driveway and turned onto the main road, I realized what that meant. It wasn’t just leaving Charger and my sisters and Pearl and Papa. Belle Rivière was all I had ever known, and all my memories of Fleur were there. Then I shook myself hard and picked my feet up. I will not think about the past, I told myself. I will keep my eyes straight ahead and be the best mount I can be.

These pure and noble sentiments lasted until about ten minutes after I was loaded onto the train at Demopolis. If I never go on another train again, I will be one happy Walker. Trains are noisy and smelly, and they bounce and rattle until you think your teeth will shake loose. Clouds of oily black smoke from the engine rolled back over the cars and came in the open windows when we went around curves. But the stalls in the boxcars were roomy and fairly clean, and there was plenty to eat. It was also very interesting to look out the window and watch the little towns and farms sliding by. Alabama and Georgia were much the same, but the hills of Tennessee were beautiful, cool and green and fresh. I was proud that my ancestors had come from such a fine place.

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