The Black Flower: A Novel of the Civil War by Howard Bahr

Author:Howard Bahr [Bahr, Howard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Historical, General, Literary, War & Military
ISBN: 9781504050524
Google: J0xODwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2018-04-23T22:00:00+00:00

Nebo Gloster had been upstairs in the great brick house for more than an hour, waiting for the man by the hearth to die. Nebo was a little put out—he’d come all this way to find the perfect spot, only to discover that someone was there before him. Still, he could be patient. Pretty soon now that fellow would pass, and when he did, Nebo would be right there.

The man was staring at him, which made Nebo uneasy. He just stared and stared, never even blinking. Nebo smiled back and nodded his head as if to say he was perfectly satisfied crouching there in the corner—he wasn’t interested in a spot by the fire. But the man never blinked or smiled or spoke, just lay there with his arm torn off, staring. He probably knew that Nebo really wanted that place.

There were lots of men in the room. They lay around the walls groaning and talking to themselves; the floor was covered with them too, lying every which way. The only light came from the fire, and that was why Nebo had to get close to it. He needed the light to examine his collection. He wished the man would just go ahead and pass if he was going to. Once he selected a ramrod and crawled over and poked the man just to see what he would do. Nothing. He wasn’t going to give Nebo the time of day.

In the crook of his arm, Nebo cradled the thick bunch of ramrods he had picked up on the battlefield. A pair of shoes were slung around his neck by the laces. He had found a straw hat, too, and a long gray coat with two bars on the collar. He had traded his old quilt to a man for the coat—it was stiff and crusted with blood and had a big ragged hole in the back, but it was warm. Nebo crouched in the corner and watched the man by the fire—he noticed the man’s rib cage was showing, too, just like a side of beef.

After a while, Nebo heard a door open and close. He saw a woman pass across the hall outside; she stopped for a moment and looked right at him, and he shifted uncomfortably and tried to draw back into the shadows. He pulled the straw hat down over his eyes. Then there was a big row out there, and men were shouting and the woman was shouting, and then it was quiet again and Nebo looked and the woman was gone.

The sight of the woman was unsettling; he had not expected to find one up here, and he wondered if it might be a sign. Maybe this wasn’t the right place after all, maybe he would have to go back out in the dark again. He looked at the soldier by the fire, but the man was still staring same as ever. Nebo wondered how he could see out of those eyes. A wasp lit on the man’s cheek, crawled into his open mouth, crawled out again.

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