Wild, Beautiful, and Free by Sophfronia Scott

Author:Sophfronia Scott [Scott, Sophfronia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Historical, Civil War Era, African American & Black
ISBN: 9781542036061
Google: XpEMzwEACAAJ
Amazon: B09Y5HYBV6
Published: 2023-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Missus Livingston had been wrong about how long our visitors would remain. They slept only two nights at Fortitude. Each family had its own home to look after, duties to prepare for. But this didn’t mean they would be long absent from Mr. Colchester. There was much coming and going by the men, who would hole up in Mr. Colchester’s study for hours. When the women visited, I took care to be elsewhere. But this was easy to do. By April Lower Knoll was likewise busy, with the factory in full swing and the adults working in shifts around the clock. Every hand was needed. Even the smallest child could sort buttons or sweep a floor. I insisted my students spend something of every day, if not a proper school day, reading and practicing their lessons. However the world was changing, they would need some education—would need it more than ever. I stayed at the school so the children could come in when they were free. I asked for permission to take a screen from the mansion to be placed in a corner of the schoolroom. I put a cot behind it and took naps.

So much movement—so much life. In ordinary circumstances I would have described these days as merry. Fortitude was no longer quiet, no longer yawned with emptiness. But one day this activity was broken and silenced. I had gone up to the mansion to pack a basket of food for myself to take back to the school for dinner. I moved through the dining room and found Missus Livingston there along with Colonel Eshton, Mr. Colchester, and some of the servants. I was shocked by the sight because I’d heard no voices, nothing to signal the room was occupied. The colonel was in uniform and wore a saber at his side. Mr. Colchester paced the floor with his arms crossed, his brow clouded with thought.

“Come in, dear,” Missus Livingston said when she saw me.

“What has happened?”

“Fort Sumter has been fired upon. The president is calling for a militia to stop the insurrection.”

“Fort Sumter?”

“Yes. In South Carolina.”

South Carolina—the place where I’d feared to draw breath when Silas and I had traveled through its boundaries. This is the place, I thought. Here is where it begins.

“We must protect Washington, DC, and secure as much of Virginia as might be possible,” said Colonel Eshton. “I will rally troops at the river and hope to march east by the end of the month.”

“I will see what men can be spared here and join you at camp by June at the earliest.”

The colonel looked confused. He took Mr. Colchester by the elbow and moved him closer to the wall. He whispered, but I could hear his words.

“Christian, leave the men of Lower Knoll where they are. They are more valuable to the cause in the factory. The president didn’t say anything about the coloreds fighting.”

Mr. Colchester pulled away from him, glanced at us, then threw open the doors and headed for his study.

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