“No, I will give her that chance.”
Reid looked over his shoulder. “That is truly noble of you, son.”
“I know you are just being scratchy, but this is serious.”
“Scratchy?”
“Yup. You know, saying something just to poke at a people.” He made a strange noise and twisted his fingers.
“Do you mean rub it in?”
“That’s it! Abbie might be a little mad with me to start, but then she’ll be all happy to see me. I bet even the lieutenant will be.”
“If you believe it. I will like meeting this man traveling around with my sister.” Reid felt a nudge at his side and looked down to see a red curly head peering around his arm, big brown eyes narrowed as the boy tried to detect a lie or insult.
“You know you really shouldn’t have made me take you along with me.”
“Why? You’re going to find Abbie and I know where she was going and I want to see her, too.”
“Logic from a four-year-old. What is the world coming to?”
“I’m five.”
“So old.”
“It is my birthday today.”
“Happy birthday.” He pulled a stick of beef jerky out of his coat and handed it over his shoulder to the child. “Here you go. A treat.”
“It’s brown. Treats aren’t s’posed to be brown. ’Less it’s chocolate.”
“This one is brown.”
There was peace and quiet for a moment or two and Reid smiled. He suspected the boy was struggling to eat it but he paid no attention. He had little to do with children but he did not think they were supposed to talk so much. He had to wonder if he was being lied to, but the child had been so determined, following him for a long way with his bag and his puppy, that he had finally given up trying to make him go away. It did not help that he could not make himself desert the boy.
He thought of Abbie and smiled. She may not have promised she would take him in but he doubted she would send the child away either. She had a soft heart. He rather thought the two of them would make a great pair. He hoped she was still all right.
Thinking of her made him think of his parents but he forced the sadness that brought aside. There had been nothing he could have done about it except grieve, and he had done enough of that lately. All he had to worry about now was that he was not found by the Confederate Army, for they could well charge him with being a deserter. The fate of such men was not one he wished to meet.
* * *
Abbie looked around when they stepped back out onto the street. They had each bought a few small things and enough material to make something for the babies. The cloth was the most expensive, and she suspected it would be costly for quite a while. Matthew said they had yarn made from the wool so she might be able to get some of that to make something.
She stroked Jeremiah’s back as she walked, noticing that, although there were not many people, at least the town was not completely deserted. She did not think it would come back to what it appeared to have been though. There were some messages and grim notices hanging on a few of the houses. Notes to whatever relative might come by to tell them where the family was or a death notice, probably put up so the person searching would know there was no more point in doing so. She thought of the message she had left for her brother and hoped he would see it. He would at least find out that she still lived.
“I rather think this town is going to die, don’t you?”
“I do. I was just reading a few of these papers tacked up on some of the houses. They are not hopeful. Not a single one saying, ‘Wait here. I will come back.’ New directions or death notices. Mostly for young men. That is one of the saddest things about wars. I have read a lot about wars, from the ancient wars to the English wars, to the Greek wars, and they all share one thing. War devours the young and strong.”
“It does, doesn’t it? It is as if someone decides we are getting too many and starts one of these to cut down the numbers.”
“I really hope that is not the case. It is darker and holds less hope than what I said. My dark remark was just a cold fact whereas yours is almost a prophecy.”
“I’m English.”
“Yes, I noticed. What does that have to do with it?”
“We are a naturally dour people.”
