Read Online The Last Full Measure by Ann Rinaldi - Free Book Online Page B

that sense David had accused me of not having.
    We all ate quickly, in silence.
    Except for David. He had already been out and about. He told us that the Confederates had erected barricades at the end of the streets and dismantled backyard fences. "Some Rebs have been in houses, demanding to be served breakfast," he said. "If they come in here, we've got to oblige them. Tacy, you stay out of the way. Marvelous, you stay out of sight. No arguments from anybody. Give them what they want and they'll go away. We've got whiskey. Two bottles of it in Pa's study. If they ask for whiskey, give it over. And whatever you do, don't sass them."
    The subject was so solemn, so unreal, that nobody said anything.
    "Now, I'll be here most of the day. I've just got to escort Josie home to see if her mother came through the night all of a piece. Somebody already told me they saw our cow, Daisy, in a field near the railroad. On the way home from dropping Josie off I'm going to try to bring Daisy home, if it is her. The whole business should take me just an hour. Mama and you girls should be fine until then."
    He got up, took his musket and Josie, and they went out the back door. I stood watching. He mounted his horse and helped Josie up behind him. I minded how she put her arms around his waist, hugging him close, and they were off. It wasn't far to her house, but I knew how she would lean her head against his back, how she would enjoy that ride. I wondered,
Would he?
    "It'll be all right," Mama told us. "You finish your breakfast. I'll start to clean up."
    But before we finished, she was sitting down again. Turned out she had a terrible headache. "The shelling kept me awake all night," she said.
    Marvelous and I brought her mattress and bedding upstairs to her bedroom and fixed things up proper-like for her, and in no time she was asleep. Then we crept down and finished cleaning up from breakfast.
    Within ten minutes there was a knocking on the back door. Marvelous and I looked at each other. "Go hide," I told her.
    "Likely it's my mama," she said. "She told me she might be by this morning if the shells didn't kill them all."
    "No, go hide!" I insisted, as I ran to the door.
    I opened it. Three Rebs stood there. Two privates and one lieutenant. "We need some breakfast, miss," the lieutenant said. "Can we come in?"
    Well, you're in already
, I wanted to say. Then I minded what David had told us about not sassing them. I backed off and they stood in our kitchen, holding rifles. Their uniforms were dusty, buttons hanging off, sleeves ripped, pants ragged.
    "Smells good in here," one of the privates said. "I smell bacon."
    "Looks good, too," the other private added. He was eyeing me.
    Then they sighted Marvelous standing a little aside near the corner window in the kitchen.
    The private who said he smelled bacon stepped forward. "Well, well—what we got here? This the downstairs gal?"
    "All right," said the lieutenant, "take off your hats and act like gentlemen."
    They did so.
    "I'm Lieutenant Gregory Lewis Marshall of the Forty-fifth Georgia," he introduced himself. "This is Private Joel Walker and Private John Calhoun."
    They gave half bows, as if they were at a formal dance, then sat at the kitchen table. I started to make breakfast while Marvelous poured hot coffee and got out the cream. The two privates could not keep their eyes off her.
    In no time at all I had eggs, bacon, bread, cheese, butter, and jelly in front of them. They ate ravenously. I had to make three portions of eggs.
    In between bites, they asked me who else lived in the house. I told them.
    "My mama. She's upstairs sleeping. The shelling kept her awake all last night. My brother David. He's off trying to get back our cow. Somebody stole her."
    How old was David, they wanted to know. Then, why wasn't he in the army? And where was my father?
    I answered all their questions. Were there any other menfolk in the family? I said yes, two other brothers who were with the Second