Chapter 21: Climax

As Mr. French's buggy topped the hill near the Bethesda Meeting House, Seth looked back, but Jefferson was not in sight. He probably took that shortcut that fords the creek, thought the boy.

Mr. French had been full of questions, but Seth had been more interested in looking at the damage done along the Pike by the retreating troops. The fences were gone and so were the flocks of chickens. The blacksmith shop where Jefferson had sought information on the way into town was closed and the forge dark and cold.

Seth saw a few shell holes and several freshly dug graves near the road. Small groups of black soldiers wearing white rags around their mouths and noses were collecting bodies and digging graves. The front door of the old church hung by a single hinge. Scraps of torn clothing, broken pottery and empty picture frames littered the roadside ditches.

When they passed the place where Seth had scratched a map in the dirt, the boy looked for the hidden carbine, but he did not want to ask Mr. French to stop. Just down the hill was home. It was still there.

He relaxed and smiled.

They drove into the back yard scattering ducks and geese, a sign that his place had been spared by marauding bands of Confederates. The boy was surprised that neither Caroline nor his sister ran to meet them. Probably in the shady parlor playing dolls or something dumb like that, he thought. Seth felt disappointment; he had expected something like a hero's welcome. His mother broke into tears and grabbed him into her arms as he came into the kitchen. He hugged her back and then squirmed away.

"I'm fine, Momma, honest. It's all right. Why're you cryin'?"

Seth's mother mopped her eyes and went out into the yard, still wiping her face on her apron. Mr. French stepped down from his rig to meet her.

"Thank you for bringing my boy home, Mr. French. I'm obliged." She squeezed his hand in both of hers, and he gave her a courtly bow. "Your daughter is over at my brother-in-law's store, and Annie is with her. Caroline was real anxious about you getting home." Seth's mother turned back toward her son. "Why didn't you tell me about that soldier, Seth?" she asked sharply.

"Knew you'd worry," the boy answered. "Why'd old Caroline have to go and tell? Jefferson's gone to see about him. He's likely not there anyway."

"I 'spect the boy's right, Mrs. Williams. It appears that all the Confederates have fled," said Mr. French.

"I'll go across the field, Mr. French," Seth said, "and you can bring the buggy around." Seth kissed his mother quickly and trotted off toward the store.

"Let me get you a glass of cool water, Mr. French. It certainly has been a hot spell, hasn't it?" said Seth's mother.

"Tell her I'll be there directly," Caroline's father called to Seth's back. "I'd surely appreciate that, Mrs. Williams. Seth's been telling me of all his adventures on our way out the Pike. Not sure if I can make heads or tails of it."

"Those folks has had enough trouble," said Luke Williams to the ragged man with the shotgun. "You ought'a leave 'em alone. Let 'em be. Head for the river."

Caroline and Annie had moved farther down the hedge until they were behind the cavalryman, near the break in the heavy shrubbery where the stone walk to the house cut through.

"Looks like you done had a mite a'trouble yourself, Brother Williams," Wainder drawled. "Now, if'n you don' want more, you jes' stay out'a this. That damn boy made a fool a'me, an' that nigra tried to kill me." He laughed, a choking cackle. "Gonna pay 'em back, yessir."

As Seth approached what was left of his uncle's store from the pasture, he could see his shirtless cousins standing together on its far side, watching something. For some reason, they looked kind of strange, frozen. The boy could not figure out what they were doing or what was going on. He started to yell out a greeting but then decided not to. He walked to the charred front of the store so that he could see what they were staring at.