“So much so that his wife, Hera, in a fit of jealous rage, made Lamia devour her own children, and then transformed her into a hideous monster.”
“Did Mavis’s family deal with you fairly?”
The change in conversation made Sable look up at
him. The genuine concern in his soft voice made it easy to answer truthfully. “Mavis and her brother Andrew did, but not their mother. She didn’t care for me, but then I never cared for her either.”
“But you care for the little boy in there.” He gestured toward the tent.
“During the last few days, I’ve learned what it is to be alone in the world. It’s scary enough for me, a woman full grown. It must be even more terrifying for a child.” She spoke from her heart. “Thank you for feeding him.”
He inclined his head. “My pleasure. The camp has a good number of orphans and lost children. Not all are fortunate enough to find someone to care for them.”
“What happens to them?”
“The lucky ones are taken into another family. Some are left to fend for themselves and live on handouts or stolen goods. Others die from starvation or sickness.”
Sable did not want that to happen to Patrick. He was too sweet a child.
Back in the tent, Sable watched him sleep. He looked as if he hadn’t a care in the world. “I don’t wish to disturb him, but we should be going. Mrs. Reese is probably wondering if she’ll have to find a replacement to do my work tomorrow.”
“You don’t have to move him. There appears to be room for both of you on the cot. I can send Andre over to let her know what has happened and that you’ll return later in the morning.”
Sable shook her head. “I can’t possibly impose. Besides, I’ve already forfeited half a day’s wages. She won’t be pleased to have me gone any longer than is necessary.”
“Well, you certainly can’t carry him all the way to the river, not at night. If you leave him here, I won’t mind, but how will I explain your absence when he wakes up? He seems very attached to you.”
Sable admitted he had a point. Patrick had been a very
scared and sad little boy when they’d met that morning. She didn’t want him to suffer the same fear upon awaking and finding himself alone among strangers again. “And where will you sleep?” she asked.
“Outside beneath the stars. I’m accustomed to it.”
Sable still had doubts about the offer. Suppose Mrs. Reese saw fit to discharge her for being unreliable? After all, she’d been on the job for less than a week. “I don’t wish to lose my position, nor do I want to add to Patrick’s anxiety.”
“Stay then,” Raimond implored softly. “I will speak to Mrs. Reese. If she’s set upon replacing you, we’ll simply find you employment elsewhere.”
A final glance at Patrick sealed Sable’s decision. “I’ll stay with the boy.”
Much later, as Sable and Patrick slept side by side on the old cot in the corner of the tent, Andre gave his report to Raimond outside. He’d spoken with Mrs. Reese. She would hold Sable’s job for only one more day. After that there’d be no guarantee.
Raimond dismissed the man with his thanks. Raimond was pleased she’d not been discharged, but a selfish part of himself wanted to know more about the contraband with the sea-green eyes, and he could hardly do that if she were working the laundry detail on the far side of camp. Had she been discharged, he could have used his influence to secure her a position much closer, and in that way learn all he wanted at his leisure.
The next morning, Sable was pleased to learn she’d not been given the boot by Mrs. Reese. As she thanked Raimond for sending Andre to speak with her, Patrick awakened and gave her a sleepy smile. It lit up her heart, his smile. If she had to move heaven and earth she’d find a way to get him back where he belonged.
Raimond took the boy outside so he could satisfy his morning needs. While Sable sat on the cot awaiting their return, Andre entered carrying a tray filled with more
dented pots and pans. He set it down, nodded, and exited.
Patrick ran in with the major growling and lumbering after him like a bear. He caught up with the boy and swept him into his strong arms. Patrick giggled with delight.
Breakfast consisted of eggs, ham, grits, and light, flaky biscuits.
“Where on earth did you get flour for biscuits?” Sable asked.
“My cook.”
“We haven’t been able to afford flour for years. It must have been very expensive.”
He didn’t answer. Instead he reached over and gave Patrick another helping of ham.
Sable felt as if she’d made some gaffe. Should she not have asked where the flour had come from?
Raimond finally explained, “War’s on. Anything can be purchased if you know where to look and have the coin.”
From his reaction, she thought it best that they discuss something else. The “something else” came with the entrance of the very efficient Andre. Trailing the aide was Avery Cole, the man she and Patrick had met last night at the Message Tree.
Raimond softly excused himself from the table and stood to greet them. Sable noticed Avery observing her before he quickly resettled his eyes on the major.
Andre said, “Major, this man wishes to speak with Miss Fontaine.”
Raimond held her eyes for a moment, then turned back. “What about?”
Avery appeared very uncomfortable and Sable had no problem seeing why. The major’s manner had cooled noticeably.
Avery replied with equal coolness. “I’d like to ask Miss Fontaine if she’d help a friend of mine.”
Sable stood up. “Good morning, Avery. How may I help?”
“My friend Edward needs help writing a letter to his wife back home. I was wondering if you maybe have some time for him.”
She nodded, then looked down at Patrick, wondering if she should take him with her.
“Leave the boy with me,” Raimond instructed, still sizing up Avery. “I’ll keep an eye on him until your return.”
Sable asked Patrick if he minded staying with the major. He smiled at his tall new friend and said no. She thanked LeVeq and followed Avery out.
Avery escorted her to a tent not far away. Sable met Edward, who smiled and said, “Avery told me you were pretty, but he didn’t say how pretty.”
Sable accepted the compliment with a smile. Edward’s letter took only a few moments. He dictated what he wanted to say and she put down the words. His wife couldn’t read either, but she had a kind mistress who would read it to her. Sable addressed the letter per his instructions and handed it over. When she finished, some of the onlookers who had gathered to watch stepped forward and asked if she could write letters for them too.
Sable agreed. A couple of the men who were soldiers actually paid her three cents apiece for the letters she wrote. By noon she’d written almost fifteen letters for various individuals and had pocketed more than enough to make up for the money she’d lost by not doing laundry.
Today was the day Avery hoped to be reunited with his wife. He was very excited at the prospect of seeing her and his young son again, but he was enough of a gentleman to escort Sable back to the major’s tent.
On the way there, he said, “You’ve found a good protector.”
At Sable’s look of confusion, he explained, “The major, he’s a good man, I hear.”
Sable laughed. “He isn’t my protector. He’s simply helping me find Patrick’s family.”
Avery didn’t respond.
She peered into his face. “What?”
“Nothing. It’s just…well, he seemed to be more than a good Samaritan, that’s all.”
“Why, because we were having breakfast? He was just making sure Patrick ate well, that’s all.”
A small smile crossed Avery’s face, as if he knew something she did not, but he kept his thoughts to himself.
As they approached the tent, he said, “Here we are, safe and sound. Thanks again for all you’ve done. I can’t wait to hold my wife and son. Good-bye, Miss Fontaine.”
Sable echoed his farewell and entered the tent.
Inside she found only Andre.
He stood at her entrance. “The major and Patrick have gone to headquarters in Atlanta and should be returning later. He asked me to stop in and see if you need anything. Would you care for luncheon, Miss Fontaine?”
Sable chuckled at his formal manner. “No. Breakfast will hold me for most of the day, I’m sure.”
He nodded his understanding.
“I’ll wait to dine with Patrick and the major. Have you known the major long?”
“Most of my life.”
“I see,” she said. After Avery’s startling comments, it might be prudent to know more about the free Black Frenchman, but if Andre Renaud had known Raimond LeVeq all his life, she doubted he would give her a true picture of his character.
She told Andre instead, “There’s really nothing I need, so if you have things to do, feel free to go about them.”
He bowed as gracefully as the major and departed.
LeVeq and Patrick returned less than thirty minutes
later, accompanied by a man Sable did not recognize, holding Patrick’s hand. All three males appeared quite pleased with themselves.
The major made the introductions. “Miss Sable Fontaine, Mr. Benjamin Walls—Patrick’s uncle. We found him working for a regiment in Atlanta.”
Sable’s dismay at the prospect of losing Patrick to his family caught her by surprise. Hoping her brittle smile hid her true feelings, she said, “Pleased to meet you, Mr. Walls.”
“Are you the one who found Patrick?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Thank you so much. We were on a gunboat coming from downriver and when we docked and got off, Patrick was nowhere to be found. I was frantic, have been ever since. He’s my baby sister’s oldest boy. She died in childbirth about a year ago. I’m raising Patrick as my own.”
He looked down at his nephew with unabashed love. “Next time we’re traveling together I’ll tie him to my belt. I couldn’t bear losing him again.”
Patrick had such joy in his face as he watched his uncle speaking, Sable knew the child had genuine feelings for his Uncle Benjamin too.
Still, it saddened her to lose him, even though she had no real claim and had known the boy only a short while. She would probably never see him again.
Ben Walls continued, “Thank you so much for caring for him. If you hadn’t helped, I maybe never would have found him. Thank you.”
Sable nodded. Patrick came over and gave her a big hug. A few moments later he and his uncle left.
The silence in the tent seemed to echo loudly once they were gone, and the tears standing in Sable’s eyes made Raimond want to pull her into his arms and give her solace.
She stated softly, “He is better off with family.”
“Yes, he is.”
“I…need to go back to the laundry before Mrs. Reese thinks I’ve deserted her. Thank you for everything.”
She dashed away her unshed tears and started toward the tent’s open flap.
His voice stopped her. “You can still stay and have luncheon.”
She shook her head no.
“Then come back for dinner.”
Sable looked up into his concerned gaze. “I’ll think about it.”
As a slightly despondent Sable made her way back across camp, she gave the major’s invitation little more than a fleeting thought. War was on. Next year at this time he wouldn’t even remember her name.
M
rs. Reese and the other laundresses greeted Sable’s return warmly. Everyone was happy to hear Patrick had been reunited with his family, and once Sable finished the story, she dove back into her share of the work.
That evening, much to Sable’s surprise, Avery Cole showed up to pay her a visit. With him were his wife Salome and his year-old son Avery the Younger.
Salome had tears in her eyes. “I’m so grateful to you, I can’t find the words. If you hadn’t been there to read my words to Avery…”
She gave Sable a long hug while Avery, holding the baby, looked on approvingly. Sable had tears in her own eyes too. The woman’s sincerity touched her heart.
Avery said, “You know, I’ve been telling folks about you writing that letter for Edward and they all want to know if you’ll do the same for them. There are a lot of people who’d write home if they had somebody to pen the letter. Do you think you could find the time?”
Sable thought it over. “I can, but it will have to be after I’m done with my day here.”
“I’m sure that will suit them fine.”
“All right then. Just have them meet me here at the end of the day and I’ll do what I can.”
Salome said, “You shouldn’t do it for free though,
Sable. You will need every penny you can earn for your future.”
Sable agreed wholeheartedly. She decided the rate would be two pennies for composing and one for reading. Both Avery and Salome thought the rates were fair and promised to spread the word.
By week’s end, Sable’s writing and reading were proving almost as profitable as her laundry job. There were so many requests, Bridget and Mrs. Reese added their skills to the operation. One evening a soldier’s request for a letter to his motherless son back home in Ohio made Sable think about Patrick as she lay on her cot that night. She’d been so busy juggling laundry and letter writing, she hadn’t had an opportunity to inquire if he and his uncle were still in camp. Patrick’s Uncle Benjamin appeared to genuinely care for the little boy, and she was certain Patrick would be well cared for.
She’d always had a soft spot for children. Were times and the world different, she might be married now with a passel of her own to love, but as it stood, slavery had robbed her of that hope. Although she was now free, she would be thirty years of age in November. By all accounts, that made her too old for a respectable man to marry and far beyond child-bearing years. Privately, she considered herself more than capable of loving a husband and bringing their children into the world, but having been a slave, she knew how powerful social constraints could be.
She shrugged off her melancholy and tried to sleep, but her snoring tent mates kept her awake. In another few weeks, she might save enough money to buy a tent of her own, but until then, she’d have to endure the communal living. Eventually she hoped to leave the camp and make her way North or South, or wherever the Old Queens led. Surely, now that slavery was in its death throes, there would be opportunities for a woman like her, who could teach, be a governess, or run a business like the free Blacks she’d met here. She’d even be
a laundress if she had to, but she had to get out of the camp.