Taking the child, Abbie held him cradled in one arm and sat on the edge of the bed to clasp Julia’s cold hand. “The doctor said you were anxious to talk to me.”
“Yes. I know I am dying and there is something I have to settle before I go join my Robert.” She shook her head when Abbie started to speak. “No, I know the truth, Abbie. The doctor was very kind, but he did not try to hide the truth from me. I want you to raise my boy. Take him. He will be an orphan soon. You will do that, won’t you?”
Abbie did not know what to say. She was a young, unmarried woman. How could she raise a child? She did not even have a place to live.
“Abbie, promise me. Promise me you will care for my boy.”
“As best I can, Julia,” she finally said, prompted by the woman’s growing agitation.
“Thank you. It makes it easier to let go. The address for his family is in with my things so maybe you could send them word?”
“I will. Do not worry on that.”
“Good. They lost their son and may be pleased to know he lives on in his boy.” She struggled to reach out and was finally able to smooth her hand over her baby’s head. “Be a good boy for Abbie.”
Julia closed her eyes before Abbie could say anything more. It was a huge responsibility Julia was setting in her lap. Abigail had no idea how she was supposed to take care of a newborn. The woman’s hand slipped off the child and when Abigail looked back at Julia’s face, she sighed. There was no arguing the matter now. The woman was very close to dying. Abbie sat watch and a few minutes later she knew her friend was gone.
Getting up, she turned toward the women and saw them all watching her. “We best prepare her for burial now.”
Maude walked over and looked at the baby. “How are you going to care for a child?”
“I have no idea, but it was what she wanted. Her dying wish, if you will, so how can I do anything but what she asked? Now is not the time to think on it though.”
“No, it isn’t.” Maude looked back at the other women. “Come along, ladies. Let us get her ready. Never seen a woman so eager to join her husband.”
Neither had Abigail. She could not help but wonder if that need to be with Robert had aided in Julia’s death. The woman had not really had any great need to stay alive, had no fight in her. Not even her child had changed her mind as Abbie had hoped it would.
When it was finally safe again and time to take Julia to the graveyard, Abbie briefly wished they had a minister, but the man had fled to save his own skin. Wrapping the child up warmly, she followed the women out to the graveyard, Maude and Rose carrying Julia’s body. She gave a start when she saw two soldiers finishing the digging of a grave next to Robert’s. They nodded at the women politely and quietly went to stand near the trees ringing the graveyard.
Mrs. Beaton set a large basket by Abbie’s feet and she settled the baby in it. She then turned her attention to saying a final farewell to her friend. She wished they had a coffin, but there were none around and no one to make one. The man who did such work had been killed in the first attack on the town.
When Rose said a rather beautiful prayer then sang, Abigail had to swallow hard to keep from weeping. Then the men returned to bury her friend. She picked up the babe and found one standing right in front of her.
“How did you know to come and do this?”
“The doc sent us.”
“That was good of him.”
“We’ll mark a wooden cross for her, ma’am,” he said quietly.
“Thank you. I was just wondering how to get one put up. She was Robert’s wife, a mother, and only twenty-three.”
“A sad business this. You should ask the major if there is any money for a soldier’s widow even if only Robert’s pay that he didn’t collect.”
She nodded and made her way back to the house. It took some time to find a source of milk for the baby and a way to give it to him but fortunately Mrs. Beaton kept a few goats and one had just birthed a kid. By then the baby was sound asleep and Abbie felt it would be acceptable if she left for a little while to see how Matthew was doing.
A tickle of guilt struck her and she frowned. It was sad that she was able to go and see the man she loved but Julia never could have. Then she abruptly stopped and thought over what she had just accidentally confessed to herself. She loved Matthew MacEnroy. It was past time she stopped playing and do something about it.
But what could she do? she thought. It was not the woman’s place to speak or push the man to speak. She certainly had no idea how to nudge him to speak or even if he felt the same way. It seemed the only thing she could do was just what she had been doing, even if it was breaking a lot of rules. She would continue to show him, in all ways she could, that she cared and hope he would finally speak of how he felt. Unsatisfactory as that solution was, it irritated and she marched into the infirmary.
Chapter Twelve
Matthew tried to shift his body into a more comfortable position. It was not easy when his stomach was sewn up. Every move he made seemed to tug on the stitches. He cursed softly as that pinching pain struck again when he shifted his hips.
“Such language. Tsk. Tsk,” drawled James.
Matthew scowled up at his friend. “If not for that idiot with his knife I wouldn’t be in this uncomfortable position.”
“Better this than the gutting the man was trying to accomplish.”
“True. Just dinnae feel inclined to admit it. Will have to remind myself of that more.”
“It was a fierce skirmish. Good thing you saw them coming.”
“Abbie did. One of the fools lost his cap and she saw it on the water. Gave it to me and I looked down the river for them but almost gave up too soon. They werenae even being quiet. That’s why I finally spotted them. Voices carry well on the river.”
“They were not soldiers. They were Night Riders or marauders or whatever the hell they call themselves now. Hell, they could even have just been some good old boys who thought they’d kill them some blue bellies. So, you and Abbie were down by the river, eh?”
Matthew sighed. “Why is everyone suddenly interested in my love life? The doc and now you.”
“So, it is a love life, is it? Going to marry the girl?”
“That is my business and my business alone.”
“You’re no fun.”
“Could be because I am in pain.”
“Well, here’s something to take your mind off that. They just buried Julia.”
“Ah, hell.”
“Yup. Doc sent some men over to the graveyard to dig a spot next to Robert. No coffin. We ran out of the ones we had and no one around to build another.”
“I could have except for this hole in my leg.”
“And shoulder and belly. They put her in a sheet. Abbie was tending to the baby, poor mite. Orphan now.”
“I suspect there will be a lot of those when this war ends. Will certainly be a lot of bairns with no das.”
“News is we are headed out.”
“Where to?”
“South.