would be back here so soon either, Nelson,” Isaac said, smiling at him. “I guess we can thank the Virginians for this situation of ours. Tell me honestly – are you afraid? Do you wish you had stayed in Boston with my father?”
“No, sir, Mr Isaac. I’s right where I’s meant to be. Miss Mercy done tol’ me you were a good man – she done tol’ me an’ tol’ me. Said I be in good hands, and I sure am. You done let me see the white folks’ world. I got to eat in a restaurant. You done give me a job, and I done got dollars. I done walked down a street beside you, and some white folks even called me Mr Stuart. I done got to make a decision for the very first time, and I’s real proud to be with you here, Mr Isaac. Yes, sir, I reckon I ain’t never been no prouder.”
The two men walked towards the infirmary, which sat in a block behind the row of buildings overlooking the parade ground. Isaac looked at its shabby facade, engrained with dirt and eroded by sea salt. It was lined with small windows and framed with cracked wood holding panes of dirty glass. He was going to be here for the foreseeable future, he thought, and the first thing he’d see to was the infirmary’s cleanliness.
“We have a lot of work to do, Nelson,” Isaac said. “If I’m to be the fort’s surgeon, I’m going to make damn sure this place is cleaned properly. It was a good day indeed when you arrived at my doorstep, but you might not think so now. You’re going to be working harder than you ever did in the cotton fields, and I’m sorry about that.” Nelson’s arrival in Boston at the end of April had been a joyful day for him. He had read Mercy’s letter more times than he could count since then. It sat inside the cover of his Bible, one of his most treasured possessions, and he brought it out at least once a day, a reminder that Mercy was alive and well.
Isaac looked at Nelson’s black face, grinning with the elation of freedom still new to him. He envied Nelson. He’d been fortunate to come to know Mercy better than he had or Jacob had. Nelson had spent months with her, surviving, laughing, crying, and sleeping beside her. On that journey, they had shared experiences that he would never have. As he walked to his office, he realised that he begrudged Nelson and Mercy’s relationship. He had learned that Mercy was alive and well, and that should have been enough to satisfy him, yet proof of life was not enough to satisfy his incessant craving for her nor dampen his resolve to possess her, body and soul.
“Nelson, where do you think Miss Mercy is right now?” he asked. “Do you believe she might still be in Newport News?”
“I don’ reckon I know, Mr Isaac. She talked all day long ’bout getting back to the man she left behind. I done told her that she should forget him, on account of him being married, but she just say they meant to be together. Now, Mr Charlie done tell Miss Mercy to stay away from that Mr Jacob Stone, but Miss Mercy say she love him and he should know better.”
Isaac smiled to mask his disappointment. “Know better about what?”
“I dunno – about love, I reckon. Love sure must be a powerful thing, the way Miss Mercy be goin’ on about it.”
“It is, Nelson, and when you have it, it’s not easy to give up. I believe it may be a cursed pursuit for some folks.”
Nelson didn’t know any more about Mercy’s whereabouts than he, Isaac, did. There was still a sliver of hope that she had decided against going back to Jacob, he thought. He would cling to that hope.
“Nelson, I have paperwork to be getting on with. You best get on with cleaning those rooms, like we talked about, and, Nelson, if a soldier stops you and asks what you are doing and where you’re going, you tell them that you are a free man and that you are Major Bernstein’s orderly. You understand?”
Chapter Ten
For over a month, the Ninth Virginia Volunteer Cavalry Regiment had vigorously trained in
“No, sir, Mr Isaac. I’s right where I’s meant to be. Miss Mercy done tol’ me you were a good man – she done tol’ me an’ tol’ me. Said I be in good hands, and I sure am. You done let me see the white folks’ world. I got to eat in a restaurant. You done give me a job, and I done got dollars. I done walked down a street beside you, and some white folks even called me Mr Stuart. I done got to make a decision for the very first time, and I’s real proud to be with you here, Mr Isaac. Yes, sir, I reckon I ain’t never been no prouder.”
The two men walked towards the infirmary, which sat in a block behind the row of buildings overlooking the parade ground. Isaac looked at its shabby facade, engrained with dirt and eroded by sea salt. It was lined with small windows and framed with cracked wood holding panes of dirty glass. He was going to be here for the foreseeable future, he thought, and the first thing he’d see to was the infirmary’s cleanliness.
“We have a lot of work to do, Nelson,” Isaac said. “If I’m to be the fort’s surgeon, I’m going to make damn sure this place is cleaned properly. It was a good day indeed when you arrived at my doorstep, but you might not think so now. You’re going to be working harder than you ever did in the cotton fields, and I’m sorry about that.” Nelson’s arrival in Boston at the end of April had been a joyful day for him. He had read Mercy’s letter more times than he could count since then. It sat inside the cover of his Bible, one of his most treasured possessions, and he brought it out at least once a day, a reminder that Mercy was alive and well.
Isaac looked at Nelson’s black face, grinning with the elation of freedom still new to him. He envied Nelson. He’d been fortunate to come to know Mercy better than he had or Jacob had. Nelson had spent months with her, surviving, laughing, crying, and sleeping beside her. On that journey, they had shared experiences that he would never have. As he walked to his office, he realised that he begrudged Nelson and Mercy’s relationship. He had learned that Mercy was alive and well, and that should have been enough to satisfy him, yet proof of life was not enough to satisfy his incessant craving for her nor dampen his resolve to possess her, body and soul.
“Nelson, where do you think Miss Mercy is right now?” he asked. “Do you believe she might still be in Newport News?”
“I don’ reckon I know, Mr Isaac. She talked all day long ’bout getting back to the man she left behind. I done told her that she should forget him, on account of him being married, but she just say they meant to be together. Now, Mr Charlie done tell Miss Mercy to stay away from that Mr Jacob Stone, but Miss Mercy say she love him and he should know better.”
Isaac smiled to mask his disappointment. “Know better about what?”
“I dunno – about love, I reckon. Love sure must be a powerful thing, the way Miss Mercy be goin’ on about it.”
“It is, Nelson, and when you have it, it’s not easy to give up. I believe it may be a cursed pursuit for some folks.”
Nelson didn’t know any more about Mercy’s whereabouts than he, Isaac, did. There was still a sliver of hope that she had decided against going back to Jacob, he thought. He would cling to that hope.
“Nelson, I have paperwork to be getting on with. You best get on with cleaning those rooms, like we talked about, and, Nelson, if a soldier stops you and asks what you are doing and where you’re going, you tell them that you are a free man and that you are Major Bernstein’s orderly. You understand?”
Chapter Ten
For over a month, the Ninth Virginia Volunteer Cavalry Regiment had vigorously trained in
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