Letters in Time, Reiss Susan [read me a book TXT] 📗

out of control. The Eastern Shore plantation owners were running out of options and room to maneuver." He paused and gave me a curious look. "You're sure you want to hear this?"

“Yes, I do. It’s nice to talk to somebody who knows his history. Better than reading it in a book. Please go on.”

He took a deep breath and leaned forward. "The year 1861 was an unsettled time. It didn't help that rumors were flying between New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington.

“When word arrived that a group of Union Army soldiers had invaded Baltimore, everyone on the Eastern Shore went crazy. Unfortunately, this story had the seeds of truth. The first regiment to respond to Abraham Lincoln’s call for volunteers came down the coast from Massachusetts by train.

"During a stopover in Philadelphia, the commanding officer heard a rumor that there would be an attack on the train while it was in Baltimore. He ordered his men to ignore any verbal abuse from the local citizens, but to load every gun, just in case. Historians say that he told his men that if they were fired on, they were to take aim and ‘Be sure to drop him.’”

“That sounds like a recipe for big trouble,” I said.

“The situation was complicated,” TJ went on. “The people here on the Shore were told it was a Yankee invasion of Baltimore, the port city of their grand state, Maryland. Then there was the problem of the tracks. The troop train ran to the northeast part of Baltimore where the tracks stopped. Tracks came up from Washington City but the two lines didn't connect. They had to uncouple the railcars carrying the troops and draw them through the city by horse to another station where the cars were to be hooked up to another locomotive going south. The pro-Union city fathers decided to make it an event and had a band lead the procession to the southbound tracks.

"Everything was going according to plan until a large crowd formed between the band and the soldiers. The route was blocked, so the soldiers had to get off the train and march to the other station. The crowd pelted them with rocks and bottles and anything else they could find. I guess the soldiers were pushed to the limit. They fired a volley into the crowd.

“People were killed and wounded on both sides. False reports were flying: more Yankee soldiers were on their way; the Union was going to take over Baltimore; President Lincoln was going to turn the city into an armed camp.”

“I guess those were fighting words, no matter which side you were on,” I said.

“They sure were.” TJ looked into his mug. “Do you want some more coffee?”

“Sure.”

I handed him my mug and sat back trying to imagine what it was like living in this pastoral place and hearing about armed chaos on the other side of the Bay. It would be frightening because the conflict could spread to the Eastern Shore. But there was another important reason: Baltimore was the port city for commerce. Whoever held Baltimore could strangle the Shore.

TJ returned and we settled back with our coffee, Maria’s cookies long ago devoured.

He took a big drink and went on. “A wealthy Southern sympathizer over here chartered a steamer and paid for any man who volunteered to go and defend Baltimore. By the time the men from the Eastern Shore got there, the Baltimore police had the situation under control and the Union troops were on their way to Washington.”

“That’s like getting all ready for a football game, only to miss it. There must have been a lot of testosterone in the air.”

“According to my mother, Benjamin rode off to join the Confederacy and took the plantation manager’s son with him.”

“That’s right,” I said softly.

“Oh, have you heard this part of the story before?”

I had to think fast. "Ah, no. I was, ah, just agreeing that such a crazy situation would force a person to make a decision and act on it."

“Well, that’s what he did.”

I put my hands over my eyes and tried to visualize the gravestones at his family cemetery. “I think I remember seeing all the Emma graves but, I’m not sure which one was hers. I was so overwhelmed by seeing my name all over the place, I didn't pay attention to the dates on the gravestones."

"I can take you back some time if you'd like to go," TJ offered.

“Yes, I’d like that. Then I could look for Daniel’s gravestone, too.”

He gave me a puzzled look. “Who is Daniel?”

That was a mistake. I’d have to cover it up and fast. “I think it was a name connected with Waterwood that the librarian mentioned. I don’t know. There are so many names to remember.”

TJ crossed his arms. "Well, Emma didn't marry a Daniel." He took a sip of cold coffee and grimaced. "All this talk about the family is making me thirsty. Why don't we head to the kitchen and I'll grab a bottle from Jack's beer stash if that's okay?" As I got myself oriented and headed down the hall, I didn't want to know the truth. I didn't want to hear the name of Emma's husband.

We settled at the kitchen table, it being a little chilly to go out on the patio. TJ picked up the story.

“According to the records, Emma married Joshua. My mother got the impression that she wasn’t all that excited about the match.”

“Did she read it in Emma’s diary?”

“No, she found some letters written by Emma in a trunk. Mom said the girl didn’t sound excited about the match the way a bride usually does.”

I could barely disguise my excitement. TJ's mother had found a diary and