The Land(95)

Once a month, right on schedule, Filmore Granger would arrive with Harlan, along with workmen to move the timber down the Rosa Lee. We always had his logs stacked and waiting, and Filmore Granger seemed pleased. Once the Grangers had taken possession of their timber, Mitchell would bathe in the creek, put on his other set of clothes, and mounting one of the mules, go off to see Caroline. He would leave on a Saturday, spend his Sunday with Caroline and her family, and return before dawn on Monday morning, ready to work, even without sleep. Sometimes Nathan went with him, and while they were gone, I continued to work. Come sunrise Monday morning, Mitchell was always ready to chop the trees. He never let down on any of his work with me while he courted Caroline, and I had no complaints with him. I even joked with him that he had finally become a church-going man. I didn’t begrudge Mitchell his time away. I knew folks in love needed to be with each other. Still, there was regret in me that it was Mitchell going off to see Caroline and not me. But I didn’t dwell on it, and after a while I became accustomed to his monthly trips. Then, late one Sunday night upon Mitchell’s return, he brought back news I hadn’t expected to hear.

“Robert’s been in Vicksburg,” he announced as he sank onto a chair before a low fire.

I turned to him in silence.

“Heard he’d come through Vicksburg last week with a workman.”

“Robert? What was he doing in Vicksburg?”

“Maybe lookin’ for you.”

I was silent; so was Mitchell.

Finally, I said, “How’d you hear about him?”

“Mule threw a shoe, and I had to go to the livery and have another put on. Man there was talkin’ ’bout a fine horse that was brought in by a Robert Logan from round Macon. Said he was deliverin’ it for purchase.”

“You think he’s still there?”

“Don’t know. Got no need t’ think so, though. Maybe he was just passin’ through.” Mitchell glanced over at me. “You gonna go find out?”

I thought on it, then shook my head. “Robert wants to see me, and if he knows where I am, he can come here. I’m not going looking for him.”

Mitchell looked at me with a nod and turned back to the fire.

That night as I lay on my cot, as tired as I was, I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking on Robert. I thought on George, Hammond, my daddy, and, of course, Cassie. It had been so long since I’d seen them, and I wanted to see them. Even with the letters from Cassie telling me about our daddy and our brothers, about Howard and her children, I felt the ache daily of missing them. I longed to see them all, but I didn’t think I could, not yet. I wondered about Robert, if he really had come looking for me. I figured in my next letter to Cassie I’d ask her about it. Robert. I wondered if he’d changed as much as I.





It was early spring by the time I went again to Vicksburg to take the furniture I had made to Luke Sawyer. Mitchell and Nathan went with me. Nathan was eager to be home, for Mitchell had brought back the news on his last trip that Risten had had another baby while he was there and that Callie was expecting. As soon as we reached the store, Mitchell and Nathan unhitched the mules from the wagon and headed off for the Perry place. I declined to go with them, giving the excuse that I had to tend to Thunder, who was still being boarded at Luke Sawyer’s stable, and that I had to see to my orders. The truth was, though, I was not yet ready to see Caroline again.

I figured to spend the night in the shed, and that was fine with Luke Sawyer. As always, he was pleased with my work and he paid me as agreed. I took on several more orders, though not as many as he would have liked. Afterward, I went to the shed to select the wood I would need and read the letter from Cassie that Luke Sawyer had been holding for me. I had written Cassie about Robert and she said, as far as she knew, Robert had no idea that I was in the area. Our daddy had sent him to Vicksburg on some business and that was all there was to it.

I was relieved.





As the next weeks went by, Mitchell began preparing for his marriage to Caroline. He bought himself a suit and a new pair of shoes. He made a bed for the two of them and asked me to build a small cabinet where Caroline could put some of her things. He’d promised Caroline a house and he drew up a plan for it. He picked out the site and together we figured on just when we could build the house. Mitchell wanted it up before the wedding. We figured there to be time for that. But all Mitchell’s plans were soon disrupted by the unexpected arrival of Filmore Granger, who announced to our surprise that he needed more trees. As usual, his boy Harlan was with him. Seems he took that boy everywhere.