In His Eyes(12)

“So,” Sibby finally said, “what did you tell them soldiers to get them to leave the porch?”

Relief surged in her only to quickly be replaced by heat rising in her neck. She dug her fingers into her skirt, lamenting the foolish words desperation had flung from her lips. “I said I was Mr. Remington’s wife.”

To her surprise, Sibby let out a hearty laugh, startling the baby and making him squirm. She bounced him a bit, and then he drifted back to sleep. “Did you, now? Well, I reckon that gave them what they was lookin’ for.”

Ella allowed herself a tentative smile. She’d tell Sibby later that the men would be returning. That would be something to disclose once she’d secured their future. She looked at the child. “May I hold him?”

Sibby seemed taken aback by her sudden request, but rose from the chair and handed the child to Ella. She smiled up at the taller woman and accepted him gently, enjoying the feel of him back against her.

“What’s his name?” Sibby asked as she settled back into the rocking chair.

Ella shook her head. “I don’t know. His mother didn’t give him one.”

“Then I reckon you best do it. Child needs a name.”

Ella frowned. She’d never considered what to name a child. Such a thing was of great importance. “I’ll have to think on it.”

The chair creaked as Sibby began to rock. “Well, there ain’t no more orphanages in these parts that will take a baby.” Her voice hitched. “Them poor children is scavenging in the streets like dogs, from what I hear tell. No one’s got nothing to give them.”

Ella’s pulse quickened, and the words left her mouth in a gush. “Then could we stay here, instead? I will work hard—I promise—to earn our keep. I will do whatever you need me to do.”

Sibby’s eyebrows rose. “You want to work here?”

Ella pulled the baby closer. “Please. I don’t know where else we can go. I’ll scrub floors and whatever else you ask of me so long as he is cared for and I have a roof and something to eat.”

Sibby continued to stare at her, and Ella felt her chance slipping away. “I can sleep on the floor in the kitchen. It won’t bother me a bit, and I…”

The nurse held up her hand. “You that desperate?”

Ella swallowed hard, then nodded.

Compassion swam in the other woman’s eyes. “I ain’t never seen no white woman offer to be sleepin’ on the kitchen floor.” Then her gaze narrowed. “You related to this child?”

“No.” She smoothed the fuzzy hair on the top of the baby’s head. “But I have seen enough suffering these last years. This child was born from unfortunate parents in a war-torn land. It’s silly of me, I know, but….” Tears gathered and threatened to spill. “But I thought that maybe if this little one could get a chance in this world, then perhaps not all hope would be lost.”

Sibby laced her fingers and placed them over her crisp white apron. “You is willing to work for that?”

Ella nodded again.

“And you would see that this here babe is cared for and loved?”

The tears escaped their confines and left two trails down her cheeks that she could not hide. “I ask only to be given a chance to earn a place to work and provide for the two of us, and I would love him like my own.”

A smile played about the woman’s lips. “Then I gots an idea.”





“What did you say?” Ella blinked back her surprise, certain she had heard Sibby incorrectly.

Sibby laid the boy in the crib and gently tucked a crochet blanket around him before turning back to Ella. “It makes sense, you being white and all.” She ushered Ella toward the door.

Ella hesitated a moment, glancing once more at the child. “I hardly think that has anything to do with….”

“It’s what you told them soldiers.” Sibby pointed at the door, her expression clear they would have to have this discussion elsewhere.

Ella pulled her arms around her waist as she stepped into the next room. The opportunity to tell the whole of the mess she made presented itself. “Well, yes, but….”

“See? And they believed you is the lady here. So will any others that come sniffin’ around.”

Ella lowered her gaze. “I didn’t tell you all of what went on.”

Sibby looked over her shoulder from where she’d nearly made it out of the room that had once belonged to the real Mrs. Remington. “What you mean?”

“Well…they kept asking questions and prodding, and I was trying to get them to leave.” She dropped her arms to her sides and attempted to stand up taller.

Sibby waited.

Nothing for it but to just blurt it out. “They plan to keep a check on Belmont to see that the freedman laws are followed.”

The other woman’s lips curved. “So next time they is gonna find you here as a Yankee wife and still no slaves. Then they’ll go away and leave us all alone.” She stepped out into the upper hall. “Basil! You keep watch on the little ’un and come get me if he wakes up.”

The girl slipped into the room and gave Ella a wide smile. “I knew she’d let him stay,” she whispered as she passed.

Too flustered to respond, Ella hurried out after Sibby, shaking her head. A pin loosened, painfully tugging at a lock of her hair. She pushed it back into place. “It’s more than that. They want to see that the people are not effectively still slaves.”