In His Eyes(92)

He smiled up at her and then sucked on his fist. A shame she couldn’t get the goat’s milk into that fist, else she might have a chance at getting him to take it. “You are a stubborn lad, you know it?”

Ella opened the front door and stepped outside, only to come stumbling to a halt. At least a dozen men dressed in Federal uniforms dismounted and tied their horses in her front lawn. How had she not heard them approach? Ella clutched Lee against her chest, her heart beginning to hammer.

She remained frozen as she watched them speak to one another, and then a man separated himself from the group and stalked toward her, his gait determined and his face stoic.

The gleam of the sun caused dappled shadows to fall across his stern face as he passed under the magnolia, and his polished boots clicked smartly down the cobbled front walk as they drew nearer upon her. The breeze pulled bits of her hair and sent them scurrying across her nose, but she could not seem to think to brush them away. All she could do was stare at the man as he climbed the front steps and bowed to her.

“Are you Mrs. Remington?”

She glanced behind him at the men who were spreading out over the yard and dispersing around the house. “I am.”

“I am Colonel Larson. I am afraid that I am going to have to ask you to come with me, madam.”

Ella stepped back. “My husband has paid all the taxes on the lands. He said that the government was satisfied with the state of affairs at Belmont before he left to return to duty.”

The officer watched her closely. “This has nothing to do with the taxes, madam.”

Another soldier came up on the porch and the officer pointed toward the house. He stepped around Ella and threw the front door open.

She drew a sharp intake of air. “What are you doing?” Ella reached to grab the man’s arm, but he shrugged her off and stalked into the house, leaving the door open. Ella pointed her finger at the colonel. “You cannot enter my house without an invitation.”

He merely lifted his eyebrows and said nothing. She continued to glare at him, even though he did not seem to be affected by the poisonous look in the least.

Finally, he relented. “Mrs. Remington, we have come to arrest a Negro woman reportedly staying within the main house, and I have the proper documents with which to do so regardless of whether you grant permission or not.”

“You mean Sibby?” Ella frowned. “Whatever for? She is a freedwoman. I have not been keeping any slaves.”

He narrowed his eyes. “We will speak further on it when you come in with me.”

“I have an infant. I cannot do that.”

The man glanced down, as though noticing the child for the first time, and shifted uncomfortably. “Are you aware of a group of Negroes living on your lands?”

Ella cocked her head. “Are you from the Freedman’s Bureau?”

“I am not.”

Ella frowned. “I am aware that there is a settlement of some kind. I believe the former slaves gathered there to homestead, but I have never set foot inside of it. My husband mentioned starting to work the lands again but—”

“But you have seen it?” he interrupted.

Ella’s pulse quickened. “From a distance. They said I shouldn’t go back there.”

The man leaned closer. “And tell me, Mrs. Remington, you didn’t find that at all suspicious?”

“I…well, I suppose I did a little, but….”

“I need you to come with me.” He began tugging on her arm.

“Why?” Ella stumbled down the steps after him. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“That is yet to be determined.”

A scream sliced through the air, and Ella ripped her arm away from the officer. She turned around just as the soldier that had entered the house without permission stalked out, dragging poor Basil by the hair.

Basil flailed her feet, and the man had to hold her at arm’s length to keep her from kicking him. He wrenched hard on her head, making her stumble and fall to her knees.

Furious, Ella snatched up her skirts and stomped toward the devilish Yank. “I demand that you unhand her this instant!”

The man glanced behind her at his commanding officer, but held Basil in place. Basil saw Ella and her wails turned to sobs.

Ella whirled around and screamed at the colonel. “Release her at once! She’s just a girl!”

The officer had the decency to appear slightly apologetic, but still shook his head. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Mrs. Remington. She is to be taken in.”

“By the hair of her head?”

He shrugged. “It seems she may have put up a fuss about it.”

Ella opened her mouth, but no words could make it past the constriction in her throat. Insufferable Yank! Did he not see that the poor child was scared out of her wits?

Movement caught her eye, and Ella shifted to see another soldier come from the side of the house and step up to Colonel Larson. He leaned close and whispered something into his commanding officer’s ear. The man grunted and then turned his attention back to Ella.

“I must insist you come with me, please.”

Ella set her feet and squared her shoulders. “I’ll not do a single thing until you release that child.”

The colonel’s nostrils flared, but he waved his hand at the soldier on the porch. The other man released Basil’s hair and snatched her by the arm. Ella watched in horror as he hauled her to her feet and dragged her down the steps.