Black Angels Read Free Page B

retired general on the place, and then he’d call General Brown in to serve the drinks and they’d all laugh.
    At the Burwell place they’d talk about how brave Caswell was and call him a little man. He felt bad though. Papa said he had to be the man on the place, and he’d let Papa down. He couldn’t stop the burning. He’d let Mamadear down too. All her beautiful things were gone.
    If he could just find a way to wash his face, so they wouldn’t know he had cried. He gazed at the riverbank. It looked pretty steep to him. He could wash his face in the river, but he might slip and fall and then his pants would get all wet and muddy. Maybe he’d try later.
    Mama had swooned the day Papa marched off to war. Ladies did those things. She had cried all morning. She had wiped her eyes and lay down with a sick headache and took camphor all day. Then they came for Papa, and she got up and went downstairs to see him off, leaning on Gran Susie’s arm.
    Papa kissed her on the cheek so it’d be seemly and marched off with the Thirty-first. So she was standing in front of the gate when she swooned, and everybody ran to pick her up off the ground. Gran Susie yelled to get her salts and a cool cloth and water, and she said, “You, Daniel, carry the missus to her room!”
    Papa had on a gray uniform, and he said the Thirty-first was a grand group of men. Caswell was going to join them when he grew up, he knew that. But then after Papa marched away, he ran off cause he was a coward who had to cry.
    His face hurt now and his feet too. He was awfully tired of the river road, and it was hard to remember where he was. He had walked two miles at least. But he didn’t see any houses or any people or lights. It was dark enough to see lights now. He was hungry, really hungry. Maybe he should stop and eat the bread he had brought with him.
    They’d have food at the Burwells’. Lots of good food like before. Chicken and jams, jellies and ice cream. He could eat some more when he got there.
    He wanted his Mamadear. He wanted his bed. He wanted Gran Susie. He’d lie down, that’s what. He’d been out here for so long. He could leave the river road just long enough to rest a few minutes. He wanted his bread now.
    Caswell walked a few more minutes into the woods, and then he fell forward on his knees, taking the bread out of his shirt. He remembered that Mamadear fell down too. She had come out into the yard where he was. She was sweating. He had never seen her sweat before. Only niggers sweated, she said. But then she did, and she fell down on her knees, and said over and over, “Call someone, Caswell, be a good boy and call someone. Get Gran Susie. The baby’s comin.”
    He didn’t know what to do and he didn’t know where Gran Susie was, or where General Brown was, so he went off to find Daniel. He couldn’t even find Sweetbriar, and then he began to cry, before he heard the hoofbeats.
    He remembered a rider coming, and there was dust everywhere, and he stopped in front of their yard looking wild and saying something about Yankee soldiers burning, on the way, and niggers on the loose, get out now. And then he said, “My God, what’s going on?”
    Mama said real weak-like, “Get me to the Burwell place, they got protection.”
    The rider said, “Don’t you have a nigger?”
    â€œI don’t know. I guess they are all out back. My husband is off at the war,” Mama shouted.
    â€œI’ve got to water my horse, ma’am or he’ll die; I been whupping him to death,” the rider said.
    Then Mama screamed. “Get somebody!” she said.
    So Caswell ran down to the barn looking for Gran Susie, who wasn’t in the house or anywhere else he could find. He remembered it all now.
    The bread Daniel found was good. Gran Susie’s bread was always good. She was gone though. Daniel said, “They’s all gone, Marse