Bring the Boys Home Read Free Page A

knew that the animal was old and had not been well cared for.
I feel sorry for all the horses
, he thought.
    Still, it was always good to get out of the trenches, for the stench of death was there and the constant danger of being killed. All morning Jeff rode quietly along the road until he reached the capital.
    Richmond was depressing too, he thought. Most of the stores were closed, and what few factories were still running were manned by gaunt workers with gray faces. He found no food at all for sale—at least none that could be bought with Confederate money.
    “If I had greenbacks, I could buy some, I bet,” he said. Strangely, Union cash was more welcome in Richmond than its own currency. Confederate money was worth practically nothing. Jeff had his pockets stuffed full, but he knew that it would take a miracle to find anyone willing to trade good food for worthless paper.
    Then he had an idea. He took a road leading out of town and came, after an hour’s ride, to a large mansion sitting on the left side of the roadway. Kicking the horse with his heels, he muttered, “Come on, boy. It won’t hurt to try here.”
    When he slipped off the horse, he was greeted by a grinning black man, who said, “Hello, Mr. Jeff! I haven’t seen you lately.”
    “No, Zeno. Been in the trenches at Petersburg.”
    “Let me take that hoss. You go on in. Miss Lucy, she’s here on the place.”
    “Thank you, Zeno.”
    Jeff ran up the steps, knocked on the door, and was met by one of the house servants, a small blackgirl that he knew. “Hello, Verbena. Is Miss Lucy here?”
    “She sure is, Mr. Jeff. You come on in, and I’ll fetch her for you.”
    Jeff waited in the foyer.
    Lucy came, almost at once, and held out her hands. “Jeff!” She smiled up at him. “I’m so glad to see you!”
    He took her hands and looked down at the small girl. Lucy Driscoll was one of the prettiest girls Jeff had ever seen. “Good to see you too, Lucy,” he said. “How have you been?”
    “Just fine. Come on back! Cecil is here.” Her eyes twinkled for a moment, and she said roguishly, “But I forgot, officers and regulars don’t mix, do they?”
    “Not very well.”
    At that moment a young man wearing the uniform of a Confederate second lieutenant emerged from the drawing room. “Jeff! Good to see you!” Cecil Taylor, at seventeen, was thin as a rail. He had chestnut hair and bright blue eyes and a crooked grin. “I don’t guess we have to worry about ‘sirs’ around here,” he added.
    The three young people went into the drawing room, where Lucy asked one of the servants to bring in cake and tea. She served it herself, asking Jeff, “How are things at Petersburg?”
    “Not very good,” Jeff said glumly. He glanced at Cecil. “I guess you know more about the whole picture than I do.”
    Shaking his head, Cecil said, “It’s not the same thing. I’ve asked a hundred times to be put on active duty in the lines, but they won’t let me go.”
    Jeff swallowed a piece of cake. “I wish they’d let us change jobs. You’d be welcome to mine.”
    “Aw, you don’t mean that, Jeff.”
    Actually Jeff knew he didn’t. He wanted to be with his unit, what was left of the Stonewall Brigade, and he well knew that he did not want to leave his father or his brother. Still, he also knew that Cecil felt bad about not getting in on the fighting, so he said, “Don’t worry. Pretty soon you’ll be at it. I think everybody will.”
    “I feel like a slacker,” Cecil said.
    “You’re not that!” Lucy put a hand on Cecil’s arm. “You have to do what your officers tell you. If they told you to fight, you’d fight in a minute.”
    Jeff noted with interest her sparkling eyes and that her fondness for Cecil showed in her face. He knew that Cecil had been in love with Leah, but after finding she didn’t care for him, it would be natural enough for him to turn to Lucy Driscoll. The two had grown up together, and both were children of wealthy