Shattered Hand

CHAPTER 14

1863 RECRUITS ON THE TRAIL

When the company left Cleveland to enter the mountains, there were two recruits who would have surprised Sarah had she known who they were. They had watched her in the mountains with her father and remembered her but did not make themselves known to her. The Taylor brothers Clarence and Amos, had been recruited, in Chattanooga and their father had sent a recalcitrant slave girl with them. “See if you can sell her along the way,” he had said to them. “If you do you can keep any money she brings.

Sarah was aware of the girl and thought it was strange the two brothers brought her along but did not seem to give her any responsibilities. She looked ragged and tired all of the time and Sarah suspected she was not eating properly or sleeping comfortably.

After the company had been traveling for about ten days the girl was walking slowly beside Sarah’s wagon and asked if she might have a drink of water. She spoke with a clear accent, which Sarah thought sounded much to refined to have come from the south. Sarah stopped her wagon and got down to fetch a cup from a side cupboard which was attached to the outside of the wagon.

“What is your name?” she asked as the girl drank.

The girl looked carefully at Sarah with both suspicion and a little fear and finally said “I am called Mattie.”

“Mattie, you look completely done in, would you like to ride along with me for a while?”

The look of fear left her eyes as Mattie said, “I would like to but I am not sure if those two devils will allow it.”

Sarah now noticed the Taylor brothers had stopped a short distance ahead and were watching carefully the two young women as they were talking. Finally Amos approached and said, “Our father said we could sell that girl if there was anyone interested.” He spoke directly to Sarah as if Mattie were considered a dumb animal and had no understanding of what he was implying.

Sarah was embarrassed and completely taken by surprise. Even though she had expressed strong feelings in the past about Southern rights she had never considered the possibility she or her father would ever own another person. She was even more astonished because he would speak like this without considering the young woman’s feelings. But she also saw an opportunity to alleviate the horrible situation the young woman found herself in.

She looked at Mattie carefully as she said to Amos, “Let me have her come with me for a few days and help me, then I will give you an answer.”

Mattie now looked very surprised and the suspicious look came back into her eyes.

Amos was just as shocked at the response because he had only made the offer to try to easily get the girl away from Sarah. But now he thought he might be able to get rid of a troublesome slave and make friends with a very attractive young woman.

“Well if you agree to pay the full price after the trial period then you can keep and feed her until we reach the army in Northern Virginia.”

Sarah was relieved this had been so easy. She did not realize the two young men would feel they would also now have the right to eat at her wagon whenever they wanted.

“When we get to the army I will need to write to my father for the money, how much do you want?

Amos thought for a few minutes and said “I think the going price for a prime young woman is around $750.00. We would be happy to have it in either gold coin or greenbacks. In Confederate money we would take $1,000.00.”

There it was again, the difference in value between the money of the North and South.

Sarah had no idea about the fairness of the price but she would be willing to buy the young woman and free her immediately if she could. So she agreed to the terms and then said to Mattie again, “Please climb up and ride along with me in the wagon.”

Mattie quietly climbed up in the wagon, thankful that she would be able to ride instead of walk. Sarah noticed for the first time she was barefoot and thought her feet must be quite cold, having been walking in cold mud and snow for most of the trip. As Mattie got settled Sarah said, “Your feet must be awfully cold. I have some rags you can clean them with and warm fur you can wrap them in.”

The two young women did not talk for the rest of the day’s journey. Both were caught in their own thoughts of the changing future this days’ bargaining would produce.

Finally, in the evening as they were preparing a simple soup at a small fire, Sarah said, “Mattie, I must confess I do not like slavery and when I ‘buy’ you it will be so I can set you free. I will help you get wherever you would like to go when you are free.”

Now Mattie had an opportunity to speak for the first time about the bargain which had taken place earlier and said, “ I resent the fact that you or anyone can buy and sell me. I don’t understand why anyone would think I can be owned. If you buy me it will be the third time it has happened and I promise I will be just as angry and upset as the first time.”

Sarah thought Mattie would express some gratitude about the promise to be free but realized she already considered herself free but just under the control of slavery.

“I am sorry Mattie you and I don’t understand each other but I thought what I did,” Sarah hesitated, “I thought it would be helpful. Please help me understand what to do.”

“I’m not sure what I want,” Mattie said “I was not born in this place and don’t understand why people own other people.”

The next morning the two young women only knew their circumstance had changed to be something neither had anticipated just four long weeks before. Sarah was as troubled as she had ever been in her life about any problem. Mattie was still resentful and sullen and wanted to tell Sarah about her life but did not know how much she trusted her. She would wait to find out.

The men, on the other hand, were relieved because the morning brought into view a trail which went mostly downhill and looked to be somewhat drier than they had been in for the past week. What they didn’t know was the surprise Chauncey had in mind for them after they got out of the mountain
.

Clarence Taylor had a completely different kind of surprise in mind for a member of their party which would begin with better cooked food than he had enjoyed since leaving home.