Free Carried Forward By Hope by Ginny Dye

words.
    “Only time will tell what the future will bring,” Aunt Abby finally said. “I’ve learned not to borrow trouble before it comes.”
    Matthew nodded along with the others as they murmured their agreement, but his dread did not diminish. There were times when being a newspaperman gave him a sense of pride and purpose. There were other times when knowledge was nothing but a reason to dread the future.
     
    ******
     
    Carrie and Janie climbed out of the carriage and waved goodbye to Spencer.
    Carrie glanced longingly at the barn behind her father’s house. It was on days like today that she would give almost anything to be flying across the fields of Cromwell Plantation on Granite, her towering gray Thoroughbred. The carefree days of her youth seemed to belong to another person, yet the memories called her and intensified the longing to go home.
    Janie caught her wistful look. “Nothing more from your father?” she asked sympathetically.
    “No,” Carrie said softly. “I think about him all the time. I hope he is still safe in Danville. I don’t know how strongly the Union Army is going to go after former officials in the Confederate government. At least Father was just in the Virginia government, but I’m afraid it might be more dangerous now that Lincoln has been killed,” she said, her voice catching on her fears. Tears blurred her eyes. “He just wants to go home,” she murmured. “I so hope he can do that soon. He needs to be on the plantation again.” She knew it was the only place he could begin to heal from the agony of the war years.
    “And so does Granite,” Janie said sympathetically. “At least your wonderful horse is where he has food so he can gain back the weight he lost during the war.”
    “I’m hoping that is still true,” Carrie said fervently. “It tore at my gut every time I couldn’t feed him enough, or every time he had to go off to battle.” Her voice tightened. “I’m so glad this blasted war is over,” she said fiercely.
    “You and me both!”
    Carrie jumped as a voice sounded from the shadows of the porch. “Moses!” she gasped. “I didn’t see you there.”
    “I was waiting for you and Janie.”
    Carrie tensed at what she heard in his voice. Five long years of suspense, waiting, and tragedy had made her quite adept at reading voices and situations. “What is it?” she asked simply.
    Moses sent Janie an apologetic look before he answered. “Clifford was upset when he came home and found Janie gone.”
    “I was taking care of our soldiers,” Janie said sharply.
    “Yes,” Moses agreed, “but he was still upset.”
    “Because she was with me.” Carrie provided the words he wasn’t saying. She knew Clifford was threatened by her closeness with Janie and afraid Carrie’s influence would lessen his hold on her.
    Moses just looked at them, knowing his silence would reveal the truth. “Clifford has gone into town to get a wagon. He’s decided to leave tonight.”
    “Tonight?” Janie gasped. “We’re scheduled to leave tomorrow morning. What difference could a night make?”
    Moses’s eyes flashed his anger, but he kept his voice calm, seeming to know Janie would need it to hold on. “It seems to matter to Clifford. He had May and Miles pack up the last of your things. They are just inside the foyer. He should be back any moment.”
    A sudden rattle of wagon wheels had Janie spinning around to peer down the road. Her face was a bewildering mixture of anger, pain, and fear. It was easy to identify Clifford’s erect body on the wagon seat. Even with one arm, he handled the team proficiently. She shook her head helplessly and straightened her body as the wagon rolled to a stop in front of the gate.
    “We’re leaving,” Clifford announced equably, only his eyes flashing his anger.
    The anger dissolved from Janie’s face. Only the pain and fear remained.
    Carrie gritted her teeth but kept silent. She’d said all she could. Janie was going to go