Free The Raging Hearts: The Coltrane Saga, Book 2 by Patricia Hagan Page A

do they plan to give the freed slaves mules and land?”
    “That’s just talk, girl. But let’s face it. We can’t be sure of just what is going to happen. Look around you. Right here in Goldsboro, people are starving. Have you seen the horses that wander around and die and rot in the streets from starvation? What’s going to happen to all of us? The Confederate dollar isn’t worth the blood that drips off my operating table. Time will tell what God and the Yankees have in store for us.”
    But not a great deal of time passed before the whole nation learned what was in store. Just six days later, Kitty was making her morning rounds when she heard the screaming. Louder and louder the sound came—some shouts of joy, others of anguish. Guns fired. Kitty ran to the window and looked out to see people running around in hysterical panic. Then a man ran up the steps yelling, “President Lincoln is dead! President Lincoln is dead!”
    Kitty’s hand flew to her throat as she stood watching the man talk with the officer. Then the officer turned and made his announcement to the deathly quiet room. “President Lincoln died this morning,” he said, voice cracking. “He was shot last night. Assassinated.”
    He turned away, overcome. A few of the bolder Confederate soldiers lying about began to cheer. The Yankees who were strong enough cursed back at them. Soldiers restored order, but for a few moments there was almost as much pandemonium in the hospital as there was in the streets.
    A gentle hand fell on Kitty’s shoulder as she stood watching the jubilation. “They don’t know what they are doing, the fools,” Dr. Holt said harshly. “President Lincoln was their only hope… our only hope.”
    Kitty turned her head, surprised when she saw tears streaming down his cheeks. “I don’t understand.”
    “President Lincoln wanted peace. He did not want to see the South punished. Vice-President Andrew Johnson feels just the opposite. And now he is our President, Kitty. God save the South. The government is in the control of radicals now.”
    A few days later word came that General Johnston had met with Sherman at Durham’s Station, near Raleigh. Kitty’s heart leaped. Sherman was in Raleigh! Was Travis there, too? If so, he would be back soon. He had to be. Her lips ached for his, and her body trembled each time she thought of his warm strength. He had to return.
    “Kitty?” She jumped as Dr. Holt shoved a plate of beans across the table. “This isn’t much, but you haven’t eaten all day. Neither have I. Maybe they’ll keep us from dying of starvation before morning. It’s all I could salvage from the kitchen.”
    “I can’t,” she said, pushing her fist against her lips. “Thank you, but I can’t. Those worms…”
    “Worms?” he guffawed. “Kitty, girl, you’ve been through the war, and I imagine you’ve seen your share of worms and maggots in your food and learned to pick them out. What’s wrong now?”
    Shaking her head miserably, she whispered, “I don’t know. I just haven’t been feeling well at all lately. I’m tired. Tired of the war. Tired of the rumors. Most of all, I’m tired of missing Travis, wondering if he’ll come back. If Sherman is in Raleigh, though, maybe Travis is, too.”
    “There’s no telling where he is, girl. Haven’t you heard there’s a massive Federal cavalry force sweeping through Alabama and taking over the last war-production center in Selma? They’re moving toward Montgomery, too, where the Confederate capital was once located. Mobile has surrendered, down on the Gulf Coast. And even though there’s an army west of the Mississippi, it’s rumored it will lay down arms any day now. No, honey, there’s no telling where your cavalryman is. And, I don’t mean to alarm you, but there’s been a few skirmishes. He may not make it back to you.”
    Kitty stared in horror. She wouldn’t let herself think of that. Travis couldn’t be dead. He was too cunning, too