Free Just Between Friends by A. Wolfe

reveal this to Miranda.
     
         Hand in hand, they slowly walked back to their families and friends.  Everyone said their goodbyes and soon they were gone, but the memory of that day would remain with each of them forever.
     
                                                  ***
     
         The seasons passed and Miranda received letters from Steven as often as he could send them.  It was hard to believe that it had been three years since that dreadful day in which he had left.  At times her longing for him was unbearable.  She slept with his letters under her pillow each night, and would say the words to them that she longed to say to him.  In his last letter to her, he wrote,
     
                                      October, 1864
     
    My Dearest Miranda,
         All is well.  I hope this letter finds everyone well at home.  Tell your family hello for me.  Michael and I are still in the same Calvary, and he said to tell you hello, and to please give Sarah a big hug and kiss for him, and tell Sam he loves her and he’ll be writing to her again real soon.  Oh my love, I miss you so much.  If only I could hold you again and touch those sweet lips to mine, I would feel like a new man.  I think of you all the time and how our future together will be.  I can’t wait to be married to you.  Well, sweetheart, I’m not going to make this long.  We’re being sent into Missouri under Generals Price and Smith.  I’m really not at liberty to say any more, but pray for us, that we won’t lose any more men.  I hate to say this, but the Confederacy is weakening.  Something has to be done.  Take care of yourself, and I’ll write to you again soon.
                                                                           All of my love,
                                                                               Steven
     
         Miranda felt a lump in her throat.  What was Steven trying to tell her?  What did he mean by they can’t afford to lose any more men?  Has that many already lost their lives?  She felt her head spinning, but at least she knew both Steven and Michael were still alive.  She also knew Alec and Ben were too, because their mother and father had received a letter from Alec, and Ben had written a letter to Cassie.  She thought Ben wouldn’t even recognize Cassie anymore, for she had matured into such a beautiful young woman.  Oh, when will this all be over, she sighed?
     
                                                 ***
     
         Time passed and no word from either Steven or Michael.  Everyone was worried.  Then Sam received word that, Michael Joseph Wilkes had been killed in action at the battle of Westport, on October 23, 1864, and Steven’s parent’s also received word that Steven Arthur Reynolds was presumed dead, as a result of the same battle.
     
         The gloominess that settled over both families was overwhelming.  Samantha cried all the time.  Mrs. Reynolds woke with nightmares over her son every night, and Miranda never spoke, or showed any emotion at all.  The doctor visited her on a daily basis, but there was little he could do.  She had to find a way to pull herself out of the shock she was in herself.
     
         Months passed.  Then on April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia, to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appotmatox courthouse in Virginia.  Also, Joseph E. Johnston surrendered in North Carolina on April 26, and General Richard Taylor in Alabama, on May 4, and finally, General E. Kirby Smith on May 26.  The Union had won.
     
         On July 30, 1865, Alec returned home, looking very thin and pale.  The things he had experienced