Free Leigh Ann's Civil War by Ann Rinaldi Page B

went with Primus and Carol and Camille to meet them in town.
    Viola held me back as they got out of the stage so Carol and Camille could greet them, could hug them and receive their kisses and return tears and whispered endearments. We busied ourselves paying the stage driver.
    Out of the corner of my eye I could see that Teddy was wan and his arm was bound up. Louis was on crutches and he looked thinner. Both wore their uniforms, a little worse for wear.
    Then Teddy looked at us, not quite knowing what to say. He'd never been anything but strong, capable, and well, and now he looked as if he wanted to apologize for his imperfection. Instead, he grinned. "The stage ride was as bad as the battle." He winked at me and it near tore my heart out. He held his good arm toward me and I hesitated, not wanting to hurt him. "Come on," he said. "They haven't broken me, not yet."
    I hugged him.
    "Have you been good?" he asked.
    "Yes." I would never tell him about Mother whipping me.
Never.
    Louis was next. He smiled his wonderful Louis smile.
Oh, thank you, God,
I said to myself.
They didn't take that from him.
I hugged and kissed him. "I'm glad you're home. I missed you."
    "Wouldn't be here if Teddy didn't pull me off the field," he said. "I missed you, too, sweetie."
    We got into our carriage. It took a while because Louis had some difficulty. Then Primus drove us home, where Cannice had waiting a wonderful supper that, she promised, would include ice cream.
    I got out of the carriage first because I had to hold Cicero back from jumping all over the boys.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    The announcement in the
Richmond Enquirer
read:
The Conners brothers of the Roswell Guards distinguished themselves in Manassas, 21 July 1861. Ordered up to support General Bernard Bee, the Roswell Guards found Bee's Brigade routed and took the lead. In four hours of desperate fighting, Captain Louis Conners was in front of the line, encouraging the troops, when he was shot and his ankle shattered. Lieutenant Theodore Conners took his place, leading the Guards in the bullet-laden air, shouting, "Forward, boys" until the Guard completed a gallant charge, which contributed to the victory of the day. Lieutenant Theodore Conners then rescued his brother from the field.

    Pa was not himself. He greeted the boys as if they had been away to the horseraces in Savannah.
    "You fell off a horse, eh?" Pa scolded Louis. "Told you that bareback riding would cripple you someday."
    Everything was the same, yet everything was different. My brothers were heroes and people came to call and made a fuss over them, but a somberness was in the visits. At least seven other Roswell men had been badly wounded. And four others were killed.
    Louis made his way up and down those stairs once a day. He always came to the table for meals. Sometimes in the mornings he set himself up on the verandah in the shade. I stayed with him there. I kept him supplied with fresh cups of coffee and he told me of things he and Teddy had done as little boys. He confided in me that he was in pain. I asked him why he didn't take the laudanum that Dr. Widmar had given him.
    "It puts me in another world," he said, "and I like this one too much."
    Then he asked me, "Would you get me some of that medicine that Cannice used to make and give us for pain?"
    In the afternoons Camille came. They'd hole up in the back parlor, which the shade favored in the afternoon. She played the piano for him, or read Tennyson or Longfellow. He loved Tennyson and Longfellow. She was there, as well as Teddy, the day Dr. Widmar came and examined Louis's ankle. I sat on the couch and held his hand. Camille sat on the other side and held his arm. Dr. Widmar told him it would take a year to heal, at least.
    Teddy sent me from the room at that pronouncement and then he left, too, with Dr. Widmar. "He's planning to rejoin the army," Teddy told the doctor. "So am I."
    "He may never be able to walk right again," the doctor told Teddy. "You'll be all