Free Fire Over Atlanta by Gilbert L. Morris Page A

voice!”
    “Well, I just sing mostly church songs.”
    “Then sing one of those,” Lori said.
    Without any accompaniment at all, Charlie began “Amazing Grace.” She sang it simply and without the benefit of musical training, but the beauty of her voice filled the room.
    When she was through this time, Rosie said, “That do beat all I ever heard! You’re a regular canary!”
    For the rest of the evening Drake played and sang, many times accompanied by Charlie. She did not know all the songs he did, but when their voices did join, they blended together very sweetly.
    But as the evening went on, Drake grew restless. Charlie had not been more than three feet away from him for two hours. He finally whispered to Lori, “Can’t we get away from these two? That Charlie, she’s worse than a chigger!”
    “Don’t say that, Drake. She’s very much alone.”
    “I can’t help that. I didn’t take her to raise.”
    The evening finally came to an end, and the two men reluctantly rose to leave. They said their goodbyes to the girls and started down the street. They had not gone more than ten feet before they heard Charlie’s voice.
    “Drake—wait a minute!”
    He turned with some surprise, and Charlie came bounding up and looked into his face. She seemednervous, and her lips trembled a little, but she said firmly, “I got somethin’ to tell you, Drake.”
    “What is it, Charlie?”
    “Well, when Pa sold the farm in Macon,” she said, “he got the sale price of it in Federal money. I got it all. We ain’t spent hardly none of it, me and Pa. Well, now he’s gone and buried, and I got to do somethin’.”
    Drake could not imagine what in the world Charlie was leading up to. He glanced at Rosie, who appeared equally puzzled. “What is it you want to do?”
    “I want you and me to marry up, Drake—and then we can take the money, and we can buy us a farm.”
    Drake’s jaw dropped. He was aware that Rosie had gasped. He looked carefully at Charlie to see if she was joking—and saw that she was not.
    “It’s almost five hundred dollars, Drake—in Union money. We can buy a place with a house on it, and a barn, and some stock. And I can plow as good as any man. Together, you and me could have a good farm.”
    Drake had faced many a crisis but nothing like this. He pulled his handkerchief out and wiped his brow, which suddenly seemed to be covered with sweat. He looked over to Rosie for support, but the tall, gangling soldier looked to be so stunned he could not speak.
    At last Drake said firmly, “Charlie, that’s not the way it’s going to be. We don’t even
know
each other. I appreciate your offer, but I’m just not thinking of getting married right now. Good night, Charlie.”
    He turned and walked away as quickly as he could.
    Drake did not see the tears come into Charlie’seyes, but Rosie did. Rosie reached out and took her hand. “Don’t feel bad, Charlie. It just came as a shock to him.”
    “He don’t want me.”
    “You’re a fine girl, and you’ll find somebody someday. I’m afraid Drake and you wouldn’t get along too well anyhow. He’s kind of a high flier.”
    “What’s that mean?”
    “It means he’s had lots of girlfriends. He’s real popular, bein’ a musician and all, and besides, he’s in love with Miss Lori.”
    “He is?”
    Rosie saw that the girl was totally taken unaware by this.
    “I thought he just liked her,” Charlie said simply. “Guess he thinks I’m a regular fool.” She turned away from him and went inside.
    Rosie watched her go. Then he ran and caught up with Drake, who was still walking rapidly. “Wait a minute, Drake.”
    Drake turned to him. “Did you ever hear of such a thing, Rosie?”
    “No, I never did.”
    “She must be crazy!”
    “No, she’s not crazy. She just hasn’t had as many breaks as some other folks have.”
    “Well, she’s just got to get
that
idea out of her head! Do you think she understood when I said no?”
    “She’s real