Chapter 2

First Draft

Over the next few days Colleen continued to think about visiting her aunt Charlotte and Grandmother Rachael. Aunt Charlotte lived on a plantation about five miles from Charleston so Colleen would be close to her brother Patrick when he left, but it was so very far from her home. Then Charleston would be such a fun new exciting place and the thought intrigued her interest, but then Colleen had never been much for change. She still hadn’t made up her mind by Thursday when her brother was leaving, so for that day Colleen pushed it out of her mind.

            Rachael, Colleen and Samuel were waiting at the bottom of the steps for Patrick to come down. It was five in the morning and still dark.

            “I can’t believe this is happening,” Rachael whispered to Colleen.

            “I know me neither, Patrick Is still young himself. Most of the men are. Half of the county is going off,” Colleen replied. Then they heard footsteps at the top of the stairs. They all looked up, but it was just Charles and Sean.

            “Are they coming down?” Rachael asked.

            “Fairly soon,” Charles replied still bitter that he couldn’t go. Rachael shook her head and turned back to Colleen.

            “Oh Colleen I wish you would make up your mind about Grandmother Harris,” Rachael longed to visit the Grandmother she was named for.

            “I don’t know Rachael,” Colleen sighed, “I just hope this war some how doesn’t come.”

            “Here he comes,” Juliet came bounding down the stairs. Close behind her came father followed by Patrick. Patrick looked much older then sixteen as he came down the stairs. By the time he reached the bottom all the girls were in tears.

            “Patrick you look so, so, grown up…” Rachael embraced her brother tightly as the tears came faster. Patrick smiled meekly as they parted. Colleen hugged him next. She cried harder.

            “Why does he have to go…”

            After all the embraces and goodbyes Patrick headed out with their father to the carriage. Colleen could stand it no longer, she couldn’t stand watching her little brother go off to war. She ran up to her room, flopping down on the bed and drowning her face in a pillow. 

            “Mizz Cauleen,” Hannah came into the room. “Mizz Cauleen don’t you be cryin, he’z gonna be comin back,” Hannah sat next to her on the bed and began stroking her back.

            “It’s not fair,” Colleen whined peering up from the pillow.

            “I knows,” Hannah continued the soothing motions. Colleen sighed.

            “Thank you Hannah,” Colleen turned towards her trying to smile.

            “Yes um,” Hannah nodded. “That be all?”

            “Sit with me Hannah,” Colleen said, “I’ll read to you.”

            “Yes um,” Hannah went over to the rocking chair in the corner of the room.

            “Here this will do,” Colleen grabbed a book from a small bookshelf that she and Rachael shared. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…”

            “Oh the Bible,” Hannah smiled to herself as she looked out the window. Reading the Bible reminded Hannah of her and Colleen’s younger days when Colleen was teaching her to read. Every day for a long while they would read Genesis one, one till they moved on to the next book. By the time they finished with the entire Bible they both knew the first verse to every single book and Hannah knew how to read.

            Hannah smiled bigger as she thought of the time they both decided to do their reading in a tree. By the time they got up their Colleen had lost a shoe, they had both torn their dresses and they were laughing hysterically. Hannah and colleen would spend hours together laughing and reading. Colleen told her once that she didn’t see Hannah as a slave or black but a person who was her friend.

            Hannah sighed, “But I’m still a slave.”

            Colleen kept reading for a longtime. She got all the way through Genesis 37 before she stopped.

            “I always felt sorry for Joseph,” she said closing the book, “Hated by all his brothers…” Colleen bit her lip thinking of Patrick. She had to get it out of her head. Maybe she should go to her aunt’s. There would be so much to do there, so many distractions. Probably lots of parties and dancing, and there were her cousins, Colleen had only met them once when she was very young. She couldn’t even remember their names or even Charlotte’s husband’s name for that matter.

            “I’ll sleep on it,” she thought to herself. That night there wasn’t much sleeping; Colleen tossed and turned in thought.

            “Oh but Patrick would be so close, but I don’t want to think of him and war together, what should I do,” Colleen turned over so her face was buried in the pillow and let out a grunt. Change was never one of Colleen‘s favorite things. The occasional changes that she could control were easier for her to handle. “It would be a new place though,” she thought. This was something that was her decision, she could handle this. “I’ll go.” Colleen rolled back over and nodded to almost reassure herself. She soon fell asleep.

            “Good morning Colleen,” Grandmother McKinley greeted her at the breakfast table the next morning.

            “Hello Grandmother,” Colleen responded followed by a kiss on her grandmother’s cheek.

            “How are you this morning dear?” Grandmother poured herself some coffee.

            “Good.”

            “Good, and have you thought anymore about what I said?”

            “I have,” Colleen took a seat at the table. “I would like to go.”

            A smile crept  over Grandmother McKinley’s face, “That’s wonderful dear.”

            Colleen didn’t remember her Grandmother Harris much. The last time she’d seen her was 7 years earlier before her mother had died. Her grandmother was staying with Colleen’s uncle Marc who had inherited the Harris home. Colleen remembered that her grandmother was very strict and stern. She was also very Catholic and attended every service the Charleston Catholic church she could Grandmother Harris also wore black constantly ever since the death of Julia and her husband Samuel who died soon after. Grandmother Rachael had never met Juliet and Colleen assumed she never planned to.

            “Maybe Juliet should come with us,” Colleen thought as she began walking away from the table. Then she paused, turning around to speak to Grandmother Colleen. “Grandmother?”

            “Yes dear?”

            “Would it be alright if Juliet came with us? [I would miss her so while Rachael and I would be gone.” ]

            “Why I’m sure that would be alright. I’ll speak to your father about it,” Grandmother responded grinning.

            “Thank you,” Colleen smiled in return then began to make her way to the stairs. Once she got to the top she looked for Juliet.

            “Juliet, Juliet…”

            “Yes sister,” Juliet came out of her room carrying her rag doll.

            “Darling Grandmother is going to see if you can come with us to Auntie Charlotte’s house,” Colleen smiled at her sister.

 Juliet’s face lit up, “I’m really going to see my Grandmother Harris! Oh I have to decide what I’m going to bring!” Juliet started to go to her room but paused. Then she turned back and embraced her sister. “Thank you sister,” then Juliet was off to her room.

“I hope she’s not disappointed,” Colleen was afraid that Juliet expected Grandmother Rachael to be like their mother but she was not. Julia McKinley was a sweet angel from heaven to colleen and Rachael Harris was a ridged, crotchety woman. Colleen shook her head, “Not even close.”

“Hannah! Hannah!”

“Yes um,” Hannah came out of Colleen and Rachael’s room.

“Rachael, Juliet and I are going to Charleston, we need to begin packing. Will you please lay out Rachael’s and my things. I’ll get Rachael.”

“Yes um,” Hannah nodded and headed back into the room to begin the preparation for packing.

“Rachael…” Colleen strolled down the stairs, “Rachael…”

“I’m out here,” Rachael called from out in the garden. Colleen stepped outside into the garden. The garden wasn’t very large but it was a good size. As she entered there was lattice above her head, covered in vines. Off to her left was a bird bath surrounded by daisies and daffodils. On the far end there was an iron love seat with yellow roses on either side. Rachael was off to the right trimming the red rose bushes.

“Aren’t they pretty,” Rachael paused for a moment to admire her work.

“Yes,” Colleen stopped right next to here sister. Rachael stood up with flowers in hand. Rachael had always told Colleen that when Colleen was a baby and Grandmother Harris came to visit her and two year old Rachael would go out to the garden and pick flowers for the dinner table. Colleen almost couldn’t believe that but Rachael said it was the first thing she remembered.

“What did you need?” Rachael asked.

“Grandmother is going to see if Juliet can come with us to Aunt Charlotte’s.”

“So you’ve decided you want to go,” Rachael’s eyes glimmered with excitement. Colleen nodded. Rachael smiled really big, “I’ll have tell Hannah to...”

“Lay out our things?” Colleen finished. “I already have.”

“Well then I’ll get cleaned up and we’ll go help her,” then they made their way into the house together. Hannah had set out all their clothes on the bed and readied their trunk. Both Colleen and Rachael picked out four everyday dresses and one nice one from their collection of eight dresses each. Once that was finished they went off to Juliet’s room to prepare her things.

After several hours Colleen came down stairs.

“Have you sent the letter yet Grandmother?”

“Sent it the day I mentioned it to you dear,” she replied without looking up from her tea.

“But I hadn’t decided yet?”

“I know but I figured it would be faster that way, and if you decided against it I could have always sent another.”

“Thank you Grandmother…” The next morning Patrick Sr. Rachael, Colleen and Juliet all packed together in the carriage and were off to the train station.