The Gallant South- Part One

Chapter XVI- December 3-10, 1912

In the morning, the sky was cloudy, and snow was still falling, just as soft as the night before. Cora drew herself up and threw open the large window to see the entire yard covered top-to-bottom with snow. It covered every inch of everything, including the mountains beyond the house. Cora's window had iced over, and she had to wipe a section with her sleeve to see out of it.
It was eight-thirty, and she could hear people downstairs having breakfast. She dressed herself in a lavender cotton skirt and white blouse, put her hair up, and went downstairs to get breakfast. Cora was glad to see Jim had made hot chocolate, perfect for the snow, which was still raining down.
"Please, please tell me you aren't going anywhere today," Masterson pleaded. Cora smiled and sipped the drink. "I am," she began. "But I plan to ride Artemis."
"Where might you be going?" Masterson asked, noticing Mary Ruth's diary sitting on the table before Cora.
"I'm going to go see Mama Elsie. Not up to anything...daring...today," she replied. Masterson chuckled. "Good. Water in this weather will give you hypothermia," he joked. From across the room, Eveline snorted.
"Will you ever let that go? Besides, any water tank in the city will be frozen," Cora reasoned. Masterson grinned. "You keep giving me reasons to bring it up again." He turned to Eveline. "You too, Miss "I-can-take-him-yet-half-the-skin-on-my-arm-is-gone," Masterson exclaimed. Eveline frowned, but both she and Cora knew that he had a point.

After breakfast, Cora got directions from Eveline and went upstairs to put on a thick winter coat with black patterned trim and a matching hat. She knew it was a bit fancy, especially for going to see Mama Elsie, someone she had talked to a total of about five times, but it was freezing outside, and this was one of her more-mobile coats. She planned on riding astride, even through the city.
It was only ten, and already, the snow on Cherry Coral Road had been muddled down into slush, and Cora could see horse and automobile tracks. She rode astride and was proud of it, although she was a little nervous to run into anyone, especially Colby or Magalee.
Estelle was beautiful in the falling snow. Men worked with shovels to clear out the sidewalks, which couples walked on, dressed in thick coats and fur. A group of carolers sang at a street corner further down, and giant trees covered in red and gold ornaments had been erected throughout the city. Even in the snow, people waved to each other, greeted friends from across the street, and rode together in old-fashioned horse-drawn buggies.
Cora rode on until she reached the back of the city, where Mayfield road sat in between an art gallery and a few rows of trees that stretched along the road until it opened up for farmland, all covered in snow. This was the road they took to get to the bush arbor, but Cora found that she turned down a different road before reaching Heritage lane.
The road she turned on was more farmland and less forest, and the first building was a small church, most likely for the farmers around. There was a small thicket of trees before it opened back up to a field mostly overgrown with weeds, other than the yard of the house, which sat in the front left corner of the field. It was a wooden farmhouse, made of logs and two stories tall. It was an aesthetically pleasing sight in the snow, and smoke was coming from the chimney.
Cora rode up the dirt driveway and tethered Artemis to a tree next to the driveway. Way back behind the house was a red barn and chicken coop. Tall woods enveloped all of the property that wasn't along the road.
Cora walked through the snow and up to the front porch, small and wooden. She knocked on the door three times and waited. From inside the house, she heard "I'm a-comin'!" and knew Mama Elsie was home. Cora had Mary Ruth's diary in her hands, shielding it from the snow.
Mama Elsie, leaning on her cane, answered the door wearing a calico dress and smiling. "Cora! Whatchu doin' here?" she asked, opening the door wider for Cora, who stepped inside. The entire house was warm and smelled like gingerbread, and there was a fire in the fireplace. Cora was standing in the living room, which had old looking couches and a rocking chair. Over the fireplace was a hunting rifle and a single, grainy photograph of Mama Elsie, much younger, standing with a man Cora didn't recognize. She assumed it was Arthur. They were wearing Victorian dress and smiling into the camera. Through a large opening, Cora could see the rest of the first floor, which seemed to be a kitchen and table nook.
"Your house smells wonderful," Cora commented, following Mama Elsie through the house.
"Yes," she replied, leading Cora into the kitchen, "I been makin' hard gingerbread. You want a piece?" she asked, motioning for Cora to sit down at the table. Cora nodded.
"So, I wanted to show you something," Cora said as Mama Elsie handed her a piece of gingerbread, a cup of hot cocoa, and sat down across from her. "What is it?" she asked. Cora put the diary on the table, and Mama Elsie gasped. "As I live and breathe," she whispered. "Oh Lord, oh God above, oh Holy Spirit."
"Thought you might want to see it," Cora said, smiling. Mama Elsie was still speechless, looking at the diary. "Good Lord and Yaweh, you done found Mary Ruth's journal. Where was it?" she asked, touching the cover.
"There's an entire trunk in my attic full of her things. Several, actually. Kit told me you did that."
"Oh yes," Mama Elsie chucked. "People were lootin' through her house. I took a few things n' put 'em up in th' attic. They still there?"
"Oh yes," Cora replied. "In near-perfect condition. Thank you so much."
Mama Elsie flipped the diary open and exhaled. She flipped through until she reached the end. "Last entry is April 8th, 1865. Two days before news reached Estelle that the South surrendered. Two days before she was murdered." Mama Elsie handed it back to Cora. "You read it. You read the whole thing and come tell me about it when you done," she said.
"You aren't going to read it for yourself?" Cora asked. Mama Elsie shook her head. "I don't think I'm ready to read it yet. Last time I saw the woman, she was lyin' on the ground of a burnin' building with gunshots all up her back. I'll read it later. Few months, maybe."
Cora didn't think about the fact that Mama Elsie had seen Mary Ruth dead. On the way home, she wondered about it. What she must have felt, hearing that the north had won, only to find out a black building had been set on fire. How she must have felt going to help, only to find her best-friend dead. No, not dead. Murdered.