Love in War

Chapter 1

Ever since I was a little girl, I have lived on a large plantation in the state of South Carolina, around two hours from the port of Charleston; although now, it's more famous for being the start of the Civil War than being a port.

I live in my family's plantation home with my three brothers and my sister. My father, John Anderson, is always away on either a business trip or running the plantation and leaves my stepmother to take care of us. Katherine is a nice woman; she takes care of us, her stepchildren, as well as her children that she has had with my father. There is little James, a four year old with a passion for mischief. He has dark hair, much like my father, and dark brown eyes, similar to the bark of the oak trees.  Then there is baby Abigail, barely a year old and already very cute. She has blonde, curly hair like Katherine and her eyes are like father's- steely grey.

Katherine takes care of all seven of us very well, but she is not my mother. My mother was a strong woman, a woman who didn't let a man walk over her and made her husband spend time with us. I get my looks from my mother- the eyes like the summer grass and the hair like  the fur of a deer. My mother spent all of her time with her children, up until the point she got sick.

She had given birth to the twins, Thomas and Charlotte, a little over four months before she got ill. She had had issues since the birth- she was always pale, not eating much. The doctor visited, but said he couldn't do much for her. She died six months after the birth of the twins from blood loss; she had never stopped bleeding after the birth and didn't tell anyone. I was only 4 years old.

I usually wake up in the mornings with nightmares- either about my mother or about the Great War happening in this country. But one day, the nightmare became very real.

I woke up one morning on my own. I looked over at the clock sitting on my bedside table and it read 9 o'clock. I never sleep that late; Rose, one of our African American slaves, usually wakes me up at 7:30 every morning so I can eat and take my piano lessons.

I lie in my bed for several minutes before deciding to get up. I put on my silk dressing robe to cover myself, as my father would have a fit if I were to walk around the house in my undergarments and a male servant were to see me. I tiptoe down the stairs when I start to hear my father's voice and my older brother William's voice. I peek around the corner and see the back of my fathers head and William's face.

William is the oldest out of all the children. He is nineteen and engaged to be married to a lovely girl named Elizabeth; me and her get along well, but she will never be my favorite person.

"When are you leaving," I hear my father ask and my ears perk up. William can't leave; he is my confidante on this plantation as there is no other girls my age and the younger children are concerned with playing.

I see William's dark eyebrows furrow as he answers," I am being deployed next week."
Tears pricked my eyes as I heard that. William can't go fight, he can't. He's so sweet and innocent, he'll surely die out there. Not being able to contain myself any longer, I run from my hiding spot and hug my brother.

"You can't leave us," I sob into his shoulder. His lean frame wraps his arms around me and he rests his dark head on mine. My father eventually coughs to get my attention.

"Tessa, please go get dressed. Rose has prepared breakfast for the family today," he tells me. I nod my head and leave the comfort of my brother's arms even though I want to stay in them forever.

When I get to my room, one of our other servants, Eliza, is there to help me get ready for breakfast. She draws me a warm bath and puts a warm compress on my eyes to get rid of the puffiness from my tears. I get out of the bath and she wraps a towel around my naked body.
Eliza combs through my hair as I stare at myself in the mirror. I don't know who I will be without my brother by my side. He accompanies me to galas and to town whenever I needed a new dress or new gloves. Eliza puts my hair into a bun near the nape of my neck and put a clip in to secure my hair. She walks over to my mahogany dresser that was once my mother's and pulls out my undergarments. I slip into the chemise and Eliza then puts the crinoline over my head. I really hate crinolines- there is no use to make a dress bigger than it already is; plus it gets in the way of my adventures through the plantation.