Carried Forward By Hope Read Online Free PDF Page B

physically, emotionally, and mentally drained. She’d only had Aunt Abby back in her life for a short time. She couldn’t bear to lose her again so quickly.
    Aunt Abby, reading her thoughts clearly, reached over and took her hand. “Yes my dear, but I’ll be returning as soon as the formalities are over. Only something like this could pull me away from Richmond right now.”
    The pain in Aunt Abby’s eyes sliced through Carrie’s own pain. “Of course,” she said immediately. “You must be there.” Her gaze landed on Matthew. “You too,” she murmured.
    Matthew nodded. “The Philadelphia Tribune has asked me to cover it, but I would want to be there regardless.”
    “Will you be coming back too?” Carrie asked, suddenly wanting to be surrounded by all the people who mattered to her. Janie was leaving and her father was still in hiding from Union forces, but she wanted to pull everyone else close. After four years of having to be strong she suddenly felt fragile and weak. It was not a feeling she liked or welcomed, but she also couldn’t seem to conquer it.
    Matthew shook his head. “No. I’ll be leaving from Washington to accompany the funeral train to Illinois. I won’t go with it all the way because I’ve also been called down to travel with a boatload of freed prisoners from Vicksburg up the Mississippi.”
    “They’re going home,” Carrie said softly, understanding how much that would mean to Matthew after his stays in Libby Prison. She still had memories of his emaciated condition when she and Robert helped him escape.
    “Yes.” Matthew nodded, his expression showing his gratitude for her understanding. “They are going home.”
    “Then of course you must be there,” Carrie replied. “No one can tell their story better than you can.”
      “When is the viewing?” Rose asked. “Surely people will come from all parts of the country.”
    “You’re right,” Matthew agreed. “The trains will be crowded. The procession will be on the nineteenth so that people have a chance to get there.”
    “He’s not going to be buried in Washington, DC?” Moses asked.
    “No.” Matthew answered. “I received news today that a delegate from Illinois came to the capital and asked Mrs. Lincoln to please have his body returned to his home in Illinois. She agreed.”
    “But not until there has been a procession and several days for people to view him,” Aunt Abby added soberly. “He was greatly loved.”
    “He was a tyrant,” Clifford snorted angrily.
    Everyone jerked around to stare at him.
    Aunt Abby was the first to speak. “You’re angry,” she said simply.
    “Angry?” Clifford echoed bitterly. “I don’t think there is a word strong enough to communicate my feelings. It was Lincoln who declared war on the South. It was Lincoln who sent troops down here to kill off the best and the finest we had to offer.” His voice grew more heated. “It was Lincoln who set all the slaves free. It was Lincoln who made sure the South was left in complete chaos and turmoil when the war ended.” He pounded his fist on the table and leaped to his feet. “Angry?” he shouted. “Yes, I guess you could say I’m angry. And I certainly won’t say I’m not glad he’s dead!”
    Shocked silence met his tirade.
    Janie sat frozen as a statue, only her trembling shoulders revealing her pain and embarrassment. Her eyes were fixed on her empty plate.
    Matthew was the first to find his voice as he sought to defuse the tense situation with reason. “I think I understand why you feel the way you do,” he said slowly, “but I think you’ll find Lincoln’s death will only make things more difficult for the South.”
    Clifford snorted again. “I hardly think that is possible.”
    “Then you don’t know President Johnson,” Matthew responded blandly, not wanting to go into all he had learned today, and hoping against hope it had been wrong.
    “And you don’t know the Southern people,” Clifford responded