The Sun Rises (Southern Legacy Book 4) Read Online Free PDF Page B

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    The Earth turned. Another season had once more begun to transform the landscape of Magnolia Bluff. The September sunrays of the late afternoon filtered into the room, but Josephine was unaware of anything but this moment.
    She basked in the joy of the sounds of the healthy baby girl she delivered earlier in the day. Her newborn’s cry resonated through her like a song from Heaven. Her prayers had been answered and Wade’s dream a reality.
    She had picked out a name long ago for her daughter, Madeline Marie. She had thought Wade would have been pleased to have his daughter named after his mother. Never had Jo seen a more beautiful baby. Fairer than Percival had been, she was perfect, with ten little fingers and ten little toes and quite a strong set of lungs.
    Cradling Madeline in her arm, Jo wiped away happy tears that escaped down her cheek as the baby suckled upon her breast. The ever resourceful Percival climbed up in bed and snuggled against his mother. The warmth that contentment brings suffused through Jo; she had her children.

Chapter Three
     
    To the chagrin of the war-torn South, Lincoln held to his stance on slavery and kept his promise. On January 1, 1863, he signed the Emancipation Proclamation. According to the federal government of the United States, slaves within the rebellion states were freed. The South was outraged, but Jo heard that celebrations were reported in Beaufort.
    Once the Charleston newspapers boasted the just and mighty Confederacy would vanquish their oppressors quickly and decisively; now questions in the Southern leadership began to be asked. While never questioning that the soldiers in gray had done their duty and honored their new nation, headline after headline boldly declared that the statesmen had forgotten the interest of the people they represented.
    Nowadays, Jo gave little thought to politics. The plantation claimed all her attention that wasn’t directed for her babies.
    Life had a way of carrying on even with the war raging in the background. Magnolia Bluff entertained visitors and the family visited Charleston. Despite the drain on their resources, Jo resisted the urge to curtail the friends and neighbors from calling. Mother Montgomery took such pleasure with her friends and there had been so little that made her smile.
    Magnolia Bluff seemed to suffer less than their neighbors. Jo credited Andrew. He had done such a good job of running the plantation in the midst of the most turbulent of times.
    Relieving one burden on the family, Derek slowly began to take an interest in the demands upon the plantation. At times, he was still aloof and distant, but the dark moods had become less frequent. Quite determined, he had trained himself to use his one arm to do most tasks any two-armed man could do.
    Jo found her days busy. She rose before sunrise and did not stop until well after she put the children to bed. Exhaustion would set in by late evening. The moment she laid her head on the pillow, she slept soundly—at least, until Madeline would wake for a feeding.
    This night had been no different, except before she could ready for bed, Rosa informed her Andrew requested her presence in the study. Jo found him at his desk with his head braced between his hands. His eyes rolled up slowly on her entrance. His somber look caused her to slip quietly into a chair across from him.
    “Josephine, word has come in from Whitney Hall. There has been a slave revolt.”
    Immediately, her blood ran cold. Grace Ann!
    Andrew reached down and took hold of the telegram on top of the desk. He handed it to Jo. “There is not much information. Your cousin, Grace Ann, has been injured, but was fortunate to have survived.”
    Overwhelming relief flooded Jo that her cousin was safe, but as she read the telegram she was also stunned. Her hand shook while her eyes skimmed over the correspondence.  The house had been burnt to the ground. Louis, Peggy, Sarah, and two of Sarah’s children had been