Linnie's Road

Linnie’s Road

Linnie stood at the lone cedar desperately waiting for some semblance of hope. For three long, excruciating years she had walked the mile long path from the old house to the top of the road. She had come to know every rock under her bare feet on an intimate level and was now starting to resent the sultry summer sun that now oppressed her home with drought. That sun grew heavier as she drifted off into a haze, her mind beginning to run wild in the fog of memories.

Ephraim had left seven years earlier fighting for a cause that seemed so trivial to her. But he was a good man and she prayed that God Almighty would bring him home safely. The smell of fresh bread filled her thoughts now as she remembered the provisions she hastily packed away for his journey at hand. Their tobacco fields had just been planted two months prior to when he left for Danville for mustering. Just like that, the memories swirled in the dusty cloud until she was awakened by the trampling of hooves. From the top of the horse a postal courier called out.

“What is it you want?” Linnie spat as she cleared the dry air from her throat.

“A parcel for the ma’am” he responded politely while tipping his hat.

Reaching for the parcel she recognized the cloth it was wrapped in. It was the same cloth that made up Ephraim’s bedroll she had sent him off to war with. “Could this mean he’s still alive?” she thought to herself as she started her unwrapping. To her surprise what lay under the cloth was nothing more than an old bible. Her husband had always been a God-fearing man but never the faithful churchgoer much less one to read the Word. Dismayed, she tucked the bible into her apron and started the walk home empty-handed once more.

Halfway down the dirt road she was stopped from behind by a man in a wagon. Quickly recognizing the finely dressed gentleman as Mr. Gravely, the local banker.

“Good afternoon my dear” he cordially greeted, “You know why I am here today I presume…”

Mr. Gravely was known to be a shrewd businessman with little patience for excuses. His tolerance level was even lower on account of the feeling he just might catch fire from the heat of the sun under his wool frock coat. Pulling out a small, black notebook from the chest of his coat he riffled through its pages until his place was found.

“I have been very lenient with you considering the loss of your husband and lack of good rain, but now I must come to collect that which is duly owed.”

“I can get you the money Mr. Gravely…” she started but before she could finish the banker cut her off.

“Mrs. Wilson, I have no time to dawdle. Business is business and you must know that!” he snapped, “I will give you until the end of the week to figure it out or your farm will be repossessed by the bank.”

Exhausted and angered she turned on her heels towards the house that her and Ephraim had worked so hard to build. Too many thoughts rushed around her head as she absorbed all that was happening. Between a near dying tobacco crop, the bible from Ephraim, and Mr. Gravely’s visit, she could barely contain herself as the door creaked shut behind her. Suddenly she was reduced to tears when she saw his picture over the mantle.

“Oh Ephraim!” she exclaimed, “I can’t go on much longer. I need you home. I need you with me.”

Turning away to conceal her tears that he might somehow see as though he was really there, she pulled the worn and tattered bible from her apron and began to open to her favorite verse. Falling to the ground as she arrived at the page was a bloodstained letter. Kneeling to pick it up she recognized the handwriting of that of Ephraim’s. The anxiety set in deeper as she hesitantly opened the letter.

Dearest Linnie,

My time grows shorter here. I don’t know much longer until we all rot from sickness. I have missed you dearly these last 8 years and can only hope that I will see you once more again. I do not know where I am other than I am a prisoner of war and the conditions are horrible and the rations are not even enough for the mice that surround us. To that end, I must make this letter count before there’s no time left. I have always loved our walks by the creek near the tobacco barns. I dream of when I can hold you in my arms warmed by the kilns on those brisk autumn nights. I know not when or if I should even return again but know that all I have left are those tender memories underneath the roof of the tobacco barn.

With all my love,

Ephraim

Weeping, she held the bible and bloodstained letter close to her chest sure that her beloved husband was surely gone by now. Picking herself up she reread the letter only to notice something wrong with what he wrote. “There’s no creek near the barns,” she thought to herself. Ephraim must have been delusional writing about a creek that never existed, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something else was going on. Tired, she clambered across the rough, wooden floor to their room where she retired for the night.

Awaking the next morning, she began the monotony of her daily chores. What was left of the tobacco was waist high and needed to be hoed but she had long since run out of money to hire any help and resorted to the grueling work that lay ahead. Working tirelessly row after row, she continued to think about the letter. That evening as she finished her chores, Linnie set out to the tobacco barns, lantern in hand, to hopefully gain some inspiration.

“Out of all the places we loved, why would he have specifically picked the barns?” she questioned as once more she removed the letter and began to study it.

“Not only is there no creek, but what does he mean by his ‘tender memories underneath the roof of the tobacco barn’?”

Puzzled, she sat in front of the now empty barns. They had never once just sat inside the barn. Farming was hard work and the barns were full of tobacco in the fall, meaning there was no space inside for them to be. Curious she opened the small door and crouched inside the barn. Looking around, all she found were cob webs and the large wood burning kilns used to cure the pulled tobacco leaves. “He must have been delusional for sure.” Lamenting over her husband she started for the door until the heel of her shoe caught something on the ground. Carefully inspecting what it was, she found a hole burrowed into the ground underneath the kiln. Moving away some of the dirt around the kiln’s base, Linnie discovered the kiln to be sitting on wooden boards that hid something underneath. Exhausted from her day and itchy from the stinging cuts of the tobacco leaves, she meandered on home until she could return with something to pry the kilns over.

As the dusk settled in on the quiet farm, the memories of a time long ago came flooding back to Linnie. She reminisced as the joys of her wedding day lit up her mind. She could feel the warmth of her Ephraim as they kissed before the preacher. But like a passing train the thought fled her mind only bringing another to its place. She could see the day they had bought the farm from Roger Winn, the plantation owner down the road. Ephraim was so sure they would do well at farming the land. Tobacco prices were high and he was eager. Only they never dreamed of civil war throwing their once peaceful Virginia into a war-torn land. That was when she remembered the dark, uneasiness of the night he unexpectedly came home. Richmond had fallen and they were escorting the last remnant of their government to safety. Something was different about that night. She pondered Ephraim’s nervousness and haste to leave once again. Her mind swirling like a tornado, she resolved to find out for herself once and for all what was hidden below the kiln in the morning.

Prepared with a long pry bar Linnie determinedly walked in the already scalding light of the morning to the barn. Prying the heavy steel kiln over, she managed to remove one of the boards supporting the weight. Grasping into the dark, cool hole she felt the touch of burlap. Heaving with great effort she lifted the bag out of the hole and proceeded to open it cautiously, fearing there might be snakes inside it. To her surprise, what she found was gold and silver with a note on top.

Linnie,

The war is coming to an end and I fear I will not make it home again to you. With Richmond burned to the ground, we have moved all of the gold and silver from the reserves to keep out of yankee hands. I myself managed to hide $20,000 worth of said gold and silver here. I wanted to tell you but feared someone might have discovered it and harmed you to get it. If I never see you again know that I love you dearly.

Yours,

Ephraim

Perplexed, she sat back. “I can pay the bank what I owe!” She exclaimed. With renewed energy Linnie grabbed what she needed to pay the bank and made haste to the town of Axton. Her feet still bare and now bleeding from the long trek to town, rushed into the bank towards Mr. Gravely shoving a sack of gold his way.

“I’m free of debt if I do believe Mr. Gravely!” Linnie exclaimed almost out breath.

Not knowing what to do he reached for the sack and opened to find she was right. With his mouth open from shock of what he saw, Linnie left the bank knowing she was free. She was free from financial troubles, free from worry, she could hire much needed help and perhaps salvage the tobacco crop. Her only wish was that she could might still see her beloved Ephraim returning to her down that long dusty road. But with a new hope she continued to walk down that road every day in search of her lost soldier.