The Cellar Read Online Free Page B

sometime later.”
    Ike was relieved to hear that Sarge and
Billy were alive, he thought of asking her to describe the dead men, but grief,
fear, and uncertainty made him hold his tongue for the moment. 
    As if she had read his thoughts the woman
said “I will describe the ones we buried, one was short with red hair, two had
coal black hair and beards and looked like brothers, and there was a fellow
with light brown hair and freckles who wore glasses.  Marcus and I said a
prayer over their graves and gave them what dignity we could.  I am sorry, I
suppose they were your friends.”
    “Yes, the little red haired fellow was my tent
mate; he was a character…….”  Ike said, holding back a sob.  “I didn’t know the
others as well, but we went through a lot together.”  He had to close his eyes
as he thought of Johnny lying buried close by.   Johnny would no longer be
teasing Sarge and his other comrades and singing and dancing with the
contrabands.  Johnny who had loved and enjoyed life to an extent Ike sometimes
envied but couldn’t always approve of would never again go “a wenchin’” as he
called his nocturnal forays.  Ike imagined the young Negro women keening over
the young man who had paid them so much attention.
    It seemed that he could remember more
about Johnny than he could about himself.  Like a lot of the people who
inhabited the southern end of his home state of Illinois, the O’Donnell’s had
come from the south.  Only one generation from Ireland they were small time
farmers and sharecroppers.  They had not been able to compete with the slave
holding planters and had moved farther north to free soil.  While they were not
prosperous, they eked out a living and held a grudge against the system of
slave labor that they blamed for having kept them down.
    Ike had first met Johnny at Camp Butler,
where their regiment had been sent to train as the war was erupting.  He had
resented having to share a tent with this loud illiterate, whose very purpose
in life seemed to be amusing himself at someone else’s expense.  Little by
little, the two had become close friends.  Johnny was outspoken and gregarious
while Ike was quiet and reserved.  Ike came to realize that other than his
brother and later on his wife, he had never been as close to anyone as he had
become with Johnny.  Long and sometimes one sided conversations revealed a
young man with many of the same insecurities and fears that Ike had.  Ike was
devastated that two of the people that meant the most to him were now gone and
Emma was so far out of his reach as to be nearly lost to him as well.
    Johnny had said that he enlisted so he
could go back and whip the “nigger drivers” that had kept his family poor.  He
also admitted that he didn’t care much for farming and thirteen dollars a month
plus food and clothing looked like a better prospect than staying home.  As the
two of them became closer Johnny confided that if he had stayed around home
much longer a certain young woman was likely to become pregnant.  “I just
knowed we’d end up married and have a whole herd of young ‘uns and she’d end up
lookin’ like her ‘ma and outweighin’ me.  Sleepin’ in a tent with you fellers
ain’t so bad when I think about th’ alternative.” He had said.  Ike wished he
could remember his own motives for joining the army.
    Ike decided to mourn his comrades at a
later time when he was alone with his thoughts.  He was beginning to suspect
that he would have ample time soon enough.  He looked down at his leg as he
thought about his squad members and decided he should change the subject.  “I
appreciate how well you attended to my leg.”
    “My late husband was a doctor.  I assisted
him at a great many things.  Your leg seems to have only a very small fracture
so I didn’t have to set it.  You should be able to walk on it in a few weeks if
you behave yourself.”
    “Then I suppose I will just have to