Faith Read Online Free

thee.” For the next few minutes she concentrated on creating poultices with herbs in muslin pouches, steeped in the hot water. Honoree’s mention of Shiloh had cut deep. Yes, they’d come south to nurse the wounded, but chiefly to find Shiloh. And thus far, they’d made no progress in finding her.
    The war had let them travel south, but now it forced them to wait yet again. Two armies danced around each other, a deadly pattern, and they were caught in the reel. Neither of them mentioned Shiloh’s name often because of the pain it caused both of them. If Faith was near tears, how must Honoree be feeling? Grieving, Faith applied the steaming poultices.
    The patient gasped at the heat on the open wounds and surrounding flesh.
    “I’m sorry, but I must draw out the infection or thee will lose both arms.”
    The man did not reply but closed his eyes; his jaw tightened against the pain.
    After treating and binding up the shattered arm, Faith shut her own eyes, gathering her waning strength. “I’ve done all I can do for thee now. The rest is up to God.”
    The Rebel said nothing in reply.
    Head resting on her arm, which was propped on the cot, she spent a few minutes explaining to Armstrong what he needed to do and how often. She rose and staggered, the long, exhausting day catching up with her after many such days.
    The colonel caught her before she fell. “I will accompany you to your quarters.”
    “That’s not necessary.” But she staggered again.
    “I am coming with you.” The colonel claimed her hand and drew it through his arm. Lifting the tent flap, he urged her outside into the last of the summer twilight. His man handed him her case.
    As he led her, Faith tried to ignore the glances from the soldiers they passed. She did not usually accept any man’s particular courtesy if she could help it. As a woman in these unusual circumstances, she must be above reproach. Though the general soldiery treated her with respect, too many in the medical community had until recently deemed nurses women of loose morals. This taint lingered and doctors often spoke of them as nuisances, not as a help.
    “I’m afraid I haven’t slept well with Rebel forces roaming so near, and there has been one skirmish after another, so we are busy around the clock,” she murmured, excusing her weakness.
    “I’m sorry I put you in this difficult situation,” he said.
    “Thee is in a difficult situation.” A Southerner from a border state, he clearly wanted to preserve the Union but maintain slavery, an impossible combination. Faith had trouble understanding how one person could hold such opposing views simultaneously. “How is it that thee keepsArmstrong enslaved now that President Lincoln has issued the Emancipation Proclamation?” she challenged him.
    “You are very direct, miss.”
    “I was raised to be so. Does thee have an answer for me?” The hum of voices surrounded them. The comfort of the strong arm supporting her drew her closer against her better sense. Oh, to have someone stronger to lean on for even a brief time.
    “I have long promised Armstrong that I will free him on his fortieth birthday, June 9, which is quickly approaching.”
    “Why wait? Since he is not presently in a border state, he is already free.” The proclamation had only freed the slaves in Confederate states, not states like Maryland that had not rebelled. But this colonel’s manservant was in a Rebel state now   —Mississippi.
    Colonel Knight didn’t reply.
    Was it because he did not want to answer or because his answer would force him to admit his self-deception?
    Her own birthday was drawing near, a day that should be happy but never was. Would there ever come a time when she would no longer feel the loss of her twin?
    Too tired to ponder this or to press the colonel about Armstrong’s freedom, she let herself study his profile. He had a firm chin, a broad brow, and honest eyes. He needed a shave, and she resisted the urge to brush the