I N MID-OCTOBER, WHILE MEN MORE RELIGIOUS THAN I WERE STILL trying to reconcile why God
had dealt the South the powerful wound of Antietam four weeks earlier, I met a man with a
different tale of theft. After an afternoon foraging1 for sassafras bark, pine needles for brewing2
tinctures, and chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms, I rested contentedly3 with my back against a
broad loblolly pine. My overflowing4 haversack lay by my knee on the edge of a wood near
Kearneysville. Too soon, I’d have to leave the fragrant5 forest and head back to camp. Every now
and then, I thought I heard the cluck of a wild turkey hen, perhaps gathering6 her chicks. A hand
to my brow, I searched the hedgerow edging the field in hopes of a bird for dinner. That was
good enough reason to linger where I was.
Not long after, sounds of heavy breathing and twigs7 snapping startled me. A cavalry8 horse
was tracking nearby through the underbrush, and a bulging9 sack twisted around the saddle’s
horn revealed the rider and I had been on the same quest. The man and his piebald mare10 lazily
glided11 through tunnels of dappled light until they caught sight of me. The fellow drew back on
the reins12, rested his hand on his pistol, and demanded, “Hey, are you a Reb?”
I quickly recited my name and company to put him at ease.
“Julie Edwards, from Williamsburg,” he said as he drew near.
He was no more than my age, but he sported the shiny sword of a cavalry posting. I stood to
stroke the horse’s mane, thinking how fine it must be to have four legs to carry you foraging
rather than two exhausted13 and mostly shoeless feet. He leaned down to pat her neck. “This is
Lucky. You won’t find a better soldier anywhere.” After we shared disbelief about the Antietam
rout14, he asked about my company’s losses and inquired about our commander. I assured him
Captain Paxton was in good health.
Jeb Stuart was his commander, and Julie told me about a maneuver15 with that daredevil across
the Potomac River to Maryland several weeks earlier. He had been ordered to join a thousand
other cavalry soldiers for the five-day expedition.
“What good could come out of being on the northern side of the Potomac at this time?” I
asked.
“Horses. The army was desperate for more after Antietam. There was no other choice but to
go back into Maryland. There are certainly no horses left in Virginia!”
I stifled16 the memory of the thousands of dead animals scattered17 on the field in September and
instead asked, “The locals weren’t hostile?”
“No sir, people were so scared that they just stood by, jaws18 hanging. We could pilfer19
anything we pleased, as long as we got out of there quickly afterward20.”
He described how a mass of animals followed from town to town. The horses swelled21 out
down the road in a choking cloud of dust that hid everything in their wake.
His eyes sparkled and his voice rose an octave. “You should have seen it. The lanes and
roads were cluttered22 with empty four-horse wagons23 and carts after those animals were stolen, or
confiscated24, if you prefer. You can bet no horse was safe in its pasture, either.” He said that
farmers could only stare in shock at the receding25 rumps after he and the other troops had visited.
I’d heard rumors26 about the raids, but Julie’s account reminded me that Yanks could be doing the
same around our farm. They always retaliated27 in kind, and both sides were running out of
horses. A shadow fell across my mind, and I had trouble following his words for a few minutes.
But then Julie came to the heart of his story. His regiment28 had approached a small farm with
a neat clapboard house and fresh manure29 in the barnyard. The captain waved his brimmed hat in
the air as a signal to soldiers behind and galloped30 up to the weathered-board building. Julie and
the other soldiers waited in the lane with their stamping and snorting charges. The captain made
a show of jumping down from his horse and then he thrust back the broad barn door. “We could
see him prowling through the vacant stalls. Just as he waved his hat to signal there was nothing
there, he whirled around. A horse had snorted once, then twice, somewhere inside,” Julie said.
The captain pushed the barn door all the way open and motioned for Julie and the others to join
him. Another snort sounded from behind hay bales stacked to the stall’s ceiling. “We hurled31 hay
on the ground until a chestnut32 flank came into view. Someone had hidden the mare behind a
false wall of bales.” The barn dust set everyone to sneezing, but Julie saw through a crack in the
siding a young woman tearing toward the barn. He moved closer to the boards for a clearer
view.
“She was hollering and shrieking33, wavy34 brown hair and skirts flying behind her. I couldn’t
help but notice how pretty she was. She yelled at us to wait. She charged right across the ankle-
high filth35 between the fence and the stable door, she was so panicked.” She gasped36 out a plea to
leave the horse, saying the captain must surely have enough mounts. She waved her hand toward
the crowd of them in her barn lane. If he took her mare Lucy, she wouldn’t be able to go for
supplies or to fetch a doctor for her baby suffering from croup. What would she do if he became
feverish37? Holding her hands out in supplication38, she begged all of us to have mercy on a woman
alone, a woman forced to fend39 for herself.
“I was sorely tempted40 to plead on her behalf, but it wasn’t my place to argue with a higher
officer. I just kept my mouth shut.” Julie said. He looked away. “The captain sneered41 at her,
passed the reins of his steed to me and leaped astride her chestnut mare. The woman stumbled
back as he shoved her aside with his well-polished boot and started slowly down the driveway
mounted on her Lucy.” Hooves splattered her dress with mud as she tagged after, begging us to
spare her horse.
“Here’s the part I can’t forget.” Julie still couldn’t look at me but told how the captain pulled
back on his reins and then turned slowly in the saddle. He smiled and beckoned42 to the woman.
“I wondered at the sudden expression of hope that brightened her delicate pink face,” he said.
“Her eyes glowed with relief, but when she drew alongside, the captain whipped the horse
forward and sped a little way down the road. That’s when I understood he was playing a cruel
game. She’d never see that horse again.” He said she again ran after, her face dripping with tears
and sweat. Wisps of hair were glued to her forehead when the captain slowed and stopped again.
He waited for her to catch up. By this time, she struggled for each breath. He and the rest
laughed heartily43 at her distress44.
“Did you laugh? What were you doing all of that time?” I asked.
“I guess I protested, but pretty weakly. It didn’t make any difference, though.” Again and
again, the captain taunted45 the woman. Julie could hear her racking sobs46 from where he sat on his
horse. Finally, bored with the game, the captain trotted47 off, while the stolen mare strained to
look back at its abject48 mistress.
His voice dropped to almost a whisper. “I last saw the woman limply braced49 against a fence
post on the side of the road. She’d chased after us at least two miles and was completely spent.
Her bodice was splotched with sweat, her head was bowed, and her hands hung limply by her
side. I couldn’t look her in the eyes as I rode past. It’s been weeks, but I still spend nights
wondering how that woman and her baby are getting by without that horse. And how long they
will survive.”
I scuffed50 at a patch of spongy moss51 with the toe of my shoe as Julie waited for my reaction. It
was tough to find the right response. “Don’t be so hard on yourself,” I finally said. He gave me a
rueful glance as he leaned forward in his stirrups and geed52 Lucky forward. I watched as he and
the horse disappeared over the hill.
Even though my scavenging trip had been a success, Julie’s words haunted me every step of
the way back to camp. All of us were stained by the war. It wasn’t clear to me we could ever be
free of it. I’d like to have told Sam, to have heard his thoughts about Julie’s story, and that made
me miss him even more.
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1
foraging
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| v.搜寻（食物），尤指动物觅（食）( forage的现在分词 )；（尤指用手）搜寻（东西） | |
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2
brewing
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| n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式 | |
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3
contentedly
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| adv.心满意足地 | |
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4
overflowing
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| n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式 | |
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5
fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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7
twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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8
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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bulging
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| 膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱 | |
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mare
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| n.母马，母驴 | |
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glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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12
reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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13
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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14
rout
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| n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮 | |
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15
maneuver
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| n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略 | |
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16
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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17
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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18
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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19
pilfer
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| v.盗，偷，窃 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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21
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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22
cluttered
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| v.杂物，零乱的东西零乱vt.( clutter的过去式和过去分词 )；乱糟糟地堆满，把…弄得很乱；（以…） 塞满… | |
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23
wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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24
confiscated
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| 没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25
receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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26
rumors
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| n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷 | |
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27
retaliated
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| v.报复，反击( retaliate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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29
manure
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| n.粪，肥，肥粒；vt.施肥 | |
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30
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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31
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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32
chestnut
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| n.栗树，栗子 | |
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33
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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34
wavy
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| adj.有波浪的，多浪的，波浪状的，波动的，不稳定的 | |
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35
filth
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| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
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36
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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37
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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38
supplication
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| n.恳求，祈愿，哀求 | |
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39
fend
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| v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开 | |
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40
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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41
sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
beckoned
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| v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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44
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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45
taunted
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| 嘲讽( taunt的过去式和过去分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落 | |
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46
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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47
trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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48
abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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49
braced
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| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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50
scuffed
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| v.使磨损( scuff的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚走 | |
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51
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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52
geed
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| 驭马快走或向右(gee的过去式，过去分词) | |
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