Encounter at Cold Harbor by Gilbert L. Morris Page A

often, for that had been themost pleasant time of his life. “You remember Ol’ Napoleon?”
    “I certainly do!”
    Napoleon was the huge bass that lived in a stream not far from Jeff’s old home place. He and Leah had spent a lot of time trying to catch that fish, but he was a wily breed.
    Thinking of Napoleon, Leah seemed to relax slightly. “You remember we did catch him once? Then you let him go. I never did know why you did that, Jeff.”
    “Oh, I don’t know.” He picked up a stone, looked at it, skimmed it across the water. It hopped four times, then sank quietly. Turning to look at her, he said, “I guess I just wanted to keep something the same. Everything else has changed, it seems like, and I wanted Ol’ Napoleon to be there when the war’s over.”
    “I hope he
is
still there. I went down there just before I came back to Richmond, but I didn’t see him.”
    “Sure hope somebody hasn’t caught him. I’m the one who wants to do that!”
    “We will! As soon as the war’s over and you come back.”
    Jeff glanced at her. She seemed somehow not quite so upset today. Feeling better, he said, “What would you do with him, Leah, if we caught him?”
    That thought apparently had never occurred to her. “Why, I don’t know.”
    Jeff teased her. “Would you eat him?”
    “Eat Napoleon? Why, that would be like being a cannibal!”
    “Well, we could have him stuffed. Then every time we’d look up on the wall, we’d see Ol’ Napoleonand think about when we were kids fishing for him together.”
    Leah laughed. It was the first time Jeff had heard her laugh since she had come back from Kentucky.
    “I don’t think I could stand to see Ol’ Napoleon all stuffed,” she said.
    “Well, then, we could get a big barrel and keep him in it. But it wouldn’t be right to keep a fish in a barrel either. They need to be free. I guess we’ll just go down to the creek and visit him.”
    “Jeff …” Leah began uncertainly.
    Was she was going to say, “I’ve been so foolish, and I’m sorry”? If so, she did not have the chance.
    “Leah,” a voice called. “Come back to the house —and bring Esther.”
    Jeff looked up. “Why, that’s Pa, and he’s got somebody with him. We better get back there.”
    He stood and grabbed the string of fish and the poles as Leah picked up Esther. “I bet I know who that is,” he said as they started for the house.
    “The woman? Who is she?”
    “I better let Pa tell you.”
    When they reached the house, Leah looked at the stranger and then at Colonel Majors. “Hello, Colonel!” she said.
    “Hello, Leah. I brought somebody I’d like you to meet.” Turning, he said, “This is Eileen Fremont.” He looked back to Leah. “This is Leah Carter. She’s been the next thing to a mother for Esther ever since she was born. Leah, Mrs. Fremont’s going to help you take care of Esther.”
    Leah lowered Esther to the floor, Colonel Majors reached down, and the child flew to him. “Papa! Papa!” She patted him on the cheek.
    Leah had no time to say anything,
    “Esther, this is Mrs. Fremont.”
    Esther looked up at the woman but held tightly to her father. Her eyes grew big, and she said, “Hello.”
    Eileen Fremont smiled at her. “You’re a pretty baby, Esther. Would you let me hold you?”
    “No, Papa hold!”
    Eileen Fremont laughed at that. “Well, I can see she’s attached to her father. Give me a day or two, and I think she’ll come to me.”
    “I brought Mrs. Fremont to meet Esther to see if they could get along,” the colonel explained to Leah. “Jeff, Tom, and I will be leaving pretty soon, and we thought you could use some company in the house and some help with Esther.”
    “That’ll be fine, Colonel.”
    “You won’t mind having me on your hands, will you, Leah?” Mrs. Fremont asked.
    “No, of course not. It’ll be nice to have company. It gets a little lonesome out here.”
    “I’ll try not to get in your way. Maybe we could teach each