Amelia’s knitting needles clicked as she squinted at Seminary Ridge in the east. Rumor had it that Confederate soldiers had been spotted there not long ago. No one knew where they would turn up next. “Levi would not have wanted you to be alone at a time like this.” Libbie forced a smile as she sat in her rocker on the front porch and pieced together some blocks of fabric for a Union stars quilt. Near constant references to Levi in the past three days were not helping her “forget what is past” and “reach forth unto what is before.” Hiram’s burial at Evergreen Cemetery yesterday had been another emotional drain. But Liberty had to admit she would not have relished solitude right now, either. The town’s telegraph lines were cut. The railroad bridge over Rock Creek had been burned, and seventeen cars pushed over the edge, smashing into the creek bed below. There had been no mail since Friday. No news, except for the rumors slinging back and forth between farmers and townspeople.
