Unlikely Bonds: A Confederate soldier, his former slave, and a Union war widow find loyalty, forgiveness, and love.

Description

The Civil War’s two Confederate soldiers are making their way home during the summer after the war’s end. Being hungry, crippled, hot, and tired, they are making slow progress from a prison-of-war camp on Rock Island, Illinois, to their home in McGee, Alabama. Sampson Freeman, who was Benjamin’s slave, and Ben stop at a farmhouse in Tennessee to ask for food and water. This stop is life-changing for Ben. Sarah Haines, who is a Union war widow, invites the two men into her home for supper and allows them to sleep in the hayloft of her barn. Ben soon discovers that Sarah had managed to conceal a mule through the war. In the hayloft, Ben can’t sleep. All he can think about is the mule in the stable and the wagon in the lean-to-shed. He tosses and turns while trying to get the mule out of his mind. He thinks, If I had that mule, we could be home soon, He finds himself descending the barn’s ladder to examine the mule and wagon. He is a good enough mule for anyone, he decides. Ben doesn’t like the thoughts that keep racing through his head. He tries again to sleep, but daylight is near. At the crack of dawn, Ben shows up at Sarah’s door. He offers her a proposition that he thought would be beneficial to all. Through the hardships, struggles, and survival, Unlikely Bonds t ells a story of loyalty, forgiveness, and love. —- ISBN: 9798325430480