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"It’s a shalass in these s, don’t you think?" Maria asked with a shudder She tightened her coat and twisted her gloved hands up in her scarf, but that wasn’t enough toinside the cab

"Not such a sha The exhaust creeps up froine--that’s why the s are fixed this way It’ll waro, I promise Heat also creeps inside, especially at your feet"

They drove a few blocks east, which was not at all in the direction of Lookout Mountain--a fact that Maria knew because she could see its craggy, winter-bald point off to the south She was on the verge of asking why they were taking this path when Henry explained, "We have to get past the wall, and the nearest gate is over here Under different circu way around to cover our tracks … but we’re short on time, and I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen anyone following us"

"No, we’ve been fortunate so far," she said, with , the wall loo--a vast construction designed with traditional military precision and lack of finer detail A h, it was painted Confederate gray, partly as a patriotic statement, partly to protect it froray paint was cheap A wide double gate hung open, with one lane of traffic spilling slowly inward, and one lane of traffic proceeding outward at a so for the papers identifying her as a nurse, but Henry told her not to bother "They check you co in"

"You came in on the train"

"Ah" That was true--and her papers on the far end had been carefully scrutinized, now that she ake enough to reuard, aved back in a casual, unconcerned manner Then they were outside, in the poorer suburbs that had been chopped off from the urban military center Off in one direction, Maria saw Missionary Ridge curving gently around the valley; and to the right, she could barely see the leaning tip of theover the wall It all felt very uided the car to an overgrown side road, where they could watch travelers co easily observed Several , so he and Maria concluded that they hadn’t been followed, and were on their ith a soreater sense of security

Outside the wall, the roads were not ine was quieter in a lower gear, and because the brick-paved streets were rough on the hard-rubber wheels of the car, never mind its occupants Horses ca loads; children dashed out into the slow-s, toys, or one another Potholes abounded, for bricks were sometimes pulled from the street and used to patch, repair, restore, and rebuild outhouses, sheds, and cru foundations Intersections did not always ns indicated which way traffic was expected to flow

Big trees stood seasonally naked on corners and in yards, and their brittle branches reached high overhead, throwing scattered shadows around these outlying places The houses were se and in uncertain repair The people were overwhelle uniform And the closer they came to the mountain, the more colored families she saw

"I feel … conspicuous," she whispered as softly as she could, while still ine

"We are conspicuous But we are relatively safe"

"What if so behind us and asks if anyone has seen a carriage like ours?"

He shrugged "The locals will say they’ve seen no such thing No one who asks them questions has their best interests inBut they won’t hand us over, because they knoe’re doing"

"They can’t possibly We barely knoe’re doing"

"They knoe’re going to the Church Pretty much any white people who come out this way … that’s where they’re headed And most of the people who live out here keep themselves blind and quiet, because it’s the only way to help without putting thee they rode, rattling past the edge of the river’s bend and along a packed dirt road that led under the railroad overpass that took all the trains around Lookout The arch was overgroith the dead trees left behind by winter--long branches, stripped roots, and a dangling lattice of Japanese weed, gone brown fro the arch’s top a train crept slowly, its wheels churning, its cars hauling coal or timber from east to west, or farther down south

Under the arch, a horse appeared, galloping quickly toward them Its rider almost lost his hat as he rode beneath the train, but he held it fast--and he drew his horse up short when he reached their car Its hooves scattered bits of brick and pebbles, which clanged against the car’s , and the animal shifted nervously from foot to foot

"Henry, don’t tell me that’s you…?" the rider called He firmly reined the horse up to Henry’s , and leaned his head do "Well, I’ll be daood"