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"Yankee That’s the North, right?" Beth asked Beth was from New York, and before that, her family had lived in Jamaica Her accent, however, was all American, and none of her ancestors had been in the United States during the Civil War

Ashley frowned

Beth laughed "Just kidding! Come on, I took history classes"

"Sorry!" Ashley said

"You should be Let’s get you in this ridiculous contraption So, people really churned butter in these things? No, wait--your relatives sat around looking pretty while the slaves and servants churned the butter, right?"

"Actually, in our family, everyone worked And I think that everyone had to shen churning butter Most of the time, the plantation ?"

"Andlaundry and all the rest," Ashley said "Well, maybe if you were really, really, really rich you just sat around We were rich, but not that rich, and if we’re ever going to be rich again, it’s up to you, since I can barely boil water" Beth had coo, determined to make the restaurant one of the most important in the South

"Anyone can boil water," Beth assured her "And you cook okay You’re not great, but, then, you are one hell of a storyteller Step into the skirts already, I’ that constituted the formal dress of a Southern plantation hed over the absurdity of the apparel that had been required in Louisiana despite the heat and the huuys The authentic uniforms are wool--those poor little puppies just die out there"

"Well, honey, I think I’, then," Beth told her, grinning "Cotton like this--it’s nothing And I do love the bandana! Poor Emma"

"Yes, it really was poor Emma," Ashley told her "Lots of the soldiers left journals about what happened at the battle It was only after the war that the ruot started It’s as if so that we can find ritten about her having been charged with the crime"

"But it was a different time Maybe she did the unthinkable Maybe she took a lover Maybe even, God forbid, he was a Yankee or a carpetbagger!"

"Maybe," Ashley agreed "From all the family lore, she loved her husband, she was devastated when he died, and she ed to hold on to the property and raise her children here, even though the South lost and carpetbaggers did sweep down on the South Carpetbaggers were even more despised than Yanks," she explained "They were the people eren’t fighting for a cause--their cause was just to prey off the vanquished and get rich"

A few minutes later, Ashley was ready, and they headed back to the porch that faced the river A crowd had already gathered, since the schedule for the day was printed out on brochures that attendees could pick up at the entrance to the property A high-school student, seeking extra credit in history, was usually given that job

Ashley ca out over the property as she could see it froray cordoned off the areas where the reenactors would er went into the ceal’s death and the tactical retreat of the two surviving Union soldiers

She found herself staring at the ceain An odd treot it and looked at Frazier

"Nice crowd today," he said quietly Ashley squeezed his hand

The s as the al’s cavalry unit--launched into the haunting strains of "Dixie"

Frazier Donegal began to speakan excellent history lesson He didn’t shy away fro in the South, and sugarcane, and both needed workers The citizens of the South had not invented slavery;to it whether, in their hearts, they accepted the injustice or not Fewor cruel to their fellow hunanimous when it meant they would also lose their livelihood It wasn’t an excuse, but it was history Then as now, prejudice was not so that was taught He spoke with passion, conviction and sincerity, and a thunderous round of applause greeted his words; he would have been a great politician, Ashley thought Except that he had never cared about politics; he had always cared about people

The first roar of close fire sounded from the stables area, and people screamed and jumped It was all sound and black powder There was no live ammunition at the reenactment

The Yankees, mounted on their horses, rode in hard fros as defensive positions as they began their attack

Ashley went on to introduce herself as E of the war, and how her husband, Marshall Donegal, famed for his exploits in the Mexican-American War more than ten years earlier, had returned to thea cavalry unit for the Louisiana militia that would be ready to join the Confederate ar in Louisiana It would be the Union naval leader, David Farragut, a seasoned sailor, ould assault New Orleans and take the city in 1862, but before that tiularly to survey the situation and report back on the Confederate forces guarding the city The battle at Donegal Plantation began when the federal spies who had participated in the bar brawl rode swiftly to the plantation in unifore the Confederates before they could sual Plantation, however, four of the spies died at the hands of the small Confederate force to be found there, and the only Confederate casualty was Marshall Donegal hiht of the federals, killing three before falling in a pool of his own blood She explained that history longed to blaal--but she was innocent Truly, she was innocent! The world hadn’t changed that much; people loved to talk, and everyone wanted there to be more to the story There simply wasn’t She and her husband had been married thirteen years; they had four children they were raising happily together She was heartsick at her husband’s death and survived her grief only because she had to keep food on the table for her children