共 During the Civil War, the War of Northern Aggression to Southerners, General Elijah Beauregard was heralded, although not within earshot, as a demon. Known for shooting his own men for running from carnage, he had no less respect for his beloved Virginia.
She’d prayed for his demise, yet only received absolution in her own and her child’s death in childbirth. No one else, who dared live in his house, ever died in peace...nor left the premises. Over a century later, and many mysterious deaths and events, he would have his Ginny...again.*******************
1865
Virginia had been to town the day before to read the list of those killed in action, praying silently as her gaze raced across the page. Baker. Barton. Beans. Bell. Berringer. Berry. Bert. Bissel. Bowen. No General Elijah Beauregard. She’d wept. That night, she’d fallen to her knees and prayed, ＂God, if You will see it, if You are willing, take him in battle. Destroy him in war. Please, God, don’t let him return. Keep him from me, in Jesus’s name. Amen.＂ The General came to her that night and threw her against the stairway wall, mere feet from the grandfather clock he’d carved with his own, demon hands. He spoke no words about the battle of Mansfield, how they’d held the Yankees out of Texas, how he’d ridden behind the lines with a shotgun and fired upon his own men if they retreated from the carnage. He said nothing, hurling her onto the stairs, climbing on top of her with the clock’s rhythmical pounding, and punching her face when she allowed a terrified ＂No!＂ to escape her lips. Please, she prayed, eyes squeezed tight, enduring the pain, have mercy on me, Lord. Have mercy. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
