When the Jessamine Grows

Joetta waits for Robert’s return and continues her farm work, hiding from Confederate soldiers as they pass. She struggles with her grief over Ennis’s death and her estrangement from Robert. She and Rudean have a somber Christmas, and in early 1863, Rudean announces Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Joetta says she only wants Henry and Robert home, Ennis back, and the war over. She reads a letter from her mother lamenting the divisions in their family and asking after Ennis and Henry. Her mother mentions a Confederate fort being built to keep out Union soldiers, piquing Rudean’s interest. 

Joetta starts using the springhouse to hide from Confederate soldiers. Joetta rarely eats. Rudean says he does not want her to starve to death before the crop is ready. Rudean does not want to have to bury her next to Ennis. She leaves and does the field work before making dinner. Later, she hears a sound and senses someone in the springhouse. She tells the person she will fire her musket if they do not come out. A young boy emerges and introduces himself as Charlie Hastings, who goes by Hasty, from Virginia. He complains about his feet burning; layers of skin on his feet are peeling when he removes his shoes and socks, from which vermin emerge. Joetta throws them into the fire and gives him new clothes before having him go into the washtub in the springhouse. He was with the Union but ran away. Rudean arrives at the springhouse with Robert.

A few days later, Rudean tells Joetta that Robert returned because she was “wasting away.” Hasty starts to help Joetta while Robert works in the fields. She still struggles to eat, and Rudean reveals the boar and sow he killed are almost gone. Robert is uncomfortable with Hasty staying in Henry’s room and his relationship with Joetta. When Rudean complains about the meat shortage again, Joetta says she thinks the man who ran her and Robert off the road is stealing the meat. 

Rudean and Robert ask about Hasty’s past, and Joetta tells them to leave him alone because he is a sick child. Robert decides to kill a hog. While Robert and Rudean are outside, Joetta tells Hasty he likely has malaria and will need quinine. He reveals he was a drummer who played the drum as the Union soldiers died. They saw him as an omen, hence the nickname “Hasty.” Joetta tells him he will only be Charlie from now on, as those soldiers’ deaths were not his fault. A group of Confederate soldiers arrives and reveal that Charlie is in the Union, angering Rudean.

The leader of the men, Lieutenant Braswell, says that Charlie has a dispatcher, but Joetta denies this. She protests that Charlie is just a child and left the Union. The men search the house, audibly breaking and knocking over some items. However, they are unable to find Charlie. Robert whispers to Joetta that he let Charlie out through the back door and closed it so the men would not know. The men take the hog in exchange for some quinine, which Joetta requested. The men roast the pig nearby. Joetta empathizes with the men, knowing they are sons and fathers like Ennis and Henry.

While the men are in the field eating the pig, Lieutenant Braswell says they will be camping in the field for the night and leaving at dawn. Robert asks Joetta why she cares so much about Charlie, and she says that, as a woman, she is inclined to care for others, which is why she cannot take sides in the war. Robert asks why she wore the cockade; she replies she wanted to keep her family safe. She gives Robert the choice to have Charlie stay or send him away. He chooses to have Charlie stay; Charlie told him his mother was shot by Union soldiers while trying to help a Confederate soldier near their home. Charlie was forced into their ranks. They embrace, fully reconciling and releasing the tension they have both held for two years. 

The following morning, Lieutenant Braswell announces the men’s departure and his plan to have someone watch the house. After the men leave, Joetta, Rudean, and Robert find all their livestock gone. Joetta, angry and heartbroken, asks Rudean how he feels about the Confederacy now.

Joetta sits at Fishing Creek and wonders what to do with the livestock gone. Because she is so controversial in town, she knows getting help will be difficult. She sees Charlie, who comes to her after she says it is safe. He says he wants to thank her before he leaves. She tells him she has quinine and says he can stay with them. Rudean rages about Joetta taking in a Union soldier. She chastises him for welcoming the men who stole their livestock, and he says they were desperate. Joetta says that if Robert continues to hunt, they should be okay, and he adds he will fish as well. Joetta and Robert explain to Rudean that Charlie was taken by Union soldiers after they killed his mother for helping a Confederate soldier. Rudean tells Joetta not to worry about him telling anyone about Charlie.

Joetta decides to see Bess; Robert tells her to go through the woods, as it is safer. There, Bess opens the door but does not let Joetta inside. Bess is suspicious of her because of the story that she held a Union spy. Joetta denies this, but Bess also questions Ennis’s loyalty due to him wearing the Union coat. Joetta angrily says he could use any coat he needed and tells Charlie’s story. Joetta becomes nervous when she smells meat and sees the green coat the man who ran her and Robert off wore. She ignores it and defends her values. When Thomas arrives, Bess has Joetta leave. Joetta runs back home through the woods. In the house, Joetta tells Rudean and Robert that Thomas Caldwell was the man in the green coat. Ashamed, Robert reveals he knew about it, as Harold told him his father just wanted to scare Joetta. He reveals that this realization is part of why he returned home.

As fall approaches, Charlie alternates between staying inside and going out to hunt and fish with Robert. They find the food unsatiating, but a crate of food arrives with a message from Mary. They savor the food, but it runs out. Joetta writes to her mother again, telling her about Ennis’s death and her reconciliation with Robert. She goes into town to send the letter, where she hears someone call out, “Traitor!” (283). She hurries to Mr. Spivey’s General Store. She finds most of the shelves empty but trades a pair of socks for cheese and a dozen eggs. Mr. Spivey gives his condolences over Ennis and asks if she is okay. A man opens the door, asking where Joetta is. Mr. Spivey has Joetta hide in his living quarters. The man is Miller, the overseer. Mr. Spivey tells him she is not in the store and tells him to look around. Miller then leaves, and Mr. Spivey has Joetta leave through a back door, telling her to take caution.

Joetta decides to visit Mary. Mary greets her at the door, thinner than usual, and Joetta thanks her for the food. Mary says Joetta is not the only one with a secret: Some Confederate soldiers took her mules. Joetta offers Mary to stay with her family, but Mary declines. Joetta says goodbye and sees Hugh coming out of the barn. Shocked and not wanting to endanger the Browns, she hurries home. 

Robert dreads running out of food, which Joetta understands. She allows Charlie to go outside with Robert despite her fears of him being seen. Robert and Charlie continue hunting and fishing, and Joetta grows the fall fruits and vegetables. She becomes happy again. On Thanksgiving, they receive food from an anonymous person. Shortly before Christmas, she wonders about the meat and tells Robert and Charlie not to hunt or fish until they find out from where it came. Robert goes fishing, and Charlie follows, but Harold stalks them, insisting Charlie is a spy. Realizing it is no longer safe, Rudean tells Joetta to go to her parents’ house with Robert and Charlie. Joetta’s pleas for him to join them, but he says they must go without him.