*
It was a strange and scary trip. When she
boarded, heavily armed men boarded with her. As they traveled toward Little
Rock, more and more armed men boarded, until the stage was filled. Tenny was
the only girl/woman there.
These men were excited. They talked of
going to Little Rock to join the Baxter forces, whatever that meant. When the
stage arrived at the station in Little Rock, which was on the bottom floor of
Anthony house, these men joined hundreds of others, who were all around Anthony
House. Waiting, guns ready.
Tenny followed Samantha’s directions and
soon found Samantha’s apartment on the second floor. An armed US soldier stood
by the door.
To say Samantha was surprised by Tenny’s
arrival would be a major understatement. She hurriedly pulled Tenny in, and re-locked
the doors.
Food and other supplies, enough to last a
long time, were stacked in the living room. Samantha and Tenny hugged, and they
cried. And cried.
Tenny was in a state of shock: she had
just left a war in Pope County. She had no wish to be in another one. Yet, here
she was. But she was with Samantha, which made her feel much better.
Little Rock
was, actually, in the middle of a war. Samantha told her they were all waiting
for things to erupt. Jeff had told her that it would probably come to a head
that day or the next, and he still had far too few men to control this
situation. He was outside, in the middle of things, watching for a large
contingent of US soldiers to arrive, which were due at any time. He was hoping
they would not arrive too late.
As
they got control of their emotions, Sam filled her in on the details. It was
near dark, so it was looking like it would happen the next morning.
It would be a long night. They talked for
hours and hours. Early the next morning, they had a ring-side seat for the
climax of the Brooks-Baxter War. Samantha had both her guns loaded and ready.
She told Tenny to lie flat on the floor, not to move. Samantha said she would
only fire her gun if men broke into their apartment. But as things progressed,
Tenny just had to peek out the bottom of the window. She was not about to miss
this show. Sam had identified the major players for Tenny, so she knew them
all.
Hercules King Cannon White proudly marched
his army around Little Rock, which now numbered some two thousand men and
steadily growing. He pulled them into formation in front of Anthony house.
Baxter made a speech, trying his best to settle the men down. He asked them to
remain calm. Then he thanked them for their support. Then, White took over. He
made a very inflammatory speech, and ordered his men to march.
US Captain Jeff Rowe was sitting on his
horse on the sideline. He spurred his horse toward White, afraid he was about
to order his men to attack the State
house. The band was about to kick in, and as Jeff rode toward White, he
accidentally knocked two soldiers down. Harsh words were passing between Jeff
and White, and a shot was fired.
Samantha again ordered Tenny to the floor,
with no success. Tenny saw one of the soldiers who Jeff knocked down getting
up, pulling his pistol, and aim it at Jeff Rowe.
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