The last episode began a key segment of a story called, "The Better Angels – Lincoln, the Psychic and the Spy." As a quick summary, it takes place in December of 1862; the Civil War is raging and a brutal battle has been fought that has been a devastating loss to the Union Army.
Annie Franklin, a nineteen-year-old, inexperienced girl, has traveled to Washington DC to apply for a furlough to be able to take her brother home for care. He has been seriously wounded in the battle and because the hospital is so overwhelmed and understaffed, the government is allowing injured soldiers to be taken away to be nursed back to health at home.
Annie has already gone to the field hospital and gotten the letter she needed from a doctor authorizing the release of her brother. The previous day, she had gone to the War Department and presented the letter to the appropriate officer who had told her that everything seemed to be in order and to come back the following day and she can pick up the furlough.
As the story continues, Annie has returned to the War Department, with the expectation of getting the furlough and bringing her brother back to Georgetown, where she is staying with some friends of the family. Once he is well enough to make the trip, she will take him back to their home in Connecticut.
* * *
At 4 pm the next day, Annie was eagerly sitting in the waiting room of Captain Lee's office with three other people. He called each one of them in before her, all of which took about a half hour. Finally, he waved at her, gesturing to come in.
Annie walked into his office and sat down in front of the desk. Lee reached over to the ashtray, picked up the cigar which had gone out, lit it, and puffed for a few moments. "What a day," he sighed. "What a day. So busy. Never seems to stop." He took another long puff. "So - what can I do for you, Miss?"
Annie looked at him, a little surprised that he didn't seem to remember her or the reason for her visit.
"I am here to pick up the furlough for my brother. Remember? Daniel Franklin of the 14th Connecticut?"
"Oh, Franklin, sure, sure. I'm sorry," he said and started shuffling through some papers. "What a day…" After a few moments, he stopped and stared at one particular paper. He picked it up and read it for a few moments.
"Oh, hmmm, this one..." he said somewhat sadly. He looked up, took off his glasses and stared at her. As he pulled a piece of tobacco off his lip, she couldn't help noticing how yellow his teeth were.
"Well, my dear, you see this one here, this was one of the ones we had a problem with today," he coughed and took another puff from the cigar. "Yeah, there were a few, that well - we're not so sure of..."
"What?" Annie asked tentatively.
"Well, look, let's put it like this - there are a lot of people that have to give the approval on this kind of thing, and we hit a little snag. There's a delay. And to tell you the truth, I'm afraid this could go on for quite some time." He put the paper back on the file and looked up at her. "Anyway, there will be no furlough issued on this one today," he said officially. "So sorry."
Annie felt confused. Her emotions began to well up inside of her, but she stayed in control. "Sir, I don't understand. Yesterday you said that – "
"Look, Miss," he cut her off, "it's obvious that you are new around here and you don't really know how things work." He gazed at her for an uncomfortably long moment. "Do you know what I mean?" he asked. Her expression was confused and he studied her face. "No. Of course, you don't," he said, answering her silence. Then he broke into an ingratiating smile.
"Listen, let's make this easy for both of us. Do you like oysters? There's a great oyster bar around the corner and we could go there and talk things over. Personally, I could use a drink too. I don't know about you..."
Suddenly, he seemed to have a new expression on his face and Annie didn't know what to make of it. He got up from his desk, walked over to the office door and closed it. Then he came back and stood next to her chair. As she looked at him, she noticed the large ash that had fallen onto his Union jacket, and that he was engulphed by the smell of stale cigar smoke, like a skunk enshrouded by its own stench.
"Honey, like I said, I want to make this as easy for you as I can. I really do," he continued in a conciliatory tone. "Now I don't usually do this, but you seem like a nice girl, maybe not all that experienced or knowledgeable in the ways of the world, but that kind of makes it better in a way," he chuckled.
As Annie got more uncomfortable, she furtively glanced around the room and took a quick inventory of possible ways to get out. They were on the second floor, so the windows weren't an option, and the large office door immediately behind her was shut.
"Sir, I uh," she started.
"Look," he broke in. "There are only two things you really need to know at this point. First, I am in a very strong position here. In fact, I'm pretty much in charge. And believe me, I can get a lot done. I can really speed things up. Or I can slow them down." He looked at her for a moment to see if he was getting through. He couldn't quite tell, but he decided to keep going.
"And the second thing is - well, to tell you the truth, I'm a little bit lonely, if you know what I mean." He reached down and touched a curl of her hair that was resting on her shoulder. She didn't move a muscle. "Now I can help you and you can help me. It's really as simple as that. Actually, you could look at it as a gift of fate."
"So, you come with me to the bar," he continued, still fondling her hair. "We'll have dinner tonight. You'll like the food there, it's very good. Then after dinner, maybe something else might happen, and maybe it won't. That'll be up to me.
"But whatever does happen, I can promise you one thing. You do what I tell you, and your brother's furlough will be waiting on my desk for you by noon tomorrow," he stopped. "Now could anything be any easier than that?"
The rancid air around him was sickening and as she kept breathing it, Annie felt a wave of nausea in the pit of her stomach. She slowly stood up and turned to face him. She could see the office door out of the corner of her eye. As he looked at her, she coughed a little.
"Sorry," she said, still coughing. "I'm not usually around this much cigar smoke." She opened her handbag as if to take out a handkerchief, but in the next instant, she ran over to the office door and opened it.
Her unexpected move took him by surprise. To her relief, they were not alone. There were a few people sitting in the lobby. He rushed over, pressed his body against her and tightly gripped her upper arm. His hand felt like a vice and he seemed to be shaking a little
"Now don't get stupid, girly," he muttered underneath his breath. "You see, you already made a big mistake - you got me mad, and I got a bad temper. But I'm also a forgiving man. I won't hold it against you. We can talk about it over dinner."
"Let me go," she hissed at him and tried to pull her arm away. The people in the lobby didn't seem to notice and he tightened his grip even more. Her arm started to go numb.
"Now you listen to me and you listen good. You say 'no' to me and I promise you, your brother will rot and die in that goddamn stink hole in Alexandria. You don't know who you're talking to. I can fix it so no matter what you do, you'll never get a furlough for him from anyone in the War Department. I can do it and I swear to God I will. Now don't push me. Get your head together and wise up!"
"You let me go right now, or I'll scream," she threatened, glaring at him.
"Alright," he said, slightly louder. "Alright," he repeated and gruffly let go of her arm. "But you just remember one thing. I gave you a fair chance. I gave you a choice to make and you made it. And when your brother's dead, you selfish bitch, and you're standing there watching them lower his coffin into his grave, you just remember one thing – it was your own stupid, stubborn goddamn fault. You had your chance and you didn't take it. His blood is on your hands now."
He rudely shoved her out the door into the hall. She straightened her dress and started walking away. "Oh, by the way, honey," he called after her. "You'll be back! And you know what? I'll be here waiting for you."
A wave of revulsion welled up in her stomach and feeling like she might throw up, she stopped for a moment to let it subside.
Seeing her pause, with a softer, but still sinister tone, Lee said, "Remember this one thing. When you come to your senses and you realize what's best for your brother, you don't have to worry. I'll take you right way, I promise. And you're going to find a lot of comfort in that promise. I'll take you anytime you decide to see me again." He stopped for a moment, then added, "And trust me, you will."
Still nauseous, Annie walked away. Two hours later, she slipped into the Harrison's house and snuck up into her bedroom. But there was no sleep or even rest for her that night. She found herself in the depths of hell, fighting for life as relentless waves of despair and panic kept dragging her under. What was she going to do now?
Tune in next time to find out because that's the end of this episode. As always, keep your eyes, mind and heart opened, and let's get together in the next one.
