Petticoats
and the Ferryman's Ledger

On the night of August 18, 1863, Solomon Freemen washes his hands until the water turns gray, puts on his coat, and tells his wife he has a late crossing. Clara keeps the ledger. She knows there is no freight posted. Their son has already seen armed men on the Retribution. Solomon will not say what Silas Beauregard put aboard, and he will not let her follow. He looks back three times. Then the fog takes him, and the river does not give him back. A century and a half later, at Freeman’s Bend, the Mississippi has moved. What it