"One Man Saw" revised version

The woman got out of the sedan and walked up to the porch. She saw that her Granny was sitting in her usual spot there on the side away from the evening sun, catching an occasional orphaned breeze. Mandy placed her journal on top of a cabinet that hugged the wall directly beneath the area where her one-man saw was mounted and on display. She had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of her expected company. The retired judge looked at her granddaughter as she climbed the porch steps and motioned to a cushioned hickory rocking chair beside her own, saying, “It’s good to finally see you after all these years, Amy, give me a hug and have a seat here with me, there is a nice wisp of wind stirring that will comfort you from this blessed heat.”
The long-separated kinfolk embraced and Amy, smiling broadly now, took her seat. “I am so very glad to see you again, Granny, I hope that I never even see an army base again. Daddy can have them as far as I am concerned. Now that I am 21, I’m back in Tennessee for good!”
Mandy looked at Amy and without pause gave her the keys to the cabin by the river, the old hut as the old-timers all called it. A plain, rustic structure on the outside, built from Tennessee trees cut, split, planked and planed right there on the bend on the Tellico River. That was the great illusion about this ancient shelter because once inside, there was nothing but poplar, plaster, plushness, and paduasoy. Mt. Versailles, as it was called by the Lee family, had its secrets, just as most places do. Amy swooned in her chair, overcome with joy.
“Just remember our bargain young lady, you are in charge of keeping the place up now,” Mandy said.
Amy nodded. She cleared her throat and started to speak, then hesitated. She then looked at her Granny and said, “I don’t have many tools just yet, although I do plan to buy several when I go to the Home Depot store in Maryville. Until then, can I borrow your saw here?”
Mandy looked at Amy, then looked at the saw there on the wall of her porch, and a tiny smile formed on her wrinkled lips, accompanied by a distinct glimmer in her eyes. She looked back to Amy and said, “Child, that saw has seen more than any one man or woman that has ever walked on God’s Earth. Do you have time to hear an old woman tell a story?”
“Yes, Granny, I sure do! I always loved it when you told me stories about the old days back when I was a little girl and you were keeping me after Momma died,” Amy said as she hugged her Granny tight.
Mandy hugged Amy back even harder, suddenly elated that her granddaughter was back home and the cabin by the river would once again be a home to laughter and love. The memories started to flood back into Mandy’s mind and when the hug ended and Amy was again sitting beside her, she reached over and picked up her journal, turning back the sheaf of pages to near the front cover. “I have a lot written here that I want to peruse over a few minutes before I start the story, Lord knows I just don’t remember things the way that I used to. It sure is a good thing that I started putting things down on paper back when I was your age young lady,” Mandy exclaimed. She mused over the tome for several minutes, moving her lips ever so slightly as she read from the yellowing pages filled with her singular penmanship.
Amy watched her beloved Granny as she read and was filled with both love and wonder as the elder lady reread her own writings that were not only older than Amy, but older than Amy’s Daddy Jeb as well. Amy sensed that there was a wellspring of past knowledge within her Granny, and that she, fresh back from the Tennessee-like hills of Germany, was about to get educated some more by one of the grandest of the South’s remaining belles.
Getting up now, Mandy pointed to the one-man saw. A tear had formed in the corner of her eye. Composing herself, Mandy continued by saying, “All of the Lee grandchildren know that 1864 was the year that my husband, and your grandfather, Jefferson passed away. I had just given birth to the quietest baby that ever drew a breath, your Aunt Dixie. Jefferson and I had been living at Mt. Versailles since he had built it after our return to Tennessee from California. Word had gotten to us that the Union army was coming to Tellico Plains and everyone in Mt.Vernon was taking to the woods and mountains to hide. Your grandfather would have none of that though. He sent me and the children off to stay at Sweet Fannie Adams farm until things settled back down. Naturally, I slipped back to the cabin and saw what happened first hand!”
Mandy continued, “Then what did my eyes behold but the whole of Sherman’s Army going by our cabin! The line of infantry had passed us by without a sideways glance and a good part of the cavalry had gone by as well, when suddenly a five rider contingent approached and reined their horses right into the yard path, heading across to the river to water their thirsty mounts.
“Your grandfather had been finishing up work on the gazebo in the rock garden and walked around to the men. He properly informed them that Jefferson Lee did NOT take to strangers cutting through his property to go to the river.
“The tallest soldier replied that they weren’t strangers; they were the aide-de-camps to none other than General William Tecumseh Sherman and the General himself now needed a word with Jefferson if there was going to be a problem with his good horse Lexington getting a fresh drink of water.
“Your Grandpa looked away, paused, spit, and then firmly stated, ‘I won’t abide any God-forsaken Yankee soldiers on my place, so y’all can leave now peaceably or get ready for a sizable whipping. If your General still feels the need to talk he can come right over here to me,’ Mandy went on as she sat back down now and steadied herself in her hickory rocker.”
Looking Amy in the eye now, Mandy resumed her story by saying, “Suddenly a pudgy, plain-looking man in a fancy uniform emerged from behind the stand of horses and made it known that he was THE General Sherman and he wasn’t in the mood for any type of sass from a hillbilly sodbuster. He looked at the outside of our cabin and asked Jefferson if he had built that sorry excuse for a house.
“Your Grandpa nodded to the Yankee General, and then he turned his head and spat again.
“Sherman then noticed the one-man saw. He dismounted and went over to the woodpile and picked it up. ‘This is a fine saw,’ commented the warlord, ‘I am going to seize in the name of the Union Army, for it is small enough to carry for camp, and will be handy for cutting the wood I need for my cook fire.’
“Jefferson took a half-step forward and swung a hard blow with his right arm that struck General Sherman on his formerly undecorated jaw. He was getting ready to land a second blow when a shot rang out from behind him. Your grandfather was dead before he hit the ground.
“I ran out from behind the henhouse and wrung the saw out of General Sherman’s grasp. The saw teeth gave his trousers a good tear in the process, almost like it was trying to bite him when I emancipated it from his grasp.
“I then held Jefferson’s Colt .45 Peacemaker right up between the General’s eyes and told him to either leave right now or meet his maker. He chose the former, quickly too I might add! They went on up to Tellico Plains and razed the cannon foundry, then left out from there going down the Old Federal Road towards Atlanta, Georgia.
“Afterwards, I brought the saw back here to the main house and nailed it up here on the wall beside us. I never did forget the events of that day, as you will never forget them now, dear Amy.”
Mandy put her journal away, then got up out of her rocking chair so that she and Amy could stand and hug each other again steadfastly. Mandy was remembering the tender way that Jefferson had held her that last morning they had had together, while Amy was awestruck at the breadth of what this dear woman saw that long past day. Amy smiled inside. They remained together for a long time that August afternoon, holding each other close, mourning in the stately fashion which only true women of the south can demonstrate.

"One Man Saw" before rewrite

The woman got out of the sedan and walked up to the porch. She saw that her grandmother was sitting in her usual spot there on the side away from the evening sun, where the occasional gentle breeze could be caught also. Aunt Mandy, as everyone in the Mt. Vernon community referred to Amanda Davis Lee, put down her book of adventures on top of the croquet cabinet that hugged the wall beneath the area where that mysterious one-man saw of hers was still mounted and on display. Aunt Mandy had been eagerly awaiting her expected company. The elderly judge looked at her granddaughter as she climbed the porch steps and motioned to a cushioned hickory rocking chair beside her own and said, “It’s good to finally see you after all these years Amy, give me a hug and have a seat her with me, there is a nice wisp of wind stirring that will ease you from the heat.”
The long separated kinfolk embraced and Amy, smiling broadly now, took her seat. “I am so very glad to see you again granny, I hope that I never see an army base again. Dad can have them as far as I am concerned. Now that I am 21, I’m back in Tennessee for good!”
Aunt Mandy looked at Amy and without pause gave her the keys to the cabin by the river, the old hut as the old-timers all called it. A plain and rustic structure on the outside, built from Tennessee trees cut, split, planked and planed right there on the bend on the Tellico river. That was the great illusion about this ancient shelter because once inside, there was nothing but poplar, plaster, plushness, and paduasoy. Mt. Versailles, as it was called by the Lee family, had its secrets, just as most places do. Amy swooned in her chair, overcome with joy.
“Just remember our bargain young lady, do you hear me?” asked Aunt Mandy in a spritely manner.
Amy nodded. She cleared her throat and started to speak, then hesitated. She dropped the keys and for a moment the inlaid emerald caught a stray ray of the bright sunshine and directed it forth in a line that resembled a bolt of lightning loosed from an angry Jove which reflected gaily on that one-man saw on the wall. Amy and Aunt Mandy both looked at the magical glow that was gone in the blink of an eye, yet this fleeting image now had made a new page in their memories because of the sheer uniqueness and beauty of the moment they had shared.
Amy screwed her courage to the sticking place now and found her voice again as she said to Aunt Mandy, “Granny, in return for my promise, I want to use the second of my Lee legacy questions.”
“Are you absolutely certain of that Amy Davis?” asked Aunt Mandy, now looking again at the one-man saw. “You know that each grandchild gets to ask only three questions about the old days that no one else in Mt. Vernon knows or remembers any longer.”
“Yes, I am Granny, I know that will just leave me one more, but it would mean the world to me to have this one answered to me by you. I have thought about this long and hard.”
Aunt Mandy nodded to Amy as she handed her favorite granddaughter her book of adventures, the personal journal she had been keeping for the last 87 years now. Amy opened it and found the center section, where all the pictures were, and there it was – the one-man saw! Up in the top right hand corner was a number, placed much the same way as an identifier in a research paper in school would be. This number read 411 and that was the key Amy needed. She used it now as she looked at her grandma and spoke softly “411.”
Aunt Mandy smiled like a banker on Election Day. She mused a few seconds before she said, “Amy, I always thought you were the smartest of all the grandchildren, and now I know it for a fact!” Getting up now, Aunt Mandy pointed to the one-man saw, a tear forming in the corner of her eye. Composing herself, Aunt Mandy continued by saying, “All the grandchildren know that 1864 was the year that my husband, and your grandfather, Jefferson Davis Lee died. They know that I had just given birth to the quiet daughter, your Aunt Dixie, and that Jefferson Davis and I had been living at Mt. Versailles since he had built it after our return to Tennessee from California. Word had gotten to us that the Union army was coming to Tellico Plains and everyone in Mt.Vernon was taking to the woods and mountains to hide. Your grandfather would have none of that though. He sent me and the children off to Sweet Fannie Adams farm, but I slipped back to the cabin and saw what happened first hand. The line of infantry had passed us by without a sideways glance and a good part of the cavalry had as well, when suddenly a five horse group approached and were reined into the yard path and headed to the river to give the horses drink. Your grandfather had been finishing up on the gazebo and walked around to the men and informed them that Jefferson Davis Lee didn’t take to strangers cutting through on his property to go to the river. The tallest soldier replied that they weren’t strangers; they were the aide-de-camps to General William Tecumseh Sherman and that the General himself wanted a word with Jefferson Davis. J.D. looked away and spit and then shouted loudly, ‘I won’t abide any God-forsaken Yankees on my place, leave now or get ready for a whipping. If your general wants to talk he can come to me.’ A shorter, plain looking man in a fancy uniform emerged from behind and made it know that he was General Sherman and he wasn’t in the mood for any sass from a sodbuster. He looked at the outside of Mt. Versailles and asked J.D. if he had built this primitive looking house. J.D. nodded to the general, then turned his head and spat again. The General saw the one-man saw and dismounted and went over and picked it up. ‘This is a fine saw, commented the warlord, I am going to seize in the name of the Union Army.’ J.D. took a half-step and swung a hard blow with his right arm that struck the general on his undecorated jaw. He was ready to land a second blow when a shot rang out from behind. Your grandfather was dead before he hit the ground. I ran out and grabbed the one-man saw from General Sherman’s grasp, giving his trousers a good tear in the process, and held J.D.’s peacemaker right between the general’s eyes and told him to either leave right now or meet his maker. He chose the former. They went on up to Tellico and razed the foundry, then left out from there going down the Old Federal Road towards Georgia. I took the saw and nailed it up here on the wall beside us. I never forgot that day, as you will never forget it now dear Amy.”
Amy handed the book of adventures back to Aunt Mandy. They stood together a long time holding each other close, mourning in the stately fashion which only true women of the south can demonstrate.