That night, in the middle of the night, Clara snuck into her older brother’s room.
“Henry,” she whispered, “can I come with you?” She wanted to help President Lincoln and the Union too. She had never wanted to live a “woman’s life,” and even a little amount of time away would be fine with her.
“That’s illegal!” Henry gasped. “Why?”
“I want to help the Union,” she urged, “and I don’t want to spend my whole life cooking and sewing. It’ll be fun. I can change my name to Charles!”
“Fine, oh fine,” Henry said. “You can borrow some of my slightly smaller clothes to wear on the way there. When I leave, I’ll go around to the back, and you can come with me.”
