On Celestra’s Wings

By Michael Barr Mossman

On Celestra’s Wings tells the story of the all-conquering power of love, even over the most difficult obstacles. Set in the Civil War, the story focuses on the Northerner Rance Redmond and the Southern belle Kathleen McClarnen and the circumstances that threaten to keep them apart. Rance must overcome intense difficulties to reach Kathleen. However, he is emboldened in his quest by Celestra, the angelic presence who has repeatedly appeared to comfort him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 18, 2019
• ISBN: 9781728336732

Michael Barr Mossman

Michael Barr Mossman was born in Alton, Illinois. He served honorably in the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam. Mr. Mossman attended St. Bernard College in Cullman, Alabama. He graduated from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, and received a Master’s Degree from Oklahoma University at Norman. Mr. Mossman spent thirty-three years in the fields of Elementary and Special Education. He and his wife Barbara, are currently residing in Orange Park, Florida.

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Published by AuthorHouse 11/18/2019

ISBN: 978-1-7283-3674-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-3673-2 (e)

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Contents

Philadelphia Grand Opera House, 1858

August 1860

April 1861

Fredericksburg 1862

March 1864

1865, Last Year of War

April 1865

June 1866

Philadelphia Grand Opera House, 1858

M r. and Mrs. Wilfred Redmond and their children, nineteen-year-old Rance and sixteen-year-old Emily, were attending a performance of a ballet. The McClarnens of Richmond, Virginia, were also in attend ance.

Wilfred Redmond and Edmund McClarnen had been friends during their college days. The ballet performance would provide a good opportunity for the families to get together. The McClarnens had traveled north from the Richmond area to watch their daughter’s performance. Sixteen-year-old Kathleen McClarnen was part of the Richmond Ballet Troop. Miss Clare Collett was the organizer and founder of the dance group. The purpose of the troop was to promote the arts and to foster better appreciation for cultural values. Besides Richmond, the group had previously performed in Montgomery and Atlanta. This was their first sojourn out of the South.

The McClarnens and the Redmonds were seated together in the first row.

Mrs. McClarnen squeezed Rance Redmond’s hand. We’re so glad to meet you, she said. Rance felt a little embarrassed, but Mrs. McClarnen projected a feeling of warmth and kindness. Somehow, it made him feel good. Rance had not really wanted to attend the ballet, but his parents had talked him into it. Why would I want to go and watch something like that? he had asked his mother.

It’s about being sociable with our friends, she had insisted.

Miss Collett finally took the stage. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to present The Spirits of Richmond, with music by the Richmond Sound Orchestra. The play had its world premiere at the Richmond Opera House in 1841. Our performance will be an adaptation of that ballet. I would like to offer a brief sketch of what you are about to see.

"Around midnight, dancing ghosts appear in the moonlight. They are from a nearby cemetery. The ghosts are young women who were forced to marry men that they didn’t love. William sees a vision of Anne and follows it deep into the forest. After failing to find her, he falls down in despair. But Anne finds William. She lifts him up and restores his spirit. William is free to be with Anne. Anne and William go off together and overcome all obstacles.

Our young people have worked hard to present this rendition. Kathleen McClarnen has the lead role as Anne, and Eldon Bradford plays the role of William. You will be able to meet all the dancers after the performance. Please sit back and enjoy. Just then, the curtain began to open.

Rance didn’t really care for ballet, but he thought the girls were pretty in their colorful dresses and scarves. He was beginning to become interested in the performance. He was also impressed with the way the McClarnen girl moved about the floor.

She is very nimble, he told himself.

She’s a magnificent girl, commented Wilfred Redmond.

Rance quickly became captivated by the glamour, beauty, and sophistication of the dance. The Richmond Waltz left him spellbound. The McClarnen girl was far more beautiful than he had ever imagined. The music was also very dramatic. He sat there mesmerized by Kathleen’s graceful demeanor. She moved like a cat. She jumped high off the floor and sailed flawlessly through the air. She also exuded a dramatic spiritual aura in the way she glided. He saw an angel who possessed a beautiful and alluring physical charm. He couldn’t take his eyes off the charismatic young dancer.

Rance sat back in a mesmerized state of romantic infatuation. He completely lost himself in the rhythm of Kathleen’s riveting movements as the waltz reached its dramatic crescendo.

The ballet ended with a standing ovation for all the young performers. Kathleen appeared, taking her bows while holding a bouquet of roses. The two families went backstage to the dressing room area after the performance. Rance walked out ahead of everyone else and reached the dressing room first.

Rance was surprised to see Kathleen and a very attractive dark-haired girl kneeling on the floor. They were engaged in a game of marbles with some of the stagehands. The girls seemed to be arguing about a red crystal.

I knocked your marble out, and I want to claim the red crystal! cried Kathleen.

She’s right! yelled the dark-haired girl. The dark-haired girl got up and started to pry the marble loose from the young boy’s hand. Give me that marble! she yelled.

The game broke up quickly when people began flowing down the hall. The stagehands went back to work, and the dark-haired girl left the scene. Kathleen made herself look prim and proper as she saw her parents coming down the hall toward her dressing room. Hello, everyone. I am just getting ready to change into my other clothes.

Mildred McClarnen introduced Kathleen to the Redmond family. Then she told her daughter to hurry and get dressed. We plan to go out to dinner, and we do not want to keep our friends waiting.

I will hurry, Mother, replied Kathleen.

The Redmonds and the McClarnens decided to meet for dinner at the Charles Hotel. Be on your best behavior, Rance. Kathleen McClarnen is a very sophisticated young lady, proclaimed Mrs. Redmond.

Rance gave his mother a questioning look. Kathleen had not looked very sophisticated when she was on the floor playing marbles. But he would take his mother’s word for it.

The dinner was outstanding. The adults discussed ballet and what they would do when Mr. and Mrs. Redmond traveled south to buy cotton for the textile mill in Pittsburgh. Rance told Kathleen that she had done a wonderful job in her performance as Anne. She thanked him, and they talked about what it was like to live in the South.

Rance was glad to meet Rusty McClarnen. Rusty talked about horseback riding and hunting. Emily and Kathleen talked about the fun they’d had in Virginia the previous year. After a while, they looked like they were getting a little bored.

Kathleen doesn’t care much for real hunting, said Rusty with a laugh. She and her girlfriends only like hunting for boys.

Kathleen blushed, and Mildred McClarnen scolded Rusty about taunting his sister.

Rance decided that he would try to include Kathleen more in his conversation. He pretended to have some knowledge of ballet.

I liked the pas de deux, with Anne and William. You held your pointe well, and your arabesque was flawless. Your pas de chat was brilliant!

I don’t know what you’re talking about, replied Kathleen. I just jump in the air so Father will take me to Paris.

Everyone looked embarrassed. Emily smiled. Rance nearly dropped his spoon.

Kathleen, be polite. You know very well what Rance is talking about, proclaimed Mrs. McClarnen.

Wilfred Redmond and Edmund McClarnen chuckled under their breath as they tried to remain serious. Well, she’s a chip off the old block, replied Bridget Redmond. Then everyone laughed.

After dinner the families bid each other goodbye. We will see you all in August, said Edmund McClarnen.

We want you to come too, Rance, pleaded Mildred McClarnen.

I’ll try to get down, answered Rance. Mildred hugged Rance and Emily. Then she and her family departed.

The Redmonds returned to their hotel.

What did you think of Kathleen? Did you think she was pretty? asked Bridget.

I thought she was kind of skinny. I don’t think she’s as sophisticated as you think, Mother. She’s got an earthy quality about her. But I think she has pretty eyes, answered Rance.

He wasn’t really being honest. He didn’t want to let on to his mother that he had enjoyed the ballet after all. My God, she was breathtakingly beautiful! he thought to himself.

Rance changed the subject. I thought Rusty was a nice guy. He was fun to talk to.

Well, I’ve always found Kathleen to be a fine young lady, replied Bridget Redmond.

That night, Rance tossed and turned. The ballet had made more of an impression on him than he had thought. By the time he went to sleep, he was dreaming about Kathleen. In the dream, he saw himself knocking on her door. Kathleen opened the door, revealing her beautiful eyes. She looked dazzling as she pirouetted across the floor in her whirling blue skirt and pink blouse.

Rance began dancing with Kathleen. He’d never realized he could dance so well. It was as if he had magic in his feet. Rance leaped and bounded high into the air. Kathleen sat down on a rock and began to pluck at a daisy.

He loves me. He loves me not.

The last petal said that Rance loved her. He was very happy. Rance held Kathleen in his arms and kissed her. Then he slowly lifted her, and she flew up into the sky. When Rance awoke, he realized that it was just a dream. He felt somewhat disappointed. But he would never tell his parents about the dream. It would be too embarrassing.

Life went on as usual after returning to Pittsburgh. Emily started prep school again and helped her mother around the house. Rance prepared to return to college for his sophomore year.

Rance’s freshman year had been filled with problems. He had gotten himself in trouble with two of his friends, John O’Dowd and Don McSwain.

John O’Dowd had been dating a girl at the nearby sorority house. Rance had been there a few times, but he was not dating anyone special. John had been to the building quite often. He was serious about Jeany, an education student.

He knew that the sorority was going to sponsor a dance on Friday night. He also knew that Mrs. Allen kept her English exams in an office right above the dance floor. He had walked by there several times and had observed her as she put papers in the top drawer.

It wasn’t long before a dance was held at the college, only two days before the English exam. All the attention would be on the main floor. John knew that the room above would be dark and empty during the dance. Although the office door would be locked, there was a large window that was usually left unlocked.

The woman’s sorority building was an old stone structure with an open stone corridor that led to the front door. There were rumors that it had once been haunted, which was probably because the floors creaked now and then.

Rance, John O’Dowd, and Don McSwain arrived while the party continued on the first floor. They went to the side of the building, where there were lots of trees, and in the darkness of night, they climbed past the first floor to the window above. After prying it open, they climbed into the building and slid onto a large beam that overlooked the room below. The boys could make out the desk where Mrs. Allen kept her English exams.

Suddenly, several girls walked into the room and lit a lamp. For some reason, they decided to use Mrs. Allen’s office as a changing room. They carried formal gowns with them and began changing into their dance clothes. The boys, hidden in the rafters, were unnoticed by the girls dressing below.

The boys were enjoying the sights below when there was a loud crack. The rafter began to give way. The boys held on for dear life as the beam that they were resting on began to slide down to the floor below.

The frightened girls let out a scream and ran off in every direction. The boys found themselves right in the middle of Mrs. Allen’s office. Smoke, dust, and debris scattered everywhere. Part of the ceiling had come down with them.

They hurried down the steps to the first floor and ran out the front door. The next day they were summoned to the office of the Dean.

Dean Jerome was a little stocky man with red hair. All incoming freshmen feared him. He made sure that the boy’s had their dorm lights out by ten o’clock. Rance tried to stay away from him most of his freshman year and was successful until now. Dean Jerome lectured the boys on morals and confined them to the campus for the rest of the year, which seemed endurable to the boys since it was already late March. The worse thing was that all three boys were placed on probation. O’Dowd and McSwain had previously been in trouble for stealing textbooks from the bookstore. Thus, they were placed on final probation.

Things went well until May, when Don McSwain returned from town with two kegs of beer. The boys poured it into a tub full of ice and drank about half of it while playing cards. The next morning, the three went to class and forgot about it. Unfortunately, the tub had a hole in the side, and the contents leaked onto the floor. The beer continued to leak through the floorboard to the ceiling below, where a faculty meeting was in progress. The participants began to feel drops pelting their heads. When the board discovered the cause, they considered expelling O’Dowd, McSwain, and Rance. However, Professor James Warren came to the aid of the three beleaguered students and convinced the board to give them one more chance. In doing so, he almost came to blows with Dean Jerome who voted for expulsion. Professor Warren summed it up this way: I know these boys. I know their parents. At heart they are all good boys. If they are given a second chance they will become productive citizens. If this proves not to be the case, then I will take full responsibility.

Wilfred Redmond, Rance’s father, personally wrote Professor Warren a thank-you letter and assured him his boy would not give him any more trouble. Thus, Rance prepared for his second year of college.

Stay out of trouble this year, his sister warned him. Father just about had a fit last year with your carrying on.

I’ll date less and take my studies more seriously this year, he reassured his sister.

It’s not the dating but the way you date that is the problem, protested Emily. "You keep going from one pretty girl to another. You see one, and then see another one that you