Destiny's Temprtress

by Janelle Taylor

  “I need to discuss something with you, Matti. Now,” he stressed.

  “Let’s go to my room,” she suggested, leading the way. Inside, she inquired worriedly, “Have you seen Miss Shannon? What’s wrong, sir?” she probed gravely as she watched the broody man pace anxiously.

  He ceased his rambling and looked directly into the woman’s bemused expression. “I don’t know where to start or what to ask first, Matti. I’m confused, and I’m hurt, and I’m furious. Maybe it will help to clear my head if you explain what you and Shannon are doing here and how you got to Charleston. She was told not to leave Wilmington without me. Why did you two run off like thieves in the night?”

  Mattilu’s brown eyes filled with puzzlement and her forehead wrinkled. “I don’t follow your meaning, sir. Your letter told her to get here as fast as she could. The only way was with Captain Carter,” she replied, wondering if their manner of travel was provoking him. “Don’t blame her, sir. Your letter said she was in big danger, and Captain Carter was the only path to escape. Did you fuss with her?”

  “What letter, Matti?” he questioned sullenly. Had Shannon duped Mattilu, or slyly elicited her aid, or told her the truth?

  “Why, the one you sent to her at the hotel,” she responded.

  “I didn’t send any notes, letters, or messages to Shannon. Before I left town, I ordered her to wait for my return. I told her it wouldn’t be more than a few days. There wasn’t any letter from me.”

  Mattilu frowned in irritation and appeared skeptical of . his words and motive. “I saw the letter, Major. I took it from the man you sent and delivered it to her. I was with her when she read it and figured out your clues in it. I helped her pack and get away.”

  “Listen to me carefully, Matti. I did not send any letter to her. If one came, it was from someone else. If Shannon told you it was from me and that I said to leave, it was a lie,” he charged, hoping she would debate him and supply him with the information he needed to this enigma.

  Mattilu stared at the handsome devil before her. “Major Stevens, why do you want to trick and hurt that chile? If this has somethin’ to do with your work, it still ain’t right to be so bad to her.” Mattilu scolded him with revelations of Shannon’s fears and worries, of her desperate attempt to escape Wilmington to meet him, of the messages in the mysterious letter.

  “Maybe she’s a Rebel spy and somebody warned her to get away before my return. I’ve been learning some mighty suspicious things about her. Maybe she just wanted to trick Captain Carter into taking her along with him. Maybe she doesn’t want him to know she’s chasing him as fast and hard as he’s chasing her.” He tensely awaited her reaction to his shocking accusations.

  Mattilu displayed not only anger but disappointment. “How can you say such hateful things about her? She ain’t no Rebel spy. She ain’t no side’s spy. I been watching her closer’n a flea on a dog. She ain’t done nothing wrong.” The vexed woman related what she knew about Shannon’s relationship with Elisha. She explained how she and Shannon had used a trick letter to win the captain’s assistance. She exposed everything that had happened during and following their sea voyage, proving that nothing intimate could have taken place between Shannon and Elisha. “Miss Shannon don’t want nobody but you, Major. She ain’t told you no lies or been bad. I can’t believe you can say or think such things. If you repeats them to Miss Shannon, you’ll have done lost her afore you finishes talking,” she warned.

  “Somebody is playing evil games, Matti. You and I can’t afford to be tricked. The war is serious. Our jobs are dangerous. All you know is what Shannon told you was in that letter, which she burned.”

  “I knows what was in it ’cause I read it!” When he gaped at her, she declared, “That’s right, Major; I can read and write. I saw the letter and read it afore she told me what was in it. She didn’t lie or trick either one of us. It was signed with both of your names. And it spoke of private things only you and Miss Shannon knows about.”

  Blane was distraught. “Let’s go over everything once more, Matti, real slow and careful, and in detail. Something crazy is happening, because that letter wasn’t from me. You and me had better figure out who’s tricking all of us, and why.”

  Shannon slipped into the courtyard of Captain Denton Carter’s home. After saddling one of his horses, she tied her belongings to it, as much as she could carry. To the saddlehorn, she secured the bundle of food that she had obtained from the hotel kitchen. Sighting a canteen, she placed its strap over the horn and allowed it to hang suspended on the other side. She disliked stealing Denton’s military items, but she needed the bedroll and blanket she had found in the stable. She also felt a twinge of guilt over having to steal the match safe, utensils, candles, and other needed items from the hotel. She had listed them and left a note instructing the hotel to place them on her bill, to be settled by Captain Elisha or Denton Carter, said bill and kindness to be repaid later.

  Shannon secured two envelopes to Denton’s message board beside the steps to his lovely carriage house. The letter to Denton was an apology for the theft of his horse and gear and a promise to reimburse him. She asked him to take care of Mattilu until she could send for her, and to explain to her friend that she had found it crucial to leave town hastily and secretly. She told him to advise Mattilu not to worry about her, that she would explain matters later to everyone. The letter to Elisha was a carefully worded one of gratitude for his aid, friendship, and protection. Again, she promised to repay Elisha for the expenses he had incurred on her behalf.

  Knowing Denton’s male servant would be leaving soon to fetch Mattilu from the hotel, Shannon hurriedly carried out her daring plan. Dressed in boots, shirt, and pants, Shannon mounted the horse and tucked her wool cape around her legs. She walked the animal from the stable beneath the apartment and held her breath as she prayed no one would hear or see her and attempt to stop her flight homeward. She had her gun, her knife, her passes, her skills, and her resolve.

  At the entrance gate, she leaned over and fastened the latch. She walked the horse for two blocks, ignoring the stares and whispers of curious people along her way. Then she kneed the gentle beast into a slow gait until she reached the edge of town. There, she nudged him into a steady gallop toward Savannah, leaving the cobblestoned streets and her treacherous love behind.

  Three hours later, Blane and Mattilu were actively searching for clues to Shannon’s disappearance. At first, neither realized she had gone. The clever redhead had left garments and personal items lying on the bed and side table and peaking from a partially opened drawer to make it appear she was merely out for a stroll or on an errand. The two had sat in her room for over an hour, awaiting her return. The alarming discovery of missing possessions came to light when the apprehensive Mattilu began to gather, fold, and put away the misleading items.

  “Major Stevens!” she shrieked from the bedroom. “She’s gone!”

  Blane rushed into the room and questioned Mattilu’s words and findings. After checking the drawers and closet, the woman announced in dread, “She’s took some of her things and left. She’s out there alone, and hurting. Look what you’ve done to her, sir.”

  The two spoke with the desk clerk and fretted over his revelations. She had left hours ago, promising Captain Carter would pay her bills. The stuffy male had no idea where she had gone or why.

  Blane and Mattilu searched the grounds and nearby area. They questioned people. Some had seen the beautiful redhead, but no one could give her location or destination. They went to Denton’s, and there they learned she had taken the horse and supplies and had left two letters. Blane finally persuaded Denton to allow him to read both, convincing him she might be in peril. It was clear to everyone where she was heading. It didn’t sit well with Blane when Denton suggested she might be going to join his brother.

  Blane couldn’t expose his knowledge of Elisha’s past actions. He knew Denton was perturbed by his refusal to relate his reasons for pursuing Shannon or t
o reveal why he believed she had fled. However, Blane didn’t mind telling the man he was going after her. Mattilu begged to go along, but Blane convinced her that it was unwise and would slow his progress. He promised to contact both of them with news of Shannon’s location and condition.

  The nerve-wracked Texan packed his saddlebags, checked out of the hotel, and once more raced off in pursuit of the impulsive female. He encountered heavy troop and weapon movements along the Carolina roads. He asked questions several times, stating he was looking for his commanding officer’s daughter who had left home after a quarrel with her father. He jokingly told the men he had been ordered to bring her home any way necessary, even by tying her to his saddle. When one of the lieutenants declared that this personal matter was a waste of time and energy for a soldier, Blane audaciously told him that the foolish girl was running off to meet one of Sherman’s men to marry him. Blane said they couldn’t allow such an outrage, or such a dangerous possibility. After all, the enemy could make use of the information inside that vain and silly female’s head. Not only did that explanation get Blane out of a threatening situation, but it got him a pass and information about Shannon, as well.

  Blane traveled all day, gradually and cunningly tracking her. He knew Shannon had also been slowed by the soldiers and sentries, and he knew she couldn’t travel as rapidly as he. Without sleep last night—he winced as he thought of the reason—she should be halting soon from exhaustion and from difficult terrain.

  For nearly thirty minutes, Shannon had struggled and argued with the two soldiers in mud-splattered gray uniforms, who were unloading her belongings, placing them beside the road in a curiously neat pile, and brazenly confiscating the animal stolen from Denton. One soldier apologized as he informed her that all available animals were to be claimed by the Confederate Army, to be used by the cavalry and advance scouts or used for transporting supplies or for pulling ambulances. All pleas, chiding, insults, and arguments fell on deaf ears.

  Shannon shouted at them, pointing out her dire circumstances and the danger. “You cannot steal my horse and leave me stranded in the midst of a marshy wilderness! Look around us; there’s no one and nothing here! Just wild animals and possibly horrid deserters! Night is coming and it’s getting colder. I’m a woman. I’m alone. I have a pass from the President himself. This is outrageous! This is criminal!”

  The persistent soldier showed her the official order for his action. “Sorry, ma’am, but it cain’t be helped. We got to have every horse we can find. Won’t nobody hurt no fine lady like you. You just keep walking down this road and you’ll come to help. Or camp here until help comes along. We’re leaving you your supplies. Our men need these horses. We got a war agoing on.”

  “You’ll have a worse one on your hands if you take my horse, sir!” she shrieked at him, then reasoned in a softened tone, “Surely you have enough sense to realize that order does not apply to unescorted ladies who will be left behind in danger and darkness and cold!”

  The second soldier spoke up as he visually scanned her beautiful features. “It says all horses, miss. We can’t show favorites, now can we?”

  Shannon pretended not to notice how he was looking at her. She swept off her felt hat and allowed her flaming curls to settle wildly and tantalizingly around her torso. As she flipped the edges of the wool cape over her shoulders to display a tempting figure, she falsely paced and fretted aloud to disarm and captivate them. “I cannot believe this is happening. I’m as much a soldier as you two. I’ve probably endangered my life as many times and made more sacrifices to aid the South. How dare you treat me in this unforgivable manner. I’ve been a nurse for years, and I’m heading to Savannah to help soldiers wounded by that vile Sherman. Without my horse, I cannot possibly get there by foot any time soon, if at all! Do you realize how many soldiers die from a lack of medical attention? I was requested to go there! You have no right to impede my journey, or to prevent it!”

  “Some regiment will be along in a day or so. You can join one of them,” the first soldier informed her stubbornly as he finished his task.

  Having been told countless times of the power and magic of her large blues eyes, she stood near the men and focused that weapon on them. “Sirs, you do a vile and wicked thing—to the Confederacy and to me. I have endangered my life and safety by attempting to get to Savannah to aid the wounded. Without my horse, how will I be able to travel or to flee peril? Marauders and deserters abound in these grim times. Savannah is over a hundred miles. I came from Wilmington. How will I get to either town?” she asked, stressing her sorry situation.

  “A female don’t travel alone unless she’s brave and strong, miss. If you’re gonna ride all over the land, you’d better learn to defend yourself or git back home where you belong. Besides, we ain’t harming you,” he said with a frown. “You females steal a soldier’s attention from his duty and safety. You don’t belong in our camps. Go home, girl.”

  Shannon was provoked by his scornful chiding. She sarcastically emphasized her first few words as she scoffed tersely, “If I had been home where I belonged, sir, countless men would have died from their injuries. The South has few doctors and surgeons. If you are wounded, I hope you do not find yourself dying for want of a woman who was ordered to return home and to forget her duty to the Confederacy. Perhaps you will have no one to change your bandages, to feed you when your hands are missing or do not work, to write home to let loved ones know you are alive, to give you water when your head burns with fever and you can’t move or speak, or to do many other things that are too depressing and private to mention in mixed company! Perhaps you will discover we nurses are not distracting or irritating under those grisly circumstances! Take me to your commanding officer! I’m positive he will agree my mission is just as vital as your thieving one!” Suspecting they might consider her wrist injuries those of an escaped captive, she was careful to keep them concealed with her long sleeves.

  The man bristled. “There ain’t time, ma’am, and we got orders. They don’t say nothing about exceptions. We got to locate twenty horses and take ’em to General Moore. Everybody has to make sacrifices during a war. You look strong and brave. You’ll be fine. Let’s go, Elmer. We can’t stand here jawing all night.”

  Shannon had been about to announce herself as the legendary Flame, for they would never consider stealing that heroine’s mount or treating her in such a terrible manner. But the mention of Moore’s name prevented her from using that ruse or going to confront him. She dared not come into contact with him or continue a verbal battle that might be mentioned to him! Clearly these men were going to take the roan and leave her on foot, no matter what she said or did. She inwardly fumed and raged at their actions and her helplessness. Evidently conditions were more terrible than she had imagined, for otherwise they would not have demanded her horse. She had no choice but to acquiesce to their strength and determination.

  “Just wait until President Davis and General Bragg hear about this,” she threatened one last time. “Take the damn horse and get out of my sight, you villains! Surely the world has gone mad when Rebel soldiers begin preying on vulnerable women and conducting themselves so dishonorably. Pray you never fall under my care, sirs, for I shall return your kindness of today!” She had ridden since early morning and was tired—too tired and too tormented to be afraid.

  The second soldier pointed to their left and suggested, “There’s a railroad about a mile or two in that direction. Find the tracks and follow ’em. You might hitch a ride; if not, you’ll come to people and a depot sometime tomorrow. You won’t get lost if you follow the lines.”

  Shannon watched the two men ride off with her horse and four others, all having been taken by force from unsuspecting and defenseless people. What was the South heading to? What was happening to her people? She, a woman, had been left in the wilderness, in the dark, alone, and the temperature was dropping swiftly toward freezing! She glanced in both directions. She had not passed any homes or settlements t
hat could be reached before night, and she dared not follow the soldiers to General Moore. She concluded it would be best not to remain on the barren road, where menacing human hazards existed. Without a mount on which to escape, she felt she would be safer inland. At least the railroad would provide direction as it snaked its way to Savannah by a longer route. Perhaps she could obtain a ride when they saw a woman alone, she mused hopefully.

  Shannon searched her belongings and supplies for those items she would need the most, as she could not carry everything. She used the waning daylight to pick out the least difficult path. She inhaled deeply, summoned her courage, and left the road. She walked until it was almost dark. She hated to stop, for movement provided body heat, and the area was too wet for a campfire. But she realized it would be rash to travel when she couldn’t see the ground. She had no choice but to halt for rest and sleep, and wait for the morning light.

  She dropped her possessions on the damp earth and leaned against a tree. Slowly her aching body sank to the cold ground. She cuddled inside the long cape and closed her eyes to rest a moment before eating an unappealing meal. All day she had attempted to block out her anguish. Uncontrollably, it flooded her mind and body. Had her beloved been using and duping her from the first? Had she been a gullible, trusting, enchanted fool? What was the truth about her odd letter, Blane’s fight in Wilmington, Elisha’s near catastrophe, and all the other insidious engimas that surrounded or implicated her?

  Shannon tried to reason out these entangled mysteries. Who was to blame for her misery and peril, and why? Would Jeremy Steele act viciously without orders from Blane or another agent? If so, why destroy her and why delude his friend? Was Elisha deceiving and tricking her? She had recklessly divulged too much to him, and he could have uncovered other facts. What if Elisha had lured her to Charleston and had betrayed Blane to General Holmes? Revenge and lust were powerful motives. What if only the Blade was responsible for her predicaments?