by Janet Dailey
"We don't know why they are coming here, Temple. We don't know that they will search the house," Eliza reasoned.
"We can't chance it. You and Phoebe get him under the bed. I'll go downstairs and . . . greet them." Stall them was what she really meant.
Maybe Eliza was right. Maybe it was only a guilty conscience that made her think the soldiers were here to look for The Blade. Maybe it was only some sort of courtesy call. But she was afraid to believe that.
Outside, Temple stood directly between the veranda's two massive Doric columns. As the officer at the head of the small party drew nearer, Temple fixed what she hoped was a pleasant smile on her lips. Suddenly, she couldn't believe her eyes. Her smile was no longer forced.
"Jed." She ran to meet him, not even waiting until he had halted his horse. She caught the bridle and held the animal's head as Jed Parmelee dismounted, his left arm making a bunch beneath his uniform jacket, its empty sleeve pinned up. "This is a surprise . . . a wonderful surprise. I don't have to ask how you have been. I can see for myself that you are doing well."
"And I can say the same about you, Temple." He took her hand and raised it to his lips, bowing slightly.
"You did that the first time we met in Washington." Temple smiled at him, and at the memory. "I remember I thought you were so gallant . . . and handsome." She admitted the latter with a certain coyness, feeling briefly young and flirtatious.
"And I thought you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen," he replied, quite seriously. "You still are."
She released a soft, throaty laugh. "What a shame there isn't a band nearby so you can teach me the waltz again."
"And your husband, too, so he could glare at me while we dance."
"Yes." The blue of Jed's uniform suddenly registered, and Temple felt a wariness creep through her.
Deliberately, she glanced away from the house, as if The Blade was somewhere out there in the countryside instead of hidden away upstairs. She turned back, conscious that Jed watched her closely, and she wasn't sure why.
"You must be thirsty from your ride. Your men, too. Phoebe!" She called over her shoulder for the black maid, then said to Jed, "She can show your men where the well is. You come inside with me." Temple tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow, hoping that she wasn't inviting the fox into the chicken coop. "You can stay for dinner, can't you? Phoebe is fixing dessert, dumplings swimming in blueberry juice." She chattered away, trying to fill the silence as she walked him to the veranda. "Eliza will be so happy to see you—"
"Temple." Jed stopped short of the front door. "This is not a social visit."
Her heart was thumping loudly when she faced him. "You are here on army business?" It took every bit of her control to meet his gaze with a degree of curiosity.
His hesitation seemed to confirm her fear, but she wouldn't let it show, instead widening her eyes and feigning innocence.
"The army has received certain information that leads us to believe your husband, a major in the Confederate army, is here."
"What?" Temple drew back from him. It wasn't difficult at all to pretend to be shocked and alarmed. "That isn't true."
"Then"—Jed paused, his glance flicking briefly past her— "perhaps you could explain why Deu is here. We both know your husband never goes anywhere without him."
"Deu?" Temple looked back and saw him standing only a few feet away. For an instant their eyes locked, sharing the same feeling of panic and regret. It had never occurred to her that Deu's presence would give away The Blade. "The Blade sent him here to help me," she lied quickly, desperately. "He knows how difficult it has been for us—"
"It's no use, Temple. I have orders to search the house and grounds. . . . I'm sorry."
She tilted her chin a little higher. "If those are your orders, Major, then, by all means, search the house. But you won't find my husband. He is not here."
When Jed turned to signal his men, Temple fled into the house, needing these few precious seconds to stop her mad shaking. She couldn't let Jed suspect how frightened she was about his search. As long as he had a doubt in his mind, he might not be thorough—she might be able to distract him.
Hearing footsteps, Temple turned. Eliza and Phoebe came down the stairs as Susannah entered the foyer from the hall. Sorrel was right behind her, dark eyes bright and questioning. "Why are the soldiers here, Mama?"
"What do they want?" Eliza echoed.
"They know he's here." Temple moved quickly to the base of the stairs.
Startled, Susannah murmured, "How?"
"I think someone recognized Deu, I—" The instant the front door opened behind her, Temple hurriedly changed what she was about to say. "I said that he wasn't here of course. But Jed explained that he was obliged to search the house just the same." The house echoed with the tramping of dozens of feet. Momentarily, she glanced at the black soldiers pouring into the house, then focused on Jed. "If there must be a search, I am relieved you are conducting it, Jed. I know you will not allow your soldiers to tear my home apart. There is so much ransacking and looting going on—on both sides."
"They have their orders" was all he said, but she could tell by the way he avoided meeting her eyes that he was uncomfortable with his mission. It gave her hope.
Eliza gasped. "Shadrach." She swept past Temple to go to the slender black soldier standing in the foyer with the rest. Lowering his rifle, Shadrach smiled back and removed his forage cap, revealing the quantity of gray that now silvered his curly dark hair.
"Miss Eliza."
"It is so good to see you again," she declared. "You look splendid in your uniform, Shadrach."
"You are looking well, too."
"I know."
Ike, who stood a few feet from the grand staircase, paid no attention to the conversation between Shadrach and his former mistress. His eyes were on his mother. She stood rooted to the stairs. There had been joy in her eyes when she first saw him. But it had too quickly dissolved into dismay when her glance flickered to the blue uniforms of the soldiers surrounding him.
In many ways, her reaction was the same as his father's had been when Deu saw him outside a minute ago—an initial happiness, followed almost instantly by an expression of hurt and silent accusation. And in both their faces, there was fear.
The Blade was here. Ike could see it in their eyes. They had hidden him somewhere. Now they looked at him like he was the enemy . . . like he had turned against them. They weren't going to talk to him; they weren't even going to ask how he was; they weren't going to give him a chance to explain that he hadn't known they were coming to Grand View until after they had marched out of the fort.
Yes, he knew every nook and hidey-hole in this house, every floorboard that squeaked and every hinge that groaned. But couldn't they see that he was only following orders? Why did they have to make him feel guilty about being here?
Then the white lieutenant began barking orders, his sharp voice snapping Ike to attention. The men were divided into squads of three and assigned a given area of the house to search systematically. Ike was relieved when he and his two partners were sent to the second floor. There were few hiding places in the upstairs rooms and even fewer capable of concealing an adult. They must have hidden The Blade in the basement storeroom, or in that old root cellar near the double log cabin. He was certain, that is, until he saw the almost panicked look on his mother's face and the way her eyes pleaded with him.
Ike felt sick inside. The Blade was upstairs. He knew it as surely as if she had come right out and said so. He started up the steps, his feet dragging as if they were bound with shackle and chain. He reminded himself that he was a soldier in the Union army. He was doing his duty. But he wished his momma wouldn't look at him like that.
With an effort Temple tore her gaze away from Ike as he followed the other soldiers noisily clumping up the stairs. She had been there the night he was born. She had laid him in Phoebe's arms. Surely he couldn't . . . he wouldn't give The Blade away if he found
him. But the color of his uniform was the same as Jed's, and she remembered that, however reluctantly, Jed always followed orders—just as he had that long-ago day when he had forced the members of her family to leave their ancestral home of Gordon Glen and marched them to the detention camp to await their removal West.
Her heart was in her throat when she turned back to Jed. She saw how closely he watched her and knew he had to be remembering that, too. She mustn't let him see how frightened she was.
"Phoebe, bring some coffee to the drawing room," she said, then smiled at Jed. "If it wouldn't be considered consorting with the enemy, we would be happy to have you join us, Jed."
"A moment ago, it was Major Parmelee," he reminded her.
"A moment ago I was upset with you because I thought you didn't believe me when I said The Blade wasn't here. I forgot that, even if you did believe me, you would still be obliged to carry out your orders. You are a soldier. It is your duty. I shouldn't have taken it personally, Jed. Will you forgive me?"
He hesitated a split second, then smiled. "Of course."
"I knew you would understand." Temple breathed a little easier and led the way into the drawing room.
From all parts of the house came the sounds of searching soldiers, most of it muffled by the thick walls. But it was the noises from the second floor that kept Temple on the edge of her chair, nerves tense. Making idle conversation was an ordeal.
Ike paused outside the master bedroom, struggling with the feeling that he had no right to enter it without permission. Yet his buddies were already inside, beginning their search of the interior. He reminded himself he wasn't a slave anymore; he was a soldier with orders to search the house. He walked into the room.
He looked around. The last time he had been in this room, he had helped carry Kipp here, wounded after that battle at Pea Ridge in Arkansas. They had laid him on the bed, and he had listened to Alex tell about the fighting. He had thought the Yankee soldiers would be coming soon to free him. He was free now, but sometimes it was hard to stop thinking like a slave. Even now he felt uncomfortable being in this room without permission.
There was a basket on the floor by the nightstand. Drawn by its vaguely familiar shape, Ike walked over and picked it up. Miss Temple's medical basket. What was it doing here? Then he heard a sound, like someone breathing in sharply. It came from close by. Both of his companions were on the opposite side of the room.
He didn't know why he did it, but he knelt down and lifted the white lace ruffle that skirted the bed. Cautiously, he looked under it. When he saw the long dark shape of a body, he opened his mouth to call the news. Then he found himself staring at a pair of tortured blue eyes. The Blade was looking at him, his face twisted with pain, sweat rolling off it. He had something in his mouth. At first Ike thought they had gagged him with a leather strap of some kind. Then he realized that The Blade was biting down on it, the muscles in his jaws all ridged with the effort to hold back any sound of pain. He was hurting. He was hurting bad.
Slowly, Ike let the ruffle fall back in place. A sob of frustration lodged in his throat. He tightened his grip on the rifle in his hand. He couldn't do it. He couldn't turn him in. He knew he should. The Blade was the enemy. He didn't owe him anything. So why couldn't he say it? Why couldn't he shout that he had found him? That's what any other soldier would do. He stood up and stared at the bed.
"Find anything, Ike?"
He hesitated, then shook his head and started toward the door, avoiding their eyes.
After a three-hour search of the house, grounds, Negro cabins, and outbuildings, the young lieutenant reported to Jed that they had found nothing. Almost immediately, Jed turned to her, and Temple had to suppress quickly the shudder of relief.
"My apologies, Temple, for disrupting your morning this way."
"If you are truly sorry, you will stay for dinner." She was anxious for him to leave—for all of them to leave, but she didn't want it to appear that way.
"Perhaps another time . . . under more pleasant circumstances."
"We will look forward to that."
As he rode away, Jed was more than a little relieved that he hadn't found The Blade at Grand View. He had hated to be the one conducting the search for him—just as he had hated to be the one commanding the detail that had forced Temple and her parents from their home in Georgia. He was glad that this time, at least, he hadn't had to hurt Temple. She had been through enough.
As soon as the soldiers were out of sight, Temple hurried into the house. Susannah waited for her. "Are they gone?"
Temple nodded and closed the door behind her, then sagged against it for a moment, weak with relief. "I saw them turn onto the Texas Road. They're on their way back to the fort."
"Thank God," Eliza murmured with sincerity.
Regathering her strength, Temple pushed away from the door. "Have you checked on The Blade? Is he all right?"
"He's fine, Miss Temple," Phoebe said from the top of the stairs.
"Where's Deu?" Temple crossed to the stairs. "We may need his help getting The Blade back into bed."
"The last time I saw him, he was outside. I'll go find him." As Susannah turned to leave, Deu entered the foyer from the rear hall.
"I don't know where you've got Master Blade hid, Miss Temple, but I wouldn't be too quick to get him out," he warned. "I just saw two riders out back by the stables."
"That's impossible." Temple froze, one hand on the newel post and one foot on the step. "All the soldiers left. I saw them."
"Are you certain there were two?" Susannah asked quickly. "It might be Lije."
"There were two, and they were trying to keep out of sight so I didn't get a good look at them." He turned to Temple. "The Yankees are cagey. They could have sent another detachment to surround the place in case Master Blade tried to slip out."
"I'm going out and have a look," Susannah announced, her shoulders squared with determination.
"But if there are—" Eliza began in protest.
"I'll bring back a load of firewood."
"I'm going with you," Temple said. "Eliza, you and Sorrel keep watch out the front windows. Phoebe, let The Blade know he'll have to stay in hiding a while longer. Deu—"
"Master Blade would want me to go with you, Miss Temple."
"Three people to fetch a load of firewood will look ridiculous."
"Then I'll make like I'm going to do some chopping."
"Who cares how it looks," Susannah declared with impatience and set off for the backdoor. Temple and Deu quickly followed her.
The minute they stepped outside they heard the muffled pounding of hoofbeats on grass. Susannah halted, alarm shooting through her nerves. A horse and rider came around the corner of the detached kitchen at a gallop.
"Lije," Temple whispered in relief beside her.
But it was the second rider on a short-coupled bay who claimed the whole of Susannah's attention. Almost a full year had passed since she last saw him, but she recognized Rans Lassiter instantly. The sight of him was like an intoxicant running through her bloodstream, making her feel suddenly warm and giddy.
Lije piled out of the saddle as his horse plunged to a stop short of the back steps. "What was Parmelee doing here? What did he want?" He shot the questions at Temple.
"He was looking for your father. Somehow he found out he was—"
"Diane," he said in a savage mutter and hurled an angry look in the direction of the distant fort.
Temple shook her head. "You can't be sure of that. I think someone recognized Deu and guessed The Blade had to be here, too. In any case, they didn't find him." Rans dismounted, drawing her glance. "When Deu caught a glimpse of you down by the stables, we thought they were coming back to look again."
"Not to worry, ma'am," Rans told her. "One of my boys is following the Yankee column to make sure they don't take the notion to double back. The rest are fanned out along the perimeter."
"Captain Lassiter of the Texas Brigade," Lije said by way of
introduction, the troubled scowl never leaving his face.
Rans nodded to her. "A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Stuart." Then his gray eyes at last turned their attention on Susannah, a warmth entering them that snatched at her breath. "It turned out to be a lucky thing we crossed paths with Lije while he was out hunting. As soon as I mentioned we'd spotted a detachment of infantry headed this way, we hightailed it straight here."
"I'm glad," Susannah murmured, her pulse quickening under the steady regard of his eyes.
His mouth quirked. "Not half as glad as I am," he replied and released a long sigh of satisfaction. "You're a feast for hungry eyes, Susannah." He stepped closer and caught her hand, raising it to his lips. A thrill quivered through her when he brushed his mouth over her fingers.
"Deu, get the horses saddled and bring them up here," Lije ordered abruptly. "Lassiter, I'll need you to give me a hand with the major."
"Why?" Temple said in alarm. "What are you going to do? Where do you think you're going to take him?"
"It isn't safe here. Not anymore," Lije told her, a grimness in his expression. "If Diane hasn't told them he's here, she will now. They'll be back. And the next time they'll turn this house upside down until they find him."
"But he's in no condition to travel," she protested.
"He's better than he was when I brought him here."
"No. I'm not going to let you move him."
"Lije is right, Mrs. Stuart." Rans stepped in before the breach between them widened. "If your husband stays, it's almost a certainty he'll be taken prisoner. But if he leaves with us, we can escort him safely through the Yankee lines and see that he gets to a reb hospital. The major is a valuable man. We'll look after him."
"I—" Temple groped for an argument, then turned away in defeat, fighting tears.
Lije moved past her toward the house. He paused at the door and glanced back. "You coming, Lassiter?"
"In a minute," he said, his gaze swinging to Susannah.
She barely noticed when Temple followed Lije into the house. She was conscious only of Rans and the growing ache inside. "Can't you stay?" She crossed to him. "Wouldn't it be safer to wait until nighttime and leave under the cover of darkness?"