Stowaway in Time

by Cathy Peper

“What’s the news?” she asked, pushing through the group so she could read over Mrs. Verdine’s shoulder. She ignored the grumbles of those she had jostled, desperate to know what had happened. Having to wait days for news when she was used to twenty-four/seven access drove her crazy. And as a reporter, she often learned about situations before the public.

  “Mrs. Weber, there is no need to shove,” Mrs. Verdine said, crumpling the telegram before Diamond caught more than a glimpse.

  “Sorry,” she muttered. She wanted to snatch the paper from the older woman. “Is there news of Jesse?”

  “Ladies, take your seats and I will continue reading.”

  Janet snickered as Diamond plopped down in her chair. “Keep acting like a bull in a china shop and you might get barred from these meetings,” she whispered.

  “Aren’t you worried about your brother?”

  “Not that giving up these meetings would be much of a hardship,” Janet continued, ignoring Diamond’s question.

  The other women were also chattering to one another and Mrs. Verdine waited until silence fell upon the room. “There’s been a skirmish up in Missouri. A group of bushwhackers ran afoul of Union troops. A friend of mine in Neosho sent me the telegram in case any survivors make it this far south.”

  One of the young women gasped and slid into a faint. Diamond watched in amazement as the girl’s mother placed smelling salts under her daughter’s nose. She hadn’t seen anyone faint since the female anchor at her station had gone on a crash diet and took a nosedive just before going on air. It had worked to her advantage since the producer called upon her to take the woman’s place for the broadcast. She wouldn’t have thought the mere mention of a battle would send someone into a swoon.

  When the girl roused, she admitted to being courted by a guerrilla, much to her mother’s dismay.

  “They’re lawless scoundrels,” she scolded.

  “They fight for our cause, same as our loyal soldiers,” Mrs. Verdine said. “It’s our duty to assist them.”

  Diamond couldn’t keep quiet. “It’s not the same at all. All the soldiers, blue and gray, adhere to a standard of conduct. They don’t make war on civilians like the bushwhackers.”

  “Soldiers don’t always follow the rules of war,” Mrs. Verdine said.

  “Agreed, but the guerrillas do as they please with no one overseeing them.”

  “I see little difference between them and the Jayhawkers,” Janet said, referring to the violent abolitionists who raided Missouri from Kansas.

  The fainting girl’s mother bridled. “We’d have no need of our own outlaw groups if not for those villains. At least our men fight for our way of life and aren’t interfering in other people’s business.”

  “Mama, my only concern is for Matt. Mrs. Verdine, does the telegram mention any names?”

  “The telegram only states that the men ride with Quantrill.”

  “Will they really come here?” Diamond asked. She’d recalled tales of guerrilla atrocities and wanted no part of them.

  “Probably not,” Mrs. Verdine replied, almost sounding regretful. “But we will continue to do our small part for the cause. Get to work, ladies.”

  Janet continued to mutter under her breath, but Diamond turned her attention to her sock. Knowing Jesse was not involved put her mind at ease as did the unlikelihood of the renegades retreating as far south as Little Rock. Janet might worry about Finn, but it seemed the Southerners had gotten the worst of the encounter.

  Amy passed the dessert tray and poured the tea. When she reached Diamond, her hand slipped and some hot liquid spilled over the cup and into the saucer.

  “Sorry,” she said, handing Diamond a tea cloth.

  “No problem,” Diamond said. She wondered if she made the younger girl nervous or if Amy had spilled the tea on purpose. She was lucky it hadn’t ended up in her lap, but that might have been too obvious. As it was, Mrs. Verdine frowned and Diamond suspected Amy would be in trouble later. She helped herself to a slice of cake, determined to ignore Amy’s hostility. She was the winner in this little catfight. But she would watch her back since she wouldn’t put it past Amy to betray her if the opportunity arose.

  Twenty

  Chapter 20

  Diamond expected Ian to invite a few of his fellow legislators over for dinner that night, but the senator seemed less concerned about the guerrilla skirmish than the ladies. He went out after dinner, which was unusual, so he might have been meeting someone in secret.

  An evening without Ian’s caustic comments was cause for celebration in her opinion. As soon as the door closed behind her father-in-law, Diamond raided his private liquor stash and splashed a generous dollop of whiskey into her and Janet’s teacups.

  Her sister-in-law’s eyes widened. “What if he finds out?”

  “He won’t. We only took a little.”

  “Where on earth did Jesse find you?”

  “We met on the battlefield and he’s seen me do worse than swipe a little booze. I nearly killed a man during our escape.”

  Janet sipped at her tea, blinking at the bite of alcohol. “A Union soldier?”

  “No, one of ours.”

  “Why would you shoot a Confederate?” Her second sip appeared to go down easier.

  They always drank wine at dinner, but Janet wasn’t used to hard liquor. Diamond hoped a simple spiked tea wasn’t enough to get her sister-in-law drunk. Ian would have a fit. “He threatened to rape me. All I had on me was my knife, but I was preparing to use it when Jesse rescued me.”

  “Good heavens.” Janet’s hand shook as she set her cup down. “I’m sorry, Diamond, I had no idea what you went through.”

  Diamond tilted her head to one side, surprised by the intensity of Janet’s response. Perhaps she should have used a euphemism for the word “rape,” which Janet had probably never heard spoken aloud. “Nothing happened. Jesse got there in time. And the man claimed I misunderstood his intentions.”

  “I thought it might happen to me.” Janet swallowed. “When the Union soldiers confiscated our home. I was so scared… but the officers behaved like gentlemen.”

  Diamond sipped her own tea, wishing she’d gone for a straight shot. “I shouldn’t have brought this up.”

  “No, I’m glad you did. You’re the first person I’ve talked to about this. No one else would understand.

  “Your father should never have left you there.”

  “I understand why he did. He hoped I could protect Hickory Grove and maybe my presence helped. But I don’t think they would have burned the house when they could use it for their own purposes.”

  Diamond made a noise of assent, although she thought little of a man who would sacrifice his daughter to save his house. She could no longer recall exactly what her father had looked like or the sound of his voice, but he would not have left her in the path of an invading army, house or no house.

  One side of Janet’s mouth quirked up in a half smile. “You don’t approve.”

  “It’s not my place—”

  “No, it’s not, but you’re entitled to your opinion. I understand my father’s reasoning, but it doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven him. He’s a hard man.”

  Diamond shifted position. The alcohol had loosened Janet’s tongue. “He threatened to disinherit Jesse because of our marriage.”

  “He would have cut me off if I eloped with Finn.”

  “You considered eloping?”

  “Not really. I want what’s mine and Finn wouldn’t take me with nothing.”

  Diamond interpreted her statement as a code for Finn never asking her to run off. “It’s the way of the world, I suppose.” Now and in her time. “Jesse only married me for my dowry.”

  “I’m not so sure. You had already spent weeks in his company, unchaperoned. And you saved his life. He felt honor-bound to marry you.”

  Diamond didn’t know what she disliked more, being married for money or obligation. Both stank. She wanted Jesse to love her as she did him. And the mo
re she heard about Finn, the more she was starting to agree with her father-in-law—a situation she would never have envisioned. Maybe she could fix Janet up with a good Southern boy. She closed her eyes in disbelief. If she was considering match-making, she must have lost her own tolerance for alcohol. Besides, all the good Southern boys were off fighting the war.

  “I hope we can go back to New Madrid soon. We will have to keep our heads down since it will be under Union control, but once the army moves on, it should be safe enough. Or would you prefer to stay here with Father?”

  Diamond shuddered. “I’ll go with you.”

  “Father built the house at Hickory Grove for Mother, but she died of a fever five years later. I’ve been the lady of the house ever since and something of a surrogate mother to Jesse, who was only ten.”

  “I lost my father around the same age.” Diamond hadn’t realized Jesse had been so young when his mother died. It was a tough time to lose a parent.

  “The house is much larger than this rental and overlooks our land. We grow cotton and hemp along with wheat, potatoes, and other vegetables. We even have a small apple orchard.”

  “What if the South loses the war?”

  “Everything is in Father’s name, and as a member of the exiled government, everyone knows where his sympathies lie, but we will have Jack on the winning side to see to our interests. That’s the plan, anyway. Do you really think the North will take all our land?”

  Not directly, but Reconstruction would strip many wealthy Southerners of their plantations and the people who worked them. “I don’t know, but they will abolish slavery.”

  “Making it harder to turn a profit, but not impossible. Finn refuses to use slave labor and Jesse’s been after Father for years to free our slaves.”

  “He never mentioned that.”

  “It’s not a popular sentiment. Father should have sent him to fight for the Union instead of Jack.”

  “I’m glad he didn’t or we might never have met.” Diamond finished her tea, which had grown cool. “I’m going to turn in.” In reality, she wanted to re-read Jesse’s letter and read the next chapter of her book. She was finding nineteenth-century fiction a little ponderous after years of fast-paced thrillers, but she refused to give up reading. Books, magazines and newspapers had always been part of her life.

  Janet waved her off. “I will stay up to work on Finn’s socks.”

  Sarah helped Diamond off with her dress and brushed and plaited her hair. Diamond still found it strange for someone to dress her like a china doll, but she needed help with all the layers and someone had to lace her much-despised corset. As soon as Sarah left, she crawled into bed with her book. She savored Jesse’s letter before turning her attention to the Scarlet Letter. Nathaniel Hawthorne had been among her favorite authors her teachers had required her to read in school, but it was still slow going.

  Soon her eyelids drooped, and she set the book aside, blew out her candle and snuggled under the blankets. A small fire burned in the fireplace for the nights were still chilly.

  She awoke suddenly, fear freezing her muscles. Someone was in the room. Her heart hammered in her chest as she tried to remain still and regulate her breathing. She strained her ears and heard it again, a thump, followed this time by a muffled curse.

  Wishing for a gun, she scooted to a sitting position. The dim light of the fire illuminated a silhouette lurking at the foot of her bed. Should she scream? Ian and Janet slept upstairs, and the servants slept in the attic. The intruder could easily kill her before help arrived. She wished she could flip on a light, but would have to light the candle from the banked fire or use the tinderbox, a skill she had not yet conquered.

  “I’ll scream,” she warned, her voice shaking. Someone had broken into the house. Was it a simple burglar or a bushwhacker who had escaped the soldiers?

  “Don’t scream,” a man replied. “I won’t hurt you.”

  “Leave and I keep quiet. No one has to know you were even here.”

  “I’m not leaving. I live here. Sometimes.”

  He lives here? It wasn’t Jesse. That only left, “Jack?”

  “Yes. Can we get some light here?”

  Diamond slipped from bed and touched her candle to the glowing coals of the fire. She gazed up into a face similar to her husband’s, but softer, without Jesse’s razor-sharp cheekbones. She couldn’t discern his eye color, but suspected they were the same piercing blue as Jessie’s, Janet’s, and Ian’s.

  “What are you doing here? Aren’t you stationed up north?”

  “I’m on leave. A better question might be who are you? You’re not a servant.” He pinned her with a steely gaze, looking her up and down.

  Diamond crossed her arms over her chest, happy for the concealing nightgown she wore. Usually she thought of it as her “granny gown,” but would have felt exposed in a modern nightie. “I’m Jesse’s wife.”

  Jack laughed. “Jesse’s not married.”

  “He is now. We married a few weeks ago.”

  “Jesse’s here?”

  “No, he has returned to duty.”

  “Well, I’ll be. Never thought Jesse would steal the thunder on me and Janet by getting married first when he’s the baby of the family. Curious things happen in time of war.”

  He continued to look at her in a manner Diamond found inappropriate, considering she was his sister-in-law. “If you were planning to sleep here tonight, you must find somewhere else. Why don’t you bunk down on the couch in the parlor? I’m sure your father and sister will be glad to see you in the morning.”

  “That remains to be seen, but I can manage the couch. Slept in far worse places the last several months.”

  “Here, take my candle. You gave me quite a scare. I thought you were a bushwhacker.”

  “As a good Rebel bride, why would you be afraid of a bushwhacker?”

  “They don’t follow the rules of war. If they see something they want, they just take it.”

  Jack laughed. “Think the Union or Confederate soldiers are any different? War’s brutal any way you slice it. Now, will you tell me your name or should I refer to you as Mrs. Weber?”

  “Diamond.” She felt uneasy. Even knowing he belonged here, her nerves jangled.

  “Good night, Diamond. See you in the morning.” Jack tipped his hat to her, took the candle, and lifted his pack from the floor. His setting it down must have awakened her.

  She climbed back into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. Her brother-in-law rubbed her the wrong way, just like her father-in-law, though for different reasons. But it was the middle of the night, she’d been badly frightened and Jack was tired after a long ride. Things would look better in the morning.

  She hoped.

  Twenty One

  Chapter 21

  Diamond awoke to shouting. Without bothering to call Sarah, she slipped from bed and crept down the hall in her nightdress.

  Jack and his father faced off in the parlor. Ian stood in the center of the room, his hands on his hips, already dressed for the day, while Jack sat on the couch, bleary-eyed and still wearing his traveling clothes.

  “What the hell are you doing here? Seems I can’t go a week without one of my children defying orders and showing up unannounced.”

  “I got leave. Came to visit.”

  Ian’s posture eased. “You haven’t deserted your post? Or brought home a useless bride?” He shot a look to where Diamond lurked in the hallway. Busted.

  Since they had already spotted her, Diamond entered the room. The remains of a midnight snack littered the coffee table and the bottle of whiskey she and Janet had sampled the night before sat off to the side, now three-quarters empty.

  “This is your new sister-in-law, Diamond.” Ian introduced her.

  “Pleasure,” Jack said, nodding his head.

  “Likewise,” she replied, following his lead and not mentioning their midnight meeting.

  “I got in late last night and didn’t want to wake anyone,
” Jack said.

  “You made yourself at home,” Ian said, wrinkling his nose at the mess on the table.

  “It was a hard ride. I was hungry.”

  Diamond thought it best to leave the two men alone. “I’ll tell Cook to set an extra plate for breakfast.” She ambled towards the kitchen, which was in a separate building out back, and caught one last exchange.

  “Were you with the group of Union troops who licked the guerrillas along the Missouri/Arkansas border? Damn shame, took out some good men.”

  “No, but Quantrill will get his revenge. The Yankees won’t catch him unaware again.”

  Diamond closed the door behind her, unable to hear more of the conversation. She relayed the news of Jack’s arrival to the cook.

  “Yes, Miz Weber, Betty told me. Don’t you worry none. I made plenty of food.”

  Diamond snatched a freshly baked biscuit and smeared it with homemade blackberry jam. “I should have known you’d be ready.” Nothing got past the servants’ grapevine. She savored the sweetness of the jam and the warm, buttery goodness of the biscuit. She had regained the weight she lost when first coming to the past and would have to watch what she ate if she didn’t want to pack on extra pounds, but Cook’s biscuits were the highlight of her morning.

  “Betty saw the young master sleeping in the parlor.”

  “Is Sarah around? I should get dressed.”

  “She’s helping Miz Janet now.”

  Diamond took the rest of her biscuit back to her room. Sarah would look for her there when she finished with Janet.

  After dressing, she joined the family in the dining room. Janet asked Jack for news of the Yankees, specifically Finn.

  “Sorry, Sis. We’re not in the same regiment.”

  “You still might have heard something.”

  “Well, I haven’t.”

  “You know all you need to know about that fortune hunter,” Ian told Janet before turning his attention to Jack. “Lie low while you’re here. Most folks in town despise Union soldiers. You don’t want to do anything to give them a reason to accuse you of being a spy. Not sure even my influence could save you from the hangman’s noose.”