Stowaway in Time

by Cathy Peper

  “I didn’t realize you had lost your father to war. It must be difficult arriving here during the Civil War.”

  “Anyone from my era would struggle in this time period, but the war makes everything worse.”

  “I’m sorry we no longer have the necklace, but can’t ask Hannah to risk returning, even if it were possible. There’s no way to guarantee she would get my message. And she may have built a good life for herself. She was born in the twenty-first century and missed the wonders she had known in her childhood.”

  “I’m not asking you to bring her back. Not anymore. I’m resigned to living the rest of my life here.” Diamond heard the truth in her own words as she spoke them. Though she still missed modern-day conveniences, she no longer felt a burning desire to return. Hard as life was here, she would prefer to stay with Jesse than go back to her old life. When she had first heard Victoria’s story she had thought the woman crazy to give up the Internet, electricity, indoor plumbing, modern medicine, women’s’ rights, air conditioning and all the other things technology provided. Now she understood. She wasn’t sure she would make the same choice if the necklace were to reappear, but she understood.

  “Sometimes I think the crystal takes you where you need to go,” Ari said.

  “For you. Perhaps even for Victoria. But not for me. I got caught up in your vortex. Fate never meant for me to come along on your trip to the past.” Diamond raised a hand when she saw Ari frown. “Don’t worry. I’m not blaming you again. I played a part in ruining my life.”

  “Is your life ruined? Jesse seems like a good man.”

  Diamond shrugged. She refused to withdraw into depression as she had upon first learning she could never return home. She would make something of her life with or without Jesse. But she desperately wanted to make her marriage work. However, when she recalled how distant Jesse had seemed when she visited him, she questioned whether they could ever make a life together. “Jesse is a good man, but I can never have the life I had in the twenty-first century.”

  “We don’t have the technology you’re used to, but there are some advantages. Life moves at a slower pace here.”

  “I’m not sure I consider that an advantage. I liked my fast-paced life.”

  Ari eyed her skeptically.

  “The excitement of the newsroom. The thrill of chasing a story…” Diamond’s voice trailed off. She had enjoyed those things, but her life had still been missing deep personal connections. If she hadn’t been so determined to break a story, she never would have found herself in this predicament.

  “You don’t have to give up everything you loved about your old life,” Ari said, a smile crossing her lined, but still compelling, face as Bryce entered the room. “We have good news for you, but I’ll let Bryce tell you himself.”

  “Ari has been after me again,” he said in the tone of a man oppressed. But he gazed fondly at his wife before turning towards Diamond. “She told me about your work for the Gazette. I’ve pulled a few strings and got you a place on the St. Louis Democrat.”

  “That’s great.” It was what she had wanted when she first realized she was trapped in the eighteen hundreds. Working as a reporter had seemed a much better way to support herself than marriage to a near stranger, no matter how attractive he was. Why then did she feel a stab of disappointment? She still had the dowry and a steady income would enable her to rent her own place and still stay close to Jesse. She would no longer depend on Janet and Finn. Was it because, having done her this favor, she worried Bryce would not help her with the more important issue of getting Jesse out of prison?

  “I appreciate what you have done, but I really hoped you could use your influence to get Jesse paroled. We would both like to put this war behind us as much as possible.”

  Bryce walked over to an unoccupied chair, leaning heavily on his cane. He didn’t speak until after he had seated himself, and Ari had poured him a cup of tea. “I thought your husband was an ardent supporter of the South.”

  “Not really. He’s loyal to his home, but he never wanted things to come to war. He’s an honorable man and wouldn’t break his parole, once given.”

  “I have a few Union contracts, supplying clothes and cooking supplies to the army. I could talk to someone of influence, but it might be easier to include Jesse in an exchange of prisoners than get him parole.”

  Which meant Jesse would go back to fighting. Diamond wanted him out of danger, but his freedom was most important. She’d hated seeing him behind bars like a criminal. “I would be grateful for whatever you can do.”

  Bryce leaned forward, both hands clasped on the head of his walking stick. Though faded, his cool blue eyes were still piercing. “No threats? No demands this time?”

  Diamond fought to keep her gaze steady under his scrutiny. “I should not have threatened you. But I had every reason to be upset.” Her voice rose, and she took a deep breath. “Still, I was wrong to blame you. You weren’t trying to hurt me. I was just collateral damage.”

  There was a tinge of bitterness in her voice, but Bryce gave her a genuine smile, the first she had ever seen from him. “Behave like a woman from this century and the Democrat will like your work.”

  “And you will try to help Jesse?”

  “I will do what I can,” Bryce said. “But it may not be much.”

  Thirty One

  Chapter 31

  The next time Diamond visited Jesse, she was alone. She brought him some cooked chicken, a loaf of bread and some fresh peaches. He was still pale from lack of sunlight and lean from lack of food, but the circles under his eyes weren’t as dark. She hoped she was part of the reason for his improvement.

  His expression lightened when he saw her and she didn’t think it was only because of the food she brought.

  “I told you not to come.”

  “You should know me well enough to know I don’t take orders.”

  “I discovered that about five minutes after meeting you.”

  “And yet, here you are a prisoner of the Union, our great escape wasted.” Diamond didn’t think a person’s fate was set in stone, but the irony of their current situation made her wonder.

  “Had the Yankees thrown me into a crowded cell while I was sick and injured I may not have survived.”

  It had been touch and go as it was. Without her antibiotic ointment and pills, he might have died. Could fate have sent her back in time to save him? Diamond brushed aside Ari’s theories. No, her presence in Civil War America was a mistake, nothing more.

  “I’ve talked to Bryce, and he promised to work towards your release.”

  “Thank you, but it may not be necessary.”

  “You want to stay here and risk transfer to somewhere far worse?”

  “There are other options.” Jesse lowered his voice and spoke just above a whisper. “This prison is not very secure. I’ve talked with some other inmates about planning an escape.”

  Diamond gaped at him, but, having learned her lesson from her first visit, spoke even softer than he had. “Are you serious? What would happen if they caught you?”

  “Dozens of prisoners have escaped this year alone.”

  Diamond blinked. “How many tried and failed?”

  “They caught a few and placed them in more secure facilities.”

  “And the others?”

  “Some got clear away.”

  “But some were killed, right?”

  “They hanged a few as a deterrent.”

  “You can’t take such a risk.” Diamond gripped the bars hard enough she felt them digging into her palms.

  “I can’t stay here.”

  “It won’t be long, only until you’re paroled or exchanged.”

  “That may never happen.”

  “Bryce is working on it. He has connections. He even got me a job on the newspaper.”

  They were whispering to one another, their heads as close as the bars would allow, Jesse’s back bent to accommodate her smaller height. But at this, he s
traightened. He only topped her by a few inches, but Diamond now stared at his mouth. Her stomach tightened as she remembered his lips on hers. Gentle, but insistent. She slipped a hand through the bars and touched his face, her thumb flicking over his lower lip.

  His beard was soft under her fingers and his lips tilted upward. He didn’t smile that often, her conscientious warrior, but he smiled at her now, a sad smile that didn’t reach his deep blue eyes.

  “Short of going home, that’s what you wanted. I’m happy for you.”

  Diamond brushed this aside. “The job’s great, but that’s not the point. Bryce gets things done. He doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.” Rather like her, but somehow things turn out better for Bryce.

  “I appreciate what you’ve done for me.”

  Diamond distrusted his stilted response. “This is all Jack’s fault. We wouldn’t be here if not for him.”

  Jesse paced the length of his cell, two steps in either direction. “What would you have me do? I couldn’t allow him to be captured. The Yankees would have shot him on sight. No quarter given. He’s my brother.”

  “I wouldn’t expect you to make any other choice, but I’m not sure your siblings deserve such loyalty. Jack got himself in this mess by deserting his unit and joining the guerrillas.”

  “I understand why he couldn’t continue to fight for the Union. His heart was ever in it. Janet, however, is practical, like our father.”

  “Practical to a fault. Watch what you say to her. When Guerrillas attacked us on the way to New Madrid, she told them our fellow travelers were Northern sympathizers. They nearly hanged the man.”

  “Guerrillas attacked you? Were you hurt?” Jesse returned to the bars, his gaze intent on hers. “Father should never have let you travel alone.”

  “We weren’t alone. Sarah and Henry were with us, but Henry ran off.”

  “Were you hurt?” he asked again.

  “No, but they shot Janet. A bullet grazed her ear. She’s okay; you saw her yourself. But the attack, along with her marriage to Finn, has swung her loyalties towards the Union.”

  “She would never betray me.”

  Diamond knew the siblings were fond of one another, but she couldn’t forget how Janet had endangered the farmer and his family to curry favor with the bushwhackers. “Maybe not, but don’t borrow trouble.”

  Jesse rested his head against the bars. “She hasn’t come to see me since your first visit.”

  “She probably won’t. As the wife of a Union soldier, she’d prefer not to have a brother in the Confederate Army, a brother running with the bushwhackers and a father who belongs to the government in exile.”

  “She’s trying to distance herself.”

  “Yes.” Diamond dropped her voice again. “Just give it time. Don’t be reckless.”

  “It’s my best shot. I told you the numbers.”

  “Please.” Diamond hated to beg, but what if she could have stopped her father from going to Afghanistan? Would he have listened to her if she’d pleaded with him to stay home? Had her mother asked him to stay? Never, in all the years since his death, had she wondered if her mother had argued against him going overseas. Would it have made any difference?

  “I’ll not take senseless risks, but if the opportunity arises, I won’t let it go. You have no right to ask that of me.”

  No right? She was his wife. But they had agreed to a marriage of convenience, not a real marriage. She sagged, resting her own head against the cold iron bars. “You would leave me alone, then?”

  “No.” Jesse took hold of her chin and raised her head. “Never. No harm will come to me, but even if it did, you have Bryce, Ari, and Victoria. You have the dowry money. And my family will not desert you.”

  I’m not so sure. She wouldn’t place her trust in Janet, Jack or Ian, but she would have the money. And her time-traveling friends. “A handful of octogenarians.”

  “You knew I was a soldier when you married me. None of us are safe in this dangerous time.”

  She wouldn’t grovel anymore. If he was hell-bent on throwing his life away, so be it. She withdrew from his reach. “Enjoy the food. I may not be back.”

  Thirty Two

  Chapter 32

  Jesse’s opportunity came on the night of a violent thunderstorm. The skies had threatened rain all day, but when the storm hit, it exceeded expectations. Jesse and his fellow inmate, a captain who’d been captured by Union forces while recruiting for the Confederacy, were ready. Thunder rumbled low and ominous, occasionally breaking out in a bang. Rain hammered on the roof mixed with the distinct plinking of hail. Jesse couldn’t see much from the small rectangular window set high in the wall, but treetops whipped in the wind and it appeared much later than the time displayed on his watch.

  “It’s time.” Captain Crawford appeared at his cell door and slipped a key into the lock. The door swung open. Jesse didn’t know how Crawford had gotten the key, but he didn’t care. There were still many people loyal to the South in St. Louis and he assumed one of them had given it to the captain.

  He and Crawford moved without a sound even though it was doubtful the guards could hear anything over the racket of the storm. They had both gathered in the room below, watching the lightning show playing just outside the window. Usually, one man periodically checked on the cells, but now Mother Nature held their full attention. They had even abandoned their habitual game of checkers.

  “We’ll go out this window. Careful, it will be slippery on the roof.”

  Jesse nodded. He followed Crawford through the small opening. Despite the warning, his foot slipped on the rain-slicked tiles and he slid down the roof, frantically searching for a handhold. His fingers closed around the gutter as one leg swung free and he hung there, holding on with all his strength, half on, half off the roof.

  “Steady.”

  Jesse barely heard Crawford over the beating of his heart and the drumming of the rain. The man moved like a mountain goat, somehow finding a purchase on the treacherous surface. The other man took his hand and hauled him to safety.

  “We have to get to the other side. Too much chance of being spotted here.”

  Jesse nodded, although he wasn’t sure Crawford could see him in the gloom. Rain pelted down and although they’d only been outside a few minutes, he was already soaked to the skin. The men crawled up the slope, gripping the tiles with their hands and digging in with the toes of their boots. Jesse had cut his hand on the gutter and blood oozed from the wound, mixing with the rain and forming pink puddles as he groped his way to the ridge.

  They rested there a second, catching their breath before attempting the descent. The drop probably wouldn’t kill them, but broken bones would impede their chance of escape. Lightning lit the sky followed by the rumble of thunder.

  “Now,” Jesse said after a brilliant flash. Feeling nearly blinded by the brief glimpse of light, he inched down the side. His hand throbbed, but he did his best to ignore the pain, forcing his fingers to dig into every available crack. Unable to promise Diamond he wouldn’t try to escape, he owed it to her to do everything in his power to avoid recapture.

  Crawford made it to the edge first and lowered himself over it. Had he jumped? Jesse’s stomach tightened as he recalled how far away the ground had looked when he plunged down the side of the roof.

  His foot slipped, and he nearly slid again, but held on with aching fingers until the toe of his boot found another niche. He crept down, seeing with relief that Crawford hadn’t jumped to the ground, but merely to the neighboring roof of a shorter building. He let go and easily made the drop.

  Crawford was already on the move, scurrying across the roof in a crouched position. Jesse followed, slipped and went down hard on one knee. Cursing, he half crawled, half walked the length of the roof. He wondered if Crawford had done this before or if he was just a natural acrobatic. Rain plastered his hair to his face, and he wiped an unruly strand out of his eyes.

  To his relief, an awning jutted fro
m the side of the building. Crawford leapt upon it, grasped the edge and swung himself to the ground. Jesse scrambled to follow. His hand was slippery with blood and it throbbed in rhythm with his knee. He scooted to the edge, and using primarily his good hand, lowered his body over and dropped to the ground beside Crawford. Both men panted, sweating even as the rain washed them clean.

  Jesse tore his shirt and wrapped the makeshift bandage around his hand. “What now?”

  “I’m to meet some friends at a nearby bar. You’re welcome to come, too. They have ways of getting people out of the city.”

  “What about my wife? I don’t want to leave her here.”

  “Then you should have stayed in jail,” Crawford said.

  “I couldn’t.” Being locked in a cell, away from the earth and sky and at the mercy of his jailors, had whittled away at his soul.

  Crawford ran a hand across his brow, a futile attempt to keep the water from running into his eyes. “You could come with me now and let them get her out later. That would be best.”

  Jesse considered. It would be the safest thing to do, his best chance at getting clear of the city. They still had some time, but eventually the guards would discover their absence and raise the alarm. But Diamond was angry with him and would be even more angry when she found out he’d ignored her pleas and escaped. Would she want to follow him? Fleeing with an escaped prisoner put her safety at risk, but he wasn’t sure he could trust Crawford’s friends to keep her safe.

  He had to see her before he left. He might never see her again. “Give me the address of the bar. I’ll meet you there.”

  Crawford rattled off the numbers. “We won’t wait for you.”

  “That’s a chance I have to take.”

  * * *

  The thunder was getting on Diamond’s nerves. She and Janet had eaten a modest supper and retreated to the sitting room where Janet struggled with a needle, trying to mend a pair of Finn’s trousers, and Diamond knitted yet another pair of socks. She was getting better at them, and now that she had made two pairs for Jesse, this one would go to a Union soldier. Janet insisted they now had to support the Union war effort.