Stowaway in Time

by Cathy Peper

  “I’m still married to a Confederate soldier,” Diamond protested.

  “A fact we want to draw as little attention to as possible.”

  “And you’re still the daughter of a Confederate state congressman,” she said just to annoy her sister-in-law.

  “Something better swept under the rug.” Janet threw the pants aside with a sigh. “I’ll ask Sarah to finish these. My mother should have taught me practical sewing rather than embroidery.”

  Diamond took pity on her. “You’re very skilled at embroidery. I’m sure you can learn to sew if you really want to.”

  “I prefer making pretty things.” Janet rested her hands in her lap. “Finn wants me to give Sarah her freedom.”

  “It’s a good idea.”

  “I thought you were loyal to your husband and the Southern cause.”

  “I’m loyal to Jesse, but never claimed to embrace the South and all it stands for.”

  “You never said a word of this to my father.”

  Diamond shrugged and set aside her knitting. She couldn’t argue and concentrate on the pattern. “I didn’t want him to toss me out. Your Father enjoys threatening others.”

  “And does Jesse know about your views?”

  “Jesse never wanted this war. Our views are not that dissimilar.”

  “So you think I should do as Finn wishes?”

  “Absolutely not. I think you should free Sarah because it’s the right thing to do, not because your husband likes to give orders.” She chose her next statement with care. “I think this war will end the practice of slavery, at least in the north. Why delay the inevitable?”

  “I know there has been talk of freeing the slaves. Fremont even passed a law freeing slaves here in Missouri when he ran the Department of the West, but Lincoln made him retract it. Still, it’s hard to imagine such an enormous change.”

  Lightning flashed outside the window, followed soon after by the crash of thunder. “The storm is getting closer,” Diamond said. It worried her, not because she was afraid of bad weather, but because she worried Jesse might use the chaos as a cover for his escape. Still angry over his refusal to play it safe, she had not been back to the prison. While she appreciated that he had been honest with her instead of lying and telling her what she wanted to hear, she needed someone to put her first. Just once, she wanted to matter more than the cause, the glory or the truth. Foolish. She had admired Jesse from the first for his steadfast honor.

  “Sarah has been with me since the day I was born. Her mother nursed both of us.”

  “I didn’t realize.” In the twenty-first century, Diamond had covered stories at the station about the popularity and benefits of nursing but used to the convenience of formula, she hadn’t considered how mothers fed their babies in the nineteenth century. It seemed wealthy women had the option of wet nurses, a term she had heard, but never thought much about. As babies, Janet and Sarah had been as close as sisters. What a shock it must have been for Sarah to learn later the vast difference in their status. “You’re afraid she will leave.”

  “Sarah would never leave. I’m as much a constant in her life as she is in mine.”

  Diamond stuffed her neglected sock in her bag. “I think I’ll turn in early.” She started to leave the room but stopped at the doorway. “I think you might be right about Sarah, but wouldn’t it be nice to know for sure?”

  * * *

  Diamond curled up on her bed. Sarah had helped her out of her corset and petticoats, but instead of changing into her nightgown, Diamond had dismissed the maid and thrown on one of her simplest dresses. The green and brown plaid didn’t require a corset or a hoop and laced up the front so she could fasten it herself. So she now lay fully clothed on top of her quilt as she listened to the rain pounding on the roof. Jesse would try to escape tonight. She knew it in the hard knot in her belly and the fluttering of her heart that wouldn’t go away. She had left Janet not because she was tired, but because she was too nervous to stay in her sister-in-law’s company. Janet wasn’t stupid. Who knew what she might do if she picked up on Diamond’s agitation and figured out the reason for it. Jesse trusted his sister, but he hadn’t been there when she exposed their fellow travelers’ loyalties to the guerrillas. True, they had been strangers and the Weber clan seemed to make protection of the family their motto, but Diamond wasn’t willing to risk Jesse’s life on his sister’s fidelity.

  She’d left one candle burning, its meager light throwing shadows against the wall. Jesse would make a run for it, but would he come for her? He had no reason to. She’d made it very clear she wanted him to wait for parole. She would only slow him down. He might send for her later. If not, they would have to live apart for the duration of the war. Three years seemed a very long time to wait, but unlike Jesse, she was in no danger. Unless they suspected her of being a spy, the worst the Union forces would do is banish her from the state, an unlikely punishment for merely being married to a Confederate soldier.

  If he came for her would she go with him? St. Louis was safe. She knew Confederate forces would never invade it. She and Janet rubbed along well enough even if they now fell on opposite sides of the conflict. Leaving with Jesse now would be like voluntarily stepping into the nightmare she’d found herself in upon making the leap through time. Once again they would be on the run, the Union Army in pursuit, the odds stacked against them. The stakes would be even higher, for an escaped prisoner didn’t have the same protections as a newly captured soldier. And while they might have ignored her before, as a local caught up in the battle, if they caught her helping a prisoner escape, she would face the consequences—banishment if she was lucky or possibly imprisonment herself.

  Why was she even worrying about it? He wouldn’t come for her. He’d made it quite clear where she fit in his priorities and she wasn’t high on the list. Nothing new there. Her father had cared so little for her and her mother that he’d gone to a war zone and gotten himself killed. Her first serious boyfriend in college had expected her to uproot herself and follow him to a different school. And she wouldn’t even think about Brett, who had thought she was a possession to use and abuse. He had been a serious mistake in her judgment.

  She lay there while the storm raged outside and the candle shrank beside her. She should change into her nightgown and try to get some sleep. If Jesse escaped, Union troops would search the house. She had to be sharp enough to give them no reason to suppose she had helped him.

  Diamond dragged herself to her feet, but instead of changing, she pulled her backpack from the wardrobe. Her knife and pepper spray were already in her pocket, but her other twenty-first century items were wrapped and buried in the pack’s bottom, beneath her modern clothes. She added a spare chemise, petticoats, stockings and drawers. Then she blew out the candle and crawled back onto the bed. It was too hot to lie under the covers, anyway.

  She may have dozed, but it seemed as if almost no time had passed when she heard the rap of a rock against her window. It’s just hail. She pushed herself to her feet and ambled over to the window. Another rock came before she reached it, a sharp tap against the glass. She ran the last two steps and gazed down into the yard below. A shadowy figure stood beneath her, hand raised to throw another pebble.

  A bolt of lightning split the sky and his hand dropped as he spotted her. She pressed a finger to her lips, hoping he saw it before the light faded, leaving them in clinging darkness. Grabbing her boots and her backpack, she tiptoed down the stairs, snatched her cloak from the peg, slipped on her boots and eased out the back door.

  “The storm provides good cover, but how did you get out of the jail?” she asked as she drew up to Jesse.

  “I haven’t time to explain. I have to meet an ally at a nearby bar, but I couldn’t leave without seeing you.” He opened his arms and Diamond snuggled within them breathing in his familiar scent. He was dripping wet and with the rate of the falling rain, her cloak would soon soak through. “Come with me,” he whispered in her ear.
r />   “Where?”

  “Down South.” He paused. “Or out West.”

  “Out West? What about your commission?”

  “That was all my father’s idea. If Jack can desert, why can’t I?”

  “Jack’s been disinherited. You want your father to leave everything to Janet?”

  “Why not? We have your dowry. We can leave this craziness behind.”

  Would he really do it? Abandon his fellow soldiers and start a new life with her? Another burst of lighting lit the yard. Jesse looked tired, and she glimpsed a bandage wrapped around his hand.

  “We don’t have much time. It may already be too late to make contact.”

  He had taken a risk coming here for her. “What if we can’t get out of the city?”

  “I know you’re afraid, but we will find a way.”

  “I’m not afraid,” she said from force of habit. What a lie. She feared more than Union soldiers and the threat of prison. She feared losing this man she had grown to love.

  “I know it’s a lot to ask. I hardly dared hope you would come, but you’re dressed. Admit it, you were waiting for me.”

  She opened her mouth to lie again, to tell him she would never wait for him or any other man, but the words died unspoken. “We’d better get going. Janet could spot us at any moment, and we’ve got an appointment at a bar.”

  Thirty Three

  Chapter 33

  She was coming with him. Jesse’s chest felt lighter even though the stakes had doubled. He’d seen the hurt in her eyes when he refused to bend to her wishes and wait for parole. She didn’t understand the horror he’d felt at being locked up, even though he’d been treated decently. He wasn’t sure he could explain it himself. He couldn’t justify asking her to come on the run with him, but she’d done it anyway.

  They hurried to the bar. Almost no one else was out on such a foul night so they didn’t worry about attracting undue attention, but they didn’t run.

  “This is it,” Jesse said, catching sight of the sign. He pushed open the door, his eyes already scanning for Crawford. A man sat in the corner drinking something hot enough to send a curl of steam. A slouch hat shielded his features, but Jesse recognized him immediately.

  Taking Diamond’s arm, he strolled across the room and took a seat directly behind the other man. Diamond sat next to him and pushed back the hood of her cape. The strands of hair which had escaped her up-swept locks curled around her pale face. There was no sign of her customary wide smile. He gave her a fleeting smile of his own before speaking low, but loud enough for the man in front of him to hear. “Thank you.”

  “I’d given you five more minutes,” Crawford replied. He nodded towards another patron who tossed back the last of his beer and settled up with the barkeep. The man left the bar, his gait slightly unsteady as if he’d drank a bit too much.

  “You go first,” Crawford said.

  Jesse rose and held his arm out to Diamond. As they passed the barkeep he gave them a look, but said nothing about them leaving without ordering. They stepped from the warmth of the bar into the cold rain. Their contact stood in the shadows, his posture erect and still. All hint of inebriation had disappeared.

  Crawford joined them a moment later. The man led them silently down a narrow, garbage-strewn alley. A young boy stood at the end holding the reins of three horses.

  “Do you have any money?” Jesse asked Diamond.

  She nodded, wide-eyed.

  “Give them half.”

  Diamond dug in her pack as Crawford handed the man a few coins. “Will this be enough?” she asked, showing Jesse what she had.

  “We ask that you pay what you can to defray costs, but the South is not without friends in St. Louis,” their contact said. “Friends with deep pockets.”

  Diamond handed over the money, wondering who helped fund the escape efforts. Bryce was one of the wealthiest men in the city, but she couldn’t see him pouring money into the Southern cause. Not when he knew it would fail.

  Jesse gave Diamond a leg up onto the horse. There was no side-saddle, but that didn’t seem to bother her. Her skirts bunched up around her knees, showing a shocking amount of leg, but she paid it no heed. Jesse recalled the strange trousers she’d worn when he first met her. It seemed women had no qualms about displaying their legs in the twenty-first century.

  Crawford and their guide politely averted their eyes, but Jesse saw the boy staring avidly at his wife’s shapely calves and wanted to cuff him on the side of the head.

  “We will have a man waiting at Wilson’s Ferry. You know it?” their contact asked.

  “Enough to find it,” Crawford said.

  “Good luck.” The man and boy stepped back, giving them room to turn the horses.

  “Can you ride?” Jesse asked, remembering Diamond telling him that in the future people traveled in ‘horseless carriages,’ great metal beasts powered by liquid fuel.

  “Yes, but I’m no expert.”

  “We just need to get clear of the city,” he said, hoping her skills were up to the task. “Then we can move more slowly.”

  “I can manage for a couple hours. Probably not much longer.”

  Crawford had already started forward, and they followed, Jesse bringing up the rear. They kept the horses to a walk as they moved through the city streets, but as soon as they reached the more open areas, Crawford kicked his mount into a canter. Diamond held on grimly, but she hadn’t the easy balance he and Crawford shared.

  The thunder had abated, but the rain still fell heavily, providing a mixed blessing. Visibility was poor, making it hard to see where they were going, but the same was true for any pursuers. The roads were a mess of mud, making traction poor. Crawford didn’t attempt a gallop which was probably good considering Diamond’s limited equestrian skills. Lightning still flashed in the distance, but clouds blocked out most of the stars and drifted here and there across the moon, sometimes plunging them into almost total darkness.

  Wind drove the rain into their faces and even though it was August a chill had settled in Jesse’s bones. He hoped that Diamond, with her cape, was not as cold.

  They raced on with no sign of pursuit, but the threat hung over their heads, worse than the clouds which kept the night dark, their skin damp and their clothes soggy. A faint tinge of approaching dawn gathered in the eastern sky as the lightning faded away and the rain slowed to a drizzle.

  “We’re almost there,” Crawford yelled back to them.

  Jesse heard the rushing water before the Missouri River drew into view. A night of torrid rain had swollen the waterway, swallowing the trunks of trees and leaving only the green tops showing. It churned muddy and brown, swarming up its banks and lapping ever closer. Dread struck his heart and filtered down through his limbs until his fingers tingled and his toes grew numb. The river was an impenetrable wall between them and freedom, the ferry their only chance of crossing.

  The ferry rode high, lurching on its leash like an ill-mannered dog. A man in an oil-slicked coat waited for them. “You had to pick tonight,” he grumbled as they pulled up their horses. “Normally I wouldn’t chance taking her out on a night like tonight.”

  The men swung off their horses. Jesse moved to help Diamond, hoping she wouldn’t notice how his hands were shaking. She slid into his arms with a groan, barely able to stand after their wild ride.

  “You’re a good man,” Crawford said. “We appreciate your help.”

  Diamond eyed the churning river. “Do we need to cross? Can’t we just head south?”

  “We could, but this gives us a better chance at avoiding pursuit,” Crawford said.

  “Can we make it?” Diamond asked the ferry operator.

  “She’s stouter than she looks. She won’t break up.”

  Jesse noted he hadn’t answered Diamond’s question. He looked down at the swirling water choked with branches and other debris. He wasn’t sure he could force himself to step on the ferry. His legs felt weak and a roaring in his head echoe
d the sound of the racing river.

  Crawford attempted to lead his horse onto the wooden planks, but the animal balked, back-stepping nervously and tossing his head. Crawford spoke soothingly to him, but the horse rolled his eyes and planted his hooves on steady ground.

  “We don’t have to do this,” Diamond said. “Crawford can cross, if he gets his horse to cooperate, but we could just go south. We’ve got a head start on any pursuit.”

  She knows. Jesse swallowed. Janet or Jack must have said something about how the Mississippi had nearly taken his life on that long ago day. Jack might have bragged about how he had saved his little brother and kept Janet from getting in trouble with their father for not watching him closely enough. They must have told her he still avoided water at all costs.

  “We need all the advantages we can get. We should cross.” He forced the words out despite a mouth so dry his tongue felt clumsy.

  She stepped closer although with Crawford and the ferry operator busy with the reluctant horse, he didn’t think they could hear them. “You can do this. We crossed Reelfoot Lake. I didn’t want to enter those shadowy waters even though I know how to swim. And I now know what it must have taken for you to trust me to guide us through. Trust me again.”

  “I’ll always trust you.” He couldn’t tell her he’d been so delirious with fever he barely remembered their lake crossing. But he had known what they were undertaking and had counted on this strong, determined woman to get them through.

  “Next,” the ferry operator called, having gotten Crawford’s horse aboard.

  Diamond tugged at her own horse’s reins. Her mount appeared less jittery, but didn’t want to take that final step. The ferry operator stepped forward and helped persuade the horse to step onboard.

  It was Jesse’s turn. He murmured to his horse, trying to concentrate on the animal’s fear rather than his own. “It will be all right,” he said, hoping to convince both of them. The horse threw his head up and whinnied, the sound carrying in the quiet after the storm.