Impending Love and Madness

by Laura Freeman

Cass took the tray from her hands. “Why were you afraid I was Sister Lucia?”

  “She doesn’t like me feeding Mister Ravenswood.”

  “He has to eat to maintain his strength.”

  “Not according to Sister Lucia. She said he needs to purge his system of poisons.”

  “Aren’t you afraid you’ll be fired if they find out you’ve been feeding him?”

  “Seymour and Sister Lucia are like bats. They’re awake all night and sleep during the day.”

  “They were in his room last night. Seymour blocked me from entering.”

  “They keep him drugged,” Mrs. Graves said. “He’s most lucid in the morning if I can rouse him.” She uncovered scrambled eggs and biscuits. “The smell of food usually does it.”

  “He always had a healthy appetite.”

  She placed the tray on the table by the bed. “Your two friends didn’t leave much on the plate.”

  “They’ve already eaten?”

  Mrs. Graves pointed toward the window. “They’re outside poking around the burnt remains of the barn.”

  Cass studied the old woman. “What do you know about the fire?”

  “I was asleep on the fourth floor in the front,” Mrs. Graves said. “I didn’t know about the fire until morning. By then Sister Lucia was caring for Mister Ravenswood.”

  “Did you see Zach’s burns?”

  “No, Miss Beecher, but Sister Lucia said they were bad. She had him bandaged by the time I was let in the room. I feed him and take care of his toilette.”

  “He doesn’t seem to be waking.” Cass placed her hand on his chest. It rose steadily. “I wonder how much opium she gave him.”

  “Is it a bad thing?”

  “Yes,” Cass said. “He’ll crave more and more.”

  “Why don’t you join your friends? I’ll feed him when he wakes.”

  “Don’t tell him we’re here if he doesn’t remember,” Cass said. “I don’t want him to order us away.”

  “I understand. He doesn’t realize how much he needs you and your friends.”

  “It’s good to know he has one more.” The food on the tray made her stomach growl. “Any more biscuits downstairs?”

  “In the kitchen. I saved you a couple.”

  Cass paused by the door. “Mrs. Graves, aren’t you deaf?”

  “I am in this ear.” She pointed to her left ear. “I hear fine out of the other.”

  Cass laughed. “I take it you’re not fond of Seymour.”

  “That one was always sour and spoiled. Elijah Ravenswood sent him to school and gave him a job, but he was never grateful. Always wanted more for nothing. Always giving Elijah advice.”

  “What advice?”

  “To send the boys away to school, away from Ravenswood even though Clayton and Allison hired a tutor.”

  Seymour may have thought he was clever to send Pax and Zach to Western Reserve Preparatory School and College, but Zach would not have gone to war and won his grandfather’s approval otherwise. It was similar to Oedipus Rex. Seymour’s plans had reaped the opposite effect.

  “Zach said he lived in a cabin by the lake. Does anyone live there now?”

  “The buyers stay there for the sale.” She snorted. “They leave mud everywhere. Allison wouldn’t approve. She made it a real home.” Mrs. Graves waved her arm. “Allison attempted to make this place a home, but Seymour blocked her attempts. Ravens Roost was a showplace to impress guests.”

  “It does that.”

  “You eat and join your friends,” Mrs. Graves said. “I’ll take care of Mister Ravenswood.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Cass hurried downstairs and ate a quick breakfast. She tied her bonnet and opened the glass paneled doors at the back of the main room. A carriage building was to the left at the end of the drive. To the right was the blackened remains of the stable. She headed toward the ruins. Most of the building was gone with a section of two walls and a few rafters on the far side standing to form a shadow of the former structure. “This is awful.”

  Ethan and Harry kicked around the rain-soaked ashes, ignoring her.

  “Why are you walking in that mess?”

  Harry kicked at a clump of dirty ash. “We’re searching for something.”

  She placed her hands on her hips. “I hope it’s not the remains of the horses.”

  Ethan and Harry exchanged funny looks.

  She stepped closer but remained outside the ashes. “What did you find?”

  “It’s what we didn’t find,” Harry said. “No horseshoes.”

  Horseshoes? “What do you mean?”

  “We walked through the ashes and found nothing.” Harry wiped his boots on the damp grass. “No bones, no animal fat, no horseshoes. There were no horses in the barn when it burned.”

  “But Seymour said all the mares and foals perished.”

  “He lied.”

  “Then why burn the barn?”

  Ethan cleaned his boots. “You tell us, Cousin.”

  What did it mean? “If the horses weren’t killed in the fire, where are they?”

  Ethan put his hat on. “How big did Zach say this place is?”

  “Eight hundred acres.” She reached into her pocket. “Zach drew me a map.”

  Harry studied the basic drawing. “Plenty of places to hide something.”

  “We want to buy horses,” Ethan said. “Why don’t we look at the merchandise?”

  Cass looked around. “Do you plan to walk?”

  “We’ve been walking everywhere for years, but if you need a buggy, we could find one,” Harry said.

  “Don’t worry about me.” She lifted the front of her skirt to escape the mud and led the way along the well-worn road leading away from the barn’s remains.

  They had walked half a mile along the road when a wagon approached and blocked their path. A man with a patch over one eye stared at them. “Who are you?”

  “We’re guests of Zach Ravenswood,” Ethan announced.

  “Where can we find the horses that are for sale?” Cass asked.

  The man removed his hat. His black hair reached his coat collar, and his beard covered the lower half of his face. “Are you looking to buy a horse, miss?”

  Her sisters had been shining examples of how to charm information out of a man. Cass smiled, and her voice took on a silky texture. “I’m Miss Cassandra Beecher, and this is my cousin Ethan Donovan and my friend, Harry Herbruck. Zach promised we could have first pick of the horses for sale. I hope there’s a pretty mare available.”

  “Not as pretty as you, miss.” He leaned forward. “I’m Bryce Dawson. I’d be happy to give you a ride. Let me turn the wagon around, and I’ll come back for you.”

  “That would be so kind,” Cass said.

  He nodded and urged the team forward.

  Harry and Ethan stared at her as if she had grown horns. “What? Don’t you want his help?”

  “How did you do that?” Harry asked.

  “It’s called charm. You two should cultivate some if you plan to find out what Seymour is plotting.”

  Ethan shook his head. “I don’t think Seymour would tell the hired help his plan.”

  “Then the horses will tell us something.”

  “Cousin.” Ethan laughed. “Horses don’t talk.”

  “Neither do horseshoes, but the absence of them speaks volumes about the barn fire.”

  Harry’s eyes widened. “What do you think is going on here?”

  “I don’t know, but until we do, don’t make any decisions about a horse,” Cass said. “We don’t want to give Seymour an excuse to send us packing.”

  Bryce returned with the wagon and helped Cass climb to the bench seat. “I hope you don’t mind riding in the wagon.”

  “I’m a farm girl,” Cass said. “I won’t bruise.”

  “We don’t mind walking, but we won’t refuse a ride when it’s offered,” Harry said as he and Ethan climbed in the back.

  Bryce slapped the reins against
the horses’ rumps. “You Yanks serve with Zach Ravenswood?”

  “We were in the Twenty-ninth Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry with him,” Ethan said. “Where did you serve?”

  “Mosby’s rangers.”

  “You’re a Reb?” Harry looked at the others, his brow knit in worry. “Does Zach know that?”

  “Major Edwards isn’t ashamed of his past,” Bryce said. “The major is our commanding officer.”

  “Don’t you mean was?” Cass asked.

  “He’s the foreman. That leaves him in command.”

  “How many Rebs are working here?” Ethan asked.

  “Four counting the major.”

  “We’re outnumbered,” Harry said.

  “Four Rebs against three Yanks.” Ethan laughed. “I’d say we’re even, especially with Zach ill.”

  Bryce spat a stream of tobacco juice on the ground. “That’s not how I see it.”

  Ethan leaned against the wall of the wagon and crossed his arms. “You forget, you lost the war.”

  “We didn’t surrender.”

  Harry moved closer to the front. “What do you mean?”

  “Mosby fought independently of Bobby Lee and Joe Johnston. Those generals may have surrendered, but we didn’t.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Ethan said. “You still lost.”

  Cass signaled the boys to hush. They didn’t need to create enemies. “I’m sure you’re glad the war is over, and we can be friends.”

  “I don’t mind being friends with such a lovely lady as yourself.” He scowled at Ethan and Harry.

  “Aren’t you charming?” Cass turned her back on Ethan and Harry. “I worry some men have lost their manners from fighting in the war.”

  They reached a rise overlooking a wide valley with a lake.

  “What’s that?” Cass nearly shouted.

  “It’s a lake.”

  “Turn your head, Harry.” Cass pointed to a huge wooden structure nestled in the trees on the far side of the lake. “That can’t be the cabin where Zach grew up. It’s nearly as big as Ravens Roost.” The sprawling house was made of logs and stone. The lower level was all boulders with a raised walkway supported by logs surrounding the entire structure and forming a terrace for the second floor. The roof was supported by whole logs that protruded to the edge of the awning to protect anyone standing on the terrace. Twin dormers created rooms for the third floor. If the view from the surrounding porch wasn’t enough, huge windows provided plenty of natural light.

  “I wouldn’t know about that, miss,” Bryce said. “We call it the guest house.”

  “It’s beautiful. Is anyone staying there?”

  “The major, me, and the buyers arriving for the sale.”

  “How many buyers do you expect on Saturday?” Cass asked.

  “Eight for sure. Could be a dozen or more.” He nodded toward the cabin. “A few have arrived early like you.”

  “I’m glad Zach gave us first choice,” Cass said. “All those bidders will increase competition.”

  Bryce headed toward a barn and fenced pasture where horses were grazing. “Those are the five and six-year-olds,” Bryce said. “They’ll go first.”

  “First? What other horses are for sale?”

  Bryce stroked his beard. “Some of the poor-quality ones. The major said it’s better to sell the runts and cripples so you don’t have to feed them.”

  “I hope they aren’t slaughtered.”

  “That’s the buyer’s decision, Miss Beecher.”

  “Call me Miss Cassie.”

  Bryce halted the team near the fenced paddock. More than a dozen horses grazed in the sunshine.

  “We’ll have to take them in once the sun is higher,” Bryce said. “Look them over. You’re going to have a hard time finding any flaws. The major hand-picked these for the sale.”

  Bryce helped Cass to the ground and followed the men to the fencing. Harry climbed through the rails and began examining the horses.

  “The gate is over here.” Bryce showed her the entrance while Ethan joined Harry.

  “I don’t know where to begin,” Cass said.

  Bryce pointed to a tan mare with a brown mane. “You might like Peaches. She has a sweet disposition.”

  “What about that one?” She pointed to a black horse with four white stockings. The gelding reminded her of Blackie.

  “That’s Black Knight with a K. He’s a hard worker but needs a firm hand.”

  “I’m looking for a buggy horse for my father. He’s a doctor.”

  “A sawbones from the army?”

  “No, he didn’t serve, but my sisters and I volunteered as nurses.”

  Bryce scratched at his beard. “That’s hard work to do for free.”

  “I lost family and friends in the war. It was the least I could do.” Cass stepped inside the enclosure. She extended her hand to Bryce. “Thank you for your help. It may take time to decide. Feel free to do your work while I look.”

  “Are you sure I can’t help?”

  “Have you ever shopped with a woman, Bryce?”

  “No, Miss Cassie.”

  “Then be grateful I’m giving you an excuse. It’s unlikely I’ll make a decision today.” She joined Harry and Ethan who were examining Peaches.

  “Do you have to be friendly with a Reb?” Ethan asked.

  “Yeah, he’s the enemy,” Harry added.

  “The war is over.”

  “Didn’t you hear him?” Harry said. “He never surrendered.”

  “We need answers,” Cass said. “Why remove horses from a barn, burn it down, and claim the mares and foals perished. What do you gain?”

  “You could sell them, especially if they didn’t belong to you,” Ethan said.

  “You think that’s Seymour’s plan?”

  “Greed is always a good motive,” Harry said.

  “Bryce said the five and six-year-old horses would be sold first. Then he added that part about inferior stock. Would you sell sick horses in an auction?”

  “No,” Harry said. “It would ruin your reputation for quality. Zach said foals were examined for potential problems and eliminated in the first year. No sense in spending money on feed and training if the horse was crippled or unhealthy.”

  “Then what other stock would be sold?”

  “With a shortage of horses from the war, he could sell anything with four legs and a few with three,” Harry said.

  “Zach wouldn’t agree to that.”

  “But there’s nothing to prevent Seymour from selling them with Zach laid up.”

  Cass couldn’t believe someone would deliberately hurt Zach. “You don’t believe the fire was an accident?”

  “I can’t believe Zach would run into a burning barn,” Ethan said. “We set plenty of fires during the war. Enough to know how fast old wood is eaten by the flames.”

  “Don’t forget the missing horseshoes,” Harry said. “Someone moved the mares and foals before the fire.”

  “Zach’s accident was intentional,” Ethan agreed. “They wanted him out of the way.”

  “But why burn him?” Cass fought tears. “What sort of monster is Seymour?”

  Ethan looked at Bryce and two other men by the barn. “One without loyalty. There are plenty of Union soldiers who need jobs. Why hire Rebs?”

  Harry stared at the strangers. “Those fellows look like more of Mosby’s raiders.”

  Cass followed their gaze. “How can you tell?”

  “The way they stand, the guns on their hips, the look in their eyes,” Ethan said. “They’re relaxed, pretending to be disinterested, but they’re watching us closely.”

  “We need to tread lightly,” Cass warned. “Focus on the horses, but keep your ears open for any clues to their plot.”

  “What plot?” Harry’s voice rose an octave.

  “Why do they want Zach out of the way for his own sale?”

  Harry looked at Ethan. “I think the Three Musketeers has gone to her head.”

  �
��For that to happen, there would have to be a missing necklace and a kingdom at stake.”

  Cass smiled. “Not too different from missing horses and Ravenswood at stake.”

  Harry looked over the back of Peaches. “We should never have made her one of the musketeers.”

  “Too late now,” Cass said. “One for all and all for one.”

  They took their time, but as the sun rose, the horses needed to escape the heat and were taken into the barn. Cass needed to use an outhouse or find a chamber pot. The towers of Ravens Roost could be seen in the distance, a fortress commanding respect, but it was too far away for her immediate needs. She walked toward the cabin by the lake. The setting was serene with a gentle breeze pushing colorful wood ducks across the water and rustling the leaves on the trees separating the cabin from the barns.

  The interior of the cabin was cool, a sharp contrast to the humid heat of July. Cass removed her bonnet and brushed back the damp strands of her hair. The main room had a floor to ceiling stone fireplace with comfortable sofas and chairs facing each other, welcoming conversation. A large table was in the adjoining room. She climbed the winding staircase to the second floor and opened a door. The bedroom had twin beds. Both were tousled. Someone had spent the night in the room. She found a chamber pot, placed her crinoline over it, and squatted. A wooden horse was hidden in a corner. This had been Pax and Zach’s room as boys.

  She stepped into the hallway and entered the neighboring room. It had a large bed and dresser. Two trunks were on the floor. One had a broken handle. Someone was staying in this room as well. The outdoor sunlight made the rooms bright, but the overhanging logs provided shade and kept the interior cool from the heat of the day. The bedroom had a door that opened onto the balcony. A small table and pair of chairs created an intimate spot to share a meal. Unlike Ravens Roost, this was a home.

  She was descending the steps when Bryce entered. “What are you doing in here?”

  “I borrowed a chamber pot.” He looked shocked. “Ladies can’t go behind a tree.”

  He escorted her outside. “Are you ready to return to the main house?”

  “Yes, but we’ll want to return tomorrow,” Cass said. “I warned you about shopping with a woman.”

  “Did you narrow your choices?”

  “I’d like to try the reins and drive a buggy hitched to a few of them.”