A Heart Renewed (22 page)

Sighing, Julia spoke first.  “Thank you.  I don’t know what came over me.  I know I cannot monopolize your time this evening.  It’s just that…  You put me at ease,” she said softly.

“Will you be alright?”

Taking a deep breath she let it out slowly then turned to face him.  The moonlight highlighted one side of her face, leaving the other in shadow and giving her a mysterious appeal.  Adam again resisted the urge to kiss her.  He knew she was still too fragile and that any such action would only damage their friendship.  He would be patient.

“Yes, I’ll be alright.  We can go back now.”

Just before they re-entered the mansion, she stopped.  “Adam?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you for being my rock.”

He smiled at her.  Maybe there was hope.

“Major, it was good to see you again,” Hannah said as the officer from Fort Whipple finished the dance.

“May I have this dance, lovely lady?”

Hannah turned to see her husband posing the question.  Letting out a tired sigh, she answered, “If you don’t mind, I’d love to take a break.”

Will took her hand and led her to the refreshment table.  Leaning close to her ear, he said, “Seems Betty has been with the same dance partner most of the evening.”

“Oh, I hadn’t noticed,” she said, still sipping the punch.  “Who?”

Wiggling his eyebrows, he replied, “Ben.”

“Really?”  She noticed they danced together a few times.  With the long string of men asking to dance with her, she had been more focused on talking with them rather than what was happening elsewhere.

Will grinned.  “I think it’s sweet.  Care for some fresh air?”

At her nod, he escorted her to the front porch.  The cool air was refreshing after seemingly hours of dancing.  Hannah moved to stand by the railing, with him following close behind.  Wrapping his arms around her, he rested his bony chin on the top of her head.

“Mrs. Colter, you are positively breathtaking this evening,” he said, his voice husky.  “You even smell good, too.”

She giggled at his teasing.  “Yes, but my feet feel like the size of watermelons.”

“But, do they taste as good?”

“William!”  She swatted at his arm, as she turned to face him.  Before she could say anything further, he kissed her.  She threw her arms around his neck as he deepened the kiss.

“Nope,” he said pulling back.  “You don’t taste like watermelon.”

She sighed.  He certainly was in a playful mood.  “How much longer were you planning on staying?”

“I had been hoping for one more dance, especially since I’m leaving you with Betty and Julia tonight.”

She was about to agree, but yawned instead.  Resting her head on his chest, she said, “Would you settle for a dance out here.  Then take me home?”

He wrapped his arms around her and swayed to the music, not really dancing.  Hannah breathed deeply of his scent.  She wished they would have taken a room at the hotel.  But, with so many guests in town for the ball, it was already booked.  Betty offered to have Hannah and Julia to stay with her in her private quarters.  Will, Ben, and Adam would bunk at the boardinghouse.  It seemed strange to be apart from her husband, even if it was only for one night.  As they continued to sway to the music, she felt her eyelids getting heavy.

“Unless you want to carry me down the hill, I suggest we leave soon.”

“Very well.  Let me find Betty and let her know we’re leaving and to keep an eye on Julia.”

A minute later, Will returned to escort her to Lancaster’s.  He seemed more pensive since returning.

“Do you think Julia had a good time?” he asked.

“I think so, why?”

“She just didn’t seem herself, especially early in the evening.  It was as if she were frightened to be here.  That is not the same Julia I remember.”

“How so?”

“Growing up, she loved parties.  She would spend hours getting ready.  Then when the guests started arriving, she was energized by it.  Her face would light up and she wanted to talk to as many people as she could.  But, tonight she was not herself.  She seemed shy, wanting to hang back.  The only time she seemed normal was when she danced with Adam.”

Hannah heard the concern in his voice.  “And which bothers you more?  Her not being herself or her dancing with Adam?”

Will sighed.  “I’m not bothered by her dancing with Adam.  He’s a good man.  I have no concerns with him.  I am, however, very concerned about the different person Julia is.”  He paused before asking, “Has she said anything more to you about what happened?”

Hannah, while having told Will most of what Julia said, had not mentioned that Julia was having trouble dealing with how much he and Reuben looked alike.  She didn’t want to add to his worry, especially over his looks, for there was nothing he could do about that.

“No she has said nothing further.”

They arrived at the back entrance to the private quarters of Lancaster’s.  “Come in for some coffee?” Hannah asked.

Will pulled her to him.  “I want to come in, but not for coffee,” he said before kissing her deeply.  If he kept the kiss going much longer, it was a good possibility that Betty and Julia would have no place to stay for the night.

Hannah put her hand on his chest and pushed him away.  “Good night, dear husband.”

As he closed the door behind her, she could hear the frustration in his voice, though it was muffled by the door.  “Good night, Hannah.”

Adam made his way to where Julia was dancing with the Secretary of the Territory, pleased at his good fortune that the song just ended.

“Miss Colter, a pleasure meeting you.  What a fine dancer you are,” the secretary acknowledged, before turning Julia over to him.

“Adam,” she breathed his name with a rush of relief.  “I have danced about all I can take.  Would you be so kind as to escort me back to the boardinghouse?”

Maybe not quite as good fortune as he thought.  “Certainly,” he replied, careful to keep the disappointment from his voice.

They made their way to Lancaster’s in silence.  Adam sensed her relief to be away from the crowd.  He wanted to ask her how long she would continue living in the past, but knew if he did so, he would break the trust between them.  She was still living in fear, even after travelling all the way here to a safe place.  There was nothing for her to fear here, yet she did.  He wanted so much to shake her and wake her up to that fact.

But, as he learned tonight, she saw him as her rock.  No matter how much he wanted to push her to leave the past behind, he wouldn’t take away the security she felt with him.

As they neared Lancaster’s, Adam heard voices inside, likely Betty and Hannah catching up.  He wanted to stop and take Julia in his arms—and kiss her.  Dancing with her had been incredible, serving only to intensify his feelings.

Instead, he turned to face her, saying, “I enjoyed your company this evening.”

“Thank you for keeping me safe,” she said before walking through the door. 

As it closed and obscured her form, he wondered how long he might have to wait before she might be ready to consider him as a suitor. 
Lord, give me patience.

Chapter 16

Tennessee

November 9, 1864

The air grew colder as the sun set, sending a chill through his navy blue wool overcoat.  As Sergeant Thomas Anderson wove his way between the trees of the dense western Tennessee forest, he searched for a place to stop.  While the dispatch he carried was important, it was not so urgent that he needed to ride through the night, for a change.

Spotting an old dilapidated cabin ahead, Thomas reined in his horse.  He tied his mount to a tree then quietly walked the distance to the structure.  There was no light coming from the cabin.  Turning his ear toward it, he listened intently for several minutes.  No sounds either.  Taking his time, he approached the cabin keeping out of the view of the window and door.  Once near the window, he carefully peered through it.  Not seeing anyone inside, he rounded the corner and entered through the door.  The place was deserted.

He walked back to his mount and led the horse into the cabin.  It would be a tight fit, but it would be safer than leaving the horse tied outside in plain view, announcing his presence to any rebels in the area.  Once both man and animal were settled, he dug through the saddle bags for some feed for his horse.  As she happily chomped away, he opened some of his rations.  Leaning against the sturdiest wall of the drafty cabin, he chewed the food slowly.  He found doing so made the meal seem bigger to his empty stomach.

Since becoming a dispatch rider, Thomas learned how to stretch his limited food supplies.  Even though he should have this dispatch delivered to the general in two days, he would eat sparingly just in case he ran into any rebels or needed to take a longer, safer route from his original plan.  It was a routine he was now well familiar with.

Thomas thought back to how he ended up working for Colonel Woods in the First Brigade of the XVI Corps.  The journey was bizarre and twisted—far too strange to be called destiny.

Just over a year ago at his trial for an attempted bank robbery, the judge, who had been a friend of his father’s, gave Thomas the option to either serve his jail time or enlist in the Union Army.  The choice was unprecedented.  Not wanting to go jail, Thomas enlisted in one of the regiments from Ohio.  After serving with them from November 1863 to January 1864, their forces had been significantly reduced and he was transferred to the 89
^th
Indiana Regiment as an infantry man.

The 89
^th
Indiana Regiment was part of the XVI Corps led by Major General Andrew Jackson Smith.  Smith and his corps were ordered to Louisiana in early March to participate in the Red River Campaign.  After several skirmishes with the Confederate forces, all dismal failures, Smith’s commanding officer reorganized the campaign.

One day towards the end of March, everything changed.

Smoke clouded his vision as he crawled along on his stomach.  Easing his head over the embankment, he took aim and fired.  The bullet connected with a rebel’s leg, sending him to the ground.  Ducking down again, Thomas hurried to reload the rifle through the muzzle.

“Watch out!” Mixford yelled at the approaching rider.

The crack of a rifle echoed as Thomas looked up at the rider.  Blood spewed from his chest staining the copper tube slung over his abdomen.

“Help!” the dispatcher cried weakly as he fell from his horse, landing on the ground with a thud next to Thomas.

He kneeled down taking in the man’s graying skin color.

“Take this,” the dying man said, placing his shaky hand over the copper message tube.  “To Major General Smith.”

As coughing racked the man’s body, Thomas stared in shock.

“Come on, Tommy boy,” Mixford said, slapping his back.  “You heard the man.  You gotta ride it down the line.”

Numbly, Thomas lifted the copper tube from the man as the life faded from his eyes.  Looking around, he noticed the dispatcher’s horse just a few feet away.  Strapping the message tube to his body, he dropped his rifle and grabbed the man’s lighter carbine and pistol and any ammunition he had on him.  Running towards the horse, he jumped up and kicked the horse into motion in the same instant.