Swan's Way (26 page)

With a deep sigh of regret, Virginia kissed Channing’s lips softly, then eased his head from her shoulder. She tucked the blanket snugly around him. “I love you,” she whispered, just before she slipped out of the barn.

It would never do to have her father and brothers catch her sneaking back into the house at this hour. She must go to her room, compose herself, and appear at breakfast looking like the same innocent sister and daughter she had been the night before.

If only they knew how much I have changed
, she thought, as she hurried up the stairs and into her room.

She was too excited to sleep, too filled with love and hope and yearning for the future—her future with Channing. For a long time, she stood in front of her mirror, staring at her own image by the first rays of the rising sun. Had making love with Channing changed her? She looked the same, but there was something about her eyes. They glittered a bit more brightly. And wasn’t the curve of her lips slightly fuller? Virginia suddenly realized what the change was. She was looking at herself as a woman, now, instead of as a child. And she was observing everything through a woman’s lovestruck gaze.

A soft knock at her door made her jump. Who would be up and about at this hour?

Quickly she pulled on her long nightgown over her brother’s clothes. “Yes?” she called, trying to sound as if the knock had roused her from sleep. “Who is it?”

“Your father, baby girl. We’ll be leaving soon. I’d like a word with you, if I may.”

Virginia was about to open the door, when she spied the knapsack on her bed. She grabbed it and stuffed it in the armoire.

“Come in, Father.”

He found her perched on the side of her bed, looking as if she had just come out of a lovely dream—a little girl’s dream of candy and fairies and pretty party dresses. The thought brought a smile to his rugged, tanned face.

“I’m sorry I woke you, Virginia, but our discussion last night has been troubling me.”

Virginia had to think for a moment to recall what he was talking about. Her plea for a pass and her disappointment at her father’s rejection of the notion now seemed insignificant, after what had happened to her since.

“I want your solemn promise, Virginia, that you won’t do anything foolish and bullheaded, like running off to find Channing. It’s not safe out there. And I can’t leave with an easy mind until I am assured that you will stay right here at Swan’s Quarter with your mother, where you belong.”

Virginia nodded. “I promise, Father.”

Colonel Swan narrowed his eyes. He had prepared a whole battery of arguments to convince her. This was too easy. The daughter he knew never gave up without a fight.

“You’ll stay put?”

“I will. You have my solemn promise on it. In return—”
Aha!
Swan mused. He had been sure there must be a catch to her submissiveness. “In return,
what?”

“I want you to promise me that the minute this war is over
nothing and no one
will stand in the way of my being with Channing. There’ll be bitterness and hard feelings. Yankees aren’t likely to be accepted with good grace around here. Channing and I might even have to move away to have any peace. If that’s the way things are, so be it. I will go
anywhere
to be with him!”

Jedediah Swan caressed his daughter’s cheek with one big hand, clumsy in his attempt at tenderness. “You’re your mother’s daughter, that you are. I swear, Melora would fight the whole Union army to be with me. She as much as told me so last night. You have my promise, Virginia. Once the war’s over, it’s over. Channing McNeal will be one more son in the Swan family. There’ll be no hard feelings, no grudges at Swan’s Quarter.”

“Thank you, Father.” Virginia whispered the words, her voice choked with emotion.

“Well, now that all that’s settled, why don’t you pull on your brother’s britches and come to the barn with me to saddle my horse?”

“The barn?” Virginia gasped.

He nodded. “I’ve become quite attached to that beast over the past months. Can’t abide anyone else handling him. I mean to saddle him this morning, just like I do every day in the field.”

He turned, ready to leave so Virginia could get dressed.

“Father, wait!”

He paused at the door and looked back at her.

“Let me do that for you. Please! It will send you off with luck on your side to let me perform the task for you.”

Had any other woman proposed such a thing, Colonel Swan would have laughed in her face. A woman saddling his mount, indeed! But Virginia had been riding almost before she could walk. She was a better horseman than most of the soldiers in his cavalry unit.

“Very well!” He gave her a crisp nod. “Then see to it immediately, daughter. We ride out soon.”

When Colonel Swan closed the door behind him, Virginia sank down to her bed, trembling all over. That had been a close one. Her father might have promised to hold no grudges
after
the war, but if he found Channing in the barn now, there was no telling what he might do to him.

Hastily, she tossed off her nightgown, pulled on her boots, and headed for the barn. She would have that horse saddled and out of there before a ghost could say “Boo!” For good measure, she would see to her brothers’ horses, as well. As much as she loved the men of her family, she wouldn’t draw an easy breath until she saw them ride away from Swan’s Quarter.

“Channing,
please be all right!”
she murmured, as she ran for the barn.

She froze when she spied Hollis coming out of the barn. Her heart all but stopped when their eyes met. It seemed her worst fears had been realized.

“Hollis! What are you doing out here so early?”

He gave Virginia a lopsided grin. “I might ask you the same thing, sister-gal. I figured you’d still be in bed, working at getting your beauty sleep.”

Virginia’s skin felt too tight for her body, suddenly. She went hot and cold, in disconcerting flashes. Her breath seemed to seize in her throat. Of all her brothers, Hollis was the only one she could never read. He managed to look cool and casual, even when he was mad enough to chew nails. When the twins were kids, it was always Hampton who got into trouble for Hollis’s transgressions. Hollis always looked too innocent to be guilty of anything. For this very reason, the cherubic expression on his face at the moment chilled Virginia’s blood.

What had he been doing in the barn? In the barn with Channing!

“Are you fixing to leave already?” Virginia’s voice quivered dangerously, but she hoped Hollis would translate the tremor in her words as emotion at the thought of the men of the family going back to the war.

Hollis laughed. “Not before breakfast. Hell, if the Yankees surrendered this morning, I’d skip the ceremony for a stack of Polly’s pancakes and a side of bacon.”

Virginia asked no more questions, but the puzzlement on her face begged for an explanation.

“It’s like this, Sis, I got to thinking soon as I woke up about that Yankee I shot.
Where’d he crawl off to?
I kept wondering. Then it hit me right between the eye.
The barn!
Had to be. It’s close enough to the woods, so he could drag himself, if need be. All those nice dry stalls. All that fresh hay. Perfect place for one of those bad boys in blue to hide and lick his wounds.”

Hollis paused and smiled. It was a smile that shriveled Virginia’s heart. What if she were too late? What if Hollis had already found Channing and tied him up to take with them as his prisoner? Worse yet, what if Hollis had finished the job he’d started last night? Virginia swallowed a sob in a feigned cough.

“You coming down with something, Sis? You don’t look so pert.”

She shook her head and gasped, “I’m fine.” Her glance toward the partially open barn door served to ask the question she could not put into words.

“He was in there all right.”

Going weak all over, when she heard this from Hollis, Virginia gripped a fence post to keep herself erect. She clamped her jaw tightly to hold in a scream of pure anguish.

“Yep, he was right there where I figured he’d be. I followed his trail in the bloody straw right to where he lay down. Come look.”

Virginia wanted to turn and flee back to the house, screaming for help, screaming for Channing—her husband, her love. But Hollis clamped a hand on her arm and all but dragged her into the gloomy barn, where she had known such joy only a short while before. Now it seemed a place of horror and pain.

Hollis, with Virginia in tow, went straight to the back of the barn, to the very stall where she and Channing had shared their love and sealed their future together. She closed her eyes, afraid of what she would see when she reached the spot.

“See there!” Hollis said. “Right there’s the big old bloody spot where he was lying in the hay. Damn, I wish I’d come out here sooner.”

Virginia opened her eyes when she heard Hollis’s statement. Her heart sang with relief and joy. Channing’s blood might have stained the place, but Channing himself was gone. At that moment she could have hugged Hollis, she was that happy.

But the question remained:
Where was Channing?

“Damned if I know where he could have got off to,” Hollis muttered, in angry frustration. “I looked all around, but there’s not a clue.”

Virginia was trying to think of some reply to that when she suddenly remembered her mission in the barn. “Father sent me out to saddle his horse. I’d better get to it. Do you want me to do yours, too, Hollis?”

He grinned at her, his prey forgotten for the moment.’ That’d be nice, Sis. I figure Polly must be setting out our breakfast right about now.”

“You go ahead. I’ll take care of the horses and see you inside, shortly.”

Hollis left the barn, still shaking his head and muttering to himself over the strange disappearance of the “Yankee spy.”

As soon as her brother left, Virginia searched the barn from top to bottom. She found nothing. Channing had simply vanished, without a trace. She had to find him, but she couldn’t begin her real search until after her father and brothers left. Skillfully and quickly, she saddled their mounts, then headed back to the house. She didn’t want them waiting breakfast for her and delaying their departure.

The minute she entered the house, she heard laughing and talking from the dining room. They hadn’t waited breakfast after all. That was good.

“All fed, watered, saddled, and ready to ride,” she announced, as she entered the dining room.

“Good girl!” her father said, around a mouthful of pancakes.

“You didn’t see anything of that Yankee while you were out there?” This was Hollis, of course.

Virginia only shook her head. All the men rose, as Hampton jumped up to hold his sister’s chair for her. Then they all fell upon their food once more.

The talk at the table was mostly of the war—none of the gory details, which would have been unfit at table, or anywhere else, in the presence of ladies. Instead, their tales ran to humorous episodes, such as the Yankee who had shot himself in the foot to keep from facing Rebel forces in battle. There was the old woman and her young grandson who had held off a whole Yankee troupe with a couple of squirrel guns, threatening to blow daylight through their blue bellies, if they were to set foot in her yard. Then there was another wily plantation owner’s wife down in South Carolina, who had kept the Yankees off her land by purposely eating fruit she knew she was allergic to. She broke out in hives immediately and was a grotesque sight, when she met the Union soldiers at her front gate. She told them that they thought they had smallpox on the place, but they were welcome to use her house, just the same.

“One look at her put those Yanks in full retreat,” Rodney said, with a loud guffaw.

He hadn’t talked much at breakfast. It was clear to Virginia that he and his bride had spent their one night together making love. Agnes wore a blush during the entire meal, and she kept her eyes on her plate, when she wasn’t staring up adoringly at her husband. Virginia felt a strong kinship with Agnes this morning. Now they both knew the magic secret of love.

The third woman at the table, Melora Swan, had a glow about her, as well. Her night with the colonel had eased some of the worry lines from her face. She looked mellow and restored, this morning. From time to time, Virginia caught her mother gazing at her father with a tenderness that surprised the younger woman. It was difficult to imagine her parents indulging in the same emotions and passions that she and Channing had shared a short while ago.

Virginia noticed that the only other woman in the room seemed to be giving her significant glances, from time to time. Old Polly was serving this morning, something odd in itself. Usually, Polly’s work was done, once she cooked a meal. Juniper took over in the dining room, passing the silver platters around, like an efficient, silent ghost. Maybe Polly had chosen to serve breakfast because she wanted to spend more time with the Swan men before they rode off again. She had always been partial to the twins. They had been raised with her own boys. Still, Virginia herself was obviously the main focus of Polly’s attention this morning. It almost seemed that they shared some secret. What it might be, Virginia had no earthly idea, but she would certainly make a point of speaking with Polly privately, after the meal.

“I’ve packed each of you three new shirts,” Melora told her husband and sons. “And I had all your clothes washed and pressed, while you slept. Mercy, I’ve seen white trash dressed in cleaner clothes than you boys wore home!”

“This is war!” the colonel said. “Keeping tidy is not our main concern, my dear.”

“Well, I won’t have my sons’ health ruined by poor hygiene, and I hold you responsible, Jedediah.”

Virginia’s brothers exchanged amused glances and a few chuckles, but their mother silenced them with a stern look.

“That’s quite enough!” She spoke to the lot of them. “You boys, when you find a stream, bathe in it, wash your clothes. I want your solemn vow on that.”

They all nodded and murmured their promises, but Virginia heard Hollis whisper to Hampton, “If we can ever find a stream that ain’t running red with blood.”

Melora didn’t hear the remark, and Virginia was glad of that. The very thought made her feel ill.

Colonel Swan crossed his silver fork and knife at the top of his china plate, signaling that the meal was at an end. It was a simple move, an ordinary gesture that everyone at the table had witnessed a thousand times. But this morning was different. All eyes focused on that crossed cutlery for a moment. Then Virginia saw Agnes look up at Rodney with tears brimming. Her whole face looked as though it were about to crumble. Melora, too, turned to gaze at her husband. Her features remained placid, but there was a wild look of panic in her eyes.

“So soon?” she whispered to the colonel.

In a rare public show of affection, he covered his wife’s hand with his own. “It’s time, my dear. We’ve a long ride ahead of us today.” He glanced around the table and nodded. “You are excused.”

Everyone rose and left the room to prepare for their departure—everyone except Jedediah and Melora. They lingered, alone together, over the dregs of their coffee, sharing a few last words of private farewell.

Virginia left them to their privacy. In the hallway, she saw Rodney and Agnes huddled together. Her pregnant sister-in-law was weeping openly, while her husband tried to soothe her.

“I’ll be back soon, darlin’,” he assured her.

“When the baby comes?” she whimpered.

“Well now, I can’t promise that. But you’ll do fine. I know you will, sweetheart. And you’ll have Mama and Virginia here to help you. And old Maum Sugar, the midwife.”

“But I want
you
here, Rodney! How will I bear it without you?”

He cradled her gently and kissed her cheek. The sight of her big, gruff brother’s tenderness toward his wife almost brought tears to Virginia’s eyes. This was a side of Rodney she had never seen before.

“You’re stronger than you think, honey. I know you are. And just keep focusing on our future together. Once this war is over, we’ll be a real family. We’ll get our own place and raise a dozen children. We’ll be so happy, you and me. You love me, don’t you?”

“Oh, Rodney!” Agnes melted into his arms, weeping all the harder. “You know I do.”

Virginia moved on, not wanting to intrude on their tender farewell. She was heading out back when she ran into Polly. The woman motioned her into the pantry. Virginia followed without question.

Polly’s words were brief and to the point. “Brother Zebulon got something at his place that belongs to you. Soon as the master leaves, you come right out to the quarters, you hear?”

Virginia nodded. “I’ll be there.” She squeezed the woman’s hand, affectionately. “Thank you, Polly.”

The cook swished out of the pantry and on her way, as though nothing had passed between them. Virginia remained where she was for a few moments, allowing relief to wash over her, until she felt she could face the others without anyone realizing that something had changed since breakfast.

Virginia went out and led the horses around front, instead of waiting for one of the grooms to perform the task. The sooner the men mounted up and rode out, the sooner she could go to Channing. She prayed that her mother and Agnes would not prolong their goodbyes, once the men left the house. Her prayers were answered. The women had said all they had to say in private. Now, both Melora and Agnes kept a stiff upper lip, as their husbands mounted their horses, waved their hats in one last farewell, and rode down the lane toward the swan pond.

The minute they were out of sight, Agnes fell into Melora’s arms, sobbing her heart out.

“I’ll not have this!” Melora said sternly. “Get hold of yourself, Agnes.”

“But he’s
gone!”
the girl wailed. “How can you be so calm?”

She held her daughter-in-law at arm’s length. “Because I know that the sooner they leave, the sooner they’ll come home to us again. You should hold that thought, Agnes. All this weeping and carrying on won’t bring Rodney back a minute sooner, and it’s liable to harm the baby. You need to concentrate all your efforts now on giving your husband a strong, healthy son.”

Virginia bristled when she heard those words. How could her own mother say such a thing? “Or a strong, healthy, beautiful
daughter!”
Virginia added, defiantly.

Her mother ignored her words, but Agnes turned on her. “It is going to be a son!” she exclaimed. “That’s what Rodney wants, and that’s what I’m giving him.”

Virginia turned and left the veranda. It was on the tip of her tongue to say to Agnes, “Did you ever think that
your
father might have wanted a son, too?” Discretion won out, over annoyance. She hurried away, toward the swan pond. She smiled when she saw that the old cob was still there with his mate. Virginia tarried there long enough to see her mother and Agnes go into the house. Then she ran back up the path and headed toward the slave quarters, toward Zebulon’s cabin—toward Channing.

She knocked softly at the rough board door. No one answered, but it opened immediately with a squeaking of rusty hinges.

“Got to put some goose grease on those pesky things.” Brother Zebulon glared at the hinges, then smiled at Virginia. “Come in, child. And wipe that worry often your pretty face. He be fine.”

Channing didn’t look fine when Virginia saw him. He was stretched out on Zebulon’s cornshuck mattress, seemingly unconscious, looking pale and sickly.

“What happened?”

“He been shot.”

“I know that. But he seemed much better than this earlier.”

“He wouldn’t of been for long. That ball in his arm was fixing to fester, sure as thunder. I had to get it out. Polly, she fixed him up a right strong dose of roots and such to cut the pain. He didn’t suffer none while I was working on him, but could be old Polly poisoned him.”