Hearts Under Siege (Civil War Collection) (7 page)

Chapter Seven

“How much further is it?”

“At least a week at this rate,” Thomas mumbled.

Though he would never admit it, his shoulder pulsed with pain. They’d had to stop and retie the blanket at least a dozen times. Eli fainted again.

Did they haul a corpse?

But each time they stopped, Alexandra woke Eli and made him swallow a few drops of water. Thomas studied the movement of the sun and could only hope they traveled in the right direction. The trees, dirt, and rocks opened up, forming a curving trail ahead of them. The Yankees might appear around the bend. Thomas shuddered. They would be taken to prison and would doubtless die within a month, Eli within a day. They would not take this path. They continued along the thicker, undefined way, dodging hanging branches here and there.

Alexandra provided the worst discomfort, being in such close proximity to him. With each step of the horse their bodies shifted against each other. She smelled of the damp outdoors and horseflesh, as did he. Normally he liked his women with the clean scent of soap and perfume, yet Alexandra emanating her earthy aroma tugged on his desire all the same. Her soft, feminine essence lulled him to near insanity.

“Thomas, we have to get help for Eli. Isn’t there a town nearby?”

Thomas searched his memory. Natchez was considered the halfway point between Baton Rouge and Vicksburg. He didn’t think they’d reached it yet. There were several other little towns along the way. As to how many of them were occupied by enemy soldiers, he had no way of knowing. That wouldn’t stop him. “We’ll veer east a bit toward the river. We should come across something.”

She relaxed against him. Not a good idea. Her body fit too well in his arms, and her head nestled too perfectly beneath his chin. He couldn’t remember when they’d become so familiar that this proper southern belle used him as a backrest and a pillow—not that she had much choice concerning propriety on the horse.

“That’s not possible,” he grumbled.

“What isn’t possible?” Alexandra asked.

“Nothing. I was just thinking out loud.”

“Do you think they’ve found Jeffy?”

“I don’t know.
”
He
heard the scowl in his voice.

She turned and looked at him. “Are you all right? Perhaps we should stop and rest for a while.”

“I’m fine,” he snapped. “Thomas, I should at least check your bandages.”

“No.”

****

She turned and settled herself back in position against him. She didn’t blame him for being uncivil. She couldn’t even imagine the pain he was in. Despite his injury, she felt safe and protected and…fragile, a sensation she reveled in. Her heart beat an erratic pattern when his breath brushed against her neck or her ear. Oh, the way his arms held her steady in front of him.

Did he think her brazen for accepting this physical closeness? The heat rose in her cheeks. They had little choice but to hold to each other on the back of the horse. He must know that.

She closed her eyes and allowed her imagination to wander. She, wearing a flowing gown, watched for him from a castle window, and he, her knight in shining armor, rode a white stallion toward her, his sword in his hand dripping with dragon’s blood. But she had rescue
d
hi
m
—and from the Yankees. Her heart sank, and her brow creased in a frown.

She opened her eyes, stared at the trees in front of them, and set her fantasy aright, closing her eyes once again. He save
d
her
and carried her to his castle to live happily ever after. Once at his glimmering fortress, he would dismount and then hold his arms up to her. She would slide off the horse, her body pressing against his. He would hold her tight, and, placing his hand beneath her chin, lift her lips to his. Then…

“Damn it,” Thomas said.

Alexandra jumped in her seat, her eyes snapping open. The fantasy evaporated. She tamped down the urge to snap at him, for the man pressed against her was no fantasy but a man, flesh and blood.

Thomas urged Thunder to make a sharp turn to the right and move into a trot.

“What are you doing?” Alexandra asked
.
Are you mad
?
She covered her face with her arms to prevent branches from slashing her face.

What about Eli? His injuries!

“Slow down!”

“Shhh.”

“You’re going to kill Eli.”

“Yeah. Would you rather go to a Yankee prison?”

She shuddered. God forbid. She could imagine no worse horror.

He reined in the horse and slipped from it, bringing her with him.

Not as I imagined.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her behind a clump of fallen branches. A faint echo of laughter and singing floated to her ears.

“How do you know they’re Yanks?”

“I don’t.”

Flashes of blue filtered through the trees in the distance. She glanced back at the horse. Thomas left him in a small gully. If no one tossed more than a glance in their direction, the horse would blend with the trees.

Crouching for untold moments, they waited, holding their breath. The minutes stretched in the cloudy dusk, lengthening into what seemed like an eternity.

Heaven help them.

How many Yankees lurked out there? She caught the occasional raucous phrase from mocking voices, and glimpses of navy blue on the backs of the enemy. Thomas squeezed her hand, to reassure her or himself?

Against her racing heart, his presence, broad and strong, next to her provided comfort despite his injury. It wasn’t logic. It wasn’t wisdom. It was trust.

The swell of blue made its way past them. Neither she nor Thomas moved, waiting for others who might be lagging behind. With a single sound, one straggler could alert the whole regiment.

Alexandra shifted and looked up at Thomas’s taut face. He met her gaze with blue eyes she could drown in. Her breath hitched as he released her hand and brushed the hair back from her forehead with a gentle touch.

Her eyes fluttered closed as his lips neared hers. For what seemed like an eternity, they hovered, his breath warm.

As gentle as a brush of wind against a rose petal, he kissed her.

Then he pulled away. Cold air remained, teasing her. Her eyes came open, and she sighed.

Why was he scowling?

The sound of a saddle creaking startled her from the gossamer web of the moment. Thomas swung in front of her and stood up, bringing her with him, holding her at his back. She peered around his shoulder at the man dressed in blue from the tip of his cap to the bottom of trousers neatly tucked into high polished boots.

“Good evening,” the man said in a smooth, deep voice.

Thomas nodded in response. His arms tensed against her.

“Nice evening for a tryst,” he continued. “Now I’ve never been one to question a man’s appetites for lads.”

Alexandra gasped. Thomas nudged her into silence with his elbow in her ribs. She forgot she wore the clothes of a boy. Thomas made her feel completely feminine.

“Now my commanding officer, Colonel Williams,” the soldier said, with a glance in the direction of the men who had just passed. “He isn’t inclined to be so lenient.”

“You’re mistaken, sir,” Thomas said casually. “I was merely comforting the child.”

“As I said, I’ve never been one to question the tastes, or as you say, th
e
methods
of comforting others. Now what I’m more concerned about is what you’re doing away from your regiment.”

Thomas put his hands on his hips, and for all appearances looked completely unruffled by the man’s words. “I’m merely transporting my companions to safety.”

The man deliberately ran his gaze along Thomas’s horse and Eli behind them. “Be that as it may, the way I see it, you have two choices. You can hand over that there musket and that pistol you got tucked in your belt, or…”

“I’m not one to give up my possessions lightly,” Thomas said.

“Didn’t say you were. You look like one who would put up a good fight—and I daresay yo
u
hav
e
…from the looks of you. I just want you to picture your little friend there lying bleeding on the ground or perhaps rotting away with rats to nibble on his flesh.”

Alexandra shuddered. She’d never encountered a man that reeked of such evil. Even the men who had attacked her and tried to rape her hadn’t been this blatantly sinister. Her Papa always said the devil wasn’t a horned fire-breathing creature, but one who came with a smooth tongue and pleasing visage.

“Give them to him,” she whispered into Thomas’s ear.

“No,” he replied stubbornly.

“Thomas, it’s not worth it,” she said.

“He’s right,” the man answered.

Alexandra jerked her head up and shuddered as her eyes met his. How had he heard? If he were the devil, then he doubtless knew she was a woman in a boy’s garb, as well. She shuddered again.

“Thomas, please…” she pleaded with a hitch in her voice.

****

They could still hear the soldiers in the distance. Thomas glanced to the left but could no longer see the swarm of blue. Nevertheless, the man spoke true. The Yankees outnumbered them.

“Do I have your word that we’ll be allowed to proceed unhindered?”

“My word? But of course,” he agreed, with a nod of his head.

Thomas handed over the musket passed to him from his mother’s brother. Then, with an equal lack of conviction, he gave over his new pistol—a gift to himself fired only a couple of times.

Mr. Gun Thief turned the weapon over in his hands, skimming his fingers along the silver barrel, his brows raised in an expression of admiration.

“Ammunition,” he demanded.

“That wasn’t part of—”

He glanced up with cold, dark eyes. “I’m making the decisions here. Hand over your ammunition.”

Thomas removed a pouch from around his neck. Other bullets rested in a bag on the horse’s back, but Thomas kept his mouth shut. The man held out his hand, palm up, and Thomas tossed up the pouch of bullets.

“Thank you,” Mr. Gun Thief said with a gallant tone. “You may be on your way.” He gestured toward the path behind them.

Thomas and the gun thief stared at each other for a string of seconds before Thomas took Alexandra’s arm and led her back to the horse. Mounting, he pulled her up in front of him. With one eye on the robber, he clicked his heels and rode east through the cover of thick trees and underbrush.

After ten minutes or so, Alexandra turned around and released her breath. “He isn’t following,” she said.

“And we should be thankful.” He scoffed.

“That man was evil, Thomas. He wasn’t right.”

“I know,” he said, drawing out his words. “Why do you think I agreed?”

She didn’t respond.

He wasn’t sure how long they traveled in silence. Perhaps it was ten minutes, perhaps an hour. Nonetheless, he found himself lost in the smell and feel of her.

Alexandra turned to look up at Thomas with an expression of perplexity at the same time he looked down at her with a similar feeling. Lively music cut through his thoughts.

Music? How strange!
After hearing gunfire or cannon shots at varied intervals, a welcomed dash of happy surprise filled his heart.

He turned his horse, trotting through the balmy, war-laden pink sky of evening. Musical tones lured him to a small, faded farmhouse behind the trees to their right. As they neared, he could make out a large, weathered gray barn behind it, its doors flung wide open. Children ran circles around each other, their laughter mingling with the music. A couple of bloodhounds yipped at their heels. Inside the barn, women of all ages gathered around a table laden with food. A group of older men sat outside, enjoying cigars and a game of checkers with concentrated looks on their brows.

Thomas brought the horse to a stop and, together, he and Alexandra stared openmouthed at the scene in front of them. Its normalcy sent his mind into shock, the only conspicuous element being the lack of men over thirteen and under fifty—a jolt of reality.

One by one people noticed their presence, and a hush came over them. The music faltered and stopped, leaving cheerful notes suspended, echoing and fading. Thomas glanced over their clothing: torn, smutty, and bloody, then back at Eli, lying on a blanket behind them, whether dead or alive, he knew not.

A thin, plain woman broke free from the midst of the others and came forward with a smile and a light in her eyes. She wore a threadbare, but clean and well-mended, dress.

“Welcome to our home,” she said. “My name is Sarah Moore. Please get down and let my uncle tend your horse.”

“We don’t want to intrude,” Thomas said, “if we could only get a drink of water and maybe a…maybe something for the boy to eat.”

A couple of men and one of the women came forward and approached Eli.

“We’ll take care of the boy,” Sarah said, glancing at Eli. “Come on now, you and your lady get down, and I’ll see that you not only get a decent meal, but a bath.”