would look like. And then, even if she was furious with Cole, even if she had convinced herself that he was as evil as Zeke, she knew she loved him. And she did want his child. A little boy with his shimmering silver eyes. Or a girl. Or maybe the child would be light, with her hair and eyes. Whoever the child took after, it was destined to be beautiful, she was certain. Cole's baby. She longed to hold it in her arms. She dreamed about seeing him again, about telling him.
And then there were times when she sank into depression. Cole probably wouldn't be the least bit pleased. He probably intended to divorce her as soon as the war was over, she thought bitterly. She was imprisoned for being the wife of a man who intended to divorce her.
Then not even that mattered. She wanted the baby. She wanted the baby to hold and to love, and she wanted it to be born to peace. The war could not go on forever. She didn't care who won. She just wanted it to be over. She wanted her baby to be able to run laughing through the cornfields, to look up at the sun and feel its warmth. She wanted peace for her child.
And most of all, she wanted it to be born at home. She did not want to bear her baby here, in this awful, crowded place of degradation.
Kristin looked up from the letter she was writing to her brother asking if there was anything he could do to get the authorities to free Shannon and herself. The three other women in the room looked as if they were preparing for a ball.
Josephine stepped back. 'Oh, Shannon, that just looks lovely, really lovely.'
'Why, thank you, ma'am,' Shannon said sweetly. Then she sighed. 'I wish I could see it better.'
Mary dug under her pillow and found her little hand mirror. 'Here, Shannon.'
Suddenly the room fell silent. One of the young Federal officers, a Captain Ellsworth, had come in. The women looked at him suspiciously.
His dark brown eyes fell on Kristin. 'Mrs. Slater, would you come with me, please?'
She quickly set aside her paper and pen and rose, nervously folding her fingers in front of her and winding them tightly together.
A middle-aged woman called out to the captain, 'Don't walk too hard on this here floor, sonny! Those Yankee boots will make you come right through it!'
He nodded sadly to the woman. 'Sorry, Mrs. Todd. The place is awful, I know. I'm working on it.'
'Don't work on it!' Mary Anderson called out gaily. 'You tell them to let us go home. You tell them that my brother will come after them, and that he'll kill them all.'
'Yes, miss,' Captain Ellsworth said, staring straight at her. 'That's the problem, Miss Anderson. Your brother already does come to murder us all.' He bowed to her politely. Then he took Kristin's elbow and led her out of the room. He preceded her down the groaning staircase to the doorway of the office below. Kristin looked at him nervously.
'It's all right, Mrs. Slater. Major Emery is in there. He wants to talk to you.'
He opened the door for her, and Kristin walked in. She had never seen Major Emery before. He was a tall, heavyset man, with thick, wavy, iron-gray hair and great drooping mustache to match. His eyebrows were wild and of the same gray, and beneath them his eyes were a soft flower blue. He seemed a kind man, Kristin thought instantly, a gentleman.
'Mrs. Slater, sit, please.' Kristin silently did so. The major dismissed Captain Ellsworth, then smiled at Kristin. 'Can I get you some tea, Mrs. Slater?'
'No, thank you.' She sat very straight, reminding herself that, no matter how kindly he looked, he was still her captor. He smiled again and leaned back in his chair.
'Mrs. Slater, I'm trying very hard to get an order to have you and your sister released.'
A gasp of surprise escaped Kristin. Major Emery's smile deepened, and he leaned forward again. 'It will take a few days, I'm afraid.'
Kristin and Shannon had been here almost three months. A few more days meant nothing.
'Because of my brother?' Kristin said. 'Did Matthew find out that we were here? I didn't want to tell him at first because I didn't want him going into battle worrying, but I was just writing to him —'
'No, no, Mrs. Slater. I haven't heard anything from your brother at all.'
'Oh, I see,' Kristin murmured bitterly. 'You've finally decided that a woman who had her father killed by some of Quant rill's men is not likely to give aid and comfort to the enemy, is that it?'
Major Emery shook his head. 'No. Because of your husband,' he said quietly.
'What?' Kristin demanded suspiciously. 'Major, I'm in here because I'm married to Cole Slater. No one seems to believe me when I say that he isn't with Quantrill anymore.'
Major Emery stood and looked out the window. Then he turned back to Kristin. 'Do you believe it yourself, young lady?'
'What?' She was certain she was blushing, certain her face had turned a flaming red.
'Do you believe in him yourself, Mrs. Slater?'
'Why… of course!' she said, though she was not at all sure she did.
Emery took his seat again and smiled. 'I'm not sure, Mrs. Slater, I'm not sure. But that doesn't really matter. You see, I do have faith in your husband. Complete faith.'
Kristin stared at him blankly. She lifted a hand in the air. 'Do go on, major. Please, do go on.'
'I'm willing to bet I know your husband better than you do, Mrs. Slater. In certain ways, at least.'
She tightened her jaw against his mischievous grin. He was a nice man, she decided, a gentle, fatherly type, but he seemed to be having a good time at her expense at the moment.
'Major…'
His smile faded. He looked a little sad. 'He was a military man, you know. He went to West Point. He was in the same class as Jeb Stuart. Did you know that?'
Yes, he had said something to Shannon about it. To Shannon. Not to her.
'I know that he was in the military, yes.'
Major Emery nodded. 'Cole Slater was one of the most promising young cavalrymen I ever knew. He fought in Mexico, and he was with me in the West. He's good with the Indians —
fighting them and, more importantly, talking with them, making truces. Keeping truces. Then the war came.'
'And he resigned,' Kristin murmured.
'No, not right away. He didn't resign until they burned down his house and killed his wife.'
'Killed? His wife?' She didn't realize that she had gotten to her feet until Major Emery came around the desk and gently pushed her back into her chair. Then he leaned against the desk and crossed his arms over his chest, smiling down at her kindly. 'I reckoned you might not know everything. Cole is a closemouthed man. Tight-lipped, yes sirree. He was an officer in the Union Army when South Carolina seceded from the Union. That didn't matter none to the jayhawkers. He was a Missourian. And Jim Lane had sent out an order that anybody who was disloyal to the Union was to be killed. The boys got pretty carried away. They rode to his place and they set it on fire. Cole was out riding the range. I imagine he was giving his position some pretty grave thought. Anyway, Jim Lane's jayhawkers rode in and set fire to his place. His wife was a pretty thing, real pretty. Sweet, gentle girl from New Orleans. She came running out, and the boys grabbed hold of her. Seems she learned something about gunfire from Cole, though. She shot up a few of them when they tried to get their hands on her. Cole came riding in, and by then she was running to him. Only some fool had already put a bullet in her back, and when Cole reached her, she was dying. She was expecting their first child right then, too. She was about five months along, so they tell me. Of course, after killing his pregnant wife, none of the men was willing to let him live, either. Someone shot Cole, too, and left him for dead. But he's a tough customer. He lived.'
'And he joined up with Quantrill,' Kristin whispered. She swallowed. She could almost see the fire, could almost smell the smoke, could almost hear the screams. She suddenly felt ill. As if she were going to throw up.
'Oh, my God!' she whispered, jumping to her feet. Major Emery, too, was on his feet in an instant, yelling for a pail and some water.
To her horror, she was sick. Major Emery was a perfect gentleman, cooling her forehead with a damp cloth and then insisting that she have tea with lots of milk to settle her stomach. When it was over and they were alone
