They stopped periodically for water and when they neared a stream, Jesse refilled their canteens. Jack had no appetite, but Jesse downed a can of pilfered peaches at one of their brief breaks. The sugar revived him and they pressed on, Jesse drawing to a halt when his brother called his name.
“Sorry, am I going too fast?” He turned his head and watched Jack’s horse limp up to him.
“I think he picked up a stone or put a hoof wrong.”
Jesse lowered himself to the ground and walked over to examine the horse. “Fetlock’s swollen. He’s lame.” He helped his brother down and they broke out the canteens. “We will have to leave him behind and double up.”
“Too slow. They don’t take guerrillas prisoner.”
“I know.” Jesse wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “But we don’t know we’re being followed. Would they really send forces after us?”
“If they have the resources.”
“I don’t see that we have any other choice.”
“I take the horse and you go to ground. We know the country better than they do. It’s easy to hide.”
“Guess you’ve got experience.”
“Yeah, I do, but you’re more than capable. And you owe me.”
Jesse looked at him in disbelief. “You’re bringing that up now? I was just a kid.”
“I saved your life. This is your chance to return the favor.”
He’d been thinking the same thing earlier, so why did he feel betrayed? “You knew how to swim. You were never in danger.”
“Neither are you. You’re in uniform. If they catch you—which they won’t—you get to sit the rest of the war out in prison. Or you get paroled. Either way, you’re done fighting.”
Maybe. Maybe not. The Union soldiers would not be feeling very compassionate after what the Confederates had done to the town. “They might shoot and ask questions later.”
“Then don’t let them find you. You got away at Island #10 against all odds.”
“You’ll be on your own,” Jesse said, but he knew he had already made his decision.
“Get me on my horse one last time. That’s all I need.”
That’s all I have to offer. Jesse only hoped it would be enough for both of them.
Twenty Seven
Chapter 27
It took longer than planned, but Diamond, Janet, and Sarah made it to New Madrid without further incident. They had to abandon the wagon and walk, something Janet and Sarah weren’t used to. Diamond empathized with their aching muscles, remembering how difficult it had been to trudge across Tennessee. The experience stood her in good stead, now, however, for although she had grown softer in Little Rock, she had not returned to her twenty-first-century fitness level. Janet and Sarah were better off than she had been upon first entering the nineteenth century, but not used to walking all day.
Henry, their coachman had run away. He had been the one on watch the night the bushwhackers attacked. Instead of keeping them safe, however, he’d jumped at the opportunity to gain his freedom. Diamond couldn’t blame him for wanting his freedom but realized in retrospect they should not have trusted him to maintain watch. Janet, who’d considered him a family retainer, felt betrayed by his actions and smoldered with suppressed rage. Diamond wouldn’t want to be in Henry’s shoes if he encountered Janet again.
She did not know if Henry had told Sarah about his plans or offered her the opportunity to come with him. Even after Henry’s disappearance, it didn’t seem to occur to Janet that Sarah might leave. Perhaps the maid didn’t want to escape. Despite their positions as mistress and slave, the two women were close.
They’d rested on the day of the attack, dosing Janet with laudanum and arranging the remnants of their supplies into three bundles. To Diamond’s relief, the farmer and his family moved on, the man insisting he was well enough to travel, though they, too, were now on foot. She thought the wife grateful for her help in saving her husband’s life, but also resentful of Janet’s self-serving remarks. Neither group would trust the other again.
When they finally reached the outskirts of New Madrid, Janet sent Sarah ahead to see if Union troops still occupied the house.
“The Yankees are still there,” she reported on her return. “The main army lives in the garrison, but the officers are enjoying your fine hospitality.”
“Damn them. They better not wreck the place.”
“At least they haven’t burnt it down.” Diamond tried to make Janet look on the bright side.
“But where will we stay?”
“All the field hands run off. We can stay there,” Sarah said.
“In the slave quarters?” Janet asked in disbelief.
“You got a better idea, Miz Janet? They’re not so bad. I’ve seen worse.”
They set up camp in the primitive cabins farthest from the big house. They didn’t want to alert the Union officers to their presence. The cabins weren’t what any of them, even Sarah, were used to, but after nights spent in the open under constant threat of attack, the small wooden structures with dirt floors and crudely constructed furniture felt almost cozy.
“This is unacceptable,” Janet declared. “We won’t be here long. Finn will never let me live like this.”
Diamond hoped she was right, but prepared to make the best of things. “We have a place to stay, but we’ll need food.”
“Will there be anything in the garden?” Janet asked Sarah. “New Madrid fell before we got the planting done.”
“Maybe, if the soldiers haven’t taken it all.”
“See what you can find. We still have a few supplies and tomorrow I will go into town.”
Sarah came back with three potatoes and a handful of apples. She baked the potatoes in the fireplace and served them alongside the
