“But you don’t know what happened to him.”
“It’s war. You never know what might happen. But even if there were men on our trail—which we don’t know for sure—Jesse should have been able to avoid them. I’ve been doing it for months. If they catch him, they will take him prisoner—a luxury I don’t have.”
Feeling dizzy Diamond sunk into the chair Jack had vacated. There was no guarantee they would take Jesse prisoner. A small group of men after a lone Confederate. The “rules” of war didn’t always apply, especially when there was no one there to enforce them.
Janet laid a hand on her shoulder. “He should be all right. Worst case, he’s safe in prison.”
No, worst case he was dead, his body rotting on the forest floor. She hoped with all her heart he’d gotten away and was now back with his regiment. For she’d heard bad things about Civil War prisons. The southern ones, such as Andersonville, were notorious, but some northern ones weren’t much better.
“I’ve got to find out what happened to him.”
“If the Union took him prisoner, Finn might know.”
“I saved his life when we were kids. He wouldn’t even be here if I hadn’t gone after him when he wandered too far into the Mississippi and got caught in an undertow.”
“So this was payback for something that happened when you were kids?” Diamond asked.
“He owed me and he had the best chance of making it out alive.”
“You wouldn’t be in so much danger if you’d stayed with your regiment,” Janet scolded.
Jack turned his stony gaze on her. “You owe me almost as much as he does. Father might never have forgiven you if you let Jesse die on your watch.”
“My watch?” Janet’s eyes widened. “We brought servants with us to carry the food and keep us safe. They should have been watching Jesse.”
“Sure, they’d have taken the brunt of his anger. He might have sold them down South. But you wouldn’t have gotten off lightly.”
Diamond gazed at the siblings in disbelief. “Sure, I get it. Everyone thinks someone else is supervising Jesse. He gets into trouble, Jack plays the hero. But this is all in the past. What matters is his safety now. If you had told me this earlier, I could have gone in search of him.”
“How would you find him? He’s gone to ground. Besides, his near-drowning might be in the past, but he never got over it. Never learned to swim. Practically faints at the sight of water. I was stunned to hear he crossed Reelfoot Lake.”
“That’s enough,” Janet said. “We shouldn’t be badmouthing Jesse to his wife. It’s good news that he finally put that day behind him and no longer fears water.”
Diamond nodded, but she still felt sick. Bracing herself against the chair, she stood on trembling legs. The walls seemed to close in on her. Even now Jesse might be dead. She had to get out of here before she broke down in front of her in-laws. She rushed past them into the bright of the morning.
It was already hot and would only get worse as the day progressed. She would take a walk in the woods, stay in the shade and away from the Webers. Jesse hadn’t mentioned a fear of water, but when she recalled how he had allowed White to steal their raft and how angry she had been at him, she wondered. Neither of them had looked forward to tackling the swampy lake, but Jesse’d had more reason to hesitate than she. It must have taken a lot of courage—and trust in her—to crawl onto that raft.
She headed into town, see if anyone had heard any news. The more time she spent with Jesse’s family, the more convinced she was that they had adopted him.
Twenty Nine
Chapter 29
Jack hung around their cabin for the next few days before vanishing into the night. Diamond did her best to avoid him. She supposed she couldn’t place the full blame on him. From what she knew of Jesse, he would have agreed, perhaps even have insisted on taking on the greater share of the danger. It was part of what she loved about him.
And she loved him. To her, their marriage had become more than just one of convenience. More than a way to survive in a brutal war-torn world with the odds stacked against women. More even than a desire to thwart Amy and hold on to what was hers. Having married Jack, Amy was no longer an issue, unless Jesse still cared for her. Diamond hoped Jesse saw the younger girl as only a friend.
She had plenty to do preparing for the wedding. Janet met with the minister and arranged for the ceremony and a small reception to follow. Diamond ordered a cake, despite the high price tag due to the rising cost of sugar.
“This may not be the wedding you dreamed about,” she told Janet, “but you have to have a cake and a dress. Those are non-negotiable.”
“It doesn’t really matter so long as Finn is standing by my side, but I wouldn’t want the guests to think it was a shabby affair.”
Diamond shook her head, still amazed by the dreamy look that stole across Janet’s elegant, but practical, features whenever she spoke of her fiancé. “How is the dress coming?” Diamond had lent Janet the dress she’d worn for her wedding and Sarah had spent most of the past week altering it to fit Janet’s smaller frame. The two women were of similar size, but Diamond was taller and didn’t have a wasp waist from years of wearing corsets.
“Sarah works wonders with a needle. Thank you for letting me wear it. I always thought I would wear my mother’s old gown, but it’s stored in the attic of our house. Or at least it used to be. No telling what the Yankees have done with it.”
“I don’t think any
