“Rumor mill was quick to work on this one.” General Steele gave a heavy sigh. “Tamsyn Moody, allow me to introduce Lieutenant George Chaffee.”
“At your service, Miss Moody.” George inclined his head.
“Mrs. Moody,” she corrected. “But please, call me Tamsyn.”
“The plot thickens.” George grinned.
“How bad is it?” General Steele asked.
George motioned them toward empty chairs. General Steel guided her into a seat between the two men.
George laughed. “Well, the rumor doesn’t mention how beautiful the spy is that has muddled your mind. Nor does it mention the spy is a woman.”
General Steele groaned.
“I must admit, I was beginning to question our friendship, Steele.” George continued to chuckle.
“I ordered the men to remain silent,” General Steele explained.
“Do you know who went behind your back?”
Tamsyn listened to the men talk over her. Secured between the two of them she took a moment to glance around at the other officers filing into the room. Outside the afternoon faded to twilight and the men hurried to the table at General Grant’s request for an early meal.
She found General Grant there, at the end of the table. He appeared very solemn in contrast to the other Union officers in the room. He caught her gaze and nodded to her. She continued around the room. There were only about a dozen Union officers.
She wasn’t the sole woman in the room. Three other women were also in attendance and most looked to be nothing more than low-class camp followers.
She frowned. The dresses they wore, looted from other women’s bureaus, were ill-fitting. One woman’s too large bust threatened to spill out of the pale yellow taffeta dress she wore.
Tamsyn’s gaze roamed over the women and her eyes met a pair of deep chocolate brown ones she recognized. They belonged to a very young girl who attended the local church were Tamsyn and Elizabeth were infrequent members.
Tabitha.
She knew the girl to be no more than sixteen. The youngest person in the room by at least a decade.
What is she doing here?
“General, excuse me.” Tamsyn pushed out of her chair and hurried around the table to where Tabitha stood alone, eyes wide.
“Tabby, sweetie, what on earth are you doing here?” Tamsyn slid close to the girl.
“Tamsyn,” the young woman sobbed and gripped Tamsyn’s arm. “Please don’t leave me alone.”
Fear rippled over Tabitha’s face and Tamsyn’s heart beat faster.
“Tabitha, what’s wrong?”
The girl pulled her further into the corner. “He offered Mama a few coins for letting me come to the party with him.” Tabitha whispered. “There’s nothing to eat. Mama said I would have a nice time and she would be able to buy flour and maybe a little pork.”
“Who offered your Mama money?” Tamsyn demanded.
“He keeps touching me. It hurts. “Tears filled Tabitha’s eyes. “He said Mama knew what the coins were for and if I didn’t stop crying, he’d take back the money.”
“Recruiting?”
The voice stiffened Tamsyn’s spine and she turned to find Waxman leering down at her.
Tamsyn lifted an eyebrow and met his angry glare.
“I don’t recruit
children
.” She clenched her jaw.
Tabitha trembled behind her.
Chairs scraped against the floor and she leaned forward, into Waxman’s space. She licked her lips. “I’d find a
woman
who would plunge a knife into your filthy Yankee heart.”
“You fucking bitch.” Waxman’s face turned red. One hand snaked into Tamsyn’s hair.
Tabitha screamed.
Waxman’s free arm lifted, taking aim on her face. A hand gripped Waxman’s arm.
“Waxman! Let the woman go!” General Grant’s voice boomed through the room. The color drained from Waxman’s face and his eyes flashed with unresolved anger.
His grip relaxed and Tamsyn jerked backwards out of his hold. “She disrespected me, sir.” Waxman continued to glare at her. “She—”
“She’s a rebel, Wax.” George moved with ease next to Tamsyn and Tabitha. “They don’t know any better.”
Tamsyn bit her tongue.
General Steele held Waxman’s arm. The steady tick in his jaw caught her attention.
George nodded and General Steele relaxed his hold on Waxman’s arm.
“Captain Waxman, if you can conduct yourself accordingly, you are welcome to take your seat so this meal may continue.” General Grant pointed to a seat next to himself.
“The rebel whore has no place here.” Waxman huffed and tried to reach around Tamsyn. “Come along, Tabitha.”
“No.” Tamsyn pressed the girl behind her.
General Steele narrowed his eyes at her.
“You would deny me the company of my escort?” Waxman took a step closer and reached around Tamsyn, taking Tabitha by the arm. “Come along, Tabitha.”
“Tamsyn, please.” Tabitha’s sob caught the men’s attention. She clutched Tamsyn’s skirt.
Tamsyn took a step toward Waxman. “You will release the child.” Her fists clenched at her sides.
“Or what?” Waxman sneered.
“I’ll bring charges of rape,” she whispered.
The sneer disappeared from his face when he realized her whisper carried to everyone in the room. He released Tabitha and took a large step back.
“Those charges are false!”
“Are they?” Tamsyn’s eyes narrowed.
Waxman sputtered another denial.
She grasped Tabitha by the hand and dropped her voice low, offering the soldier a bone-chilling smile. “If you go near Tabby or her family again, I’ll plunge a knife into your cold heart myself.”
She brushed past Waxman. “If you will excuse us gentleman.” Tamsyn drew Tabitha along behind her, and headed toward the door. “I thank you for your gracious invitation, but I do think it best for Tabitha and I to take our leave.”
She hurried through the foyer and out into the cool evening air. She pulled her thin shawl around her shoulders.
“Tamsyn, where are we going?” Tabitha sniffled, gathered her skirts and followed Tamsyn down the steps.
“Home.” Tamsyn looked around and waited for her eyes to adjust to the dark.
“But he will follow us.” Tabitha’s voice trembled.
“No, he will not.” General Steele’s voice floated from the doorway. “George, do you have your horse?”
Both men sauntered down the steps. She’d only half expected General Steele to follow. The appearance of the other man shocked her.
“Come along, ladies.” George offered his elbow gently to Tabitha. He smiled and nodded to Tamsyn. “The mighty Union officers will escort you home.”
General Steele led them to where the horses were tethered. Tamsyn recognized his mare by the markings on her head. She nickered at her owner’s approach. George lifted Tabitha onto his own horse with care before he swung up and settled in behind her.
General Steele pulled his mare free from the post and crooked his finger at Tamsyn. Tamsyn bit her lip and took a deep breath before she approached him. The anger lines etched into his face concerned her.
She kept her chin up.
“Do not put yourself in a situation like that again,” General Steele ordered. His voice was soft and his hands encircled her waist.
“General, he assaulted her. I couldn’t just—”
“I know.” He lifted her onto his mare. “Do not put yourself in a situation like that again. Come to me and follow the chain of command.” He swung into the saddle behind her.
“Will he follow us?” Tabitha’s voice betrayed her fear.
“Not if he knows what’s good for him,” George answered. Charm oozed from the man who held Tabitha on the horse before him. Tamsyn lost their conversation when General Steele slowed his horse and put space between them.
She worried over the steady tick in his jaw and reached up to smooth her fingers over the muscle.
“Please don’t be angry with me. If I embarrassed you, I apologize. But I could not allow his abuse of her to go further.”
He smiled. “You have grit.”
His compliment made her smile in return.
“How old are you, Tamsyn?”
His question caught her by surprise. “Twenty-eight.” She recalled her last birthday passed without notice. Ben didn’t like to celebrate birthdays.
Pointless frivolity. No one needs to celebrate getting older.
“And you?” She turned his question back on him.
“Thirty-six.” His breath warm against her ear. The mare picked her own casual pace in the dark. “Where did you learn the ballad you sang the other night?”
Her face flushed hot. She hadn’t known anyone could hear her. “My Mama sang it when I was a child.” Tamsyn remembered her mother’s clear voice singing the song at dinner parties.
“James, the girl says we must take the left fork,” George called back at the split in the main road. Tamsyn’s cabin was down the right fork.
“Can you carry her home, George?” General Steele asked. “Have a word with her mother.”
George nodded and urged his horse into a canter, fading into the dark.
“General, shouldn’t we go with them? Or Tabitha come home with me? Won’t he be looking for her?”
“First, please, call me James.”
“All right, James, shouldn’t we go with them?”
His laughter vibrated against her back.
“What’s so funny?”
“I like the way my name rolls off your tongue,” he replied. They neared her cabin. Its shadow outlined in the dark. “And no, George will take care of Tabitha. I don’t think Waxman will bother her anymore. It’s you I’m concerned about.”
She bit her lip and dared to ask. “Why?”
“You embarrassed him pretty damn good.” He swung down, off the horse. “You threatened to plunge a knife into his…” He paused and tilted his head. The soft voices of Davis and Knowles drifted out of the cabin into the night air. He reached up and gripped her waist to help her slid down the horse.
Her hands held tight to his shoulders. Heat pulsed off of his body and he held her there.
When she looked up, his face hovered just a moment over her own before he captured her lips with his.
Her eyes closed and she melted against him. His hands crushed her against his body, and he deepened the kiss.
His tongue teased her lips before it plunged into her mouth.
Her body shuddered and her nails dug into his shoulders. Moisture dampened her thighs and sent a shock into her mind.
Tamsyn broke the kiss on a gasp.
She slipped inside the cabin. James ran his hand through his hair and dropped onto the steps.
What the hell am I doing?
Over the last four years there’d been many captives. A few were female. Never before did he sit guard through the night over them. He rubbed his hands over his face.
Maybe Knowles is right.
Perhaps he wasn’t thinking straight. He should send one of his other guards to take his position on the front porch and find his own cot. In his own tent. Back at camp.
He leaned against the rail and looked up at the clear night sky. The smell of rose water still in the air around him.
Not a chance.
Chapter Nine
Monday, April 17, 1865
She leaned back on her heels, resting her arms. She’d spent most of the day planting the first of their crops. Even rows that would soon sprout green against the rich black soil would hold cabbage, lettuce, carrots, and onions. It was still early for the tomatoes.
“It looks good, Tam,” Davis called from the porch. While she’d tended the garden, he’d worked most of the afternoon cleaning the rifle.
She smiled her thanks and wiped sweat from her forehead. Heavy moisture slipped down her face with the trail of mud her fingers left.
It’s not supposed to be this hot in April.
Sounds of Elizabeth skipping across the yard in front of the porch brought Tamsyn a feeling of contentment. Her daughter seemed much happier these days. She turned back to the rows before her. The only thing missing was the General…
James.
He’d kept his distance after the kiss they’d shared. He joined them each night just after dark, spending only a few moments inside, offering polite conversation while he teased Elizabeth. After, he’d retreat to his post on the front porch, often with Davis following. He’d be gone before she awakened the next morning.
She frowned and yanked a rogue weed. He invaded her dreams at night. The last dream remained vivid in her memory. He’d sat with her beneath an oak tree.
My oak tree.
A towering old oak in front of her home in Tennessee.
His hand slid up her leg…
“Davis can you keep an eye on Elizabeth?” She pushed herself off the ground, her back stiff.
“Sure, Tam. Where you off to?”
“Down to the creek to cool off.”
“You okay?” He glanced up from the rifle.
“Yeah, just a little overheated. I’ll start supper when I get back. Did you skin the rabbit you caught?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I won’t be gone long.” She hurried around the side of the house. A large creek ran along the edge of the property, just beyond a thin line of trees. Despite the heat of the day the water would still be cold. But she was desperate to wipe away the sweat and dirt. And perhaps cool off the heat that seemed to ripple across her from the inside whenever James Steele crossed her mind.
Ben never made me feel like this.
She stripped out of her dress and dropped it onto a large rock. She left her thin white underskirts on.
They could use a good washing too.
She touched the water with her toes and shivered.
Damn, that’s cold.
She held her breath and forged into the waist high frigid water. Her teeth rattled but she continued to wade to the water’s highest point and began to splash the cold water on her face and arms.
“Well, this is a nice surprise.”
She froze. His voice slid over her. She turned and found James Steele’s head above the water, floating toward her. His eyes glinted over the water.
Her white skirts floated up and around her knees and she tried to press them down again. Deep laughter rippled over the creek and the cold water soaked further up the skirts.