Defiant Hearts Page 21

  Laura read everything that time allowed and tried to memorize what facts he was feeding to each hungry side. From past information she had gathered, he was—incredibly—being honest with both! No doubt, she surmised, to make certain he wasn’t caught in a lie; that would cause his motive and loyalty to be questioned and his life to be imperiled.

  “Laura, he’s coming! Hurry, he’s at the street corner.” Lily kept her wide eyes glued to the man who was heading in their direction at a brisk pace; then Frank paused to speak with an acquaintance, which she told Laura. It took less than two minutes for him to be on his way once more. “He’s moving again,” Lily warned in rising panic. “He’s almost to the porch.”

  While Lily kept her abreast of Frank’s progress, and with hands trembling in suspense and tension, Laura replaced the many items, closed the bag, put it back as she had found it, and adjusted the decorative firescreen used during the summer. As she checked for telltale signs of an intrusion, she saw sooty smears on the screen’s edges. She yanked a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped them away, aware she also had black smudges on her fingers. “You open the door,” she instructed Lily; “my hands are dirty. I’ll wash them down the hall. Let’s get out of here and lock up fast.”

  As soon as that action was taken, they heard the front door open and close, telling them their escape time had elapsed.

  In a rush, Laura headed for the water closet, and Lily lifted a cloth to pretend she was dusting the corridor furniture.

  As Frank approached her, Lily greeted him with a smile and a few polite words. When he started to enter the water closet nearby, she told him Laura was cleaning it and requested he use the other one at the top of the stairs.

  Laura left the small room, having heard the short talk between Lily and Frank; she knew where the man had gone.

  Lily’s gaze widened in alarm, and she motioned almost frantically to Laura’s dress and mouthed a warning about soot on it.

  With haste, Laura rounded the safety railing and went down the steps to go home and change clothes, barely missing Frank’s exit and fortunately without encountering anyone else.

  Later at her house, Laura took a deep breath and said to Lily, “That was a close call, my friend, but worth the risk we took.”

  Laura told her what she had discovered, then fumed, “He’s a double agent, the treacherous snake! He’s cuddling up to both sides to make sure he’s a friend of the winner and a high official in its local government. I’m convinced he’s doing this for selfish reasons. What he’s accomplishing, dear Lily, is to lengthen the war, because his information is crucial to the results of some battles. He has no honor, no morals, no conscience, and no patriotism.”

  “What are you going to do about him?”

  “His meddling almost exposed me to Jayce, and he’s responsible for unnecessary deaths and damage. He must be stopped.”

  “How? You can’t kill him, Laura. You can’t even expose him or you’ll have to tell how you learned the truth about him; that would call the authority’s attention to you and the hotel.”

  “You’re right, Lily, but I can expose him to Ben, and let Ben or one of his agents deal with him.”

  “They’ll kill him, you know.”

  “Perhaps, or maybe they’ll only imprison him for the war’s duration, but that can’t be helped. I won’t allow him to continue his evil work. Frank freely chose his ill fate, so the debt is his to pay.”

  “What did you mean about him causing trouble with Jayce?”

  Though Laura knew about the intimate relationship between Lily and Richard, she wasn’t ready to share knowledge of hers with Jayce, and it was too late to do so without injuring their friendship. But if Jayce made another visit, even a stealthy one, she would tell Lily. Since Lily knew he had been there twice, Laura revealed what Jayce had told her about the slip that had gotten back to Grant. “WhenJayce came again, he asked who I had told because a Confederate agent had got hold of that fact. We both remembered Frank had been standing close enough to eavesdrop, so we assumed he had passed along that information to somebody. That’s why I’ve been watching Frank.”

  “Oh, my heavens, Laura, what if Jayce had suspected you of spying?”

  “He said he trusted me and cares deeply for me, and I believe him. Too bad I’m not as trustworthy as he thinks I am.”

  “You hate deceiving him, don’t you?”

  “Yes, Lily, but it’s necessary.” Laura took a deep breath. “Yet, if he discovers my secret, he’ll probably hate me and reject me.”

  “Are you sure you want to continue this work and risk losing him?”

  “I have no choice, Lily; our work is crucial to obtain a faster peace. The sooner this abominable war ends, the safer Jayce and Richard will be and the quicker they can return to us.”

  “That’s true. Do you think I should believe what Richard told me?”

  Laura smiled. “My answer remains the same. Yes. So stop worrying and doubting. He loves you, Lily, and you love him. When the war is over, marry him and never look back.”

  “I will. Are you planning to marry Jayce one day?”

  “I hope so, Lily, I truly hope so. Despite everything that’s going on, we’re two lucky women to have found two wonderful men.”

  “Yes, Laura, we are; and I’ll always be grateful to you for helping me win Richard. You’re the best friend a person could have.”

  “So are you, Lily. Now, we have to get back to work.”

  Six days later on September first, Laura met with Ben as scheduled. She listened as he told her the Union had been shelling Fort Sumter at Charleston but had been unable to take it. He said Confederates under Price were skirmishing in Missouri in an attempt to regain that lost state. She already knew the northern Democrats had nominated George McClellan to run against Lincoln in November, two months away. He revealed that the Union had severed the railroad connection from Montgomery to Atlanta, and also cut the Macon and the Western railroad lines to the Georgia capital.

  “That leaves her only with the Georgia Railroad to Augusta and onward to Charleston. With Savannah blockaded, if Charleston and Wilmington can be conquered, Atlanta can’t get needed supplies; she’ll be cut off and vulnerable. ‘Course capturin’ those other two ports might not make any difference if Atlanta can be surrounded, and it appears she’s headin’ for a tight noose. Hood don’t stand no better chance than Johnston did against the advancin’ Federal forces. Sherman’s army has more men, weapons, and supplies. Atlanta’s headin’ for a bad fall, and she’s second only to Richmond in importance to Confederacy. When they go, this war’s over.”

  “Do you think those defeats will happen before winter?”

  “It’s lookin’ that way. Soon you’ll be out of the spyin’ business.”

  “That sounds wonderful. Speaking of spies,” she began, and related the insidious facts about Frank Powell’s duplicity. “You’ll have to deal with him, Ben, because I can’t risk drawing more attention to me and my hotel by having a double agent caught there.”

  “Don’t you worry none about him, Miss Laura; I’ll handle it.”

  “Thanks, Ben. The only other information I’ve overheard concerns a band of Rebels who intend to steal Union payrolls and rob Yankee banks to support the Confederacy.” As she passed him a paper, she said, “I wrote down their names and the dates and locations they mentioned, but I didn’t get all of the facts because they were interrupted during their planning session and didn’t meet again at the hotel before they left.”

  “This will give us enough to go on; thanks. You need more money?” he asked.

  “Not yet; that loan you gave me is fine for now. Tell me, Ben, have you received any word about my family since our last meeting?”

  “Your father’s brigade was attached to Schofield’s command, and it’s still operatin’ in western Tennessee. I’m still tryin’ to find a way to get your letter to him and one from him to you. I’m hopin’ somebody will be headin’ that way soon to carry it for me.
I can’t send it through our regular means since it’s personal, and I can’t risk it fallin’ into the wrong hands and exposin’ your kinship to him. Best I can do for now is keep givin’ you news about him and your brothers. From the last report I got, they’re all fine, Miss Laura, alive and unharmed.”

  On September second, the Confederacy suffered the crippling and decisive blow that Ben had predicted the day before. President Davis’s search and pleas for more men and arms to defend Georgia’s capital and thus protect the Confederacy, came too late to save the vital city.

  As Laura stared at the newspaper’s headline, “Union Army in Atlanta!”, she wondered what effect it would have on the war. What would happen, she worried, to Jayce and her family if they were thrust into the raging conflict in that Deep South state and perhaps, God forbid, they wound up facing each other in that fierce fighting?

  Chapter Eleven

  The next ten days passed in a flurry of activity for Laura, and for the South which was reeling from Sherman’s crushing blow in Georgia. As plans were made to push the invader back and to make certain Petersburg did not suffer that same grim fate, thus opening the door to Richmond, officers came from all areas to discuss strategies, filling her hotel every night and keeping her and her employees busier than usual. Laura didn’t mind since it increased her earnings and it kept her hands and mind occupied.

  From those various guests and from regular patrons, she learned that Lee wanted back the troops he had loaned to Jubal Early to defend the Shenandoah Valley against Sherman’s continued carnage. Another candidate entered the Union’s presidential ring: John Fremont. It was said that, after such a long siege and without beneficial results, Grant’s failure to capture Petersburg and Richmond and his great expenditure of lives were important issues plaguing the President’s reelection bid. In Lincoln’s favor were awesome victories at Atlanta and Mobile, for which he declared a day of celebration on September fifth, an event that irked the embittered South.

  The dreadful shelling continued at Fort Sumter. The Rebel cavalry leader and raider John Hunt Morgan was killed in Tennessee where he had successfully harassed the Yankees for such a long time, perhaps even Laura’s father’s brigade. The terrible loss of a Confederate state was evinced when Louisiana ratified a new constitution, taking the Oath of Allegiance to the Union and abolishing slavery, as did the northern state of Maryland.

  Laura reported to Ben that General Richard Taylor had been assigned to command the Confederate Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana in an attempt to recover those lost states. She also told him that the remaining southern ports of Savannah, Galveston, Charleston, and Wilmington were going to be strengthened with men and artillery before all routes to them were cut off by advancing Federal forces.

  Ben told her Sherman had ordered the evacuation of Atlanta the previous day, as he intended to raze and burn that Confederacy stronghold.

  Laura was horrified by that news and she protested the outrage. “They can’t do that, Ben! What will the women, children, and old people do with winter coming on? Where will they go? How will they survive without homes, food, and clothes? It’s wrong! Look what they’ve already done to Vicksburg and what they’re doing in the Valley and to Charleston and at Petersburg. It’s vengeful and atrocious!” the southern heart of her argued in distress and ire. “How can I continue to help the Union if this is how they use my facts?”

  “I know it’s bad, Miss Laura,” Ben agreed, “but Sherman says he can’t leave anythin’ the Rebels can ride in and take and use against his flank.”

  “He’s committing such evil only to protect his flank?”

  “Yep, he’ll be headin’ for Savannah next, then South Carolina, what they consider the seat of the secessionist movement.”

  As Laura stared at him in torment over the idea of having the South ripped apart and burned, Ben told her, “A spy got his hands on a letter Lee wrote to Davis and copied it. It said Rebel ranks are constantly diminishin’ by battle and disease, and there are few new recruits. You know what that means: Petersburg will fall soon, then Richmond. Stay on alert to get out of town if necessary when the Yanks head that way.”

  That wasn’t what it meant to Laura: Jayce was assigned there, and his life would be in terrible jeopardy. She couldn’t lose him, she couldn’t! Yet, what could she do to help him? Nothing, she feared. If she changed sides to help him and her beloved state, she would be working against her country and her family and perhaps lengthening the war.

  At least Lily got good news about her beloved that same day: a letter came from Richard reporting he was safe for now and his division was retreating toward Savannah. Lily was elated and relieved.

  Laura couldn’t bring herself to tell Lily that city was Sherman’s next target, knowing it would terrify Lily and there was nothing she could do to help him, just as her own hands were tied concerning Jayce.

  By September thirteenth, the North was in great need of cotton; so factors, mills, and shippers were pressing Lincoln to allow them to buy it from the South.

  England and other foreign countries experienced woes from that same lack of Dixie’s major crop, and its second one: tobacco. The South sought to use those products to force the British and French to recognize and to aid the Confederate States of America in exchange for them, but both refused, fearing the industrial North’s detrimental response.

  While crops—planted, tended, and collected by women and their workers—were being harvested in the Valley and elsewhere when possible, the Shenandoah was caught in a deadlock between Early and Sheridan. Lee and Davis wanted it broken fast, as it supplied the major portion of Lee’s grain and meat. No one had to tell Laura what its loss meant to the South.

  As Laura prayed, worried, and worked on that momentous Tuesday afternoon, clouds of various shapes and sizes gradually closed ranks until they made a solid sheet of ominous gray which deepened its leadish hue by the hour. Eventually the sun was blocked from view, creating a gloomy setting. Lightning flickered on the horizon, forking and flashing like fiery tongues of unseen snakes, their warning clear as distant thunder followed the dazzling displays. Green trees, white church spires, and a palecolored Capitol made striking contrasts against the stygian backdrop.

  Laura kept an eye on the storm as it moved closer and its strength intensified. Wind whistled around corners, through cracks and window screens, and down chimneys. Its strong gusts whipped about curtains. Bushes, trees, and flowers shook from its heightening force; leaves and petals were yanked free and swirled about in battling currents. Grasses and weeds swayed and almost bent double on occasion.

  As time passed and her guests were served dinner, thunder roared over the land, loud and threatening, its sound echoing and fading as it traveled farther away from the targeted city. More booming peals ensued, reminding her of cannon fire. The ground and walls trembled, windows rattled, even the air, hot and muggy, seemed to vibrate. Lightning, multi-branched and resembling a ghostly hand, clawed at heaven’s deep gray skin like razor-sharp nails in an attempt to rip tears in it to allow a deluge of rain to escape confinement.

  Having waited as long as possible before closing windows and cutting off the fresh air flow, Laura and her employees rushed about to prepare the hotel for the storm’s onslaught, finishing their tasks just before the downfall began. Afterward, she went to her house to close windows and secure firescreens to prevent soot from being blown down chimneys and into rooms; and when those precautions were taken to retire for the night after doing some bookkeeping.

  At eleven o’clock, when she had doused the sitting-room lamp, she heard a knock at the front door. She asked who was there before unlocking it, and was elated to discover it was Jayce. His sable hair was stuck to his forehead and neck. His Confederate uniform and hat were soaked. Rain slid down his handsome face. She grasped his arm, pulled him inside, closed the door, and asked, “Whatever are you doing out in this terrible weather? You’re drenched from head to foot. You could have been struc
k by a lightning bolt.”

  Thunder boomed and the house seemed to rattle as he answered, “Delivering messages and stealing time to see you. I saw the light on and knew you were still up. Is it too late for a visit?”

  Laura smiled and murmured, “It’s never too late to spend time with you.” As she started to turn, she said, “I’ll get the stable key so you can put away your horse; he shouldn’t be left outside in the lightning.”

  Jayce grasped her arm to stop her. “I’ve already stabled him; my father taught me how to get past most locks. I hope you don’t mind.”

  Laura laughed. “Of course not, and that’s a clever skill to possess. I assumed you had it when you locked the front door after your last visit.”

  “I didn’t want to awaken you or leave you in danger.”

  “That was considerate of you, kind sir.”

  As she started to hug him, Jayce leaned back. “Your dress will get wet.”

  “It will dry,” she murmured, needing to be in his arms.

  Jayce grinned and chuckled before he clasped her against him and sealed their mouths.

  Soon, the violent storms of nature and the war receded from reality. What each believed were conflicting loyalties were ignored. For now, nothing and no one existed beyond this room and this blissful moment. The eternal flame of love had been ignited in their defiant hearts and would burn forever.

  As Jayce’s lips roved her face, he said, “Mercy, I’ve missed you.”

  “I’ve missed you, too,” she replied, almost breathless with need.

  He leaned his head back and gazed into her lovely green eyes to say with deep emotion, “Lordy, I love you and want you, Laura Carlisle. It scares me to think something might leap up to keep us apart. After each visit, I wonder if I’ve seen you for the last time and I nearly go crazy with worry. I don’t want to ever lose you, woman.”