Nope. That’s what I wanted.
She laughed.
I winced. She did not sound happy, more like disbelieving.
“You know I wouldn’t be here unless it was important.”
She looked down. I waited. Rushing her would just result in her snapping and throwing me out.
“No,” she said. “I don’t think so.”
She turned back to her desk. I waited, frozen in place. I really hadn’t thought she’d refuse.
“Caroline,” I started. I didn’t know what to say. I sighed. There was really nothing to say. Too much time had passed. And, she’d been the one to flip out, not even trying to understand why I joined the Army. “Take care of yourself, okay?”
I turned around.
“Wait,” she ground out, setting her pen down with a thump. “How important?”
I faced her. “An avalanche’s worth.”
“You’re not going to tell me what this is about, are you?”
I shook my head. I could try to lie, but it wouldn’t work. She’d always had a particular gift for seeing through deception. It had driven away every guy who tried to date her. She made an excellent liar though. Which had made sneaking outside after curfew easy because all of the adults trusted her innocent expression.
“Fuck. I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
I blinked. The Caroline I knew hadn’t been much of a curser. Said it was the crutch for people who didn’t have a good command of the English language.
“You’ll help me then?”
“Yes. Yes. Don’t keep harping on. What exactly is it you need?”
“I need someone who can do a little research, specifically into a soldier who died at Camp Chase during the Civil War.”
“That’s it? That’s all that you want?”
“Yes?” I made it a question.
“Why not my left kidney while you’re at it? Do you know how many soldiers died during that time period? The records from those places were notoriously bad. Most of the men who died were buried in unmarked graves. Little if any information will have survived.”
“Anything you can give me would be a huge help.”
“Oh yes, because I live to help you,” she said sarcastically.
She gathered up her manuscript and walked it over to a tub, putting it inside and carrying it to one of the shelves lining the wall.
“Come on,” she said as she grabbed her notebook. “We’ll have to head to the third floor where they keep all the civil war books. If we’re lucky, they’ll have some of Camp Chase’s records. If not, you’d better hope they digitized that crap.”
I followed as she strode out of the room. The college student manning the desk gave a garbled greeting that Caroline completely ignored. Seemed like this at least hadn’t changed. I gave him a commiserating look as I trailed after her. He rolled his eyes and theatrically gestured at the sky. I snorted back a laugh.
“I heard that,” Caroline said, not bothering to look over her shoulder.
“Do you want to at least know the name of the soldier I’m looking for?”
She stopped. “You know it?”
“Maybe. There are a few possibilities.”
