“Jeb was captured at Chickamauga, and from what I heard from his comrades, he stood strong with General Thomas in the face of horrendous firepower. Inspired his fellow soldiers and helped hold the line. He and a few others were captured as part of the rear guard after the battle. Your brother was a man of honor willing to put himself at risk for others.”
“That sounds like him.” Miss Scott’s voice shrank. She pressed her lips together and clutched Charlie’s hand. “But you said something about Andersonville.”
Ben blew out his cheeks. “We were transferred there. Belle Isle was too crowded. Andersonville, with its open air andavailable wood, was a welcome reprieve at first…” He rubbed his right hand over his left thumb, back and forth. “Things got a little rough as more prisoners were added. Jeb and I befriended another group of fellows, several from my old regiment. Ten of us in all.” An acid taste arose in his mouth. The guards had treated them like dogs.
Miss Scott hunched her shoulders as if bracing for the worst. He would not give it to her.
“I was mighty sick for a while with scurvy, but Jeb made sure I had food through it all. Just as my health began to improve, his began to falter….” His voice broke off. His head rang as if someone had clashed two cymbals by his ear. He needed water…and laudanum. But he would not disturb their grief with his needs. “Jeb asked me to find you. He was concerned about you and your mother. It grieved him to know he might not see you again on this earth.”
Cora winced.
Ben planted his palms on his knees. “He wanted me to tell you how much he loved you and missed you. Missed climbing trees with you, sitting around the fireplace with the family, your smile.” Ben could see how a man could miss such things about Miss Cora Scott, and not just in a brotherly way either.
Her chest heaved. A sob broke from her throat, but she coughed it back.
Ben’s arms twitched, instinct tugging at him, but he gripped his knees instead. Olivia would have been in a heap of hysterics by now if someone were delivering her this news.
Tears brimmed in Cora’s bloodshot eyes. “If only I could have told him how much I loved him and missed him.”
“He knew.”
She swiped her nose. “He and Pa…they had a falling out…that’s why he left, went north to learn printing from my uncle, my mother’s brother in Illinois. But he’d do anything for the restof us. He promised…he’d come ba...” She squeezed her eyes and gulped. “How bad was Andersonville?”
“There’s only so much that needs to be said, Miss Scott.”
A robin landed on a rail. Spring. But winter settled deep on the porch.
The boy stared at him wide-eyed. Did his lip tremble? “What are we going to do, Cora?”
She swiped her nose with a handkerchief. “We’re going to finish our visit with Mr. McKenzie. Offer him some of the beans cooking in the kitchen, then send him on his way.”
Send him on his way and lose her land to a greedy swindler in a week? That wasn’t happening. Not if Ben could help it.
“I can’t stay for supper, Miss Scott.” The way his stomach felt, he’d be doing good to get on his horse and get out of there with any dignity.
“But you can’t leave yet. You…your words are all I’ve had from my brother since the war started.” She strangled the handkerchief in her hold, her sea-blue eyes drawing him from the safety of his shore into the unknown. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to impose.”
“No imposition. I traveled all the way to Texas from Pennsylvania to see you...your family.”
“You did?” Her eyes startled wide. “My brother must have meant a lot to you.”
“I owe him my life.”
She sucked in a breath and bit her lip as if the floodgates of emotion threatened to break open.
He stood. “I’ll come back tomorrow.”
“Please do.” She blinked up at him, her face a couple of shades paler than when he’d first arrived.
He tapped his hat to his head. “You can count on it.”
And the insidious whisper crept through his mind as he descended the steps.How can they count on anything fromyou? You’ll be lucky to make it out of bed tomorrow if you don’t hurry to town before the druggist closes and get yourself a dose of medicine. If you care about helping Miss Scott, you’ll do what you have to to bolster yourself up. Just a couple of doses.
He mounted the mare and headed out the gate. He hadn’t come to Texas to listen to whispers.Dear God, help me.
CHAPTER 4
From the parlor, the mantel clock chimed five. Cora grabbed a rag and opened the oven door on the side of the fireplace. The smell of hot cornbread wafted her direction as she pulled the pan out and set it on the oak work table.
