Chapter 15

 

I sat up, cold air stealing away all the warmth I had managed to save beneath the blanket during my slumber. I had slept in all my clothes, including my boots. I tucked the shirt in again and ran my fingers through my hair, which luckily was still too short to require a comb. I wrapped the blanket firmly around my shoulders once more, and untied the tent, slightly unsure as to what I would be walking out to.

The fires were roaring, fuller than they had been the night before. Where the welcome mat to his and Walter's tent would have been placed if they had one, Talan sat hunched over a cup of what I hoped was coffee, also wrapped in a blanket. Most of the men, I determined after a scan of camp, were still behind tied tent doors. I was disappointed that this included Clarence.

But it was still early. Hugh stoked the fire next to ours and I had a feeling he had ignited the others as well. Attending the horses at the rope lines between the trees was Jasper and the bearded man with squinty eyes. At the far end of camp, near the creek, Walter stood with Gil.

I looked down at Talan. His only greeting was a flat, "We're still here."

I was too distracted in watching Walter and Gil's inaudible discussion to care about Talan’s sour mood. I didn't know how on earth Walter had gotten so amicable with Gil overnight, but they looked to be deep in conversation. So I meandered toward Hugh and his fire instead.

"Ma'am." Hugh tipped his hat as I approached, still trying to make up for the previous afternoon's blunder.

"You can just call me Sophie, if you want."

Another tip of his hat. "Sophie."

I heaved an inward sigh, but continued the conversation. "Good morning, Hugh."

"Uh… Coffee?" He gestured to the kettle over the fire.

"Oh, yes. Thank you."

He used a gloved hand to pour the steaming contents into a tin cup that had been leaning on the ground by the fire. "Not much to talk about, but it keeps ya warm."

"That's all I need," I said, taking the cup. He smiled and finally looked like he was beginning to relax in my presence as he poured himself a cup.

Hot mist billowed out of the cup and I held it up to my face. The steam, mixed with the fire smoke, created a rough, wild but sweet scent. It was oddly comforting.

I took a sip. "Mmm." I tried not to choke as I did an honest impression of a character on M*A*S*H who tasted one of Hawkeye Pierce’s martinis. "It does make you forget about the cold."

His smile widened. "You get used to it... Well, I did."

Even as the bitter coffee clung to my taste buds like the cold to my face, somewhere among the cobwebs of my remembrances, the surface of my skin warmed and in another dimension, I was surrounded by a toasty kitchen on a hot summer day. Kona Blend.

"So..." I looked over my shoulder to push away the memory and caught a glimpse of Walter and Gil across camp. Jasper had joined them. "Who all is here?"

"Oh well, over there is Cage," he nodded toward the man with the horses. "He's the best rider we got. Used to serve in the cavalry. Everyone else is still turned in, but Benny's the guy with the red feather in his hat. Dale, well, we call him Sodbuster, and Hig... he'll be smoking. We met them down in Kansas, Atchison and Topeka." He took a greater swig of coffee than I thought was healthy. "Then there's Clarence, of course. We met…" His eyes wandered a moment then he resumed. "Well...Jasper, Gil, him and I… You could sort of say we grew up together."

I nodded. "I see."

"I think we're taking a trip to town today." Hugh said suddenly.

"Oh. Town?"

"Yeah, there's a town on the river, if you haven't been up that way, you should go. Popular for ferry travelers or those coming from Iowa who don't head up to Omaha City." He looked over his shoulder then his voice became lower, more subdued. "On the dangerous side though. Folks might be gettin' suspicious. A year or two back, Gil had a warrant out for his arrest. People in town weren't too keen on that." He looked into the depths of his coffee cup. "He's been in an' out of jail three times since then, though. Couple of the guys have warrants on 'em. I don't." He looked around. "Well... Yet."

"Sophie!"

I looked up. Walter, Gil and Jasper were facing our direction and Walter called Talan's name right after mine. Gil beckoned for Hugh as well, who hastily set his cup on the ground. I took his lead and followed him over. I'd had my fill of that coffee anyway.

We walked up to the trio, passing Talan, who was reluctantly getting to his feet.

I was impressed at how polished Gil appeared, even early in the morning. The rest of us looked disheveled, not to mention sleep deprived, but Gil was attentive and put together. His hair was slicked back and there wasn't even a hint of shadow on his jaw line. His black long coat was buttoned neatly to the top of his collar.

He nodded to Hugh. "Allowance for our new recruits. We can't have our men running around in blankets, it's not nearly intimidating enough."

"Sir." Hugh rushed off to carry out his orders.

"Yes, some of the men are riding into town today. We are short on provisions. We'll get you set up properly. Walter's been telling me of your exploits in Texas, most admirable!"

I held in a glare intended for Walter and instead managed a weak smile. "Oh... Indeed."

Gil was beaming. "All while on a riverboat no less! Ah, here..." Hugh reappeared and handed Gil a small stack of folded pieces of paper.

It was money, and Gil counted it out, handing the first section to Walter and the last two to Talan and me. The Western Exchange notes had Omaha City printed in the corner.

I took it, willing my brain to believe that the money wasn't stolen.

"Buy whatever supplies you need. There's a very good mercantile in town. But first…" He pulled out a pocket watch and checked it. "Some business." He looked to Jasper, then to us. "I received a note in the breadbasket last evening. It seems my sister is expecting company around seven thirty this morning. There are a few things in her possession an unexpected visitor or two forgot. Walter?"

"Sir." Was that a salute? "Sophie, Talan." Walter headed toward the cabin, leaving Talan and me no choice but to follow, which I did after a quick nod goodbye to Gil.

Talan got ahead of Walter in the trees down the hill. "What's going on?"

"Gil needs to talk to his sister," Walter answered simply. "But Benjamin can't be there when he does. We'll go pick up our clothes and that'll be Clara's cue to get Benjamin out. He'd be less suspicious of us than any other of Gil's men."

Talan raised his eyebrows. "Any other?"

"Look, Talan." Walter was, for the first time I had known him, showing signs of sincere anger. "Whether you like it or not, you've got a membership to Club Ezra and loyalty is a high commodity. He's helping us and we're assisting him in a cause that is so much greater than anything we'll ever do alone. We're talking freedom, other people's lives."

Talan didn't budge "I know that, and it's not the cause I have a problem with, it's the fact that we should be existing in 2009 right about now and we're oh – a hundred and fifty some years off course!"

Walter softened his glare, but only slightly. "We can't do anything about that. But we can be a part of this. And right now our only task is to go pick up our clothes. It's not like he's sending us on a life or death mission."

Talan pointed. "Around that cabin it could be."

Walter sighed and waited for a moment before staring his friend square in the face. "I need to know you're in this with me. Gil trusts us and I have to honor my word. And my word is that we support him and are reliable members of his group." Walter paused and took in a breath. "Can I say that? I mean... together we are the Ninjas of History." He held out his hand.

I thought alluding to our modern lives would discourage any cooperation from Talan, but it worked the opposite. Something changed in his eyes for the briefest moment before he caught up Walter's hand, shaking it.

"Now." Walter grinned, the same geek enthusiasm emerging in his energy. "Troops, today we collect pants. Forward march!"

* * *

Walter knocked lightly on the hewn wood door of the Merrill cabin.

Clara answered, opening the door with slight uncertainty, and looked relieved to see it was us.

Walter nodded to her. "Ma'am."

Behind Clara, I could make out Edgar and Benjamin seated at the tiny table, Edgar perched upon the handmade crate.

Clara smiled. "Walter, Sophie, Talan."

"Yes, sorry to intrude at such an early hour." Walter spoke with a pride in his voice as he carried out Gil's first assignment. "But, in our haste we forgot to take our clothes when we departed."

"Of course, I've kept them drying on the line all night, come in!" Clara said, stepping aside, welcoming us in.

Initially there was an inviting feeling from the warmth of the stove on which a fresh pan of corn biscuits was rising. That warmth was cooled, however, and the cabin seemed to shrink by the mere presence of Benjamin. He hadn't given us any outright reason to dislike him, but I sensed an invisible line that I didn't want to cross.

Edgar rose from the table at our entrance. "Ought to get out 'n cut more wood." When Benjamin didn't move, he added, "I'm going to go check on Molly's pen."

Edgar stayed still at first, but having no choice but to go after announcing his intentions, he made his way to the door.

Clara stopped him with a motherly request. "Edgar, take some biscuits with you... There you go. Can't stand to see you waste away in this weather."

Walter threw a wide-eyed look to Talan, but the communication lines became scrambled as, in response, Talan stood straight up and said abruptly, "Me too! Er... I mean, I'll help!" and bolted out the door on Edgar's heels.

As soon as they were gone, Clara began removing our clothes from the line in the corner.

Walter gave me a pointed glance, a look to Benjamin and then a nod to the door. Then he mouthed the message originally intended for Talan: Get him out.

How? I mouthed back. Walter’s almost panicked stare was not the feedback I was hoping for, and, just then, Clara handed me my dress.

"Oh... Thank you. Well…" I decided I had to make a move and it was all or nothing, so I projected my voice to a near shout that filled every crack and crevice of the log room. "Now that I have a dress it's only proper for me to wear it! I'll just put it on now, if it's not too much trouble!"

Clara was slightly taken aback at my sudden outburst. "Oh. Well… there’s the loft…"

"No, no. This is fine! I managed splendidly last time!" I grabbed the blanket from the bed in my free hand and flung it slipshod over the line. I ducked behind it and waited for a few breaths, but Benjamin didn't leave.

I carried on, hoping I wasn’t on a path that led to me going down in history as the inventor of the brassiere. I pulled the skirt over my pants and after kicking off my boots, ripped the pants off and threw them over the top of the makeshift screen, which was sagging dangerously close to exposing, managing to stay only centimeters above my head.

This worked.

The pants had not even touched the floor on the other side as I delved ahead with my bodice and I heard, "I'll go help Edgar," followed by the hurried close of the door.

In another moment, I buttoned up the blouse and tucked it into my skirt the best I could just as the line fell and the blanket dropped in a rumpled heap on the floor, revealing to me Walter and Clara's relieved faces.

"Sorry about the line." I picked up the blanket and handed it to Walter as Clara began to reel in the cord.

"Worse things have happened to it, Sophie," Clara said, the smile on her face growing wider with each second, and I swear I heard her utter "completely fantastic" under her breath with unmistakable delight.

She gathered up the pants and shirt and handed them to me. "Keep these," she said. "They may be of some use again."

We had to wait a few minutes for the reason of my impromptu disrobement to arrive. Clara, Walter and I had each just finished a hot corn muffin and were eyeing seconds when Gil's calm rapping was heard on the door.

Clara opened it quickly and ushered Gil and Jasper, who appeared right beside her brother, inside.

They hadn’t been in the room for three seconds before Gil and Clara’s silent communication urged her to ask with an edge of nervousness in her voice, "What is it?"

"We…" Gil paused. "Have some things to attend to. Jasper?"

Jasper nodded and pulled open his coat, unloading two pistols from side holsters and setting them on the table. He removed a derringer, revolver and extra pistol from inside his coat and a final one from his boot. Then he stepped back as Gil began unloading an equally impressive number of firearms. I couldn't do anything but stand there in astonishment, Walter the same, with his mouth hanging open.

Gil sat at the table and picked up a revolver and began to examine it, an odd raise to his left eyebrow.

Clara stood and watched this event unfold, though she looked considerably less thrilled than Walter and I had been. "Not two months out of prison for highway robbery, and you're at it again, Gil."

Gil seemed to be expecting this and didn't look up from the gun in his hands. "We needed supplies."

"Supplies." Clara glared at the weapons that covered her kitchen table. "Flour. Spare wagon parts. Candle wax. Those are supplies, Gil."

"We already had those." He turned abruptly in the chair to face me. "Ever shot a revolver before?"

I looked into his eyes. I always thought his eyes would be different in real life, but really, they were quite the same – an unsolved puzzle. They were dark green, but the longer I looked at them, brown tones surfaced that gave the hazel more depth.

I answered honestly, "Yes."

He flipped the wooden handle of the gun around and stood up, holding it out to me. "Navy revolver. It's sturdy. Keep good guard on it."

I took the gun from Gil. It was heavy, but somewhere in my memory of firing and transporting replica firearms at reenactments, the weight fell perfectly in my grasp and felt balanced in my hand. It didn’t scare me that it was real.

"I see this means you've come here on a mission?" Clara gestured to the various weapons, like she wanted them to disappear.

Gil turned toward her. "I wasn't planning on it, but I had some unexpected news arise last night, delivered by a family friend." He made a pointed pause, making sure he had her full attention. "Clarence."

The name struck a chord with Clara, her eyes flashed a spark of fear. "Is he all right?"

"Him, yes. In camp right now," Gil answered softly.

Clara looked over her shoulder and stared at the door as if she could see past the wooden barrier and up the hill. "What's going on?"

"He's tracked down his family. There's a slave auction to be held not too far into Missouri in about half a week. Eleven people to be sold."

"Until we get there," Jasper interjected threateningly from the dark corner where he stood.

"Right." Gil picked up one of the guns he had set on the table. "That's why I'm here this morning. We're enlisting your help again. And the ravine."

Clara raised her eyebrows. "The vegetable cellar?"

"Yes."

"Why?" She looked like she was afraid to elaborate on her query. "If you're stopping here to rest, you can use your regular camp, no one knows, not even Benjamin."

Gil shook his head. "We're not going to rest for long. We run a high risk of being pursued, and if we are, we'll be safer shaking them off before we're followed into Iowa. We might need a hiding place."

"I see." Clara let out a tense breath. "Of course."

"Which is why I want you to be prepared." He held the gun in his hand toward his sister. "Can’t have you relying solely on Benjamin’s hunting rifle if you need to defend yourself."

Clara looked at him for a long moment. I could almost feel the waves of thought crashing behind her eyes. Then she said quietly, "Give it to Edgar. He knows what to do."

Gil closed his eyes, then opened them again. "Our parents would have wanted this."

"I know." Clara gazed at him, tears glistening her eyes. "He was so young. Just a child."

Gil nodded, but barely. "So were we."

"And nothing has changed. In fact, it's gotten more dangerous!" She flung her arms up, disguising her sorrow with anger. "After all this time! How long is it going to have to be?" She looked to Walter. To Jasper. To me. Then to Gil. And as he gazed at his sister, I caught a glimpse of something in Gil's eyes I had not seen, and never really expected to see – pain.

"Clara. I…"

"No," she interrupted. "I'm sorry." She wiped her eyes and quickly brushed hair from her face. "He's here you say? Well…" She rushed over to the stove and began rearranging pans around it. "I can't wait to see him. It's been far, far too long. I'll come by camp with some things later. Give that to Edgar, get the rest of those out of here. Benjamin will be along again any moment now."

Gil was quiet, and when he spoke, he didn't argue. Everything was decided and the pace shifted quickly. "Right. Jasper, take these to camp. Walter? I'll assign Talan and yourself arms once we return." He swept one last glance over the room and collected the last pistols Jasper had left on the table, then made his exit.

I followed Jasper out, trying my best to conceal the Navy in the folds of shirt and pants I was carrying.

Rounding the cabin, Talan nearly collided with Gil as he arrived with Edgar. Gil pulled out the revolver he had tried to give to Clara and handed it to his nephew. "Your mother told me to give this to you."

"Oh." Edgar looked surprised for only a moment. "Yeah, thanks." He glanced over his shoulder, then added, "You better hurry."

And with that, the five of us quickly started in the direction of the camp, being led by a very annoyed abolitionist.

"Benjamin," Gil said to me under his breath. "Makes things difficult sometimes."

I had a feeling that was an understatement.