One Wore Blue (52 page)

They traveled a good distance from the main camp to reach Jesse’s field tent. Kiernan realized that the bulk of the army must have pulled in on a tactical retreat, leaving Jesse to take in the last of the wounded.

She didn’t feel any more pain, low and deep in the small of her back, as they traveled to Jesse’s tent. She began to think that she had imagined the sensation, but then it came again. She was tempted to scream and beg some assistance as panic nearly overwhelmed her. The baby was early, not due for another four weeks. She was suddenly terrified that in her desperation to reach her father, she had jeopardized the safety of her child.

She bit down hard on her knuckles and remained quiet. She still didn’t understand quite what was going on, but Daniel’s life was at stake too. Lacey had told her that first babies take forever to come—sometimes all day and all night and part of the next day too. She had to keep her silence. The pain finally subsided.

When they reached the tent, Jesse dismounted from Pegasus and called sharply, “Tyne, give me a hand! The rest of you, stay there.”

Ignoring the order, Kiernan braced herself carefully on the wagon and stepped down from it. She hurried after Tyne, who had followed Jesse.

Jesse, realizing that she was there, spun around furiously. “I told you to wait in the wagon!”

Hot tears stung her eyes, tears she wasn’t about to shed. “You’ve been telling me what to do and what you will and will not do ever since I’ve seen you!”

His hands fell hard upon her shoulders. “Daniel—”

“Yes, Daniel! His life is at stake, and if you had just told me from the very beginning, I wouldn’t have felt so humiliated when you forced me to marry you!”

“I would have said more if I could. I asked you to play along with me! And don’t you think it’s convenient that I’ve married you?”

“I didn’t have to be married for convenience!” Kiernan protested in a rush. “I can take care of myself very well.”

“But maybe my child wouldn’t have appreciated growing up a bastard!”

“This conversation isn’t necessary now,” Kiernan informed him coolly. “If you had just told me—”

“I couldn’t have walked up and told you! I’d requested a leave earlier and been denied it. It was the only way.”

She twisted from his hold, still wanting to scream. “I married you for Daniel’s sake,” she said stubbornly. “The least you can do is let me see him. He’s in here, is he not?”

“Miz Kiernan,” Tyne said, stepping around her diplomatically, “let’s get Captain Cameron into the wagon, and then you’ll see him fine enough.”

“Yes, and we’ve got to hurry,” Jesse said sharply. “Troops of every color are all over the place. I want to get him home.” He started to turn away but came back and faced her, pulling her against him.

“I need you, Kiernan, I need you now! Say what you want to me. Leave me, if you want. I’m still everything that you hate and loathe in the world. But for the love of God, help me now.”

She choked at the intensity of emotion that welled within her. So very much was at stake. “I want to help you—that’s obvious, you fool!”

“I should be offended that my wife of a bare few minutes is calling me names,” he told her. The words were soft and
tender, his lip curling into a rueful grin as he spoke. “What we need, madam, is a truce. A separate peace. A cease-fire. Have we got it?”

She nodded. “Jesse, how bad is he?”

“I pulled the bullet out last night. It didn’t injure any major organs. He’s strong as an ox. He just needs to heal somewhere where the air is cool, where the breeze is clean. I can’t let them take him to a prison camp. Do you understand?”

She nodded. In the filth of a prison, he would surely die. “Yes.”

“You’re with me? A truce?”

“A truce. A separate peace,” Kiernan agreed.

“Kiernan,” Jesse warned her tensely, “this could be the most dangerous thing any of us have ever done. The Yanks will be after Daniel, and the Rebs will be ready to shoot me down. Are you still willing?” His eyes were bright upon hers. Their differences would have to come between them later, not now.

“I was going through the lines one way or the other, Jesse. I’m going home. My father needs me, and I need him. Now Daniel needs me too. I’m not afraid, Jesse.”

“You never were afraid,” he said softly. “And that, my love, could be your downfall. Trust me. I’m afraid right now—damned afraid.”

Startled, she looked at him.

“I don’t intend to die before a firing squad,” he said briefly.

Kiernan watched him, silent and still as Jesse walked by her. A second later, he appeared with Tyne and Corporal O’Malley, carrying a stretcher to her wagon. The figure upon it was swathed in a white sheet. “Make way!” Jesse called to Patricia, Jacob, and Janey, and the trio moved to allow the stretcher to be laid out on the wagon’s floor. Kiernan stared at O’Malley, who surely knew that he’d had a Reb in his charge.

O’Malley, with innocence that would have stood him well in a poker game, tipped his hat to her. “Mornin’, ma’am.”

“Good morning, Corporal,” she said.

“Nice day for a ride.”

“I imagine so, Corporal. Are you coming with us?”

“No, ma’am, the colonel won’t allow me to do that. I’ve got to see that the colonel’s orders are carried on to the other surgeons.”

“I see,” she murmured.

“You look after the colonel, ma’am.”

“I will.”

O’Malley took a step closer. “Look after him well!” he said in a rush. “He’s so all-fired determined to save his brother that he’s risking his own life. For hiding a man in gray, his own side could shoot him for treason. And if the Rebs get hold of him, they may well shoot him for a spy. Lady, you’re taking a treacherous journey!”

“Kiernan!” Jesse called to her sharply.

Oh, Jesse, she thought briefly, you are indeed a fool! Yet what else could he do? As he had chosen to fight for the Union, now he had chosen to fight for Daniel. She couldn’t change him. His mind was set. But she loved him. Even if the circumstances of their marriage had enhanced their differences, she still couldn’t change that fact.

“Kiernan!” Jesse called again.

“Yes, I’m coming.” She stiffened, O’Malley saluted, and she hurried to the rear of the wagon. She looked up at Jesse for a moment and saw exhaustion in his features, tenacity, determination. She knew why she loved him, even if he was the enemy.

She lowered her lashes. She still knew little about Daniel’s condition and wanted to see him for herself.

Jesse lifted her into the back of the wagon. A blanket had been arranged over Daniel, and the twins and Janey sat near him. “Kiernan, lean back so,” Jesse instructed her. She nodded. His blue eyes met hers. His features were more tense and weary than she had ever seen them. “Don’t let anyone see my brother,” he said softly.

“I won’t.”

He was quickly gone, crawling up front alongside Tyne. O’Malley saluted sharply to Jesse.

“Thanks, Corporal,” Jesse called to him.

“See you soon, Colonel!” O’Malley returned. Jesse flicked the reins, and the horses started off. O’Malley trotted alongside the wagon. “Congratulations, ma’am. The best to you and the colonel.”

Kiernan waved to O’Malley, and the wagon, with Pegasus tied to the rear, moved away very quickly. They had begun the journey. Patricia looked at her with wide, frightened eyes. Jacob was still and stoic and silent, every inch the young man.

Kiernan tried to smile. She dared not think of the danger.

She thought of her circumstances instead. She and Jesse were married. It was what she had always wanted, it was right. They were about to become parents.

But nothing had changed. If anything, their world was a nightmare. Daniel was lying by her, seriously injured. He might be dead, or he might be dying, and she couldn’t even touch him.

The countryside was combed with troops.

And Jesse was still a Yankee, a bitter enemy.

She closed her eyes as fear swamped over her. They still had hours to go. On the way, Yanks might well threaten Daniel.

And Rebs might well shoot Jesse down before asking any questions.

“Halt!”

Kiernan’s heart began to hammer at the command. Jacob sat across from her. She couldn’t see the road, but Jacob could.

“Reb or Yank?” she mouthed the words. How would she ever bear this? She clenched her fingers together so that they would not tremble. Lucky, lucky Daniel! He was either unconscious or sleeping, unaware of their situation.

“Yank,” Jacob mouthed back.

Jesse was producing his pass, and she heard his easy drone as he talked to the man who had stopped him.

“Sorry, Colonel, we’ve orders to stop everyone,” the man was telling him.

“Good to see you obeying orders, soldier!” Jesse responded. Kiernan heard him pick up the reins again.

Daniel moaned loudly from beneath his cocoon of blankets and covers.

“What’s that?” the soldier demanded.

Kiernan tensed with every inch of her body. What if the soldier insisted on searching the wagon? Jesse might have no choice but to shoot the man. Would he be able to live with himself if he shot down an innocent man?

“What’s what?” Jesse said casually. “My wife is back there with the children and the darkies. My leave is to take her home.”

“It sounded like a man,” the soldier said. “I could have sworn.” He started around the wagon.

“Ohhhhh!” Kiernan cried out, drowning out Daniel’s moan. The young soldier moved around the back and stared into the wagon. She covered her rounded abdomen with her splaying fingers. “Please, sir! We must hurry. Please!”

“Of course! Of course!” The soldier backed away. Jesse flicked the reins, and they were moving again, fast.

Thirty minutes later, she heard Jesse call a soft “Woah” to the horses. The wagon halted beneath huge shade trees, and she heard him leap to the ground. He appeared around the side of the wagon. “Janey, Jacob, Patricia—there’s a stream down the embankment. Get yourselves some water.” He looked at Kiernan, then pulled her to her feet, setting his hands upon her to lift her down beside him. He took her right hand within his own and kissed it softly.

“Whatever you think of me, Kiernan, or ever feel for me, I want you to know this. I will be eternally grateful for this.”

“I love Daniel. He is one of my best friends,” she said softly.

“Yes, I know. And that is why you agreed to the marriage. Not for our child—you would have allowed him or her to have been born a bastard. And not because you love me. Ah, no, you can’t love me, can you? I’m the enemy.” His voice had a bitter sound to it.

“Jesse, what do you want from me?” she cried out softly. “You are the enemy. I don’t know what I think or feel anymore.”

“You’re my wife now. You’ve vowed to love me, Kiernan. Love, honor, and obey, until death do us part.”

“And this war, Jesse. And death could come too quickly.”

“And if it did?” he queried her softly.

She didn’t know what to answer him. They were married, they were having a child together. And they were traveling a countryside that was laden with danger. She wanted to tell him that she loved him. Pride and fear kept her silent.

“I’m just wondering, will you ever be my wife in truth? Will you ever get past the fact that I chose to serve the Union? Or have I now condemned us both?” Cobalt blue and probing, his eyes searched out hers. She still had no answer.

“Never mind, you’ve been brilliant, and I am more grateful than you’ll ever know,” he said with a weary sigh.

Suddenly a pain, deep and cutting and sweeping away her breath, seared into her lower back as they spoke. She almost gasped out loud, but she would not let him know her condition, not at this moment. With sheer will power she kept from crying out.

“We’ve Daniel to worry about,” she said.

“Indeed, we do.”

He turned from her and leapt into the wagon, hunkering down by his brother’s side. He pulled away the covers, touched Daniel’s cheek, and then found the pulse at his throat. Daniel’s eyes flickered open. “How’re you doing?” Jesse asked him huskily.

Daniel nodded, and asked for water. Jesse was prepared, finding a canteen beneath the covering. He let his brother sip the water, then he set the canteen aside. “Let me just see to the bandage,” Jesse said.

Kiernan clamped her teeth shut as she saw the bandage that wound around Daniel’s gut. Red was slowly staining it.

Daniel was pale, but remained conscious. He looked at his brother and grinned. “It’s a dangerous region for a man in blue.”

“He’s right!” Kiernan murmured. “Jesse, you should put on something of Tyne’s—”

“As soon as I take off this uniform. I’m a spy,” Jesse said.
“I’ll wear my colors, thank you. Kiernan, get some water so that we can get going. Refill the canteen, please.”

She took it from him as he handed it over, and turned awkwardly and hurried to meet the children by the stream.

When she came back, Jesse lifted her up beside Daniel once again.

“You’ll be all right with him?” Jesse asked her.

“Fine,” she replied briefly. He took his seat in front with Tyne. The reins cracked, and they were moving again.

She thought Daniel was sleeping, his lids were so low. Then he grinned. “I’m going to be an uncle?” he said softly.

“Yes.”

“Did he do the right thing by you?”

“Yes,” Kiernan replied, then lowered her head to speak to him with mock anger. “Thanks to you, Captain! It was the only way to get you out of the Yankee camp. You’d best get well after all this!”

Daniel grinned complacently. “Well, hell. I managed to make Jesse do the right thing after all. You two could have been a little easier on me, though. I had to get gut-shot for you two to tie the knot!”

Kiernan’s quick retort was ready, but they moved over a pothole in the road and Daniel winced. She curled her fingers around his tightly. His eyes closed. Moments later, they opened again.

“Kiernan, your father …”

Her pulse quickened as his voice trailed away. “Daniel?” Her fingers tightened. “Daniel, my father! Have you heard something else?”

His eyes opened, just barely. “No, no, I haven’t heard. But make sure Jesse stops by your place first. I’ll make it. He’s already pulled the bullet out of me, and I’m on the mend.”