Once in a Blue Moon

by Kathryn Kelly

  “I’ve been watching for you,” Kenneth added. “The last thing I wanted was for you or your brother to come back here and find the place like this.”

  “Where are they?”

  “We set up a little refugee camp of sorts behind my house.” He looked apologetic. “You know I would have taken them in the house, but me and my wife don’t have the room.”

  “Don’t apologize Kenneth. I appreciate you looking out for them.”

  “They’ve been a wonderful help. Did you know that Allison can make an apple pie that’s the best in the county?”

  “I did. I’ve missed her cooking.” Allison may not could hold a tune on the piano, but she could bake like nobody else.

  “Come on.” Kenneth put an arm around his shoulder. “They’ll be ecstatic to see you.”

  Augustus slipped the little locket in his pocket, grabbed his horse’s reins and began the half mile long walk to his neighbor’s house.

  Chapter 88

  “What happened while I was out?” Arabella paced from the side of Charles’s study to the window and back again. She kept her skirt fisted in one hand, careful not to trip over it again.

  “Nothing. He gave me that medicine you brought with you and cleaned my wound until I healed enough to get out of bed.”

  “Hmm.” She stood at the window staring down the driveway. It just didn’t add up. He’d taken care of both of them. But he was a doctor. He had no reason to be overwhelmed. “Are you certain he didn’t say anything to you that suggested he might be leaving?”

  “I’m certain. In fact, he told me that he was granted an army retirement and was planning to stay here.”

  “He got a letter?”

  “I suppose so, yes.”

  Perhaps he’d received some other correspondence. Orders? Not if he was granted retirement. “It doesn’t add up,” she muttered.

  Charles came to stand next to her. “Sometimes men do things that don’t make any sense at the time. Sometimes it makes sense later. Sometimes not.”

  Arabella chuckled. “That’s true of everyone.” She turned and faced her father. “Do you think he’ll be back?”

  “I don’t know ma petite cherie.”

  She sighed. In her quest to save her father’s life, had she somehow offended Augustus?

  Suddenly she vaguely recalled the words she’d spoken to him the moment she’d seen him after waking up from her head injury. How could you let my father die?

  Chapter 89

  “I think I messed up.”

  Arabella sat on the sofa in the parlor. Her father sat in a chair, reading. They’d had dinner - cornbread and peas just before the sun started its downward trend toward the horizon.

  Charles looked up from his book. “What could you possibly have done?”

  “I think…” The thoughts were still a bit scattered, not quite full-formed. “I might have not given Augustus enough attention and that’s why he left.” She spat the words out, as though getting them out there somehow made it easier.

  “Nonsense.” Where did that come from?”

  “I accused him of letting you die.”

  “You didn’t know.”

  “But that’s not the most affectionate way to tell someone how much you missed them.”

  Charles laughed. “I can assure you that men don’t think that way.”

  “How do you know?” She said, then bit her lip when he looked at her sideways.

  “You’re still trying to figure out why he left.”

  “I feel like I took him for granted or something.”

  Charles set his book aside. “Arabella.” He waited until she tilted her head to look him in the eyes. “It’s not something you did.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because I’m a man. It’s natural for daughters to worry about their fathers. You and Augustus saved my life. You for bringing the medicine to me and him for administering it when you couldn’t. It looks to me like the two of you are a good pair.”

  Arabella closed her eyes and listened to the frogs and crickets outside the open window. She understood what Charles was saying. And she knew that all things being equal he was right.

  But he had failed to take into consideration one small detail. If her father was right and love was the driving force that brought Becquerel women back in time, and Augustus had left, why was she still here?

  Why hadn’t she returned to her own time?

  Chapter 90

  Three Weeks Later

  Morale was low as Vicksburg struggled to stay alive against the relentless siege from the Northerners. Word must have spread quickly that the Becquerels no longer had a physician – only a couple of stragglers appeared at their doorstep and they weren’t physically wounded, but rather starving and exhausted.

  Arabella wandered the halls, taking care of things as needed. She learned to make candles and to make coffee out of sweet potatoes.

  Times were hard.

  They hadn’t received word from Ericka, but with the battles being fought around them, both Arabella and Charles hoped she had ignored his letters and stayed safely in New Orleans.

  Folding her freshly washed and dried garments and placing them in the armoire, Arabella’s hand brushed against her cell phone. She hadn’t even thought about a cell phone in days.

  She curled up on the settee in her room and switched on the power. It was almost a shock to see the little screen light up. Even though she checked, there was, of course, no service.

  She tapped on the photos and scrolled through to the picture she’d taken of Augustus. She ran a finger lightly against the image of his face and felt her heart tug.

  Despite what her father said, her gut told her that she had somehow let Augustus down. They had been attached at the hip before she’d gone back to her time.

  Perhaps that was it. Perhaps it wasn’t so much that she hadn’t paid enough attention to him, but rather he was freaked out by the idea that she was from the future.

  She had, after all, disappeared in front of his eyes. Most people would find that disconcerting to say the least.

  Would she want to be in a relationship with someone who could disappear with no warning supposedly to go to the future?

  Who knows?

  It just doesn’t add up.

  He already knew she was from the future before she disappeared. The idea of going after him had crossed her mind a few times, but the thought of going out on foot or even on a horse in the middle of a war torn country, made her feel sick to her stomach.

  Besides, he was the one who left, so if he’d wanted to be with her, he would have stayed. Or at least talked to her about where he was going and when he would be back.

  She sighed and closed her phone. She was missing something, but she couldn’t sort it out. Only he could provide the missing piece.

  And she couldn’t help but think that in her modern day terms, she’d been dumped. And if that were the case, then it really didn’t matter what the reason was.

  Chapter 91

  It was raining again. Augustus couldn’t remember ever seeing so much rain day after day after day.

  He stood pressed against the side of a gully with his mother and his two sisters. They didn’t have a horse, so they were on foot.

  “Don’t make a sound.” He whispered, thankful that the rain would help muffle any inadvertent sounds. Unfortunately, the rain would keep the soldiers’ eyes down. And looking down was the last thing he needed them to do.

  They were Yankees. He could tell by the sound of their horses. It was something he couldn’t explain, but a well-outfitted and well-fed horse walked differently than an emaciated horse. Even if he merely imagined it, he’d never been wrong.

  As the first horse and rider crossed the path above them, he knew he was right. “Watch out for the gully on your right.”

  Damn. Now they’d all be looking at the gully. And going to a Yankee prison would not do anything to help his family to safety. Though he could barely see
through the rain running through his eyes, he kept his eyes open. His fingers were wrapped tightly around the pistol beneath his coat.

  The women were crouched on the ground, pressed against the side of the gully, their heads down.

  Horse after horse passed by inches above them. If only one soldier happened to catch a glimpse of one of them, they would be on them like flies. He’d be no match against the regiment, no matter how small. And he was well aware of what happened to women traveling alone. There were true gentlemen out there, but there were also scoundrels and worse.

  He needed to lower his head, to let the brim of his hat divert the rain out of his eyes, but he didn’t dare move a muscle. Any movement could alert the soldiers to their presence.

  He held his breath when one the horses stopped just above them. “Hey Leonard, whatcha stopping for?”

  “I need to take a piss.”

  “In the rain?”

  “Ha.” The soldier called Leonard shifted in his saddle. Augustus held his breath. And hoped like hell that his sisters didn’t notice the stream of piss mixed with rainwater falling over their heads. “When did that matter?”

  “Do you see that?” Leonard asked.

  Augustus tightened his hold on his pistol. Braced himself for battle.

  “What?” The other soldier called out from behind.

  “I saw something. Hold up.”

  A musket shot rang out above his head. One of the women shrieked.

  Chapter 92

  “Father, I need to talk to you.”

  Charles pushed aside his ledger and set his quill aside. “Here.” He came around his desk and sat at one of the two chairs in front of the fireplace. He gestured for her to sit in the other. “What’s troubling you?”

  She couldn’t help but smile at how naturally he invited her to sit and talk. Maybe she’d inherited the gene that made her a psychologist from him.

  “I think I should go home.” She’d worried over this for weeks. It just seemed logical. She had nothing productive to do here. At least at home – in her time – she had a career.

  “Home.” He nodded.

  He knew what she meant by that. She could see the disappointment in his expression. She rushed to explain. “I like being here, with you, but I don’t belong here. I don’t have anything to do.”

  “You can do anything you want to do.”

  “You know what I mean. I don’t have a career – a profession – here. At home I work with people to help them feel better.”

  “You can do that here.”

  She blew out a breath. “It’s not something people do… yet.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with being the first to do something.”

  “I can’t just change the course of history.” But… who would know…

  “The war can’t go on forever. Things should get better.”

  From what she’d learned in history, things would get a lot worse before they would get better, with reconstruction going on for years. But she didn’t tell him that. There was no need. The truth was she could barely stand to be here without Augustus. Everything reminded her of him. Her eyes welled with tears and she turned her head away so Charles couldn’t see.

  “Arabella.” Charles’ voice was soft.

  Her breath hitched as the tears started to fall. She put a hand over her eyes. I won’t cry.

  “This is about Augustus?”

  She nodded.

  “I don’t understand it either. I wish your mother were here. She’d know what to do.”

  “I just want to go home.”

  Chapter 93

  Dirt splashed over their heads as the horses moved away from them.

  Silence.

  Augustus waited. Lowered his head enough to shield his eyes from the rain. He counted to ten.

  Then he slid down to the ground.

  This war was going to be the death of him yet.

  He heard voices in the distance as the echo from the gunshot faded. The Yankees, it seemed, had shot themselves a rabbit.

  Adeline touched his shoulder and whispered. “I think we can move now.”

  Augustus nodded. “Let’s give them a minute to make sure they’re out of earshot. He breathed out a ragged breath. Did his family know just how close they’d come to disaster? He hoped not.

  Ten minutes passed before the silence returned to normal. Birdsong filled the trees again.

  “Augustus.” His mother held out her hand for him to help her up. “Will this war never end?”

  “It can’t end soon enough.”

  Their skirts were caked with mud, but their jaws were set with resolve.

  Women truly were the heroes of this war.

  Chapter 94

  Arabella spent the next day rummaging in the attic. She searched every trunk and every wooden box she could find.

  She just needed some clue. Some direction. Something to point her in the right direction about how to get home. So far she’d found nothing but old clothing, ribbons, a jewelry box full of jewelry, and some toys. Typical things for an attic.

  The light was waning, so she shoved aside the box she’d just been rummaging through. There was a small valise that she hadn’t noticed before. The black leather was weathered and cracked. She picked it up. It was fairly light, but not light enough to be empty.

  She took it with her back to her room and lit the kerosene lantern.

  With enough light now, she snapped open the valise and pulled out yards and yards of white material – discolored now with age.

  A dress.

  She laid the dress out on the bed, carefully arranging the lace and ruffles.

  It was a dress she’d seen in pictures. Countless times.

  The dress belonged to Vaughn.

  It was Vaughn’s wedding dress.

  Chapter 95

  Augustus brought in the last box from the wagon. His mother and two sisters had spent some time in town replacing some of the things that had been lost in the fire. Despite slim pickings, they’d managed to replace most of their necessities. Even though they’d lost everything but the clothes on their backs, thank God they’d been allowed to get out before the fire.

  He’d brought them to Natchez and found a house for room and board. He could just as well have taken them to Jackson. Vicksburg was out of the question, of course, with the siege in full force. He could only imagine the horrid conditions they must be enduring there – both soldiers and civilians alike. It was a wonder he and his family had been allowed to move about the country as easily as they had.

  “What are you going to do now?” Allison asked.

  His youngest sister was the prettiest of the two. He loved them equally, but she had gotten the beauty. His other sister was smarter. But still sometimes Allison was more perceptive than Adeline.

  “I’m going to find us something to eat.”

  “No. Silly. I mean what are you going to do about the girl.”

  Augustus hadn’t said anything to his family about Arabella. He hadn’t even alluded to her existence. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “I haven’t seen you this downcast since little Mary Lou moved away when we were children.”

  “It’s the war,” he said automatically. The war took the blame for everything. Rightly so. Especially since he didn’t have time to formulate a plausible reason why she was wrong when she was ever so right.

  Allison rolled her eyes. “I’m your sister. You can tell me anything.”

  Augustus crossed his arms, leaned back against the door, and studied his sister. She was a woman now – not the little girl running around in short dresses. Maybe a woman would understand. “Very well.”

  She smiled smugly.

  “I met a girl from… the city.”

  Allison lifted an eyebrow. “Go on.”

  “I thought she was going to stay around, but she left.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m not sure. But she came back.”

  “That’s what you wanted,
right?”

  “It was. But I could see that she was a city girl and I couldn’t imagine why she would stay around when she could go back to the city anytime.”

  “So…? You left?”

  “Yes.” He was rather pleased with himself for finding a way to tell his sister everything without actually telling her anything.

  “Gus.” She glared at him. “Please tell me why men are so daft.”

  “You’re insulting me now.” She was the only one allowed to call him Gus.

  “I’m trying to make you see. You’re walking around all mopey. And you’re the one who created the problem.”

  I should have known better than to tell her. “It’s not that simple.”

  “She’s married then?”

  “No. Of course not.”

  “Betrothed?”

  “We never talked about it.”

  She made a face. “But you love her?”

  His breath hitched in his throat. “Yes.” He breathed.

  She scowled. “Why do people always try to make love difficult?”

  He shrugged.

  “So you love her, but she doesn’t know it. And obviously you never talked about it.”

  “The war…”

  “Nonsense. This has nothing to do with the war. You can’t blame male stupidity on the war.”

  Chapter 96

  Arabella opened her bedroom door. Villars stood there with a plate of food and a pitcher of water on a rolling cart.

  “I’m sorry to disturb you, Miss Arabella, but Mr. Charles said you didn’t come down for supper and since you spent the day in the attic, I thought you might be hungry.”