Memphis

by Sara Orwig

  She smiled at him and flashed him a flirtatious look. “Thank you, Major. You look rather dashing yourself. I never thought I’d see the day when I’d ride alone with a Yankee officer.”

  “Your mother wouldn’t allow it now if she knew. And your papa would call me out.”

  Hannah Lou wriggled on the seat. Evidently she liked doing something daring and forbidden. His pulse jumped; it would make seduction easier.

  “I’m not so different from men who are on the Confederate side,” he said. He had ridden out to seduce her, but now as he looked at her, another idea came. What if he won her hand? He didn’t want to live in the North when the war was over. He was wanted for theft in Chicago and couldn’t go back there. He hated the cold winters. And he didn’t want the deep South. He had heard stories of their steamy summers and bugs and indolent ways. But the border states and a border city suited him fine. Hannah Lou was wealth and society. And ripe for picking.

  “You said you’re from Louisville, Kentucky. Do you have brothers and sisters?” she asked.

  “I had three brothers, but two have been killed in the war. The other is fighting in the East,” he said, hoping the lie would stir her sympathy.

  “I’m sorry. Two brothers killed is terrible. So many we know have been killed. Papa never thought it would last this long. I imagine you miss your family.”

  “Yes, I do, but when I’m with people like you and your mother, I forget the separation. You’re mother reminds me of home.”

  “When the war is over, you’ll go home to Kentucky?”

  “Yes, I will,” he lied. He had no ties in Kentucky. The idea of winning Hannah Lou in marriage seemed better the more he thought about it. The Stantons were one of the wealthiest families in town. He had seen their home and he knew Carlton Stanton was actively buying and selling cotton and increasing his fortune. There was only one son who had gone back to fighting and it would be easy to eliminate him if the war didn’t. Hannah Lou would inherit a fortune and society would accept the man she married.

  “Major, we should turn around and head back toward town.”

  “Let’s give the horses a drink.” He turned off the road, going across flatland to a meandering creek. Trees lined its banks and he halted between willows. He jumped down and swung her down, pulling her into his arms.

  She came willingly, winding her arms around his neck while he kissed her. Even when he plunged his hand beneath the neck of her dress, her protests were feeble and she clung to him. While he kissed her throat, he unfastened the dress and pushed it down around her waist damning the hoops and corset. He bent to cup her breasts and kiss her through her thin, lacy chemise, hearing her quick intake of breath.

  While he kissed her, he slid his hand beneath her skirt along her thigh. She moaned softly and pulled at his hands. “Major, we have to stop.”

  “Hannah, you set me on fire. I’ve never known a woman like you,” he whispered, cupping her full breasts to kiss her. He was aroused, wanting her, torn between seduction or trying for marriage. “Tell me it doesn’t matter that I fight for the North. What I feel for you makes me want to burn this uniform.”

  “Oh, Major Trevitt.”

  “Dunstan. You’re to call me Dunstan.” He slid his hand between her legs and for a moment she yielded, letting him touch her while she kissed him. Finally she pushed away and fumbled with her dress.

  “Major, we have to stop,” she said, watching him and he realized she was deliberately waiting to pull her dress up until he looked at her.

  He fought for self-control, because he wanted to throw her down in the grass and take her, but other possibilities loomed. No need to act in haste, he reminded himself. He could go home and bed Verna and get relief. He reached out to stroke Hannah Lou, watching her eyelids come down, her lips apart.

  “Hannah Lou, you’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve known,” he said in a husky voice.

  She smiled and pulled up her dress. “Major, now I’m rumpled and I don’t know what I’m doing or saying.”

  He raised her face in his hands. “Dunstan. I want you to call me Dunstan now. We’re going to know each other intimately, Hannah Lou. I love you.”

  “Dunstan,” she whispered, her eyes going wide and looking up at him. “Dunstan.” She stood on tiptoe, and he leaned down to kiss her, thinking about Sophia Merrick who wasn’t fun yet, but the time would come when he would destroy her resistance.

  While he drove Hannah Lou to town, he continued to mull over whether to win Hannah Lou in marriage or seduce her. Marriage didn’t appeal to him except for the money it brought, yet Hannah Lou could open the door of Memphis society, and she could give him a fortune. Lord knows, he had no intention of ever being tied down to one woman, but that was no problem.

  Hannah Lou continued to fuss with her clothing. “I declare, Dunstan, you crushed this dress into a million wrinkles. Mama will take one look at me and ask me what I’ve been doing.”

  “Can’t you slip into the house and change your dress before you see her?”

  “Yes, I can, but next time—”

  “Next time, I’ll take your dress off first thing so it won’t get a wrinkle,” he said in a husky voice, caressing her thigh.

  “Oh, Dunstan!” she said in a breathless tone, gazing up at him and he felt a surge of exhilaration. Could he win her parents? What could he do to win over the stiff-necked Southerners enough to get her father to say yes to marriage between them, a Yankee and a Rebel?

  A quarter moon was visible high overhead three nights later when Caleb and Will, dressed in blue Union uniforms, moved from building to building with stealth. Lawrence Martin and Charles Gibson followed. Caleb paused to study the shadowed building on Main street that still had the Rivermen’s Hotel sign over the door. Two guards stood in front and one in back. Lights burned in two upstairs rooms. Will had learned that the Union payroll and money supply was under a guard in a safe in the front room on the southeast corner of the hotel the Union had taken for part of their headquarters. Before heading for their target, Caleb and Will crept to the opposite corner of the building, the darkened northwest room of the hotel.

  “Think Ethan has held up the Memphis and Charleston train yet?” Will whispered.

  Caleb glanced at the moon and calculated the time. “It’s too soon. Once he takes the Memphis and Charleston, he has to head out of town.”

  “He better not leave us holding the money.”

  “We have to get it first.”

  Caleb nodded to the others and moved away, staying in shadows, trying to slip behind the guard. He reached the side of the building and risked looking around. The guard leaned against the wall, a cheroot in his mouth. Caleb pulled a rock from his pocket and tossed it. It sailed in a high arc and landed with a clatter in the street beyond the building.

  Peering into the darkness, the guard turned toward the sound. Caleb threw another rock. The guard shifted his rifle and walked ahead cautiously.

  Caleb rushed behind him. As the man turned, Caleb hit him with the gun butt and the guard sank to the ground. Caleb waved his arm and men moved out of the shadows, Lawrence leading horses to the side of the building.

  Feeling a sense of urgency, knowing they had only minutes before discovery, Caleb broke a darkened window. While Lawrence and Charles stood guard, Caleb and Will climbed inside. He and Will walked down the hall to the southeast corner room. The guard saluted.

  “General Sherman wants the guard changed. You’re to report to him at once,” Caleb said.

  The man frowned. “At three in the morning?”

  “Yes. You’re Dalton, aren’t you?” Caleb said, praying the saloonkeeper had the name right when he heard the soldier complain about standing guard in the hotel all night.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Get your friend. General Sherman is waiting.”

  “Yes, sir. As soon as you give me the password, sir.”

  Will moved to the left. Watching Will, the man raised his rifle. Striking the rifle, C
aleb hit him. Caleb swung his revolver and caught the man on the side of the head. The man slumped to the floor.

  “Pull him into the room.” They closed and locked the door.

  “Hurry! It’s a matter of minutes,” Caleb said, picking up a chair and smashing a window. The window breaking should have been heard by someone, and Caleb fought the urge to flee. He drew his pistol and fired at the squat safe, blasting the lock. Yanking open the door, he scooped up sacks of gold.

  Caleb tossed the bags to Will who tossed them outside through the window. The heavy weight of the bags and the clink as he shifted and moved them made Caleb’s pulse beat with satisfaction.

  “Hurry, Cal!”

  Overhead feet pounded on the floor, and men yelled.

  “Someone’s coming!” Will said. “Hurry!”

  Caleb yanked up three bags, tossing them swiftly.

  “Let’s go, Cal.”

  “Wait, there’s more. We’re taking it all,” he said. He heard feet in the hallway and he grabbed two more sacks.

  Feet pounded toward the door, sounds growing louder. Caleb snatched up two more bags.

  “Caleb, for Lord’s sake—”

  Will climbed out of the window. Caleb ran and jumped as someone smashed the door behind him. He was in the saddle, the horse running as soon as he threw his leg across it. They raced away down Main Street.

  Shots came from behind and he glanced over his shoulder. A dozen soldiers were behind, only a block away. “Ride for the river!” he yelled, waving his hand. He tore ahead to lead and they pounded through town. He passed Court Square and turned the corner. Federals rode toward him. Caleb headed down Whiskey Chute with the Union coming behind. Charles and Lawrence turned to fire behind as they galloped along narrow Whiskey Chute. Men came out of saloons to watch, some running out of the way. Suddenly a dozen riders loomed up at the end of the street and Caleb yanked on the reins. They were boxed in with Federals in front and behind them.

  Chapter 13

  Caleb glanced around and wheeled his horse. “This way!” he yelled riding over the boardwalk and into a saloon. Women screamed and men jumped out of the way, some laughing.

  “Help ’em out, boys!” someone yelled, and a window crashed. His horse knocked down tables and chairs as they plunged through the building. Caleb ducked riding through a doorway into a back room where men jumped from their chairs. A man yanked open the back door and waved his hand.

  “Over here, Reb!”

  Caleb waved and went through the door, spurring his horse and turning east on Madison. Men shouted, waving them on.

  They raced past the M&CR depot along Pigeon Roost Road, galloping over the Deaderick plantation. Caleb heard the train whistle above the pounding hooves of the horses.

  Veering across open ground he raced along the tracks and in minutes saw the lantern on the caboose. A white plume of smoke trailed behind as the engine gained speed. Caleb raced alongside, watching for the open boxcar. The third car from the caboose was opened wide, a man standing inside. Riding alongside the open boxcar, Caleb and his men tossed the bags of gold.

  The Confederate waved at them. Caleb felt a surge of elation. How long would it take the Union to realize their train as well as their money had been taken by Rebels? Outside of La Grange Caleb’s raiders would stop the train, unload the gold, and destroy a railroad bridge and the train. A shot rang out behind him.

  He yelled and waved his arm and men followed him to the east. Will and the others turned south. Caleb still had one bag of gold over his saddle. If he was caught with it, it would go harder, but he wasn’t going to give it up. There was enough in the bag to cover his men’s expenses for months, and he intended to keep it.

  He leaned over the horse, urging it on, feeling a wild surge of exhilaration. They had the Yankee gold! They had succeeded and as far as he knew, his men were safe.

  He let out a yell. They had outridden the Bluebellies before and they would again.

  Caleb slept through the morning and then he stirred and sat up. Frowning, Will sat in a chair across the room. “What the hell is wrong?”

  “We should move somewhere else today, Cal. Germantown is a small community and a Union camp. We’re in the middle of Yankees.”

  “I don’t want to jeopardize your uncle, because he’s been good to let us stay here.”

  “It isn’t my uncle. He rides with us and he hates the Federals. Germantown is Union now. They’ve already burned the public buildings except for the Presbyterian church and the Masonic lodge. If they find we’re staying in the area, they may burn houses.”

  “We’ll go. We can camp out.”

  “Here’s a poster they’ve put up around town. And last night Charles stabbed the guard outside and killed him.”

  “Dammit, I gave orders not to do it.”

  “We should have killed the guard inside,” Will added solemnly. “He probably gave a good description of you.”

  Caleb pulled on his pants and stood up, crossing the room to take the drawing of himself from Will’s hands.

  “Wanted, dead or alive. One thousand dollars reward. I thought I might be worth more than that.”

  “You stirred everyone up, taking the Yankee’s gold, riding through a saloon, commandeering the train, the whole city is talking about the raid. The Yankees are in a rage; one of their supply lines is cut, because of the railroad bridge destroyed by our men. They say it was a million dollars. One million, Cal. The Memphians are ready to make you the town hero. Federals want to hang you. What we’re doing is no longer secret.”

  Caleb let the paper flutter down on a table.

  “All right. We break up. Some of the men will join Nathan Forrest. Some will go back to their units. I’ll join Bragg, because he’s taken Beauregard’s command.”

  “I’ll go with you. We did a good job while we were here, Caleb, but it’s time to move on.”

  Caleb crossed the room to the washstand, pouring water into the basin to splash it on his face. Holding the wide leather razor strop, he whisked the blade back and forth and then began to shave.

  “Round up the men and we’ll ride out by noon.”

  “Make it an hour from now, Cal. There’s a thousand-dollar reward for you. In wartime that’s a fortune.”

  “I’m going to see Sophia today.”

  Will’s mouth dropped open. “You can’t! Dammit, you can’t go into Memphis. That’s suicide. You want to hang? They’re enraged over the raid.”

  He shrugged. “I’ll wait until dark.”

  “It won’t matter. You know they’ll watch her house.”

  “Why would they? Just because I stayed there while I was recuperating.”

  “Dammit, don’t go. You’re issuing your own death sentence.”

  “I have to see if she’s all right,” Caleb said quietly, turning to look at Will who rubbed the back of his neck.

  “You’re a fool. You won’t come back.”

  “Yes, I will. There’s a Union major who wants her and he knows she lives alone.”

  “So what can you do about that? You can’t move in with her and you can’t protect her.” Will studied him. “I can’t believe Sophia Merrick can hold you here.”

  “She isn’t holding me here, but if she were the reason, why would it surprise you?”

  “Sophia Merrick and you? She’s innocent and inexperienced and so prim. Hannah Lou said Sophia wouldn’t let a man kiss her.”

  Caleb tucked his shirt into his pants and grinned. “She’s not so prim, Will.”

  “Sophia? Miss Proper?” Will tilted his head to study him. “I wouldn’t think she could put up with your cigar smoking, whiskey drinking, card playing ways. And why would Sophia interest you?”

  “I just want to make certain she’s safe.”

  “Cal, Sophia is a fine person, even if she is straitlaced. Don’t lead her astray,” Will said softly.

  “I won’t hurt her.”

  “See that you don’t. I feel an obligation to Sophia, because w
e both owe our lives to her. I don’t want to lose a friend, but if I find out you’ve hurt her, I’ll call you out.”

  Caleb was buckling his belt and he looked up. “I have no intention of ever hurting her,” he answered calmly. “Far from it. That’s part of the reason I’m going to Memphis. She’s in danger from the Yankee major and I’ll beat that son of a bitch to a pulp if he hurts her.”

  “Don’t take advantage of her innocence.”

  “Will, stop being such an old maid. I won’t hurt her. Ask her yourself. Does that suit you?”

  “Well, if you’re so damned hell-bent to see her anyway, you better warn—” He broke off and rubbed his jaw.

  “What is it?”

  “Nothing.” Will stood up. “I’ll gather the men and we’ll ride out of here. Someone could come after us any minute now.”

  As he started out of the room, Caleb caught him by the arm. “What the hell did you start to say—what’s wrong? Has something happened to Sophia?”

  “You’re too much of a hothead and I should have kept my mouth shut.”

  “But you’re into it now. Tell me what you started to say or I’ll flatten you, Will.”

  With his mouth in a set line and his brow creased in a frown, Will reached into his pocket. For a moment Caleb felt mystified until Will unfolded a newspaper. “If she doesn’t stop printing this paper, she’ll be in prison. I’ve heard the Yankees are combing the town for the publisher.”

  Caleb picked it up and glanced at black letters:

  “… daring raids that make the Federals look inept and foolish. They can’t guard the guns they have taken from Memphis. They should see they can’t win the war. Resist. Don’t open your shops to the Federals.”

  “Dammit,” he said, crumpling the paper and throwing it down. “I can’t make her stop printing the damn paper and I know she’s in danger of prison.”

  “Well, well, so that’s how it is,” Will said in a soft voice, placing his hands on his hips. “A woman who doesn’t melt when you look her way and doesn’t obey your every command? Hannah Lou almost faints when you walk into the room. And I’ve seen other women around you. That’s why you’re interested in Sophia. You’ve met your match.”