Stowaway in Time

by Cathy Peper

  “Thank you,” he said.

  Diamond ran her fingers through the grass, plucking a few strands at random. “I’m not much of a cook.”

  “Not for the fish. For what you did yesterday.”

  “That was two days ago. We did nothing yesterday but sleep.”

  “I’m serious. I figured we had nothing to lose by joining forces, but I didn’t expect to get away. I wouldn’t have made it without your help.”

  “You’re welcome.” When she met his serious blue gaze, her cheeks warmed, and she struggled to maintain eye contact.

  “Why did you help me?”

  Diamond decided she would skip the parts about him being handsome. He didn’t need to know he made her feel all warm and fuzzy. She was more comfortable considering their relationship a business deal than thinking she was some kind of hero, or worse, a fool for love. “We made a deal. I’ve delivered my half, now it’s up to you to help me find Rivers.”

  “We haven’t much to go on and I need to rejoin my regiment.”

  “We made a deal and your regiment is enjoying the comfort of a Union prison camp.”

  “Don’t worry. I keep my promises. Where did you last see this couple?”

  “Northwest of the lake, but Anne lived in Ste. Genevieve… at one time. We should look there first.” No need to complicate matters by telling Jesse Anne lived there in the future.

  “Then Ste. Genevieve will be our next stop. If we go to my superiors for help, they might refuse and just order me back to duty.”

  “The Union controls most of Missouri.”

  “We’ll travel as civilians and try to avoid both armies. The North will consider me an enemy and the South a deserter.”

  Diamond winced. She was asking a lot of him. “I’m sorry, but I really need your help.”

  “I don’t know anyone by the name ‘Rivers,’ but Ste. Genevieve isn’t that big a town. If they’re there, we should be able to find them.”

  Diamond suddenly recalled the name Rivers had used to rent the ATV. “He sometimes goes by Bryce Poole.”

  Jesse’s eyes widened. “Bryce Poole? You’re looking for Bryce Poole, from Poole Shipping and Mercantile?”

  “Maybe?” She was sure Bob/Bryce was a time traveler, but she knew nothing about his life in the nineteenth century.

  “He lives in St. Louis, where he runs a successful shipping company and owns some of the finest stores in the city. But I don’t know what he would have been doing wandering around Tennessee. He’s got to be older than my father.”

  Her shoulders slumped. “Then it’s not the same guy. The man I’m looking for is in his thirties.”

  “Poole has grown children. Maybe he named the eldest after himself.”

  Diamond felt like she was on a roller coaster, her emotions going up, down and up again. “That’s possible.”

  “Then I say we skip Ste. Genevieve and head straight to St. Louis.”

  “Sounds like a plan. Should we leave tomorrow?”

  “The day after. One more day of rest will do us good.”

  Diamond hated putting it off even a day, but felt more optimistic about being able to find Bryce and Anne than she had since realizing she had traveled through time. It wouldn’t be easy to get to St. Louis, but once they did, she was almost home.

  Nine

  Chapter 9

  It took them almost a week to reach St. Louis. They traveled north, not cutting east until they had walked past the lake. Relieved not to have to make another harrowing swim, Diamond vowed not to complain about the endless walking or scanty meals. Jesse shot some game, and they kept his canteen filled, first by the lake, and then by the Mississippi River. On the second day, they came upon a small farm and Jesse bought some apples, potatoes, cheese, and bread from the farmer’s wife.

  “I’m sorry I don’t have any money,” Diamond said.

  “It’s just some food.”

  “But I won’t be able to help with train fare, either.”

  Jesse took her hand. “You saved my life, Diamond. I can never repay you for what you’ve done. I have enough put by for our expenses.”

  She stared down at their entwined hands. Jesse’s was strong and calloused, a working man’s hand. Hers had been elegant, but now sported broken nails and chipped polish. Scratches and sunburn covered the back of her hands and she felt like she wouldn’t be able to remove the grime that covered her from head to toe if she scrubbed for a month. But for all the toll living rough had taken on her looks, she’d gained a measure of confidence. She’d caught her own food, cooked over an open fire, and helped Jesse escape capture. She hated to be indebted to someone, but perhaps they were even. “I appreciate what you’re doing for me.”

  They caught a ferry across the Mississippi. Diamond gazed at the Missouri shore as the men poled them across the river on a large raft. Other than the dock where the ferry landed, she could see little but trees. A steamboat chugged upriver, but she saw no sign of the ironclad ships she had seen during the battle for Island #10.

  “Too bad we didn’t have something as substantial as this to cross Reelfoot,” she whispered to Jesse.

  “True, but I prefer my feet on solid ground.”

  “I’ve always wanted to take a cruise.”

  “A cruise?”

  Oops. Guess cruises aren’t a thing yet. “Set sail for somewhere warm and exotic. Just for fun.”

  “I’d rather take the train.”

  Maybe he gets seasick. She thought he looked a tad pale even crossing the river, but he was still recuperating and they’d been walking ten hours a day. According to Jesse, they could soon catch the train. They would be in St. Louis within days. “It shouldn’t be hard to find Bryce.”

  Jesse brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes. “We can stop by his store.”

  “I don’t think his employees will tell us where he lives.”

  Jesse shrugged. “I don’t see why not, but you can always check the city directory.”

  “Thanks.” She should have remembered that most cities had directories, an early version of the now nearly extinct white pages. And people probably weren’t as concerned about privacy in the days before stalkers. If there ever really was such a time. The nineteenth century might have its own version. “You wouldn’t know where to find a directory, would you?”

  He narrowed his eyes at her and she bit her lip. So much for not rousing his suspicions.

  “Try the bookstore.”

  “How silly of me.” Heat rose in her cheeks, and she was glad they had reached the other side of the river. He must think I’m an idiot!

  Jesse paid their fare and they strode along the road. They walked in silence until Diamond could no longer stand it. “I’ve not been entirely honest with you.”

  Jesse raised a brow and handed her an apple. “I’m all ears.”

  Diamond took a bite. Could she tell him the truth? Would he believe her? “I need to find Bryce and Anne. That’s true. But I’ve fudged about some other things.”

  “You’re not a reporter?”

  “No, I am.” She reached for the canteen and took a sip of water. “There’s more to it, and I’d tell you if I could. But I can’t.”

  “I don’t want to pry into your life, but I hope this isn’t your way of telling me you’re a Union spy.”

  “No. I don’t care who wins this stupid war. But I’m not used to living rough.”

  He shot her a glance. “I guessed as much. You can’t build a fire or clean a fish. Your manner of speaking is odd, but you seem well educated. I figured you probably come from money. Maybe running from an unwelcome suitor. Or even a husband.”

  “I’m not running from anything. I can fight my own battles.” Could she? Back home, maybe, but not here. “I’m just out of my league.”

  “We all are with this war going on. I don’t see how you can remain neutral. It’s ugly in Missouri with guerrilla warfare besides the regular troops.”

  Diamond finished her apple and tossed the c
ore aside.

  “Why can’t I just escort you home instead of going after Poole?”

  “They have something I need.” Despite her aching muscles, she picked up the pace. Jesse matched her stride. She was above average height for a woman in the twenty-first century. Jesse, no doubt, thought her a giant. He only topped her by an inch or two.

  “Slow down. I’m barely out of my sickbed.”

  “Sorry.” She slowed and glanced his way. He didn’t appear to be struggling, and she had the strangest feeling he’d spoken up for her, not himself. She’d never encountered a chivalrous gentleman in the twenty-first century, but perhaps they still existed in the nineteenth.

  They caught the train in Charleston and took it west. There was no direct route from there to St. Louis, so they had to travel out of their way for a while before switching lines and heading northeast.

  Train travel during the Civil War was both grittier and fancier than what Diamond had experienced in her own time. Smoke billowed out of the stacks, coating everything with a layer of dust, but the travelers dressed up and the seats were plush and comfortable. Jesse took her to the dining car for dinner and it rivaled a nice restaurant.

  Some passengers eyed her askance and for the first time, Diamond felt out of place in her sweatshirt and jeans. All the other women wore long dresses, most with wide skirts and bouncy hoops, like they’d just stepped out of the set of Gone with the Wind. Not only was she under-dressed, but she’d been wearing the same clothes for over a week.

  “It might be expensive, but I really need some new clothes. No butler worth his salt will let me in to see Bryce dressed like this.”

  “We will find you something more suitable in St. Louis, although I think I’ll miss your trousers.”

  Diamond cocked her head to the side. “You don’t find them scandalous?”

  “Perhaps at first, but I have to admit they’re more practical than hoop skirts for long marches.”

  Diamond suspected she would miss her comfortable clothes, too, but she was happy to relax on the train while the miles churned beneath them, the cars gently rocking as they clattered over the rails. She would never take her car for granted again.

  After dinner, they returned to their seats. Jesse fell asleep, his head resting against her shoulder, but worries kept Diamond awake. Now that her goal was in sight, the details needled her. If Bryce was a wealthy and influential man would she be able to get in to see him? Worst of all, what if he refused to send her home?

  * * *

  St. Louis looked nothing like it did in the twenty-first century. No arch, no highways, no cluster of bridges leading to Illinois. Diamond stepped off the train into the small depot. The grand Union Station, which was a struggling shopping complex in her time, did not yet exist.

  She watched the other passengers spill off the train, wrestling luggage and small children. Women outnumbered the men, although there were some men in uniform and others in business attire. Jesse had packed away his Confederate grays and wore dark trousers and a plaid shirt. People continued to stare but appeared to believe they were husband and wife, or perhaps a brother and sister. Men and women couldn’t respectably travel together unless they were related.

  “What now?” she asked Jesse.

  “We find a hotel, get cleaned up and buy you a dress.”

  “Sounds like heaven.” She followed Jesse onto the cobblestone streets. Horse-drawn carriages and wagons filled the road. People bustled by, going in and out of shops and making the area more vibrant than in the twenty-first century, where tall buildings shadowed nearly empty streets except during rush hour or a baseball or hockey game.

  Jesse checked them into a hotel, a quaint building near the river, and ordered baths and dinner. He walked her to her room and saw her settled before disappearing into his own.

  Diamond sat on the bed marveling at how soft it felt, even though it was lumpy compared to her pillow-top mattress at home. Days of sleeping on the hard ground had changed her perspective. Besides the bed, the room held a small writing desk, a washstand with a pitcher and bowl, and a set of drawers for her clothes. She didn’t have much to unpack but stashed her backpack in the drawers so the maid wouldn’t see it.

  Two husky men, under the watchful eye of a middle-aged woman, brought a tub to her room and filled it with buckets of steaming water. As soon as the door closed behind them, Diamond tore off her clothes and slid into the water. Made of tin and so small she couldn’t fit in it without bending her knees, the tub still felt luxurious. Using rose-scented soap, she scrubbed the weeks of filth off her skin and let the warmth seep into her bones. She felt clean for the first time since driving the ATV onto the trails after Bryce and Anne. She stayed in the bath even after washing her hair. Every inch of her body glowed, but she soaked until the water grew chilly.

  Unable to bear putting on her dirty clothes, Diamond wrapped herself in a towel and rang the bell. A few minutes later, the servants came to remove the tub.

  “Is there some way to get my clothes washed?” she asked the woman.

  “Yes, ma’am. I will take them.” Her brows raised when Diamond handed over her jeans and sweatshirt, but she said nothing, following the men with the tub out the door and closing it behind her.

  A few minutes later the woman returned with Diamond’s dinner. The food, a beef stew and crusty bread, tasted wonderful, almost as good as the steak they’d had on the train, but she missed eating with Jesse. She could hardly go to a public restaurant wearing a towel, however, so she made do. Once she had clothes to wear, they could eat together. For the next couple of days, anyway. Once she got home, she would never see him again.

  She would miss him. More than she should after such a short acquaintance. He was easy to get along with and heartbreakingly handsome. Too young for her. He would no doubt marry some eighteen-year-old and have a dozen children. If he survived the war.

  Don’t go there. When she returned to her own time, she wanted to think of him as having lived a long, happy life. Even if, technically, he would be dead by then.

  She forced the somber thoughts out of her mind. Soon Jesse’s fate would be no concern of hers, and that was for the best. She had no business getting emotionally attached to a Confederate soldier several years her junior. She didn’t belong here and needed to get back to the modern world. Then she would break the biggest story of the century—time travel was possible. She wasn’t sure how she would prove it, but she would worry about it later. For now, a real bed called.

  She slipped between the sheets, sighing with pleasure. Her weighted eyelids closed and she began to drift. The sound of horses’ hooves and carriage wheels drifted up from the street. The twenty-first century seemed far away.

  Ten

  Chapter 10

  Jesse woke early the next morning and set out in search of clothes for Diamond. He went to a second-hand shop where he could pick up something cheap and ready-made. Once she had something to wear, she could go to a dressmaker and get properly fitted out.

  He picked up another set of clothes for himself, too, since he had to keep his uniform hidden. He felt much safer in the city, although it was under Union control, than he had out in the country. No one knew him here, and he knew some of the population sympathized with the South. He was unlikely to run into any problems if he drew no attention to himself.

  He told the woman working in the shop he and his wife had left most of their clothes behind when fleeing from the southwest part of the state. “We each need a complete set of clothes, including undergarments.”

  The woman eyed him up and asked after his wife’s measurements. Jesse explained she was tall and of average build. He left with two packages, one of which he sent up to Diamond’s room along with an invitation to breakfast.

  When she came downstairs, he almost didn’t recognize her. She wore the dress he had just purchased, a brown and white plaid gown trimmed with lace at the neckline. Her full skirts swayed as she walked and she had braided her wavy brow
n hair and coiled it at the back of her head.

  “I don’t know how women manage with all these layers and big bulky skirts,” she said as she carefully sat on the chair opposite his.

  “It can’t be long since you’ve worn them. Surely you don’t dress like a man back home.”

  Her brows drew together. “I don’t dress like a man.”

  “No one would ever mistake you for a man, but you wore masculine clothing.”

  Diamond looked as if she wanted to argue, but held her tongue when a waitress brought them menus and asked if they wanted tea or coffee.

  “Coffee,” they said simultaneously.

  The waitress chuckled. “I’ll get that right out for you.”

  Diamond’s scowl dissolved and a reluctant smile tugged at her lips. She thanked the waitress, waiting for her to leave before asking, “What will you do while I try to find Bryce and Anne?”

  “Come along and help you.”

  Diamond dropped her napkin on her lap and fiddled with it. “That’s kind of you, but I can manage.”

  “I’m sure you can, but I have nothing better to do.”

  “Fine. Come with me, but I need to speak to Bryce and Anne alone.”

  She made it sound like she was doing him a big favor. Jesse stifled a smile. The waitress returned, filled their dainty china cups with coffee and took their orders. Diamond did not seem out of place in the elegant setting, but also didn’t appear as much at ease as he would have expected, given his theory she came from a privileged background. “Then it’s settled. We will visit Poole’s shop once we’ve finished eating.”

  The waitress brought their eggs, toast, and bacon. The tantalizing aroma drifted up from the plates and Jesse dug in. Diamond began buttering her toast as if it were a work of art. She took a bite, pushed the eggs around on her plate and finished her coffee in one gulp.

  “Is the food not to your liking?”

  “What?” She looked up, her gaze unfocused. “On, no, it’s fine.” She took a bite of her perfectly buttered toast. “I guess I’m a little nervous. We’ve worked so hard to get here.”