Stowaway in Time

by Cathy Peper

“Do you believe me?”

  Did he? “It explains your pack, knife and bungee cords.”

  “And my clothes. Everyone wears jeans where I’m from, men and women.”

  “Don’t women want to be feminine?”

  “Sure, but we prefer to be treated as an equal.”

  An equal? Jesse would never mistreat a woman, but he’d never considered them equal to men. Except, perhaps, Diamond. She’d shown a courage equal to that of a man.

  “A woman ran for president in the last election. She didn’t win, but she ran.”

  Jesse laughed. “You’re joking.”

  “Dead serious.”

  “Women can’t even vote. How can they hold office?”

  “Women get the right to vote in 1920. Should have been earlier. We make up half the population.”

  She had a point. A point he had never considered. Jesse found it hard to imagine a world where everyone wore trousers and women held positions of power. They completed the circle around the defunct lake and returned to their original position. The cows no longer took any notice of them. “Why didn’t you tell me all this before?”

  Diamond ticked the reasons off on her fingers. “We were on the run, you were half out of your mind with fever, and it’s a crazy story. You would never have believed me then. I’m not sure you believe me now.”

  Jesse kept silent, but she had no reason to lie. Her knapsack and the things inside it were strange. Wonderful, but strange. Just like Diamond herself.

  “Besides, I didn’t want to mess up the timeline.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  She told him all she had learned from Ari, how Bryce’s trip to the future had changed the timeline. “Anything I do now could impact future events. For instance, if I knew how to build modern weapons and explained it to you, the South might win the war and change history. The world I returned to would be different.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  “It’s not that it’s good or bad. But the world as I know it would never exist. I could return to a world as alien to me as this one is.”

  “Do you know how to build modern weapons?” He asked, half in jest.

  “No.”

  “But you wouldn’t tell me if you did.”

  Diamond shrugged. “Now that I know I can never go home, I’m not as concerned with making mistakes, but I couldn’t in good conscience change something as drastic as who won a war. The implications could be devastating.”

  Jesse thought the implications of the South losing the war was also devastating, but he understood what she was saying. If the United States split into two different countries, they wouldn’t be as strong as they were together. One or both countries might fall to an enemy and cease to exist at all.

  “However, I’m willing to bet the Pooles used their knowledge of the future to make smart investments,” Diamond mused.

  Jesse chucked. “An advantage my father would enjoy. You could do the same.” He warmed to his theme. “I’m sorry you can’t go home, Diamond, but is it really so bad here? Once the war is over, things will go back to normal. Won’t they?”

  “Not for the South. Not for some time.”

  Jesse’s gut tightened. He hated to think of his homeland in ruins. But Diamond needed his help now. She hadn’t given up on him even when he was near death. He couldn’t allow her to give up on herself. “Stay here in St. Louis. Accept Ari’s offer of new clothes and whatever else she’s willing to give.”

  “She had the nerve to suggest I find myself a husband. Seems that’s the highest aspiration for women in this medieval century.” Diamond kicked at a clump of earth, sending it rolling down towards the cows. “Seems all I have to look forward to is being some man’s property and waiting for the next cholera epidemic to strike.”

  “My sister has been on the lookout for a husband for the last two years. She wants to get married and start a family. You make it sound like a prison sentence.”

  “Your sister is a woman of her time, just like I’m a woman of mine.”

  “People don’t get married anymore?”

  “They do, but it’s easy to get divorced if things don’t work out. Many couples just live together.”

  Without marriage? Jesse felt heat creep up his neck at the scandalous notion. No wonder Diamond had thought nothing of inviting him to her room. “I wish I could stay and help you get settled, but every day I’m away from my regiment increases my chances of getting shot as a deserter. But before I go, I’ll help you negotiate a settlement with the Pooles, make sure you have a place to live and some means of support.” He wasn’t sure what he would do if they dug in their heels and refused to accept responsibility.

  “Ari thinks she can persuade Bryce to give me a dowry, but is unsure he will give the money to me outright, even though I’m an adult who has been taking care of myself for years.”

  “Wait a minute, Bryce will give you a dowry?” The solution to her problem suddenly seemed as easy as picking tomatoes off the vine. “Marry me. You’ll have the status of a married woman and I can use the money to buy my sister out of her share of the farm.”

  “You want to marry me for money?”

  She sounded affronted. He’d bungled the proposal. “Not just for money. You’re a beautiful, resourceful woman. It would be my honor to take you as my wife.” Sure, the money was nice, but he jumped at the opportunity to keep her close and safe. He owed her his life.

  “I’m older than you.”

  “I’m three and twenty.”

  “I’m twenty-six.”

  He’d have guessed her to be his own age, or less. “A few years’ difference doesn’t matter.”

  “I suppose not.” She met his gaze without flinching, her generous mouth drawn into a tight line. “Then, if you’re sure, I accept your offer. With a few conditions.”

  Thirteen

  Chapter 13

  “What conditions?” Jesse looked guarded.

  “From a legal standpoint, I don’t know how enforceable they will be, but this marriage needs to protect me and provide for my needs.” She would ask Ari about the legalities. There was no way she was entering a marriage of convenience—the phrase made her feel like a character in a historical romance novel—unless it was actually convenient for her.

  “I will honor my word,” Jesse said stiffly.

  He just might. “I don’t doubt your word, but I will feel more comfortable if we have everything in writing.”

  “What if I have conditions?”

  If he hadn’t jumped at the chance to get his hands on her (as yet only possible) dowry, she might have thought she’d hurt his feelings. “We will put everything in the contract.” If he asked for anything too odious, she would back out. He could change his mind, too, if the payout wasn’t sufficient.

  “Number one, you will not hit me. Ever.”

  “You think I would beat my wife?”

  Okay, I hurt his feelings. Or his sense of honor, anyway. “You don’t seem the type, but even in my time, men beat their wives. I assume such behavior is even more rampant now since women have so few choices. Can a woman get a divorce for abuse?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “My point, exactly. Number two, if you die or abandon me, the money reverts to me.”

  “What about our children?”

  Diamond blinked. He intends to consummate the marriage. She had been thinking of more of a business transaction, but if they slept together, she would probably end up pregnant at some point. Her mouth went dry as she pictured his well-muscled body over hers. They could have a real marriage. No, he wanted her dowry, and she needed a haven in this harsh world. “I hadn’t considered children.” A cow to her right mooed, low and rumbling. Her calf took notice and scampered over to her. Diamond’s head spun at the thought of having her own children to care for. Having kids had never been part of her plan.

  “Most of the money goes to you, but we allocate a part to any children.”

  “I suppose tha
t works.”

  “I keep the money if you abandon me,” Jesse said.

  Diamond scowled. “No, it’s my money.”

  “Not by law.”

  Diamond threw her hands up and turned back towards the city. “Forget it. It was a stupid idea, anyway.”

  “Half. If you leave, you give up half the money.”

  She swiveled back towards him and studied him through narrowed eyes. He was a tougher negotiator than she would have thought. “Fine. If I leave for a reason other than abuse, you keep half.”

  “Anything else?”

  “I get an allowance during the marriage.”

  “Pin money is a standard part of most marriage contracts.”

  “So most couples draw up a contract?” She’d thought prenuptial agreements a modern invention.

  “Usually your father would handle your end.”

  “Because as a woman, I’m too stupid to decide for myself?”

  “So he could protect you.”

  She rolled her eyes. “That covers the basics for me, but I might think of more before we draw up this contract. What are your conditions?”

  “You live with my father while I’m in the army.”

  “In New Madrid? Isn’t it under enemy control?” She hadn’t considered all the implications of marrying a Confederate soldier. Not only did she stand a good chance of becoming a widow, but her own safety might be at risk.

  “My father is in Arkansas with the rest of the exiled Missouri government. Hopefully, my sister is already there. You would live with them.”

  “What are you talking about?” Diamond had never heard of an exiled Missouri government.

  “My father’s a state senator.”

  “Then why isn’t he in Jefferson City?”

  Jesse frowned. “Has teaching history also gone out of style in the twenty-first century?”

  Diamond bristled. “I studied the Civil War, but don’t remember everything. Missouri is a border state, right? Some of its citizens supported the South, but it never seceded.”

  “The legally elected Missouri legislature voted to leave the Union, but since the state’s under Union control, it forced them to evacuate. First, they went to southwest Missouri, where sympathy for the Confederate cause is high, but then they had to leave the state altogether.”

  “I don’t want to live in the South, since they lose the war and everything.” Even though no one was around, she lowered her voice. “Things get bad before the end. Food shortages, cities and homes burned.”

  “Unless you think the Pooles would take you in, your only other choice would be to come with me, following the army and working as a nurse or laundress.”

  “I’m not trained as a nurse and I don’t know how to do laundry without a machine. Will your father accept me?”

  “He won’t turn his back on family, but you will clash if you don’t moderate your attitude. He’s old-fashioned.”

  “Great.”

  “It will only be until the war is over. Then we can build our own house.”

  “This may all be a waste of time. Bryce doesn’t like me. He may refuse to give me a dowry.”

  Jesse took her arm. “Let’s head back to the hotel. We will cross that bridge when we come to it.”

  * * *

  Three days after their discussion by the former pond, Diamond sat in her hotel room gazing in her mirror. She was getting married. It didn’t quite seem real. As a young girl, she had assumed she would marry, and as a teen, she had flipped through bridal magazines choosing her favorite gowns. She’d dated a guy in college, but their relationship had fallen apart when he transferred to another school. After graduation, she’d focused on her career, rarely finding the time to date and even when she did, she found her dates rather shallow. Most seemed more interested in dating a TV personality than who she really was.

  Her last, and most serious, relationship had been with a Memphis police officer. They had even moved in together. He worked rotating shifts and her hours varied, but since they were both dedicated to their jobs, they didn’t fight about their schedules. Brett sometimes took her on stakeouts and found it amusing that she thrived on long, dull hours spent in a car.

  But when she’d used her connections to break a story about a bank robber, Brett had been furious. He’d accused her of using him to further her career.

  Diamond wrapped her fingers around her right wrist. There was no trace of the break on the outside, but the bone still ached in the cold. He’d grabbed her and yanked her back when she tried to walk away. She didn’t think he’d meant to hurt her, but it wasn’t the first time he’d shown signs of a temper. She left the hospital with a purple cast and never went back to their apartment. One of Brett’s buddies on the force had brought her things to her new place.

  This time she had it in writing. Lawyers had drawn up the contract. If Jesse ever touched her, she walked away and kept her dowry. She would leave him and never look back, just as she’d done with Brett.

  If she had to marry someone, she thought it might as well be Jesse. She had thought him gorgeous from the moment she first laid eyes on him, slumped on the path, the bandage around his head stained with blood. She had feared he was dead, and upon learning he wasn’t, had been almost as determined to keep him alive as she was to find a way home.

  She would never go home now. The career she had worked so hard to achieve was over. Never again would she pursue a story, dogged and determined to uncover the truth. Her colleagues and her mother would think she was dead. By now, they would have found her abandoned ATV and had probably searched the area. They would find nothing, not even her body. She and her mother weren’t close. They hadn’t been for years, but her mother would grieve for her and always wonder what had happened to her only child. Diamond wouldn’t wish that fate on anybody, especially not the woman who had raised her and whom she still loved despite their differences.

  She wished her mother could have been here today. She would have been happy to see Diamond marry. Although she’d been proud of her daughter, the TV star, she had tried to steer Diamond away from journalism, the career that had taken her husband’s life. She’d wanted Diamond to pursue a traditionally female career such as teaching or nursing. It wouldn’t bother her, as it did Diamond, that her daughter would now be nothing more than a housewife. And a mother, assuming they had children, which they probably would since there weren’t any reliable methods of birth control in this century. Diamond had never given much thought to children, too wrapped up in her career to hear the ticking of her biological clock.

  Even more than her mother, she longed for her father. If only he could walk her down the aisle and give her away. He would have reveled at the chance to cover the Civil War, eagerly following the army as he had in Afghanistan. And perhaps with equally lethal results. The war would last three more years. Jesse fought for the losing side. Her chances of being a widow eclipsed those of being a wife.

  Diamond thrust the thought aside. It was bad luck to think of becoming a widow on her wedding day. The Pooles had provided her wedding gown and trousseau. As she gazed into the hotel mirror, she thought she looked as elegant as any of the models she had seen in those bridal magazines long ago. She had resisted Ari’s original suggestions, choosing something simple by Victorian standards.

  Though she wouldn’t admit it out loud, Diamond loved the dress. She might feel as if she was being forced to the altar, but the wide ruffled skirt and lace trimmed puffy sleeves fulfilled her teenage dreams. Beneath the lovely gown, she wore what seemed to her to be a closet full of clothes, all deemed necessary by Ari and Victoria, Ari’s sister-in-law and fellow twenty-first-century woman. Pantaloons, chemise, corset, camisole, under petticoat, hoop skirt, and over petticoat were all worn under the outer layer. She hated wearing a corset but had lost weight since coming to the nineteenth century and her maid claimed to have barely tightened it at all.

  Yes, a maid, borrowed from Ari, had helped her dress. All the layers, ties, and
hooks required the help of another person just to get her clothes on.

  The maid has also coiled her hair around her head. A flowered wreath with a gossamer veil, set atop the coils.

  Someone knocked on the door.

  “Come in.” She expected to see Bryce, who had agreed to walk her down the aisle, but to her surprise, Victoria poked her head in.

  “You look lovely,” the older woman said. “I’ve brought your bouquet.” She handed Diamond a spray of white and pink flowers.

  “Thank you.”

  “I remember my wedding day. We had a double wedding, Ari and I, at the church in Ste. Genevieve.”

  “I didn’t know.” Diamond eyed the other woman’s white hair and softly rounded figure. She wore an emerald green gown with black trim and her eyes sparkled with a life that belied her age. “Do you ever regret it? Staying here?” She could hardly believe this little old lady had been born about the same time as she had.

  “I miss modern conveniences, the Internet, and proper medical care. But none of that is worth giving up Sebastien and my family.” She sighed. “Though I’d about kill for a diet soda right now.”

  “So you were never tempted to go back?”

  “I made my choice. I’m sorry you didn’t have the option, but I urge you to make the best of the situation. Eventually it won’t seem so strange.”

  Diamond wished she could be as certain. She felt as if she’d been moving underwater ever since Ari told her the stone, and all chance of returning to her own time, was gone.

  “I brought you something else,” Victoria said. “From your future husband.”

  Diamond reached for the jewelry box. A gift from Jesse. She wished she had something to give him to mark the occasion. Something other than just her dowry. Something personal. She flipped open the lid to reveal a strand of milky white pearls. Real, she assumed.

  “Let me.” Victoria lifted the necklace from the box and fastened it around Diamond’s neck. It nestled perfectly in the small area of her chest revealed by the modest neckline of the gown.

  “It’s lovely.”

  “So are you. Now come, your groom awaits.”