The Visitor_Texas 1863_1869

by Barbara Svetlick

  THE VISITOR - TEXAS

  Part II – 1863-1869

  Barbara Cope Svetlick

  This is a series on the life of a young woman, Mirisa Eppes, whose destiny puts her in the middle of the nation’s war and the four men who bring her into the underbelly of their world and the unexpected love that grows from that fateful day when she steps out of the carriage in 1862.

  Part I – The Visitor 1862

  February 2013

  Part II – The Visitor – Texas 1863 – 1869

  August 2013

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and publisher of this book.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s great imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals, business establishments or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  barb@barbarasvetlick.com

  www.barbarasvetlick.com

  Copyright @ 2013 by Barbara Cope Svetlick

  Registration #TXU 1-599-926

  Dedication

  To my husband, Lewis C. Wilson, who continues to provide me with the support to pursue my love of writing and the many days of unexpected adventures.

  PRELUDE

  “Whoever is present should be there; when it begins, it is the right time; whatever happens, it is the only thing that could have happened, and when it is over, it is over.”

  The war spawns off more than strategic battles and men of untold bravery. Out of the turmoil came the underbelly of life as soldiers lost their edge deserting their sworn duty to the reality of living in squalor as the elements beat them down with nothing but promises held together with spit. Killing meant nothing, mattered not whether it was for their country or for their sick pleasure. In the growing unprotected communities, the monster reared up leaving behind the innocent women and children at the mercy of the devil’s disciples.

  Mirisa, who after marrying Dominic believed she would live at the Plantation and raise a large family, was thrown into an adventure that she didn’t understand and the growing knowledge that the four men in her life were more than they appeared.

  Without being conscious of the need to fulfill her promise to Conrad in the circle, she seals the bond between the past and her future. Texas will strain the friendship, strip Mirisa of her shyness; open her eyes to unexpected danger and realization that she could never have anticipated how much she would change as she struggles with her feelings. She watches as their boundless world expands while Dominic’s restrictions tie her hands and leave her longing for the simple freedoms that the men take for granted.

  The Visitor – 1862

  The first of the series introduces you to the main characters of the story, the history of the Lanfear family of Natchez and their unbreakable ties to the local Indian customs and beliefs. Mirisa is pulled into a world between the past and the future with little understanding of the path she has been destined to travel.

  The Visitor – Texas 1863-1870

  The second of the series takes you deeper into Mirisa’s relationship with the four men who have always found women to be dispensable and friendship to be unbreakable.

  THE CHARACTERS OF BOOK II

  The Visitor is a series that takes you through the life of Mirisa Eppes from the age of sixteen until the end of her life. The story begins at the beginning of the Civil War when her father sends her to his birth home of Natchez, Mississippi, as the Eppes family is torn apart by the events of the war. Dr. Eppes hires Dominic Lanfear to protect his daughter until the war is over not realizing that he has changed his daughter’s life forever.

  EPPES FAMILY

  Dr. Richard Eppes is a country physician and a Virginia plantation owner. He was born in Natchez and raised by his grandmother, a descendant of the Choctaw nation. After completing medical training, he marries a wealthy young woman who borders on frequent and uncontrollable bouts of mental illness. They settle in Virginia where they have seven sons before the birth of their youngest and only daughter, Mirisa.

  Thomas Eppes is the eldest son born with the luxuries afforded by a well to do family; he moves to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to take over his grandfather’s horse farm. A graduate of Virginia Military Institute he gives his allegiance to the President.

  Charlie Eppes was born with a birth defect that affects his legs. His relationship with his sister, Mirisa, is one of love and protection.

  Jed, Jes and Gus, are triplets born a few years before Mirisa. They are still living at home when the war starts and take up arms with their father for the South.

  Mirisa Eppes is a young, ideological girl who is raised encircled by rambunctious brothers and without the guidance of a loving mother or any female companionship. She knows nothing of love and less of life. Trusting and lonely, Mirisa spends her life trying to create the perfect family while struggling with her love for the men who capture her heart.

  LANFEAR FAMILY

  Conrad Lanfear was born in the 1700s and lived on the family plantation until he was sixteen when he takes up with a maiden, Algonquin, from the Natchez tribe. Conrad is a hired gun who rides with Algonquin's brother, Sequasi. For over a hundred years, Conrad has been waiting for Mirisa to step across the threshold of the Lanfear Plantation. Conrad is waiting when Mirisa steps out of the carriage on that stormy night and will slowly consume her until she can no longer tell reality from her haunted dreams.

  Dominic Lanfear is a descendant of the Lanfear family, one of Conrad’s descendants. He inherits the Natchez plantation and continues the family business of growing and trading indigo, tobacco and cotton. The Lanfear family has been beset with tragedy after tragedy since a curse beset the family in the 1700s following the war between the Natchez Indians and Conrad’s family. Dominic’s mother died at his birth, leaving him to be raised by a grieving and angry father who ruled with beatings and heavy drinking. When he was old enough, he left home and enrolled at VMI and began a military career that kept him away from home until his father’s death leaving all his holdings to Dominic. Like Conrad, Dominic's life is one of a mercenary with a cold hearted belief that killing is a necessary part of life.

  Dog Moon, Chief of the Choctaw Nation, is the great-grandson of Conrad and Algonquin who seeks to bring wholeness to his people. The visions of Mirisa become stronger after Conrad brings him into the circle forever connecting Dog Moon with Mirisa and her children.

  DOMINIC LANFEAR’S CLOSEST FRIENDS

  The four young men become close friends while attending Virginia Military Institute before a stint in the Army stationed around Fort Larned along the Pawnee Fork and Arkansas River protecting and guarding traffic along the Santa Fe Trail. All four decommissioned before the start of the war and worked underground for the South while placating the Northern Army. Their thirst for life and adventure bonds them through good times as well as bad.

  Garnett Alexander is a criminal lawyer whose practice takes him up and down the Mississippi River. He was raised in Vicksburg, Mississippi and practiced the circuit down to New Orleans. Despite having a normal upbringing, he is beset with demons that struggle with his constant attempts to find happiness in his life knowing that it may never come to him. He is a cold and sadistic killer.

  James Alcorn, a banker and financial investor, has a natural talent to amass fortunes through investments. He was born in New York but raised in Natchez and spent most of his childhood as a close friend to Dominic. Intelligent and compassionate, his ability to kill
is instinctual and his passion for life encompassing everything he does.

  Alexander Meeks is an independently wealthy entrepreneur. Born in New York City, Meeks took up with them at VMI forming a lifelong friendship with James. His upbringing has created a wall where he refuses to candy coat reality and refuses to let out his emotions. His ability to take a life is calculating but he takes no enjoyment in doing so finding it to be only a necessity.

  NEIGHBORS

  The Ross Family lives in the house next to the Lanfear Plantation in Natchez. Tom Ross is the father of eight children and a very robust wife. An independently wealthy gentleman from Missouri, he seeks a purpose in life when he moves to Texas with his three oldest sons to become a cattle rancher.

  Charlotte Ross becomes the first close friend of Mirisa after she moves to the Plantation.

  Alexander Taylor served under Dominic Lanfear during the years leading up to the war. After settling in Natchez, he marries and starts raising a family while working as a master carpenter. He spends half his time in Natchez and half of his time in Texas living on the Ross Ranch and building homes for the growing community.

  HOUSE EMPLOYEES:

  Mrs. Chauvin is the housekeeper at the Lanfear Plantation. She is a powerful root woman and guide to the other world and her employment at the plantation was not by accident.

  Jasmine is Mirisa’s personal maid and closest confidant. Like Mrs. Chauvin, Jasmine is at the Plantation for the sole purpose of protecting Mirisa as she is taken into the other world by Conrad.

  Miss Minnie has run the Plantation kitchen since before Dominic was born. She was raised in the bayou by her grandmother and works with the many powerful concoctions and herbs to heal both the soul and the inflicted. She works in the darkest of magic known only by the mystical people of the bayou.

  Simone’ appears in the form of a housecat at the Plantation. His soul is unable to ever leave the grounds for it is his destiny to protect the portal to Conrad’s world but his attachment to Mirisa is unbreakable.

  Dog a wild Texas coyote latches onto Mirisa as a protector.

  1863

  THE TREES were completely bare leaving the soft breeze coming off the river without a voice. Mirisa rode up to the southern bluff, dismounted and tied her horse to a low branch before walking out to the edge. The view always seemed to calm her when she felt lost and forlorn. Mirisa took in her breath and realized that she missed the simple luxury of solitude with her own thoughts and dreams. Oblivious of the chill in the air or the fact that she left the house without her jacket, Mirisa’s mind was filled only with the impact of their words about missing the thrill of the kill.

  Conrad squatted down and touched her. Mirisa opened her eyes at his touch. “Can’t you make this war stop? I can’t do this any longer.”

  Conrad brushed the hair back from Mirisa’s face and she found his touch so soothing that she didn’t want it to stop. “Mirisa, you know you can.”

  “You keep talking to me like I have strength that I know I don’t have. Now I am dealing with the knowledge that the very man I love is responsible for another’s death. I can’t wake up every day thanking the heavens that he is still alive while knowing some family is mourning because of what he does.”

  “Mirisa, you were strong enough to join me in the circle and return. No one has returned before you.”

  “You are no different than Dominic. You lived to kill. How do I handle the very thing that goes against my beliefs? How can I watch the four men I love walk out the door with the stark reality that they may never return? How do I deal with the fact that living in their world debilitates me and yet I don’t want to live without them?”

  “You have to overcome the fear of the unknown for your journey is not over.”

  “Conrad, I am so drained.”

  “Mirisa?” He thought for a moment before he began. “What do you want?”

  “I just want a quiet life with a loving family.”

  Conrad laughed easily. “Then that is why you are out here by yourself knowing that it is not safe nor will your husband be happy with your recklessness.”

  She pulled back looking at him. “I can take care of myself.”

  “You are not armed, no one knows where you are and there is a small band of questionable men riding toward you. What is it you will do?”

  “I’m on our land. They wouldn’t dare do anything to me.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “You’re just trying to scare me.” Mirisa stood and in the distance she saw three men approaching on horseback from the south. She turned but Conrad was gone. She looked over the bluff which was at least a hundred feet down to the riverbed but it was on a slope that she believed would allow her to reach the bottom. She could try to outrun them but her horse was not a strong runner. She picked up her skirts and ran to her horse untying her from the limb before she hit her sending her north toward the Plantation. She knew it would distract them but only for a moment.

  Mirisa unbuckled her shoes and rolled down her stockings hiding them in the underbrush and found a solid root lowering herself slowly over the side of the bluff. The wind whipped her hair into her eyes as she looked for something to step on as her hands were sliding on the muddy root that was becoming very thin. She reached for a bush growing out of the face of the bluff but when she grabbed it her fingers slipped and she slid over twenty feet until she blindly found something to grab stopping her descent abruptly. The mud caked her right cheek and her arm was scraped by the rocks embedded in the wall. Mirisa’s foot finally touched a solid ledge and she felt for something to hold onto when her fingers touched something metal. Wrapping her fingers around it, Mirisa pulled herself onto the ledge which led to an extremely small under cropping where she pulled herself into a crouching position.

  The man dismounted and looked over the edge of the bluff before he spit re-chewing the tasteless tobacco. He stood up as the other riders came along side of him and dismounted. “There weren’t no one on the horse and it was headed to that big house up yonder. It won’t be long before they come lookin’ for her.”

  “She looked like one mighty sweet little girl and she couldn’t have gotten very far down the side of the bluff.” He turned back to his horse taking off the rope. “Let’s see if we can find someone to keep us company on this wonderful night.”

  “It’s easier to just go into town and pay someone.”

  “You know there’s a bounty out for us and I don’t wanna be crossing a lawman or any more of them soldiers. They’ll be findin' those two we killed this morning so if we gonna be runnin than I think we need a little sweetness for tonight. Plus the only money we got is from them soldiers and that ain’t much.” He wrapped the rope around the tree knotting it as he pulled on it. “Dirty Sam you’re the skinniest so you go down and see if you can find that lass.”

  “I don’t wanna go down there.”

  “Fine but you don’t get to partake in her fine gentile assets.” He lowered himself over the side working slowly because the mud was slick in spots and the bottoms of his boots were completely worn. Mirisa pulled herself in as far as she could in hopes he wouldn’t find her until she heard his voice. “Well, what do we have here? Exactly where did you think you was going?” Mirisa kicked out at him causing him to swing away from the wall of the cliff and come back banging against it hurting his hand. He was cussing up a storm as he tried to grab her. She kicked at him again but he grabbed her ankle almost pulling her out of the ledge as she hung on kicking him with her other foot.

  Dominic stopped talking as his scar starting hurting. He looked around yelling for Ms. Chauvin who appeared immediately. “Where is Mirisa?”

  “I haven’t seen her. Would you like me to find her?”

  Dominic rubbed his chest and walked out onto the veranda looking for his wife when he saw the stable boy trying to grab the reins of her horse.

  “Saddle the horses. Mirisa’s in trouble.” He was pulling his gun out of the drawer and strapping i
t on. James started to get up and Meeks told him he couldn’t stay on his horse and would only slow them down. They interrogated the stable boy finding out she had headed south along the river and that her horse had come back from that direction. Dominic checked the horse for injuries or signs of blood but could find neither. The scar was getting worse as they mounted heading south. They picked up her tracks which didn’t deviating from the edge of the bluffs. He signaled and Garnett and Meeks circled behind the two men looking over the bluff as Dominic rode directly toward them. They both immediately stood and stepped back from the edge.

  “Afternoon Gentlemen.” They nervously shuffled back and forth as Dominic sat forward on his horse. “Did you drop something over the side?” Dominic noted the three horses and the rope.

  “Naw.” They looked at each other and attempted to untie their horses. The half drunk voice bellowed up with explicative language that made it clear he was having trouble getting hold of what he considered an extremely combative girl. The two men looked down seeing the man holding the rope with both hands before they looked back at Dominic who just smiled. When they did nothing, the man yelled back up cursing them as Mirisa kicked his arm with such force that he slipped on the rope before he regained his hold. He called her a dirty whore who would regret the day she was born as he reached out to grab her when she threw a handful of mud in his face causing a barrage of language the likes to which she had never heard.