The Will of Time Read online

  Leia shook her head. "I'm not sure where he is at the moment. But he'll be back for dinner, no doubt." She took the last sheet of paper and wrote out their names for Hettie: Leah, Hettie, MaryKatherine, Martha, Patrick, Scruffy and Brant.

  "Last thing for today, Hettie. Proper names."

  Hettie nodded and bent her dark head toward the letters. She was a good student since she'd overcome her initial resistance.

  Leia caught MaryKatherine's gaze over Hettie's head, and they smiled at each other. MaryKatherine's warmth radiated into the room as if she were an oven.

  "Leah, please come upstairs with me for a moment. Help me select a dress for dinner." Her pretty face was blushing a light rose.

  Leia rose from the table, looking at her cousin quizzically. Hettie slipped a sheet of paper into Leia's apron before she left the room.

  "After all, General Diamond's a single man, is he not?"

  Startled by MaryKatherine's bold statement, Leia mutely followed her from the room. "You surprise me," she said, as they climbed the wide front staircase.

  "Oh?"

  "When I first arrived here, you acted timid as a church mouse. And since the Bauer's dinner party, you've seemed, well, more outgoing." They entered MaryKatherine's room, closing the door behind them. Leia loved the sunny yellow silk that covered her windows and bed, and every time she entered the room the color cheered her.

  MaryKatherine pulled open the doors of her wooden armoire. "That's because of you, I believe."

  Leia groaned inwardly, having feared as much. "Well, just don't tell Aunt Martha that. She and Patrick already think I'm a brazen hussy."

  MaryKatherine smiled, but turned her attention back to the wardrobe. Leia wondered if that meant she also thought Leah was brazen. She decided to ask.

  "Do you think I'm a hussy?" She whispered the question.

  "I think," MaryKatherine said slowly, equally quiet, "that you're a very lucky, married woman. I think you're my cousin and I love you. And I think, as I have since you arrived, that you're very different. ..A city girl, with bolder thoughts and beliefs."

  Leia didn't respond, just looked at MaryKatherine.

  "I think that I want to be more like you. I'm just a simple country girl, but I need to try and meet someone. I'd like a home of my own, a family with children. Of course, even if I marry we could live here. I'll inherit this house when Patrick passes on, if I'm married before I turn twenty-five. That's a nice dowry, don't you think?"

  "Damn right," Leia replied, taken aback by MaryKatherine's blunt admission. "Yes, dear cousin, you've come a long way, baby." She smoothed tiny wrinkles from the blue dress MaryKatherine had selected. Then she made a snap decision.

  "This won't do," she told her, going to the closet herself. Leia shuffled through the modest selection, pulling out the last gown she found. Would she be changing the future, perhaps the future of the house itself, to help MaryKatherine find a husband? Shaking off the thought like she would a fly on her arm, Leia handed the other woman her choice.

  "Wear this," she told her. The dress was long and black, and cut nearly down to the navel.

  "Do you think it's proper?" MaryKatherine asked, breathlessly intimidated. But her excitement glowed on her cheeks, growing rosier as she held the dress up to her chest. Her dainty hand trembled, rippling the fabric.

  "Of course not. That's why it's perfect."

  Leia could not have hoped for a more satisfying reaction from the General. He rose immediately upon her and MaryKatherine's entrance to the dining room, his eyes greedily taking in MaryKatherine's face and plunging neckline.

  "Good evening, ladies," he mumbled, dabbing at his mouth with a napkin. Noticing no one else had risen, he sat down in a most unmilitary-like manner. The ladies took their places.

  Leia wondered if the man was trying to be stoic, the kind who wasn't prone to showing emotion. His jaw was wide, a very stern housing for his very nice, straight teeth. Nondescript brown hair hovered around his head, where his dark eyes almost danced in the dim room light.

  "We were just discussing the fact," Brant said, "that my General was the man to fire the first shot for the Union at Fort Sumter."

  "My goodness," MaryKatherine said, buttering a slippery roll.

  But Leia couldn't feign being impressed. Starting war was wrong, killing was wrong. Nothing to be proud of. "Doesn't that bother you now, sir?"

  Patrick choked on a mouthful of something, coughing into his napkin. Martha characteristically wrung her hands over her plate. Brant reached over to lay his hand over his wife's.

  "In aiming the first gun fired against the rebellion, I had no feeling of self-reproach, for I fully believed that the contest was inevitable and was not of our seeking," Diamond replied, in a quiet, even voice. Then he smiled. "Well, those aren't actually my words. But I agree."

  "So you did what you had to do?" Leia questioned him further, as the sounds of dining began again. She knew every human being found himself in that position sooner or later, of putting duty before personal feeling. Obviously the General had put thought into his answer, probably having prepared and given the same statement before.

  "So it seems," Diamond said, thoughtfully touching one of his shoulder epaulets. "We all did." Leia's gaze followed the man's hands up the double-breasted jacket, past silver buttons and a white collar. very much like Brant's uniform, though newer-looking and decorated with a brilliant, blood red sash.

  "Where are you from, General?" MaryKatherine asked, blessedly changing the subject with the grace of a gently bred lady.

  "New York, originally. I went to school in Cooperstown."

  Lightweight chatter continued as the meal progressed, and Leia paid scant attention. It had occurred to her that she was sharing a meal with a very real, very important figure from American history. What would happen if she were to cause alterations in the normal progression of events? She remembered a story she'd read in junior high about a man who'd traveled back to prehistoric times. The only change he'd made was to accidentally crush a tiny butterfly under his heel. However, when he returned to his present time everything around him had changed, from lifestyles to the President. Ray Bradbury's story had stayed with Leia for years, as a point to ponder, not as something she'd find herself embroiled in.

  Brant's hand reached for her knee under the table, drawing Leia's attention back to dinner. She smiled at him, hoping her love would be reflected in her eyes. The feeling of his large, warm hand always sent ripples through her entire body.

  Leia reached to brush a crumb from his upper lip, caressing it in the process. When her index finger lingered on the full lip, Martha cleared her throat. Leia dropped her hand and eyes to her lap. After a proper lapse of time, she raised her head to see the General staring at her with cold, unblinking eyes. For just a second, they seemed to shoot icy arrows at her.

  Catching her breath in a small gasp, Leia watched Diamond's gaze soften, but not warm. Leia wondered if she had imagined the arrows, hoped she had imagined the cold look. Perhaps he was concerned that a wife would take Brant from his military career. She made a mental note to ask Brant about it later.

  After helping Hettie clear the table, Leia went to join the men in the library. She entered to a conversation involving sports other than battle. Baseball was the chosen topic.

  "And you got them all to run around your diamond, eh?" Patrick was asking, chuckling. He sipped at a small brandy snifter. "I tried to organized such games, years ago, you see. Requires great cooperation."

  "Yes sir," Diamond replied, drinking his own brandy. "Mrs. Douglas," he added, to acknowledge Leia's presence in the doorway.

  "Come in, dear," Patrick said, motioning for her to join them. His usually stern facial features were lit up with youthful enthusiasm tonight.

  She accepted a small crystal tumbler of sherry from Brant, who managed to touch her hand with a promising, sensual gesture. He protectively slid his free arm about her waist.

  "We are discussing the merits
of organized team games," Patrick informed her.

  "Baseball?" she asked.

  "Have you seen it played?" Diamond asked, leaning toward her with new interest.

  She couldn't tell him that not only had she seen professional games played, she herself had donned the pajama-like uniform and played herself a few times.

  "Yes, in Baltimore. Very exciting. In fact, my father quite loved the game. He had a wonderful pitching arm, as I recall."

  Leia saw Patrick's curious glance, and she hoped she hadn't said anything too outrageously out of character for her 'father.' Brant squeezed her waist reassuringly.

  "I have heard," Brant said, "that the games with sticks and balls have spread greatly through the state, with many variations." He emptied his glass.

  Thank God for Brant, Leia thought, smiling at him before downing the balance of her own drink. Looking up, she caught a glimpse of the haunted portrait that had seemed to look right at her before. Tonight, it seemed peaceful and content...and familiar.

  "That's your great-uncle James, Leah," Patrick volunteered. "MaryKatherine's father."

  "Did he pass away very young?" she asked, aware that Leah would know this stuff. Her own father's name was James, but she was also aware that she couldn't reveal that fact.

  "Actually, you don't know him because he disappeared thirty years ago. After his wife Louise died giving birth to MaryKatherine, he was never the same. One day he just left without a trace, but prior to that, James was a real fan of stick and ball games."

  "I knew him," Diamond said. "We met at the tavern in town. Had a grand old time discussing baseball. In fact, I shared a few of my own developments with him."

  "I didn't realize you knew James," Patrick said, pouring a second glass of brandy from the crystal decanter.

  "Oh yes. In fact, once we met out in a field, near Taneytown, with other young men who wanted to play." Diamond paused, as if searching his memory for more detail. "We were so thirsty, it being a hot night like this one. I shared some whisky I had brought, I recall. It was in a handsome amber flask, an embossed bat and ball on its face. Well, James was so taken with it, I gave it to him in exchange for his wooden bat. It was polished nicely...a very good swap."

  Leia stared at Diamond, then forced her eyes back to the portrait. The familiar face didn't seem so threatening now. It seemed, well, fatherly. Shivers ran up her spine and her neck hairs stood on end as the full implication hit her. Could her father have come from this past? Could MaryKatherine's father have been hers as well?

  If he hadn't disappeared, she might have met him as a young man, but if time was running parallel, that was impossible. His absence now made Leia's own birth in the future possible. This was all speculation, of course, she had no real proof. The flask was now nothing but shattered shards of memory, since Martin had broken it after Grandfather's funeral. Glancing up at the man in the portrait that had scared her on a previous night, she knew the menacing image wouldn't return, because she at last knew its secret.

  Chapter 16

  Snuggled close behind Brant, Leia couldn't suppress a smile. Not only had General Diamond revealed a major key to her own past, he had put a shine on MaryKatherine's cheeks that had never been there before. MaryKatherine, her very own sister. How much would the twentieth century change in relation to all this? How different would her life have been if these things had never happened in the past? Caught in a loop of temporal thoughts, Leia decided to put them out of her mind and move closer to her new husband.

  Molding her abdomen to his backside, she wiggled slightly to see if he was awake...no response. It was amazing how a recuperating man could sleep so soundly, yet she knew if any danger were present he'd be alert in an instant. She had felt safe all day, with one exception. For one brief, heart-stopping second, she'd been fearful of General Diamond. The intense hate in his eyes had been directed at her, the very opposite of the admiration she'd seen him direct at MaryKatherine. She had not imagined the venom in that stare.

  Remembering at last the notes Hettie had slipped her in the kitchen, Leia reached for her apron. She was amazed at the amount of correspondence she'd received from Sara since Martin had stepped in. Two half sheets of dry paper fluttered to the bed. Both appeared to have been photocopied onto an old paper stock.

  From: JML Developers

  Dear Miss Smith,

  Thank you for advising us of the disappearance of your former associate, Jason Maxwell, as well as the notification of his lack of authority in offering us the McGarland property at this point. We have sent notices to his home and to our attorneys. Please note for your files that the offer is hereby withdrawn.

  Yours Truly,

  J.M. Laughton

  President

  Dear Sister Delia,

  I have been authorized by Jason Maxwell to accept your offer on the Pennsylvania property, to be developed as a Civil War Historical Theme Mall, and to include all stipulations we discussed concerning profit donations and volunteer work. Please have contracts sent to Jason's attorney, B.E. Sanders.

  Sincerely,

  Sara Smith

  Leia closed her eyes at last, elated at Sara's negotiations. The pleasure almost pushed out her agitation over the General's glares, willing her mind to stop making mountains out of molehills. She ran her hand down Brant's side, enjoying the hardness of his form. Damp with the humid air, his masculine scent permeated their small bed. Her hands ran through his limp locks when she heard a noise, a thump-and-scrape sound, the kind that would have sent a twentieth-century woman scurrying for the telephone or alarm keypad. Sitting upright, Leia clutched the scratchy bedclothes to her chest, looking about for a dressing gown.

  Brant was awake and out of bed before she could even focus, signaling to her with his hand to stay in bed. He pulled on the woolen trousers of his uniform, wasting no time to care for the worn fabric. A strong yank had the door open into the hallway, and Brant's head followed, turning right and left. When he slipped his entire body from the relative security of the room, Leia slid into action.

  Wrapped in Brant's uniform coat, she started her own investigation. Down the back stairs, she met her husband in the center hall.

  "Someone's in the library," he said, softly with a tilt of his head toward that door. "Would you please go back upstairs?"

  "No," she said, stepping toward the noise of heavy furniture scraping the wooden floor.

  With a disgruntled sigh, Brant strode toward the heavy oak door. Just as he reached for the knob, it turned by itself. Leia and Brant both jumped as General Diamond's military form posted itself in the doorway.

  "General!" Brant drew up taller, unconsciously taking a soldier's stance. "Can I help you with anything, sir?"

  Diamond looked surprised, his lips pursed and his forehead wrinkled. He regained his composure quickly. "I was hoping to find a novel. I have trouble sleeping sometimes, and thought some fine literature would relax me. Often I have admired the McGarlands's collection, but rarely have I had the opportunity to browse."

  Leia thought he troubled himself with too much explanation, almost as if he was nervous. Could he have been snooping through Patrick's things?

  "And did you find something?" Brant asked the question in his logical manner, indicating with his head the General's empty hands.

  "No, Brant, I grew tired and ready for sleep just perusing the shelves. Patrick has an extraordinary collection, don't you agree?" Diamond yawned. "If you'll excuse me. I don't want to keep you newlyweds up all evening."

  Leia stood with Brant until the General had climbed the front staircase, then they exchanged glances.

  "What was all that about?"

  Brant shook his head, then stepped back into the library. "I don't have any notion, but let's look around the room to see if anything's disturbed."

  They moved through the square room with the oil lamp from their room. Dim shadows clung to the corners, swaying as if they wished to be independent of the four walls.

  "It looks f
ine," Leia said, scanning rows of leather-covered books. "Patrick's desk is just like he leaves it." She touched the dark wooden furniture, carefully, as it seemed like an antique to her.

  Brant paused, looking down at the polished surface, which reflected the decision he was about to make. He pulled a tightly-fitted drawer out toward him. Then his facial muscles resculpted themselves into a frown.

  "What is it?" Leia peered over his shoulder.

  "I'm not sure. Maybe nothing. Some papers are disheveled in this drawer, but that could be Patrick's lack of organization." The drawer shut with a gentle thud.

  "We're probably just jumping to conclusions," she said. "But I did think something was strange. Did you notice that the General didn't look me in the eye, didn't look my way at all just now, not even once?"

  "Should he have? After all, you are dressed only in my coat."

  "Well, no, you're right. He shouldn't have been looking me over. Still, it's an odd feeling. I think perhaps he doesn't like me."

  "Now who's jumping to conclusions?" Brant smiled at her, then took her hand. "I can tell you one thing, my dear wife, and that is I do like you, and require your presence in my chamber."

  "Whatever for?" Leia stifled a giggle.

  "It seems I am also having trouble sleeping."

  "Let's not talk about the General, or MaryKatherine, or the war," Brant said, settling the basket of food items they'd collected from the kitchen onto a yellow blanket.

  "You've got it," Leia agreed, smoothing the corners of the cloth to lie flat. "The grass is still a little damp, it's so early."

  Scruffy trotted up to them then, and Brant gently shooed his furry grayness from the picnic area.

  "I can take care of him. Hettie sent out this bone from last nice's soup." Leia took a bone, nearly bald of meat, and tossed it a few feet away. Scruffy took chase. "He's really cute."

  "His tail is the perfect size and texture to swish inside your bottles for cleaning. Do you have any pets waiting for you at home?" Brant watched his wife set out plates and pieces of cold chicken.