Midnight Secrets

by Janelle Taylor

Genres: Historical Romance

Synopsis

PROMISE ME FOREVER. . .FOLLOW THE WIND. . .WHISPERED KISSES. . . Award-winning author Janelle Taylor has won the hearts of romance readers the world over. Now she continues her bestselling tradition with her most unforgettable novel yet, a passion-filled story of love and adventure sweeping from the post-Civil War South to the sprawling Texas plains to the majestic mountains of Colorado. . .as a spirited beauty risks all she cherishes in a daring deception. . . MIDNIGHT SECRETS Her beloved Georgia ravaged by war, her home in the hands of Yankees, Virginia Anne Marston boarded a wagon rain west to find her father in far-off Colorado. But first, she had a promise to keep-a promise that forced her to take another woman's identity in a dangerous deception. Only one man saw through her ruse-Steve Carr, a rugged, gun slinging stranger on a perilous undercover mission of his own. Sworn to discover Ginny's secret at any cost, he plotted her seduction-only to lose his own heart to a rapturous, irresistible love destined to triumph against all odds!

Release date: October 24, 2011

Publisher: Zebra Books

Print pages: 516

Sample

A BEGUILING INTRIGUE (4441, $3.99)

by Olivia Sumner

Pretty as a picture Justine Riggs cared nothing for propriety. She dressed as a boy, sat on her horse like a jockey, and pondered the stars like a scientist. But when she tried to best the handsome Quenton Fletcher, Marquess of Devon, by proving that she was the better equestrian, he would try to prove Justine’s antics were pure folly. The game he had in mind was seduction—never imagining that he might lose his heart in the process!

AN INCONVENIENT ENGAGEMENT (4442, $3.99)

by Joy Reed

Rebecca Wentworth was furious when she saw her betrothed waltzing with another. So she decides to make him jealous by flirting with the handsomest man at the ball, John Collinwood, Earl of Stanford. The “wicked” nobleman knew exactly what the enticing miss was up to—and he was only too happy to play along. But as Rebecca gazed into his magnificent eyes, her errant fiancé was soon utterly forgotten!

SCANDAL’S LADY (4472, $3.99)

by Mary Kingsley

Cassandra was shocked to learn that the new Earl of Lynton was her childhood friend, Nicholas St. John. After years at sea and mixed feelings Nicholas had come home to take the family title. And although Cassandra knew her place as a governess, she could not help the thrill that went through her each time he was near. Nicholas was pleased to find that his old friend Cassandra was his new next door neighbor, but after being near her, he wondered if mere friendship would be enough…

HIS LORDSHIP’S REWARD (4473, $3.99)

by Carola Dunn

As the daughter of a seasoned soldier, Fanny Ingram was accustomed to the vagaries of military life and cared not a whit about matters of rank and social standing. So she certainly never foresaw her tendre for handsome Viscount Roworth of Kent with whom she was forced to share lodgings, while he carried out his clandestine activities on behalf of the British Army. And though good sense told Roworth to keep his distance, he couldn’t stop from taking Fanny in his arms for a kiss that made all hearts equal!

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March 13, 1867

Savannah, Georgia

“You aren’t going to die, Johanna Chapman; I won’t let you.”

“You heard what the doctor said, Ginny; it’s too late.”

“I won’t let it be too late; I’ll find a way to save you. I’ll get another doctor to treat you. He’ll make you well; you’ll see.”

“We must face the truth, Ginny; I’m going to die, very soon. There isn’t much time. You must listen to me and do what I say.”

“You aren’t going to die. You mustn’t talk. You need to rest to recover. Yesterday was strenuous for you, the move from the ship and the doctor’s examination. It can’t be your heart; you’re only eighteen. He’s mistaken.”

“He said I have infection all through my body. That’s why I have this fever, why I have trouble breathing, and every part of me is failing.”

Ginny recalled the physician’s grim words about Johanna’s condition. “He’s wrong about there being nothing we can do to get you well; there must be a medicine for what’s wrong with you.”

Johanna took a ragged breath and shook her head of matted curls. “He said there isn’t. So did the doctor on the ship. There’s nothing anyone can do to make me well. I’ve been ill for weeks and I’m sinking fast. I’ve accepted my fate, Ginny, and you must do the same.”

“In the six years we’ve known each other, Johanna Chapman, have I ever lied to you?” After the girl shook her head, Ginny said, “You aren’t going to die. I’ll send for your father; he’ll know what to do.”

“You can’t. I don’t want him to see me end up this awful way.”

A tearful and frightened Ginny said, “We’ve come this far, Johanna, all the way from England to America. We can’t stop now; we won’t. We’ll make it to Texas as soon as you’ve recovered.”

“You’re ignoring reality, Ginny, and that isn’t like you: I’m not going to get well, ever. I may only have a little while left.”

Virginia Anne. Marston looked at the feeble young woman who had been her best friend, like a sister to her, for years. She couldn’t believe this tragedy was happening; she couldn’t allow it to happen. Yet, there was nothing she or medicine could do to save Johanna. They needed a miracle and had prayed for one, but her dear friend worsened every hour. With tears in her hazel eyes, she vowed, “No, I won’t believe that. I can’t.”

“You have to go on to Texas and take my place. You must do what I was going to do. If Father’s guilty, you have to punish him for me and Mother.”

“Don’t think or talk about that trouble today. You need rest. You must take the medicine the doctor left for you; it will ease your pain.”

“I need a clear head to think; I don’t have much time left.”

“Don’t give up, Johanna, please. Fight this illness.”

“I don’t have any fight left in me, Ginny. I’m as weak as a baby. I can’t even tend or feed myself.”

“Let’s talk tomorrow when you’re stronger.”

“I won’t be here tomorrow. We have to settle this today.”

“At least nap for a while. I’ll get you some hot soup. You hardly ate this morning or at the noon meal. You can’t get well if you don’t try.”

“I’m not hungry, and I’m losing this battle fast. I want to spend my last hours talking with you. Don’t deny me that much.”

Ginny felt as if each word was a knife in her heart. She wanted to be strong and brave for her best friend, but it was hard. “In a year, we’ll be discussing the doctor’s mistake over hot tea and scones.”

“Don’t dream, Ginny; it isn’t fair to either of us. You must go to Father and pretend to be me. You must punish him.”

“What if your father isn’t guilty?” She thought of their recent discovery of a hidden compartment in Johanna’s mother’s trunk filled with letters from Johanna’s father. It had also concealed money that had provided payment for their trip from England to America to reunite Johanna with her father and to aid Ginny’s search for hers. “Remember the letters we found in your mother’s trunk after she… passed away?” She watched in anguish as the girl struggled to speak between gasps for air and increasing exhaustion. She mopped beads of feverish perspiration from her friend’s face with a cool cloth. She witnessed torment in Johanna’s eyes and heard it in her voice.

“If Mother lied about him betraying and discarding us, why didn’t Father contact me during all those years? Why didn’t he come after me or send for me? Why didn’t he fight for me? He abandoned her for another woman; he adopted an orphan boy and let him take my place. He loved and wanted them, Ginny, not us. He must pay for what he did. Mother died in England. I’ll die returning to confront him. His selfishness destroyed us, Ginny. He must suffer as we have. I can’t exact revenge; you must do it for me. Please, I’m begging you. This is my last request, my dying wish. You’re my dearest and best friend, my sister in heart and soul. I can’t rest until the past is settled. Only you can do that for me.”

Ginny fought back tears as she watched the near-breathless girl work hard to get out those bitter words. “I love you, Johanna, but I can’t pull off such a ruse. I’d never fool your father and adopted brother.”

“You know everything about me, Mother, and my past. You know everything revealed in those letters we found. They can’t catch you in a lie, you have all the facts. You can become me and you can obtain justice or revenge for us. We even look so much alike that people have always believed we were sisters. You can use our resemblance and all that information to fool them.”

“If I failed, they could have me imprisoned for fraud, or even killed if they’re as bad as you and your mother believe.” Ginny kept talking to let Johanna rest for a while. “Besides, I have to search for my own father in Colorado. I haven’t seen him since I was sent away to boarding school in London, six long years ago. I haven’t heard from him in over eight months. I miss him and I’m so worried about him. He said someone had murdered his mining partner and was trying to kill him. He told me to keep his whereabouts secret and to remain in England until he settled his troubles and either came for me or sent for me to join him. I’m the only one from home who knows he didn’t die in the war as reported.”

“Your father must be dead, Ginny. If he were alive, he would have written again. If you go to Colorado unprepared and penniless, you’ll be vulnerable, in terrible danger. We’re almost out of money, so you don’t have any safe way to get there. If you go to Father’s ranch and pretend to be me, you can find a way to get money for your search. It will solve your dilemma, too.”

“I couldn’t steal from Bennett Chapman and escape scotfree.”

“If it’s necessary, you could; you must. You know you can’t return home. Your stepmother and her new Yankee husband have taken control of Green Oaks. Your father has been declared dead. She ordered you never to return to the plantation; she cut off your funds.”

“I know, and I hate it that I’ll never see my half sister. She was born after I was sent away. My stepmother and her son were always malicious and devious. I can’t go there or let them know I’m back. If it hadn’t been for your mother’s kindness, I couldn’t have finished my last year at school. I would have been put out to fend for myself without funds, home, or family and in a strange country.” A bitter taste rose in Ginny’s throat when she had to speak favorably of Johanna’s mother whom she hadn’t liked or trusted. Ginny knew Johanna had persuaded her mother to pay her expenses and the woman had done so to keep Johanna distracted and removed from her ill-gotten lifestyle. “When I locate Father, I’ll repay the money she loaned to me.”

“What’s mine is yours, Ginny; it’s always been that way between us. I don’t need or want your money; I want and need your help, your promise.”

Ginny wished her own mother were alive to give advice, but she had died when Ginny was eleven. That death had compelled her lonesome and tormented father into a terrible second marriage.

As if reading her line of thought, Johanna said, “Cleniece took your mother’s place and Nandile took mine. Our fathers were foolish men.”

“I can’t blame Father for marrying again; he was so lost without Mother. But our lives would have been different if he hadn’t met and married that greedy, selfish, and conniving woman. He thought I needed a mother and Green Oaks needed a mistress. He believed she would take away his pain. All Cleniece did was make us both miserable. She never liked me or wanted me around and convinced Father to send me away to school. I know he agreed because he wanted me safe and happy while he was off fighting in the war. He didn’t trust her; that’s why he deposited enough money in a London bank to pay my expenses for five years. He never thought the war would last so long; no one did. I would have been fine if Cleniece had sent my money. You remember Father sent me money directly from Colorado until he vanished. He was angry when he learned she had refused to support me, but he couldn’t challenge her without revealing he was still alive. That witch believed I would be stranded across the ocean and be out of her hair for keeps.”

Ginny helped Johanna with a drink of water and fluffed her pillows. She kept talking to make the girl stay silent and rest. “I know she and her new husband stole my home and inheritance, but I won’t fight them over it. Green Oaks couldn’t be the same after they’ve tainted it. But if they learned Father wasn’t killed in the war, that he was captured and sent west as a Galvanized Yankee, and that he’d found a silver mine—they would try to lay claim to part of it. That’s partly why Father refuses to contact her. After he sneaked home when the war ended and found her married to that Yankee usurper, a man my half sister believed was her father, he decided it was best to stay dead to them. His new trouble started after he returned to Colorado. How could anyone believe my father could murder a friend and partner for his share of their mine? It’s absurd, and I’ll help him prove it. I memorized the map he sent to me, then I destroyed it. I know how to find his cabin and I know where the claim map is hidden.”

“Knowing the culprit’s identity won’t protect you from harm, Ginny. It’s in the wilderness. Haven’t you heard of wild animals and Indians?”

“I realize my plan is dangerous, but if Father is in trouble, I must help him. If he’s dead, I have to make certain his killer is punished.”

“Just as I have to make certain our family’s betrayer and killer is punished.”

“I know this man is guilty; we don’t know if your father is guilty.”

“He’s guilty of forcing Mother to escape him all the way to England. She wouldn’t run away without a good reason. When he cut off our funds to force her to come back, she still refused. For a wife to go penniless rather than return home to a rich husband does not speak well for my father. He forced Mother to become that earl’s mistress to survive.”

“She loved the earl, Johanna; she said so.”

“The earl didn’t love her. If he had, he would have divorced his wife and he wouldn’t have cut off my support the moment her body was cold after promising to take care of me. At least he had the decency to return her belongings.”

“Those letters we found from your father disturb me, Johanna. They contradict so many of the horrible things your mother told you about him.”

“He never said he loved her or wanted her, only me, his possession. He offered to bribe her to return, no doubt to avoid a scandal or because he couldn’t stand to lose something that belonged to him. I wonder how he explained our departure to everyone?”

“We’re judging him on what your mother told you Johanna. What if she was speaking from hurt and bitterness? What if she was being vindictive? He said she could have freedom and great wealth if she’d come home or if she would send you home: we don’t know what that means. He begged for forgiveness and understanding for his past misdeeds, whatever they were, or she believed they were. He can’t be all bad, Johanna. He even admitted he was selfish, a coward. He said he’d made mistakes and that he was sorry for them. We know what two of them were—his mistress and adopted son—but we don’t know the story behind them.” Ginny spoke with conviction, yet, she couldn’t help but wonder if that assumption was correct. Bennett Chapman could be a terrible person. His “son” could be the same, as bad and mean as her own stepbrother.

Ginny looked sadly at her dear, sweet, funny, beautiful Johanna. They had been inseparable for years. They gave each other courage, strength, and solace; they were always there for each other during the good and bad times. Don’t take her from me, God. “You’re asking me to deceive your father by impersonating you when you’ll be…”

“Gone, dead and buried here, under your name, Ginny.”

Tears escaped Ginny’s eyes and she quickly brushed them away to prevent upsetting Johanna. “Don’t say such things; I can’t bear them.”

“Don’t you see? If you’re allegedly gone, your stepfamily will leave you alone while you search for your father. If they learn you’re here, they might guess why. That could be dangerous and costly for you and your father. Before you go to him, you can settle matters for me.”

“What if I can’t unravel this mystery? Surely Bennett Chapman isn’t going to confess any serious misdeeds. Maybe he didn’t do anything wrong, Johanna. There’s far more to the story than your mother or those letters revealed.”

“If that were true, he would have tried to get me back. He didn’t.”

“According to your mother,” Ginny reminded gently.

“A man with his power and wealth could have defeated my mother with ease. He had ways and means of reclaiming me. He didn’t. He was too busy with his son to miss me or care what happened to me. He’s twenty-five now, seven years older than I am. Father may have grandchildren by now. Even if he refused to support or contact Mother, he owed me those things. He won’t even know Mother and I are dead until you tell him. That’s wrong and cruel. A few short letters in sixteen years don’t make up for his offenses. I deserve retribution or a logical explanation. I can’t die in peace until you swear you’ll get it for me because I know you won’t break your word.”

Ginny tried to soothe her friend’s agony. “You were taken away when you were two years old, so you don’t even know him. If he wasn’t being honest in those letters, he’ll probably pretend he was the victim of your mother’s tricks. How will I know if he’s lying?”

“You’re intelligent; you’ll know. You can watch him for clues. After he exposes himself, find a way to hurt him as he hurt us.”

“If he’s guilty. If not, what do I do? He’ll be furious when he learns I’m not his daughter. He’ll be devastated to discover the bitter truth.”

“Not if you remain there as me.”

“What do you mean? Live the rest of my life as Johanna Chapman?”

“Why not? My father is rich and powerful. He deserted me as a child; he owes me plenty. You can collect that debt for me. I’m his rightful heir, not his mistress and adopted son. There’s no way anyone could ever learn the truth. It’s the perfect solution for both of us. If he’s guilty, drain him and punish him. If he’s not, make peace and make him happy. You’ll have a home, safety, all you need, for as long as you need them.”

“What about my father?”

“You left word at school where you could be reached. If your father is alive and contacts you, then you can tell mine the truth. I’ll write a letter explaining how I forced you to do this for me as my last dying wish. Find the truth for me, Ginny, so I can rest in peace.”

“Let’s not talk about this anymore. Please rest now and take your medicine. I know you’re weak, and in pain. I can see it.”

“This is the last time we’ll have to talk, Ginny; I feel it all over. I can endure a little pain to spend these final hours with you. I don’t want to die drugged or in my sleep or with things left unsaid.”

Ginny had to relent once more. “How will I get to Texas?”

“You know where the ranch is located.”

“You heard what Mr. Avery said: Train rails were cut during the war and haven’t been repaired. He said stagecoach travel is worse. We were going to telegraph your father after we docked and ask for money or transportation. If I contact him and he comes here, he might discover the truth. He could send your adopted brother after me. I doubt he will be happy to have a blood heir suddenly appear.”

“You were planning to travel all the way to Colorado by yourself anyhow. You’ll find a way. Mr. Avery will help. Remember how he took us under his wing on the ship, how he protected us. He’s a good and kind man. He helped tend me after I became ill during the voyage; he brought me here, summoned a doctor to treat me, and he and his sister are taking care of us. You know he’s heading for Texas. He’ll take you along with him.”

“But he knows I’m not you, Johanna. He’ll wonder why I’m lying.”

“We can trust him, Ginny. He’ll take you with him; you’ll see.”

“Take Virginia along with me to where?” Charles Avery asked as he entered the gloomy sickroom.

“Mr. Avery, we desperately need your help.”

“No, Johanna, we can’t do this. I can’t do this,” Ginny protested.

Though he was two inches under six feet tall, Charles sat on the edge of the bed to keep from towering over them. “Do what, young ladies?”

“Ginny must pretend to be me and get to my father’s ranch in Texas. She’s in danger here from her stepfamily. After I’m dead and buried as Ginny Marston she can travel there with you as Johanna Chapman.”

Charles patted the sick girl’s arm. “That isn’t possible, Johanna dear. Only families are allowed on the wagontrain. These people are moral Christians. They wouldn’t allow an unmarried young woman to travel west with a single older man, friend or not. And Virginia can’t take her own wagon; they’re scarce and expensive, so are supplies and mules.”

Johanna gazed into his clear blue eyes that mutely apologized for having to disappoint her. At least he hadn’t pretended she would recover. “She has to reach Texas, sir. Her father has enemies in Georgia and out West who might want her slain or captured. She must pretend to be me and go to Texas until she can contact him to come for her there. Father and I were going to help her. Now that I’m dying, things have changed.”

Charles Avery ran his hand through his graying brown hair. He stood and said, “Let me think for a minute.”

As he did so, Ginny helped Johanna with more water to wet her dry throat. They had met the lean, fifty-four-year-old Georgian on the ship from England. They had talked every day, shared activities and amusements, eaten together, and become good and trusted friends. He had protected them from unwanted attention by sailors and other male voyagers. He had helped Ginny with Johanna after she took ill.

“I must get to Texas to my new business before the seller moves and leaves it abandoned. I can use assistance with the wagon and chores. By helping you, I’ll be helping myself. She can travel as my daughter. She’s the same age and physical type as Anna. The poor girl was in school up North during the war and she died recently on her way home so no one will be the wiser.” Both girls looked away to give him privacy as he wiped sudden tears from his eyes. “It will be hard work, Virginia; you’ll have to learn to drive a wagon and work along the trail like everyone else. The men are meeting with Steve Carr, our scout and guide, next week for training. I’m to get my wagon ready and join them Wednesday. The group is gathering at the Ogeechee River east of town. Most are heading west for new lives. The war and that so-called Reconstruction Act have ruined things for Southerners. The women begin training as soon as we finish our own, in a week or so.”

Johanna grasped Ginny’s hand and squeezed it with her remaining strength. “I’m begging you to do this favor for me. We’ve been like sisters. You know I would do it for you. Please.”

“It’s a wild scheme, Johanna. I could fail or get into terrible trouble.”

“They’ll never guess the truth. Only you and Mr. Avery will know it.”

“I will not betray your confidences,” Charles Avery assured. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

“Thank you, Mr. Avery. Do it, Ginny; for me, for us.”

“You win, Johanna: I swear I’ll carry out your last request, but only if you take at least a little of your medicine, eat something, and rest.”

“That sounds like a fair bargain to me,” Charles said. “I’ll

fetch a tray.”

“Thank you, Mr. Avery. Thank you, Ginny.”

Near midnight, Johanna Chapman died with Virginia Marston sitting beside her and holding her hands. She wept while Charles Avery and his elder sister, Martha, tried to comfort her. He said he would handle the burial arrangements and pay for them; he would have the young woman interred under Ginny’s name. He told Ginny it would be best if she stayed in Savannah with his sister until he came for her, which would allow her time and privacy to deal with her grief and to prepare for her journey.

Ginny thanked them for their kindness and assistance. A clock chimed midnight. So many dark secrets engulfed her. She had made Johanna a deathbed promise that she must honor. With her final breath, Johanna Chapman had thanked her, then smiled and gone to sleep forever.

Twelve days later, Virginia Anne Marston’s hazel eyes scanned the crowded and noisy area where a temporary camp was set up on the western bank of the Ogeechee River. Ginny watched the women gathered in a clearing for their instructions. Many of the fourteen laughed and chatted as if they were close friends. She reminded herself they had been given ample time to get acquainted while living there for a week or more while their husbands received their training.

“Miss Avery!” Steve Carr’s sharp tone pierced her distraction. He shook her arm until she looked at him. “I need your attention, as well as your body, here this morning. We have no time to waste.”

Ginny’s face grew warm and flushed with embarrassment. She hadn’t realized their guide had arrived and begun their lesson. “I apologize, sir, and it will not happen again,” she told him. His eyes were so dark brown that they appeared as ebony as his shoulder-grazing hair. She pushed other thoughts out of her mind and came to alert, thoroughly unsettled.

“Good. As I was saying, ladies, let’s introduce ourselves. You’ll be living and working as one big family for a long time, so it’s best to get off to a friendly start. Some of you are already acquainted, but some have been shy and kept to yourselves; and we have one new arrival this morning.”

Ginny felt all gazes look in her direction for a moment.

“Sometimes you’ll work alone or with your family, and other times you’ll work as a group. Obedience and cooperation are a must on the trail; you are never to let personal dislikes or disagreements interfere with our purpose for being here. My name is Steve Carr; I’m your guide, scout, leader, and boss— whatever you want to call me. I’m in total control of this trip. If you can’t obey me without hesitation, don’t come along. If you do come with us and cause trouble along the way, you’ll be left on that spot. That might sound cruel, but it’s for everyone’s protection. Is that clear?”

Ginny watched those dark eyes journey from woman to woman and observe each nod her head in understanding and acceptance.

She wished he hadn’t embarrassed her over an innocent mistake, and when his gaze reached hers, she said, “I’ll obey your orders, Mr. Carr. My name is Anna Avery. I’m Charles Avery’s daughter. My father and I are moving from Savannah to Texas.” Ginny noticed how Steve’s powerful gaze lingered on her as if trying to penetrate her deceptive veil, or maybe that was just guilt gnawing at her for deluding these people, most of whom seemed nice.

“To get under way as soon as possible, ladies, be on time for training and practice every morning and afternoon. We’ll start promptly at nine, give you a two-hour break at noon to tend your children, work until five, and quit for you to get your meals cooked, chores done, and children down for. the night. The education you’re about to receive will move at a swift pace. It will be hard. You’ll be sore and exhausted, especially in the beginning. And some of you will be as fussy as a hungry baby past feeding time. But don’t let the hardships and pains get to you. When the training is over, you’ll be able to take charge of your team and wagon if anything ever happens to your husband … or father,” he added with a quick glance at the only unmarried female present. “You’ll practice along the way to keep your new skills honed. There’ll be times when the men need to rest or to ride ahead to hunt fresh meat or cut firewood, so you’ll be in charge of driving the wagon to camp.”

Steve looked at each woman to make certain all were paying attention. “Today, we’ll learn how to harness and tend your team, how your wagon works, and how to take care of it so it won’t break down along the way. You won’t always be able to ride, so we’ll exercise daily to improve your pace, strength, and stamina. This afternoon, we’ll begin with a mile walk.”

“Walk a mile? After work?” Mattie Epps complained.

“Yes, and tomorrow we’ll do the same. We’ll increase the distance every two days by a mile. By the time we’re finished, you should be able to walk five miles before riding to rest. With possessions and children and sometimes soft ground, too heavy a load will overburden the mules. If you don’t take care of your animals, they won’t get you far. Treat them as you would family, or better, in some cases. Your lives may depend on them.”

“Why couldn’t we use oxen, Mr. Carr?” Ellie queried. “They eat free grass, not high grain; and we could eat them later. Why mules?”

“Mules get five miles a day more than oxen, Mrs. Davis,” Steve explained to the stout woman. “Every three days by mule team shortens your journey by a day over oxen. What you spend on grain will be less than what you would have spent on added supplies for yourselves on a longer ride. You can’t eat mules, unless you get mighty desperate, but they’re easier to manage and harness and they make good plow animals. Besides, outlaws don’t steal a tough, stringy mule as quickly and easily as a plump, tasty ox.”

As Steve grinned, other women smiled and laughed. A sense of humor to break the tension, Ginny decided. He sounded educated and he knew good manners, even if he had been curt to her earlier.

“What all do we have to learn?” Mattie Epps whined.

“Driving the wagon, controlling and maneuvering it, circling up for camp and safety, keeping the right pace and distance, crossing rivers, getting out of mud, repairing and replacing broken wheels, calming teams during storms, and defending yourself—things like that!”

“Defending ourselves? From whom?” Mattie asked.

“From bandits and raiders who still roam the land and prey on people,” he explained. “If any of you have special feeding times for babies, let me know so I can set our schedule for walks around them.”

Considerate, too, Ginny’s impressed mind added. She noticed how he had hurried past his first sentence, perhaps to avoid scaring them.

“Any of you ladies know how to harness and handle a team already?”

Ginny watched three of the fourteen women raise their hands. She was relieved she wasn’t the only novice in camp.

“How many can ride a horse?” he asked.

All but four hands lifted, and Virginia Anne Marston was delighted she was a skilled rider. She wondered if she should tell him she couldn’t ride western-style but she decided not to do so, as it couldn’t be much different from English sidesaddle.

“How many of you can load and fire a weapon?”

Ginny noticed how the leader grinned when everyone raised a hand, but something wasn’t right about those smiles and grins. Forced? she mused.

“Is anyone carrying a child?” He waited a moment then pressed, “Speak up if it’s true. I don’t want your life or that of the baby endangered. As I told you, this is going to be a tough pace and hard work.” No woman responded so Steve continued. “Do any of you have a physical problem that might affect your training or interfere with chores along the way?”

Lucy Eaves raised her hand. “I have a gimp ankle,” she said, “but it rarely gives me any trouble.”

Steve glanced at the slightly twisted ankle she revealed by lifting her hem. “Be sure to let me know if it does.”

“Yes, sir,” Lucy replied with a cheerful smile.

“Any questions or comments before we get started?” Steve’s alert gaze drifted from one woman to the next around the circle enclosing him. He didn’t care for this pretense of liking and helping these people, but he would do his job and do it to the best of his ability. As soon as he unmasked the culprit he was searching for, he could turn this group over to the genuine wagontrain leader who was awaiting them near the west Georgia line. “Let’s get to how a wagon works and how to take care of it,” he began his instructions. “Jeff Eaves, Lucy’s husband, has loaned us the use of his wagon for today’s lesson. Let’s gather there,” he told them, pointing to it.

Steve looked at the beauty who kept—annoyingly—snagging his eye and interest. “I don’t think you want to train in that fancy dress, Miss Avery,” he remarked. To everyone, he said, “It’s best to wear your oldest clothes, ladies, not things you don’t want ruined. If you own pants, those will be easier for you to move around and work in. Don’t worry about looking stylish during lessons or on the trail; we’ll all be too tired to notice. Let’s move out now,” he ordered as if leading a cattle drive to market.

The others headed toward Lucy Eaves’s wagon, but Steve blocked the disquieting lady’s way and asked, “Why don’t you make a quick change? I’d hate to see that pretty dress spoiled; and so will you. If you hurry, you won’t hold us up too long.” He turned and strolled toward the other women, all of whom observed the scene with interest.

Ginny stared into his retreating back before she rushed to the Avery wagon where her trunks were stored. His two remarks had stung. She searched for something more appropriate than the promenade dress she was wearing. When she had dressed this morning in town, she hadn’t considered proper attire for her lessons today. She took out a green skirt and blouse and, after drawing the privacy cord, changed clothes. As she fumbled with buttons in her rush not to “hold them up too long,” she fumed, If that was a compliment about my wardrobe, it came through the back door! Her mother used to tell her, “Pretty is as pretty does.” The same was true of handsome, and the leader certainly wasn’t behaving that way. March 24, 1867, was not going to be an easy day, she fretted, if he continued to behave in this critical manner.

When Ginny rejoined the others, Steve looked her over with an expression that seemed to ask, Are those the oldest and worst clothes you own? She exchanged smiles with Lucy Eaves and Ellie Davis, ignoring him.

“Now, ladies, we can get started.” As he pointed out parts of the wagon and harnesses, he explained their functions and care.

Ginny observed the guide with annoyance, baffled by his mercurial ways. He was on one knee as he motioned to the underpinnings of the wagon and detailed its construction. His voice was like gently rippling water as his inflections altered during his explanation. His expression was unreadable. He performed his task with skill and ease, but she sensed he was thinking about something else. Her gaze drifted over his face where not a scar or flaw was visible. Along his chiseled jawline and above his perfect mouth was the dark stubble of one day’s beard growth, instead of ill-kempt, it made him appear mysterious and virile. His soft hair was as black and shiny as a raven’s wing beneath the sun. She remembered he was tall, about six feet and three inches. Her eyes swept past his face of strong, rugged, and appealing features to shoulders that evinced their broadness and strength through the dark-blue cotton shirt that pulled snugly over his torso as he moved his arms to point out different areas of the wagon.

Ginny found it odd that two pistols were strapped around his waist in a camp so close to civilization. Stranger to her was the fact that they were secured with thongs to his muscled thighs in the manner she had viewed in photographs of western cowboys and gunslingers. The weapons, the initials S.C. intricately carved into the butts and resting in artistically hand-tooled holsters, looked as much a part of him as his darkly tanned flesh. No doubt they provided an important clue to his character; just as the sheathed knife that was strapped to his left leg with its handle peeking over the edge of well-worn boots should tell her he was a man who would defend himself with prowess. She wondered what this man did when he was not guiding wagontrains west, and if he were married or had a sweetheart. Surely there was far more to him, she concluded, than met the naked eye. It was unnervingly evident to her that concentration would be the toughest part of her training with a man like this as her teacher.

Steve was accustomed to doing and thinking more than one thing at a time, so he knew the beautiful female was studying him and not listening again. He almost corrected her but found it amusing that such a refined lady would find a rough man like him worth her scrutiny. He would be astonished if she could endure the training period; probably within two days she would be begging her father to remain in civilized Savannah, whining peevishly. Surely Anna had been a spoiled, pampered, and wealthy southern belle before the North had challenged the South; and it didn’t appear as if the war had changed those things for her. From his observation during the men’s training, Charles Avery had not struck him as a scalawag—those greedy and traitorous Southerners who sided with Northern conquerors. He, for one, would never forget or forgive what certain Yankees had done to him in that Union prison after his capture at Shiloh. Shu, he had been a fool to get involved in a war that had nothing to do with him.

This particular mission wasn’t to his liking, either. Unmasking the cunning man and the illegal group of his that was reported to be using this wagontrain as a cover for transporting stolen gems to a contact out West wasn’t the bad part; duping these fine people was. But he always did as ordered. Somehow and someway, he must locate the sinister shipment and stop it from reaching its destination. He must prevent it from being exchanged for arms and ammunition for the Red Magnolias—a band in the Invisible Empire, the dreaded Ku Klux Klan—to use in their evil schemes. The leader of that group was clever; he knew valuable gems would not leave deep telltale wagon ruts as hauling heavy gold would and that the stones could be secreted many places in a loaded wagon or hidden compartment. It was up to him to find the treasure and to expose the culprits responsible.

To keep his mind off Miss Anna Avery, Steve looked at the gentle redhead, Ruby Amerson, who was trying to take in every word he spoke. A young mother of two babies, one a few months old and the other a little over a year, this training period was not going to be easy for her, he was sure, but she had a determined look in her eyes. He liked and respected that, and there weren’t many people who extracted those feelings in him. He would do whatever necessary to get to know these people quickly so he could complete his mission and move on to his next challenge.

A child’s piercing squeal had captured Ginny’s attention; the guide suddenly appeared before her and said her borrowed name with cutting sharpness. Startled, she jumped and jerked her gaze to his scowling face.

“Miss Avery, you can’t learn if you don’t listen,” he admonished with a tone seemingly meant to make her tremble in dread of punishment.

Unaccustomed to the assumed name, she hadn’t responded to it immediately. She didn’t like being scolded like an errant child. They exchanged challenging looks for a moment before his chilling gaze cleared her head. “I’m sorry, Mr. Carr, but I heard a child scream. I looked to see if anything was wrong.”

“Children yell all the time when they’re playing, Miss Avery, and I presume their fathers are tending them as ordered.”

“Yes, sir,” she responded to end the matter. She was miffed by his tone before the other women, who were watching in silence. Her new assessment of him was of an arrogant, rude, and demanding man.

As if reading her dark thoughts, he asked, “Why don’t you help me show how to grease axles? That should keep your mind where it should be.”

“I’d be delighted,” she conceded as she struggled to conceal her vexation and embarrassment. Ginny noticed that only one female, a dark-haired beauty named Cathy King, seemed to find the situation entertaining.

“You’ll need the grease bucket from the back,” he told her, as if to let her know he didn’t intend to wait on her or the others as a servant.

Ginny made her way through the group of women to the location he had pointed out earlier. Lucy, Ellie, and Ruby sent her encouraging smiles. She lifted the container from a hook and returned to her now-grinning teacher with his irritating smirk of victory. She herself did not smile as she asked, “What now?”

Steve took the bucket with a mixture of tar and animal fat, pulled out the swab, and demonstrated on one axle how to apply it in the right places and amounts. “Now, you try it on the other three.” Ginny did her best to repeat his actions. The other women followed her from wheel to wheel to observe. At the last one, she asked Steve, who had been silent along the way, if she had done the task correctly.

“All right for a beginner; you’ll do better with practice. Just make sure you don’t get distracted and miss a wheel or a spot. If you do, it’s certain trouble.” He half turned to tell the others to take a break. “But be back here at two sharp, ladies,” he added.

In her annoyed state, Ginny let the swab fall lower and stain her skirt. She didn’t understand why he was picking on her, unless something he’d been thinking had put him in a bad mood. When she saw what she’d done, she exhaled in irritation. She commanded herself not to let the contradictory man get to her like this.

“It’s probably ruined,” Steve observed, “but I warned you to wear old clothes.”

“These are my oldest clothes,” she retorted in a frosty tone and with a matching glare meant to silence him.

“Then you’re damned lucky, Miss Avery. The others aren’t as fortunate as you are. I hope you’ll do your best not to create envy in them with your good looks and fine clothes.”

That’s a curious way to compliment a lady after you’ve humiliated her. “I’ll do my best to behave in all respects, sir,” she said, her voice dripping sarcasm. “You don’t have to be so rude and mean. ‘Never let personal dislikes or disagreements interfere with our purpose for being here,’ you said earlier. As our leader, mine included, you could follow your own advice and be nice.”

His teeth almost gritted out his reply. “I’m not here to be nice, only to get you and the others out West. If I relax as much as you’ve done this morning, someone could get hurt or killed. Distractions and weaknesses are dangerous. I’m paid to see that everyone—and that means you, too—arrives safe and alive; and I will, in any way necessary, even if it means being ‘rude and mean.’ I can’t afford to be too friendly with people in my charge. If I am, some get lax, take advantage, or get rebellious. I’m sure a charming lady like you will make plenty of friends without needing me as one. See you later.”

As he walked away, Ginny wondered what in the world that chiding was about, or if it even referred to her minor misconduct. She hoped he hadn’t chosen her to be his example of what happened when he was disobeyed or angered. She didn’t need his verbal abuse, not after what she’d suffered recently.

So what if he does have the responsibility of eight-four people and the displeasing task of training fifteen women! she fumed. He chose it, so he could be at least pleasant and polite.

As her thoughts sank in, Ginny realized the seriousness of his job. Maybe he had to be bossy and demanding to maintain authority, discipline, and cooperation. In the past, she’d had teachers like that, and their tough tactics had, in fact, worked to keep their classes in control.

In all honesty, she had provoked him, however unintentionally. She hadn’t paid attention or taken the lessons with the gravity they deserved. Perhaps her conduct had come across as an air of superiority. She didn’t think she was any better than anyone here. In fact, that moody guide would be surprised by what she had endured and by what loomed before her.

Ginny absently brushed at the axle-grease stain. It not only smeared but had stuck to her hand. She replaced the bucket and headed to the wagon she would share with Charles Avery, her alleged father. He had returned to town to see someone and wouldn’t be back for a few days. That was good, for it gave her privacy, fewer chores, and it meant he wouldn’t witness her problems before she could correct them.

She wrapped a handkerchief around her sticky hand and sat inside the wagon to stay out of view while she ate the chicken and biscuits she had brought with her. Other women were busy cooking their food or feeding their families or cleaning up after a cozy meal. She shouldn’t feel guilty about not having as many chores as they did, or for having more time to rest between training periods. They were the lucky ones; they knew how to cook outside—how to cook period! She had helped Charles’s sister Martha for over a week with household chores, but she had only cooked on a stove and never unattended. She stared at the pots in the wagon as if they were enemies out to get her. As much as possible, she must observe the other women and learn from them, preferably while still camped for the week. She could imagine how her ignorance in those areas would amuse Steve Carr, and no matter what she had to do to conceal her inexperience from him, she would do just that.

Ginny changed her skirt and headed to the river with soap to remove the grease from the stained one and from her hand. She knelt on a large, flat rock to work on her smelly fingers. The combination of animal fat and tar was stubborn and resisted her strongest efforts to remove it; and instead of coming off, it spread to clean areas to make a worse mess. What should—

“Use this,” Steve offered over her shoulder.

Ginny jumped in surprise. “You move as quietly as a feather falling. What is it?” she asked, looking at the metal cup he was holding.

“Kerosene; it’ll cut the grease. Just don’t get near a flame until it’s scrubbed off or you’ll light up the area like a roaring wildfire. Better put cream on afterward; both of those mixtures are harsh on soft hands.”

She accepted the cup of strong-smelling flammable liquid and thanked him, wondering how he knew where she was and what she was doing, and why he was being nice suddenly. She rubbed it over her hands, grateful it removed the tar. As instructed, she thoroughly scrubbed them with soap afterward.

Steve had concluded he was being too tough on Anna Avery if he was to get close enough to learn anything from her—if she and her father were his target, that was. Clearly she wasn’t acquainted with household chores or she’d know lamp oil took off tar, so he hadn’t been wrong about her pampered rearing. As she lifted her skirt to pour kerosene on its blackened area, he warned, “It’ll take the color out and weaken the cloth in that area.” Her response made him chuckle.

“Better faded and thin than to have a sticky mess. I can’t use it again like this.” She . . .