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  A group of spies, Peggy had called them. Annabelle tended to believe her. It would be best when she made it to Westerly and away from these miscreants.

  Captain Daniels stepped into her line of sight, hefting a saddle across his shoulder. “I am sorry about not being able to find you a ladies’ saddle, Miss Ross.”

  She patted the horse’s thick neck. “As you have said, Captain. I thank you for your concern, but I shall manage.”

  She didn’t look at him as he readied her mount, instead stroking the horse’s mane and trying to keep her appearance of aloof composure. She had to work doubly hard to present herself as a lady. Perhaps if she were able to forget their embarrassing first meeting and subsequent flight through the woods, then maybe he would as well. Neither of them had spoken of their time together prior to his showing up at Rosswood. She wondered how long she might be able to keep it that way.

  Captain Daniels finished readying the horse and securing her bag behind the saddle without another word, then left to continue with other preparations. She watched his wide shoulders retreat, and her brows pulled together. The horse stomped, cold breath billowing from his nostrils and tugging her attention away from Captain Daniels.

  “Easy, boy,” Annabelle soothed, her own words carried on the fine mist like a puff of smoke. Oh, how she wished for spring.

  Peggy made a wide berth around the horse’s hindquarters and stepped up to Annabelle, eyeing the creature the entire time. “You’s sure they can’t get no wagon?”

  “No. I already asked. They want the freedom riding allows.” She twisted the black mane through her fingers. How had a group of soldiers on furlough been able to find, and afford, six well-tended horses? She didn’t doubt they would have been able to get a wagon, if they had been so inclined. Mr. O’Malley’s insistence they didn’t need one didn’t sit well with her, but she wasn’t about to voice that to Peggy.

  Peggy snorted. “I done told you, I ain’t ridin’ one of those things.”

  “I don’t see where you have a choice. You can’t just walk along behind us.”

  The horse bobbed its head, and Peggy jerked back. “I still don’t like it,” she grumbled.

  “I am quite aware.” Annabelle smirked.

  Peggy ignored her jab and tugged up the hem of Annabelle’s skirt. “You got them trousers on?” she whispered.

  Annabelle felt the heat rise in her cheeks but nodded. She didn’t have a proper riding habit or even a ladies’ saddle. The men seemed to think nothing of the indignity of making her ride astride the horse. Thankfully, they had not questioned when Peggy had asked for extra pairs of men’s pants to be added to the list of supplies.

  What would Father think to know his daughter was wearing trousers under her petticoat? At least her legs would be covered when her skirts hiked up. Wearing pants felt the lesser of the two humiliations.

  “All right, then,” Peggy said. “I’s sure goin’ to be glad when we get there. I just hope what we’s goin’ to ain’t worse than what we’s leavin’.”

  Annabelle gave Peggy’s hand a small squeeze. “As do I.”

  Mr. O’Malley’s voice rose above the quiet conversations and sounds of jostling tack. “The time has come, friends. We ride for Washington!”

  Annabelle started. Before she could open her mouth to protest, Captain Daniels appeared at her side, untying the horse’s reins and handing them to her.

  “I forgot to tell you earlier. We will have to go farther than expected.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

  Annabelle gaped at him.

  Captain Daniels cleared his throat. “It, uh, seems my brother is no longer at home. We will have to meet him in Washington.”

  Peggy snorted again, and Annabelle narrowed her eyes at the captain. He looked decidedly uncomfortable.

  “Our arrangement was for me to travel to Westerly. Not Washington. Surely, you cannot think such a journey is prudent?”

  “I assure you, I will see you arrived safely.”

  Annabelle glared at him. “Then you can see me safely to your family home.”

  His shoulders tensed. “I am afraid I cannot.”

  “Why?” she pressed. “Does it no longer stand? Is this entire thing just a scheme to get me away from my home so you can take Rosswood from me?” She regretted the bitter words as soon as they leapt from her tongue but could not call them back.

  Confusion creased his brow for only a moment before it was replaced by anger. “Miss Ross.” His low voice sent a shiver through her not associated with the chill. Around them, the others had mounted their horses and stood quietly by. He leaned closer, his long hair curtaining the side of his face. “I assure you, my family lands are completely intact, and I sought only to give you a measure of escape from your circumstances. I have never intended to take anything from you.”

  She could only stare at his glassy eyes.

  “However, if you no longer wish to meet my brother, you are free to return to your grandfather at any time.”

  Annabelle drew a steadying breath and took a small step back. Would it be worth the risk? Could she truly trust this man? She could not reconcile the boisterous youth from her memory with the serious features of the man before her. Had he really ever done anything other than help her?

  She dropped her gaze. “Forgive me. I think my fear of traveling so far into the unknown has gotten the better of my self-control.”

  She could nearly feel the tension release from his frame. He placed a hand on her elbow. When she looked into his face, his eyes were soft. “There is no need for forgiveness. Your concern is valid. I did not expect for you to need to travel so far, and I assure you, if I could avoid it, I would.”

  His words seeped sincerity, so she offered him a small smile. Behind her, Peggy grumbled something that they both ignored.

  Captain Daniels helped her get her foot into the stirrup, and she swung her leg over the side of the horse. She noted the surprise, followed by amusement, spark in his eyes when he saw the trousers sticking out from under the ruffles of her petticoat, but he made no mention of it.

  He looked up at her, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Just think, Miss Ross, at least someday you’ll be able to tell your children you attended the second inauguration of the sixteenth President of the United States.”

  With that, he turned on his heel, leaving her staring after him, baffled. In a moment, he had Peggy sitting on top of a brown mare and looking more harried than Annabelle had ever seen her. Annabelle placed a gloved hand to her mouth to cover her smile, but Peggy was not fooled. She rolled her eyes and sat straighter in the saddle, her hiked skirts showing a pair of dirty boots and tall, woolen socks.

  Mr. O’Malley called for them to move out, and in a few moments Annabelle found herself trailing a group of soldiers, who were more likely spies, into a cold morning and down the road that would lead her ever farther from home.

  Matthew tried to ignore the guilt clawing at his stomach. O’Malley insisted that the girl knew too much and had to remain with them until the plan was safely carried out. They had talked long into the night, and try as he had, Matthew could think of no safer place for her than at his side. Finally, he had given in and come up with the only lie he could think of: that George waited for them in Washington. Clearly, she suspected his deceit, yet she still came with him. Her trust was like a knife to his gut.

  He told himself he meant only to protect her, and that the arrangement would indeed be beneficial to George, but the truth of it continued to surface. He liked her near. Despite the fortifications she had now thrown up against him, he had already seen the capable woman with quick wits and quiet determination. He’d glimpsed the fiery lady she now tried to smother under a mantle of forced refinement. Why did she think the cold, stuffy person she tried to project was more appealing than the spirited woman who had made him give chase?

  Matthew glanced over his shoulder and caught her eye briefly, but she quickly turned her face from
him. He looked forward. The answer was simple enough. She did not wish him to find her appealing at all. The horses stepped onto the main road, and O’Malley called for them to get up into a quick canter. If they were to make it to Washington in time, they would have to push the horses hard and change them often. O’Malley had assured him that funds for the venture were secure, and they would not have to worry with travel.

  Apparently, O’Malley had gotten word from someone named John Surratt, who had said something about having secured the necessary aid. How far was Matthew really willing to go with this plan? The more O’Malley revealed, the less it seemed like a wild scheme and more like an active secret mission.

  O’Malley had mentioned contacts in Canada and connections within the Confederate government who were not only privy to the idea, but in support of it if they were to find the opportunity. How had these things been going on within his unit, and he’d never known? He’d spent most of the winter with the men who rode in front of him and had never once guessed they would be deeply involved with such a conspiracy. How had they become involved in something so monumental it could change the course of history? For that matter, how had he?

  Could Matthew really be a part of something that would shift the tide of the war? Gain the South’s independence and see his family returned to Westerly with George safely at its head?

  What if it were a risk worth taking?

  Gritting his teeth against the biting wind, Matthew lowered his head and urged his horse faster. If that little woman could hold on just a little longer, perhaps she’d soon find herself in the company of heroes.

  A rifle shot cut through the air and in an instant, Benson toppled from his saddle and hit the ground. Matthew pulled up hard on his horse’s bit, which caused the animal to rear and it nearly threw him from the saddle. When the creature returned to the ground, Matthew jerked on the reins to spin the horse around. Another crack came from his right, and O’Malley screamed at them to run. Matthew found Miss Ross barreling toward him, hunkered low and riding evenly in the saddle. Behind her, the Negro maid screamed and had dropped the reins, both of which were trailing on the ground behind the spooked horse.

  Matthew spun his mount around just as Miss Ross reached him and the two horses galloped in stride, the maid screaming behind them. Miss Ross threw anxious glances behind her.

  “Captain Daniels!” she screeched.

  Another gunshot split the air, and Matthew turned to see a squad of five Confederates gaining hard on them.

  Curse it. They would not be able to lose them on this road.

  “We have to cut into the woods for cover!” he shouted at Miss Ross. She gave him a quick nod, and as they topped a hill, Matthew saw a break in the tree line.

  He swerved the horse to his left, and Miss Ross peeled off along with him. He glanced behind. The slave woman was holding onto the saddle, bent forward over the horse’s neck and beginning to slide off one side.

  Miss Ross screamed, “You have to help her!”

  He kicked his heels into his horse and spun it back toward the road, a plan half-formed in his mind. “You catch her! I’ll distract them.” He didn’t wait to see what she would do. Matthew whipped the reins around behind him, slapping the horse’s hindquarters and urging it faster back in the direction they had just come.

  Oh, Lord, let them not have a loaded shot.

  Matthew unleashed the rebel yell he had never once used against his own and saw the shocked expressions on their faces just before his horse plowed straight into the onslaught. One of the men lunged for him and nearly succeeded in unhorsing him, but by some miracle Matthew was able to shift his weight and wrench the man’s hand free. The soldier fell to the ground with a grunt.

  Matthew didn’t recognize any of the soldiers. Thankfully, they were not from his company. Regardless, the looks of determination on their faces meant they were to bring him in. Alive or not.

  In a matter of seconds, he had broken through to the other side and was galloping headlong in the direction from which he’d come earlier, hoping the soldiers would pursue him and allow the women to get away.

  In a fervor of shouts, two of the remaining four pursuers managed to get their sweating horses to spin around and give chase. Matthew glanced over his shoulder just as one of them pulled a pistol and leveled it in his direction.

  Grinding his teeth and lowering himself as much as he could, he yanked hard on the reins and jerked the horse left just as a bullet whizzed by his head.

  “I have arranged all our plans and secured the desired assistance.”

  Annabelle gripped the saddle with her thighs and was suddenly grateful she was not riding sidesaddle. She squeezed harder, and the horse lunged forward, coming alongside Peggy’s mount. The two horses bobbed awkwardly, their bodies swaying dangerously close as Annabelle reached out and tried to grab the horse’s fallen rein.

  Peggy screamed, too frightened to even form her terror into words.

  Annabelle strained across the gap, the ground beneath passing by at an alarming rate. Despite the frigid air biting at her face, sweat popped up across her brow. If only she could reach just a little farther….

  Her fingers brushed the side of the horse’s neck. The dropped rein dangled precariously from the horse’s bit and down its chest, flapping between its front legs. If it were to step on one, the sudden lurch would send Peggy flying. She urged her own horse faster, and he finally gained a stride on the other, bringing Annabelle closer to the other horse’s bridle. Finally, her fingers were able to grab the rein close to the bit. She clenched it tightly and quickly pulled the length of it up from the ground.

  Annabelle dared a glance behind her. Two men were still in pursuit, but neither aimed weapons at them. Ahead, she had lost sight of the other men in the group she’d left with earlier this morning. How long would the horses be able to keep up such reckless speed?

  Peggy finally quit screaming and leaned all the way forward in the saddle with both of her arms wrapped around the horse’s neck. Thankfully, it seemed she kept both feet in the stirrups.

  “Peggy!”

  She didn’t answer. Her eyes were squeezed tight, and her lips were moving silently.

  “Peggy!” Annabelle screamed.

  Peggy’s eyes snapped open in wide-eyed terror.

  “Reach with your right hand, and grab that other rein!” Annabelle screeched as the horses galloped wildly down the road, sending up clouds of dirt behind them. She wouldn’t be able to control the horse with only one rein. She’d have to have both, and to reach the second she needed Peggy’s cooperation.

  Peggy shook her head and tried to bury her face in the black mane that whipped through the air and slapped across her cheeks.

  “Peggy! You have to get it. If the horse steps on it, you’re going to go flying!”

  Peggy snatched her head up and stared at Annabelle in shock.

  “Grab it. Now!”

  Peggy struggled forward and, after a couple of attempts, managed to grasp the rein and pull it to her. Knowing that Peggy would not steer the horse on her own, Annabelle reached out and took it from Peggy, gathering both of the horse’s reins in one hand and urging her own mount to gallop faster with the other.

  Both horses had begun to froth with sweat, but her mount managed to gain even more of a lead on Peggy’s until she was in front of the other horse and leading it with the outstretched reins. She glanced back over her shoulder, quickly assessing that Peggy was hanging on for her life. Behind them, the two men were still in pursuit, though they were not as close as they had been before. She breathed a prayer of thanks for a fast horse and leaned lower in the saddle.

  Up ahead, she finally caught sight of the other men. David O’Malley caught her eye and frantically waved for her to follow them. As if she could do anything else!

  Her heart beat furiously. How would they escape the pursuers who would see her tried as a spy? If they’d had any doubt before, her escape from their camp and current company had plast
ered her with apparent guilt.

  Suddenly, O’Malley and the other man, Harry, veered right and plunged into a small clearing off the road. Annabelle urged her horse to catch them, the one behind slipping back until she only grasped the end of the leads.

  Please, horse, keep up!

  If it were to pull free, she doubted she would be able to regain it. They thundered across the meadow and into the woods beyond. Annabelle was forced to lay low against the horse and trust him to follow the other of his kind ahead of him, lest she be swept from the saddle by a low-hanging limb.

  How long they wove through the woods she couldn’t be certain. Time lost all meaning as the horse leapt, stumbled, and darted through the trees. Finally, they came upon a shallow creek and steered the horses into it.

  Thankful for the open air above her head, Annabelle sat straighter and turned to look over her shoulder. Peggy was still atop her horse, thank the Lord. And she didn’t see the soldiers! Was it possible they had outrun them?

  She prayed it was so. After a time, they pulled the horses from the creek when the footing became rockier and the water deeper. They took to the woods again, limbs tugging at her arms and hair and….

  Oh dear. She’d lost another bonnet. Her hair streamed out behind her. What would Captain Daniels think now… where was he?

  She hadn’t seen him since he had plunged toward the soldiers and given her the chance to pull away. Her stomach tightened.

  Please, don’t let him have been captured or…worse.

  She ducked her head low and let tears of frustration chill her face further. Her horse stumbled, his sides heaving. Despite her squeezing, he slowed to a walk and could not be convinced to move any faster.

  Ahead, Mr. O’Malley drew up his horse and waited for them to approach.

  “I think we may have lost them.”

  Annabelle glanced behind them, then nodded.

  “Where is Daniels?”

  She pressed her lips into a line to keep them from trembling. She drew a long breath before answering. “I don’t know. He turned toward them and gave a distraction for me and Peggy to get away.”