Antebellum BK 1 (33 page)

T
he railroad detective pointed at the open crates of rifles. “Are these yours, Ladies?”

“
Of course not,” Anna replied. “Those are guns. We’re shipping books.”

“
The crates say books on the outside,” the detective said, “but that’s not what’s inside.”

“
There must have been a mix-up at the warehouse in New York where they were crated,” Nancy said.

“
Yes,” Anna agreed. “Thank you for discovering the mistake before we arrived at our destination with those instead of the books.”

“
You might as well save your breath,” the detective advised. “The only reason that you’re not already under arrest is that I haven’t decided if I’ll wire the District Attorney or a Federal Marshal.”

“
It doesn’t matter who you decide to contact,” Anna replied. “We didn’t put those rifles in the crates and we didn’t inspect the crates before having them loaded on the ferry in Brooklyn. The City or Federal Government might charge us but they can’t make it stick.”

“
There’s a third option,” Nancy said. “You could confiscate the guns and accept a token of our gratitude to the railroad for saving us the inconvenience and the expense of a lawyer.”

~

“
He knows our names,” Nancy said as they walked out of the Camden and Amboy Railroad Station. “He could still report us to the authorities.”

Anna shook her head. “The moron signed a receipt for the money I gave him.”

Nancy looked back at the porter who was following them with an overloaded baggage cart. “Now what?”

“
We’re close to Van Buskirk Point. Let’s go home and think about that.”

May
9, 1853

Van Buskirk Point, New Jersey

T
he morning sun was glowing on the new leaves as Nancy walked out of the front door. “I love spring here. We should stay for a week or two.”

Anna was sitting in a rocking chair. “There’s no reason why we can’t. We’re supposed to be on our way to Kansas.”

Nancy pulled a second rocker closer to Anna and sat down. “Let’s go for a walk in the woods later. Do you remember that clearing with all the flowers?”

“
The one with the little pond where we saw the swans?”

Nancy nodded. “Do you suppose it’s still there?”

“
I don’t see why not. Nobody ever goes up there.”

“
Your mother was furious at us for wandering off that far.”

“
She was always furious at me for something.”

“
The way I remember it, you were always provoking her.”

Anna shrugged. “Maybe. Were you here with us that last Easter that Jack’s wife Caroline and Little John were alive?”

Nancy shook her head. “I was in love with Jack at the time. Seeing him happily married would have been too painful.”

“
It seems to me that you were having an affair with William.”

“
If you could call it that.” Nancy sighed.

“
I got into a fight with Mother and went back to Washington,” Anna said. “I wasn’t there for the Easter egg hunt. I’ve always regretted that.”

“
You had a horrible temper, back then.”

Anna nodded. “I was always angry.”

“
Maybe you had good reason.”

“
Maybe. But I still wish I’d seen Little John’s egg hunt.”

“
That may be the last time your whole family was together,” Nancy said.

“
I think it was.” She giggled. “I remember my father settling an argument. Caroline and I were coloring eggs, right here on the porch. Little John snatched an egg and ran off with it. Caroline and I were both upset because without that egg we’d have an odd number. My father solved it by taking an egg from my basket and cracking it. ‘Now you have an even number again,’ he said.”

Nancy giggled.

“
I didn’t appreciate how wise he was until recently.”

“
He helped me through the worst time in my whole life.”

Anna looked surprised. “You never told me that.”

“
And that’s all I’m going to tell you.”

Anna sat back in her chair. “Ah. It was Dad that invited you to stay with us.”

“
Yes. With your mother’s permission, of course.”

“
I was oblivious to everything.”

“
That’s the way I wanted it.”

Anna turned to look at her. “If we’re going to hike in the woods you better get dressed.”

“
Let’s go tomorrow. I’d rather just sit here and look at the water right now.”

December
24, 1853

Manhattan, New York

D
uring the previous summer the central courtyard of John Jacob Astor’s Park Hotel had been covered by an elliptical vaulted cast-iron and glass “rotunda” and converted to a dining room. Tonight a Viennese waltz orchestra was seated on a temporary tiered platform and the center tables had been removed to turn the dining room into a Christmas Eve ballroom.

Caitlin Livingston laughed as Cadet Johnny Van Buskirk whirled her across the floor. The gaslights made her eyes sparkle like the diamonds in her tiara. “Isn’t the music wonderful?”

“
Having an excuse to hold you in my arms is all the wonder I need,” Johnny replied.

“
I think you want to kiss me.”

“
You’re as wise as you are beautiful.”

“
Perhaps I’ll share my blanket with you on the sleigh ride home.”

“
And what else will you share?”

“
I may let you hold my hand, naughty boy.”

“
No kisses?”

“
We’ll see.”

Johnny’s brother Cadet Paul Van Buskirk and his cousin Captain Quincy Van Buskirk were standing at the curved bar, opposite the orchestra. “I think she’s a smashing girl,” Paul said.

Quincy shrugged. “Perhaps she is. It may be that she’s too immature for a man of my age.”

Paul watched Caitlin swirl by in his brother’s arms. “She’s sixteen and looks pretty mature to me.”

“
I prefer more experienced women. They know what life’s about.”

“
Are the ladies in South Carolina as charming as I’ve been told?” Paul asked.

“
Indeed. When you’re a bit older I might tell you about them.” Quincy used hand signals to order them another drink.

December 25, 1853

Van Buskirk Point, New Jersey

N
ancy sat up in bed, yawned noisily and stretched. “Merry Christmas, Anna.” She patted the lump in the bed beside her. “It’s after eight.”

“
Lemme sleep ten more minutes,” Anna grumbled into her pillow.

“
Come on. Get up. You can have the bathroom first.”

“
You go ahead.”

“
The boys will be eager to open their gifts and Caitlin Livingston is coming over from Elizabeth.”

“
Uh-uh.”

“
What does uh-uh mean?”

“
The boys didn’t get home from New York until just after dawn. Paul was drunk as a lord. Caitlin and her brother went with them so she’s not going to show up any time soon.”

“
Paul was drunk?”

“
Very.” Anna rolled over and blinked at Nancy. “I think Quincy may have been too, but Paul was the loudest.”

“
How about Johnny?”

“
From what I heard, Johnny and Caitlin were huddled under a blanket sharing saliva all the way back.”

Nancy giggled. “Sharing saliva? Did they say that or did you just make it up?”

“
The boys said swapping spit. I cleaned it up.”

Nancy giggled again. “Johnny’s turning into a Don Juan.”

“
He’s definitely more interested in women than any of the other boys.”

“
I don’t think he’s any more interested, he’s just more successful,” Nancy said. “The other two feign indifference to hide their jealousy.”

“
Do you think Quincy’s handsome?”

“
Of course he is. Why do you ask?”

“
I was just wondering about his lack of success with girls.”

“
That won’t last long,” Nancy said. “He’s going to break a slew of hearts before he settles down.”

“
Oh no,” Anna groaned.

“
What?”

“
Didn’t you hear that?” Anna asked.

“
Yes. It was the screen door. Mrs. Keller just let someone in the back door. So what?”

“
I must have been wrong about Caitlin.”

“
Maybe it was the milkman or the iceman.”

“
On Christmas morning?”

“
Okay, I’ll go entertain her while you get dressed.” Nancy got up, put on her robe and slippers, then stopped in front of the mirror to unbraid and brush out her hair. “Do you think we should have a talk with Caitlin about how babies are made?”

“
She has a mother for that.”

“
What about Johnny? We’re the only parents he has here.”

“
You do it; I wouldn’t be comfortable talking about sex with him,” Anna replied. “I never even discussed it with my own son.

“
If I talk to him he might interpret it as me making a pass.”

Anna giggled. “Now that I seriously doubt.”

Nancy put down the hairbrush and opened a pot of rouge. “Well I’m not going to do it.” She rubbed the surface of the rouge with her index finger, touched each cheek then added color to her lips. “If Caitlin and Johnny ruin their lives, I’m not accepting any part of the blame.” She soothed the pink dots onto her cheek bones.