Keeping Secrets (12 page)

Ma thought in silence, while Peg held her breath.
“Very well,” she finally said. “You’ll have her home before tomorrow evening?”

Miss Hennessey smiled. “Safe and sound,” she said.

“I’ll run upstairs and get ready!” Peg cried.
Safe and sound
, she repeated to herself, but as she fumbled with the buttons on her dress her fingers trembled.

11
 

B
UNDLED UP AGAINST
the crisp air, Peg tried to spark interesting conversations, commenting on the beauty of the red and gold leaves of fall, Ma’s receipt for apple custard pie, and even the disastrous results of Marcus Hurd’s hiding a dead frog in Miss Thomas’s desk; but Miss Hennessey’s thoughts seemed to be far away. Finally, becoming as silent as her companion, Peg wistfully remembered their previous trip and Miss Hennessey’s good humor.

Granted, it was terrible that Louis Parker had been shot, but he was recovering, wasn’t he? Nellie had written so. Ma had sent with them a large jar of barley soup and two loaves of bread, which should make anyone feel better. Why was Miss Hennessey so deeply depressed?

When they were close to River Road a patrol approached,
and for the first time Miss Hennessey sat up smartly.

“Don’t tell them about Louis,” she ordered Peg, who felt somewhat aggrieved that Miss Hennessey hadn’t taken it for granted that she was old enough to know better.

As the soldiers—none of whom they’d seen before—stopped beside the buggy, Miss Hennessey smiled and handed their patrol leader her letter of safe passage. “My daughter and I are paying a visit to my sister,” she said.

This soldier seemed less interested in them than had the other two patrol leaders they’d met. “What’s in the box?” he asked as he handed back the letter.

“Two loaves of bread and a container of barley soup,” Miss Hennessey answered.

“And the carpetbags?”

“A change of clothing.”

With a lazy wave of his hand he said, “Go on your way.” He rode on, his men following, not even looking back to see if Miss Hennessey had obeyed.

As they reached River Road Miss Hennessey pulled the horse’s reins to the right.

“Aren’t we going to your sister’s house?” Peg asked.

“There’s no need to bring you there,” Miss Hennessey said. “I’ll take you to the Swensons’ and pick you up tomorrow afternoon about three.”

“You won’t need me to help take care of Mr. Parker?”

For the first time Miss Hennessey smiled. “No, dear. As I told you and your mother, Nellie wrote that Louis is improving. He’ll need rest more than anything else.”

Peg’s heart jumped with delight. She’d be free to
spend both days with Danny. A small pang of guilt caused her to say, “You’re sure you won’t need me?”

“I’m sure.”

The moment the buggy halted, Peg thanked Miss Hennessey, snatched her small carpetbag, and leaped to the ground.

When Ennie, who had heard the buggy arrive, came out to greet Miss Hennessey, Peg grabbed her around the waist and cried, “I can stay until tomorrow afternoon!” Remembering her manners, she calmed down enough to add, “If you’ll have me, that is.”

“Of course we will,” Ennie said, “but you’ll find that Danny has a bit of a sniffle and cough and is tucked in bed with a mustard plaster on his chest. He
would
go out in that dreadful rainstorm that blew through here.”

Peg didn’t wait to hear any more. She left Ennie chatting with Miss Hennessey and ran into the Swensons’ house. Peg knew where Danny’s room was, and she knew she’d be staying in her old bedroom, so she threw her coat and carpetbag on her bed and raced to Danny’s bedroom, next door.

“We’re being attacked!” Danny yelled, as Peg banged on the closed door and slammed it open at the same time.

Peg grinned. “I’m here for two days this time!”

“All of you?”

“What do you mean,
all
of me?”

Danny pushed himself to a sitting position. “You made enough noise for ten people. I was sure a passel of bushwhackers was after me.”

Peg made a face as she flounced onto the end of Danny’s bed. “Phew! You stink!” she said.

Danny held the top of his nightshirt away from his body. “Mostly, all I’ve got is a runny nose, but Ennie insisted on a mustard plaster the first time she heard
me cough. The smelly thing’s about to burn a hole in my chest.”

Peg studied Danny. “She’s probably right. Your nose is red, and you’ve left soggy handkerchiefs—ugh!—all over the floor. Why’d you go out in the rainstorm if you didn’t have to?”

Danny didn’t answer. He listened intently, his eyes on the hall, then whispered, “Peg, close the door, and be quiet about it. There’s something I’ve got to tell you.”

Peg did as Danny said, then returned to perch on the foot of his bed. She wasn’t used to seeing such deep concern in Danny’s eyes, and it frightened her a little. “What’s the matter?” she asked.

Bluntly, Danny said, “Your Miss Hennessey’s brother-in-law, Mr. Parker, was shot in the arm.”

“I know that. It’s why Miss Hennessey came today to visit the Parkers. Mr. Parker was set upon by a robber, but he managed to get away, made it home by himself, and he’s already improving.”

“There you go, getting prissy again,” Danny complained. “You don’t know everything. Did Miss Hennessey tell you that story about a robber?”

“Yes. And it’s not a story. It’s what really happened.”

“I don’t think so, Peg,” Danny said.

“What are you talking about?”

“Tell me exactly what Miss Hennessey said, and then I’ll explain what I mean.”

“All right.” Peg thought hard, trying to remember the exact words, before she answered. “Louis was shot in the right arm, but it was a clean wound and it didn’t break the bone.”

“Where did it happen?”

“South of here, near the Kansas border.” Peg hesitated.
“I asked if he was shot by Quantrill, and Miss Hennessey said he wasn’t.”

“That’s a strange question. Why’d you happen to ask that?”

“Because John Murphy had read to us about Quantrill’s men getting together near the Kansas border and riding south, heading for Texas.”

Danny frowned. “I read that, too. Do you know the rest?”

“Yes,” Peg said. “I know Quantrill and his raiders stopped to attack a fort, but they didn’t win, so they attacked a general and his wagon train and then went on to kill some Indians and Negroes who were rounding up ponies for the Union Army.”

“How’d Quantrill know the wagon train was coming?”

“Somebody told him, I guess.” Peg frowned. “And somebody should have told that Union general where Quantrill’s men were.”

“It looks like the Confederates had spies and the Federals didn’t.”

“It’s not fair!” Peg huffed.

“It’s never going to be,” Danny answered.

Peg suddenly remembered what Danny had said earlier. “You didn’t tell me what you meant. You said that the story about a robbery was just a story.”

“At least some of it, maybe all of it.”

“Why?”

“Pay attention, and I’ll tell you. I was near the River Road on Thursday, rounding up two stray cows before the storm broke, and saw Mr. Parker ride home. Another man rode with him, which was lucky for Mr. Parker, I guess, because Mr. Parker was all bent over and looked something terrible.”

“Miss Hennessey said he made it home alone.”

“He didn’t. I followed them. That’s how I got this stupid cough.” Danny blew his nose, then said, “Besides, if Mr. Parker went to southern Missouri, near the Kansas border, it was more than a day’s ride. He had to spend the night somewhere and get a doctor’s help for his arm.”

“Maybe Mrs. Parker didn’t tell enough in her letter. That’s not Miss Hennessey’s fault.”

“It’s the same story that was given out to the neighbors. You’re just making excuses for her, Peg.” Danny reached for a clean handkerchief and again blew his nose.

“And you—you’re lying here in bed with nothing to do but make up ridiculous stories! I know Miss Hennessey better than you do, and she—”

Peg stopped abruptly, as the picture of James, Miss Hennessey’s cousin, rose vividly into her mind.

“She what?” Danny asked.

Peg stammered out the story about James, then burst into tears. “But she tried to convince him he’s wrong,” she sobbed. “Miss Hennessey is loyal to the Union. She told me she is!”

By the time Peg had pulled herself together, wiping her eyes on the corner of Danny’s bedspread because a handkerchief of her own wasn’t handy, she was startled to see that Danny had tossed his nightshirt and mustard plaster on the floor and was fully dressed.

“You’re not supposed to get out of bed,” Peg protested.

“I told you, I’m all right,” Danny said. “Get your coat.”

“Where are we going?”

“To visit the Parkers.”

“You think they’re spies, don’t you? Well, they’re not!” Peg shot back.

“I didn’t say they were spies.”

“Just because Mr. Parker was shot, it doesn’t mean he was contacting Quantrill. Danny, you know there are plenty of bushwhackers who’ve robbed and killed innocent people. I believe Mr. Parker’s story about being robbed.”

“All of it?”

“Well …”

“Peg, think about what you’ve told me. Haven’t you wondered, while Miss Hennessey explained, if she was telling the truth?”

“Yes,” Peg admitted. “But her answers made sense. They were believable.”

Danny put his hands on Peg’s shoulders and looked into her eyes. “They were believable because you wanted to believe, didn’t you?”

“She brings me here to visit you, Danny.” Peg flung her arms about her brother and clung to him. “I want to come. I miss you.”

“I miss you, too, and I’m glad you’re here, but we need to find out as much as we can about them.”

Peg groaned. “Why?”

“Peg, remember. We’re at war. Think what could happen to our country if the Confederates win! Would you like it better if I told Ennie and Alfrid what I suspect?”

“No!” Peg vigorously shook her head. “You can’t tell anybody, Danny! You know, from what’s been going on in southern Missouri, that the military patrols don’t ask questions or look for the truth. If they heard of any suspicion, they’d just arrest them—Miss Hennessey, too.”

“Then let’s you and me find out the truth.”

Peg hung back, scowling, so Danny grabbed her
hand. “We can’t,” she said. “It’s cold outside. You’ll get sicker if you go out.”

Danny opened the chest beside his bed, scattering the stack of clean handkerchiefs on it, and pulled out a knit cap and scarf. As he tugged the hat over his ears he said, “Now are you satisfied?”

“Ennie won’t be.”

He whipped the scarf around and around his neck. “Ennie doesn’t have to know. She’s in the kitchen making sweet potato pies, with Gussie there to lend her a hand.”

Exasperated, Peg stomped to the door and threw it open. “All right, Danny!” she said. “I’ll get my coat, and I’ll go with you to visit the Parkers, because I want to prove to you that you’re wrong, wrong, wrong!”

With the softest of footsteps they crept downstairs and left the house through the front door. Circling the house, they made their way to the barn.

“Do you mind riding bareback?” Danny asked.

“No,” Peg said. She climbed halfway up the side of the stall and swung her left leg onto Flash’s broad back.

Danny put the bridle and reins over Flash’s head, while Peg leaned down to stroke his neck.

“He’s older and quieter,” she said, remembering how smartly Flash and Fury had once stepped out as they pulled the Swensons’ buggy.

“Maybe he’s been lonely since Fury died,” Danny said. He opened the stall door, and reins in hand climbed onto the horse in front of Peg. “Hang on to me,” he said.

Peg wrapped her arms around his waist and relaxed, adjusting to Flash’s rolling movements.

They were quiet as they rode away from the Swensons’ house, expecting Ennie to rush outside at any
moment, demanding to know where they were off to and what Danny thought he was doing out in this chill air. But no one had noticed them, and soon they were on River Road, taking the turn to the Parkers’ house.

The closer they came, the more apprehensive Peg grew. “I think this was a terrible idea!” she complained. “I don’t know what to say or what to do.”

“Stop worrying,” Danny said. “We just decided to pay a call to see how Mr. Parker is faring. It’s as simple as that.”

“After they tell you how he was shot, will you believe them?”

“I don’t know,” Danny said. “I hope so.”

When they arrived at the Parkers’ house a large, mottled gray horse was tied to the hitching post.

“They’ve got company,” Peg said. “Maybe we’d better not go in.”

“They’ll have already heard or seen us,” Danny answered. He jumped off Flash and tied him to the post, then reached up to help Peg down. “I wonder if it’s the man I saw riding with Mr. Parker.”

“Was he a neighbor? Did you recognize him?”

“No, he wasn’t from around here. I’ve never seen him before.”

“Do you remember what he looked like?”

“Yes. No beard or mustache, and long—”

“Good morning.”

Peg looked up to see Mrs. Parker in the open doorway, a warm smile on her face.

“Good morning, ma’am,” Danny quickly said. “We came to see how Mr. Parker is doing.”