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Authors: Joan Lowery Nixon

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BOOK: Keeping Secrets
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Ma got up and brought her a dry one. She patted Miss Hennessey’s shoulder and said, “I’m so sorry that I brought up unhappy memories.”

Miss Hennessey wiped her eyes. “It’s all right,
Noreen. I just hope you can understand how alone I felt, with Nellie and Louis so far away. You can imagine how thrilled I was when I discovered they’re now close at hand.”

“Perhaps they can visit you in St. Joseph,” Ma said.

Violet climbed to her feet, her shoulders drooping. “Perhaps,” she murmured, but there was no hope in her voice.

Ma stood, too. She took a long look at Peg, then turned back to Violet. “You’ll have Peg home again before too late?”

“Before dark. I promise.”

Peg sucked in her breath. “Please, Ma?” she whispered.

“If it weren’t for the possibilities that patrols might stop you …”

Miss Hennessey pulled a folded piece of paper from her reticule and gave it to Ma. “Here’s the letter General John Bassett wrote for me. You can see it’s official. No one will stop us. Besides, there has been very little action lately in Buchanan County.”

“That’s true,” Ma admitted slowly, “but—”

“Please!” Peg begged.

With a sigh Ma gave in. “All right,” she said. “Peg, put on your dress with the pleated skirt and for goodness sakes find a pair of stockings without a hole in them, and take a shawl. It’s warm now, but the weather may change, and brush your hair and …”

Peg, her heart jumping with excitement, had never dressed so fast. She felt grown-up and brave and independent, and the best part was that she would soon see Danny again!

She accepted the sunbonnet Ma gave her and tied the bow to one side, rather than under her chin, all the while pretending it was an elegant, feathered hat.

She had time for a quick hug for Ma before she climbed into the buggy and set off with Miss Hennessey on their journey.

As they rode through town, Miss Hennessey chatted pleasantly about Miss Kling’s excellent food and told Peg amusing stories about some of the other boarders.

“How long will you stay in St. Joseph?” Peg asked.

“That depends upon circumstances,” Miss Hennessey answered. “Mostly financial.”

Peg wasn’t sure how much it cost to stay at a boardinghouse, but Ma had mentioned the word
expensive
when she’d talked about Mrs. Kling’s boardinghouse to Mr. Murphy. “Why don’t you stay with your sister and her husband?” she suggested.

Miss Hennessey gave a flick to the reins, guiding the horse across the ruts in the road, before she looked down at Peg and smiled. “Their visit in this area is only temporary,” she said.

But so is yours
, Peg thought.
Oh, well.
She put the problem out of her mind. Grown-ups had their own way of thinking about things, and sometimes made them more complicated than they needed to be. Like when Ma had agreed to come to Missouri and marry Alfrid Swenson but instead fell in love with John Murphy, which left Mr. Swenson without a wife, so he married Ennie Pratka. Then Danny chose to stay with the Swensons, and Peg chose to live with Ma.
Oh, Danny, Danny, Danny!
Peg thought.
Won’t you be surprised to see me!

The horse moved at a quick trot, and very soon they left St. Joseph behind. As the road followed the low, rolling hillside, Peg sucked in a deep breath of the warm air, lush with the damply bitter fragrance of tall grass.

“It’s so peaceful here,” she said. “I love the countryside.”

“I do, too.” Miss Hennessey smiled. “Away from the noise of constantly creaking cartwheels and the clop of horses and …”

Peg, startled as Miss Hennessey broke off, followed her gaze to a bend in the road ahead. Six Union soldiers, their uniforms streaked with dust, rode toward them.

As the soldiers approached, a sergeant at the front of the group held up a hand, and Miss Hennessey quickly pulled her horse to a stop.

Peg held her breath, frightened in spite of the fact that these were Union soldiers, here to uphold the law under martial rule. She and Miss Hennessey had done nothing wrong.

Three of the soldiers were young and seemed uninterested in either the buggy or its passengers, but one man, whose beard was shaggy and dirty with crumbs from recent meals, searched the wagon with his eyes, his gaze coming to rest on Miss Hennessey’s reticule, which lay on the buggy seat.

Miss Hennessey’s gloved hands gripped the reins tightly, but her voice gave no indication of her nervousness. Instead, she smiled sweetly and said, “Good morning, Captain.”

“Not
captain
, ma’am. It’s just
sergeant
,” he gruffed, but his chest swelled with self-importance. “Where are you bound for?”

“My daughter and I are going to visit my sister,” Miss Hennessey told him.

Daughter?
Peg was startled.
Why did Miss Hennessey lie?

Miss Hennessey fumbled through her reticule and pulled out the letter promising safe passage. “General
John Bassett, the provost marshal of St. Joseph, gave this to me.”

The sergeant dutifully examined the letter, then handed it back. “You live in St. Joseph?”

“Yes.”

“Where does your sister live?”

“In Buchanan County. On River Road.”

He quickly glanced inside the buggy. “You haven’t got traveling bags with you, so I take it you don’t plan to stay long.”

“That’s right. Just today.”

“I’d caution you not to return after dark. There’s no telling who you might run into on these back roads.”

From the corner of her eye Peg shot a quick glance at the soldier with the beard, who was still looking at the reticule.
Union Army or not, I’d hate to run into this one anywhere!
Peg thought.

“You may proceed,” the sergeant said.

Miss Hennessey smiled again, picked up the reins, and clucked to the horse. The soldiers rode past them with a great clatter, stirring up clouds of dust that caused Peg to cough.

The moment they were out of hearing Peg asked, “Why did you say I was your daughter?”

“Not now.” Miss Hennessey’s voice was low and quick.

“What do you mean, not now? I—”

“Hush!”

To Peg’s amazement Miss Hennessey pulled a small handgun from her reticule and tucked it on the seat under her skirt. In a low voice she said, “Whatever may happen next, don’t be afraid.”

8
 

P
EG STIFFENED AS
the beat of horse hooves rapidly approached their buggy. A voice shouted, “Pull up! Be quick about it!”

The bearded soldier appeared, rising above the kicked-up eddies of road dust like an evil spirit. He jerked his horse to a stop and leaned into the buggy, reaching with a large, grubby hand for Miss Hennessey’s reticule. “Give me that bag,” he ordered.

Peg flinched as she was hit with the sour, stinking odor that poured from his breath and his body, but Miss Hennessey calmly said, “You’ll not take my letter.”

“I don’t want your letter,” he snapped. “I want money.”

Miss Hennessey paused for only a moment, then obediently handed him her reticule. She held the reins
with her left hand and quietly slid her right hand to the buggy seat, where it rested against her handgun.

Peg was too frightened to move as she stared at the large revolver in the soldier’s belt. Surely, Miss Hennessey’s small pistol would be no match for that!

Barely able to get his large hand inside the drawstring opening, the soldier fished around, then triumphantly withdrew it. A quick flash of paper bills disappeared into his fist as he handed back the reticule.

“Where’s your jewelry?” he asked.

Miss Hennessey met his gaze. “I have none with me,” she said. “I wouldn’t be foolish enough to wear it.”

The soldier jerked again on his horse’s reins, wheeling him around, and galloped back down the road.

Peg leaned from the buggy and peered after him. “He stole your money!” she cried.

“Only two dollars.”

With peppermints selling at five for a penny, two dollars seemed like a lot of money to Peg. “You aren’t angry?”

Miss Hennessey shook her head. “I was prepared for theft.”

Confused and hurt, Peg demanded, “How could he be a thief? He’s Federal … a Union soldier, here to preserve the law.”

Miss Hennessey tucked her pistol into her reticule and gave a flip to the reins. As the horse started up and they continued their journey she said, “Unfortunately, Peg dear, there are bad apples on both sides.”

“I’m sorry he took all your money.”

To Peg’s surprise Miss Hennessey said, “He didn’t take all of it. Only a small amount.” She smiled as she
said, “Peg, it’s time you learned that when women travel alone they carry very little money where it can easily be stolen. I, for one, wrap my traveling money in a handkerchief and pin it inside my corset.”

Peg blushed furiously. She had never heard a lady speak of corsets. Ma had said that ladies didn’t talk about their undergarments.

“You wondered why I told the sergeant you were my daughter,” Miss Hennessey continued.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“The members of a Union patrol are trained to look for southern sympathizers or for parties who could be acting against the best interests of the Union.”

“Or for spies,” Peg added.

“Or for spies,” Miss Hennessey repeated. As she turned to look at Peg, for just an instant her gaze seemed troubled. “The patrols interrogate anyone whose behavior is in any way suspicious. Because there has been so much trouble with Missouri bushwhackers, the soldiers are wary. It’s certainly acceptable for a mother and daughter to travel together, but if I had said, ‘This young woman is a daughter of a friend of mine who agreed to allow her to accompany me,’ the soldiers would probably have had further questions and might have insisted on seeing a letter of safe passage for you. We could have been sent back to St. Joseph or even detained. Telling them you were my daughter simplified the entire situation. I didn’t think you’d mind.”

“I—I don’t mind,” Peg answered, but she couldn’t help feeling a little uncomfortable.

“I can see that the small deception troubles you, even though it’s perfectly innocent and can help assure our safe travel on this trip and on others.”

“On other trips?”

“Yes. If all goes well, you’ll be able to visit Danny often. You do understand, don’t you, Peg?”

“Yes. Yes, I do!” Peg cried, her heart skipping with excitement.

Miss Hennessey’s eyes twinkled as she said, “Then this can be our little secret.”

Peg took a sharp breath. “I don’t keep secrets from Ma,” she said firmly.

“Oh, dear me!” Miss Hennessey reached over and clasped Peg’s hand. “I wouldn’t dream of asking you to keep secrets from your mother. I’d just like to explain to her in my own way what I told the soldiers and why.”

Peg felt a chill, as though a cold breeze had blown across her shoulders. Hadn’t Miss Hennessey said almost the same thing after Peg had seen her with her cousin in the woods?

Miss Hennessey and Ma had talked, but Peg hadn’t heard the conversation. What exactly had Miss Hennessey told Ma about her cousin? And what was she going to tell her about this?

“You can tell Ma first, if you want,” Peg said quietly, “but I’ll tell her, too.”

“Fair enough,” Miss Hennessey said and smiled. She didn’t seem to be the least bit bothered by what Peg had said. Peg stared down at her hands, suddenly embarrassed by her concerns, which now appeared to have been silly and childish.

As though nothing out of the ordinary had taken place, Miss Hennessey broke into Peg’s thoughts with a happy chirp of a laugh. “Just think, Peg! We’re almost at our destination! You’ll soon be seeing your brother Danny!”

The excitement in Miss Hennessey’s voice was contagious, and Peg’s good spirits blossomed. That’s why
she was here, wasn’t it? To see Danny? What did it matter what Miss Hennessey had told the sergeant about her as long as it got them past the patrol? And as for Ma—well, under the circumstances she’d probably agree that what Miss Hennessey had said was sensible and right.

Freed from her worries, Peg eagerly looked forward to surprising Danny.

As they came to a fork in the road Miss Hennessey turned to the left.

Peg waved toward the right. “The Swensons’ farm is over there.”

“If you don’t mind, Peg, we’ll stop off at my sister’s house first,” Miss Hennessey said. “I’m so eager to see Nellie again, and I do so want her to meet you. You’re such a delight, and you and your parents have been such dear friends. After a quick hello I’ll drive you to see Danny. I promise.”

Peg had no choice but to nod agreement, especially when Miss Hennessey added, “I’m so afraid Nellie’s feelings would be hurt if she thought you didn’t want to meet her.”

Within a few moments the road wound up and over a rise and into a clearing in front of a small, trim house. Peg neither saw nor heard signs of any farm animals. Not even a dog came out to greet them.

But, as Miss Hennessey jumped from the buggy and fastened the reins to a hitching post, the front door of the house flew open and a plump, blond woman raced out, her skirts flapping around her legs.

“Violet!” she cried and hugged her sister so enthusiastically she lifted her off her feet.

BOOK: Keeping Secrets
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