Antebellum BK 1 (41 page)

“
All right,” she said disappointedly. “But don’t stay out there too long.”

“
I won’t.” He squeezed her hand, then let her go and started down the rutted path toward the stables.

“
He’s in the far pasture,” Caitlin called. “Be careful. No one’s ridden him for so long that he’s reverted to wild.”

Johnny waved and kept walking.

Beelzebub was a thirty-year-old stallion that had been the property of Johnny’s grandfather. Descended from a famous line of English destriers, he was the fifth American horse to be given that name. The first of the American Beelzebub line had belonged to Johnny’s great-grandfather, John Van Buskirk. All five horses of that name were mean-tempered by nature and trained from birth as warhorses.

Johnny walked through the stable and climbed the fence to drop into a pasture where half a dozen thoroughbred horses had turned to watch him. Beyond the next fence, Beelzebub’s head and ears were up. Johnny noticed that the horse’s usually glossy black coat was dull and that there was gray hair around his eyes and across his muzzle. But the big animal’s back was not swayed nor were there any signs of loose skin or muscle degeneration that was common in aged horses. “Hello you old devil,” Johnny called out. Beelzebub’s ears came forward and he took a step toward the fence. “Come on,” Johnny urged, climbing onto the fence. “Abe sent an apple and some sugar cubes for you.”

Beelzebub looked over his back, as if to see if he was being watched, then casually walked forward to stop just beyond Johnny’s reach. Close-up, the scars from a Mexican lance and two bullets showed clearly.

Johnny slipped off the fence and held a sugar cube in his open palm so the horse could see it. “You need a good brushing. I’m going to ask if I can take you back to Van Buskirk Point. I know you like it here, but you’d get better care from Abe and Samuel.”

Beelzebub pawed the ground, snorted, then moved forward quickly and took the sugar cube.

Johnny pulled an apple from his pocket and twisted it in half. “Your teeth still look good.” He looked at the other pasture and then back at the big horse. “Is that black foal yours?” He offered the half apple and smiled when Beelzebub took it without hesitation. “You know my scent, don’t you?”

Beelzebub raised his head, snorted, took a few steps backward, then turned and trotted away.

John looked over his shoulder to see Caitlin and another girl coming through the gate. He threw the apple overhand toward Beelzebub, then climbed back over the fence to meet Caitlin. “Did you finish your lunch?”

“
Yes,” Caitlin said. “Cadet John Van Buskirk, may I present Katherine Chase.” She giggled. “Kate, this is my cousin, Johnny.”

“
Miss Chase,” Johnny said.

“
Cadet Van Buskirk,” she replied. She was about fifteen, extremely pretty with big hazel eyes, long lashes and a turned-up nose.

“
Kate’s father is Salmon P. Chase, a former senator, who soon will be the Governor of Ohio,” Caitlin explained.

“
My father and your Aunt Anna are well acquainted,” the girl said. She had a confident, almost imperious air about her.

Johnny nodded. “In a recent letter my Aunt Anna mentioned your father. As you may know, she’s now working for the Republican Party.”

“
I do know, indeed,” Miss Chase replied. “She is a tireless proponent of women’s rights which is a cause very dear to me. I might add that, politics aside, I like your aunt very much and consider her as a dear friend.”

Johnny was doing his best not to look at Kate Chase’s well-developed bosom and tiny waist, but Caitlin noticed and caught his hand possessively. “Kate will be going back to Ohio tomorrow.”

“
Perhaps you could write to me, Miss Chase,” Johnny suggested.

Caitlin squeezed his hand.

“
To keep me informed of the Republican Party’s progress, that is,” Johnny said. “I’m very interested, but my aunt is so busy that she rarely writes long letters.”

“
I’d be delighted,” Miss Chase replied.

“
Just address it to Cadet John Van Buskirk in care of the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York.”

~

Kate Chase awoke with a fearful start. The moonlight through the dormer window illuminated her cramped attic bedroom in Liberty Hall and, for a terrible moment, she couldn’t remember where she was. She had been dreaming, but couldn’t remember the details. The room was very warm. She wondered if it was the heat that had awakened her.

A scratching sound at the window sent her toward terror again. She sat up and drew in her breath to scream as the window swung open.

“
It’s me,” Johnny Van Buskirk whispered.

Kate was still holding her breath. Her heart was pounding so hard that her vision was blurring with each beat.

Johnny stepped down from the window seat. “I gather that you received my note.”

“
What note?” she gasped.

“
I sent a note with the maid to warn you that I’d be visiting.”

She shook her head.

“
You didn’t get it?”

“
No.”

“
Forgive me. I must have frightened you.”

“
No.” She became aware that he was staring at the bodice of her thin summer nightdress and covered herself with the sheet. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“
I’ll go, if you want me to.” He pointed at the open window.

“
No,” she said after a moment. “But lock the door.”

Johnny tiptoed across the room and carefully shot the bolt. “Do you want this?” he whispered, touching a long robe that was hanging from the hook on the door.

“
No. Come here,” she hissed.

He walked back to the bed and waited.

“
Why are you here?” she whispered.

“
To talk to you.”

“
Only to talk?”

He smiled. “Anything else would be up to you.”

“
I’ve never…”

“
I know. You have nothing to fear.”

“
Except discovery,” she said.

“
The door is locked. If someone knocks I can be out the window and across the roof to my own room before you can get out of bed and open the door.”

She thought that over. “If I were to let you kiss me, would it be our secret?”

“
Of course. A gentleman never discusses such matters.”

“
Girls do. Caitlin says that you’re the best kisser she knows.”

“
Does she?” He chuckled softly. “I wasn’t aware that she had such vast experience.”

“
I’m not sure if I would use the word
vast
, but I think she had a number of beaus before you.”

He sat down on the edge of the bed. “Are you nervous?”

“
A little.”

“
Then let’s make this easy for you. I’ll just sit here and wait until you kiss me.”

“
Me?” she squeaked.

“
Yes. It can be anything from a peck to – something more.”

“
Oh dear.”

“
Perhaps we should start with a peck.”

“
Yes. I think that would be wise. Are you ready?”

“
I’m more ready than you can possibly imagine.”

April 12, 1855

West Point, New York

J
ohnny Van Buskirk paced the length of his room, then turned back. “What if she doesn’t write?”

“
What if she does?” Fitzhugh Lee replied. “What will you tell Caitlin?”

“
Caitlin? Why would I tell her anything?”

“
There’s an implied understanding between you and Caitlin after more than two years. As a gentleman, if your intentions have changed, you owe her an explanation.”

Johnny began pacing again. “Wait until you see my Kate. I could span her waist with my hands and…” He held his cupped hands a distance away from his chest. “What a pair.”

Lee chuckled. “I’ve found that the bigger the bosoms the smaller the brain.”

“
Ah, but this girl is the exception to that rule. Kate Chase is both brilliant and buxom.”

“
It hardly matters. Ohio is very far away.”

“
Yes, but there’s train service now from New York to Columbus. That’s where she lives. And besides, her father’s popular nationally. He’ll be back in Washington before long. I guarantee it.”

“
What’s his name again?”

“
Salmon P. Chase.”

“
Salmon like the fish?”

“
No. Well, yes. It’s spelled the same.”

“
I’ve never heard of him.”

“
That’s because you don’t read newspapers. Aunt Anna mentioned him as a possible presidential candidate.”

“
Even if Mr. Chase and his daughter do return to Washington, what makes you think that we won’t get assigned to some post in the far west?”

“
Your uncle in Washington arranged for Pea and Beauty to be assigned to his regiment. Why not us?”

“
I suppose. If I asked him.”

“
Ask him.”

“
What if Miss Chase’s father doesn’t come to Washington? You might want Uncle Robert’s help in being sent to Columbus, Ohio.”

“
Yes,” Johnny agreed. “You’re right. Perhaps you should wait to ask.”

“
And then again, she may never write to you.”

“
She will,” Johnny said. “We were made for each other.”

“
That’s what you were saying about Caitlin last week.”

“
I know. But that was before I knew what true love really was. This is it. Katherine Jane Chase is the girl for me.”

May 2
1, 1855

Utah Territory