Fated Memories (20 page)

Maggie paused for a moment caressing Kitty’s back. “Because you’re in love with him, honey, aren’t you?”

She nodded her head, sighing. “Remember what you said about Simon? How you knew right away in your heart that he was the right one for you? Even when you weren’t sure he felt the same way? Couldn’t it be possible that Sam’s the right one for me? With all the insane things that have happened to us over the last year, couldn’t this just be one more? What if coming here in the first place was our fate all along and I was supposed to meet him? Simon had a dream about being rescued from a flood and it happened to him here, maybe this is one more thing that’s supposed to happen.”

Maggie’s arm drew her closer, and she kissed the side of her head. “Maybe, honey, but that’s a lot of what if’s. My mom used to tell me when I was a kid that if something’s supposed to happen, it will. Don’t worry, I’ll support whatever decision you make.”

They sat that way for a long time, Maggie’s arm around Kitty, her head on Kitty’s shoulder, watching the afternoon light dancing on the waves in the bay. As usual Maggie had it right without even having to say it. Kitty’s heart just didn’t want to accept the truth of it.

***

Kitty pretended to listen to the men’s stories of home, going over in her mind what to say later to Sam and tried to anticipate his reaction and questions. She ached to tell him her life story, who she really was, about her parents, her friends. If any shred of hope existed that they could be together, it had to be with complete honesty. This wasn’t something you spring on a person ten years down the road, ‘Oh, by the way, honey, the reason I already know so much about what’s going to happen in the future, is because I read it in the history books.’

She couldn’t sugarcoat it to make her story more believable. How long did it take her or any of them to believe that they had, in fact, travelled back in time? Without any way to prove it… prove it… wait, she did have a couple of remnants of her life hidden away that might do the trick. Kitty excused herself from the ward, leaving the attendants in charge and hightailed it to her quarters. 

***

By the time Kitty made it to Sam’s room, her head was ready to explode. Even so, she was determined to make a stand right then and dive in with both feet, regardless of the consequences. The smile on his face as she entered the room warmed her, and she almost changed her mind. She didn’t want to scare him away. She wanted to keep this moment, right then when he still thought of her as a sane and desirable woman, forever locked in time.

Kitty sat in the chair next to his bed, using the stethoscope to listen to his heart as a distraction. “How are you this afternoon?”

“Better now that you’re here. I began to wonder if I’d scared you away with the things I said this morning. Have you given it any more consideration? I’ve been hoping that your heart won the argument with your brain and you’re here to tell me you want me to stay.” The hope she saw in his face gave her the courage to continue. She couldn’t lie to him.

This time she took his hand, so rough and calloused from years of hard work. Kitty took the little container of lotion she kept in her apron pocket to keep her own hands from drying out, and massaged the softening liquid into his, giving her time to think how to respond.

“Remember when I said there were a lot of things I needed to tell you?”

His face fell by a mile and he withdrew his hand from hers. “You’re the one who’s married aren’t you?”

“No, no I’m not married. I never have been. Remember, I told you, it’s my, um, brother who’s off fighting? I’m waiting here with Maggie, his wife.” In her nervousness she’d fallen back on the familiar half-truth.

“Oh, I see.” His expression didn’t change. He sat staring at the wall waiting for her to continue and drop the other shoe.

Still edgy, she peeked outside the door to be sure they couldn’t be overheard. When she returned this time, she sat on the bed to be closer to him. Continuing in a low voice, Kitty felt the blood rush to her face as she poured out her heart.

After several false starts and rambling explanations, and several sniffling nose blows, the whole story of how the three of them had come to be in this place, at this time, unfolded. As she purged her conscience of the lies and half-truths, regardless of whether he believed her or not, it took a weight off her shoulders that she didn’t even realize she’d been carrying.

Though Sam’s passive face never changed, he broke the silence after a long awkward moment. “That’s a lot to take in. Is any of what you said even possible?”

Kitty pulled the first of her treasured items out of her pocket and put it into his hand. The battery in the cell phone had died long ago from Kitty’s tearful agonizing over the photos of her parents and friends. But no one in the nineteenth century had ever touched plastic. As Sam moved his fingers over the strange object, Kitty explained the communication device and how people used it. When he looked up at her, his narrowed eyes showed what? Fear? Disbelief? She couldn’t tell.

The key fob from her mom’s BMW was her last piece of evidence. She pointed out the little engraving of the car with the trunk open and attempted to explain the most common mode of transportation from her former life. In doing so, she realized how little she knew about cars.

“You control the speed with your feet and steer with your hands.” That summed it up.

Sam’s gaze remained on the strange artifacts in his hand. “If you came here by accident, as you said, how will you get back?”

Kitty’s strangled sobs threatened to break loose at this question. “I don’t know, Sam, but if we do find a way, we’re going. This isn’t our time and we can’t stay here.”

“So, being from a future time, you’ve already seen the outcome of this war?”

“Yes. There are many bloody battles yet to come and many people on both sides will die. It’s good that they granted you parole Sam, please don’t fight anymore, the cost is way too high.”

Sam took a deep breath, started to speak then paused, passing the phone and key back to Kitty. “Catherine, I think if you truly wanted me to leave, you could say so without tears and without making up such a crazy story. Though, I have to admit, you do make it sound very convincing. So rather than appeal to your logic, I’ll appeal to your heart. I’m not sure how long they’ll let me stay, but I can tell you I will treasure every moment you spend with me for all my days.”

How do I say no to that? I realize it’s not forever, but for once in my life I’m choosing the now option.
Overcome with emotion Kitty lowered her head towards his, placing a feathery kiss on his mouth. “I will spend whatever time we have with you.”

The noise in the hallway outside the door reminded Kitty where she was before she lost her head and went any further. The attendants were changing shift, and it was her responsibility to make sure everyone had their assignments before she went off duty. Although instead of leaving this evening, Kitty picked up a deck of cards and headed back to Sam’s room. Too bad they couldn’t pick up where they’d left off, but they could still spend a few hours of quality time together. 

***

Just making curfew, Kitty slipped into the nurse’s quarter’s and found Maggie pacing again. “I told you where I’d be, why are you still worrying?”

“Because you missed curfew for crap’s sake. How did you even get into the building? Don’t they lock the doors at nine o’clock?”

“I made it to the door right at nine and the guard let me in with a warning. I talked to him for a few minutes and told him I’d been taking care of a sick patient and he was cool with it so it wasn’t a problem.”

“Well you’d better not be teaching your niece any of your little deceptions or Simon will have your head.”

Kitty probed Maggie’s small baby bump with her fingertips. “How is my little niece today anyway?”

Happy tears came to Maggie’s eyes. “I think I felt her move today or else I had big gas bubbles breaking in my stomach, I’m not sure, but I mentioned it to one of the women I work with and she said it was most likely the baby starting to move. Isn’t that exciting?”

They both screamed with excitement as they hugged, making their next-door neighbors bang on the walls for them to shut up so they could sleep. They lowered their voices and the lamp and sat huddled on Maggie’s bed to talk without getting in trouble. 

***

The battle at Yorktown still raged on and new patients arrived every day. Doctor Gallagher appeared to be under the gun to make room in the wards, because he began showing up every day, looking to discharge patients as soon as possible. Kitty had been fudging Sam’s log for the last couple of weeks as much as she dared without having him undergo any unnecessary surgery. She spent so many evenings with him in his room that the attendants caught on and gave them as much privacy as possible in a prison ward.

Kitty’s suspicious worrywart cousin had one of her kitchen buddies, who had connections in that department, verify Sam’s parole story to make sure he wasn’t just playing her to get out of a POW camp transfer. At first Maggie didn’t tell Kitty she’d made the inquiry, only when she received word that Kitty’s trust had been vindicated by the officer confirming the parole.

Kitty’s ruse with the log could only go so far before Doctor Gallagher caught on and pushed through the parole paperwork. It had become her habit to visit his room first every morning, bringing him a cup of Hilda’s brew that he liked so much. Today Kitty found him out of bed, dressed and sitting on the chair with his hat in his hand. “Today’s the day isn’t it? You’re leaving.” Her hands shook so hard, she had to put the cup on the bedside table so as not to spill the hot liquid all over herself. 

“Yes. They brought me the paperwork this morning. They want me to leave today.”

It had been easy to fool herself into ignoring the inevitable. But now, faced with the reality of his departure and the end of whatever relationship they had, Kitty was unprepared for the wrenching pain of her heart being crushed like so many dry leaves. As she reached out to him to keep her balance Sam moved closer, embracing her fully for the first time. Their mouths sought each other’s with weeks’ worth of pent up passion. Kitty stepped back deciding right then, that if these were to be their last moments together, she’d make the best of them. She led him by the hand, checking to make sure no one saw them as they escaped into the linen closet and locked the door behind them. If Rory Blandford could do it, so could she. Birth control be damned.

Up to now there had only been the opportunity for brief stolen kisses and soft caresses, but their hunger for each other now bubbled over like a shaken bottle of carbonated soda. Without knowing how much time they had before someone either came looking for them or needed something from this closet, they skipped the pleasantries of the romantic picnic and went straight to the Fourth of July fireworks. And the fireworks were spectacular. Sam put Richard to shame.

***

With Sam gone, Kitty was not in the mood to deal with someone else’s injuries when she felt so raw herself. So, feigning illness, she left the attendants in charge and went to the cafeteria looking for anything that might substitute for rocky road. Even a big bottle of whiskey to take back to her quarters to mope around and cry into would do. When Maggie saw her come in looking so miserable, she arranged for a quick break so they could talk.

Maggie joined Kitty at their favorite table near the window. “So he’s gone? I’m so sorry, Kitty, you must be devastated. But you know letting him go was the best thing to do, right?”

“Yes, it was the best for both of us. So why do I feel like I just got run over by a bus?” Kitty watched the leaves swirl in the cup of tea Maggie had brought her. The taste of Sam’s warm kisses lingered in her mouth and she didn’t want to wash it away.

“Don’t worry honey, it’ll get better, just give it time.”

“Time, I hate that freakin’ word.”

“I don’t have any alcohol or ice cream to offer you, but here, we made cookies today, why don’t you soothe your nerves with them back in our room. I’ll come check on you during the break, okay?”

“It’ll take more than cookies to soothe my nerves.”

“Well, you could always go look for anyone named John and beat the crap out of him just because.”

“Huh, you say that in jest, but seriously, that’s not a bad idea.”

“You’re not going to do that. But if it’s exercise you need, why not put on your trousers and go for a run around the base? When I’m sad or I need time with my own thoughts, running always helps me. Why not try it?”

“Yeah okay, that sounds like the best idea. And I’ll meet you at the bench where we always sit later. Thanks Mags.”

K
itty had been in her room only a few moments when a nurse from the post-op ward came searching for her. “I’m looking for Miss Reiger. Kitty Reiger, is that you?” She hadn’t been called that since Simon’s unit left.

“Yes, yes, I’m Kitty Reiger. What’s happened? Who’s looking for me?”

“It’s your brother, Miss Reiger.”

The heart she thought had been smashed into bits now jackhammered in her chest as she shook the nurse by her shoulders. “Simon? What’s the problem? Is he okay? Where is he? Tell me damn it!”

“Please, Miss Reiger stop shaking me. He’s wounded. The surgeon is with him now, but he won’t let anyone near him unless you’re there. He said only you, no one else.”

Thank God Hilda sent me a new supply of her healing salve
. Kitty paused only to snatch the tin from the box, then ran with the nurse to the surgery. He’d said only her. Did that mean his wound was so severe that he didn’t want Maggie to see it?
Oh dear Lord, Carl Sagan, or whoever’s up there, please don’t let him die. 

When she rushed in she found Simon strapped to the surgeon’s table with an attendant getting ready to put the chloroform mask over his face. The doctor stood poised over his leg with the amputation knife. “Stop! What are you doing? You can’t amputate that leg.” 

Startled, the surgeon turned to see who had made the fuss. Using the momentum from rushing in, Kitty charged forward into a leaping right cross to the surgeon’s jaw, grabbing the knife from his hand. The blow to his skull as he hit the floor knocked him unconscious. With the long knife brandished over her head, she threatened to amputate the arms of the other two attendants as they tried to restrain Simon from struggling against the binding straps. “Get away from him right now or, so help me, I’ll cut you all into little pieces.” Kitty felt wild with fear and anger and she must’ve looked even worse because everyone stepped back from the table. The nurse who’d brought her there ran off out the door, wide eyed and horrified.

“Both of you, get the doctor tied up into that chair. Now! Be quick about it. Don’t make me use this knife.”

Doped up with laudanum, Simon struggled hard to keep hold of his senses. “Thanks Kit, I knew I could count on you.”

“You look like shit Simon, what happened?”

“Don’t swear. The bullet, get it out of my leg.”

Kitty picked the field dressing off the wound just a few inches above the knee. It was filthy and flaming with infection, the red lines creeping up the thigh. So that’s why the doctor wanted to cut it off, to save him from dying of sepsis. “How long have you been this way?”

“Shot three days ago. Took that long to get here.”

As they stood at the surgery door, the attendants argued over what to do with her. To keep control, Kitty commanded one of them to fetch soap and water, clean dressings and morphine. Another made a move to wrestle the knife away from her, but it only took a single glaring look to make him reconsider. It would be a huge mistake to test her resolve right now.

Visions of Cal Jackson’s shoulder crept back into her brain again, turning her into a sweat machine as Kitty scrubbed her hands, then Simon’s leg, with the soapy water. The sting of the soap on the open wound made him cringe, and Kitty instructed the attendant to take the edge off with a touch more morphine. She didn’t know how much laudanum or whatever else he’d had so she needed to be cautious of over medicating him. She washed the forceps and applied a smear of Hilda’s salve on the instrument. As she steeled herself, Kitty prayed in silence to all the forces of the universe, along with any and every deity, for the strength to do what had to be done. Her forceful behavior must’ve fooled the attendants into thinking she knew what she was doing, because they became more cooperative and followed her instructions. If they only knew.

“This is going to hurt Simon, but I’ll try to be as quick as I can, okay?” 

“I trust you, just do it.”

Unable to see, Kitty poked the forceps into the hole the bullet had made, while one attendant just about sat on him to hold his shoulders and the other two held his leg steady. With Jackson she had hit on the ball and removed it right away. This time was harder, and she had to probe around inside the wound to find the metal piece, making Simon squirm. The more he squirmed the more nervous she got, so she allowed him another dose of morphine. She wished she had something to take for her own nerves. The doctor, now recovered from the assault, hurled furious insults and threats to have her arrested for interfering with his work. When that had no effect he resorted to egging on the attendants to stop her from ‘butchering’ his patient. Still unsure of her sanity, they played it safe and followed her orders.

Kitty stopped only to wipe the sweat off her face and eyes then began again after the attendant gave Simon the medication. Another minute and she felt the hard metal piece hit the forceps, and seconds later she had it out along with a small piece of fabric from his pants. With quick fingers, she sutured the wound closed and slathered on a generous application of Hilda’s wonder drug, finishing just in time for the nurse to return with the guards. Kitty feared the doctor might still take the leg off if they took her away so, positioning one of the attendants in front of her, she held the knife to his throat, threatening to kill him if anyone came close. Whispering in his ear, she assured him she had no intention of hurting him as long as he helped her. Too scared to do anything else, the attendant played along and begged the guards to stay away. 

The ruckus attracted quite a crowd in the hall and Kitty called for anyone who could hear her to go get Maggie from the kitchen. She knew she couldn’t keep up this standoff much longer. Maggie would have to keep watch and make sure no one laid a hand on him. At least the bullet was out, now Maggie only had to keep changing the dressing and using the salve to get rid of the infection. It worked with Sam, it had to work on Simon. 

Maggie arrived at the surgery frantic with fear. They’d only told her that her husband had been wounded, and that Kitty was being arrested. She flew into the room, shielding Simon’s semi-conscious body with hers.

“Here Mags, change the dressing every couple of hours and put this salve on the wound. I know it looks gross, but trust me, this is the stuff I used on Sam and it worked wonders. Just keep doing it and he’ll be fine. And whatever you do, do not let them take off his leg. No matter what Mags, promise me okay?” 

“Yes of course, I promise. Will you be all right?”

Kitty wanted to reassure her she would, though looking around at the room full of furious people, she wasn’t so sure of that.

Still holding the knife to the attendant’s throat, Kitty whispered to him. “You stay here and help her, understand? And God help you if anything happens to my brother because there is nowhere on this earth you can hide from me. I will find you, cut your balls off and stuff them down your throat. Is that clear?”

“Y’yes ma’am. I’ll stay right here. Don’t worry, no one will touch your brother, I promise.”

Reluctantly she let him go with a warning glare and gave herself up to the guards.

***

The massive stone barricade that protected Fort Monroe from a sea attack housed the prison. Kitty’s cell reeked of mold and mildew and the narrow, barred window high on the wall let in the only light. A cot with a thin blanket and a small side table provided the only comforts. With the thick wooden door shut tight, the only sounds that could be heard were the sea gulls over the bay.

At first she thought the quiet might be good for her. As the days passed, though, with her only other human contact lasting five minutes twice a day, her thoughts wandered into dangerous territory. Self-pity took hold and, in her mind, she wrote long, tortured letters to her parents apologizing for the grief they must be suffering from her disappearance. Kitty missed them terribly. She worried about Maggie, her yet-to-be-born niece, Simon’s leg, Sam. Her last moments with Sam stayed fresh in her mind and made her ache for him.
Am I doomed to live the rest of my life alone, an outsider in a world where I don’t belong?

One of Maggie’s friends from the kitchen, Maria, brought Kitty her meals and the few snippets of information she had on Simon and Maggie’s conditions. Maggie, she said, had been spending every day and night at Simon’s side, nursing him back to health. With the infection in his leg improving, his fever subsided and he could sit up and eat his meals.

When the guard’s keys rattled in the door, Kitty expected to see Maria with her meal tray. This time, though, two more guards entered the room, their rifles pointed at her. The third guard shoved her up against the wall, securing her hands behind her with iron cuffs.

Kitty was beside herself with dread, but the rifles pointing at her kept her from fighting back. “What are you doing? What’s happening? Please, talk to me.”

With a guard at each arm, and the rifleman at her back, they silently led her outdoors. When Kitty saw the enclosed prison wagon waiting for her, she dug her heels into the ground forcing them to drag her towards it.

Panic took over, and she screamed. “Maggie. Maggie, help!” Kitty tried to squirm out of their grip, but the shackles and the guards’ firm hold made it impossible. “Let go of me. Please, don’t take me away, please.”

Her screams were muffled by the slamming of the door behind her as they hauled her up by the arms and pitched her into the wagon. Dazed from hitting her head as she flew into the dark interior, it took a moment to catch her breath before she could resume her pleading cries. It was too late. The wagon jerked forward knocking her off her feet. Kitty sat in the dark, her hands shackled, her hysterical sobs unheard.

They moved along at a slow pace over bumpy roads. Unable to use her hands or arms for balance, the movement knocked her from side to side until she gave in and stretched out on the floor of the wagon.

Sealed up like a coffin, her prison let in no light and her only reprieve came from the two overnight stops. During those breaks, they gave her food and water, and removed her cuffs allowing her a few moments outside to relieve herself. That was the only time the guard spoke to her.

He held his revolver on her the whole time. “My orders are to shoot you if you try to run away. And trust me, lady, I’ll have no problem doing that. So hurry up, do your business, and get back in the wagon.”

“Please, I didn’t do anything. Can’t you let me go? I promise I’ll never tell anyone you helped me. Please?”

She might as well have been talking to herself.

They weren’t taking any chances and, as soon as Kitty finished, and had her hands secured again behind her back, they rudely stuffed her back inside the wagon. The tears had dried up and only a deep heaviness in her heart remained.

From the very beginning, once the reality of their misfortune took hold, the one thing Kitty had feared most was being locked up and branded as crazy. She’d tried to conform, minimized her habit of swearing in public, kept her mouth shut as much as possible when she witnessed their primitive and often dangerous medical practices even though she raged inside, never divulged her knowledge of events to come. Yet, here she was on her way to an asylum.
Who knows what God-awful medieval terror they’ll subject me to now?

The closest mental hospital had to be in Washington. Alexandria was just a few miles south of Washington. When they’d left there, Kitty remembered Simon explaining that sailing downriver would save them from another two-hundred mile march. Assuming that statement was accurate, she taxed her brain with the mathematical calculations and came up with an estimate of only three more days before her permanent descent into hell. She had to do something fast.

During the past couple of overnight stops, the guards took care of the horses, ate dinner, then threw Kitty their scraps and let her pee. She expected the same routine tonight, but her plan would work better if she had more control of her hands. She wriggled and twisted, crushing her already bruised wrists against the outer edges of the cuffs to give herself more room, at last sliding her hands past her feet and in front of her. The wagon had been stopped for a while and, judging the right time, she readied herself at the door.

When she heard the chain rattle and the bolt slide out, Kitty kicked the door with all her might, smashing it into the unsuspecting guard’s face and knocking him flat. She tripped over the felled guard as she jumped out, but quickly regained her feet and charged into the brush. Angry shouts swelled from behind her as she ran for her life. The brambles tore at her clothes and she stumbled over vines and branches. But she didn’t look back and didn’t hesitate, until the searing pain in her back paralyzed her feet, pitching her body to the ground. She couldn’t see. Her breath slowed to a whisper. Vague voices came and went.

Then another man’s voice spoke gently. “I’m so sorry. This is going to hurt… a lot.”

The excruciating pain only lasted a moment before the blackness welcomed her.