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Cold

Just a year A year since she had buried Matt Buried her life…

With a shake, she forced her attention back to her work

Despite her detered to a celebration dinner They didn’t opt for anything fancy--budget would always be important in field work--just a chain pancake house on the o on to a local tavern for a few drinks, she at last ed to bow out

She returned to the residence provided for those higher up in the echelon She, Laymon, Brad and a few others were housed in a Colonial plantation that was now a charenarian, rose with the rooster’s crow, so she went to bed early She happily saw the, she was also happy when they ca

Very tired herself, but feeling a co sense of satisfaction, Leslie helped herself to a cup of hot tea from the well-stocked kitchen left open for the help-yourself pleasure of the guests She took a seat before the large open hearth that dominated the room and sipped her tea fro fire Within a few lanced slowly to her side, a s her lips as she looked at the man who had joined her He had a rounded stomach, emphasized by his plain black waistcoat and the bit of bleached cotton that protruded fro was a bit messy, but in the style of his time, and the tricornered hat he wore sat perfectly atop it His hose were thick, white and someorn; his shoes bore handsome buckles His cheeks were rosy, his eyes a bit dark and small beneath bushy brows He looked at her and returned her sood and done, eh?" he asked her

She nodded "And you al It’s true that some of the bones will be boxed and sent for analysis, but the people at the Smithsonian are very careful and reverent They’ll be returned, and we’ll see to it that all the dead are reinterred with prayers and all the respect that’s due thenificance of e’ve found here has been verified, the Park Service will have its way A lovely enerations of visitors will be able to enjoy the beautiful countryside and learn about everything that happened here during both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars" Her sreat deal to help refugees during the Revolutionary War, but this very house was a stop for escaping slaves during the days of the Underground Railroad There was also a Civil War skir the place is still standing"

"Solid construction," Reverend Donegal said sternly "Folks to care for her Why, I reo, of course, when I ca services…ah, lovely then, it was So much excitement and fear A new country" His eyes darkened, and he seemed troubled for a minute "Pity…one war always leads to the next It hurt me to be here…to see soin the same God… Ah, well, never mind There’s always hope that man will learn fro, and she kneas looking back to his own time, firmly fixed in his mind

Of course, she knew his story He had worshipped the hostess of his very house fro every opportunity to be in her coood man His one pleasure had been his Sunday tea And so, one day, he had come here, had his tea…and then died of a heart attack in the arms of the woht at first that hethe love he hadn’t allowed himself in life But that hadn’t been the case at all She had discovered that he had been at peace with himself; that his distant and unrequited love for Mrs Adella Baxter had in actuality been a pleasant fantasy but not one he had truly hoped to fulfill He had enjoyed his life as a bachelor, ad to his flock He had stayed all these years because he felt so many of his flock needed to be reraveyard found

At first, he hadn’t trusted her He’d tried a dozen tricks,her keys He hadn’t expected her to see hiry, yell at him and demand that they talk Once they had, he’d becoh his eyes, she’d seen the house as it had been in his day She’d experienced his passion as he’d spoken of what he and so h to establish a new country; his fear that hethat had been a distinct possibilitythe brutal years of the Revolution He was deeply disturbed that so few of the people who passed through the old house were aware of just how precarious the struggle for freedom had been "You can’t understand," he had told her "We almost lost the war In fact, it’s a ned the Declaration of Independence? They would have been hanged! So ainst all odds"

Right now he seeht

"Thank you for your help," she said very softly to hier at her "I expect you to play fair, young lady You see that the right thing is done by rave, didn’t you, right where I sent you?"

Leslie nodded, then stared at the fire for a e Before the blast, she’d had intuitions, like the one that had helped her find the hoine soic? Instinct? Sohosts ca’s story is told," she assured Reverend Donegal She repeated what he had told her before about the girl "Peg, aged ten, walked the tenthe ether when she knew an attack was co She rallied the local troops, and they successfully defended the river and the plantation here, all because of her bravery She died of the fever that cah the rain and cold and eneiven the best burial they could e"

He nodded in satisfaction "A statue would be very nice You will get someone to pay for a statue?"

"I’ll pay for a statue of her nantly "A statue ofmust be honored, too, I suppose"

"You’ll have a place when they rebuild the church, and Peg will be honored in the graveyard How’s that?" she said, glad she could s at the fire "There’s a chill in here," he said "Ah, these old bones…"

"It is chilly tonight, but I don’t think you’re really feeling your old bones," she teased She set her cup down and rose, walked to the fire and let it warain, he was gone

She sat back in her chair In a little while she heard the others returning It had grown late; she assuht up to their beds, but she sensed so

She turned Brad was there, just inside the doorway, staring at her