Page 2 (1/2)
Winter, 1865
"LINCOLN, LINCOLN, LINCOLN," Richard Anderson said, shaking his head sadly "Frankly, I don&039;t understand your obsession with the man"
Richard pointed out beyond the sand dunes and the scattered pines to the sea-and over the causeway to Fort Zachary Taylor where the North was in control, and had been in control since the beginning of the war, despite Florida being the third state to secede from the Union He sat down in the pine-laden sand next to Tara, confusion lacing his gray eyes
"You&039;re at the southernmost tip of the southern your lip and chewing down your nails to the nub over Jefferson Davis, who has certainly had his share of trouble, too Seriously," he said, scooting closer to her, "Tara Fox, if you&039;re not careful, you&039;re going to get yourself killed"
"Getting hly unlikely," she murmured She smiled at Richard, her friend since childhood They were seated on the se of the island, away from the homes on the main streets of the town, and far to the east of the fort and any of its troops that ht be about Tara loved to come here The pines made a soft seat of the sand, and the breeze always seeently fro, and even then she loved it equally There was soray and the wind began to pick up with a soft evil moan that promised of the tempest to come
"Hardly likely? More than possible!" Richard said hoarsely "My dearest friend, your passions make you a ind!"
"Honestly, please This is a war between hus The Northern soldiers don&039;t run around killing wo up spies when they&039;re wo any of the human about war at all"
"But, Richard, I&039; evil I just keep dreairl, he&039;s not the usual man to fulfill a lass&039;s drea widely
She cast hilare in which her effort to control her patience was entirely obvious "Richard, that&039;s not what I mean at all and you know it"
"It orth a try," he said wearily "You are like a dog with a bone when you start on sonored that "I&039;ve already gone north once, Richard" She said the words flatly, as if they proved that she could well e herself Yet, even as she spoke with such assurance to hione north, and, yes, she had been accosted By an idiot citizen who seemed to think that she was about to offer harm to President Lincoln Idiot, yes, but
Canny and observant, he had watched her-stalked her practically!-and stopped her fro near Lincoln If she hadn&039;t been wary
No, she could take care of herself If forced into a fighting position, she could take care of herself And, while highly unlikely, she could be killed, especially if someone really knew or understood just who she was
What she was
That was then, long ago now The man could be dead now, such was the war
Somehow, she doubted it She could too easily reh far shorter than the president, he ell over six feet tall, built of brick, so it appeared, with sharp dark eyes that seeh flesh and blood She reerous enemy
"I&039;ve been north before," she repeated to Richard "I&039;m not a soldier and I&039; to find a place to live, to find work I&039;ve been there, I&039;ve done it before"
"Yes, I know, and I didn&039;t think that it was a good idea then, and I think it&039;s a worse idea now"
She touched his hand gently She couldn&039;t be afraid, and she couldn&039;t let others be afraid for her If she could only make her friends understand that it was al called to help "Richard, it&039;s as if he knows h his mind I don&039;t kno to explain, but I dreah the White House-and he&039;s talking to ain to look at her "If you want to go, you know that I&039;ll help you I just want you to realize what a grave -absolutely no pun intended" He hesitated "This is home This is Key West This is where your mother came, and where you are accepted, and where you have friends It&039;s where I&039;m based"
Tara lifted her chin "It&039;s where you&039;re based Half of the tih the blockade Speak of dangerous"
"It&039;s what I&039;m supposed to do," he said quietly
"You never wanted the war," she re that there had to be a way to compromise, that we just needed to realize that slavery was archaic and the great plantation owners could begin a syste and-"
"I was an idiot," he said flatly "In one thing, the world will never change Men will be blind when a system-even an evil one-creates their way of life, their riches and their survival John Brownfanatic, but in this, he could have been right" He gazed off into the distance, a bemused look on his face "The state of Verht of his emancipation proclamation But do you think that rich far that they&039;d have to pick their own cotton if such a law existed? Yes, it can happen, it will happen, but"
"You&039;re saying the war is over, that we&039;ve lost-but you keep going out, running the blockade"
He lifted his hands "It&039;s what I have to do? But! You don&039;t have to You are in a dangerous situation when you leave this place"
"Richard! I don&039;t walk around with a sign on e printed letters that spell out b-a-s-t-a-r-d!" she said indignantly
"Nor do you have a sign that says Be Wary! Half Vampire!" Richard warned
Tara was silence a minute "And you&039;re my friend," she murmured dryly
He knelt back down by her in the bracken by the pines near the tiny spit of beach that stretched out along the causeway to the fort "I a you this You know I&039;ll take you aboard the Peace when you wishyou know that What I&039;rows erous The South started the ith no navy, had to scrounge around and build like crazy-beg, borrow and steal other ships-and then count on blockade runners to carry supplies My ship is good, but the noose is tightening on us, Tara"
He was quiet for a ain "Tara, I&039;ht well be construed as that I was speaking as a traitor, and God help ht for my state, no matter what Yet, every e&039;ve spoken here is the truth of it The war is ending And we are on our knees, dying The Confederacy can&039;t hold outGeneral Sherman ripped Atlanta apart, and thankfully Savannah surrendered before being burned to the ground, as well Since Gettysburg, our victories have been small and sadly sparse"
Tara drew her knees to her chest and hugged them "Yes," she said softly "I can read very well," she assured hiht well have been sadly infor himself
"I know" She waved a hand in the air "I know the tragedy of the whole situation, and all the logic Grant is grabbing i the-and what they didn&039;t have, they seized They&039;re in control of the railroads, and when the South rips them up, they have the money and supplies to repair them, and we don&039;t Lee&039;s army is thread-bare, shoeless, down on a desperately for food I know all that, Richard Like you, I&039;d hoped that there wouldn&039;t be a war, and that most people with any sense would realize that it wouldn&039;t simply be a massive cost in life for all of us"
She looked at Richard, pain and passion in her eyes "I think about you, andfor the South And I think about Hank Manner, the kind young Yankee at the fort who helped old Mrs Bartley when her carriage fell over Richard, the concept of any of you shot and torn and bleeding is horrible North and South, we&039;re all hus" She winced "Well, you knohat I ood man" She was quiet for a rateful It really is all over I just don&039;t knoe keep fighting"
"Hus Yes, as you said-it&039;s the hu his head as he looked out to the sea "Men can&039;t accept defeat It hits us at so, including ourselves?"
"So, it o on," he said harshly "And it will be chaos while it&039;s still being settled, and, God knows, far worse after!"
"You can&039;t understand this urgency I feel," she told hiripped her hands "Tara, it makes no sense! Why in hell are you worried about Abrahaurated soon, again He&039;ll be the conquering hero of the United States What, are you crazy? There are professional uards orry about his safety, friends atch over hiine the aan, and then he just shook his head and went silent with frustration
She s his face tenderly They&039;d known each other so long She al about how most of the people they knew couldn&039;t understand why they hadn&039;t married But, of course, they could never marry They were closer than a sister and a brother They had grown up as outcasts who&039;d had to prove the, raorld of Key West, where nationalities led with the nationless pirates, and, yes, where the War of Northern Aggression went on, though most often as idle threats and fists raised to the sky At Fort Zachary Taylor, the Union troops died far h Union ships ever tightened their grip on the blockade Beer, wine, rum, Scottish whiskey and all led with the architects of the fine new houses, and only at night, behind the wooden walls of their houses-poor or splendid-did the systeht that she and Richard were far closer than they ht have been had they been born blood sister and brother Tara&039;s mother had returned from an excursion to the mainland with a new name and child, but no husband Richard&039;sfather, who had eventually been seized and hanged for his crilas Fox had taken Richard in when he&039;d been just eight years old, ignoring all speculations that the boy would surely grow to be as bad as his father Lorna had already weathered rumor and whispers; she didn&039;t care what people said, no matter how tiny the island community She had been born in Key West, and her father had been there before Florida had even become a US territory, , statehood had meant little in Key West Its population had relish and A intervals, since so many came just to fish, drink and rest, and move on back to nearby island homes
Tara stood Richard eyed her warily but stood, too
"Where is your ship?" she asked flatly
"I haven&039;t dissuaded you at all, have I?"
She wagged a finger at hiive you one! I think-however he ht have been hated in the South-that Abrahaood enerals, as well And, I think that we need him I think that we&039;ll need reat rift that&039;s been created As you said, John Brown ht have been an out-and-out murderer, and certainly, by the law, his sentence was just, but he did have the right idea Here&039;s where we are, though, about to surrender to a furious power that will have to have any reeance held in check, or else the South will be truly dooet close to thetraitor, because htened iant foot of victory stomps down on us as if ere a pile of ants Maybe God did decree that we lose the war, but I don&039;t believe that even God wants more horror than e&039;ve already seen to follow it"
Richard looked doard for a ain "I&039;m so afraid anytime you leave, Tara Herehere, you&039;re safe You have me-and even if I&039;m not here, you have the threat of eneral population so about you-or if they suspected the truth about you-we have stock! We have plenty of beef, we haveblood"
THE UNION SHIP USS Montgomery found anchor in the deep harbor at Key West
Soon the ship&039;s tender drew to the dockside entry of Fort Zachary Taylor on a crystal-clear winter&039;sdown on hih a cloudless blue sky Palms and pines lined deep-water accesses on the island and joined with the bracken that collided on small spits of sandy beach
The fort itself was a handsome structure, joined to the island by a causeway that was equipped with a drawbridge When the Union had first maintained the fort, there had been fears that the citizens of Key West would rise up and try to take it, hence the drawbridge, and the ten cannons set toward the shore The walls were thick, and do the northwest tip of the island, the fortress was an i structure to those at sea
However, despite these fears, it had yet to see real action in the war, and at this point, it was not likely to Still, the fort had been athe Union&039;s doling the South, and many of the men stationed at the barracks at Fort Zachary Taylor had been the sailors who prevented Baha the rebels
Finn mused that, froe when it had coenius, since ht and prevailed valiantly in the Mexican conflict-had chosen to lead the troops in their own states An agrarian society, the South had naturally bred many fine horsemen, and their cavalry had been exceptional But the North had the reater supply of men upon which to draw and what Finn considered the key in finally winning the war: tenacity That tenacity, of course, came in the form of the one man who stayed his course no matter how bitter and brutal and disillusionedsoldier proclaireeted hi upon the dock
"I&039; you, sir! And, please, whatever you&039;ve heard about the island and the fort, don&039;t condemn us before you&039;ve had your stay Winter is the ti beautifully! It&039;s not wet and humid like the summer, and mosquitoes are at a minimum There&039;s hardly awe&039;ll not see another summer of war, sir, so we are"
"We can all pray," Finn assured hiht as they entered The causeway and drawbridge gave it a bastion against the island, and its high thick walls and ainst invaders frorounds, the barracks seeht in the winter&039;s sun, while within the walls, Finn was certain, there was ample space for supplies, ammunition and further arms As they walked, Lieutenant Bowers pointed out the dorm-style roouard stations and the desalination plant, supplying the fort with its ownclean, potable water
"Started out with cisterns here, but the rain didn&039;t coht Then the seawater ca away at the foundations," Bowers said cheerfully "We expected much more difficulty from the population, butwell, the citizens may call themselves Southern as we&039;re in a state in secession, but the place was filled with speculators, fishermen, a few rich and a fen and trodden None has risen at arms, and while the few hters under close guard, ed to carry on decent relations with the Rebels Oh, there&039;s a bit of jeering and even so too bad!"
"And yet, you know that so," Finn said