Laura Abbot Read Free Page A

him alert. A half hour later, after further conversation and two pleasing piano pieces, the major asked him to escort the Kellogg sisters home.
    Outside, clouds played tag with a nearly full moon. The light-colored stones of the buildings shifted and glowed as shadows came and went. From the enlisted men’s barracks came sounds of revelry. It was nearly time for taps, so as they proceeded across the parade ground, the noises gradually subsided. At the door of the small house adjoining the hospital, Caleb took each of the ladies’ hands by turn. “Miss Rose, Miss Lily. Good night.” His gaze caught Lily’s. “Thank you for an evening I will long remember.”
    “Good night, Captain,” the women said in unison before disappearing inside.
    Caleb strolled back across the parade ground, reaching his quarters just as the bugler sounded taps. As they often did, the haunting notes recalled other nights, other encampments. Deeply moved, he lingered on the porch, taking in the fort, the surrounding countryside, the limitless sky. Feelings he hadn’t experienced in a long time, if ever, came over him. Part longing, part mystery, part promise—all centered in the disturbing sense that it wasn’t by accident God had put Lily Kellogg in his path.
    Sighing wearily, he regained control of his thoughts. He would need to be on his guard. A woman had hurt him once, and he never wanted to feel that vulnerable again. No matter the provocation.

Chapter Two
    S unlight filtering through the windows of
the post hospital the next morning brought an illusion of cheer to the
convalescing patients. Lily moved among the beds, changing a bandage here and
wiping a fevered brow there. Only after she had checked all the patients did she
pause at the bedside of a young man who had been kicked by a horse, suffering
painful bruises and a concussion. Taking his hand, she gently called his
name.
    The man stirred, then groaned. Lily spoke louder. “Benjamin,
tell me where you are.”
    His eyes fluttered before focusing on her. “In heaven?”
    “Try again. Where are you?”
    The hint of a smile teased his lips. “Just joshin,’ Miss Lily.
Hospital. I’m in the hospital.” Then just before he fell back to sleep, he
mumbled, “Clumsy nag of a horse.”
    Across the room lay a cook, scalded by a pot of boiling soup,
his hands mittened in gauze. She made her way to him. “I have time now, Timothy,
to write that letter for you.”
    She retrieved paper, pen and the lap board and listened as he
dictated his message. “Tell me mum I am dandy. Say I had a bit of an accident,
but that I’ll be cooking again before she even gets this letter. Ask her to
write.”
    Lily had seen the burns on his hands and doubted he’d be
cooking anytime soon. She prayed he would be spared infection, so common with
burns. “I will post your letter this afternoon.”
    “Thank you, miss,” he whispered, tears flooding his eyes. She
turned away to spare him embarrassment.
    When she had finished her duties, she stepped into the small
surgeon’s office where her father was working on his weekly medical report. “Do
you need me further, Papa?”
    Ezra Kellogg looked up, his blue eyes gentle behind his
spectacles. “You’re a godsend, daughter, but we’ll manage for the rest of the
day.”
    Lily studied his pale face and stooped shoulders. There was an
air of resignation or...a lack of vigor...something that had diminished him. It
was as if when his wife’s life drained away, his spirit had ebbed, as well. She
and Rose did what they could to lighten his heart, but, in truth, all of them
sorely missed Mathilda. Only after her death had Lily realized the extent to
which her mother had been the family’s anchor.
    Not quite six years before, a similar shadow had passed over
the family and forever changed them. During the war she, Rose and her mother had
prayed unceasingly for the safety of her father and brother, David. Lily’s chest
tightened, as if a claw gripped her