Lori Austin Read Online Free Page B

have to eventually, but right now he wanted to stay.
    Ever since he’d returned from the war he’d felt adrift, as if he had no purpose and no future, even though he did. Or at least he’d had one assigned to him.
    But the idea of making weapons sickened him. His mother thought he’d get over it. Seth wasn’t so sure.
    However, he was sure of one thing. His friend had trusted him with all he held dear. Everyone thought Henry had lost his mind. Seth wasn’t going to prove them right by betraying that trust. Together he and Henry had learned about honor, duty, and friendship. They might have lost touch with each other, but they had never lost touch with that.
    ***
    Three days later, Seth felt as if he’d refought the Battle of Gettysburg. He was hot and dirty; he smelled. He hadn’t eaten decently or slept the night through since he’d arrived. How could five children get the better of a hardened Union officer?
    He wasn’t exactly sure when he’d lost control. Was it when he’d changed Gaby’s diaper that first day, thrilled to have accomplished the simple task, only to lift the child and have the cloth fall to the floor? Gaby had giggled and promptly wet on his socks.
    Or maybe it had been when he’d gotten them both cleaned and clothed, then hurried downstairs, intent on making breakfast for the rest of the children.
    Entering the kitchen, he cheerfully called out, “What shall I have for breakfast?”
    The two little girls had burst into terrified tears.
    Seth fought the urge to run back the way he had come. “What did I say?”
    Cal shrugged. Joshua appeared uncomfortable. The girls continued to wail. Gaby joined in.
    “Are you ill?” he questioned. “Does something hurt?”
    “N-noooo,” Elizabeth cried.
    “Then what is it?”
    But the girls were too little to articulate what had scared them so badly.
    “Ah, I’m gonna milk the goat,” Cal snapped and disappeared.
    After that, things really got loud. Seth had fought in many battles. He’d triumphed with death all around him. But the shrieking of the girls, which seemed to hit unknown levels of sound, made him more edgy than facing a Rebel charge.
    “What is the matter with you?” he demanded.
    They stopped crying, drew in deep, deep breaths. Seth learned quickly; he knew what was coming. Obviously Joshua did, too, because he clapped his hands over his ears seconds before the girls let out a full-bodied howl. For lack of anything better to do, Seth jiggled the baby. Joshua pressed on his ears harder. The girls kept screaming.
    Finally, the boy opened one eye, then another. He stared at Seth with a pitying expression, then lowered his hands with a wince and climbed off his chair. After crossing the room, he tugged on Seth’s trousers and beckoned him closer. Then he whispered in his ear, “Cal told them that Yankees eat little Reb girls for breakfast.”
    Seth straightened. Well, no wonder they’d started screaming the minute he’d asked what was for breakfast.
    When Cal came back with the baby’s milk, Seth made the boy set his sisters straight. Still they looked at him as if he were an ogre—or maybe just the enemy.
    The rest of that day and the next passed in a blur of crying, cleaning, and chaos.
    By the third day, they needed supplies. Since Seth couldn’t very well leave Cal in charge of the little ones—by the time he got back they’d think Seth was Satan himself—he loaded all five children into the wagon.
    The trip wasn’t one of his better ideas. Delia and Elizabeth couldn’t seem to grasp that they shouldn’t stand up in the wagon. They fell over and bumped various body parts several times. The rattling of the wagon kept Gaby awake—not that she slept much during the day . . . or any time, he was beginning to think.
    Joshua was so excited, he couldn’t sit still. His wiggling made Seth’s horse more nervous than pulling the wagon already had. Cal just smirked the entire way. Seth soon found out why.
    The girls had