Trysts, New Friends, and Good News
"Lexi! Do come back inside! The chicken and tea is ready!"
Hannah called from the doorway of her kitchen leading out to the stables, where her friend Alexandria Trixston was tending to the horses.
"Coming Belle!" Lexi called back, laughing a little at the nickname she'd just hollered. Because both girls were growing up in a small southern town, they were 'belles', a common nickname around her neighborhood for the girls. Petting the mane's heavy mane a final time before turning around to walk back toward Hannah's.
Lexi smiled to herself, brushing her long dark brown almost black hair out of her dark brown eyes, feeling the Texas sun warm her back. Walking inside, she sighed once she could smell the food. Hannah was in fact very accomplished at cooking, being to gave her something to do to take her mind of Logan.
"Oh, there you are! I was beginning to worry that Carol had taken you for a ride," Hannah stated, laughing at Lexi's confused look before adjusting the green corset and brown hoop skirt she wore.
"Oh no, Carol wouldn't do that to me. She's not skittish around me, unlike how she was around Logan."
Hannah looked at her and laughed a very fake laugh. Lexi, however, didn't notice the fake tone Hannah had and invited herself back into her friend's home, licking her lips at the prospect of a home cooked meal.
"She was skittish around Logan because she saw your ugly face next to his handsome one." Hannah mumbled under her breath.
Lexi poked her head back into the parlour looking at Hannah. "What was that, my friend?"
"Oh! Nothing! Just... Stubbed my toe!" Hannah said cheerfully, with another fake smile.
"I think she was skittish around him because I think what they say about animals sensing how people treat others is true... You do know people say he used to abuse the slaves on his family's plantation until he went to war..."
Hannah's fists clenched at her sides. "That's untrue Lexi and you know it."
"How can I know if it is for sure? I never saw him at home with the slaves, I've only ever since him here with you."
"They weren't his slaves, they were his fathers. Logan treated them with respect whenever I was there! I don't want you talking about how he was an awful person!"
"No need to be so defensive, I was just saying, rumour has it. But yes, that may be, but that's only when you were around.. I wonder how it was after you had left." Lexi said with a small smirk.
"Get out of my house."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Get... Out... Of... My... House... If you are going to talk rudely about someone I dearly care about and have feelings for, then you're no longer welcome in my home."
"But Hannah, I was only stating what I've heard...I don't believe it is the truth, I do know Logan and I know he's not like that, some people just talk to get under others' skin."
"I've heard it too. And if you don't believe it, then why must you repeat it?"
"I was only explaining a reason for why Carol may have been skittish around him... Or maybe it is perhaps she just dislikes men..."
"I truly don't want to hear it, Alexandria, please leave."
Lexi looked at Hannah, Lexi's pair of dark brown eyes staring intently at Hannah's honey brown.
"Fine. I'll take my leave, enjoy your day, but before I leave, know that you alone are not the only one that has feelings for Logan Mitchell."
"At least I captured a heart, what did you capture? One conversation? A dance maybe? No? No dancing for little Lexi? Oh! My bad." Hannah said in a condescending tone, smirking at the hurt written on Lexi's face, she knew the girl disliked being talked down to. Hannah smiled at finally being able to put Lexi in her place, still shocked that the friend she'd known for years had just revealed having feelings for the boy Hannah had been courting since before he'd gone to war.
"Like I said, Hannah, enjoy your days." Alexandria said, smirking as she walked back out her kitchen door, down toward the stable, toward Carol.
Hannah knew Lexi was going to try and make the horse Hannah had known since it was a colt fearful of her. Before Lexi could reach Carol's stable place, Hannah bounded out the door, following after her.
"If you hurt my horse, or even try to scare her, I'll grab the gun Logan left me, for in case the Union soldiers ever came down this way I could protect myself."
"And what are you going to do, Hannah? Shoot your best friend? Would you really do that?" The five foot ten seventeen year old challenged, her words daggers.
"If you put me in that position, you're not as important to me as my horse is." Hannah said firmly, her honey brown eyes taking on a hard look, glaring at her friend.
"Well, Hannah, looks like you've made your choice." Lexi said coldly, deciding against tormenting the horse, knowing Hannah now had a gun and wouldn't be hesitant to use it.
Lexi turned to glare at Hannah as she stood between the stable door and herself.
"And Lexi, it seems like you made yours." Hannah growled as Lexi turned and walked out of the stable, disappearing behind it, heading home to her own plantation.
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"Um... Adeline? How did you get these Union uniforms?" Carlos asked, looking at his girlfriend.
"Hmm? Oh! Well... Some things are better left unsaid and forgotten." Adeline said, running a hand through her strawberry blonde hair, trying to hide a knowing smirk.
"I'm sorry?" Carlos asked, looking at her suspiciously.
"Oh... Nothing." She laughed, her green eyes smiling.
"Miss Adeline? We've reached Philadelphia." Adelaide said.
Logan got out of the stopped carriage first, poking his head back in saying a quick goodbye to Adeline.
Carlos sighed, sitting next to his girlfriend.
"I love you, Adeline."
"I love you too, Carlos, I'm sorry you've to go. If only we had a little more time, how I've missed you!"
"And I you, my love." He said, kissing her gently.
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A week later in Philadelphia, Logan and Carlos were sitting in the train station, two seats open next to them, waiting for the train that would bring them to base camp in Washington DC.
Two men, one blonde and one brunette, walked over to them.
"Are those seats taken?" The brunette asked, indicating to the two seats.
"No, by all means." Logan said, indicating to the bench next to him.
The blonde grinned. "My name is Kendall... This is my friend, James." He said, holding out his hand.
Logan held out his hand to Kendall, shaking it.
"I'm Logan and this is my friend, Carlos."
The boys smiled at each other, James and Kendall sitting down next to the others.
"So...how long have you been fighting for?" James asked casually, wanting to start a conversation.
"Carlos and I have been in the war since the attack on Fort Sumter...it wasn't easy, I'll tell you that. We had a little training, about three days before they threw us into battle." Logan explained, grimacing at the lie leaving his lips.
Well, it wasn't a complete lie, but rather a half-truth. Yes, he and Carlos had fought in the battle of Fort Sumter, but not on the same side as Kendall and James. In fact, it was very possible that the boys may have killed each other's kin.
"Oh...well, you say you fought in the battle of Fort Sumter, yes?" James asked hopefully, his thoughts drifting to his brother, whom he knew had died in the battle.
Logan and Carlos nodded.
"Was it possible you knew a teenager by the name of Johnathan Diamond?"
Logan thought, looking at James. He closed his eyes, letting the flashbacks of that day fill his mind, the day he met Carlos, and how shortly before that Logan had ended the life of a young Union solider.
The boy that he had killed. The boy with blonde hair and fair features, a smile set on his lips even in death. After he had fallen, Logan bent to inspect the boys' dog tags, finding the name 'Diamond' on one.
Logan's eyes snapped open, and he took a quick breath to hide the shock of his realization, making James lean forward on his elbows, hazel eyes clouding with anticipation of the answer.
"Yes, I...I did. I saw the man that killed him, and then I killed that man with my own hands...well, knife blade. He was one of the finest people I'd ever gotten the chance to talk to," Logan lied straight through his teeth, kicking Carlos' shin when the Latino gave a startled gasp in the middle of Logan's story, seeing through the lie.
"It's good to know someone knew him. He was my older brother. I miss him more then I can even begin to explain...speaking of missing people," James turned to Kendall, "The girls must miss us already...it hasn't been more than a few hours, but...when we left...their faces just fell apart."
Kendall sighed, dropping his head into his hands.
"Was it really necessary of you to bring them up? I was trying to just...forget about what I'm leaving behind. You know as well as I how Lena, Tori and Juliet must be feeling right now."
"Lena? Tori? Juliet?" Logan asked, joining the conversation, a slight smile on his face as he realized the topic was turning from the tragic finality of death to pretty girls they had known before boarding the train.
"Lena is my fiancee and Juliet is Kendall's." James said, "Tori is my best friend and my fiancees' as well... Juliet and Tori are twins."
"Oh..." Carlos and Logan said lowly in understanding.
"You're not the only one that's left a girl behind," Carlos said, sighing as he looked outside the window, thoughts drifting to Adeline and her friends as they headed north to the New York. Logan nodded, "Well, I can't forget about Hannah. She is the sweetest girl I've ever met. It's truly a shame that her best friend Alexandria likes me as well," he admitted.
"Oh, the poor boy, he's got two girls after him." James put in, smiling.
"Hey, that was you with Lena and Tori if I remember correctly, from what you were telling me," Kendall added, running a hand through his blonde hair.
James laughed, "Alas, that is true. So where is this base camp?"
"I've heard, it is just outside of Washington DC, but who knows where we'll be traveling? The battles never seem to end. I don't want to kill anymore people then I have to. It's like Adeline said, war is not worth fighting for, if you can't determine the cause."
"But the cause is determined. If the south seceding from States," Kendall said.
"No, it's not. The real causes Americans debating over slavery and its use in the economy." Carlos argued.
"Well, if you look at the causes, it's not just the economy. There was the cotton gin, invented by Eli Whitney, in 1793. I know a lot of people thought it was going to decrease slavery, but if you look at the mechanics of it, all it did was increase it, because more people could be picking cotton in the fields, while the machine plucked the seeds out. In addition to this, you have the overall differences in the economy. We in the North are about factories and manufacturing stuff, while the South is all agricultural and farming. Going along with that, you have the rise of abolitionists like us, who will do anything at all costs to stop slavery and then-"
"Who turn you into a bastard of a politician?" Carlos cut him off, causing Logan to smile and smack the other boy on the shoulder.
"I'm only stating facts. Now if you'd let me continue, I still have things to say."
Kendall, James, and Carlos dropped their heads in their hands defeatedly.
"The compromise of 1850 we've been hearing about? Yes, it made California free and abolished slavery in DC, but it also allowed New Mexico and Utah to decide if they wanted to join the Union or secede and join what would become the Confederacy. Along with that, it also established the fugitive slave act, which was supposed to force us Northerners to send back any slaves to the south if we had captured them. Of course, nobody really paid any attention to this, which only served to anger the South. And Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom's Cabin, this book angered the South, even more, and by the time Lincoln got elected-"
"Okay then, General Encyclopedia." James said, cutting Logan off for the second time that day. Logan pretended to pout, "At least Hannah would've listened."
"Hey, let's stop talking about the war and the reasons behind why we're going to have to kill people. Let's think happy thoughts about puppies instead." Carlos interjected, trying to lighten the mood, the statement causing the other three to look at him with odd looks.
The rest of the time passed quickly as the boys grew quiet, each lost in thought about their own girl they'd left behind.
"I just thought of something..." James said, breaking the deafening silence.
"What?" Carlos asked, looking at James warily.
"Why is it gentleman and lady instead of gentleman and gentlewoman?" James asked looking at his friends.
Kendall, Carlos and Logan began laughing, "Really, James? That's what you've been thinking about?"
"No... I was thinking about Lena and Tori crying with Juliet trying to distract them however she could, then I thought about how gentle the girls are and then gentlewoman."
"That... Is a very legitimate point."
"All passengers reporting to base camp, the train has arrived. Please gather your belongings and prepare to deboard."
"Come along. We can not tarry now…" Logan said, pulling his thoughts from the reasons behind the war and why they were going to kill people that had done nothing to them only to realize his entire body was shaking with apprehension.
"I do wish we did not have to go…" James said, before cocking his head sideways at seeing someone he thought he'd never run into again.
It was Rashard Mendall, the man that had been honored on the night of the Governer's Ball back in New York, blonde hair messed up as though he had just woken.
"Mister Diamond….how coincidental that I see you again in such a short time. Here to fight?"
James nodded.
"Yes, of course you are. I'm your battalion leader."
'Great. He's the leader of my unit? I'm as good as dead...' James thought, remembering how drunk the man had been while he and Tori had passed him on the way to Tori's house. Just then he noticed Rashard was motioning to Carlos and the others.
"So who are your friends?"
"This is Carlos Garcia, Logan Mitchell, and Kendall Knight. We're all from New York."
"Actually," Carlos started, "I was born in Florida. I grew sick of hearing that slavery was a good thing, and I want to help people as much as possible, so I moved North to join the Union."
"As did I." Logan added, "I was born in Texas, but there's quite a lot of tension there as well."
Rashard nodded.
"Very well then. Come, we've a long way's march before we reach base camp. There you can rest, but we head into battle tomorrow. Sources report the confederates are closing in around Manassas, and we may need to intervene."
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