Antebellum BK 1 (38 page)

“
Good. Then it’s decided.”

“
There’s a lot to do,” Clementine said, uncertainly. She looked around. “We’ll have to sell all this. And the house.”

“
We could just set fire to it.”

She turned back to him. “If that’s what you want, I’ll light the match.”

“
I’d do it if we wouldn’t get arrested.”

“
There might be a few things that you wanna keep. Like your father’s and your grandfather’s watches.”

He nodded, then looked out the window again. “We can’t leave until next spring, anyway. I’d like to see Yellowstone on the way. That route will be snowed in before we can get this place sold and make the journey. The summers there are very short.”

“
Yellowstone?”

“
Yes.”

She waited a moment to see if he would explain, then when it was clear that he wouldn’t she said, “Whatever you decide, I’m with you. But I think you should wait to make the decision. Going home through Yellowstone doesn’t make a lick of sense.”

“
The decision’s already made. We’ll sell everything, form a wagon train and leave from Sacramento on the first day of April next year for Yellowstone.”

“
Don’t you think you’re being a bit hasty? Yellowstone is a wild place. Nobody’s gonna want to join a train going there.”

“
Then we’ll go alone.”

Clementine wondered if Jack had lost his mind. Then she decided that if he had, she was the cause and she would face any consequences. “Okay. Yellowstone it is.”

June
4, 1854

West Point, New York

S
econd Lieutenants Paul Van Buskirk and Jeb Stuart shook hands with Cadet Johnny Van Buskirk, then boarded the Manhattan-bound steamer. Paul moved to the rail and waved farewell to his brother. “This is going to be hard for Johnny. He’s never been alone before.”

Stuart raised his hand to Johnny. “He’ll be fine. Being on his own will be good for him.”

Paul looked uncertain. “He has a wild streak.”

“
Don’t we all?”

“
Not like Johnny. My Aunt Anna says that he reminds her of my Uncle William. I don’t think Johnny would have made it through his plebe year if we hadn’t been sitting on him.”

“
His roommate, Fitzhugh Lee, is a serious young man. He’s sure to be a good influence on your brother.”

“
I hope so.” Paul waved again as the steamer eased away from the dock.

“
Was there a Lee in last year’s class?”

Paul shook his head. “I don’t remember. Why?”

“
I was just wondering which family had the most West Point graduates. Yours or Lee’s.”

“
I think we have a significant edge. My father and three of his brothers attended before the ‘no brothers’ rule.”

“
There are two Lees in our class.”

Paul nodded. “But Stephen Lee and George Lee aren’t related.”

“
Oh that’s right.”

October 19, 1854

Washington, D.C.

N
ancy came into the suite at the Willard, stopped in front of the foyer mirror and began removing her hat pins. “Anna? Are you home?”

“
Yes,” Anna called from the living room. “Are you alone?”

“
Yes, why?”

“
Because I’m not dressed to receive company and wondered if I needed to run for my bedroom.”

“
I won’t look.” Nancy took off her hat and carried it with her. “The wind out there is fierce.” She put her hat on the couch, the hat pins in an ashtray, and then began taking out hairpins to let down her hair. “Is something wrong, Anna?”

Anna was sitting on the couch in her robe with a towel wrapped around her head like a turban. “No. Well, yes. Not awful. Well, pretty awful.” She pointed to a letter on the coffee table. “We got a letter from Robert. Jack’s resigning from the Army. You better read it yourself.”

“
Why did you wash your hair?” Nancy asked, as she picked up the letter.

“
I walked home and got splashed with gutter water that smelled like sewage.”

Nancy let her hair fall and fluffed at it with one hand while reading the letter in the other. “Did you have the laundry pick up your dress already?”

“
Not yet. I sponged it off, but it needs to be laundered. Do you have something that needs to go?”

“
This and my blue evening dress.” She stopped fluffing her hair and gripped the letter with both hands. “Did you read this whole letter?”

“
Yes.”

“
Well then why aren’t you ranting and raving?”

“
Who am I to throw stones at Clementine? The only difference between the two of us is that I’ve never been smart enough to get paid for being a whore.”

Nancy looked at her. “Has something else happened? Something beside this, I mean.”

Anna shook her head. “No. I’m just being honest.”

Nancy sat down and re-read the entire letter, then tossed it toward the coffee table and left it on the floor when it missed. “You’ve never done anything like Clementine’s done, Anna. She’s ruined her husband’s reputation and is causing him to resign from a career that he loves.”

“
Maybe. I just don’t know. I feel so bad for Jack.” She shook her head sadly. “After Caroline, his first wife, and their children died, the poor man was due a little happiness in his life but instead he gets this.” She shrugged.

“
Do you know anything about the new Nebraska Territory or this Yellowstone where Jack wants to go?” Nancy asked.

“
No. But I didn’t get that from the letter.”

“
Get what from the letter?”

“
That Jack wanted to go to the Yellowstone Territory.”

Nancy got up and retrieved the letter. “It says right here that they’re going to Yellowstone by wagon train, next April.”

“
It says earlier that Jack’s coming back here. I’m assuming that he wants to go through Yellowstone on the way.”

“
I’m confused. Do we have a map?”

“
Nothing with any detail. That part of the country is mostly uncharted wilderness.”

“
Do you suppose Robert sent a similar letter to your mother?”

“
Yes, but he probably wouldn’t have been so frank about Clementine’s behavior. Why?”

“
I was just thinking that she might know more about Yellowstone.”

“
We can go up to New Jersey and talk to her next weekend if you want.”

“
Has she said anything else about going back to New Mexico?”

“
Not since she said that she’s going back in the spring. I really don’t think she’ll change her mind.”

“
I don’t think we should tell the boys about this,” Nancy said, waving the letter.

“
About what?”

“
About Clementine.”

“
Why not?”

“
It’s Jack’s place to tell them when and how he wants to.”

Anna made a face. “Clementine is their aunt. They have a right to know.”

“
Maybe, but she’s Jack’s wife and a terrible embarrassment to him. Promise me that you’ll let him tell them in his own time.”

“
Okay.”

“
No. I mean it. I want you to swear that you won’t tell them, Anna.”

“
What if one of them asks me?”

“
Say you don’t know.”

“
Lie to my own son or my nephews?”

“
It’s not like you haven’t told a million lies before.”

“
Maybe not that many, Nancy.”

“
Swear.”

Anna raised her right hand. “I swear.”

Nancy stood up and dropped the letter on the table. “You better let me comb your hair before it dries, or you won’t be able to do anything with it in the morning.”

Anna nodded and stood up. “Well, at least Jane will be happy at this news.” She pointed at the letter.

“
Why would Jane be happy that Jack’s in misery?”

“
Not because of Jack. Because of Clementine. Jane always said she was a slut.”

“
In this case, I don’t think Jane’s going to be happy that she was right. Jane’s a very decent woman.”

“
Yes. Of course she is. She’ll see it as a tragedy, the same as we do. My remark was stupid and uncalled-for. Please forgive me. I get more like my mother every day”

November 23, 1854

Waco, Texas

J
ane Van Buskirk handed Robert’s letter back to Thomas. “What a tragedy. Do you think they’ll be coming through here on the way home?”

“
No. Yellowstone’s quite a bit north of here. They’ll probably travel due east to Lake Michigan and then go the rest of the way by water.”

“
Why Yellowstone?”

“
I don’t know.”

“
Isn’t it very wild and untamed?”

“
Yes. It’s like Texas was when we came.”

“
I wish I’d been kinder to Clementine.”

“
Apparently you saw her for what she was.”

“
I judged her, and I was wrong to do that. Maybe if I’d been a better sister…” She shook her head sadly. “Poor Jack.”

Thomas reread part of the letter. “I don’t think we should tell the boys about this.”

“
Why not? They’re old enough to understand.”

He nodded. “But young enough to be brash and judgmental.”