Time Altar (eBook)

CHAPTER 66: TIME PERIOD #1: TURNING THE TIDE IN THE WEST

[SEPTEMBER 1863]

[LOCATION: SPRING HILL, TENNESSEE]

“This is a big world and there are money-making opportunities everywhere,” he said. “I’m going to find success Elizabeth. I’m going to build a castle. It’s going to be for us.”

Elizabeth feigned being angry, “Cornelius Bosen, you know better than to say such things.” She was compelled to object, but secretly she liked the aggressive attention he was giving her. It made her feel important.

He laughed. “You just haven’t seen fit to say yes yet.”

“Yes? Yes, to what? You haven’t asked me anything to say yes to, except if I think you are being proud, and strutting like a rooster.”

“Oh, you have claws,” he laughed. “You wound me deeply, Elizabeth. But you haven’t even heard the rest of my dream. Would you like for me to go on?” He continued to push the swing with his outstretched leg so that would maintain a gentle swaying motion.

“Don’t suppose I have the power to stop you,” she commented.

“Okay. There’s going to be a covered bridge.” He looked off in the distance, acting as though he was describing something tangible, using his hands to subtly embellish, “It’s made of white stone with a roof that’s painted red. It has a dedicated walking bridge on the side to keep our children…”

“What? Children? So now we have children?” she blurted out.

“In my dreams we do, Elizabeth,” he heartily laughed. “Of course, we have children. They are healthy and smart, and we love them so much. The walking bridge is to keep them safe from carriages and horses and such. They are going to be fishing off the edge of the decking, and there’s so much laughter and happiness.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

“Anyone calling on us will have to go across the bridge and then around a bend in the road. There are great big oaks on both sides. Then, when they go around the bend, suddenly, like the opening of the heavens, they see it. Our palace of a mansion will come into view. Elizabeth, I want you to be my queen. I’ll give you everything you want. I’m going to need you to help build this. I want it to be our dream. Because you’re so smart, we’ll build a huge library. It’s going to be full of books. People are going to come to you for advice and wisdom. You’ll be in charge of everything domestic. You will have house servants to take care of everything you want. You will entertain everybody who has clout. Ministers, bankers, planters, and politicians will all come calling. You will be so charming that I dare say people will journey for days just to see your beautiful smile.”

Elizabeth blushed, her cheeks taking on a redness as the blood vessels under the skin involuntarily dilated.

Cornelius went on, “And we are going to be traveling. We are going to go all the way around the world. We are going to see lands we’ve only dreamed of.” It was all a lie. Cornelius had no intention of being with Elizabeth in any way other than in the flesh. It was a plan. Manipulate her. Tell her everything she wanted to hear. She wasn’t as easy as the other girls. He would have to take his time. He was building her up, getting her emotionally attached to a false future, and then he would begin to pull away, feigning disinterest. Once that began, out of desperation she would do anything he wanted. She would fight to preserve a fictious future, a false better life in a world that was otherwise full of dullness.

For Elizabeth, things were different. Deep inside there was a void, an emptiness in her heart. But she wasn’t mature enough to give it words. It was nebulous and slippery. Her conscious thoughts couldn’t grasp hold of it. What she was missing was the boundless love from her father. Gulliver Reynolds was harsh and critical, aggressive, and distracted. From the time she was old enough to remember, when she cried out for validation of his love…what she got in return was nothing. And then Cornelius Bosen came along. He was filling that void. Sure, he was handsome enough, but more importantly…he was a dreamer, and he was exciting. She felt happy and better about herself when she was with him. Cornelius wasn’t like his own father, nor was he like hers. He was altogether different. He was going to be successful. She just knew it.

“I declare that it appears you have your life all planned out,” she said. Her sense was that she should play hard to get. Even though she wanted to leap into his arms, she had to play it aloof. She had to do the psychological dance of pretending she was hard to get.

“I have been…” Cornelius was interrupted. Elizabeth’s father was staring at them from across the yard. His expression suggested that the time for visiting was over. “I think that’s my cue,” Cornelius said. He rose and got off the swing. He turned to face Elizabeth.

“So soon?” she asked.

“I don’t think your pa likes me much.”

“That’s silly. Of course, he approves of you.” She kept it to herself, but she knew all too well that the problem was Cornelius’s father, Hiram. He had a well-earned reputation for being a crass good-for-nothing scoundrel and at times a violent drunkard.

“Don’t worry, Elizabeth. You’re his daughter. He only wants what’s best for you. I’m just going to have to prove to him that I’m the best. You’re proud and can make your own decisions, but I’m going to get his approval.” Cornelius flashed a confident smile.

“Will you be calling on me again?” she asked.

“Elizabeth,” he exclaimed. “The impropriety…you know better than to ask such things,” he was teasing.

Her face remained straight, like she was staring down a bluff in a game of poker. She responded, “I just don’t want you showing up around here and embarrassing yourself when I’m engaged in deep conversation with my other suitors.” She fanned herself and looked away with a cocky expression.

“Hmm, I see. That would be awkward,” he agreed. He took a slight bow, a step backward, and then started to walk away. Then he stopped and turned back. If he planned it right, it was going to be a powerful moment. He cleared his throat. “Elizabeth, I’m planning to ride up to Nashville in December when I turn eighteen. I’m going to join up with the Union cavalry.”

She was stunned. Her father would not be pleased. Gulliver was a staunch supporter of secession. He wouldn’t approve of someone disloyal to the South calling on his daughter. “You’re joining the Union?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I’m joining for us, Elizabeth.”

“For us? I don’t understand.”

“I’ve prayed long and hard about this. You see, I want us to have an amazing life…together. While it hurts me to say it, the North is going to win this war. I lay awake at night worrying about that and what it’s going to mean for folks around here.” Cornelius was lying through his teeth, but he was so good at it and there was no way she would ever figure it out. He was always going to be ten steps ahead of Elizabeth Reynolds. “I’m worried,” he said, “about everyone here. By joining up with the Federals, I’ll be in a better position to protect everyone. It’ll hurt me every day that my friends and family reject me, but Lord willing I’ll have the shoulders for it. I’m going to vouch for folks around here because the Union will be in control of everything. I’m going to take care to never hurt anyone fighting for the South.”

Elizabeth needed some time to process what he just said. The image he painted made him out to be a valiant knight who in his heart would be secretly loyal to the South. But…why did it feel so suspect?

“I recognize that I’m being brash, but I’d like to write to you if that’s okay. I’d also like to call on you when I’m in the area. It would do my heart well to be thinking of you. Would my overtures be acceptable?”

“I…I would like that,” Elizabeth stammered. Her thoughts were now fixated on the dilemma of how to navigate the seedling of her relationship with Cornelius and her family’s strong beliefs in an independent Confederacy.

Cornelius smiled, turned, and left her alone on the swing. He shared a few polite words with her father, mounted his horse, and then was gone.

*****

[LOCATION: NORTHWESTERN GEORGIA]

Four months passed since Jake’s tragic experience in the deep woods of Northern Alabama. The universe cared little and the Civil War continued to rage on around him with no end in sight. The major Federal and Confederate land armies in the West were killing each other in a deadly clash just south of Chattanooga. It was the Battle of Chickamauga.

The first day’s fighting had now descended into its first bloody night. There were more campfires crackling in the woods surrounding Chickamauga Creek than the previous thousand years had seen in their entirety. The majesty of the night sky was hidden not by a veil of clouds, but by a gauntlet of death and human despair.

This night, the hush did not settle over the battlefield. Loud cracks of sporadic gunfire cut through the night. The pickets were sniping at any movement, whether the targets were real or not. They were exhausted, scared, and jumpy. On both sides of the war, they felt the full weight of their mortality. All that stood between life and death was the cruelty of random chance. They were...