"Do I want to know, or are you going to let me walk into the lion's den unprepared?"
"It is Mrs. Williams, Charlie, at her most righteous. I am sure you can just imagine what you are in for."
Charlie rolled his eyes. "Wonderful. I have an already touchy situation, three rapists or worse, and Mrs. Williams. I will offer you a deal. You take Mrs. Williams and I will handle all the rest of the problems."
Richard actually threw his head back in hearty laughter before he slapped his friend on the back. "Oh no my friend. This is your community now. You should be the one to deal with it. I will be more than happy to wrap the nooses for when we find them; hell, I will even build the gallows, but I will not deal with that wicked woman again."
Charlie sighed a heartfelt, long suffering sigh. He placed one hand over his heart. "If I must, I must. The things a man will do for duty."
Richard grinned at this friend.
"So, Richard. What say you come up to the house and have breakfast with me? You can fill me in on the more mundane happenings this week. That is, if you can manage to drag your eyes away from Elizabeth."
Richard stood and tossed away the dregs of the coffee in his cup. "Like you will be listening to me. You do not notice anything when Rebecca is in the room."
Charlie laughed. "Well, I suppose we are equal, then." He smiled slyly. "Of course, there is another female who can distract both of us from our ladies. And she will probably be at breakfast."
"Oh yes, in your absence I became ‘‘Unc Wichawd’. Jocko was just as good about cleaning my coats as yours."
"Oh, so you have found creamed wheat to be as beneficial to your woolens as I have? I am particularly impressed with how it makes the brass shine."
"I am not sure if it is the wheat or the copious amounts of Emily drool."
The two men were strolling toward the house as they chatted. A small figure burst from the winter kitchen door, her leading strings trailing behind her and Beulah's younger sister running behind the little imp. "PAPA!"
A small human rocket launched itself at Charlie, fully relying on the man's ability to catch her and keep her safe.
"You have been practicing." Richard chuckled as he watched Charlie hoist the girl into his arms. "I dropped her three times last week."
"Hello, little one. Were you good while I was gone?"
"Yes Papa. Em good." She smiled, showing him the teeth becoming more prominent every day and then hugged him tight around his neck. "Em missed Papa."
"And Papa missed Em, too. Were you good for Uncle Richard?" Charlie gave his friend an evil grin over the black mop tucked into his shoulder.
"Yes. Mama Becca spank Em."
"Oh. Were you naughty? I think that Mama Becca only spanks when little girls have been very naughty indeed."
"I am afraid Emily gave Rebecca quite a scare. She decided it would be fun to play a game of hide and seek with Rebecca and would not come when we were all looking for her. Almost an hour after we started looking, we found her hidden behind the curtains in the parlor. Rebecca was beside herself with worry."
"Em, did you hide from Mama Becca?"
"Yes Papa." Her eyes dropped and her lip poked right out; it was obvious she was seeking his forgiveness.
"Little one, hiding from me or Mama Becca or your mother or Dr. Walker or Tess is particularly bad. We are the people who take care of you, and if you hide from us, we get very, very worried. So, do you want to tell me why you hid?"
She lay against his shoulder, "playing."
"Well, little one, there are lots of ways to play. That was not a good one. So you are not going to do it any more, are you?"
"No, Papa. Mama Becca spank Em."
"And if Em does it again, either Mama Becca or Papa will spank Em again." Charlie kissed the little girl's forehead. "Now, how about some breakfast?"
Tess looked at the General gratefully as he waved her off from the energetic child. She went back to the kitchen, where she would actually get a few minutes of sitting quietly, eating breakfast, and gossiping with Sarah before she had to chase the little imp around again.
They strolled up the back stairs and entered the breakfast room from the veranda. Elizabeth and Rebecca were already there waiting for them. More importantly, from Richard's point of view, the coffee pot was already there.
"So, Charlie, how was your experience of shopping in Washington?" Elizabeth had a wicked grin on her face, knowing full well how much Charlie enjoyed that chore.
Charlie raised an eyebrow at her. "Quite successful, thank you. I believe the supplies were unloaded yesterday evening and are in the storage rooms downstairs."
Rebecca turned to Elizabeth and gave her a slight grin. "Yes, Charlie got all the assistance he needed from Mrs. Armstrong."
Richard snorted into his coffee. "Mrs. Armstrong, Charlie? Well, I must say, if you needed to find a professional shopper to assist you, you could not have done better."
Charlie just smiled.
"As long as those were the only professional services she offered," Rebecca mumbled from behind her coffee cup.
Richard gulped the mouthful of coffee and burned his throat, which set off a coughing fit. Still, it was better than spraying coffee all over the table.
Charlie calmly responded to his fiancéée’s comment. "My dear, what services she may or may not have offered are moot. I am yours, and only yours. She did send us a wedding present."
"I know that, Charlie. I was just making an observation."
"I got a present for you, my dear, and one for young Em." Em, who was happily sitting on her Papa's knee eating her morning cereal, heard her name, the word ‘‘present’ and immediately perked up.
"Fow Em?" She grabbed his coat and met him nose to nose. "Em good, Papa."
"Yes, for Em. After you finish your breakfast. And you must eat all of it, little one."
"Mmmm……" Em made quite the show of going back to her cereal and shoveling it into her mouth.
Just then, there was a clattering in the front hall. Reg came into the room, followed immediately by Captain Maguire of Company G. The captain, the youngest of Charlie's company commanders, was covered in dried mud and road dust. His eyes were bloodshot and it was obvious he was suffering from lack of sleep.
He snapped to attention, realizing he had barged into the family's breakfast, blushing to the roots of his hair. "Captain Maguire reporting, sir."
"At ease, Captain. You look like you could use a cup of coffee. Pull up a chair and tell me what has you in such a rush." Rebecca signaled for Reg to get the Captain a cup.
"Thank you, Sir." The young man took a seat, turning earnest eyes on Charlie. "We caught them, Sir."
Charlie sighed. He was silent for a moment, and then asked, "Did you obtain any evidence of other crimes?"
"Well, Sir, we found in their possession several things a man would not normally have on his person. Ladies jewelry and things of that nature, not much, but a few things. Sir, we caught them just outside Culpeper. Seems they heard you had gone to the Capitol and they were comin’ back here."
"What kind of shape are they in?"
He sighed. "Well, Sir, you can imagine. They are dirty and hungry, but they were fightin’ with my men, Sir."
"I believe you have Davison's cousin in your company. How did he behave?"
"Well, Sir, he, well he beat the tar out of Davison before we could pull him off."
"Hummmm. Well, I suppose that is an indication that we have done our job in inspiring the men to want to work as a team, with a common sense of honor." Richard snorted in the background. "Have Samuelson look them over and patch them up. Where are you holding them?"
"We have them locked up nice and tight in the overseer’s cottage. And there are men posted all around the building, Sir, with orders to shoot them on sight if they get out."
"I take it that there is little sympathy for them in the ranks?"
"None at all, Sir. ‘‘Twas bad enough what they did to Mrs. Adams, but when they had the chance to leave and then stayed, and hurt that nice Mrs. White, well, Sir, that was about the end of the line for most of the men, Sir. A lot of us had done chores for Mrs. White and her townsfolk and they did not deserve this. I doubt you will find a man willing to stand up for them, sir."