Where Does My Heart Beat Now- Chapter 35

*Author's Note: Irish Name in this chapter: Aoife (pronounce it like Ee-fa)

Chapter 35

Time seemed to fly by after Gabriel’s birthday. Before they knew it, the happy couple had celebrated their first anniversary; Gabriel had surprised Kate with a sunset picnic on the shoreline of Caddo Lake, complete with yummy treats from the General Store. It had been every sense of magical watching the sun fade into the horizon.

Their anniversary having since passed, the whole family was bustling around the house trying on their new uniforms after Mae had picked them up from the seamstress’s shop. Seamus and Riley had no problems dressing in their uniforms, but Casey, on the other hand, was having one hell of a time trying to figure out how the suspenders worked. He had even popped himself in the eye with one of the leather straps.

“Casey, let me show you how to put those on before I end up having to take you to the hospital,” Mae walked over and untwisted the suspenders before popping the leather straps over the buttons on the front of his wool trousers. I swear, boy, a monkey could figure this out.

Seamus stood back watching as Mae straightened the collar of Casey’s white shirt while his cousin stood there looking as if he was humiliated, “Come on, man… it’s pretty bad when your aunt has to dress you.”

“Seamus, give your cousin a break…even though he can be a couple sandwiches short of a picnic, sometimes,” Riley turned to face Casey, “No offense, son.”

Casey gave him a thumbs up, “Thanks, Dad. I really feel the love, right now.”

While the men were keeping busy in the living room with their uniforms, Kate found herself struggling to flatten her ample breasts with the bandage she had bought a few days prior. No matter how tight she pulled it, she couldn’t get her chest to flatten enough. After several more failed attempts, Kate got an idea, and she went over to the bed and laid down on her back, which caused her breasts to spread out to the sides of her chest. Lifting her back off of the bed, Kate wrapped the bandage tightly around her chest and fastened it. Afterwards, she walked over to the mirror to inspect herself.

“I’d say that’s as flat as they’re gonna get,” she said to herself before pulling on her long-sleeved white cotton shirt, and then snapping the suspenders over her shoulders. The last article of clothing to be donned was her lieutenant’s coat.

Just as she was buttoning up the gray coat, the sound of someone clearing their throat caused her to turn around to find Gabriel leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed casually over his chest and an amused grin on his face.

“You know, you are the only person I know who can make a Civil War uniform look sexy,” he remarked, and made his way over to her.

Kate raised an eyebrow at him, “What about Casey? He’s sure to have women hanging off of him when he has his uniform on.”

“Seriously? That dodo bird had to have Mom dress him after he couldn’t figure out how to put his suspenders on,” Gabriel went over to check on a napping Shannon, “The only thing he’s good at is getting into women’s pants.”

“So, is that how he ended up with Tate?”

“No, he was married when Aoife got pregnant, but sadly she cheated on him when she was on a business trip in Dublin,” Gabriel gently covered his daughter up with her blanket, “And somehow he managed to win custody of Tate after they divorced. Casey loves that baby more than anything, and he’s been trying his hardest to find a good mother for her.”

Kate joined her husband beside the bassinet, “I knew he had been cheated on, I just didn’t know why…Well, I hope he finds someone soon. He really is a great guy.”

 

That night the two of them lay in bed snuggled up to each other, discussing the upcoming reenactment in their hometown. They would be leaving in the afternoon that Friday to head to their campsite in Lion’s Park. For once they would have more tents to set up in Officer’s Row, which meant they would need more time, so they had decided to leave earlier than they had the year before. The thought of riding around town in her new uniform excited Kate, especially since she would be riding alongside her husband and the other members of the family. And what was even more exciting was Gabriel telling all of them that they would be riding in the town parade with the rest of the 1^st Texas Cavalry and the other re-enactors.

“Now, there’s been a rumor going around town that they’re expecting a skirmish this year in the streets,” Gabriel mentioned as he lay on his back with Kate resting her head on his chest, stroking her fingertips over his muscles, “They’ve done that in the past.”

She lifted her head up to look at him, “That sounds like fun! Are we going to be involved?”

“There’s a good possibility, but I won’t know anything until Friday when we get to camp.”

“I’m ready for a good brawl. Just let me at ‘em,” Kate yawned and closed her eyes as her husband softly stroked her shoulder and arm with his fingertips.

“Oh, don’t you worry, honey… I’ll turn you loose on those blue bellies.”

Before long, both of them fell asleep cuddled up to one another while Shannon slept soundly in her bassinet beside the bed. The only sound in the room was of their breathing as they slept. They would worry about everything else in the days to come before the reenactment, and then the fun would begin in the bayous of Jefferson.

 

Friday afternoon was hectic for the Dawson family. While the women were busy loading the cabs of the trucks with their dresses and Kate’s uniform, the men loaded all of the camping supplies and the horses’ tack into the trailers. Since there were more supplies and tents than last time, it was like a game of Tetris trying to figure out where to put everything. After what seemed like ages, Rob loaded the last chair in his trailer.

“Okay, now that everything is in the trailers, let’s get the horses loaded,” Gabriel said as he headed off toward the pasture with the other men right behind him carrying the lead ropes.

While they were off catching the horses, Kate and Mae took the time to get Shannon and Tate buckled in their carriers, and then into Gabriel’s truck. Both girls were asleep when the women picked them up, and didn’t even wake up during the process of getting them loaded.

“As soon as the guys get the horses loaded I think we’ll be ready to go,” Kate cringed when she heard a loud bang come from inside the horse trailer, “It sounds like one of the horses doesn’t want to go in.”

They watched as Gabriel shut and locked the trailer before turning to Casey, who brushed a muddy hoof print off of his thigh, “What is that mare’s problem?”

“Don’t ask me. Athena’s normally an angel,” Casey made his way for the truck.

Seamus rolled his eyes at his cousin, “She’s probably not too keen about being shoved into a confined area with four males. Especially when one is a stallion,” he turned to his brother, “Gabe, I hope you tied Bo down to where he can’t get to her.”

“Don’t worry… There won’t be any baby-making in this trailer,” Gabriel got into the truck, along with Casey and Kate while Seamus got in Rob’s truck.

Lion’s Park was already full of tents when the Dawson’s arrived around three o’ clock that afternoon. After parking their trucks near the gazebo, the men carried the heavy tent poles over to Officer’s Row, which happened to be set up in the same vicinity as the previous year, directly across from the Schluter Mansion. Once Gabriel and Rob had staked Gabriel’s wall tent in the ground, Kate took Shannon and Tate inside to get them out of the hot sun. Seeing that her daughter had woken up from her nap, she immediately got her out of her carrier and began to nurse her, knowing good and well that she would be hungry after her nap.

It’s going to be challenging to feed you when I have my uniform on. Good thing I brought bottles, another thought crossed Kate’s mind when she realized what significance the event had in her life. A year ago I had my first pregnancy symptom. I upchucked your daddy’s fish in the trash can, over there. It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long.

After laying the girls down on a soft blanket to rest, Kate joined the others in putting up Casey’s wall tent beside Seamus’s tent. It didn’t take long to anchor the canvas to the ground, but while he was holding onto one of the poles, Casey decided to tease his cousin’s wife.

“Hey, Kate… How about you give us guys a little show to make our job more entertaining,” he pretended to rub up against the pole as if he was pole dancing.

She walked past him in the direction of Mae and Rob’s tent, “I’ll pass. I don’t work for free.”

“Stop moving, Casey! You keep pulling the stakes out,” Gabriel was ready to throw the hammer at his cousin, “I’ll kill what remaining brain cells you have… and trust me, you can’t afford to lose them.”

By the time dusk had fallen over the small town, everyone sat around underneath Gabriel’s tent fly, chatting lightly about what would happen the following day. Gabriel gently rocked Shannon, who was already wearing the little, white baby dress Beth had made for her. She also had tiny crocheted booties decorated with pink ribbons keeping her feet warm. The only piece of her outfit she didn’t have on was her bonnet. The baby grasped onto a tuft of hair on his chest as she slept against him.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how our little girl reacts when the bugle sounds in the morning,” Rob mentioned casually while cracking peanuts.

Kate scoffed, “Bugle Boy better pray I don’t find his tent, because if I do, we’ll be having us a Come-to-Jesus meeting in front of everyone.”

Feeling slightly nervous about being near an unpredictable woman, Casey leaned over to Gabriel and asked, “Has she always been this… unforgiving?”

“No, but after you experience the miracle of childbirth and all of the messiness involved, it’s understandable,” Gabriel replied.

“Come to think of it, I do recall Aoife ready to murder the nurse when she took a sample of blood from Tate.”

It didn’t take long for Kate to grow tired. She stood up from her chair and took Shannon from her husband, “Shannon and I are going to bed, so keep your voices down. If any of you wake the baby… Well, hopefully none of you will find out what I have planned for the one who does,” with those final threatening words, Kate disappeared inside the tent.

Eventually, Gabriel joined her when everyone else drifted off to their own tents. As the night wore on, a few more trucks pulled in to set up camp, but silence fell over the park once the other re-enactors had turned in for the night.

 

The bugle sounded at six-thirty sharp the next morning, however, Kate was already awake and busy nursing Shannon, as the baby had woken up a few minutes earlier. While Gabriel was off waiting in the endless line for the johns, Kate took the opportunity to bond with her daughter. As soon as she had been burped and her diaper changed, Kate took a cool wash cloth from the wash basin near the tent door and ran it over the baby’s body to clean her up for the day. Afterwards, she dressed her in her dress she had on the night before.

“Now that you’re ready, Mommy can get dressed,” she tied the bonnet on Shannon before starting on her own wardrobe.

The rest of the family was already wolfing down breakfast when Kate emerged from the tent dressed in her complete uniform with her long hair tucked under her hat and carrying Shannon. Mae handed her a plate loaded with the delicious-looking food and took the baby so that she could eat. It didn’t take her long to clean her plate, and she helped Mae and Ava wash all of the dishes and put them away inside Mae’s tent.

She joined the men some time later that morning when they sat down to load their pistols and extra cylinders while Ava watched the babies. Once the men had theirs loaded, they headed off to get the horses ready, leaving her to finish loading her weapons, but she joined them around ten o’ clock to find Gabriel adjusting the girth strap underneath Bo’s belly. The rest of the men were already trotting around on their horses, getting all of the jitters worked out of them for the day. Seeing that Buster had already been tacked up, Kate untied him from the tree and climbed easily into the saddle without any help from Gabriel. After getting situated in a comfortable position and planting her knee-high boots in the stirrups, Kate led her horse over to the other members of the 1^st Texas.

Glancing at his pocket watch, Gabriel noted that it was nearing the time for the parade and noticed that his lieutenant colonel was nowhere to be found, along with their flag. Great. He’s always disappearing when we’re getting ready to head out, he motioned for Kate to join him, again, and she rode over to see what he needed.

“Kate, can you go see where Sean has run off to with our colors,” Gabriel said as he mounted up onto Bo’s back, “We need to get lined up for the parade, which starts in thirty minutes.”

His wife nodded while tucking a stray strand of hair underneath her gray Hardee hat, and then rode off on Buster in the direction of the old saloon, “I’ll track him down; don’t worry.”

Not wanting to be late for the line-up, Gabriel led the way to the Carnegie Library with the rest of his troopers following behind him in twos. By the time they reached where the rest of the re-enactors were lining up, they noticed a large crowd starting to gather along the parade route. The 1^st Texas Cavalry fell in behind the Louisiana Tigers, who were chatting happily with other re-enactors around them. As they waited, Gabriel kept a watch for his best friend and his wife, but he didn’t have to wait long, because he could see his unit’s flag flapping wildly as Sean and Kate headed his way at a hard gallop, the horses’ hooves clattering on the cobblestones. The two of them automatically took their places in line just as the entire line started to move down the street when the parade began.

“Good timing. I almost didn’t think you’d make it,” Gabriel commented to Sean, who sat tall on Hijinx’s back while holding onto their flag.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to keep you guys waiting,” Sean replied.

As the line turned onto Austin Street, Gabriel clucked to Bo and nudged him in the sides with his spurs, making the bay stallion lift his hooves high off of the ground as he pranced down the street with his head held elegantly in the air. The rest of the troopers followed suit, getting their horses to prance along behind their colonel; Casey’s gelding, Dionysus, tossed his head into the air and whinnied loudly as if to say ‘look how radiant I am’, which caused the crowd to look their direction when the cavalry passed by. Seeing women dressed in their antebellum attire, the men tilted their hats in acknowledgment and continued on down the street. Being the cavalier that he was, Sean even blew a kiss to Ava standing beside Mae and Moira when he passed the three women near the bakery. After turning the corner at the end of the parade route, all of them gathered up in the middle of the street while waiting for the rest of the procession to round the corner, but a few minutes later the sound of gunfire rang through the air.

“Alright, men… and wannabe men,” Gabriel reached behind him, pulling out two dragoons from his cantle holsters on the back of his saddle, “Time to have some fun.”

The rest of them watched as he dismounted from his saddle before tying Bo up to a street lamp. He ran over to the side of the General Store and pressed his body against the wall, peeking around to see where the shots had come from. Some of the men looked at each other as if they weren’t sure what to do, but Gabriel motioned with one of the guns for them to follow him.

“Well, this is a new one,” Sean said after getting down from his horse and tying him up to the same street lamp. He pulled his double barrel carbine around and unclipped it from its sling, “I guess we’re going dismounted for once.”

Rob checked his gun belt to make sure he had extra cylinders for his two Remingtons, along with  plenty of ammo for his own carbine, “This outta be interesting.”

Kate ran past them in a crouched position after stuffing a derringer between her breasts, leaving some of the men staring after her. She pressed herself against the wall behind Gabriel and pulled out a .36 caliber from the holster on the front of her belt and a .44 from the one behind her. The captain of the 1^st Texas took that time to count how many guns she had strapped to her, but gave up after counting five.

“She just thinks she’s so great, doesn’t she. I’ve got weapons, too,” Casey rolled his eyes at Kate’s back and pulled a knife with a three inch blade out of its case attached to his belt, making Seamus raise an eyebrow when he saw his cousin’s ‘weapon’.

“What the hell are you gonna do with that dinky thing? Pick their teeth? Let me show you what a real knife looks like,” Seamus reached into his boot and pulled out a foot long bowie knife, “Now, this bad boy is a knife.”

Casey took one look at Seamus’s knife before putting his back in its case out of humiliation, trading it out for a dragoon. The two of them stood behind the wall with the rest of the cavalrymen, waiting for their colonel to give the orders to move out. At that time, General Mayo stepped up to Gabriel in order to discuss their plan of attack. Once both of them understood what would happen, Gabriel called the others closer to explain what he and the general had just discussed.

“Okay, we’re going to split up into two groups to trap the Yankees. I want Rob and Riley to take half of you and go down the alleyway over there,” Gabriel pointed to the alley behind a run-down building behind him, “The rest of you are going to follow me; we’re going to stir them up a bit. Make sure you have plenty of ammunition… You’re gonna need it,” he checked around the building once more, “Move out.”

Rob’s group disappeared down the alley after grabbing the rest of their weapons from their saddlebags as Gabriel’s group started down the street in plain sight of the Yankees. The Louisiana Tigers and another Confederate regiment were already heavily engage between the bakery and the coffee shop, which gave Gabriel’s group enough time to sneak into the Jefferson Hotel. The group hurried up the stairs to the upper floor, pulling out more guns as they went. Sean quickly poured a round of black powder down each of his barrels and primed the n*****s in preparation for what was to come. Eventually, they emerged outside on the balcony of the hotel, and Gabriel put his finger to his lips to make sure no one gave away their position.

“When I give the command, I want Sean to take the first shot, and then the rest of you start firing. That should allow the others to come in behind the Yankees while they’re firing at us,” Gabriel whispered and quietly stepped along the balcony with his pistol pointed up before looking over the railing to see the Union men fire a volley at the zouaves. He turned back to Sean and motioned with his head in the direction of the Yankees for Sean to take his position, who carefully aimed his carbine over the railing and made sure he had enough elevation for safety. That’s when Gabriel whispered, “Now…”

A loud bang echoed through the streets when Sean pulled one of the triggers, sending the Yankees scrambling to see where the shot had come from. By then, most of the crowd and the blue troops had spotted Sean and the others on the balcony of the hotel. That was when they received a heavy dose of pistol fire from the rest of Gabriel’s group. It took them a few seconds to get organized, but once they did, they returned the fire with several volleys of rifle fire. Kate found herself running along the balcony, whipping out pistol after pistol, emptying them upon the Yankees, and during one point of the melee, she pulled the derringer out from her cleavage and got off its single shot, aiming for a Yankee captain with dark brown hair and a handlebar mustache. That was when Rob’s group popped out from behind the coffee shop and surprised them with their own pistol fire. Back and forth, both cavalry groups bombarded the men in blue with heavy fire, and they were eventually joined by the other Confederate units, but just as the skirmish seemed to reach its climax, a loud shriek pierced the air when a lilac-colored woman ran out of the coffee house wearing just her bloomers, chemise, and corset with her wavy hair falling over her bare shoulders. A Yankee sergeant chased after her until he finally pinned her against the wall of the coffee shop. The sudden turn of events caught Seamus’s attention.

“Oh damn… Looks like the Yanks have invaded the w***e house,” he said nonchalantly while loading another full cylinder into his pistol.

Casey looked at his cousin as if he had said women were going extinct, “Aw, hell naw!” He leaned over the railing to get a better look at the woman who had come out of the coffee shop and  stood with the major trying to grab onto her upper arm, but she slapped him away, “Forget this s**t, save the w***e!”

Upon hearing another one of Casey’s uncouth remarks, Kate slapped the palm of her hand against her forehead and just shook her head, fighting the huge urge to turn her pistol on him. One day, Kate… One day… She turned and ran back through the doors of the balcony before going down the stairs as fast as she could. Once out in the street, she bent over and pulled a baby dragoon out of her boot, and lit into the Yankees with a fury of pistol fire. Just to show off her dexterity, she pulled another pistol out from the waistband of her trousers and started to twirl the two pistols to distract them, and then fired both at the same time.

“Sweet mother of Hades, where in the hell has she been hiding all of these guns?!” One of the cavalry privates questioned incredulously.

Gabriel just shook his head while staring at his wife keeping the enemy occupied below them, “I don’t have an answer for that one, but the better question is, how was she able to ride with all of those?”

Seamus leaned over close to his brother so that he could hear him amongst the loud firing, “Gabe, do not give her any more guns! She’s starting to scare me!”

“Me, too.”

Thinking that Kate might need backup, Gabriel led his troopers down to the street where they formed a line and opened up with more pistol fire. After expending the rest of their pistol ammunition, some of the men switched to using their carbines, firing rapid fire into the Union lines. Kate got into a fire fight with the major who had trapped the prostitute against the coffee shop wall, allowing Sean and Riley to run over and save her. As Sean carried her off over his shoulder, another female voice caught their attention.

“Yoo hoo!”

Everyone looked up to see a scarlet-colored woman with her hair in a side ponytail leaning out of the upper floor window of the coffee shop. A Yankee private kept his eyes on her, and even threw her a wink as if he was attracted to her.

“Up here, boys!” Just as the private removed his hat, the woman revealed a large chamber pot and dumped it out on four Yankee men, including the flirting private standing below her window, “Whoopsies!”

Seamus chuckled after witnessing what had just taken place, “I like her. Any woman who dumps a chamber pot on someone’s head is a winner in my book.”

“Agreed… but I like her little friend Sean just hauled off; she’s kinda cute,” Casey kept a close eye on the lilac-colored female, who had found a safe place behind Riley as she watched the skirmish continue.

Seamus fired a shot at an advancing Union officer and said, “Casey, you like anything that has breasts and other lady parts, so don’t play it off like it’s no big deal.”

About that time, Gabriel reached over with one of his dragoons and thumped both of them on the back of the head, “Can we focus on whipping these Yankees, please. You can worry about getting into the prostitutes’ bloomers later.”

Five minutes later, a truce was called when the Union and Confederate commanding officers met in the middle of the street and shook hands. When they did so, the crowd started to applaud as the re-enactors dispersed in different directions; some would go back to camp to get lunch started while others would mill around town at the suttlery or the little shops. After mounting back on Bo, Gabriel headed off in the direction of the park with the rest of his troopers right behind him so that they could drop off their weapons at their camp, and then go explore the town.