By Caroline Clemmons
LONG WAY HOME, a sweet historical romance novella set near the end of the Civil War, is on sale for 99¢ today through Wednesday, September 29th.
During the Civil War, no doubt soldiers longed for home the way it
existed before the War. Many men lost their home and family members. In the
Civil War, more men died than in any other war in which the United States has
been involved. That’s a staggering statistic. Think of all the women who lost
loved ones, who became spinsters because there simply were not enough men left
of marrying age, and the damaged men who did return. Post Traumatic Stress
Syndrome was called battle fatigue, and thought to be temporary. No one knew
how to treat severe cases.
Prisons on both sides were horrendous, as Parmelia Bailey’s
brother found. Many who survived lost so much weight they were skeletal. Often
they were without coats in freezing weather, some without even shoes. We hate
foreign countries that do to our soldiers what our own countrymen did in the
Civil War.
Soldiers from both sides chose several options after the War’s
end. Some returned home to reclaim as much as they could. Some traveled West to
seek a better life. Others became outlaws like the Quantrell or Murrell’s
Raiders or similar groups, using their army training to rampage and wreak
destruction.
Here’s the blurb for the sweet historical romance, LONG
WAY HOME:
Parmelia Bailey has promised to keep her family safe until the men
in her family return from War. That includes bringing her brother’s fiancée,
sisters, and mother to stay at the home of Parmelia’s grandmother in town.
Maybe she shouldn’t have stolen back her horses from the Yankees, but she could
think of no other way to rescue the Hardeman women.
Darrick McDonald waited four years to return to Witherspoon,
Georgia and Parmelia. Who would have dreamed war would bring him back. He had
to protect Parmelia from a renegade who’d vowed to make her sorry she’d turned
down his proposal. He prayed he wasn’t too late.
Here’s an excerpt from LONG
WAY HOME:
At
last, she turned into her grandparents’ drive and pulled around to the back.
With a huge sigh, she stopped at the carriage house. Surely a week had passed
since she caught her horses last night. All she wanted now was to crawl in bed
and sleep for days, pretend the war never happened. She couldn’t relax yet, not
until the horses were back with those Yankee scoundrels.”
“Sarah,
let’s see your mother and sisters inside. After that, Rob and I will deal with
the chickens and cow.” Parmelia’s hands shook as she climbed out of the buggy.
Fatigue, relief, and fear turned her limbs to jam.
She
walked Sarah and her family to the back door where Grammy and Mama took over.
Parmelia
returned to the carriage house. “Rob, help me unhitch the horses and put their
bridles on so I can take them back.”
“Why
don’t I do that.” Darrick McDonald stepped from the shadows. He appeared calm,
until she looked at his face.
Parmelia
was surprised sparks didn’t shoot from his dark eyes and ignite the entire
carriage house. She clutched her throat, hoping a way out of this predicament
would come to her. How had he known to come here, to wait for her?
“Darrick,
you—you gave me a fright.”
“Did
I? Perhaps you have a guilty conscience.” He freed one of the horses.
“When
did you come back?” She fought for an idea, but none came to her.
“Late
yesterday.” He walked back and forth beside Lady. “Funny thing, you having two
horses after the Army confiscated all the livestock in town. Another
coincidence, two Army horses went missing overnight.”
“Did
they?”
He
stopped and gave her a piercing look.
She
gave up with a sigh. “I can explain.”
“I’m
listening.” His eyes were still dark with anger.
“My
brother’s fiancée. You remember Sarah Hardeman? I had to bring her and her
family to town. I—I had no way to do that without a team.”
Rob
added, “These are our horses anyway. You low down, yellow-bellied Yankees stole
them from us.”
Oh, Lord. Leave it to her brother
to make things worse.
“Hush,
Rob. Give me the bridles. Put the cow in the barn then come help me with these
chickens.”
He
pouted and handed over the tack. “Oh, all right. I never get to hear anything
good.” Rob untied the cow and stomped toward the barn.
“So,
you’re a Yankee officer now.”
“Captain.”
Darrick crossed his arms. “I’m waiting for an explanation, Parmelia.”
Her
temper conquered her good sense, and she stepped toward him. “You’ve got your
nerve, coming here wearing that uniform, you...you traitor.”
He
stepped forward until they were almost touching. “Call me what you will, but
you’re the one who stole two horses in a time of war.”
She
refused to retreat. “How can you accuse me of stealing, when you Yankees have
taken over our town?”
“Because
you did steal them, and you weren’t even clever about it. I followed their
tracks to your grandparents’ home. You do realize that with a less sympathetic
Colonel, they could lose their home?”
Dear
heaven, she hadn’t considered her grandparents if she were caught.
“No!”
She took a step backward. “I was going to return them. Rob’s right, they are
ours. They know me, so they were eager to come to me.”
He
pulled a small, withered apple from his pocket.
Rats,
she must have dropped it, one of the few from their store of fruit in the
cellar.
Darrick
held the apple in front of her nose. “Looks to me as if you coaxed them away.”
She
sighed, “Maybe I did, but it was only to use them for a little while. Sarah and
her family were in great peril.”
He
tossed the apple from one hand to the other, but stared at her face. “Are you
crazy? You could have been killed.”
She
grabbed the apple from him. “Sarah, her mother, and sisters could have been
murdered and their home burned. We barely got away in time as it is.”
“If
you had bothered to consult the Colonel, he would have sent soldiers for them.
As it turns out, I would have taken my men and gone.”
“Are
you crazy? You could have been killed.”
Shocked
at the concern in her voice and in her heart, she continued, “Um, I mean, they
might not have recognized you and could have shot you. Or, that man that tried
to take my horse could have killed you.”
Oh, no, she hadn’t meant to tell
that last part.
He
grew angrier and grabbed her arms. “What do you mean?
She
tried to twist away. “Nothing.”
“Parmelia
Bailey, who tried to take your horse?” He turned her to face him.
Refusing
to meet his gaze, she stammered, “There, um, there was a man in the woods, a
ways north of the Mitchell’s house. He…um, he jumped at me and tried to take
Beauty, but Rob and I got away.”
“You
are the stubbornest, orneriest woman I’ve ever known. Don’t you realize what
could have happened to you?”
“It
crossed my mind,” she snapped and raised her face.
“If
you were mine, I’d, I’d...”
“Yours?
You moved away and left me, remember? And now you’re a Yankee officer.” Lord,
she shouldn’t have reminded him she’d loved him. Worse, she still loved him.
She
willed tears not to fall. Keep your anger up, don’t let him know how he hurt
you.
“You
know why I left Witherspoon. You know I had no choice.”
“There’s
always a choice.” And she would have chosen to go with him, if only he’d asked,
even if she had been only sixteen.
“Like
you chose to steal these horses?”
She
shrugged away from his grasp. “Steal? Soldiers stole them from us. Do you
understand the term ‘borrow’? That’s what I did.”
“In
times of war, the government has the power to confiscate items from civilians.
Do you understand that?”
“Call
it what you wish, it’s still stealing when you take what’s not yours and keep
it.”
“Maybe
we’re only borrowing your horses.”
She
thought his mouth twitched to hide a smile. His humor only irked her more.
“Like
you Yankees borrowed from the stores in town so we can’t even buy supplies—that
is, if we had money. Which we don’t.”
He
smiled. “I heard you had plenty of those Confederate dollars.”
“Oh,
you...you Yankees make me so mad. Take my horses and leave.” She turned and
stomped toward the house.
He
called, “Aren’t you going to invite me in to say hello to the family? Maybe you
could bake me an apple pie.”
She
slammed the kitchen door and leaned against it. His laughter floated around
her.
From
the front of the house, she heard Mrs. Hardeman complaining and Mamma and
Grammy’s soft, soothing answers. She wondered how much of Mrs. Hardeman’s
grousing they’d have to endure.
Parmelia
pushed away from the door, and then remembered those dratted chickens. Peeking
through the curtains, she saw Darrick leading the horses away. His long, lean
body looked good, his walk a confident swagger. Dark brown hair caught the sunlight.
Lordy, he was better looking than he had been four years ago when he lived in
Witherspoon.
When
he’d touched her just now, she’d sizzled. She’d wanted to throw herself in his
arms and have him reassure her, kiss her, love her. How could he create these
sensations inside her when he’d abandoned her four years ago? When now he sided
with their enemies?
She
jumped when Sarah came up to her.
“Parmelia,
is something wrong?”
“I—I
just remembered the chickens is all. I’ll get Rob to help me get them down and
into the chicken coop.”
“Nonsense.
My sisters and I will do it. You look all worn out. You must have ridden most
of the night.”
She
shrugged. “I’m all right. We started for your place close to midnight.”
Sarah’s
dark eyes sparkled. “Did you really take those horses from the Yankees?”
“Yes,
but they’re on their way back to those thieves now. Darrick McDonald was
waiting for them in Grammy’s barn.”
“Darrick?”
Sarah touched Parmelia’s arm. “Oh, Parmelia. Is he still as handsome?”
She
sighed, hating to admit the truth. “More. And taller. He sure fills out his
uniform, too, but it’s blue.”
“Oh.”
Sarah paused. “But he’s here, and you talked to him. That’s something, isn’t
it?”
Before
Parmelia had to answer, Rob slammed inside the kitchen. “That old cow’s still
upset. Am I supposed to milk her or what?”
“I’ll
get the pail for you.” Parmelia retrieved it from the screened in porch. “The
stool’s still in the barn.” She clasped her hands. “Fresh milk. Oh, that will
be wonderful. We’ve been without it for a month.”
Rob
called, “We got to have hay.”
“Maybe
she can eat the lawn tomorrow. I’ll try to barter some hay.” But who had any
supplies except the Yankees? Sighing, she went back into the kitchen. She
simply could not deal with another crisis today.
If this tempted you to purchase LONG WAY HOME, it’s available from Amazon at
http://www.amazon.com/LONG-WAY-HOME-ebook/dp/B005HQYUSK/
If you read this novella and enjoy it, please leave a review on Amazon
and/or Goodreads. I’ll appreciate your effort.
Stay safe and keep reading!
