He pulled her hard up against him. Abbie liked the way he felt against her, all warm and hard. She had done enough nursing to know that one particular part of him was very hard indeed so she decided those kisses were not signs of mere friendship. It lifted her spirits considerably.
Abbie leaned back a little to look at him, glancing around to make sure they were still alone. A glint in a tree behind caught her attention as she glanced over his shoulder. She squinted toward it, saw some movement in the branches around where it was, and felt terror chill her body. She shoved at him and he stumbled back.
“Get down!” she yelled, grabbing his hand to pull him down to the ground with her.
They hit the ground a little harder than she had intended just as a shot was taken, the bullet passing over their heads. Matthew swore viciously and Abbie had to agree with his sentiments as he started to crawl toward a spot between the buildings they were in front of. She did her best not to slow him down and ignored the occasional sound of something tearing.
Matthew sat down with his back against the wall of the building and tugged Abbie over to sit next to him. “Ye need to get back to the house. Can ye get there by going the back way?”
Abbie nodded. “I know the way.”
“Get everyone to go into the jail. It is a sturdy brick building that should protect all of ye.”
“What will you do?”
“Run back to headquarters and tell the major we may be under attack.”
She kissed him. “Be careful.”
“Same to ye, lass. Stay low and in the shadows.”
Abbie scurried to the end of the alley and then bolted for the Beaton house. They had not walked far so she was there in minutes. Bursting into the house through the kitchen she ran for the sitting room. All the women in there stared at her when she ran into the room. She was pleased to see that Julia was there as well so she did not have to worry about dragging her out of bed.
“Abbie! What is wrong?” asked Rose. “You are a bit of a mess. Did you have trouble with the lieutenant?”
“No, of course not. We were shot at and had to duck into an alley. Now we have to run for the jail.” Abbie fought to catch her breath. “We are under attack.”
“Why can we not stay here? It has survived other attacks,” said Mrs. Beaton.
“Matthew says the jail is safer. Too many windows here and it could be set on fire. They do that to make the people run out so they can shoot them. The jail has thick brick walls. So we better get moving. I will get the children.”
Hoping the women would get themselves together, Abbie ran up the stairs. She hurried into the children’s room and grabbed their coats off the hooks by the door. When she turned to face them, they were all staring at her with wide eyes.
“What’s wrong?” asked Noah.
“We have to go to the jail and wait there until the soldiers say it is safe.”
“The jail? But I haven’t done nothing wrong,” said Noah even as he climbed out of bed.
“Anything wrong,” she muttered then said, “The jail is a sturdier building with brick walls and barred windows.”
“The war is coming here?” asked Mary in a small, shaky voice.
“It definitely appears to be,” Abbie replied as she helped them on with their coats. “One man shot at us and Matthew said to get to the jail while he went to tell the major. He is a soldier so I figure he must know what he is about and has good reason to believe an attack is coming.”
“Are you coming, too?” asked Noah as he took her hand.
“Of course I am. Now, we need to move and to get the women moving.”
Abigail was pleased to see that all the women had their coats on and carried bags they had filled with whatever they felt they needed to hold fast to. She grabbed her sewing basket, sent up a quick prayer that the house would not be burned as she grabbed her rifle and some ammunition, and ushered everyone out the back door. The sound of guns firing followed them as they scurried down behind the houses until they reached the jail. She went around to the front, saw no sign of soldiers, and waved everyone inside the building.
Shutting and barring the door she finally sat down and wondered idly just when she had been elected to be the caretaker of everyone. The sounds of battle were far from comforting but she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. Panic and the need to rush could be exhausting, she decided. When she felt a small body sit next to her and lean on her, she halfway opened one eye, forced a smile for Noah, and put her arm around him. It was going to be yet another long night, she decided when she heard the boom of cannon fire. Maybe she needed to start sleeping during the day.
*
Matthew aimed his rifle and took down another soldier. James lay at his side in the brush and did the same. It was not a particularly large attack. More of a skirmish, an annoyance, as if the Rebs sent out the restless soldiers just to get them out of camp. It was possible it was actually some of the marauders who had caused so much trouble. The ones who could not resist the temptation of so many “blue bellies” so near. They often wore Confederate uniforms.
This time he had a personal reason to fight anyone headed to the town to do harm. Abbie had gotten everyone to the jail. He had seen the light in the window as he had run out with the others to try and stop every one of the attackers at the edge of the town. He was not sure how much he cared about the girl, but he certainly did not want to allow anyone a chance to do her any harm.
Just as he decided he and James could move he saw several Rebs gallop toward the town off to the right. “Damn, some of the buggers got by us.”
“Best go and see what they are after,” James said as he crawled on his belly down the slope of the small hill they were on.
Matthew followed him. At the base of the hill they stood up and ran in a crouch toward the town. They stood up straight as soon as they reached a building. Looking down the street Matthew saw the barrel of a rifle poke out of the jail’s front window. Abbie was alive but it was obvious there was some trouble.
“The lass is under fire.”
“Go on, then. Time to be a hero.” James grinned when Matthew glared at him. “Whoever it is, he is on that roof, but I think there may be more men at that end of town. I will watch your back.”
Knowing there were few better for the job, Matthew began to make his careful way toward the jail. It made him angry to see how many of their own men now littered the street. A quick look told him many of them had been shot from behind as they had run to join the battle. These men wanted to kill and he was not going to allow them to add Abbie or anyone she cared about to their list.
Chapter Seven