Stowaway in Time

lifetime… but also a huge risk. Danger in the nineteenth century was far too real.
“I’ve been out of the loop since the explosion. I don’t know how long I was unconscious. Can you tell me what day it is?”
The man shifted position and winced, clutching his wounded leg. “We’ve been under siege for weeks. I got struck by shrapnel on the fourth of April. A couple days have passed since then, I reckon.”
April? Two days ago it had been January for Diamond. “And the year?”
The man frowned. “Listen, I appreciate your offer of help, but I can’t continue marching. I’ve got to go to ground, see if I can evade the Yanks. Do the same. Or follow the Confederate column. They’ll treat you decently so long as they have no reason to suspect you’re a Union spy.”
Diamond raised her hand in a stopping gesture. “Wait, I’m not trying to mess with you. Please, just tell me the year. And your name. I’ve told you mine.”
“I’m Jesse.” He tried to rise again and Diamond tugged at his arm. Together, they got him to his feet. “And it’s 1862 as you very well know.”
Yikes. The war had been going on for less than a year and wouldn’t end for another four. “Of course. And this battle is?”
Jesse’s dark brows tilted towards his nose as his frown deepened. “The Union’s trying to take Island #10, if that’s what you mean.”
The battle for Island #10. Diamond doubted she would have ever even heard about that battle had she not grown up in Tennessee. The island no longer existed in the twenty-first century. The river had taken it over. The Battle of Island #10 was a side note in the state history she had studied at school, overshadowed by the far bloodier conflict at Shiloh—which was going on at the same time. She shuddered. Thank goodness the explosion had cast her through time, but kept her in the same location.
“A cane might help if you could grab me something from the woods.”
Diamond searched for a fallen stick, but most were too short or too wobbly. She finally found a sturdy limb that would support Jesse’s weight, but wasn’t tall enough. “This is the best I can do.”
He took it, leaning against it in an awkward stooped position. “Good luck to you, Miss Diamond.”
He was leaving, the first person she had spoken to in this strange new world. “Will it work? Do you think you’ll be able to hide from the Yankees?”
“Not likely, but I will make it as difficult as possible for them to find me.”
“If you expect to be captured anyway, why not lean on me and try to catch up to the rest of the soldiers?”
“I don’t expect they’ll fare any better than me.”
“Why not? Where are they going?”
“Our orders are to evacuate to Tiptonville, but I’m not sure we can escape now that the Union slipped a couple ironclads past our defenses on the island.”
Diamond thought back to her history lessons. She seemed to recall many Confederates taken prisoner upon the surrender of Island #10. But surely some had escaped. The Mississippi blocked their way to the west. The Union held the area to the north and perhaps had invaded the Tennessee shore to the south. “Why not head east?”
“No way to get across Reelfoot Lake.”
That’s it! Diamond snatched at the thread of hope. Some Confederates had made it across the lake. Not many, but a few. “Rafts. I remember now, the army has rafts and transports at the lake if we can get there.”
Jesse’s eyes narrowed. “How would you know that? This is the first I’ve heard about it.”
“The couple I told you about. I overheard them talking about it,” she improvised. She wasn’t sure Jesse believed her, but he appeared deep in thought.
“I don’t know if I can make it that far and even if I can, I would only slow you down. You should go on or take your chances with the Union troops. I don’t think they’ll hurt you.”
He was probably right. It was early in the war, before years of fighting created feelings of bitter enmity. They would have their hands full with hundreds—thousands?—of Confederate prisoners of war. They should leave her alone. But would they help her? Probably not. They had more important things to worry about.
But this earnest young man? She thought he might help her if he could. And if she had really traveled to 1862, he was her only acquaintance in a strange world. Not to mention, handsome. Not that it mattered.
“If I help you get to Reelfoot Lake, will you help me find the people I’m looking for?” There was another explosion from the direction of the river and she flinched. Jesse held steady, perhaps used to constant bombardment. But it shadowed his deep blue eyes with worry or fatigue. Possibly both.
“I’m a soldier under orders. I have to get to Tiptonville.”
“You’re wounded and can’t keep up. Besides, isn’t it your duty to avoid capture?”
He tipped his head to one side and a small smile curved his lips. “You’re quite argumentative for a woman.”
Not again. Diamond sighed. Men from her time found her too aggressive. She’d have to dial it down several notches if she wanted a nineteenth-century man to accept her. “Sorry, it’s been a rough couple of days. For you, too, I expect. Let’s just get going and we can argue about it later.”
Looking slightly bemused, Jesse allowed her to slip her left arm around his waist. He placed his right arm over her shoulders and they hobbled away from the river.
“Even if we make it, I might not be able to help you. I can’t desert.”
“But you’ll try, right?” Diamond stopped and looked up into his ocean blue eyes. She felt she could drown in them. “You’ll do your best, whether that means coming with me yourself or asking your commander for assistance?”
“Yes, I’ll help you if I can.”
“Good. Now let’s get going. Do you have a compass?” Diamond