Excerpt
Seamus’ temper was spiraling rapidly out of control. Again he shouted as he swiftly approached Katie. “I am not going to have you bringing this bloody low life into our house and causing differences in our family.”
Pete continued to observe Seamus’ tense features. He feared Seamus might unintentionally strike Katie a blow with his fist that was already clinched. Without hesitation, Pete jumped from his seat and placed himself between Katie and Seamus. He said in an authoritative tone as he raised his hand gesturing for Katie’s brother to halt. “No, Seamus!”
Once Seamus saw that Pete was ready to intervene, he paused and said angrily, “Katie, I don’t know why you want so much to defend this Johnnie. You are betraying everything that you believed in when you left home to go to that bloody hell hole in Virginia.”
“Seamus I was just as loyal to the Union as you were, but now that the war is over, I can’t see the reason why this bitterness should continue.”
“Come on Katie, the game is over with.”
Rapidly becoming frustrated with the bickering, Pete said in a serious tone, “What do you mean by that Seamus?”
Seamus looked at his sister and Pete laughing as if someone had shared a humorous joke with him. Again, he pointed at Pete and asked Katie, “Does he know why a young lady from Massachusetts such as yourself would travel so far away from home to live in of all places Virginia? No, I didn’t think so. Apparently he doesn’t know the real truth of who Katie McBride really is.” Turning and pointing at Pete, “Aye, Johnnie she is very smart. Smart enough that she kept you in the dark with her innocent, charming charismatic ways, but in reality Katie McBride is not the person that you think that she is.”
Turing his attention once more toward Katie, Seamus began to laugh loudly. “I guess you’ve never told him you were spying for our cause and you were passing information across the lines to your contacts living in Sandy Hook and Frederick.” Pausing and assessing the verbal damage, Seamus continued in a taunting tone. “What is this you said earlier that we have to get over the war? Katie, Katie, my sister, are you not the one who was playing both sides of the game? I am sure that probably on more than one occasion you were able to garnish information from Mr. Barker on Jeb Stuart’s cavalry positions in the lower Shenandoah Valley or other Johnnies.” Turning once more and facing Pete, Seamus continued, “Mr. Barker you must be the biggest, bloodiest fool on this earth, or blinded by love and passion.” Shaking his head and continuing to laugh, Seamus added, “Mr. James Barker, you should have been able to put two and two together. If you had been smart enough, you could have figured it all out.”
As Seamus looked on, Pete turned to look at Katie for an explanation. There was a bewildered expression covering her beautiful features. “Are these accusations true? Were you using me?”
Katie was silent by her brother’s outburst of words, wild accusations, and Pete’s demand for an answer. The only emotion she shared was a tear trickling down her left cheek.
As Pete looked Katie in the eyes, he witnessed the pain and betrayal they reflected. On past occasions when her world was falling apart around her, she desired his embrace and comfort. Due to his distrust, he couldn’t. The thought of her passing information harming the Southern effort and possibly causing the destruction of Shenandoah as a result was once again resurrected within his mind. Pete shook his head in frustration, turned and walked away.
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