The Wicked North (Hearts Touched By Fire Book 1) by Gina Danna

let Caroline take her posts or retrieve them. Caroline’s animosity made her shudder. Despite the avid attention of most men who came to the house and Caroline’s flirting ways, she’d decided Jack was the one. To her, Emma was a threat. Whatever happened to the sister she’d played with as a child? What would the woman do to keep Jack to herself, she wondered?
     
    #
     
    Spring 1855Jack sat back in his saddle, chewing a piece of straw as he took a last look at the terrain of western Texas. In his few months there, he’d dealt with Indians, or “mustangers” as Jeb called them, with their uncanny ability to capture and train wild horses to trade for Army bread. The beauty of the land was inspiring, from the colorful fauna to the low and vast sky at night. The cry of a panther sent a chill down a man’s spine when he was resting on the range. There was never a dull moment, but despite the work, the loneliness of the frontier seeped into him.
    His friendship with Jeb was particularly beneficial that spring when Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis, organized the 1 st and 2 nd cavalries. Jack was the 2 nd lieutenant of the 2 nd Cavalry, under the command of Col. Albert Sidney Johnson and Jack’s former West Point commander, Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee. Jack knew it had been Lee’s influence that opened the position for him on the roster of the 2 nd . Another step away from his father’s influence, or so Jack hoped. Deep in his gut, he knew his father had maneuvered to bring him to New Orleans, but the new cavalry units had the Secretary of War’s hand involved, and his father had no influence in the Mississippian’s sphere.
    Charles was ecstatic when Jack and Jeb arrived in St. Louis. Although Charles reluctantly admitted he hadn’t made the cut for the Mounted Rifles, he didn’t seem envious of Jack’s move to the cavalry. However, Charles bemoaned the tedious affair of being a foot soldier, stuck eight miles away from the bustling town of St. Louis.
    Time together at Jefferson Barracks was short for Jeb, Jack and Charles. Jeb’s unit moved its headquarters to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas in the summer of 1855. Jack’s unit remained at Jefferson Barracks. The 2 nd Cavalry was often referred to as Jeff Davis’ Own or Jeff Davis’ Pet because the Secretary of War had handpicked its officers, many of them West Point graduates.
    Jack finally felt as though he fit in. William J. Hardee of Georgia, graduate of the Point in 1838, was an excellent teacher of cavalry tactics. Earl Van Dorn of Mississippi, who graduated with Longstreet, grew up just across the river from Jack’s family. The man himself had become Jack’s savior when things at Bellefountaine turned ugly and Jack needed to escape his father’s rule. Van Dorn’s connections had helped Jack get into the Point, and now, serving under him in the 2 nd Cavalry, Jack meant to show him how valuable his help had been.
    But his stay at Jefferson Barracks did not last long after Jeb’s departure. The 2 nd Cavalry was sent to western Texas soon after.
    “Thought you enjoyed Texas,” Charles chortled at dinner.
    Jack grunted. The next day, his regiment was to leave. He downed another shot of whiskey, savoring the heat along his throat. “Texas is fine. Just, I don’t know…”
    Charles eyed him above the rim of his own glass. “You mean to tell me that you’re finding Army life not the challenge you thought?”
    “It’s not that,” Jack replied. “The savages always set the schedule and change their location, so the challenge of staying on top of them and curtailing the violence is hard enough.” Frankly, it was damn lonely out there, but he wouldn’t say that to Charles. Being in St. Louis meant his mail came on a more regular basis. In Texas, it was anybody’s guess when it’d arrive, particularly on the uncivilized plains.
    “Oh, I get it,” Charles snickered. “You’d be worried about missing Caroline.”
    Jack quickly downed another shot. Caroline.