Where Does My Heart Beat Now- Chapter 39

*Author's Note: Gaelic words and phrases in this chapter...a stóirín= My little darling (pronounce it like ah store-een).

**By no means am I biased against the North. When I reenact I play both sides, but for the sake of the story I have to write it from a southern point of view. Just thought I'd clear that up so there's no hating later :)

Chapter 39

The late evening sky looked like a watercolor masterpiece with different hues of pink, orange, yellow and lavender swirled together. Having filled their stomachs with a good dinner, the family returned to their camp and noticed that it had been filled to capacity with at least ten other Confederate cavalry units. Gabriel and Seamus went over to untie Bo and Hermes from the line after they had decided to go for a ride to inspect the field they would be riding on during the reenactment. They were not surprised when they found Casey putting his McClellan saddle on Dionysus while the paint gelding grazed on a patch of green grass.

“I take it you’re planning on going with us?” Gabriel asked as he set his own saddle and blanket on the ground and untied Bo from the line.

The light green male shrugged his shoulders and tightened the strap underneath his horse, “I didn’t know you were going anywhere, but sure.”

After mounting into their saddles, Gabriel, Seamus and Casey were about to ride off to the open field on the other side of the civilian camp when Moira showed up with Casey’s daughter on her hip. The baby girl was calm until she saw her father getting ready to leave, and then she reached her small arms out toward him and fought to get away from Moira.

“Tate, you can’t go with Daddy.” Moira struggled to hold on to the squirming baby, “Would you stop fighting me?”

Casey couldn’t stand the sight of Tate reaching out to him with a longing look in her eyes; unknown to the others, he had taken Tate riding with him several times before and discovered that she loved it, “Mom, hand her up here. She can ride in front of me.”

“Are you crazy, Casey?! You’re going to take your baby riding, again?!” Moira stared at her son in disbelief, her eyes wide with fear.

Not even caring if he gave his mother a heart attack, he replied, “She loves it! Now, give me a stóirín to me before she starts screaming.”

All his mother could do was relinquish the baby to Casey, who sat her in front of him with his arm wrapped securely around her middle to keep her from falling off. Having gotten her settled, Casey took the lead with the other two behind him, leaving Moira shaking her head at him. She should have known that her son would get Tate accustomed to riding horses at a young age. Eventually, the woman turned her back on the forms of the men disappearing down the road, reassured that Casey wouldn’t let anything happen to his daughter.

Casey’s body rocked gently against Tate’s as Dionysus kept at a steady walk in the middle of Bo and Hermes. What he really wanted to do was get his horse cantering, and possibly galloping, but in the back of his mind he knew if his mother saw them doing that she would have a stroke. Then again, Tate was just like him. He tapped the gelding in the sides with the heels of his boots, making him pick up speed to a trot. Gabriel and Seamus followed his lead and got their horses to trot beside him knowing he wouldn’t do anything too crazy since he had Tate with him. But they were wrong about that; before long, they were watching Dionysus’s hindquarters move out in front of them when he was pushed into a canter. Not wanting to be left behind, they found themselves kicking their geldings into a canter.

“Moira is going to kill you, Casey!” Gabriel called after his cousin, but couldn’t help laughing at the situation.

His cousin ignored him as he was too busy making sure that Tate was secured in front of him. The baby girl had a wide grin on her face and giggled at the feeling of the bouncing horse underneath her. Casey adored seeing his daughter enjoying the ride and wondered how she would react if he got Dionysus up to his full speed. Then it dawned on him; the day he had met Kate, Tate had been on Dionysus with him when he had finally gotten the horse to gallop up the road to the farm. He looked up and saw a huge open area of the field spread out in front of the suttlery and the low stone wall that would be used during the reenactment. That was when the idea hit him.

“Let’s just see if you two really know how to ride,” Casey gathered his reins up so that there wasn’t much slack in them, “I’ll race you to the suttlery.”

Gabriel glanced over at him with a worried look on his face, “Come on, Casey. Don’t do anything stupid since you have Tate with you. She might fall off.”

“Do you think I’d let me own daughter fall off?” When he saw them staring with straight faces, he continued, “I didn’t think so. Now, on the count of three…”

He’s insane! Tate could get hurt. “Casey, let’s not race. We’re perfectly fine just like this.”

“One…” his cousin started to count, keeping an eye on him.

Seamus rolled his eyes at his brother and pulled his own reins up in preparation. He was all for a friendly competition, “Gabe, lighten up. Let’s have some fun!”

“Two…”

“Seamus, don’t tell me you’re going along with this,” Gabriel noticed that he was going to be left behind if he didn’t get himself situated, and fast. He lifted his rear end off of the saddle so that he wouldn’t get bruised from slamming into the horn.

Casey tightened his arm around Tate, pinning her against his hips, and then kicked Dionysus in the sides, “See ya!” The two of them surged forth into a gallop, leaving the others a few seconds behind them.

The baby girl giggled and clung to small clumps of the horse’s mane when she felt the wind hit her face and caused her father to laugh out loud. There was nothing more exhilarating than feeling the power beneath him and seeing his daughter enjoying herself as they flew over the field with Gabriel and Seamus on his flanks. Chancing a glance behind him, Casey checked underneath his left arm and saw that Gabriel was closing the gap and knew it was time to show them what Dionysus was capable of. Up ahead of them he could see the ground flatten out. Making sure that he kept his arm locked around Tate, he leaned forward in the saddle and gave the horse some pressure with his legs. That was when the horse’s spirit came alive; within seconds he flew forward, leaving the other two in his dust.

“Let’s fly, Dionysus! Come on!” Casey whooped with pure joy at the feeling of being on such a powerful animal. I live for this!

The paint gelding arched his neck and lifted his tail when he reached his full speed within seconds. His nostrils flared out to help him breathe more easily when he ran; it was what he was born to do.

Gabriel stared, mouth agape when Casey left them behind. He had never seen a horse run like that with his legs outstretched to their full length, and his silky brown and blonde tail draped like a cascading waterfall, “That’s one hell of a horse!”

“There’s no way we’re going to catch up to them, now,” Seamus kept Hermes galloping after the paint gelding even though he knew they had already lost. For the rest of the race he would just admire the sight of Casey disappearing ahead of them, mainly to watch the horse run.

 

Ellen and Faye strolled happily along the rows and rows of suttlery tents and sipped on glass bottles of old-fashioned root beer. They had arrived at the reenactment location a few hours prior and had already gotten their tent set up in the civilian campsite before deciding to check out the suttlery. They had just left a women’s attire tent and was on their way to the next row of tents when they heard what sounded like a faint pounding in the distance. Curious as to what it was, the two women rounded the corner and saw three men on horses riding them as hard as they could across the field. What caught their attention was the paint horse way out ahead of the other two and gaining speed as they got closer to the suttlery. Ellen stopped and stared awestruck at the scene before her; she had never seen anything quite so amazing as what she was watching. The way the horse’s rider held himself in the saddle left her wondering how he was able to ride so perfectly. She couldn’t think of how to describe the sheer beauty of the gelding for she was mesmerized.

“That’s a beautiful horse,” Ellen finally spoke after what seemed like ages, but kept her eyes on the three horses.

“That’s a beautiful man.”

Ellen pulled her attention away from the race to see Faye staring at the man on the paint gelding with her mouth hanging open and hazel eyes wide, “Really? There’s an amazing horse out there, and you’re watching the person riding the horse? What’s wrong with you?”

“He’s gorgeous. He’s sexy. He’s delicious. He’s buff. He’s…” Faye responded while keeping her eyes fixed on the man riding the horse as they neared the suttlery.

“Someone that you should stay away from,” Ellen rolled her eyes at her friend, knowing well enough that she wasn’t paying attention to what she had to say.

A few minutes later, Ellen and Faye were walking through the other half of the suttlery. Suddenly, Faye stopped walking. Ellen gave her friend a slightly annoyed glance, “What is it now?”

“Look who’s heading this way,” Faye giggled.

Ellen followed her friend’s gaze and recognized the men they saw riding earlier. She gave an annoyed sigh, not in the mood to deal with men.

“You know that you can’t avoid men all your life, Ellen,” Faye said, seeing her friend’s expression.

“I can try,” Ellen huffed. “I just don’t see how it’ll be worth it.”

Faye shook her head, but said nothing. There simply was no reasoning with her. Just because the girl had had a rough past it didn’t mean that she had to totally shut herself up. She’s just not found the right one yet. Her eyes met Casey’s accidentally and lingered maybe a little bit too long. He held her gaze for a while until one of the other men pulled his attention away from her. Seeing that the three men were nearing, Faye ducked into one of the tents to keep the other two from noticing her.

When Ellen turned to say something in reply to her friend she noticed that she had disappeared, but that was when a hand reached out and pulled her into the tent with a yelp. She turned around and found Faye’s finger against her lips and watched as she peeked around the doorway of the tent like she was looking for someone.

“What are you doing Faye? Why did you pull me into a tent full of uniforms?” Ellen removed the finger away from her and stood in front of Faye with her hands on her hips.

“They’ll see us, Ellen,” Faye kept her eyes peeled on the Dawson men, who stood across the row just outside of a leatherworks tent, “Those devastatingly yummy creatures that are God’s gift to women.”

Once again, Ellen rolled her eyes at Faye, “It’s that time of the month where you find anything with broad shoulders and male parts attractive, isn’t it?”

“Actually no,” Faye whirled Ellen around to look at the men across from them. “How can you not find them gorgeous?”

Now that I get a good look at them, they look very familiar. Oh wait, one of them is Seamus! No idea who the other two are. “Just keep your distance from them, Faye.”

The other woman started to leave the tent and walk over to the men, her mind completely captivated by the sight of them standing there in the evening sunlight with their long hair blowing gently in the breeze, “I wonder what they smell like?” Her eyes were fixed on the shortest of the three, the one leaning against the metal pole that held the corner of the tent up and wearing a tight-fitting black tank top and torn light wash jeans. Please be single, please be single…

Meanwhile, Casey had set Tate down so that she could stretch her legs a little, but was keeping a close eye on her as he didn’t want her to wander off on her own and get lost. He didn’t think he’d ever forgive himself if something happened to his daughter.

Seamus smiled at the sight of his cousin keeping a watchful eye over his daughter, “She really means a lot to you, huh?”

“Yeah,” Casey replied, smiling, “She’s been me world since Aoife left. I don’t know what I would’ve done without her,” he remembered the lonely nights directly after his ex moved out, and how Tate had been a great comfort to him. That was why he fought so hard to keep his daughter. He needed her, probably a bit more than she needed him.

“Uh, Casey…” Seamus pointed behind Casey with a raised eyebrow, “Mini Me is making a run for it.”

Casey turned around and watched as Tate toddled away in the opposite direction. He was unable to make his feet move, because he had never had her run off from him. The next thing he knew, a lilac-colored woman seemed to have come out from the shadows of a tent and scooped the baby into her arms. Tate squealed when she realized that she had been caught and wasn’t going anywhere. After a few seconds had passed, Casey snapped back to reality and made his way over to the woman holding his child. By then, Tate had stopped struggling to get free as she had taken to resting her head on the woman’s shoulder.

“How did you catch her so fast?” Casey panted after sprinting the short distance to where the woman stood.

She chuckled, running her fingers through Tate’s hair, “You have to be quick with babies. They’re sneaky.”

Once Casey had gotten a good look at her, his eyes widened dramatically when he figured out who he was talking to, “Hang on, you look really familiar. Where do I know you from?”

“Jefferson. I was the prostitute with the cute bloomers, as you had so rightly pointed out to me.”

He blushed at the memory of the night he had spoken to her at the ball. He had found her attractive and wanted desperately to dance with her, but never got the chance, “I don’t think you ever told me your name.”

“It’s Fallon,” it was her turn to blush, “Everyone just calls me Faye, though.”

Casey looked to the side of her, trying to recall the events of Jefferson. Something seemed odd, “There were two of you women at the time. Your devil of a friend isn’t here, is she?”

“Ahem.”

The sound of the deep female voice behind him made him cringe. He should have known Faye wouldn’t be alone, “S**t.”

Ellen glared at Casey with her arms crossed over her chest. She wasn’t in the mood for dealing with a man, especially one as uncouth as Casey tended to be. Her eyes shifted from Casey over to Faye, who still held on to the baby girl, “Oh, she’s so cute! I wonder who is responsible for such a gorgeous baby.”

Clearing his throat, Casey lifted his finger to get the women’s attention, “Thank you. That would be me.”

The silence that passed between the three of them was awkward. Ellen looked the Irish male up and down as if she was trying to figure out how someone as unruly as Casey was could create an adorable baby. She tried her hardest to keep from laughing, but eventually she couldn’t contain it.

“You mean to tell me you actually reproduced?”

Casey looked hurt. He couldn’t see why she found that so amusing.

“Ellen!” Faye looked shocked at her friend’s behavior, “I can’t believe you.”

“What?” Ellen looked at her as she regained control over her laughter, “I was joking!”

“That’s no excuse for hurting someone’s feelings!” Faye shot back.

“Well, if you’re gonna be like that, I’m heading back,” Ellen headed off in the opposite direction. “I have better things to do, anyways.”

“Ellen, wait!” Faye’s call fell on deaf ears. She sighed, and then turned to Casey, “Sorry about her. Honestly, I can’t take her anywhere!”

“What’s her problem?” Casey asked.

“There are times when I wonder that myself,” Faye answered. “She’s just impossible at times.”

Remembering the baby, Casey took a step closer to Faye and held out his arms for him to take Tate, but she turned her head against Faye’s neck and clung on to her. He found her behavior odd considering she didn’t take to most people, especially strangers. He tried once more to take his daughter from Faye, and that time she screamed her refusal and held on tighter to Faye’s shirt. It looked as if he was going to have a time of pulling her away from Faye.

“Tate, why won’t you come to Daddy?” Casey stood back with his hands on his hips, staring at the sight of Faye holding Tate close to her and running her fingers through her soft curls like she had before. From the look of it, she was growing attached to the little girl.

Standing nearby, Gabriel and Seamus watched the scene in front of them with smiles on their faces. They knew that Tate was picky when it came to who she would let hold her, and it was usually not women. Seamus could tell that something good would come out of the encounter, he just didn’t know what.

“I think Tate has chosen who she wants to be her mama,” he whispered to his brother, not wanting Casey to overhear him, “From what I can tell, Miss Faye seems like a sweetheart. Hopefully, for Casey’s sake, he’ll realize that.”   

To see if Tate would change her mind, Casey walked back over to the other two men to chat with them while Faye spent some time trying to coax the baby to let go of her. When he decided to go back over, Tate kept her eye on him, unsure of what he was going to do. He watched Faye straighten the giant purple bow on the top of Tate’s head. Once more, Casey held out his arms to take the baby, but his daughter let him know that she didn’t intend on going anywhere with him when she let out an ear shattering scream.

“Okay! I won’t touch you,” Casey backed away and threw his hands up in surrender. “Damn, you’re just like your mother.”

The mention of Tate’s mother dashed Faye’s hopes of a relationship with the attractive man in front of her; however, she hadn’t seen a woman with the men, “Where is her mother?”

Casey shrugged his shoulders, seeming not to care about Tate’s mother, “Probably knocked up, knowing her type,” seeing the odd look on Faye’s face he continued, “We’re divorced. Me attorney and I screwed her. That wasn’t exactly the threesome she was hoping for. So, that means I’m single… alone… in need of a woman…” She’s still clueless…

“Who’s helping you raise her?”

“It’s just me, but I guess I could use some help when it comes to fixing her hair and making her look like a girl.”

Faye inspected the baby’s hair more closely: a tuft of hair on the top of her head with the rest of her fine hair in soft, natural curls, “You mean you didn’t put the bow in her hair? It’s adorable.”

“I’m not a bow person. Me own mother did that.”

Eventually, Gabriel and Seamus wanted to get back to camp in order to brush the horses down before dark. At the rate Casey was going they’d be there all night unless one of them helped him out. Seamus walked over to the woman and easily took Tate from her without any issues, much to Casey’s surprise. He stared open-mouthed at his cousin standing near Gabriel, bouncing his daughter on his hip and twirling a lock of her pale green hair around his finger. How was it that she would throw a fit whenever he tried to take her, but she went happily to Seamus?

“How about we head back to camp to let the horses eat?” Gabriel suggested after checking the time on his phone.

Damn, do we have to leave now? I want to talk more with Faye, Casey thought as he watched Faye scuff her foot on the ground absently. “Fine. Besides, it’s Tate’s bedtime,” when Casey looked back, Faye was walking off in the opposite direction. Wanting to spend more time with her, he hurried over to her and lightly grabbed onto her arm, “Faye… Do you want to go for a ride with me? I want to hear more about you.”

Faye’s hazel eyes glimmered with new hope when Casey asked her to go riding with him. She hadn’t rode very many horses growing up, but she trusted Casey enough to know that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. In the back of her mind she could hear Ellen nagging her about associating with a man, but she ignored it, “I’d love to. By the way, you never told me your name.”

“Casey Dawson,” he pointed back behind him with his thumb, “and those two are me cousins, Gabriel and Seamus Dawson. I’m the sexy one out of the group, so don’t let them distract you.”

She tried to hide a smile, “I don’t know; all three of you are pretty handsome.”

Ignoring her comment, Casey said, “I’ll meet you in your camp in forty-five minutes. I just have to put Tate to bed.”

“Sounds great, Casey. I’ll be waiting eagerly.”

 

Ellen and Faye sat around a campfire, talking with some of the re-enactors in their camp; however, Faye wasn’t listening much to Ellen describe the scene of the Dawson men racing their horses. She was too preoccupied thinking about what her ride with Casey would be like. Secretly, she wished he would kiss her since it had been so long since she had been in a relationship and forgot what it felt like. She was interrupted from her daydream when Ellen nudged her in the side with her elbow.

“Earth to Faye… What, dare I ask, are you thinking about? I know it has nothing to do with your job.”

Her friend shook her head to clear it, “I’m sorry, Ellen, but I can’t stop thinking about Casey. He’s just so charming.”

The sound of Ellen sighing in annoyance caught Faye’s attention. That wasn’t enough to deter her from pursuing Casey’s heart. A horse’s snort nearby made her look to her left. The sight of a paint gelding trotting over with Casey perched high on his back brought a smile to her face. After stopping behind the group, Casey jumped down from the horse and motioned her over to him. She was unable to move, because her eyes were fixed on his bare upper body and the hard muscles covering it.

Oh…my…. Is he for real? Now I really want to find out more about him, “Where’s your saddle?” Faye noted that Dionysus didn’t have a saddle or reins on him.

“We’re not using one. Bareback is more fun,” Casey stepped out of the way to let Faye attempt to mount the horse. A few seconds of failed attempts forced him to help her by placing his hand on her bottom and shoving her up, “Don’t mind me grabbing your cute butt. It’s the best way to get you up there,” he ignored Ellen behind him snorting her displeasure.

You can grab me all you want, sweet thing, Faye grabbed onto a clump of Dionysus’s mane to help pull herself onto his back. After settling herself right behind his withers, Casey easily swung himself up right behind her. “How are you going to guide him?”

“Leg pressure,” Casey clicked his tongue at the horse, easing him into a gentle walk away from the camp. He could feel Ellen’s glare on him, which made him more determined to be with Faye.

A few minutes later they rode up a steep hill and veered off to the left. Out in front of them lay an open field, which gave Casey the idea to show Faye how much of a rush it was when Dionysus ran, but then again he didn’t want to traumatize her into never wanting to ride with him again… if anything ever came out of that evening. He carefully pried her fingers loose from the horse’s mane and held her hands in his; it was only a matter of time before she realized that the only thing keeping her on Dionysus was her legs and Casey’s body pressed against her. He chuckled when Faye squealed in fright as soon as Dionysus started to gallop, nearing his top speed.

Faye felt extremely nervous as she felt the horse’s movement beneath her. She was very tense as a result. Noticing her reaction, Casey said softly, “Relax. I won’t let you fall,” he wrapped his arm securely around her waist to emphasize his words and relaxed, hoping that she would too, eventually.

The lilac-colored woman blushed at the sensation of him holding her close. She couldn’t help but notice how at ease he felt. Slowly, she let herself relax. I suppose he knows what he’s doing…

“Good,” Casey smiled as he felt her relax. “See, it isn’t so bad.”

Faye had to agree with him, “You’re right, once you get over the initial worry.”

Casey chuckled, “As long as you’re all right, I’m happy.”

They fell into silence as they just enjoyed the evening peace. Casey, unable to help himself, planted a kiss on her shoulder blade, but Faye didn’t mind that in the least. He can be quite the romantic if he wants to be. I like that. And I don’t care what Ellen says, I’m gonna take my chances.

 

At dusk when most of the re-enactors had returned to their camps for the night, Casey and Faye were riding through some of the dense woods surrounding one of the camps on top of the hill to the southwest of the cavalry campsite. They admired the thousands of twinkling yellow lights in the trees from the fireflies that had come out to attract others. It looked like a swarm of cameras flashing as if they were capturing the moment of Casey and Faye being alone together. After a minute or so the trees opened up to reveal a camp full of what looked to be another cavalry unit, and once they got a closer look they realized it to be the Yankee cavalry. Not wanting to draw too much attention, Casey led Dionysus at a slow, lumbering walk through the middle of the camp in the direction of his own camp. Both he and Faye could feel the eyes of the Yankees on them as they passed by and could hear them make comments, some of them being rude. They weren’t even in uniform and somehow they knew they were Confederate. A few brave cavalrymen walked over to where they were riding and scowled. The glares and remarks of the men were starting to make Faye uncomfortable, and she leaned back against Casey for protection.

“Just ignore them, Faye,” Casey said close to her ear, and wrapped his arm around her waist, “Some of these people must take this a little too seriously.”

Faye glanced off to her left and watched as a few of the men untied their horses after putting their tack on them. A bad feeling arose in her stomach at the thought of what they might do, “Casey… They’re getting their horses. You don’t think they’re going to run us off, do you?”

“Surely not. I mean, the reenactment hasn’t even started.”

A Union Sergeant Major called after them after mounting onto his horse, “Are you two just stupid?”

The more they ignored the Yankees, the angrier they made them. The only thing they wanted was to get back to camp without causing any trouble, and so far that was proving to be difficult. The next time Faye looked behind her, more than half of the Union cavalry was trotting behind them. It appeared they wouldn’t make it back to camp without a confrontation. Another glance behind her revealed that they had picked up their speed, making her heart pound in her chest with unease. Casey didn’t have to look behind him to know that they were after them.

“Damn Yankees, always ruining everything!” He kicked Dionysus into a gallop through the rest of the camp. If they wanted them out of their camp then he’d make them work for it.

Dionysus carried them through the clearing of the campsite until they had left it. Thinking they had stopped after running them off, Casey looked behind him to see where the opposing cavalry was and rolled his eyes when he saw that they were still charging after them. Apparently they were going to get their point across one way or another.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” An idea popped into his head, and he pulled Dionysus into a grove of trees when they rounded a bend. “It looks like these idiots want to play, well then, let’s play. I’m going to drop you off at me camp so you don’t get hurt.”

Faye turned halfway around to look at him, “What are you going to do?”

“Simple. Outrun them and tire their horses out.”

Back at the Confederate cavalry camp, Gabriel was walking along the road with Kate and Seamus after visiting with some of the other units when they saw Ellen headed their direction. She stopped in front of them to get their attention, and Seamus noted a worried look on her features. It was odd for her to deliberately get the men’s attention, which meant something was amiss.

“What’s wrong, Ellen?” Seamus immediately questioned as he knew she felt the most willing to open up to him.

“Have you seen Faye? I would have thought she’d be back by now,” she directed her question to him and paid no mind to the other two standing beside Seamus.

He shook his head, “The last I knew they were still out riding. I would assume they would be on their way back soon…”

A commotion in the distance caught their attention. All three of them ran over to the road and looked off to the west. The form of Dionysus running down the hill at a break neck speed made them wonder what had happened. They got their answer a few seconds later when they saw a large troop of Yankee cavalry hot on their heels. It was evident they had done something to anger them to the point of chasing after them.

Gabriel rolled his eyes and sighed heavily at the sight of his cousin and Faye racing towards them, “What could he have possibly done this time?”

“How do you know it was Casey that did something?” Kate questioned rather dumbly.

The other three turned to look at her, and Seamus responded, “Have you not learned by now that he causes most of the predicaments he gets himself into?”

Dionysus skidded to a stop in front of the small crowd that had gathered to watch the chase. He stopped long enough for Faye to jump down to safety, and watched as she hurried over to stand beside Ellen. Casey yelled before taking off again, “The Yankees are coming! The Yankees are coming!”

“No s**t! We can see that,” it was Kate’s turn to speak.

All of them watched as Casey kicked Dionysus into a run with the Union troopers closing the gap, but he still had several horse lengths between them. The two of them darted off in the direction of the field where the men had raced earlier that evening, because Casey knew if they could get to that open area he’d have a better chance of losing them even though he already knew none of them would be able to keep up once he got Dionysus up to his full speed. Before getting to the field he decided to have some fun with them for a bit, and guided the paint horse around the side of a large barn and down a dirt road that ran in front of a stone house surrounded by trees. The objective was to split the troopers up and to hopefully cause a giant mess. When the Union cavalrymen saw Casey take a sharp turn around the house, two small groups went in opposite directions around the house to cut him off, but ended up colliding with each other on the backside, landing two of the men on the ground between their horses. Casey, on the other hand, sat atop Dionysus a few yards away and laughed at the scene until a Corporal showed up from around the front of the house and started after Casey.

Are these guys ever going to give up? Casey cut across the dirt road and galloped along the low stone wall at the bottom of the steep hill to the south of the barn. Just as the Corporal neared the gelding’s hindquarters, Casey hit the brakes, causing the trooper to fly past him before realizing that he no longer had the two in his sight. “That was too easy. What else can you throw at me?”

He got his answer when the rest of the Union cavalry showed up from the tree line behind him. It was time to test their endurance, so he kicked his horse into a gallop and turned him toward an opening in a fence beside the road. Once he was out in the open, he held Dionysus back to let the men get close to him. It looked as if they would catch him, but when the horse felt his rider’s legs squeeze against his sides, he flew forward and put a great deal of distance between him and the Union horses. They were gone!

At the Confederate cavalry camp, Faye stared with a gaping mouth at the scene unfolding in front of her. At first she thought Casey would be caught seeing as the Union men had made it to his horse’s flanks, “Oh! Will they catch him? What will they do to him if they catch him?”

“Don’t worry, Faye,” Gabriel laid a hand on her forearm to reassure her. “There’s not a snowball’s chance in Hell that they’ll catch him.”

Seamus whooped with joy when he saw his cousin and Dionysus pull away from the troopers on his way to who knew where, “Let him run!”

After all of the events that had already taken place the first day of being in Gettysburg, it was a good indication of what the rest of the event would be like. To Gabriel, he was just happy to be sharing the moments with Kate and their daughter. He didn’t care if he had to chase a thousand Yankees away from Casey, or burn up in the scorching Pennsylvania heat. He would enjoy every moment soaking up the history of the location and teaching his wife everything he knew about Gettysburg. There wouldn’t be another reenactment as big as the 150^th, at least not in his lifetime. A nudge in his side pulled him out of his thoughts, and he turned to see Kate smiling at him.

“I’m going to go feed Shannon and put her to bed before I turn in for the night. I want to be wide awake for tomorrow,” she sauntered off in the direction of their tent, but not before throwing a wink over her shoulder at him. “Join me?”

With another look behind him, Gabriel noticed Casey and Dionysus trotting up through the parking lot where the cannon trailers were parked. The Yankees were nowhere in sight, which meant he had lost them or they had given up on trying to catch him. “Always, Kate. I’ll always join you.”