Turner Daughters Book 3 Preview!

Turner Daughters Book 3 Preview!

Only a couple of months until the release of "Plans for a Future of Hope".  Here is a scene to get you excited!

Wednesday, January 9, 1861

Vicksburg, Mississippi

That evening, Victoria sat in the parlor and looked at the mail she had picked up during her earlier errands.

“Anything good in the post today?”

Victoria looked up and smiled at her younger brother, Gregory.  “Nothing for you.  Uncle Matthew wrote to Father and there were some other missives for him, but not much else.”

“Not much else,” he said.  “Which means there was something else.”

“Perhaps.  But for me, not you.”  She fingered the letter in question.

He smiled and sat down.  “So, I heard you had an interesting conversation with Mr. Thompson atop Sky Parlor Hill.”

“Indeed,” She replied.  “Did Father tell you?  Jeremy was going to speak with Father as soon as possible.”

“No, I heard from Jason.”  Gregory replied.  Jason was Gregory and Victoria’s older brother.  “He said you two were seen together at the Hill, quite close, and so he went and spoke with Mr. Thompson.”

Victoria’s head shot up.  “He didn’t!”  She loved her oldest brother dearly, but he could be ridiculously overprotective at times.  

“Of course he did.  You do realize that Jason doesn’t really care for Mr. Thompson, correct?”

“He never mentioned that to me,” Victoria said, then bit her lip.  She usually appreciated Jason’s opinion on many matters, and he was an excellent judge of character.

“I have never had an issue with the man, personally.  Jason just wants to make sure that the man you are courting is the right one for you.”

“Well, thank you both for that.  I just hope my dear brother didn’t scare him away.”

“If my conversation with Jeremy Thompson scared him away, then good riddance.”  Jason Turner strode into the parlor.  “If he wants to be a member of this family, he should be able to take my jesting.”

“Your intimidation, you mean.”  Victoria gave her brother a hard look.  “So help me, Jason Turner, if you have ruined this for me…”

Jason sat on a settee and kicked his feet up, lounging comfortably.  “I haven’t.  Worry not.  He said he’ll do right by you.  I’m not sure I like the idea of you living in the Confederate capital.”

“What’s that, now?”  Gregory sat up, a lock of brown hair falling in his face.  “Why would you move?  Where does Thompson plan on taking you?”

“He’s going to be in our new Southern government.  Moving to Alabama, most likely with the rest of the politicians.”  Jason replied.

“Government?  The yellow dog won’t even fight?”  Gregory shook his head.  Victoria bristled at the insinuation of the Jeremy being a coward.

“Gregory Turner, how dare you say that?”  Her stomach dropped.  “Wait.  Does that mean you…?”

“Plan on enlisting?”  Gregory smiled.  “Absolutely.”

“What about school?”  She asked.  Gregory was getting his education, training to be a lawyer alongside their father.

“I’ll simply take a leave of absence from school.  People are saying that the war, once it starts, won’t last long.”

“Yes, but…” Victoria was at a loss for words.  She couldn’t believe her baby brother, just nineteen years old, was going to enlist.  She turned to Jason.  “And what about you?  Are you going to leave us as well?”

“Not exactly.”  Jason put his hands behind his head.  “I’ll stay in Warren County.  The militia will be quite busy with keeping the Yankees away from Vicksburg.  It will be a fairly high priority, what our position on the Mississippi.  I plan on staying right here.”

Victoria was quiet for a moment contemplating.  “Has anyone heard what Father plans on doing?”  She couldn’t imagine her father donning a uniform and fighting, although it was hard to imagine Gregory in that role as well.  “What about Abraham?  Will he leave Mary Grace, do you think?”  Mary Grace was their sister, born in between Victoria and Gregory.  She and her husband, Abraham ran the local haberdashery, selling men’s hats and other accessories.  They had three children already, two-year-old twins named Gabriel and Adam, and three-month-old Hope.

“I’m not sure about Father, but I imagine Abraham will enlist with us,” Gregory said.  “He’s not one that will want to stay behind when most of the other men have signed up.”

“I believe you’re right, unfortunately for Mary Grace,” Jason replied.  “I haven’t asked Father what his plans are.  He likely wants to confer with Mother first, as he does with all major decisions.”

“They do at that,” Victoria murmured.

Finally, deciding that his sister was distracted enough, Gregory made his move and lunged at Victoria, quickly plucking the letter from her hand.

“Ha!”  He called out victoriously.  “Now we’ll see who you have been corresponding with.”  He looked at the postmark.  “Fredericksburg.”  He looked puzzled.  “Why would you be so secretive about a letter from one of our cousins?”

“Unless it’s not…”   Jason took the letter from Gregory.

“You oafs!  Give me that back!”  Victoria didn’t care that she was acting juvenile, as her brothers were acting the same way.

“Not quite yet, this is masculine handwriting, if I am not mistaken.”  Jason opened the envelope.  “Aha!”

“Jason!”  Victoria stood and tried to take the letter back.  Jason swung his legs off the settee and stood, holding the letter away from Victoria and reading it.

“Mr. Nathaniel Prentiss.  Of course, I recall him.  Good man, he seemed.”  He read the letter further.  “And a brave one, it appears.  He says he plans on enlisting once Virginia leaves the Union.  Wants you to know he thinks of you often and that he wishes he could see you again.  He loves receiving letters from you and hopes that can continue even when the war that is coming actually begins.”  Jason finally relented and handed her the letter.  “I always liked that man.  Better than Jeremy Thompson, that’s for sure.  Why did you never court him?”

“Because he never asked.”  She said quickly.  “Besides, it has long been my belief that he has feelings for our perfect cousin, Belle.”  She smiled brightly, trying to hide the fact that she would have said yes to a courtship from Nathaniel right away.  “Besides, I have Mr. Thompson now.  Nathaniel and I can remain the best of friends.”