Spirit of Gettysburg: Soulmates Across Time

Chapter 22

"Evil genie?"

"God, the holy puppet master."

"Don't say that."

A disdainful look accompanied a flippant wave of his hand. "We will certainly have that discussion another day. I have a bone to pick with the evil genie, I surely do, but tonight is only about us." He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.

She shivered with desire.

He winked at her and spoke to the dog. "Say hello to your mama." He furiously barked his greeting, his flag tail thumping the floor.

Her husband chuckled. "He is happy his mama is here."

"Mama? Um, me!" A grin split her face at the dog's approval. She stared at both of them, her grin slowly disintegrating. "Why do you frighten Yankee men?"

His smile dropped away. "Because I can or used to before your uncle died and my strength failed. I am the nasty Confederate ghost who rattles chains. I wish I could shoot them dead."

Her shoulders were washboard stiff. His antipathy stunned her. "Why do you hate Yankees and President Lincoln? You're dead. Let bygones be bygones.'

His eyes were frosty, his voice, frostier. "You ask me that question after what they did to you, our family and the South?"

She was pond water still. Images of Yankee soldiers manhandling her surfaced, leaving her sick to her stomach. Thankfully, they vanished.

His voice sped up. "I terrify them because I never tire of skedaddling Yankees showing their backs to me, straight truth. They hurt you. Nobody hurts you without paying serious consequences."

"Hurt me?" He confirmed her visions.

"They harassed and stole from you. They tried to make you say the Oath of Allegiance which you refused to do. They starved, beat and bullied you. They caused you immense emotional, mental and physical distress. I was away fighting and I could not protect you." His voice was livid. "I died far away from you and our home. I died vowing revenge on them. I died concerned about your welfare."

Her voice was a gentle admonishment. "It's over. Forget it and move on. Jesus says to turn the other cheek and forgive our enemies."

"I will never forgive them or forget, never. It is one of the reasons why you are here. We are going back and rectifying mistakes, settling old scores and changing destiny."

She drew back. "Vengeance belongs only to God."

"Also to me." Clayton voice was steel. A deafening silence followed his words. They were sinking into a swamp of negative emotions. She studied his icy expression and wisely stayed silent.

He pulled her close. Did he think she was a caged bird struggling to escape his grasp?

He released her. "You want me to forgive the enemies that destroyed the country I loved and not retaliate? No! I enjoy scaring living Yankees, as your uncle found out. They were and are immensely fun to scare. Alas, it is the only tactic left in my arsenal to fight them since I died in this house."

His clenched fist punched the air. "Since dying my one pleasure besides visiting you and talking to your uncle was watching Yankees yelp and run away when I scared them. I wished I had artillery." His expression was grimly satisfied. "I reckon people's characters remain consistent. Yankees were snakes and cowards then. They remain snakes and cowards today."

He sniggered. "Yankees scampered away hiding their livestock when we visited them during those hot, early July days. Ah, I own these sweet memories!"