Dedication

Dedicated to those who have given their lives for America. Also to my family and friends who have supported my writing.

Prologue

I didn't know a lot about the Battle of Manassas. I do now, but under stranger circumstances. The way I learned now, is simple. I fell in love with someone who fought in 1861. What year am I in now you ask? 2012.

Pre-Vacation

"Does he really have to go with us Dad?" I asked, no pleaded, my father. We were in a difficult impasse right now on a certain guest who might be coming with us on a month long vacation.
"Of course he does honey," he said. "He is your boyfriend you know. Most girls would be pleading for their boyfriends to go with them on vacation. Why are you so against it?" Oh I had plenty of reasons I didn't want him to go, but I had to come up with a convincing lie so he wouldn't suspect the real reason.
"I just wanted to spend alone time with you Dad. Just you and me in Washington D.C." I hoped my rhyming might convince him to keep Rick home. He cannot ruin vacation. Not again.
"There will be plenty of chances. Trust me Sienna. Even a Senator gets breaks now and then. I want you to get quality time with Ricky though. He would be an excellant husband you know." My dad's hinting did not even shadow the true feelings I had for Rick. The conniving little ingrate had hurt last years vacation and me on several occasions. I guess there would be no convincing my dad to let my weasel of a 'boyfriend' come with us on vacation.
"I suppose Dad. But do I have to spend every waking minute at Washington? Could I look at neighboring cities and sites?" I really hoped I wouldn't be stuck in that stuffy city. There were only so many sites in D.C.
"I guess you could go other places. Take Rick along. You need a man to protect you. A strong family name always helps too." He was so pleased he thought he could matchmake me with another senator's son, just because I was a senator's daughter. Well la de freaking da. Jeez.
"Of course I'll take Rick everywhere I go." Not. "He would be my only protector since I only have five bodyguards with me at all time." My dad was so clueless when it came to sarcasm.
"That's the spirit honey. Now go pack." Yay. Another month long session in the capitol of the country. Not like I've spent every summer there since I was five. I've never even left the city's perimeter while I was there. I wanted to see the rest of the area, not just the wheel and spoke pattern streets of D.C. I climbed the stairs to my room to go finish packing. All I really needed was a suitcase full of clothes. If I ever needed anything there, all I had to do was show a flash of a platinum credit card and I was good to go. I wanted to see something historical, not white on white capitol. I laid back in my bed and thought about what was going on in my life.
I had no mom. Couldn't squeeze anymore child support out of Dad, so she handed me over to him at age four and ditched us for a French chef. Last time I heard, she had had three children and was living in Brazil. My dad was the senator of Iowa and loved his job. Me, I was just a black haired, hazel eyed daughter who hated her boyfriend. Rick, my dad's perfect ideal boy for me, was nothing but a class A jerk. He wouldn't show that side to Dad, but to me, I saw the darkest evil's the earth has ever seen. I was probably the only girl in history who felt the way I do.
I hate to sound petty and shallow, but I couldn't stand Rick. I was thinking this, when I heard a knock on my door. I swung my legs over the side, and strode over on long leg to the door. I was wearing my favorite outfit. Jean shorts and a T-Shirt that said "Bored to Death" with a monitor and a squiggly line that ended in a flat line. I opened it, and Jessica our maid stood like a board in front of me.
"At ease soldier." I ordered Jessica. I grinned and she relaxed. She had to stand like that unless I gave her a direct order not to. One of Dad's perks is being able to set the law of the land at this mansion. I loved Jessica like a mom. She was the basically the only one I really had. I keep hinting to Dad, but again, he is a nononsense person. That's what makes him such a great senator. But a horrible employer/dater. Jess stepped into my room to give me some kind of news. Hope it was good.
"Rick is here to see you,Sienna." No such luck. Jess was the only one who knew how I really felt about him. She had the decency to notice. She saw how I grimaced, and she gave me a comforting smile. "You want me to tell him you have recently developed a headache, and are in no condition to see him?" She smiled at her own beautifully constructed lie.
"Actually, now that you mention it, I think I need to sit down. My head hurts so badly because I felt a bad presence walk through my front door." I grinned at Jess and she beamed back.
"Headache it is then. Thank you for your time miss." She started to close the door when I stopped her.
"Jess, do you like my dad?" I hope it didn't sound weird. I really, really wanted her answer to be yes.
"Of course, he's a wonderful employer and he is quite funny to be around when he isn't in senator mode. But if you mean like a relationship way, a poor girl like me is nothing compared to the likeness like him." There she goes with this commoner crap again. She was so beautiful. Fiery red hair, full pink lips, heavy lidded green eyes, and dark eyelashes that made mascara companies envy her. She needed no makeup to be pretty. The only reason she looked down on herself was because her family was middle class. I knew she liked Dad. I just had to show her how pretty she was.
"Would you like to come with us to Washington?" I wanted her to spend as much time with Dad as possible. She would come to realize she could win him over in a heart beat.
She smiled sweetly. "I would love to, but there is too much to watch over here. I promise I'll be here when you get back. I will not leave you like previous women in your life. Trust me." She smiled and I hugged her. She left promising to wake me up at 6:30 a.m.
I walked to my bathroom and felt the comforting rich white carpet on my feet. It felt good just to curl my toes and look at the setting. I know it's a bathroom, but I decorated how I wanted it, not the way the interior designer wanted it. I stripped and got into the shower. I lathered my hair with shampoo and thought over my conversation with Jessica.
Was I as bad a matchmaker as Dad? I don't think so. I actually think they would be a cute couple. But then again, so did Dad with Rick and me.
I rinsed, and got out. I wrapped myself in a creme colored tower, and looked in the mirror. I was just a plain normal girl, even if my dad was senator. I sometimes wished I was prettier, but then realized I had better things to worry about.
I got into a comfortable set of pajamas and headed to bed. My four posted bed was the most comforting thing in this house besides Jess. I was asleep before the sheets even settled.

Vacation Time

"Wasn't that just the absolute worst plane trip you've ever had? No first class seats for two senators children. If I were that captain, I would've kicked two mid-life crisis people back to seccond class." Rick was seething over our five hour plane trip. It wasn't that bad for me. I like conversing with people who aren't rich. It makes me feel a little more normal. For Rick, it's like a king sitting in a room of peasants. I rolled my eyes, but I didn't say anything. I knew better.
"It was horrible." I said curtly. He annoyed me so much when he was even in a good mood. I was anxious to get away from him as soon as I could. Please let the tourist buses be running when I get to the stop. I was really hoping for one there when I arrived. I could call the limo driver from where I got dropped off.
"Of course it was, even an ugly, stupid, inconsiderate girl like you could pick that up. You know it must be bad when you figure it out." I was really wishing for a bus for two reasons. One to get me away from him, and two, to run him over when I do get away from him. It makes me feel worse when he insults me because I know it's true.
"Yep, I know they must have been horrible because I knew it." I turned toward luggage to grab my purple suitcase. I saw it and reached for it, when Rick yanked me back. If I could, I would've hit him right there in that air terminal. Instead, I turned and asked, "What did I do now?"
"I'm getting you a new suitcase as soon as we're out of here. That one is so loud, it wakes the dead." He did not just hate on my suitcase. It had my favorite outfit, books, and a necklace my great great great grandmother had worn during the Civil War. The story was she had given it to her boyfriend when he went off to war, and when he died, she got it back and died of a broken heart. I loved the history to it. It was a sapphire in the shape of a heart. There was an 'S' on one side and a 'D' on the other. In the middle there was a plus sign. I always thought it was romantic. I was named after her. I always knew I would never part from that necklace, and I most definitely not going to lose it in an airport because of my evil boyfriend.
"Fine, get me a new one, but I'm getting mine now." I twisted out of his grasp and grabbed my suitcase right before it was going to go back under the awning.
I walked back to Rick, and looked at him with a smirk on my face. He just smiled, and then he slapped me so hard, the sound echoed through the terminal. I didn't even flinch. In fact, I smiled back cruelly.
"Sorry Rick, you don't scare me anymore." All he did was continue to glare. People in the terminal were staring. I hoped he left a bruise, because I could still feel the sting. Some lady started to walk over, and I was the first to turn away. I knew I won because I was only doing it to turn him in.
"Are you okay miss?" the lady asked with a Scottish accent. "That man hit you pretty hard." She cast an evil glare at Rick. He looked shocked anyone would notice his imperfections.
"Oh no, I'm fine. I'm actually used to it. He has hit me basically every day since we got together." Rick went wide eyed at this. Probably because he could get into trouble this time. He spun on his heel and ran. I glanced at the woman and sagged.
"Oh man, could you get some ice. That hit really hurt, but I couldn't show him any weakness." The lady nodded and yelled for someone to get help. A security guard ran over and asked what was wrong. Can you get me ice or something." He nodded and ran off. The lady glanced me over quickly.
"Why are you with him if he hits you?" she looked curious but sympathetic at the same time. I didn't really want to talk about it with some stranger, but I didn't really want to spend one more waking minute with Rick.
"It's kind of a long story miss," I began."Might I ask your name?" She looked embarrassed for a minute before she regained her composure.
"My name is Charloette ma'am. I am an undercover cop from Scotland and working on a drug ring. I saw someone in distress, and needed to help. Now onto your story." She looked at me expectantly.
"My name is Sienna, and my dad is the senator of Iowa. Rick, the man who hit me, his dad is the other senator of Iowa. Our dad's thought it would be good publicity if a Democrat and a Republican's children were together. Rick thought it was a great idea, but I want my first love to also be my first boyfriend. I didn't like Rick from the beginning. I now know my intuition was right. He beats me and calls me ugly and stupid. He's done worse, but since he's the son of a senator, he doesn't think he'll get in trouble." I glanced up at a Charloette. She was already on the phone with security.
"This is Agent Scarborough, and I've got a girl here who is abused by her boyfriend. We think he's still in the airport. Block all exits and keep watch for him. He's about 6'1 with blonde hair. Blue eyes and wearing designer clothes carrying a black Louis Vitan suitcase. Stop anyone with that description and ask for a name. His name is Rick. Keep watch boys." She clicked off, and looked down at me. The security guard returned with my ice pack, and handed it to me gently.
"Why did Rick hit you, Sienna?" Charloette asked me. She kept glancing at her phone like it might magically ring if she looked at it enough.
"He likes to control me like a puppet. He said he didn't like my suitcase, but it has family heirlooms in there. He tried to get me to leave it behind, but I went to get it. I told him I wasn't scared of him, and I guess he had to have his ugly stupid girlfriend trained to obey his every will." I was close to tears and my cheek hurt really bad.
"Sienna, you aren't any of those things he calls you. He's a liar and is hurting your self esteem because he wants to be your master." At that moment her phone rang. "One minute, Sienna." She walked briskly to the other side of the terminal before she answered the phone. I saw she was having a heated discussion with whoever it was. She hung up and walked back quickly.
"He got away Sienna. He was able to get away from the guards and out into a waiting taxi. I'm sure he won't come after you now, but be on the look out." I knew he'd be back for me. The question was, when?

Manassas

"James, you can come back around five. I want to be away from Washington for as long as possible." He nodded and sped off. I stepped into the cool airconditioning of the Manassas Visitor's Center. I was in awe of my surrounding area. I was at Manassas National Battlefield. This was the first combat battle of the Civil War. I grabbed my necklace that was swinging at the base of my throat. I was holding a piece of history that was in that era of history. It was amazing. I wanted to take the driving tour, but was currently without a car. I went to the information desk and asked for a map. The lady behind the counter handed it to me with a flourish and smiled kindly. I headed out into the heat and started walking towards the old wooden house up a hill from the visitors center.
I passed some cannons used in the actual battle and it was very interesting. I reached the house and saw a small cemetery outside. I glanced at the names, whispered a prayer, and kept walking. I was walking thigh deep in tall grasses. I had to keep looking out for snakes and the sun was beating down on my black hair making me sweat. I loved every second of it. I was always inside at home and I loved to be outside. I tucked my necklace into my shirt so I wouldn't have it continuously swinging against my chest and keeping beat to an unheard song.
I reached the crest of a hill and looked down on the scene that unfolded before me. There was the grass of course, but there was a dense forest off to one side, and right in front of that forest was a small memorial looking thing.
My feet were automatically taking me there. I was careful to place my feet so I wouldn't accidentally wake a snake from her beauty sleep. And trust me, they needed plenty of it. I kept my hazel eyes trained on the grave markers in front of me. I finally reached the gates and saw a sign in front of it. I bent to read it and it said that this memorial was actually the resting place of hundreds of Confederate soldiers. There were small stones naming the state from which they were from. The state stones went in a circle around a hill, that I'm only assuming was hundreds of people stacked on top of one another. There was a giant grave marker in the middle of the hill stating that this was the site of hundreds of unnamed people. It made me kind of sad that their names wouldn't be remembered. I walked around the circle and looked at all the states they were from. I was walking up the hill from the back, when I saw a shadow move behind a tree.
It was outside the gate, so I couldn't run and investigate. It was probably just my imagination. I went back to the big statue, and just stared at it. It was kind of weird really. Looking at the two simple sentences stating they will be missed. Those soldiers had lives, families, girlfriends, mothers, fathers, friends. They were missed, but now no one even knows their names. I wanted to pay my respects, but didn't quite know how. I looked at my watch. 3:44. I still an hour and sixteen minutes. I would have to leave around 4:30 to reach the visitor's center in time. I sat down on the hill in front of the stone and just looked at it.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" a voice next to me whispered. I jumped, and turned to look at the newcomer. There was a boy sitting there. He was wearing a Confederate soldier uniform. Weird.
"Um, hello." I said. " It is beautiful. What's... What's you're name?" I asked quizzically. He had just popped up out of nowhere and sat down by me. I should of heard him, but I didn't. Hmmm.
The boy looked surprised I had answered him. He looked me up and down. His eyes widened significantly, but then just looked excited.
"My name's Danny. What is yours?" He had a very strange way of talking. He had a southern drawl, but also kind of what you would hear you're great grandparents talk like. Interesting.
"Name's Sienna. Good to meet you. Are you a reenactor here?" He looked puzzled, but still there was that excited glint in his deep blue eyes. They were so blue they looked like sapphires.
"What's a reenactor?" What. The. Freak. He's dressed in a Confederate soldier get up and he doesn't know what a reenactor is.
"A person who acts out the past. Quick question. What year is it?" He looked knowingly.
"1861." he answered proudly. Okaaay.
"Who's president." I asked with a little less authority in my voice.
"Of which country?" What country. What country were we in that I didn't know about?
"Specify, Danny, what countries are there?" He looked slightly aggrivated by this question.
"Sienna, are you a foreigner? Because you should know we're in Virginia, United States of the Confederacy." Ho. Ly.Crap.
"Danny, the year is 2012. We live in The United States of America, and the president is President Barack Obama. I'm Sienna, the daughter of an Iowa senator, and I think, you're a ghost.

Shock

Who was this girl to say I was dead? She said her name was Sienna, also that she was a senator's daughter. But did that leave her any right to change his life, or in this case death. Now that she mentioned it, it kind of added up. It had seemed like a long time since he started to wait for the Union soldiers. But it could just have seemed like it was a long time.
"Danny?" Sienna asked cautiously. "Are you... are you alright?" Of course I wasn't alright. This girl had totally turned my world upside down.
"Sienna." I asked in a harsh whisper. If what I'd heard right about spirits was true, I shouldn't be able to do this.
"Yes?" She looked a little nervous.
"Try to touch my hand." She looked taken aback. I looked deep into her deep hazel eyes. They were so pretty. Wait... why was I thinking of the prettiness of some strangers eyes when I might be dead?
She reached her hand out to touch my already outstretched hand. She hesitated when they were about a centimeter apart. I didn't have time for this. I pushed my hand the rest of the way to meet hers. My hand went straight through hers. We gasped simultaneously. I was dead. How did this happen? I jumped up and started to pace.
"I am so sorry Danny. It's just that your uniform, your way of talking, and your everything tipped me off. You think it's still 1861, but it's 2012." Oh my God. 151 years had passed since I was alive.
"Sienna, my life is falling to pieces in front of me. Could you be quiet for just a moment?" I didn't mean to be harsh, but God that girl could talk. She shut up and looked a little hurt.
"I'm sorry," I said sitting down next to her on that God forsaken hill. "You're a lovely girl, and remind me of my girl, but I' m kind of going crazy. I mean, I thought I was alive." I ran my fingers through my hair. She was staring at some sort of bracelet on her arm. I leaned closer to her wrist and saw something very peculiar staring up at me.
"What is that?" I asked staring at her arm. It was a pretty arm, tan and with a little muscle under it. She was wearing strange clothes though. She wore some kind of shirt with words on it. Since when are there words like that on a shirt? And she was wearing trousers. I've only heard of girls doing that. They always wear dresses. But considering a century and a half have passed, who knows what other things have happened.
"You mean my watch?" That's what that bracelet was? Couldn't be. I pulled my pocket watch out and opened it.
"No Sienna, this is a watch. That is a..." I stared down at it. It did have the two moving arms. And a fast ticking third arm. Whoa.
"This is a different kind of watch. There are so many things you don't know about. Like cars, phones, computers, refridgerators. Oh God, the time!" She jumped up and started to run towards the gate I hadn't noticed before.
"Where are you going?" I yelled across the field.
"I have to go, but I'll be back tomorrow. I promise." she was running as fast as she could over a hill. She stopped at the top, turned, and waved. Then she sprinted down the other side. I sat back in front of that giant stone on the hill, and thought about the days events.
If I hadn't seen her, I would still be happily in my inbetween. But I had to walk towards that hill. I was coming through the forest when I saw her sad face on that hill. I was mesmerized. She looked so like my girl Sienna, it was unbelievable. At first I did think that was her, and I wanted to surprise her. When I saw her turn towards me, I ducked behind a tree. When I walked up to her, she didn't even hear me. I saw her fiddling with a necklace that was under her shirt. I didn't get to see it because she dropped as soon as I started to talk. When she turned towards me, I realized that wasn't my Sienna. My Sienna had dark brown hair, not hair as black as night. My Sienna also had blue eyes, where this one had hazel. I thought it was eerie that they looked so similar and had the same name, but there were happy coincidences all the time.
Why did I have to come over there? She had to tell me that news. It did make sense. Why had the Union troops not come? Why had so many days and nights pass? I never really realized this until now, but why was I alone? I had no one anymore. I saw a few people every once in a while, but they were in citizen clothes. I do remember a battle here. Actually I remember two, but I never left. I never followed my army, or any army as a matter of fact. I reached for my cap and looked into it. There inside it, was a picture of my Sienna. She was so pretty. She had on that necklace I had given to her as a proposal present. I never got to wedding though, and I never would.
I always had wondered what had happened. She was going to tell me something after I got back from war. She had told me so in a letter I received the day of the big battle. I was due home in two months, and she was so excited about it. Me being an only child, loved surprises. But now I couldn't get the new Sienna out of my head. Her image haunted me. Well now that I think about it, it was probably me doing the haunting.

Capitol

"Wasn't that just a lovely dinner, Sienna?" I think the cooks really got the chicken down this time. Remember how it was so dry last time?" My dad was babbling. Again. I just nodded, and agreed. The chicken was really good. I could at least give him that. I was sitting in this stupid cocktail dress, waiting for all the other senators to finish their food. My dress was a deep blue with white dots on the under fabric. It looked as though you could see stars on the other side of foggy clouds. It was pretty, but I could barely move in it. I took a sip of my Mountain Dew.
"So, how are you and Rick?" my dad asked curiously. I about spit my soda all over the table. Luckily, I'd been trained not to do that. I just started to have a coughing fit. Dad started to hit me on the back.
"I don't think Rick and I are going to work out." I told dad while still choking on my beverage. He looked a little disappointed with my answer.
"I thought you really liked that boy. He was always so nice to me. What's the problem? Are you just not used to boys yet?" I almost spit out my soda again. I had to lie about this ordeal. What could I answer with? Hmmmm.
"There's no spark when I'm with him," I'd like to use two electrical wires to spark him but... "I think he's nice too," Yeah, right. "I'm just not that into him, Dad." That was the understatement of the year. God, I hope I was believable. Dad just nodded at me like he understood completely.
"I see. Well if you don't like him anymore," Oh my God, was he going to finally let me break up with Rick! "You still need to stay with him." WHAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!! Why? Why must he do this to me? Did he love me at all.
"But Dad, I hate him." Whoops, that slipped from my mouth quicker than a snake at Manassas striking you in the back. Speaking of Manassas... I wonder what Danny was doing?
"I need the publicity Sienna. Tell you what, I'll make you a deal. You date him for one more month, do a photo shoot with him, then break it off. How's that sound?" Danny wouldn't have made me do this. One more month of dealing with that jack...
"Sienna, I believe your father asked you a question." Oh. My. God. Nonononononononononono. Ah, crap. I turned slowly to look behind my chair, even though I didn't need to.
"So, you going to stay with me one more month, and then you'll be over me?" Rick said with a sneer in his voice. "I'm hurt Sienna. And here I thought we had something special." I was pretty much still in shock he was here.
"Oh Rick, we were over long ago. I just had the maturity to say it first." I challenged him silently. I felt triumphant in this battle. I'm sure there was an evil glint in my eyes. I smiled cruelly.
"I think we could make it work, Sienna. I mean, the public loves us." Damn. Game, set, match. If I broke it off with Rick, I would get so many hate letters. Probably death threats. Curse Rick's good looks. If he hadn't won over so many people on that touring campaign, I wouldn't be in this situation. He won this battle, but this war wasn't over yet. I couldn't lose, and succumb to being beat by that demon every day. Back up plan.
"Why announce to the public if it's just a personal matter? I mean, why have the press interfere, when we could just keep it to ourselves." Oh yeah, I won. He couldn't release the information without my consent first. Ha. Shows him.
"Dad, I'm going to walk around the capitol for a while, is that okay?" I asked in my super sweet voice. Dad still looked confused from what had just happened. He nodded, and I all but ran from the dining room.
I took the train that ran underground the streets of Washington that only senators and their guests use. I flashed my ID badge, and hopped aboard. The trip took all but three minutes. I jumped up and went to the security check out so they could look in my purse. My dad hated it, but it was the best purse I had ever carried. It was a patchwork purse, that you slung over one shoulder and wore to the side. It had a peace sign right in the middle. I loved it.
"How you doin' Miss Sienna? Dad still tryin' to burn this old thing?" I cracked a grin at my favorite security guard, Ray. He was the one who was working security when Dad first saw my purse.
"Each and everyday, Ray. How's the wife and kids? Oh, and didn't I hear you're going to be expanding that lovely family of yours?" I smiled really big at him. I was so excited for him. He'd been wanting a son forever, and the sonogram came in a week ago. "Congratulations on the boy. What are you going to name him?" Ray had finished looking through my bag and handed it back.
"We were thinking something like Samuel or maybe Daniel. Which one do you like better?" Oh my God.
"Daniel, definitely." I said happily.

Impressum

Texte: Katie Brethorst
Bildmaterialien: Bookrix
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 24.06.2012

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