Saving Camelot Part Four

A/N: So this part was close to 3,000 words originally. As I thought it was a little bit too big for a SINGLE blog post, I decided to split it up into multiple parts. So, the bad news is expect a cliffhanger of sorts. The good news is actually expect regular updates once a week on this story. ;)

Please keep in mind this part is more of a branch to really set this story in motion, though we do get introduced to a few more important key figures in this story.

For those of you who need some facts on the 1960s, it was of course a time of rampant racism and the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Lyndon B. Johnson, or LBJ for short, was Kennedy's Vice President while J. Edgar Hoover was the directer of the FBI.

Facts aside, enjoy the story and be sure to comment at the end!

I never thought going undercover as a secretary could be so, well, boring. All it has been so far is answering the telephone, dictating for the president, screening visitors, and organizing paperwork. You think I would discover some sort of lead behind the president's killer by now but no, nothing has turned up so far.

Despite the boring mundane nature of this undercover work so far, Victoria has had it worse than me. Being African-American, she has to investigate this case while dealing with the rampant racism that was still present in America during this era, or is STILL present in America during this era. Yet, this has also assisted her in getting a seemingly menial job that just so happens to make it very easy and convenient for her to eavesdrop. She is supposed to be in the background, no one will ever suspect her of anything.

I glance up at the clock as it chimes 5:00. Another day gone by, and we still are somewhat haplessly searching for a lead to who is behind the Kennedy assassination. I stand up, stretching, just when the door to the oval office opens.

"Mr. President!" I say, snapping to attention. I will consent to one thing, he has to be more handsome than all the photographs depict. Though he is just as much, if not more of a womanizer than all the books in the 21st century say, which makes me feel all the more sorry for Jackie.

"Relax, Ms. Wilson," he tells me with a smile. "I just came to ask if you would not mind staying to take notes on a meeting between my brother, Johnson, Hoover, and myself".

I blink once, this may be the breakthrough Victoria and I were waiting for. I have to hide my excitement as I answer the President. "Of course sir. I would be more than happy to stay".

"Great," he says with a small smile. "Go get yourself something to eat and be back by 6:30".

"Yes, sir," I say, heading off into the kitchen hoping to run into my sister on the way. I find Victoria sitting in the servants’ dining room next to the kitchen, sipping a hot cup of fragrant tea.

"Tory!" I hiss. "The president has asked me to stay to take notes on a meeting."

Her eyes meet mine over the teacup, waiting for me to continue.

"The meeting is between two people who probably hate the Kennedy brothers more than the Russians".

"LBJ and Hoover?" I can see that I now have finally caught Tory's interest.

"Yes."

Tory sets her teacup down on her saucer with a clank. "You have to listen for subtext Jaz. Listen and watch for body language. Follow those two men after the meeting if you can. This may be the biggest chance we have to find a lead".

I nod, time was ticking. It may be in fact the middle of July, 1963, but each and every day that passed without a lead brought us closer to the fateful day in November.

"I will try to see if I can serve at the meeting. It would be good to have two sets of ears at the meeting".

"Good luck," I tell her, knowing it has not been easy for her so far. She has faced nothing but grief from the white chief of household staff, all because she was black. On top of everything, she still has not quite bought the fact that we have really been thrown back in time as I have.

It would all be easier if we actually remembered what had happened to us right before we were thrown back in time. Apparently, according to Heath, the memory loss is all just a side effect of time travel. I wanted to question how he could possibly know this having been born in the past, but I decided that some things are better left unsaid at this point.

"What's cooking?" I ask her.

"Rosemary chicken and wild rice," Victoria tells me bluntly. "Do me a favor and bring me a plate too".

I nod, standing and heading for the kitchen. The black cook is an older women in her mid-fifties. She has a kind, grandmotherly like demeanor about her, and does not question Victoria and me frequently associating with each other.

"Hello, Miss Jasmine," she greets me with a smile.

"Claudia," I greet her with a smile and nod in return. "Tell me, what does one have to do to get a couple plates of your legendary chicken?"

Claudia smiles. "That kind of flattery will get you a taste of my cooking anytime, Miss Jasmine," she tells me with a smile, grabbing a couple of plates and dishing up our food.

I take the plates back to the servant's dining room with a smile, comforted by the fact that there are still a few kind people in what has turned out to be a harsh and cruel decade to be alive in.

The Getting to Know Me Tag!!!

I was tagged by Emily McConnel at The Imaginary World of Emily McConnel for the Getting to Know Me Tag!

Before we get started, just a quick side note for those of you following my Saving Camelot story. Part three WILL be up by the end of the week, I just need to finish some edits to it. It is technically midterms time for me at college right now, but instead of exams for history majors it means your professors go, "Here is an extra 50 page packet to read on top of the 350 page book I assigned" Yes, no fun :/ Next week though is spring break, which means extra writing time!!!! :D

 Anyway without further ado, give a big round of applause for, the Getting To Know Me Tag!!! (applause)

Vital Stats:

Name: Emily Miller!!! Feel free to guess my middle name ;) 

Nicknames: Em, Emmie, M&M, and probably whatever other variation of the name my professors decide to call me when there are two Emily's in class.

Place of Birth: The great Washington State!!!!

Worst School Subject: Combo of math and science. I hate both subjects with a passion. I have been out of high school for three years now and I honestly remember very little of it.

Firsts:
Best Fri and: Jesus!!!! Then I have had three really close friends in my life, all named Emily and having  a last name starting with M (not joking here ;)) Two of these Emily's have come and gone, with one still in my life (you know who you are ;)) But all of them still hold dear places in my heart.

This is Suzie Q, the pony I won first
 place for bareback equation on. This
picture was taken probably when I was
 about twelve.

Award: Honestly, I have several ribbons for kid's bible quizzing along with ribbons for craft projects I have entered at the fair. When I was ten (which feels like a REALLY long time ago now) I won first place for bareback equitation at my Co-op's one and only (so far) horse show.

Pablo and I ;)

Sport: Horseback riding!!! I love "my" crabby old paint horse, Pablo. I also know baseball practically forwards and backwards, and of course love my Seattle Mariners :) Debating baseball with other Mariner's fans during the season on the fan face book page has sort of become a hobby of mine.

Real Holiday: Last trip I took was to Seattle to see a Mariners game for my 16th birthday. It was a totally awesome experience to be able to miss school for. I would really love to see all the historical sights on the east coast.

Concert: I have not been to a concert since the eighth grade. The first, and only two concerts I went to was to a Brandon Heath concert at my church, and a concert by Kenny Rogers, an old time country music star. I would have loved to have the chance to see more old time country music stars in concert, such as Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings. Part of the reason I like the old country artists is that most of them have released gospel cds during their careers along  with their other stuff. Other artists I would like to see in concert  in no particular order are:

1. The Booth Brothers-Great southern gospel group!

2. Brad Paisley 

3. Home Free

4. Kasey Musgraves

Favorites:
Film: The original trilogy of Star Wars plus Episode 7: The Force Awakens, The Hobbit Trilogy, Divergent, Secretariat, The Rookie, You've Got Mail, and Monyball, just to name a few ;)

TV Show: The Big Valley is one of my two top shows that I like. I do like watching this other comedy/drama police procedural, the show can have its naughty moments so I will not mention it here. It is another one of those shows that, like Emily McConnel was saying, can be fine for some families but not for others. So with that it mind, I will refrain from mentioning the title ;) I also really like Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, and the Dukes of Hazzard. I am for the most part into the older TV shows.

Color: Purple!!!!!

Song:
Favorite Hymn: The Old Rugged Cross, How Great Thou Art, Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Favorite contemporary Christian Song: Let Me Dream For You by Casting Crowns,  along with Shake by Mercy Me. There also seems to be a few new songs here and there on the radio that I really like, but I cannot ever remember the names to look them up, I really need to have a list ;)

Favorite Foreign Song: Baba Yetu and Kia Hora Te Moreno by Christopher Tinn.

Restaurant: Red Robin. I also love Olive Garden but don't go there much because its so expensive. My bosses actually took all the student workers out to Olive Garden this last Thursday, which was a real treat as I had not been there in forever :)

Books:
Favorite Fiction Book: A Hopeful Heart by Kim Vogel Sawyer. This is a really sweet christian romance set in the Old West with a young cowboy who does not want to get his heart broken, and an eastern girl who wants to learn how to survive our west on a ranch, but struggles to do so.

Favorite Series: Toss-up between the Divergent series, the Lord of the Rings, and the Mitford series.

Favorite non-fiction book: Right now? Probably a book I just read for class, Why We Can't Wait by Martin Luther King Jr. It offers an absolutely fascinating narrative of the Civil Rights movement that I would absolutely recommend.

Favorite Textbook: While I do not think this would be considered a textbook, since I am using it for a textbook in class I am going to count it. The book is called Upon the Alter of a Nation: A Moral History of the Civil War. I love this book because it is fascinating to read and offers facts on the Civil War I previously did not know.

Currently:
Feeling: Awake, I am almost always feeling super awake at night.

Single or taken: Taken by Jesus, but otherwise not taken.

Eating: Nothing at the moment ;)

Watching: Well, I re-watched several of my favorite episodes of Star Trek earlier this weekend...

Waring: To be honest? Darth Vader Jammies. Darth Vader is my all-time favorite villain.

Future:
Want Children? Until recently the answer has been no. Yet lately I feel like God has placed on my heart to be a mother, so now for some reason that I really cannot explain other than a divine God, I am looking forward to having kids when the time is right.

Want to be married? Definitely yes! As I stated before, I fell that God is calling me to be a wife and a mother someday. Though I struggle with issues of not feeling mature enough or being able to take care of a home well enough for a husband. All in God's time though. I am slowly learning to be content with the stage of life I am at now before God brings someone in my life.

Careers in Mind: Curator at a Civil War museum!!!

Where do you want to live? I don't know. I want to live back east where the civil war history is. At the same time I would miss my family, friends, and my favorite baseball team here in the PNW.

Do you believe in...

God-YES!

Miracles-YES!

Love and first sight: Such a cliche thing that I don't believe is true.

Ghosts: I believe demons can take on human form and be the ghosts some people think are actual spirits of dead loved ones.

Aliens: No, it's all government aircraft. They just don't tell us the truth ;)

Kissing on the first date: Definitely NOT! Currently, I am on the fence as to if the first kiss should be saved for the actual engagement or the wedding. I am kind of leaning towards saving your kiss for your husband at the alter.

Yourself- Yes, you have to have a basic sense of self worth to be able to succeed. That, in combination with God's help at granting you success, will take you far in life.

Hope you enjoyed. Feel free to leave a comment and I will do my best to respond to each of you ;)

Never Forget

No matter how old you were, or what your current view on politics is, it is important to never forget what happened on this day fourteen years ago. Only twice has America been attacked on her home soil, at Pearl Harbor and on 9/11. The  images of smoke billowing from the twin towers, from the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania have become engraved in our Nation's history, images that we have been determined to never allow to take place again.

Yet, these images can teach us something on a personal level. It can teach us to live out each day as our last, because we can truly never know when our last day will come. So I encourage you today to do a few things:

1. Pray for wisdom for our Nation's leaders-this is something we should be doing now more than ever.
2. Pray for the families of the victims of 9/11, who are still dealing with their loss fourteen years later. Also pray for victims suffering from various illnesses from the attacks.
3. Pray and ask God if there is something he wants you to do right now, today, that you have been putting off for too long.

Lastly, here is a song by Alan Jackson, titled Where Were you When the World Stopped Turning, to commemorate this day:

A Courageous Love Part One

Would you follow your loved one off into battle?

Women during the Civil War did just that. These women were not content to sit around and roll bandages while their husbands, fathers, and brothers went off to fight. Instead, they disguised themselves as men and went off to war right alongside them.

 An estimated 400-750 women fought in the war, although the number could very likely be higher due to the secret nature of this activity.  It was easy for them to keep their secret because of Victorian etiquette, which brought on an atmosphere of doing things like sleeping with one's clothes on and bathing separately. If women were discovered among the ranks, they were usually just sent home without punishment, although it would cause quite a bit of rumor to be spread through the camps. If you want to learn more about women in the Civil War and check out some pictures click here!

The following is the first part of a little fictional tale I whipped up having to do with women fighting in the Civil War. I hope you enjoy. Be sure to comment and subscribe to my blog when you have finished reading :)

It is early morning, the sky barely lit with pre-dawn hues of pink and orange. The bugle call has blared through the camp just moments ago. All of us are tired, as we wake irritably fro our slumber to pull on various tattered items of clothing. Being Calvary, we are fortunate enough to be provided boots, unlike most of the infantry. I guess that has to be one of the many reasons why we are hated so much by them.

I have just emerged from my tent with a handful of others who are trying to shake off the grogginess of being up too late for one reason or another the night before. Some start fires in attempt to brew what little coffee rations they have.

We are all fed up with this war, though few of us will admit it. None of us want anything more to go back to whatever may be left of our homes and families. All of us are tired of seeing our friends and comrades  be there one moment riding next to us, then being shot right out of their saddles in the next.

I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Kathleen Hotchkins. Yes, I am a women. I am currently serving in General J.E.B Stuart's Calvary division in the Army of Northern Virginia under the alias of Kieth Harper. I am not the only women who has done this. The army would probably shrink almost, is not more than a quarter in size if they were to send home all the women currently serving in disguise.

I enlisted back in '62 when my husband went missing after the Second Battle of Manassas. He is probably off in some forsaken Yankee prison camp somewhere where you barely get the care you need, if you get it at all. It is not like our army should be complaining about the treatment of our prisoners though. It is not like we treat Yankee prisoners any better in our camps from what I have been told.

I approach the area where are horses are kept, most of them still dozing with their heads lowered as the sky continued to lighten. One particular horse, a chestnut gelding with four white socks and a white blaze, lifts his head and wickers a greeting at the sound of my approaching footsteps. He is my husband's  horse going by the name of Jester. It is only by sheer dang luck that I found him after I enlisted. When I first arrived in camp, when I spotted him he let out a whinny, broke free from his handlers, and trotted right up to me.

I approach Jester, giving him a welcoming pat. Jester seems to glare at me as if he is asking, why the heck do we have to be up this early? I agree with him. I have never been much of a morning person either.

Suddenly, a courier rides up to me at a gallop and stops, saluting. I immediately salute back.

"Major Harper," the young man said. "General Lee requests your presence at  headquarters as soon as possible".

I nodded to the young man, giving him a message for the general that I would report immediately. As soon as he rides off to deliver my message, I  begin to saddle Jester, preparing him for the ride. Soon, we are headed off through the woods toward here Lee has stationed his headquarters with his infantry.

This has become a familiar routine for Jester and I. Lee has been irate with Stuart as of late, due to his failure at Gettysburg. Because of this, Lee has been asking me for advice on Calvary placement since I am Stuart's second in command.

I think he has guessed that I am a women, but since he apparently likes the advice I give him he has so far turned a blind eye to it.  For that, I am grateful, for I am not leaving this army until I find my husband or become seriously wounded, whichever comes first.

Suddenly, a shot rings out in the woods, seemingly coming from nowhere. I feel myself falling as Jester whinnies sharply, then, everything goes black.

Happy Independence Day

Happy Independence Day to all my wonderful readers! I hope you are having a fun and safe Fourth of July with your families.

Almost all of you know the significance of this day in American history. Yet, since this is supposed to be a blog about history, I wanted to share some facts about the history behind the Declaration of Independence that you might not have known.

The Continental Congress actually voted for independence from Great Britain on July 2, 1776. The actual Declaration of Independence was adapted on the date we know as July 4, 1776, but only two of the fifty six of the Declaration's signers actually signed it on that day. The other fifty-four men signed it almost one month later, on August 2, 1776

After the British surrendered, the people of the new country of America celebrated July 4 as Independence Day mostly because that was the date written on the Declaration itself. John Adams, however, was of the opinion that Independence Day should be celebrated on the 2nd of July since that was the day the formal vote took place to declare independence form Britain.

Since I learned about how John Adams wanted Independence day on the 2nd instead of the 4th, I got to winding how he would have reacted since he did not get his way on when the day should be celebrated. The following story is the result of my musings ;).

"This is an outrage!" John Adams cried, storming into the parlor where his wife, Abigail, was thoroughly engrossed in her embroidery.

"What is, dearest?" she asked, not bothering to look up from her work.

"The people of this new country!" he yelled as he started to pace to and fro in front of her. "They don't understand when the day of liberty should be celebrated! They insist that is is the fourth of July!"

Abigail now lifted her eyes from her work to study her husband. "But dearest, the fourth of July was the date that was written on the Declaration of Independence, was it not?" she stated.

John snorted with disgust. "Yes, but the actual vote to declare independence from the tyranny of Britain took place on the second!"

"Yet the people are not aware of it. They are only aware on the Declaration that was published on July fourth," Abigail calmly pointed out.

John gave her a withering look. Abigail tried to hide her smile by intently studying the rose she was working on embroidering. Most of the time, he was the most doting and devoted of husbands. Yet, when times like these arose and he was being pig-headed about an issue, she liked to get him wound up even more. Besides, he looked more handsome when he was wound up.

"My dear," he said, as he stopped pacing by the mahogany mantle of the fireplace. "Must you always be the logical one out of the two of us?'

"When it comes to making you see reason, yes. If you wanted the people to celebrate our independence from Britain on the second of July instead of the fourth, you should have sent notice of the vote for independence in the papers," she said, sticking her needle in the cloth to finish the rose as if to make her point.

John harrumphed, snatching his pipe and tobacco off the mantle. "I think I will someday run for president. Then I will make sure the day of liberty is celebrated on the second!"

"You do that, dearest," Abigail called after him as he stomped out to the balcony with his pipe.

Once he was gone, a smile graced the cheeks of Abigail. She never once tired of her husband's antics. Knowing him, he was very likely to become second president of this new country. Yet, whatever he decided to do, she thought as she trimmed the thread on the rose she had just completed, she would be by his side every single step of the way.

There you have it. I hope you like it. Please be sure to comment and subscribe to my blog!