Never Again – 3

 

Whether it was tempting fate or not, Joseph did hire Rawleigh. He needed a good reporter with an eye for what was happening and the ability to write about it with clarity, which given the political climate at the moment seemed to be nigh unto impossible from some of the stories he'd seen in the newspapers of his competition.

Then came the attack on Fort Sumter and the War Between the States began, as Rawleigh had predicted. Three days after the end of the Battle of Fort Sumter, Virginia became the eighth state to secede from the Union.

"I told you, didn't I?" Rawleigh had crowed when they learned of it.

He and Joseph were now poring over reports in Joseph's office, while on the ground floor Elizabeth was overseeing the typesetters as they worked on the next edition of the paper—the issue announcing the secession.

"You did indeed, not that I doubted you for a minute." Joseph smiled wryly. "I do run a newspaper, ergo I keep my finger on the pulse of what is happening."

"How did it happen?" Rawleigh asked, looking thoughtfully at him.

"Owning the paper? Long story short, I was going to become a lawyer but then my father," his expression hardened. "My father was murdered and with no income to continue my studies, I decided to come here when I was offered a job by a man who is now a competitor. Elizabeth joined me and, eventually, we came to the conclusion that Richmond needed a real newspaper, not one that was the voice of the rich land owners."

Rawleigh nodded. "One that appealed to the working class."

"Precisely, and one that told them the truth. So between us we managed to accumulate just enough funds to buy a failing paper. The rest, as they say, is history."

"Did you ever find out who killed your father?"

Joseph shook his head. "It happened while he was out hunting. The only reason I consider it murder, not an accident, is because he was wise to the ways of nature and humans. He would never have allowed himself to be in a position where some hunter could come up on him unexpectedly."

"That's a horrible way to lose a parent, Joseph."

"Indeed it is." Joseph was relieved Rawleigh had not caught his slip in speaking of his father's killers as 'human'. "What about your family? Are they still alive?"

"Alive and quite happy to see the back of me," Rawleigh replied with a chuckle. "I never lived up to their expectations. The Travers family does not produce something as lowly as a mere reporter."

As Joseph listened, his finely tuned senses picked up an underlying tone to Rawleigh's voice—something that said there was more to his story than just his parents not liking what he did to earn a living. He was tempted to probe more deeply, however now was not the time. Instead he said casually, "I'm sure you're becoming quite tired of the food at your boarding house. Why don't we take a break once Elizabeth has finished and the paper's ready for printing. I know of a very nice restaurant not too far from here with an excellent wine list."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea. Thank you."

Any more conversation was put on hold when a young man dashed into the office to tell them that there was to be another announcement from the secessionists meeting at the capitol. Without asking, Rawleigh took off to cover the story while Joseph hurried downstairs to tell Elizabeth hold off on going to print until Rawleigh had returned.