“Kind of scary, isn’t it,” Geoff said, his eyes searching the blackness.
“Which part?” David asked.
“The dark. We’re out here all alone in the dark. It’s kind of scary.”
“Oh that kind of scary. I thought you were talking about traveling back in time to one of the worst wars in our nation’s history, deserting one army, traipsing through a dense forest in search of another and barely having enough food in our packs to survive the night, let alone the next day, all the while trying to figure out how to save your brother.”
Geoff thought about David’s sarcastic response, smiled and replied, “I guess that’s scary too.”
As the fire continued to burn, David reached over and placed another piece of wood on it, causing a cloud of red ash and flames to rise up into the air. Lying back against a boulder, his mind began to think of his home life in the future.
“I really miss my family,” he said, breaking the silence.
“Me too,” Geoff shot back instantly.
“I’m betting my mom and dad are worried… again, like they were the last time,” he said, rolling his eyes in dread.
“At least this time they probably know why you disappeared. That’s got to count for something,” Geoff reasoned.
“I can imagine they’re probably poring through old data about the Civil War, searching for any news about the death of one David Warner. I wish I could send them some kind of note, telling them I’m ok.”
“Yeah, me too. I’m sure my parents are just sick right now. They lost one child and don’t know if they’ll ever see the other again,” he replied in saddened tone.
“Well, at least we’re away from the fighting. Our chances of survival have just dramatically increased,” David added.
Geoff thought for a moment, then asked, “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“Nope, I’m an only child. That’s what makes this so hard for them… and me,” David replied.
“I guess my parents are in the same boat as yours now. Unless I succeed, I’ll also be an only child.”
“Or worse,” David responded grimly. “Speaking of which, we really need to figure out a plan to save your brother. One that doesn’t include murder.”
“I’m listening,” Geoff responded.
“The way I figure it, all we have to do is prevent Ales Moore from becoming a hero. He doesn’t have to die. We just have to stop him before he makes his final run with the flag. The problem is, getting to him in the middle of a battle. He’ll be at least a couple of football fields away.”
Geoff nodded in understanding.
“And skirmish lines can stretch out over miles, being fought on a lot of different grounds. We don’t even know the exact location he’s in. During the battle, by the time we figure it out, he could have made his final run and be dead already, ending any chance to change your brother’s future.”
“It’s a toughie,” he said casually.
David stared at Geoff in confusion. His response seemed out of place.
“Geoff, what’s the deal man. You seem like you’re not taking any of this seriously,” he responded, his tone slightly annoyed.
Geoff stiffened his postured and forced a serious expression on his face.
“I am taking it seriously,” he said in a defensive tone.
David stared back, trying to read his eyes. Something seemed off. Suddenly, Geoff stood and turned from the fire.
“Where’re you going?” David asked, slightly offended by the teens rude exodus.
“To the bathroom… well, to the woods anyway. I’ll be back,” he said flatly.
As he walked off into the trees, David watched him go.
“Well that was kind of weird,” he said to himself still confused.
Reaching over, he poured himself more coffee, then settled back in by the fire. Staring into the roaring flames, he allowed his mind to wander.
-----*-----*-----*-----
Using the light of the fire, Geoff worked his way into the woods. He climbed up a small hill and looked back. Still seeing David sitting by the fire, he took a few steps further to gain more privacy. His foot caught the edge of a fallen branch and sent him tumbling forward. In seconds, he rolled down the back side of the hill and crashing into a tree at the bottom. For a moment, he lay on his back and caught his breath.
“What the hell, man,” he groaned. “Why does stuff like this always happen to me?”
He sat up and looked around. Suddenly, he felt a cool breeze against his foot and realized he’d lost a shoe in the fall.
“Friggin’ great!” he said aloud, feeling around his legs in the darkness.
Rolling to his knees, he slid his hands along the ground, continuing the search for his shoe. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he began to detect faint images in his path. Trees, rocks and leaves became visible in the half moon’s light. Moving too far off course, he turned around and headed back. Moments later, with his eyes fully adjusted to the darkness, he noticed an object laying in the path of his fall, slightly up the hill. He crawled up the incline and smiled.
“YESSS!” he said in soft, yet exuberant tone.
Sitting down, he quickly replaced his shoe, then stood. Looking up at the hill, he could see shadows of light that illuminated its crest. He looked behind him and suddenly had an eerie feeling, as if being watched. A strange shiver ran up his spine. He shook it off and headed up the incline.
Nearing the top of the hill, he heard David’s voice and laughed.
“Talking to himself,” he said, chuckling under his breath.
Suddenly, as his head peaked above the top of the hill, he heard a second voice. He froze in fear. Scanning the lit camp below, he immediately spotted David. Standing off to his right, several feet away, stood an armed man.
Panic raced through Geoff’s body. With the strange man’s rifle pointed menacingly at David’s stomach, he knew he had little time to think.
Quickly, he hurried back down the hill. At the bottom, he worked his way around the side and came around to the front. Moving slowly, he eased himself out into the open and crawled silently along the darkened ground. Methodically, deliberately, he moved. His heart pounded with fear and beads of nervous sweat formed on his brow.
Thirty feet from the man, he could just make out his blue uniform.
“Union,” he whispered under his breath.
His mind raced, as he crawled. He could hear the man speaking but with his back to him, he couldn’t make out what he was saying.
Twenty feet away, he could now hear the soldier clearly. He heard his threatening tone and searched the ground around him. Just a few feet to his front, he spotted a large rock. Carefully, quietly, he crept forward, inching his way toward the stone.
Seconds later, with his heart pounding wildly, he reached out his hand. Wrapping his fingers around the rock, he slowly began to stand.
Geoff’s eyes made contact with David’s. David’s attention turned past the soldier. Seeing David’s focus shift, the soldier spun on his heels, swinging his rifle around to fire.
Geoff hurled the heavy stone. David leaped from his spot toward the armed man.
Suddenly, the Union soldier let out a guttural groan as the stone impacted his chest. David lunged from behind, pouncing on the soldier from behind. The rifle fired but went wide into the trees. In a blink of an eye, the scene was over.
Geoff jumped to his feet and raced forward. David wrestled with the struggling man, trying to pin him to the ground. As he rushed in, Geoff kicked the man in the jaw, stunning him for only a moment. Enraged, the man roiled under David and tossed him to the side.
As the soldier began to stand, Geoff ran past them. The angry man reached out his hand and grabbed Geoff’s pant leg, tripping him past the fire. David grabbed the man’s legs, throwing the soldier off balance. He fell forward.
“Sons-a-bitches!” he growled savagely.
He kicked David in the chest, knocking him rearward. Instantl
y he lunged for Geoff.
“FREEZE DIRT BAG!” Geoff screamed loudly.
Instantly, the Union soldier held his position as he stared into the point of a gun barrel.
“You make one move and I swear I’ll friggin’ kill you,” Geoff spat angrily.
From behind, David’s voice shouted aloud, “Go ahead, make his day.”
Geoff grinned at the Hollywood line, then refocused on the kneeling man.
“He’s not kidding. Give me a reason and I’ll splatter your brains all over this camp,” Geoff growled.
“I ain’t moving,” the man said, now breathing heavy.
David stood and grabbed his own rifle. He pointed it at the soldier and spoke.
“Now… like I was telling you before, we are Union soldiers. We were captured at Chattanooga and sent to a POW camp. We escaped but were caught and forced to fight on the side of the Rebs. We aren’t Confederate soldiers. We’re UNION soldiers and I’m Brigadier General David Warner. Is any of this unclear to you or do I have to toss a bullet in you to help you understand?”
“No Sir. I won’t be needin’ a bullet,” the Union scout responded, raising his hand in protest.
“Good, now that we have an understanding, take a seat on the other side of that fire. Do it slowly,” David commanded.
“Yes Sir,” the man said simply.
Slowly, the man crawled past the fire and took a seat on the other side. David raised his eyebrows to Geoff in relief.
“Man, that was way too close for comfort,” he said.
“Where the hell did he come from,” Geoff asked, now puzzled.
“He just appeared from the woods. He was about to shoot me. What took you so long,” he said in exasperated tone.
“I tripped and fell in the dark… rolled down the hill and lost my shoe. It took me a while to find it. When I climbed back up, I saw this dude holding a gun on you,” Geoff replied.
“Were you able to go?” David asked, with a smirk.
“Come to think of it, no,” Geoff said, now grinning back.
David turned his attention back to the soldier.
“So, what are you, a scout or something?”
“Yes Sir,” the man said respectfully.
“What’s your name?”
“Corporal Zeb Hawkin,” he replied.
“Like the gun, huh?” David retorted.
“Yes Sir,” the soldier said, now smiling.
“Well Cpl. Zeb, it’s my guess that you’re a scout for General Sherman. Am I correct?”
“Yes Sir,” the scout responded.
“Perfect. Tomorrow, at first light, we’re going to be paying him a visit… with your guidance of course,” David said, in cordial tone.
“Yes Sir.”
“Now I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, but I’m pretty certain that once we walk into headquarters with these gray uniforms on, we’ll be attracting a lot of attention, am I right?”
“Yes Sir,” Cpl. Hawkin responded.
“So this is how we’re going to play this my friend. When we get close to camp, you’re going to go ahead of us and let Gen. Sherman know we’re here and that we need safe passage into headquarters,” David said with a nod, looking for approval.
“Yes Sir,” the corporal nodded.
David stepped forward and stared menacingly into the scout’s eyes. He cleared his throat and continued.
“Let’s make sure we’re clear about something right now. If you somehow forget to let them know that we’re Union soldiers or if you somehow manage to persuade them that we’re not, there won’t be a rock big enough for you to hide under, because they’ll eventually reinstate me to my full rank, and when they do, my very first order will be to hunt you to the ends of the earth and whip you to death!” David said in raised tone. “Do we have an understanding?”
“Yes Sir,” the scout responded nervously.
David laid his gun down on the log next to him. He turned to Geoff and smiled.
Turning back to Zeb, he rubbed his hands together like a greedy miser and said, “Well Mr. scout. I’m quite certain you have some food stashed away somewhere, don’t you.”
“Yes Sir,” he responded obediently.
“What do you have?” David demanded.
“I shot a possum earlier, Sir,” he replied, instantly.
“Well don’t be rude, my man! Invite us to dinner!” David shouted boldly, startling the soldier.
“Yes Sir, General. Would y’all like to share in my possum?”
“I thought you’d never asked,” David joked.
David glanced over to Geoff and winked.
Laughing, Geoff replied, “What a ball buster.”
-----*-----*-----*-----
The following day…
The three walked to the edge of the grassy clearing and stopped. At the opposite side, a quarter mile away, several large tents stood erect. Men on horseback rode in and out from all directions, while soldiers on foot hurried between the tents. Seeing the bustle of the camp left no doubt in the three men’s minds, they were staring at the nerve center of Gen. Sherman’s Army.
“That’s it Sir. Gen Sherman’s tent is the one to the far right,” Cpl. Hawkin said, pointing.
“Excellent. Good work Corporal. Now, the real test comes. Time for you to get up on your horse, ride into camp and let them know Brigadier General David Warner is waiting for safe passage. Can you remember that?” David asked sternly.
“Yes Sir, I’ll remember your name,” Cpl. Hawkin replied.
As the scout hopped up onto his horse, he nodded to David.
“Remember what I said about the ends of the earth,” he said in cryptic tone.
“Yes Sir,” Cpl. Hawkin replied, nervously.
With a kick of his spurs, he sped off across the field. David and Geoff watched him ride. As he neared the tents, he suddenly veered off to the left.
“Oh no! The friggin’ idiot’s double crossing us. He’s heading away from the general’s tent,” Geoff blurted out angrily.
“Unbelievable. Man, I’m telling you. It’s so hard to get good help nowadays,” David said, sarcastically.
“Dude, this is no time to joke. That guy’s going to send the heat after us. We better get out of here, pronto,” Geoff responded, now growing anxious.
David looked to his right. Tall grasses swayed in the gentle wind. Looking back to Geoff, he pointed.
“There. We can hide in the tall grass until dark. After that, we can sneak into camp and find us a set of Union clothes,” he said. He thought about the double crossing corporal and added, “Man, I can’t wait to get my hands on that little worm.”
“You and me both,” Geoff shot back.
As they started toward the high grass, David looked over his shoulder. Suddenly, he stopped.
“What are you doing?” Geoff asked, impatiently.
“Hold up a minute,” he responded.
As he watched the corporal riding his horse far out in the distance, he saw him now veering to the right.
“Check it out. The corporal’s heading back right again,” David said, now growing excited.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Geoff responded. “He’s heading for the general’s tent.” He let out a happy yell and slapped his legs. “We’re ok. I think we’re ok,” he added.
David felt a measure of relief. He exhaled loudly and said, “That man just saved himself one hell of a good beating.”
“And just when I was really starting to hate him,” Geoff joked.
Minutes later…
“Whoohoo!” Geoff hollered loudly, leaping into the air. “They’re coming. A bunch of soldiers are coming.”
“Take it easy Geoff. Look professional. General Sherman is a fairly reserved man.”
“Gotcha… reserved,” he responded.
The two stood tall and at attention while they waited for the group of men to arrive. Just like the corporal before them, the riders veered around a shallow watering hole, then veered back on course
toward them. As they neared, David noticed two horses in tow, roped to two other riders.
“Hey, check it out. Looks like they brought us each a horse to ride.”
Prisoner in Time (Time travel) Page 30
