Page 122 of After 5
A hand clasped my shoulder. “In line soldier.”
I tried to protest but the stubborn captain ordered me forward. When I turned to run away, the soldiers behind me gave a scowl. I marched forward. The only weapon I had was the revolver tucked into my waistband.
I marched with the men, my heart pounding hard in my chest. Please let me make it long enough to find Sam. We stopped as the captains addressed their troops, giving words of encouragement. I leaned forward and looked down the line. I spotted Will. His tall frame stood above the other men. He had removed his jacket. Sam had found him. Now, I had to find Sam.
The order was given to march forward, and we moved, going only a short distance until the opposing cannons began to fire. Long rows of men jerked off their feet, writhing on the ground. The men continued to march, and more men were ordered to fill in the gaps. I marched and sidestepped until I was an arm’s length away from Will.
“Will!” I marched next to him.
“Doc, what are you doing here?”
“I’m searching for Sam. I have orders,” I tried to catch my breath. “The general is requesting both of you to his headquarters.”
“What?” Will held a hand to his ear as he continued to walk. He couldn’t hear me over the steady roar of the cannons.
We had to stop and climb over a stake and rider fence. Gunshot struck the fence and we dropped to the ground. Will pulled me up. As I turned to holler again, Will pointed to a group of men to his right. Sam tore the paper on his gunpowder and poured it into his musket, ramming the ball down deep as he prepared to shoot.
A cannon blast knocked me off my feet, and something stung my leg. Will was face down in the dirt ten feet from me. I crawled over to him and pushed him face to the sky. He blinked at me.
“I’m hit.”
I looked down at his right ankle. There wasn’t one. Blood leaked onto the dry earth. “Your leg and foot are injured.”
“Doc,” he grabbed my jacket. “Can you save my leg?”
I searched in my medial pouch for my tourniquet and tightened it around his left leg, just under the knee. “Stay on the ground, the medics will help you to the hospital.”
“Doc, you got to save Sam. He’s—”
“Stay down. I’ll find Sam.” Hunched over, I moved toward Sam, then decided hunching wouldn’t spare me—I was still an enemy target. The pain in my leg ached, but I didn’t have time to see what bit me. I could run, and that was all that mattered. I ran as fast as I could across the field.
As I closed in on Sam, he kicked backward, falling to the ground.
“NO!” My words were lost in a barrage of cannonade. My hat was shot off my head as I wove my way through the men to him.
I dropped to his side.
A bullet had grazed his temple and blood ran into his eyes.
“Are you an angel?” He wiped at his eyes.
A strand of blond hair covered my face. I pushed it aside. Damn. My wig went with the hat. Long, blond tresses of my hair whipped in the summer breeze with the sun beating down behind me. My shadow fell across Sam’s face. I guessed I did look a bit angelic to him.
“I’m going to help you.” As I leaned over him, a pink flower petal from the peach tree floated down from my hair and landed on his cheek. He smiled. “I was brave.”
Blood seeped through his shirt over his left abdominal area. I untucked his shirt from his waistband and found the remnants of the pocket watch I had given him. A small round ball stuck to its mechanical guts. The impact of the bullet against the shattered gold metal had cut into his side. I patched him up with cloth from my medical kit.
“My vision is blurry,” he said. “Did them Yankees get me in the head?”
“Your head’s rock hard.” By the way his head hit hard against the ground, he had a concussion and shock, most likely. “C’mon soldier. We’re getting the hell out of Dodge.”
He stood and we made our way in the opposite direction.
“I wanted to reach the wall.”
I looked out across the battlefield. Hundreds of men lay dead and wounded. “You got farther than most, I reckon.”
I deposited Sam under an oak tree far away from the battle. I gave him a drink from my canteen, and I instructed two men with a stretcher to carry Will from the battlefield. General Lee’s orders, I spoke harshly to the men, but there were so many wounded who needed tending.
