Prisoner in Time (Time travel) (38 page)

“I prolly shouldn’t be tellin’ y’all any of this. Y’all must think I’m some kind of cowardly sissy,” he said, forcing an edge to his tone as cover.

“That’s the farthest thing from our minds. We both think you’re a good and brave man,” David shot back instantly. “This war is just a temporary event in your life and so too is your behavior in it. Once you settle back into your normal life, the person you once were will come back. I’m sure of it.”

“Temporary… seems like it’ll go on forever,” he commented in disgust.

“Naw, don’t worry. It’s going to end in a year or so,” Geoff responded confidently

“A year? How do you know that? You talked to some crystal ball at one of them there circuses?”

“He’s guessing,” David cut in, glaring at Geoff in frustration.

Sgt. Cooper noticed the David’s reaction and became suspicious.

“Ok boys, level with me. Where y’all from? And don’t tell me y’all’s from Chattanoogie neither ‘cuz I know’d you ain’t? Ain’t no one from there talks the way y’alls do.”

“You want the truth or something made up?” Geoff blurted out humorously, beating David to a response.

“I don’t take kindly to no liars, so I’m expectin’ the truth,” he replied bluntly.

“Sergeant, it’s complicated. We are in fact from Chattanooga, but not in the sense that you know. What
is
important that you know, is that we are who we say we are. We’re honest, trustworthy and brave… two people you can count on,” David said cryptically.

Sgt. Cooper stared into David’s eyes, looking for truth. David stared back with unflinching resolve. Across the open field, Union soldiers cautiously marched in from the mountain pass.

From the trees, a lone Confederate rifle roared to life. Two hundred yards away, a Union private dropped to his knees, then fell forward and died. Instantly other Confederate rifles sounded out in unison, fired in reflex to the first shot.

“TAKE COVER!” Union Lt. Gerald McFee shouted to his men at the opposite end of the field.

Instantly, the company of Union soldiers ran for cover behind trees, boulders and depressions in the land.

“Ya dang fools!” Sgt. Cooper shouted during the continuing gunfire. “Y’all gave up our surprise.”

Realizing his words went unnoticed he stood and shouted combat orders to his men.

“Rapid fire boys. Aim for their blue coats!”

Running through the woods now behind his men, he continued to shout his orders, inspiring them to greater performance. Quickly, his men reloaded and fired repeatedly.

David and Geoff joined the melee. They aimed, fired and reloaded. One hundred yards away, their shots met the enemy with deadly results.

Within seconds of the first shot, Union Lt. McFee sounded the order to return fire. Instantly, his men unleashed their own volley at the enemy. One hundred yards away, two Rebel soldiers lay dead as their bullets found their mark.

Sgt. Cooper stood behind a tree as Union bullets missed wide and crashed through the forest behind him. Firing from a standing position, he unloaded his weapon, then continued to run behind his men shouting further orders.

At the far end of the field, Lt. Mcfee brought up another company of men. As the first company laid down suppressing fire, he ordered a full frontal assault from the second against the Rebel line. The brave men charged across the field, but were met with murderous fire. With a quarter of their company cut down, they fell back to their original position and took cover.

Minutes later, Lt. Mcfee ordered another assault. Instantly, the charging men were met with more devastating fire. With bodies now littering the open field, many retreating Union soldiers dropped to the ground and took cover behind the bodies of their fallen comrades. Firing from behind the lifeless bodies, they now laid down deadly fire of their own.

Sgt. Cooper stared out into the field with worry. With a Union foothold now halfway across the field, he needed to turn the advantage. Running behind several men, he shouted out orders for them to follow. David and Geoff stood quickly and hurried into the woods behind him.

Dodging trees and leaping over brushes, the small detail of men worked their way around the perimeter of the field. Far enough to avoid enemy bullets, yet close enough to see his firing men, Sgt. Cooper rushed past them at the corner of the field, then headed up the side of the battlefield toward the enemy. With his men behind him, he rushed through the forest listening to the sounds of gunfire. Within minutes, the sound of friendly fire was far away and enemy fire seemed close. He stopped and laid out his plan to his men.

“Ok boys, by my calculations, I’m a’guessin’ we all are more than half way up the field. If we can make our way to the edge without gettin’ seen, we all ‘ill be able to cut them blue bellies to ribbon in a cross fire. If we all do it right, we can move in undetected until it’s too late for them, at which point we all ‘ill open fire. As soon as y’all’ve made your shot, run back into the woods like a coon with his tail on fire. We all ‘ill wait a minute or so and do it all over again. I don’t think them blue bellies ‘ill have the stomach for fightin’ after that. I’m sure they all ‘ill turn tail and run and I’m shore once we all have eliminated their advantage, our boys ‘ill pour on the lead and chase them cowards from the field,” he said confidently. “It’s a simple flanking plan… any questions?”

The ten men shook their heads nervously. All understood their roles. Each man knew the great risk to their lives.

With their weapons checked and loaded, Sgt. Cooper hurried off toward the battleground, his men following close behind. Within seconds, he spotted the Union soldiers through the trees at mid-field. Slowing his pace, he crouched low and continued on. As he neared the edge of the woods, he darted from tree to tree, hoping to evade detection. Ten feet from the edge of the tree line, with a clear shot at the enemy, he stopped and laid prone on the ground. Moments later, nine more men lay beside him, aiming their weapons and waiting for word to fire. In the middle of the open field, protected by the dead bodies of their fallen comrades, two dozen Union soldiers lay on their stomachs and fired on the Confederate skirmish line.

Geoff looked nervously to David. His lips curled slightly in a reluctant smile. In return, David nodded back and mouthed the words, ‘We’ll be ok.’

“Ok boys, get ‘em,” Sgt. Cooper shouted over the sounds of war.

Instantly, ten rifles cut down ten Union men as they lay on their stomachs. Even before the white smoke cleared from their rifles, a hail of Union bullets embedded in the trees all around them. Sgt. Cooper pushed himself to his knees, then sped off for the safety of the woods.

“TAKE COVER BOYS!” he shouted over his shoulder as he hurried away.

As the nine followed his lead, they jumped to their feet and began to run. Crouched low, they flinched in desperate reflex as bullets tore bark from the trees in front of them. From behind, two men cried out in pain.

Geoff turned at the shrilled sounds of impending death. Lying on the ground, writhing in agony, one man clutched his stomach where the bullet had exited, the other man’s eyes went lifeless. A second later, both lay dead. Startled by the shocking sight, Geoff stood frozen, unable to move from the horror.

“Come on!” David shouted, grabbing Geoff by the shoulder and tugging him back into the fleeing horde.

Moments later, deeper into the forest, the sound of bullets stopped as too many trees obstructed the path. Sgt. Cooper came to a stop, stood and waited for his men to gather. Within seconds, eight men surrounded him. Mentally, he counted his ranks, nodding at each soldier as he moved from one to the next.

“Dang it. Wilson and Angleton are missing,” he said, in worry.

“I saw them. They’re back there… dead,” Geoff responded, grimly.

Sgt. Cooper’s face took on a solemn expression. He looked pained by the news. Quickly, he pushed his personal grief aside and focused on his business.

“We all ‘ill give it a minute or two, then try again. Y’all did a great job. Looked like we all got about half of them blue dogs. Serves ‘em right too for killing Wilson and Angelton,” he spat in anger.

“It won’t be so easy this time. I’m sure they’ll be watching for us,” David commented.

“Undoubtedly, Warner,” Sgt. Cooper nodded. “Y’all, ‘ill have to be even quicker about y’alls work this time ‘round. No lingerin’, ya here?”

Anxious expressions stared back at him. One by one, they nodded in agreement.

David’s eyes shifted through the men as they waited. Not a word was spoken between them yet their eyes gave away their inner thoughts. Fear and anxiety stared back at him and mimicked his own feelings. Moving back through the men, his eyes suddenly stopped in surprise. Where there was once strength and courage, he found only worry and fear in the eyes of Sgt. Cooper.

David’s face drained of all expression. Reading the sergeant’s face, the message was clear: death.

“Let’s move,” Sgt. Cooper said in a tone filled with uncertainty.

As Sgt. Cooper gave the order to follow, he pushed himself toward the battlefield. Reluctantly, seven men fell in behind him.

Crouching low once again, the eight men moved along cautiously. At the first glimpse of the Union men, Sgt. Cooper leaped to the ground and crawled on his stomach. Pumping his arms and legs, he worked several feet at a time and stopped and observed. Sweat poured off his brow as nervous tension roiled inside him. As the other seven caught up and matched his position, he hesitated momentarily, then pressed on.

Twenty feet to the edge of the forest, several shots embedded the trees above them.

“They’re onto us boys,” he shouted.

He swallowed hard and continued on. With the element of surprise now gone, he frantically pumped his arms and legs, pushing and dragging himself along at a rushed pace. As bullets continued to roar over his head, he ducked in reflex and pressed on.

Unable to control his fear any longer, he stopped. Ten feet from the edge of the battle field and shouted a single command, “Fire!”

In a blink of an eye eight rifles roared to life, filling the air with a cloud of white smoke, calling attention to their location. Instantly, a hail of bullets splintered the trees as the enemy unleashed their wrath.

A cry of pain sounded from amidst the eight as the “thud” of a bullet impacted one man’s chest.

“Retreat!” Sgt. Cooper shouted aloud.

Instantly, seven men grappled to their feet and ran. Crouching low, they dodged incoming bullets as they zigzagged through the woods.

Suddenly, a loud shriek was sounded from behind the small detail of men. Geoff turned and watched in horror as Sgt. Cooper clutched his leg. Blood oozed between his fingers. With clenched teeth, he continued to limp forward.

“David!” Geoff shouted ahead. “The Sarge is wounded!”

David instinctively dropped his weapon and hurried rearward to help.

As Geoff reached for his wounded superior, another bullet ripped through the side of the near stationary target. Sgt. Cooper let out a guttural cry of agony and fell forward, landing in the terrified arms of the teen.

“They’ve kilt me, Robbins. Leave me be. Run for it and save yourself,” he said, now accepting his fate.

“No friggin’ way!” Geoff responded bravely. “I’m not leaving you.”

He pulled the sergeant’s arm around his neck and hauled him forward. Pain streaked through the sergeant’s body and he collapsed to his knees.

“Fight man! Fight like you’re going to live and you
will
live,” Geoff shouted, using the words that inspired him at Dalton.

“They’ve kilt me boy. I’m finished. There’s no sense in fightin’ now,” he responded grimly.