Echoes of Dark and Light (24 page)

“Can’t seem to get around like I did when I was your age. These old bones of mine keep reminding me they prefer a feather bed, eight hours of sleep and a loving wife to keep me warm. But then, I guess that’s all part of what we’re fighting for, freedom to live our lives.”

I couldn’t find any words to fill his pause, so I didn’t utter a sound. Toby, at least, produced a nod of agreement. Nerves until now held in check, began to unravel and my leg bounced annoyingly.

“So, how is your winter training coming along? It’s been a nice break from marching from battle to battle, eh? But I’m sure young men like you are starting to itch from boredom. Don’t worry, we’ll be on the move again soon enough. We’ve orders to pack up sometime in March, so enjoy the sedentary camp while it lasts.

“Now, if you’ll forgive me,” he paused, bending over to pull off his dusty, travel-worn boots. Another groan escaped as his wool socks met the warming air. Two ghostly pale toes wiggled visibly through ragged holes.

“Much better,” he sighed in relief. “My poor, frozen toes haven’t had a breath of fresh air in days. During trips such as these, I don’t take the opportunity to remove my boots; don’t want to get caught with your pants down or your boots untied, don’t ya know.”

The captain’s friendly chitchat slipping into an Upper Peninsula accent couldn’t even uncover a smile from me. I had a bad feeling burning in my stomach and expected to be doomed to an unending and torturous punishment at any moment. The fact that we’d just been caught rummaging around in an officer’s cabin in the wee morning hours, kind of consumed my brain potential for finding anything humorous. Or maybe the entire situation was so incredibly hilarious that I could burst into laughter at any moment.
Naw, better stick with the serious face.

Captain Truckey leaned back and propped his feet up on the desk to get closer to the fire’s warmth. “You’re probably curious about my trip. In fact, maybe you can help shed some light on the subject. Oftentimes in situations such as this, the lower ranking soldiers hear the gossip and know more about it then the generals. You’ve probably heard about the recent thefts of the sutler’s merchandise.” He paused with his bushy eyebrows raised in question.

I glanced over at Toby as confusion scratched my brain; what about us getting caught in his cabin in the middle of the night?

“Yes, see, I only just heard about it last week, and the rest of the camp probably knew ten minutes after the first theft. Anyway, the sutlers requested a meeting to discuss their loss of merchandise. One would think a businessman surrounded by thousands of armed soldiers would be safe and secure, but taking into account all of the stress, exhaustion, homesickness, lack of palatable food, loneliness, and the very real threat of being killed, a few boys are bound to lose touch with their mental stability. During my meeting, I met with some governmental types from Washington. If it is boys with health problems, we decided the best thing for those involved would be a medical discharge, depending of course on the interrogation. On the other hand, the ones responsible could be just down right mean and greedy and need some imprisonment. But we are willing to take into account the stress present in our soldier’s way of life if need be. Would either of you have any information as to who is responsible for the thefts?”

“No, sir,” Toby spoke.

I shook my head. “No, sir.”

“Ah, well, that’s too bad. Well, if you happen to hear anything, please let me know.” He left off with a smile and then stood to check on the water’s progress. Steam rose from the pot and he carefully checked the temperature with a tap of his fingers to the side. Opting it good enough, he used an old glove to pull it from the flames and filled the three mugs with steaming water.

“Not hot, but enough to warm the belly.” He handed a mug to each of us and then resettled in his chair. “Now, about your uninvited nighttime visit—”

He abruptly broke off, sniffing the air with a grimace of disgust. “What in God’s name is that horrid smell?”

“This could be worse,” I muttered, trying to look on the bright side.

Toby paused in his latrine digging duties to glare at me. “And just how could this be worse? For the next three months we have to get up an hour early to dig trenches for thousands of men to deposit their—”

“I know, it’s pretty bad—”

“Bad? This is beyond bad, and it’s going to get worse! Can you imagine the odors when the temperatures get hot? I have trouble just using it, let alone digging in it!”

“But see, our punishment will be done before the summer heat. Captain Truckey really is looking out for us.”

“Yeah, I’ll have to remember to thank him next time we see him.” Toby paused, recollecting last night’s scene. His irritation at the result fought with his amusement of the memory. The irritation quickly lost out and a grin broke across his face. “Did you see the look on his face when he opened the trunk?”

I smirked as I stomped the shovel’s blade into the frozen earth. “I did feel a bit sorry for the guy. Imagine, returning home, weary from a long journey and finding that in your trunk. I’ll probably never stop feeling just a little guilty.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much; I caught him shaking his head and chuckling as we left.”

“He was laughing?”

Toby nodded. “Captain Truckey is okay. Though I don’t think we’d have gotten off so easy if you hadn’t been friends with his daughter.”

“Now you’re calling this easy? How about you dig for a while and I’ll hold the lantern.”

Toby took the shovel from me and made a bit of progress while I stretched my back.

“Besides, Emma didn’t have anything to do with it. The captain is just a decent fellow, otherwise, we’d have probably been kicked out or thrown in the stockade or something. And then how would I ever find my brother.”
Though, so far I haven’t made much progress anyway.

“Well, she sounds like a great girl anyway. Maybe I could meet her sometime.”

The hairs on the back of my neck bristled. “She’s practically engaged, you know. She’s head over heels for a guy named Alex Shanley. You wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Toby tossed a shovelful of dirt into the old latrine and then glanced over at me. “Take it easy! Don’t get so defensive; you sound jealous or something. I thought you and she were just friends, distant cousins or something.”

“Of course we’re just friends,” I snapped at him. “I’m just concerned about you getting your heart stomped is all. Emma is taken so you might as well look elsewhere.”

“Well, if you insist I start looking, there is Nurse Davis. I don’t think she has a beau…”

I glared at him before snatching the shovel out of his hands. “Cora could have any fellow she wants; why would she ever look twice at you?”

“Aren’t you full of spit this morning? I think your lack of sleep is turning you into a grump—”

“Okay,” I threw down my shovel and turned to face Toby with fists raised.

“Well, look-see over there, fellows.”

Toby and I turned to find Jimmy, Kevin and another guy coming towards us.

“What do you want now, Jimmy?” I growled. My mood seemed to be growing blacker as the sun peaked her rays over the horizon.

“Just how in the blazes did you two get stuck with latrine duty?” Jimmy asked, feigning confusion.

“Drop the act; you know we got caught fulfilling your lost bet.” Toby took a step forward, standing slightly ahead of me.

“Hmm, as I recall, a hand of four aces make it your lost bet. So then, you went and got yourselves caught.”

“Obviously,” I snapped, retrieving the tossed shovel, just in case.

“That’s too bad. I’m surprised you didn’t get kicked out of the army.”

“Yeah, you would have loved that, wouldn’t you.”

“Not necessarily. A fellow never knows when he might need another diversion performed…”

Toby narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “What are you saying, Jimmy? Was all of this a cover for something else?”

Jimmy shook his head in artificial sympathy. “Toby, so suspicious of you. Though I guess a southerner always has to watch his back while surrounded by blue boys—”

“Toby is a blue boy, in heart and blood!” I broke in vehemently. “He can’t help being born in the south!”

Jimmy held up his hands in mock surrender to ward off an attack. “You got quite a guard dog there, Toby. Very loyal. Maybe it’s a good thing Captain Truckey arrived back early to catch you both. Looks like you southern sympathizers need a close eye kept on you.”

“Don’t you dare question our patriotism!” I raised the shovel up for attack and started toward him.

Toby grabbed my arm to hold me back as he raised a suspicious brow toward Jimmy. “How did you know the captain caught us?”

Jimmy shrugged. “Just a guess, you being in his cabin and all.”

“But you said yourself that he wasn’t due back ‘til late this morning; how did you know he came back early? You set us up, didn’t you, Jimmy?”

“You’re crazy, Rivers; both of you are completely crazy. I just saw the captain a second ago, that’s how I knew he came back early. Come on,” he motioned to his gang. “Let’s get out of here before the loonies lose it completely.” They left the way they’d come, their shadows following closely behind.

Toby’s hand didn’t release its firm grip until Jimmy moved out of sight. I jerked my arm free. “Why didn’t you let me go at ‘em?” I grumbled.

“Because, one, they outnumbered us. And two, that Jimmy is a dangerous fellow and I don’t trust him at all.”

“You really think he set us up? But why?”

“Don’t know.” Toby picked up the lantern and blew out the flame as the rising sun filled the valley with morning light.

“Think it has anything to do with the sutler’s thefts?”

“Maybe. I wouldn’t put much of anything past Jimmy and his gang, especially stealing alcohol.”

“And with alcohol as one of their targets, they’ll probably end up doing something stupid to get themselves caught sooner or later,” I added bitterly.

Toby glanced over at me with an eyebrow raised. “You sound like you’re speaking from experience. Don’t tell me you’re a recovering closet boozer,” he joked.

“Hell, no!” I spat back at him. “It’s vile garbage.”

“But you know someone who does,” Toby surmised. “And since I never hear you utter a word about your mother or father, I’m guessing one of them drowns in the stuff.”

“Ma never, ever touched that poison! She was one of the prettiest, kindest, most unselfish people to ever set foot on this earth!” Just the thought of her doused me with waves of lost love and time forever gone.

Toby never flinched at my outburst, instead leaning against the shovel and giving me his full attention. “’She was’? So she died.”

“She didn’t just die, he killed her!” Tears pooled in my eyes and I spun around so he wouldn’t see. My breath ragged in my chest, I had trouble getting enough air. I hadn’t meant to offer Toby so much information; I’d let my guard slip in anger, and now I couldn’t take it back. I struggled to even out my breathing and clear the tears from my eyes.

“’He’ being your father. And I’m guessing he has the reputation for being a boozer.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I growled over my shoulder.

“Did he ever lay a hand on you?” he asked quietly.

I spun around and grabbed the shovel out from under him. “I don’t want to talk about it!”
I can’t trust you! I won’t trust you!

Thankfully, the bugle’s harsh shout echoed through the camp just then. Without another word, I picked up the lantern and stormed back for roll call. I didn’t care if Toby followed or not; I’d shared too much, let down my guard and allowed him to get too close.

The rest of our time in winter camp passed relatively slowly with the boring mundaneness of a daily routine. With latrine digging added to our daily chores, I usually fell into my bunk each night exhausted. But it did help the time pass. Unfortunately, Jimmy and his gang knew exactly where Toby and I would be every morning, and one or more of them rarely missed an opportunity to taunt and jeer at us. Interspersed with my irritation of their daily visits, I speculated at the total lack of purpose in their lives to be so dedicated to my and Toby’s misery. I admired Toby’s ability to laugh it off for the most part. He turned it into a game, plotting up his own better and more clever insults to throw back at them. I tried to follow his lead and at least try to get a laugh out of it.