Fight for Glory (My Wounded Soldier #1) (10 page)

I watched to make
sure he did as he was told, and that’s when I saw Allie, walking carefully with
a big plate of food. She had on the yellow dress she’d fought with Ma over. It
had a fitted waist, and wasn’t the feedbag shape Ma favored on my sister. Allie
had campaigned hard to make this dress. She had appealed to Addie to help her
convince Ma. Addie had played peacemaker and discussed the dress thoroughly
with Ma until she conceded that perhaps it was time Allie dress more like a
young lady instead of a little girl. This little thing brought more joy to
Allie. It was another generous act from Addie.

So I saw the
yellow dress, and the yellow hair bows my sister wore. I didn’t like her
looking so comely, but I figured she had a right to be grown. She worked hard
and asked for little. And now she walked shyly toward that big group of men to
feed Jimmy. I was nearly holding my breath. Then I noticed Susan Weathersby in
her pink dress coming from the other side of the menfolk. She also carried a
plate, piled just as high as the one Allie held. Allie and Susan had just
noticed each other, and each hurried a little to cut through those men and
reach Jimmy first.

Sad to say Susan
was quick on her feet. Allie got blocked by Gaylin who had his back to her, and
proved to be more of a wall than a door. That gave Susan the extra few ticks on
the clock needed to reach Jimmy and present him with the feast. He
stood,
Jimmy style, swept his hat off and bowed a little,
holding that girl rapt with whatever horseshit he was spewing. He set the plate
on the table and took her hand and kissed it in front of everybody, and that
meant he’d practically proposed, believe me, and that girl tripped away and
went to where a couple of her friends waited, and they all jumped up and down
together.

About then Allie
seemed to be rousing from a trance. She walked quickly to where Susan stood and
tapped her on the shoulder, balancing that full plate in her little hand. When
Susan turned, her hands went to her hips as clearly she wasn’t overjoyed to see
my sister.

 
My sister overturned that full plate smack
down the front of Susan’s pink dress.

The girls
collectively screamed causing the men to turn from Jimmy to see if the rebs had
reconvened for a slaughter, but there were no rebs, just a crying Susan whose arms
were held out from her body, and her two friends who were trying to comfort her
while my little sis stormed off in the direction of home.

Addie went
running after Allie. I looked over at Jimmy, and he hadn’t missed a bite,
seeming not to know that an ambush had taken place in his honor. That no good
son of a bitch was breaking my sister’s heart.

“Let’s play
ball,” I called.

Tom
Tanner

Chapter
Twelve: Church, Part Two

Since we had been
in the war and learned the game of baseball so thoroughly, Jimmy and I were
chosen as the captains. That was fine. Course all the little fellows wanted to
play, every size and stage. But they were told to be seen and not heard by
their parents. They needed a lesson on how this game was played before they
could take part. We had some skill after days of waiting in camps and many
kinds of places. So watching their elders would serve
these
young-ins though they grumbled among themselves. Yet as boys do they shifted
their disappointment to loyalties for their favorite teams. Johnny was soon
rooting hard for me and Seth, though it must have pained him some to go against
Gaylin. It did not, however, pain me at all.

I searched out
the missus, and there she was, leading Allie into a circle of women who had
rescued Susan from my sister’s judgment. I could scarce take in that my sister
was apologizing, and more than one of the biddies seemed to have a say, but
Addie’s arm was around her small yellow shoulders and I loved her all the more
for standing by my sister.
 

I kept only a
little of my attention on the women, for after a life of following Jimmy’s lead
I’d no wish to do it now. He chose Gaylin, I took Seth. He chose Michael, I
chose Harley. He took Jake, I took Lem. He chose strength, I went for wile.

And so it went. For
every choice he made, I made a match or better.

Then we drew lots
for blue or gray. I won the blue and it made Jimmy mad, but I had to turn to
the field lest he see me smile and I had no wish to fall for my pride. I only
regretted I didn’t have William, for if I did I would not have need of another.
But Jimmy had left him in town to hold the fort, so he said.

Jimmy won the
draw to bat first. Doc Tusaint, his backside so wide and soft from sitting at
too many bedsides and tables piled with chicken, would call the plays. He had
been sawbones in the war, and had judged many a game when he wasn’t piling
limbs.

So I would pitch.
I shouted orders to the troops. They listened hard as I did not choose to lead
anyone, but when I did I was a tyrant. They scrambled to do as I said. The
crowd grew so quiet you could hear Blackstone’s bull calling yonder. I took the
ball Jimmy had brought along, and I made myself bring all my attention to the
field of battle.

Jimmy had long
arms and a wide swing. I would bring the ball in close to him. So close it
could hit him. That’s a chance I was willing to take. I aimed my pitch and let
loose underhand. The ball went straight, but it being too close it unbalanced
him, a move he exaggerated. Now that was a ball. The crowd was speaking rapid,
asking questions.

Well Tusaint got
it right. And I’d be watching him. I checked to see each station manned
pointing for Seth to move in closer to first base. He hadn’t had much practice,
but I’d taught him the principles while we worked in the barn.

I took in the
missus, noting she watched now, sharing a blanket on the grass with Allie and
the baby. I saw this in a flash and it gave me more pluck than ever, not that I
needed it.

Jimmy had his
butt going in one direction and his arms extended in the other holding the bat
at the ready. He never learned. I knew what he was doing, getting ready,
countering my pitches, which he knew I’d keep close, so he could stumble around
and end walking to first. I’d surprise him this time and make him work a little.
That’s if he remembered how to do more than yammer that patch of beard he was
so proud of.

So I let loose,
and dropped it wide and low. He was so busy posing he forgot to swing. “Strike
one,” Tusaint called.

I kept my face
straight as the ball returned. I looked around, cast a stern eye at my men less
they were distracted. Then I settled my boots and threw another, this one
close. At the last Jimmy shortened his arms and whacked that ball and you’d of
thought the Lord returned for all the shouting went on. The ball went far and
Lem ran in search of it. Jimmy somersaulted on his way to first, swooped his
hat off the ground and kept on running. The crowd went wild. I had to remember
not to smile myself for it was not a smiling matter. But as he tagged that
base, he doffed his hat to Addie or Allie. I could not tell as they shared that
blanket. But I saw it alright.

Well, he got to
third. When the ball was in my hand I looked around and glared at each. Though
I blamed myself for a pitch that was so fair he got the hit, they did not need
to know it.

Now it was Jake. All
talk he was. Saw the end of the war and couldn’t get over
himself
.
I bent forward and held the ball behind me, turning it in my hand, feeling for
just the right place. I straightened, balanced my feet and let loose fast.

Jake swung late. Tusaint
called strike. My next
pitch strike
two. My last pitch
and Jake was flushed red and mad as he stalked off. He threw the bat, and the
preacher scolded him, and I had to look at my shifting feet lest I laugh out
loud.

I checked Jimmy
on third, and Harley had him covered. Now Gaylin was up. He was watching me,
and not the pitch. Too bad, for he swung hard and stumbled a bit. Oh this was
fun. He thought that ball was me. I struck him out, too.

Now Jimmy was not
smiling so much. He’d been dancing on that base, making the crowd cheer, even
the preacher who did not believe in dancing unless the Spirit moved, and this
was not the proper spirit, I could vouch. But it was Jimmy, so it made no
matter, and they loved his jig. Even Allie was smiling again.

Michael came
next. He’d also fought, and I knew all his corners, I reckon. He was friendly
on top, but beneath could be vicious if provoked. Folks didn’t know that about
him. I let the ball hit him in the side of the head and he came running for me.
The crowd was against him then for though they did not love me, they respected
me, and any good man could make a mistake. Jake and Seth got ahold of him and
dragged him off the field. I waited with patience and the preacher joined the
ranks working to calm him down. Repentant of his foul response, he walked
toward me and extended his hand. I graciously accepted his offer and he
whispered, “Shit-ass,” and I said, “Watch your privates.”

So they were all
pleased we made peace, and I guess he didn’t believe me
cause
I lambasted his privates next.

They were slower
to take my side, but he was dragged off this time and he wouldn’t be coming
back for a spell, so Gaylin was drafted to take his place. This was so perfect
I could barely keep my dead calm pose. So I glared at the boys again, and Lem
gestured at me like, “What are you doing fool? We ain’t here to play army ball.
This is Sunday and the families are looking on!” But he didn’t say any of that
aloud.

So I pitched
gentle, to my brother, and he whacked it right to me, and I stopped it with my
body, caught it against me. It hurt like being shot with a rock, but I ignored
that, tossed it to my catcher who tagged Jimmy out at home.

The roaring crowd
dropped into silence. You’d of thought there was a funeral. I turned toward
them, and Addie had her hand over her mouth. Allie stood beside her with her
hands all poised to clap but now they were struck into stillness.

It was Johnny
broke it. He started to cheer and the little boys followed, throwing up their
hats and shouting, “Huzzah.”

Then our admirers
started in, and pretty soon it was high times because they dared to raise their
voices, maybe for the first time, against their sweetheart Jimmy Leidner.

Well, I died and
went to heaven for that brief moment. But that’s when I noticed the rented Greenup
buggy pulling up.
And out got a tall dandy fellow.
The
game was forgotten for a minute as we all stared
cause
this had never happened before. He was a stranger for sure.

I could not adjust
my eyes to the sight of Addie running toward this man, her skirts lifted so her
feet could
fly,
her calling, “Quinton,” or some such
strange handle. And there before God and country she flew into his arms.

Tom
Tanner

Chapter
Thirteen: Church Part Three

We took a short
recess from the game then as all were curious about the stranger. Jimmy made
his way over there before I could.
Or would.
Addie had
hung in that fellow’s arms for a full minute. Speaking private-like, her hand
on his gol-durn face, and on his way over there Jimmy had bumped me hard and
said, “Ohh-eee,” laughing in that infuriating way, because all of a sudden we
had a better game than baseball for sticking dynamite in what ailed us.

By damn I was
chewing my lip my hands digging into my sides. Was I going to just stand here
and watch it happen? I was not.

She was dragging
him over to my family now, but everybody wanted to shake his hand.

“Where’s Tom?” I
heard her ask, mollified and more pigheaded than ever I was with that one stroke
on her part.

Well I was right
here, wasn’t I? Faithful and true like always, burying the dead, delivering the
children, drying tears. So where did she think I was?

I made my way
toward her, but stopped short and spit. Folks, they didn’t expect more, but
Addie did somehow.

So she came and
got me, and I needed her to, truth be told, but we shared a look, hers all joy,
and mine no joy at all.

I went there like
I was in a show, them all looking like I was getting saved, ready to confess
all my juicy sins, and I had them, believe me, I was working on them right now
as I drew closer to this man who looked pretty enough to be a woman, and that
just wasn’t right. His hand, which I nearly crushed for many reasons, was
softer than any hand I’d shook before, and he was soft and wincing a bit, and
trying to be polite like his kind was generally, and he said, “That’s quite a
grip you have there,” and I knew it was.

I didn’t know
such a one existed, and from his clothes, his fancy fine duds, I smelled
something akin to perfume, which I only smelled on that soiled dove that one
time, so what kind of bally-hoo was this?

“My cousin, well,
Richard’s cousin, Quinton,” Addie had introduced.

The man was
conflicted. I could tell. And here’s what I figured really fast,
cause
my mind worked that way. They had found out about the
death, and it hadn’t come from her. I knew she’d never posted a letter,
cause
I’m the one she would have asked. But the story had
made the papers here, and mayhap traveled through one to another until this
bird got wind of it.

So here he came,
hailing from the husband’s camp, that father’s camp where the money lay. It was
about the money. It usually was no matter what face it presented. The question
was,
what was the offer?

“Play baseball?”
I said.

He blinked for a
moment, and then I saw the flash of a weapon, but it was in his eyes, and then
just a quick spark. “I do,” he said.

“Well, Jimmy’s
team seems to lack the necessary fire to stand against us, so come and join
in,” I said for I could be sanguine as Leidner when I wanted to be.

And I wanted to
be.

But he turned to
Addie and said, “Adeline, dear, would you mind?”

I had to use my
hand to push my chin up, I was that flummoxed to hear such sentiment. Why on
earth would she mind? “She wouldn’t,” I said, and my ma and pa who were still
standing round took one another’s hands when I said such, like they were in
sympathy of each other as they beheld Addie looking at me, her lips sealed, but
her eyes a little fiery.

Then he went on
and said, “Adeline?”

We didn’t call
her Adeline round here, but I did not correct him, I stared at her, needing
something but I didn’t know exactly what.

“Tom is right,”
she said. “Please work off some of the weariness of travel and join their game.
When you’re ready I will dish you a plate.”

She dished my
plate.
And Johnny’s.
She had no need to hover over
this one. He could tend his own plate.

I found sympathy
in Allie’s eyes. She alone seemed to realize I was suffering. I did not want to
appear like the stray dog looking in the window, so I took myself to the field
where the others were already waiting and calling.

Well, my team was
ready to bat. I gathered them around me for a spell. I looked at each one. “I
know we been in church today, and it was fine. But shake that off now. I don’t
want you to see your kin or your neighbors guarding those bases. I want you to
see the rebel forces at Chickamauga.
I think we need some retribution. When you hit, be steady. Don’t get up there
waving that stick like some crazy coward with a white flag. Think about it. It’s
cannon fire and if you don’t knock it back at them you’re going to blow. When
you’re ready…swing. Not wild.
Calculated.
That’s why I
picked you. The idiots are on their team. Now do your duty cause we need to
show this city boy who’s joined their ranks how boys ‘round here play
baseball.”