Prisoner in Time (Time travel) (16 page)

David glared at Geoff. His face registered shock and disbelief.

Fifty feet away, Sgt. Cooper heard the sound of rock on wood. He turned quickly and followed the squirrel’s movements up the tree. Lowering his eyes, he stared directly into the faces of the two hiding men.

Startled and surprised, he squeezed his trigger. Instantly, his rifle roared in a cloud of white smoke. A moment later, six more guns roared to life as the other soldiers fired on impulse.

“Hold ya’lls fire!” Sgt. Cooper commanded.

Even before the smoke had cleared, seven men rushed in for the capture. Lying face down in the shallow depression, one man lay wounded. Sgt. Cooper pulled his Colt Navy revolver and pointed it menacingly at the other. Slowly, the unwounded man raised his hands in surrender.

“Don’t move!” Sgt. Cooper ordered, pointing his gun with deadly intentions.

“Yes Sir,” came the reply.

As the other six men held bayonets on the two prisoners, Sgt. Cooper stared momentarily at their strange clothes. In all his life, he had never seen such unusual garments before.

“Ya’ll Yankees?” he asked, somewhat puzzled.

“No Sir. We’re from Chattanooga,” came the immediate reply.

“Ya’ll civilians then?” he pressed, still suspicious.

“Yes Sir.”

“Where’s ya’lls weapons,” he persisted.

“We don’t have any.”

“Don’t lie!” Sgt. Cooper blurted loudly. “You’re with that other feller lying dead up there on the hilltop, ain’t ya?”

“No Sir. He was trying to kill
us
. We were just trying to hide from him.”

“Kill ya, huh? And why would he want to do that?” the sergeant asked, curiously.

Standing six foot one, Brawny, lean and rugged, Geoff could tell Sgt. Cooper was a dangerous man. Staring into his cold brown eyes, Geoff thought hard about his next reply. He looked down to David for an answer. He saw only a man writhing in pain. Looking back to the sergeant, he forced a reply from his mind:

“We trespassed across his land I guess. It must have pissed him off or something. He just started chasing us and wouldn’t let up,” he answered.

“What’s ‘pissing off’?” Sgt. Cooper asked, growing increasingly agitated.

“Sorry, it means made him mad… we must have made him mad by crossing his land without permission,” Geoff explained.

Nervous beads of sweat now developed on his brow as he stared at the gun barrels.

“So that man up there was a Reb too?” the sergeant asked.

Geoff nodded, then replied, “Yeah, I guess so, but I don’t know for sure.”

“Hmm, what’s ya’lls names son?” Sgt. Cooper asked, lowering his guard slightly.

“Geoff Robbins and that’s David Warner.”

Turning to one of his men, he ordered, “Search ‘im!”

A loud moan of pain bellowed from David’s lips. Rolling to his side, he reached back with his hand and pressed on his wound. Instantly, he cried out in pain again.

“My god, he’s been shot!” Geoff shouted, the reality of David’s wound finally registering.

“It appears he has,” Sgt. Cooper replied, seemingly without regard. Turning back to his men, he said, “Search ‘em… search ‘em both.”

“I told you we don’t have any weapons. We’re civilians...
and
we’re southerners,” Geoff snapped. Looking down at David, he continued, “And aren’t you going to call a doctor or an EMT or something? You shot an innocent man for crying out loud. You can’t just let him die.”

“What’s an EMT?”

“A doctor,” Geoff growled in frustration.

Sgt. Cooper looked down at David, then back to Geoff. He could see there were no weapons between them. Refocusing his attention back to the teen, he read the expression on his face and could tell there was truth. Slowly, a slight smile crossed his lips at the discovery of an able-bodied young man.

Turning to Private Jacobs on his right, he said, “Quickly, inform Lt. Bradford a man’s been wounded. He’ll be needing a doc straight away.”

“Yes sergeant,” Pvt. Jacobs responded.

In an instant, he darted off toward the skirmish line.

“Thank you Sir,” Geoff responded respectfully, then asked, “Do you think he’ll be all right?”

“Don’t know… I ain’t no doc,” Sgt. Cooper replied. Looking down at the blood now saturating David’s shirt, he added, “If he survives the march, I’m guessing he will.”

“The march? How long’s the march?”

“Our post is three hours from here. The doc should be able to patch him up right quick.”

“Three hours!” Geoff blurted loudly. “That’s not right quick. That’s anything but right quick. He could be dead before then.”

Sgt. Cooper nodded. “That’s the nature of our mission, son. We don’t carry around surplus docs in our rucksacks.”

“Dude, I hardly think a doctor is surplus. If you ask me, he’s essential,” Geoff replied in disgusted tone.

“Essential only when a man’s wounded, otherwise he’s surplus,” the sergeant countered.

“Duh… a man IS wounded. I think that makes him essential, doesn’t it?” Geoff snapped, sarcastically.

“Geoff!” David protested through clenched teeth, hoping to silence the angry teen.

Sgt. Cooper studied the young man standing before him. Apart from the teen’s insubordinate tone, something else gnawed at him. Something about the teen seemed odd.

He took a step forward and stared directly into the teen’s eyes. “Boy? You talk funny. I don’t believe you’re from Chattanoogi,” he said, coldly.

“Of course I am. Why would you say that?” Geoff responded.

“Cuz I’m from Knoxville and we all don’t talk like you do. You sound more like a Yankee than a Reb. You sure you ain’t no Yankee?”

“I’m no Yankee. I’m from Chattanooga,” Geoff insisted.

“Hmm… well that don’t really tell me much now, don’t it?” Sgt Cooper replied, growing increasingly suspicious. “Specifically, where ya’ll from? Where’s ya’lls home?”

“Well… it’s kind of hard to explain…”

“Try.”

“My home isn’t there anymore.”

“Really? So where did it go? Did it just disappear like a fart in the wind?” the sergeant responded sarcastically, now snickering to his men.

“It got washed away in a flood.”

“A flood, huh… Son, we ain’t had no flood lately.”

“You’re wrong, there was. We were living in a shack on the edge of the river and it got washed away. That’s why we’re wandering,” Geoff said, pointing to David, feebly trying to talk his way out of the jam.

“Interesting… along the edge of the river, huh? Well that shouldn’t be too hard to find. Why don’t we’all just have a look see, shall we?” Turning to his men, he called out, “Franklin, Meier, take the boy here to the Chattanoogi and confirm his story. Shouldn’t take y’all too long seeing how’s the river is just a short distance away.”

“Yes sergeant,” both privates answered.

David struggled to speak.

“Sir, the kid’s not telling you the truth,” he said started, his voice low and weak. “The reason is, we both escaped from a jail in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He didn’t want you sending us back, so he made up that story. We may be drifters, but we’re definitely not Yankees.”

“Is this true?” the sergeant asked of the surprised teen.

“Yes Sir,” Geoff responded reluctantly, now glaring down at David in frustration.

Sgt. Cooper stared at both men. A smile crossed his face.

“So what did ya’ll do?” he asked of Geoff.

“We stole some food…” David blurted out through gritted teeth, cutting off Geoff before he could speak. “We were hungry and we stole some pies. That’s all… just pies.”

“Pie thievin’, huh?” Sgt Cooper mocked. “Watch ‘em boys. These are dangerous men.”

As the laughter died down, he continued.

“Well drifters, good thing y’all ain’t Yankees. I would’ve kilt ya here on the spot,” he said in grim tone. Pointing his loaded weapon for effect, he continued “But seeing how y’all are both on the run and you ain’t no blue-bellies, I’m sure you ain’t got no objections to fighting for the proud Confederate army, do ya?”

“But he’s wounded?” Geoff countered.

“You’re right. I could just leave ‘im here with the local sheriff or I could march ‘im to our post where the doc ‘ill fix ‘im up. You two ain’t scared of killing off Yankee scum, are ya?” the sergeant asked, now staring directly at Geoff.

Geoff swallowed hard. This was the exact scenario he was trying to avoid. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off…

“We’ll take the job,” David shouted, through clenched teeth.

“I figgered. Ya’ll wouldn’t have liked the alternative.”

“What was the alternative?” Geoff asked, warily.

“I wouldn’t have sent ‘im off to no stupid sheriff,” Sgt. Cooper responded coldly. Pointing his pistol, he mimicked firing at David. “I would’ve kilt ‘im here on the spot.”

Nodding in understanding, Geoff’s eyes conveyed his message: no further words were needed.

-----*-----*-----*-----

Lt
. Bradford sat high in his saddle and led his men along the Chattanooga River. Following the well-worn trail, he kept a careful watch for the enemy while maintaining a swift pace of four miles an hour through enemy territory.

Following at the rear of the column, David struggled to keep up. With each step he took, the muscles around his wound flexed and went into spasm, sending a jolt of pain throughout his body. Blood trickled through his fingers as he applied compression to the stem the flow and as time passed, it dried to his hand in sticky clumps. As the minutes ticked by and his strength weakened, he watched the column of soldiers pull farther ahead, leaving him further behind. Anxiety grew rapidly within him as he noticed the troubled stare of the sergeant monitoring his progress further up the line.

Marching closely behind the soldiers, Geoff watched the man’s boots in front of him, taking care not to follow too close. Aside from the sound of heavy footsteps, the column of men was quiet, leaving him to his thoughts. As he marched, his mind drifted off to his now deceased brother. Graphic images of the horrific event raced through his mind and he once again, was overcome by emotion. A tear trickled down his face as he pictured his brother’s mangled body tragically crushed inside the car. Wiping the drop from his face, the sergeant took notice and frowned unsympathetically. Seeing the sergeant’s expression, Geoff immediately straightened his posture and marched with purpose. With a simple nod, the sergeant conveyed his approval.

Sgt. Cooper eyed his men as he marched alongside the column. Moving up and down the line, he ensured the efficiency and speed of their progress. As gaps in the formation began to appear, he called attention to the lagging soldier with a “gentle” tap, encouraging the man to tighten his position within the rank. Looking toward the rear, he noticed David falling further behind. Quickly, he spun on his heels and hurried to his position.

Seeing the sergeant rushing past him, Geoff stopped to take notice.

“Keep moving,” Sgt. Cooper ordered sternly.