Shades of Gray: A Novel of the Civil War in Virginia (10 page)

“Old enough to get shot at, Leroy,” was her
blunt reply, which sent the rest of the men into fits of laughter once again.

“They was surely pouring some canister into you,
I’d say,” Jasper agreed.

“Da’gone right. And don’t you go worrying about
how old he is,” Boonie said. But then he paused and stared at Andrea, a
quizzical look on his face. “But how old are you anyhows?”

Andrea bit her cheek. “Seventeen.” Again the
group erupted into laughter.

“Now that’s some moonshine! You’re seventeen!
Next thing you’ll be telling us you’re a girl!”

Andrea stood up as if challenge Jasper to a
fight over the comment, but Boonie pulled her back down.

“I do declare, Sinclair, had you been pursuing
Satan this morning you’d of caught him sure,” Jasper said, trying to change the
subject.

“That’s funny,” Andrea answered soberly, “cause
the only thing I caught so far is hell.”

Two of the younger men slapped each other on the
back and rolled around on the ground in fits of laughter, scattering cards
everywhere.

“Hey Sinclair, you hear ol’ Carlson got a
furlough?” Jasper asked.

“Nope. What’s it to me?”

“Carlson, tell Sinclair what the first thing is
you’re gonna do when you get home.”

“That thar’s between me and my wife,” the
middle-aged man answered wryly, staring at his cards. “But the second thing I’m
gonna do is take off my boots.”

This pronouncement sent the soldiers into more
hoots of thigh-slapping laughter until a booming voice from the mill quieted
them.

“Sinclair!” All eyes turned to Colonel Jordan,
who stood motioning impatiently for Andrea.

“Guess he did tell me to come back when I woke
up,” Andrea said under her breath. “But it looked like he had company.”

“Blazes, Sinclair,” Boonie said, shaking his
head. “Yea, he’s got company! And they’re all waiting to see you!”

“Then I guess I’ll march right up there and pay
my respects to all them high-ups.”

“Looks like they got enough for a whole firing
squad up there,” Leroy offered.

Andrea ignored him and hurriedly pulled on her
boot, wincing as it squeezed around her ankle. Seeing that J.J. had disappeared
from the porch, she pointed to the canteen. “Give me another slug of that. Need
to clear the cobwebs from my throat so’s I can talk loud and clear in front of
all them fuss and feathers.”

“Don’t give him that,” Boonie warned. “It puts
the devil in him.”

“Don’t need no whiskey to put the devil in
Sinclair.” Leroy laughed.

The liquor made its circuit and stopped in front
of Andrea again. Putting her head back, she closed her eyes and gulped.

“Easy with that!” Boonie grabbed the canteen
from her grasp.

“Whishkey don’t have no afflection on me,
Ba-hooney. I mean, it don’t even afflect me—“

“You tell ’em, Sinclair,” Jasper said, laughing
at her pretended drunkenness. “You go up there and tell ’em . . . give me
whishkey or give me death!”

Andrea shook her head and brushed off her coat.
“How do I look, gentlemen?”

“Like you rode through the gates of hell and
didn’t get enough sleep afterwards,” Boonie said.

Andrea saluted mockingly. “Farewell, comrades.
Du-tee calls.” Bowing grandly as if responding to a summons to be honored by
the king, she turned and limped toward the mill.

Chapter
10

“We fail more often by timidity than over daring.”

— David Grayson.

When she arrived at the mill, Andrea was greeted
with stern indifference by Colonel Jordan’s orderly, a straight-faced, glum
sort of man. She gave him an exaggerated salute, thinking perhaps she could get
him to smile—but the door opened before he did, and then closed before she
would have had time to see it anyway.

She found herself in the same room she had
earlier met with Colonel Jordan, which was now in deep shadow. Blinking in the
dim light, her gaze fell on J.J. sitting stiffly behind a table amidst
stratified layers of smoke. Out of the corner of her eye she saw at least three
other officers in the room. Then the effects of the alcohol began to kick in.

“At ease,” J.J. said without looking up.
“Sinclair. I believe you’ve met Colonel Dayton. And this is Colonel Blake. And
you know Colonel Delaney.”

Andrea had not noticed Daniel standing by the
window with his back to her, but at the sound of his name he turned around and
nodded politely. Andrea did not think the greeting very courteous and began to
have a distinct sense of trouble. She attempted to stand with soldierly
erectness, but her ankle throbbed and her body ached, and her mind was becoming
too soothed by the alcohol to really care about decorum.

J.J. cleared his throat. “You understand why you
are here, do you not? It’s necessary that we learn the facts of what occurred
during your recent … excursion. I understand now there were some extenuating
circumstances that led you to come through this pass.”

Daniel stepped forward. “I explained to the
Colonel that you were diverted to Gainesville.”

“And he explained to me that you came across his
regiment in the Gap and devised this scheme to act as a decoy,” J.J. continued.
“Do I understand the scenario correctly so far?”

“Well, I’m not sure I would characterize it
exactly—”

“From what I can gather,” he interrupted,
apparently not interested in her opinion at all, “you told Colonel Delaney it would
be unwise and dangerous for his men to proceed through the Gap, but that if you
went through first, you would be able to draw the Rebels out.”

Daniel stepped forward and looked directly into
Andrea’s eyes as if warning her not to speak. “I explained it was entirely my
fault. I accept full responsibility.”

J.J. ignored him as well and continued. “I’m
still a little confused about why you would attempt such a foolish scheme.” He
leaned over the table. “Perhaps you can enlighten us.”

Andrea bit the inside of her cheek, and then
cleared her throat.  “Colonel Delaney has no fault in the matter, sir.”

“How so?”

“I told him I was going through with or without
him. That I could serve as a diversion—”

“And he did not try to stop you?”

“Um-m, yes, sir, he did.”

“And you did not listen to him?”

“I thought it a good opportunity to use the
enemy’s tactics and surprise them from the rear,” Andrea said, looking at the
floor.

“And you did not listen to him?” J.J. repeated,
louder this time, in case she had not heard.

“I
listened
,” she replied, her voice
rising just a little too. “I did not
obey
if that is what you are
asking.” Andrea came to the conclusion that she should not have taken that
final slug of whiskey, because it no longer felt warm and welcoming in her veins.
In fact, it felt like it was no longer welcome in her body at all. She imagined
herself throwing up in front of these men of great prominence and rank, and the
thought made her stomach lurch. And then she heard a voice in her head—Boonie’s
voice—telling his buddies in his calm, deliberate Northern drawl what he
thought of Sinclair getting physically ill during an interrogation. “
Now
there’s a spectacle won’t be equaled in quite some time, boys.”

Andrea’s mind began to race and a surge of
queasiness began to overtake her.
It can’t be the whiskey making me sick,
she thought.
Perhaps it’s the cigar smoke. Yes, that’s it, those vile
cigars. Or the after effects of the sulfur smoke hanging in the air from the
sharpshooters. Or maybe it’s the fact I’ve not eaten since . . .

Andrea shifted her weight again. She could not
remember the last time she’d eaten. Swallowing hard to make sure she could
still move things in that direction, she looked around the room. Everyone was
staring at her, so she guessed it was her turn to speak. Problem was, she had
not been paying attention to the question. She looked blankly at J.J., but he
did not offer any help.

How dare he act like he’s a–a darn colonel or
something! He’s just J.J.

But “just J.J.” just sat there drumming his fingers
on the desk, glaring at her with his head cocked to one side, waiting for her
to respond. Andrea cleared her throat and elaborated on the last question she
remembered being asked, hoping they had not proceeded too far in her mental
absence.

“I knew I was late getting back to Hopewell Gap
where I was supposed to meet up with you. I’d made up my mind I was going
through, with or without Colonel Delaney.”

Colonel Jordan leafed through some papers on the
table. “There were reinforcements being brought up. You were aware of that?”

“Yes, Colonel Delaney told me that. B-but I
feared our chance would be lost by then.”

“And let me see.” J.J. looked up and leaned
forward. “What rank have you that gives you the authority to make such
decisions?”

Andrea
rolled her eyes but succeeded in suppressing a verbal response other than,
“none sir.” She had never been through a grilling of this nature before and was
fairly certain she would not be desirous of doing it again—at least not on an
empty stomach full of whiskey.

J.J. let out his breath in exasperation. “Let’s
go back to the beginning. How did you know there were Confederates in those
hills?”

Andrea looked over at Daniel, who turned his
back on her and continued his watch out the window. From what she could tell
the view offered nothing more than a cavern of darkening shadows, but he seemed
intent on studying them nonetheless.

Andrea cleared her throat nervously. “I knew … I
mean, that is to say, I had reason to believe that a Virginia regiment and
Hunter’s command were there, at the very least.”

J.J. looked up sharply. “On what did you base
your information?”

Andrea shifted her weight onto her sore ankle in
the hopes the throbbing pain it produced would take her mind off the
excruciating ordeal she faced. Daniel had not asked nearly so many questions.

 “On what did you base your information?” he
repeated louder. “Colonel Delaney tells me you were confronted in the Gap.
Supposedly by one of Hunter’s command?”

“Yes.” Andrea tried to sound calm. “It was one
of Hunter’s command.”

“How did you know it was someone from Hunter’s
command?”

Andrea sighed. There was no way out of it now. 
“Because—” She paused, then tried again while staring at the floor. “Because I
know—”

“Yes, you know?” J.J. leaned forward.

“Because I know what Captain Hunter looks like.”
Andrea finished as quietly as she could yet it was apparent everyone in the
room heard her.

“The devil you say!” Daniel strode toward her,
his cavalry boots and spurs echoing loudly in the room. “It was
Hunter
you met in the pass?”

J.J. came to his feet, his hands tightly fisted
and trembling. “Let’s make sure I have this right. You knew Hunter was there
ready to strike, yet contrary to every sensible deduction that could be drawn
from the laws of nature, the decrees of mankind, or the edicts of our heavenly
Father, you decided to create a
diversion
?”

Andrea let her gaze drift to the window and
pretended she was somewhere else—a tactic she often used when she was somewhere
she did not wish to be. The sound of J.J.’s fist hitting the table returned her
attention to the present.

“A commanding officer told you not to go!”

Andrea jumped and refocused her attention on
him. “That is correct, sir. Colonel Delaney told me he was concerned for my
safety. He said I should wait for the reinforcements to come up.”

“And your response?”

“I told him . . .” She took a deep breath and
glanced at Daniel. He leaned casually against the windowsill now with his arms
and legs crossed, his eyebrows raised as if waiting with great anticipation to
hear her answer himself. His pose told her he thought her in too deep for him
to save now.

“I do not recall my exact words,” she mumbled.

J.J.’s glare then fell upon Daniel, who gazed
sternly at Andrea. “I believe your exact words were, ‘Come with me or get out
of the way.’”

Andrea rolled her eyes at his brutal honesty.
“Colonel Delaney did everything in his power to follow military regulations,”
Andrea admitted, looking up at J.J.

“And you did everything in your power not to,”
he responded. The room fell silent, and then J.J. cleared his throat.
“Gentlemen, if you will excuse us, I’d like to speak to Sinclair alone.

After the door closed, J.J. stood staring
broodingly at her for a few long, uncomfortable moments. “It was the consensus
of the other officers that the success of the expedition outweighed the risk
and disobedience.”

“Sir?”

“We’ve got prisoners … three of them from
Hunter’s command, plus one killed. That’s quite a loss for him.”

Andrea stood stunned and speechless for a
moment. “Killed?
Dead
?”

“What other kind of
killed
is there?”
J.J. yelled. “How many times do I have to tell you this is not a game?”

“I know it’s not a game,” Andrea responded
angrily, limping as she paced the room. “I guess I just thought we would
stop
them, not
kill
them.”

“Dash it, girl! Those men are fighting for their
lives. Their honor! This is their homeland! They would rather die on it than ‘
stop
!’”

Andrea sat and put her aching head in her hands.
She couldn’t think about this right now.

J.J. cleared his throat. “Anyway, somewhat to my
surprise and not at all to my understanding, Colonel Delaney has taken your
side.”

Andrea looked up at him sharply. “He needn’t
have. I accept full—”

“I know that. But it made me realize how much he
believes in you. And for that reason, and after cool reflection, I’ve decided
to let you go ahead with Richmond.”