Gwyneth Atlee Read Online Free PDF Page A

On the last
occasion, their crowded railcar had overturned. Several men broke
limbs made fragile by starvation, but at first it seemed that none of
their group had been hurt. Only later, when he could not walk the
final stretch to Union-held Vicksburg, would Zeke at last admit
his injury.
    Gabe didn’t blame him. After all they’d been through together, he’d
rather haul Zeke’s half-starved body clear to Indiana than leave him
behind to recover in Alabama or Mississippi. The war might be over,
but Seth was right. Confederate resentment hadn’t died. No telling
what sort of “tender care” an injured Yankee might receive.
    “Let’s grab a spot right here before the best ones are all taken,” Seth
suggested, raising his voice to carry over the sounds of clanging metal.
Gabriel guessed that he was thinking of the difficulty of getting
Zeke up the main stairs, where many of the other Indiana cavalrymen were heading. Also, this central section near the boilers would
be warm at night, something that would especially benefit the
injured man.
But Zeke shook his head.
“That banging might sound like a symphony to a farrier,” he began,
referring to Jacob’s career shoeing horses, “but that racket will drive
the rest of us insane.”
Jacob rounded a corner and shouted a question Gabe couldn’t hear.
In a few moments, he returned.
“They’re working on a boiler,” he told the others. “Might be pounding
on it a couple hours more. I say we should go up with the others.”
Zeke nodded. “Let’s go on up, Jake. If we have to be stuck in one
spot for three or four days, I want to sit where I can watch the South
get farther distant and God’s country come into view.”
When he put it that way, all of them agreed. Jacob moved to his
brother’s left and helped Gabe carry him upstairs. Halfway there, they
had to rest.
Gabe noticed the strained expression on Jacob’s face. “What’s
wrong?”
“Must have been those extra rations I swiped when you boys
weren’t lookin’. I’m getting too brawny for my big brother to carry
anymore,” Zeke joked, making a bare swell of a muscle with his thin
right arm.
Jacob shook his head and grinned. “Hell, Zeke, I’ve been carryin’
you your whole sorry life. I’m not about to start complaining now. It’s
only that—”
“What?” Gabe urged. Despite his jest, Jacob’s face looked grim.
“Come have a look yourself.”
“What’s the trouble?” Seth asked.
Jacob shook his head. “I’m not sure I like the looks of this. Probably
nothing, though. How about if Gabe and I go check? Zeke needs to get
off his feet, though.”
“All right,” Captain Seth said, but he didn’t look too happy.
Knowing Seth, he probably wasn’t certain they’d stay out of trouble
without his preaching good sense in their ears. “But come and get me
if you need me. Zeke and I will find a spot for us up top.”
Seth took over the task of supporting Zeke, and Gabe followed
Jacob. As they passed several soldiers wearing the insignia of an Ohio
infantry unit, Gabe scanned the area, hoping to God he wouldn’t be
spotted by anyone who knew him. The Ohio contingent of prisoners
must be settling on this deck. Whatever Jacob wanted, Gabe prayed it
would be quick.
The pair returned to where two men were hammering a patch onto
a boiler. One man paused in his pounding to look up at Jacob.
“Something troubling you, soldier?”
“Just interested,” Jacob told him, but Gabriel read concern in his
friend’s expression.
Gabriel glanced at the boiler, then looked back over his shoulder.
“Don’t worry,” the mechanic told Jacob. “We’ll have this patched
and get you home in good time. Didn’t you see the elk’s antlers on the
staging? The Sultana broke the record last year—New Orleans to Cairo
in four days and seven hours. She’s a fast one, and no mistake.”
The boiler mechanic returned to his banging.
As they left, Jacob said, “I’m more worried about getting home in
one piece than