Gwyneth Atlee Read Online Free PDF
Author: Against the Odds
making any records. They’re slapping a patch over a
bulge in one of the boilers. If I didn’t know they were civilians, I’d
think it was a typical shoddy army job. I don’t like it at all. Makes a
weak spot in the metal.”
Gabriel nodded. He’d worked around metal enough to see the
sense of what Jacob was saying, but every moment they spent on
this deck begged a confrontation. Though he’d enjoy a chance to
explain his reasons for running six months earlier, he knew his
former comrades would no more listen now than they had the
day he’d been drummed out. Only this time, instead of sending
him into an enemy ambush, they’d likely beat him senseless,
maybe even cut his throat.
And maybe they’d be right. After all, he hadn’t learned his lesson in
spite of nearly paying with his life. If he faced that boy again today,
he’d do exactly what he’d done before. He knew it to his bones.
“Come on, Jake,” Gabe urged, unwilling to tell his friend the real
reason for his hurry. “These fellas work on boilers all the time. Surely
they have inspectors lined up to check the work before we go.”
Jacob hesitated, running a hand through his newly cropped brown
curls. His natural impatience won out, and he nodded. Then the two
worked their way upstairs, to the hurricane deck.
Gabriel could have sworn he saw, out of the corner of his eye, a
hand lifted in his direction.
“Hey, Davis!” The words were faint but unmistakable.
Gabe quickened his steps and hoped that Jacob hadn’t heard. They
bypassed the cabin level and hurried up top, to the hurricane deck.
“It’s getting mighty thick,” Jacob said, gesturing to the soldiers who
were crowding into every available spot. “Looks like they mean to
pack us in like hogs.”
It was a wonder Gabe could hear the way his heart was hammering.
He hoped his voice would not betray his nervousness. “You’d think
they’d split us up and put some on that other steamboat.”
He nodded toward the Pauline Carroll, which was tied nearby. The
big steamer appeared nearly empty.
“You aren’t still trying to figure out the way the army big bugs
think? There’s only two reasons they do anything: bribery or lunacy.
Tryin’ to figure out which one’ll only give you headaches,” Jacob told
him. “Look, there’s Seth and Zeke, back toward the stern. Let’s see if
we can get to ’em without stepping on too many of these fellows.”
But Gabriel already felt as if someone had trodden on his thumping
heart. He’d been noticed, recognized. He scanned the crowd on the
hurricane deck, hoping like hell that there was no one else.
When he saw someone he knew, nausea rushed at him until he realized
it was only Mac Mahoney, from Andersonville. Shame heated Gabe’s
face. Had his guilt made him so jumpy that he flinched upon hearing
another former inmate’s voice two decks below?
At last they reached their two friends, who’d staked out a narrow
stretch of deck in front of a wheel housing.
“So, brother, did you make ’em quit their banging, or did you just
show ’em how it’s done?” Zeke asked Jacob.
Jacob grinned. “I thought I might fix those boilers myself, but the
fools suggested I stick to pounding little brothers.”
Gabe couldn’t help but smile at their banter, but he felt a measure
of pain, too. He’d been with Zeke and Jacob for months, but in the past
few days, seeing the two brothers together resurrected Matthew’s
ghost. Why now and not before? Was it prompted by his fear of being
caught by members of his old unit? Or maybe with their journey
home, Ohio was once more growing real inside his mind instead of a
vague, unattainable idea, like freedom.
Well, he was free now, thank God, and soon he would be home.
He’d have to face the fact that a grave was all that he would see of
his younger brother, that the only Davis male to greet him would
be Father.
His father. A memory rushed up at him, like a hungry fish rising to
the bait. His mother weeping as his father
bulge in one of the boilers. If I didn’t know they were civilians, I’d
think it was a typical shoddy army job. I don’t like it at all. Makes a
weak spot in the metal.”
Gabriel nodded. He’d worked around metal enough to see the
sense of what Jacob was saying, but every moment they spent on
this deck begged a confrontation. Though he’d enjoy a chance to
explain his reasons for running six months earlier, he knew his
former comrades would no more listen now than they had the
day he’d been drummed out. Only this time, instead of sending
him into an enemy ambush, they’d likely beat him senseless,
maybe even cut his throat.
And maybe they’d be right. After all, he hadn’t learned his lesson in
spite of nearly paying with his life. If he faced that boy again today,
he’d do exactly what he’d done before. He knew it to his bones.
“Come on, Jake,” Gabe urged, unwilling to tell his friend the real
reason for his hurry. “These fellas work on boilers all the time. Surely
they have inspectors lined up to check the work before we go.”
Jacob hesitated, running a hand through his newly cropped brown
curls. His natural impatience won out, and he nodded. Then the two
worked their way upstairs, to the hurricane deck.
Gabriel could have sworn he saw, out of the corner of his eye, a
hand lifted in his direction.
“Hey, Davis!” The words were faint but unmistakable.
Gabe quickened his steps and hoped that Jacob hadn’t heard. They
bypassed the cabin level and hurried up top, to the hurricane deck.
“It’s getting mighty thick,” Jacob said, gesturing to the soldiers who
were crowding into every available spot. “Looks like they mean to
pack us in like hogs.”
It was a wonder Gabe could hear the way his heart was hammering.
He hoped his voice would not betray his nervousness. “You’d think
they’d split us up and put some on that other steamboat.”
He nodded toward the Pauline Carroll, which was tied nearby. The
big steamer appeared nearly empty.
“You aren’t still trying to figure out the way the army big bugs
think? There’s only two reasons they do anything: bribery or lunacy.
Tryin’ to figure out which one’ll only give you headaches,” Jacob told
him. “Look, there’s Seth and Zeke, back toward the stern. Let’s see if
we can get to ’em without stepping on too many of these fellows.”
But Gabriel already felt as if someone had trodden on his thumping
heart. He’d been noticed, recognized. He scanned the crowd on the
hurricane deck, hoping like hell that there was no one else.
When he saw someone he knew, nausea rushed at him until he realized
it was only Mac Mahoney, from Andersonville. Shame heated Gabe’s
face. Had his guilt made him so jumpy that he flinched upon hearing
another former inmate’s voice two decks below?
At last they reached their two friends, who’d staked out a narrow
stretch of deck in front of a wheel housing.
“So, brother, did you make ’em quit their banging, or did you just
show ’em how it’s done?” Zeke asked Jacob.
Jacob grinned. “I thought I might fix those boilers myself, but the
fools suggested I stick to pounding little brothers.”
Gabe couldn’t help but smile at their banter, but he felt a measure
of pain, too. He’d been with Zeke and Jacob for months, but in the past
few days, seeing the two brothers together resurrected Matthew’s
ghost. Why now and not before? Was it prompted by his fear of being
caught by members of his old unit? Or maybe with their journey
home, Ohio was once more growing real inside his mind instead of a
vague, unattainable idea, like freedom.
Well, he was free now, thank God, and soon he would be home.
He’d have to face the fact that a grave was all that he would see of
his younger brother, that the only Davis male to greet him would
be Father.
His father. A memory rushed up at him, like a hungry fish rising to
the bait. His mother weeping as his father