Prisoner in Time (Time travel) (41 page)

Geoff jumped to his feet and raced forward. David wrestled with the struggling man, trying to pin him to the ground. As he rushed in, Geoff kicked the man in the jaw, stunning him for only a moment. Enraged, the man roiled under David and tossed him to the side.

As the soldier began to stand, Geoff ran past them. The angry man reached out his hand and grabbed Geoff’s pant leg, tripping him past the fire. David grabbed the man’s legs, throwing the soldier off balance. He fell forward.

“Sons-a-bitches!” he growled savagely.

He kicked David in the chest, knocking him rearward. Instantly he lunged for Geoff.

“FREEZE DIRT BAG!” Geoff screamed loudly.

Instantly, the Union soldier held his position as he stared into the point of a gun barrel.

“You make one move and I swear I’ll friggin’ kill you,” Geoff spat angrily.

From behind, David’s voice shouted aloud, “Go ahead, make his day.”

Geoff grinned at the Hollywood line, then refocused on the kneeling man.

“He’s not kidding. Give me a reason and I’ll splatter your brains all over this camp,” Geoff growled.

“I ain’t moving,” the man said, now breathing heavy.

David stood and grabbed his own rifle. He pointed it at the soldier and spoke.

“Now… like I was telling you before, we
are
Union soldiers. We were captured at Chattanooga and sent to a POW camp. We escaped but were caught and forced to fight on the side of the Rebs. We aren’t Confederate soldiers. We’re UNION soldiers and I’m Brigadier General David Warner. Is any of this unclear to you or do I have to toss a bullet in you to help you understand?”

“No Sir. I won’t be needin’ a bullet,” the Union scout responded, raising his hand in protest.

“Good, now that we have an understanding, take a seat on the other side of that fire. Do it slowly,” David commanded.

“Yes Sir,” the man said simply.

Slowly, the man crawled past the fire and took a seat on the other side. David raised his eyebrows to Geoff in relief.

“Man, that was way too close for comfort,” he said.

“Where the hell did he come from,” Geoff asked, now puzzled.

“He just appeared from the woods. He was about to shoot me. What took you so long,” he said in exasperated tone.

“I tripped and fell in the dark… rolled down the hill and lost my shoe. It took me a while to find it. When I climbed back up, I saw this dude holding a gun on you,” Geoff replied.

“Were you able to go?” David asked, with a smirk.

“Come to think of it, no,” Geoff said, now grinning back.

David turned his attention back to the soldier.

“So, what are you, a scout or something?”

“Yes Sir,” the man said respectfully.

“What’s your name?”

“Corporal Zeb Hawkin,” he replied.

“Like the gun, huh?” David retorted.

“Yes Sir,” the soldier said, now smiling.

“Well Cpl. Zeb, it’s my guess that you’re a scout for General Sherman. Am I correct?”

“Yes Sir,” the scout responded.

“Perfect. Tomorrow, at first light, we’re going to be paying him a visit… with your guidance of course,” David said, in cordial tone.

“Yes Sir.”

“Now I’m sure I don’t have to tell
you
, but I’m pretty certain that once we walk into headquarters with these gray uniforms on, we’ll be attracting a lot of attention, am I right?”

“Yes Sir,” Cpl. Hawkin responded.

“So this is how we’re going to play this my friend. When we get close to camp, you’re going to go ahead of us and let Gen. Sherman know we’re here and that we need safe passage into headquarters,” David said with a nod, looking for approval.

“Yes Sir,” the corporal nodded.

David stepped forward and stared menacingly into the scout’s eyes. He cleared his throat and continued.

“Let’s make sure we’re clear about something right now. If you somehow forget to let them know that we’re Union soldiers or if you somehow manage to persuade them that we’re not, there won’t be a rock big enough for you to hide under, because they’ll eventually reinstate me to my full rank, and when they do, my very first order will be to hunt you to the ends of the earth and whip you to death!” David said in raised tone. “Do we have an understanding?”

“Yes Sir,” the scout responded nervously.

David laid his gun down on the log next to him. He turned to Geoff and smiled.

Turning back to Zeb, he rubbed his hands together like a greedy miser and said, “Well Mr. scout. I’m quite certain you have some food stashed away somewhere, don’t you.”

“Yes Sir,” he responded obediently.

“What do you have?” David demanded.

“I shot a possum earlier, Sir,” he replied, instantly.

“Well don’t be rude, my man! Invite us to dinner!” David shouted boldly, startling the soldier.

“Yes Sir, General. Would y’all like to share in my possum?”

“I thought you’d never asked,” David joked.

David glanced over to Geoff and winked.

Laughing, Geoff replied, “What a ball buster.”

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

The following day…

The three walked to the edge of the grassy clearing and stopped. At the opposite side, a quarter mile away, several large tents stood erect. Men on horseback rode in and out from all directions, while soldiers on foot hurried between the tents. Seeing the bustle of the camp left no doubt in the three men’s minds, they were staring at the nerve center of Gen. Sherman’s Army.

“That’s it Sir. Gen Sherman’s tent is the one to the far right,” Cpl. Hawkin said, pointing.

“Excellent. Good work Corporal. Now, the real test comes. Time for you to get up on your horse, ride into camp and let them know Brigadier General David Warner is waiting for safe passage. Can you remember that?” David asked sternly.

“Yes Sir, I’ll remember your name,” Cpl. Hawkin replied.

As the scout hopped up onto his horse, he nodded to David.

“Remember what I said about the ends of the earth,” he said in cryptic tone.

“Yes Sir,” Cpl. Hawkin replied, nervously.

With a kick of his spurs, he sped off across the field. David and Geoff watched him ride. As he neared the tents, he suddenly veered off to the left.

“Oh no! The friggin’ idiot’s double crossing us. He’s heading away from the general’s tent,” Geoff blurted out angrily.

“Unbelievable. Man, I’m telling you. It’s so hard to get good help nowadays,” David said, sarcastically.

“Dude, this is no time to joke. That guy’s going to send the heat after us. We better get out of here, pronto,” Geoff responded, now growing anxious.

David looked to his right. Tall grasses swayed in the gentle wind. Looking back to Geoff, he pointed.

“There. We can hide in the tall grass until dark. After that, we can sneak into camp and find us a set of Union clothes,” he said. He thought about the double crossing corporal and added, “Man, I can’t wait to get my hands on that little worm.”

“You and me both,” Geoff shot back.

As they started toward the high grass, David looked over his shoulder. Suddenly, he stopped.

“What are you doing?” Geoff asked, impatiently.

“Hold up a minute,” he responded.

As he watched the corporal riding his horse far out in the distance, he saw him now veering to the right.

“Check it out. The corporal’s heading back right again,” David said, now growing excited.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Geoff responded. “He’s heading for the general’s tent.” He let out a happy yell and slapped his legs. “We’re ok. I think we’re ok,” he added.

David felt a measure of relief. He exhaled loudly and said, “That man just saved himself one hell of a good beating.”

“And just when I was really starting to hate him,” Geoff joked.

Minutes later…

“Whoohoo!” Geoff hollered loudly, leaping into the air. “They’re coming. A bunch of soldiers are coming.”

“Take it easy Geoff. Look professional. General Sherman is a fairly reserved man.”

“Gotcha… reserved,” he responded.

The two stood tall and at attention while they waited for the group of men to arrive. Just like the corporal before them, the riders veered around a shallow watering hole, then veered back on course toward them. As they neared, David noticed two horses in tow, roped to two other riders.

“Hey, check it out. Looks like they brought us each a horse to ride.”

“Oh Great. I’ve never ridden a horse before,” Geoff replied.

“Never?” David asked incredulously.

“Nope, never,” he replied, flatly.

“No problem. I’ll hold his reins and tow you in. Later, I’ll teach you to ride. For now, just look confident. We really need to make a great first impression,” David said.

As the riders trotted in, the two held themselves at attention. The lead rider was an older man, with thin red hair and a scruffy red beard. On his collar, three stars shined brightly in the mid-day sun.

Hauling back on his reins, he came to a quick stop and leaped from his horse. Instantly, he hurried toward David.

“You must be Gen. Warner. I am so very glad to meet your acquaintance. I’m General Bill Sherman,” he said, extending his hand.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you Sir. I’ve heard so much about you,” David returned.

He smiled broadly and received the general’s hand. Both men shook vigorously in excitement.

“I can’t believe you’re still alive. The corporal here says you were captured at Chattanooga and held prisoner?”

“Yes Sir,” David responded, respectfully. “We escaped, only to be forced to fight for the south. At the first chance, we escaped again.”

“Amazing. Simply amazing,” Gen. Sherman replied. Turning to Geoff, he said, “And who might this be?”

“Sir, this is Geoffrey Robbins. Before the war, he assisted me in many surgeries. I was educating him in medicine when I volunteered for duty. After I left, he volunteered too. Unfortunately, he was captured. But, as luck would have it, we met up again in the POW camp.”

“An amazing story,” Gen Sherman commented. Turning to Geoff, he said, “Please to meet your acquaintance Lad.”

He extended his hand and Geoff proudly shook it.

“Well, shall we head back to camp? I’m sure you two are dying to get out of those miserable rebel duds. Probably starving too, I’m guessing,” he said, graciously.

“Yes Sir, Gen. Sherman. I’m just hoping the good Lord will forgive me for wearing such sinful clothes,” Geoff responded.

David shot Geoff a slight smile, then held his lip.