Tear In Time (34 page)

 
“Sergeants, we've run out of time. Tie some ropes around the base of a couple
of those trunks and string them across the opening, out of sight. Have your men
ready to haul the trees across the rest of the opening on my command. Do you
understand what I'm telling you?” David asked, ensuring there would be no
problem due to lack of communication.

  “Yes
sir,” the sergeants replied simply.

  As the
last log was roped, and the line strung across to a waiting horse and soldier,
David directed some men to hide behind the logs, ready to fire on his command.
Moments later, the sound of hooves riding hard could be heard. David watched
nervously for Custer to appear.

  Within
seconds, David watch with admiration as the fabled man of his youth was now the
living, breathing man leading the charge, his sword raised high and his Colt
revolver firing to the rear. Behind him rode his men, pushing their horses to
their limit and, like their fearless leader, firing when able.

  David
watched, mesmerized by the real events Hollywood failed to represent
accurately. The scene was electrifying and David almost lost himself in the
reality of the event. This was not a movie. People were dying and soon he would
be called upon to kill others. He ignored his personal intrigue and focused on
his duty.

  As
Gen. Custer rode through the bluffs, he trained his eyes on the exit. Veering
his horse to the narrow opening, he looked down at David and flashed him a
quick smile, then retrained his focus on the forest in front of him.

  Like a
flood spilling over a broken dam, Custer's men followed behind him in suit.
Once past the logs at the end of the little canyon, they too veered off into
the woods and were now doubling back to the beginning of the canyon.

  As the
last man cleared the exit, David watched as the enemy filed in. He waited until
the leader was close, then signaled his men to pull the logs into place,
blocking the end of the tiny canyon. Seconds later, David watched as the
Confederate leader hauled back on his reins too late. His horse instinctively
tried to jump the logs, but got hung up and launched the Confederate officer
over the horse’s head and onto the ground near him.

  The
sight of the fallen man stunned David for a moment. He watched as the
Confederate leader drew his sword and rush toward him. With his revolver in
hand, ready to give the three-shot signal, David aimed his weapon at the now
charging man and pulled the trigger three times. The Confederate dropped to his
knees, then onto his face. David had set the trap, and now gave signal to his
men to commence firing.

  The
sound of gunshots was deafening as the five hundred men under David's command
open fired at once. Those of the Confederates that had not fallen tried to
return fire, but the confusion of the bottleneck and the deadly crossfire from
elevated Union positions resulted in their distracted and unorganized
counterattack.

  In the
distance, at the entrance to the canyon, the remaining enemies entered the
trap. Custer sounded the charge as the men streamed from their hidden positions
within the forest and closed the only escape route to safety. With nowhere to
run, the Confederates dismounted their horses and charged up the steep banks,
as well as over the logs, toward the rear of the canyon. With their sabers
drawn, a new kind of battle had begun – hand to hand and saber to saber combat.

  David
fired his last shot into a charging soldier, then drew his own saber. Moments
later, David now faced an angry Confederate. As both men squared off, David's
adrenaline started to pump wildly. He brought up his sword and took his
defensive posture. The Confederate man, not more than twenty years of age,
lunged at David. David stepped forward and parried, causing the man to fall off
balance. David lunged forward again before the man could gain his footing, and
slashed across the young man’s chest. The young man dropped to the ground in
agony, unable to fight any further.

 
Instantly, two more men replaced their fallen comrade. In a series of parries
and lunges, David managed to work the two off balance. With a quick flick of
his wrist, David slashed through the arm of one, spun quickly and parried the
advance of the other, just as the enemy's blade was about to make contact with
his chest.

  With
the man's saber blocked, David executed a maneuver straight out a Hollywood
movie. Instead of stepping back and resetting his stance for a renewed attack,
David stepped past the sword, spun around completely, using centrifugal force
to build speed, then threw the surprised soldier a flying elbow to his jaw.
David watched the Confederate soldier's eyes roll up in his head as he fell
unconscious to the ground.

  Two
more soldiers climbed over the felled trees and picked up the fight where their
fellow soldiers had failed. David parried again as he reached for another saber
lying on the ground. Switching to Florentine style of fencing, with a saber in
each hand, David now slashed and stabbed wildly yet in full control, commanding
the duel and backing the two Confederates up against the barricade. Like
cornered animals, the two savagely lunged toward David, slicing through his
shirt and piercing his skin slightly.

 
David's rage roiled inside and he became an angry beast. With teeth clenched
and his eyes squinted onto his prey, he angrily overpowered the two with brutal
precision, cutting their body parts literally to ribbons.

  Again,
more men streamed over the top of the wooden barricade, trying to escape the
menacing crossfire from above. David was now caught in a cross-duel: two men
attacking from his front and one from behind. David's successful performance on
the battlefield was a direct result of years of college fencing. Having made
his way through college on a fencing scholarship, David was a highly-trained
swordsman, his skill far beyond that of any of his attackers, but never had he
trained to duel more than two at one time. David's life was now in real danger.

 
Breathing heavily and sweating profusely, David clamped his two bloody swords
and backed away from the men, his head snapping from one side to the other as
he tried to keep his eyes on all three. As the men closed in, David feigned an
attack on the single man to his left and, while still facing him, stabbed
blindly at the two to the right. David heard a guttural groan on the right as
he brought up his second sword to parry an advance from the single man on the
left. David had felt his saber find resistance, and turned quickly to observe
the tip of his steely saber buried into the chest of the enemy. The man had a
look of shock and horror on his face as his knees buckled under him and he
dropped to the ground.

  Seeing
their comrade fall, the remaining men quickly lunged at David. In a sideways
block, David parried the advance of the angered Confederates and stepped back
to regain his defensive posture, maneuvering so both his attackers now faced
his front.

  For a
moment, the three stood still and observed each other, each man sizing up the
other.

  David
glared at the two with contempt and said, “Are you two ladies going to just
stand there pissing your pants, or are you going to fight?” He snapped, hoping
to antagonize them into a mistake.

  “We
have him now, William,” the man on the right said to the other. He turned to
David and replied, “Prepare to meet Jesus, you mangy blue-bellied squirrel.”

 
David's provocation worked. He watched the man's eyes on the right widen in
anger. The Confederate lunged at David. David parried with both swords, spun
around to build momentum, then savagely sliced at the man behind the knee and
through his Achilles tendon.

  The wounded
Confederate cried out in pain and immediately fell to the ground, clutching his
bleeding heel in agony.

  David
instinctively fell back into his defending stance and stared at the remaining
Confederate. Fear spread through the young man’s body as he now stood alone
against a superior foe.

  David
called to him, “Bud, you don't want to do this. See all these men around you?”
David pointed with both swords to the fallen men on the ground. The young
Confederate nodded feebly.

  “I did
this. You're going to die if you continue. Please, put down that sword and run.
I'm giving you a chance for life. Take it.” David implored.

  David
searched the Confederate’s eyes for an answer. Standing just a few feet from him,
he could see every twitch in the young man's face as he struggled with his
decision. Suddenly, David watched the man's eyes dart to someone behind them.
Instinctively, David spun around with his sword making, contact, but too late.
While David was negotiating with the standing young Confederate, a fallen man
quietly reloaded his Colt. David's saber contacted the Confederate pistol,
knocking it from his hand, but not before it discharged a bullet into David's
side, just above his hip.

  David
reacted with the other sword, plunging it into the Confederate’s stomach, then
stumbled backward. He released one of his swords and held his hand to his
bleeding wound. David caught movement out of the corner of his eye and swung
his saber savagely toward the movement.

  The
young Confederate stood for a moment in shock. Just moments before, seeing his
wounded foe, he lunged at David from behind. As David spun around, his sword
sliced through the young Confederate’s throat, severing his jugular and
windpipe. David watched in horror as the young man dropped to his knees, blood
pumping from his wound, then fell onto his face.

 
Looking around him, David realized the fight was now contained to the inside of
the canyon as the Union soldiers overpowered their enemy. David examined his
wound. He was bleeding, but fortunately enough, the bullet had pierced the
mostly fatty tissue at his waistline. The pain felt excruciating, but
manageable.

  David
took a moment to reload his pistol, as well as the one that wounded him.
Sheathing his saber, he now crossed back into the canyon to join his fighting
comrades. As he made his way through, each attacker met his fate with a lead
ball. Finding shelter only to reload, David continued his advance.

 
Nearing the entrance of the canyon, there, still on horseback, sat Custer
savagely slashing anything in his path. From behind Custer's horse, David
watched a fallen Confederate repeat the sequence that caused David's wound. The
Confederate soldier struggled through his pain to reload his revolver, hoping
to shoot down the easy target on horseback to his front.

  David
took aim at the man from one hundred yards away, fired, and missed. He aimed
once more but heard only the sound of an empty chamber. Pulling the triggers
frantically now, David's Colt revolvers were empty. With no time to reload, he
pulled his saber and hurried toward the reloading Confederate.

  The
pain was searing as David tried to run in small bursts. With his eyes focused
on the reloading man, he could see the Confederate man was now only two steps
away from firing his weapon and killing Gen. Custer at close range. David
swallowed hard and ran faster. He could feel blood now freely pumping out of
his wound and running down his leg, soaking his pant leg with the sticking red
fluid.

  David
stumbled from the pain, but caught himself and continued on. The reloading
Confederate was now finishing his last step. David cried out in pain as he
quickened his pace.

 
“CUSTER! GENERAL CUSTER!” David yelled to the unsuspecting general, but the
distraction of war was too great.

  Mere
feet from the reloading man, David watched in horror as the man lifted his
weapon and fired. Simultaneously, David hurled his sword at the offending man,
the saber's guard hitting him in the arm and knocking him off balance. The
bullet’s path traveled through the air and plunged into flesh.

  David
watched in horror as Custer fell from his horse, the huge beast landing on top
of him. David ignored his pain and kicked the Confederate in the side, knocking
him over. David grabbed his sword and plunged it into the offending man with
anger. He then hurried to the now fallen hero.

  “This
can't be happening. He's supposed to die at Little Big Horn,” David lamented as
he came around to the back of the horse.

  Just
then, another Confederate lunged at David. In short order, he parried and
slashed his stunned attacker. David looked down at Gen. Custer. David's
saddened face changed. There, pinned under his horse, was a smiling Gen.
Custer.