Two for Home

Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2

When the Rebs gave that yell of theirs and charged, it wasn’t surprising some of the men broke and ran. Bull Run was only a few weeks behind them, and no one could forget that disaster. However, the 14th, which had joined with the 6th Wisconsin, held firm.

Zach might be only a drummer boy, but he’d show those Rebs what a Brooklyn boy was made of. He stood his ground and beat out the rat-a-tat-tat that signaled the men to attack, while Lieutenant Marriott rode up and down the line, rallying them.

A Rebel colonel dressed in a fancy gray uniform and mounted on a beautiful bay stallion pulled up not ten yards from where Lieutenant Marriott was. The colonel aimed his Colt at the lieutenant but Zach wasn’t having any of that—the lieutenant was his friend.

Zach tossed aside his drum and sticks and grabbed up Jamie Clancy’s rifle. He’d known Jamie back in Brooklyn, and now the eighteen-year-old lay sprawled in the dirt, his blue eyes staring sightlessly at the sky.

Zach fired the rifle, shooting off the curled plume on the colonel’s hat and distracting him. The colonel glared until he saw who had shot at him, and then he laughed at the sight of Zach standing there, busy reloading Jamie’s rifle.

“You missed me, boy. Don’t know how you thought a bit of nothing like you could hit the broad side of a barn. That rifle is bigger than you. Now be a good boy and give it here before I take it away from you, down your britches, and paddle your behind.”

Zach ignored him. He’d finished reloading, and this time when he fired, it wasn’t a warning shot—he put the bullet smack dab between the colonel’s eyes. “Did I miss you that time, you son of a b***h?” he snarled.

The colonel had a look of faint surprise on his face. He toppled off his horse, and the stallion shied away, narrowly missing stepping on him. White-eyed, the bay bolted back toward the Rebel lines, dragging the colonel, whose boot was caught in the stirrup, behind him.

Lieutenant Marriott wheeled his horse around in time to see what happened, and he called out, “Good work, Shorty. Thank you kindly.”

“Any time, Lieutenant.” Now that the heat of the moment was over, Zach felt a little sick—not only had he never killed a man before, but he’d promised Pa he wouldn’t pick up a gun. He hid it as best he could and tossed the lieutenant a jaunty salute.

The lieutenant rode up to Zach, leaned down and squeezed his shoulder, then turned and shouted to his men, “All right, you Red Legged Devils! If Sharps here can mow down a Rebel colonel, so can we! Now let’s go show these Johnny Rebs a thing or two!” He raised his rifle, drove his heels into his horse’s sides, and raced into the fray.

The men gave a cheer and charged after him.

Zach slung the rifle over his shoulder, retrieved his drum and sticks, and got back to drumming the men into battle.