A Heart Divided by J.M. Snyder

Author:J.M. Snyder [Snyder, J.M.]
Language: nld
Format: epub
Tags: erotic MM, Romance MM
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

Andy took the haversack and lantern with him as he hurried back to his encampment. Despite the morning sun, thick fog still draped the woods, and he heard men from his regiment somewhere up ahead as he approached the battlefield. As silently as possible, he skirted the clearing, keeping to the trees and bushes to avoid discovery. He thought he heard McNair’s reedy voice among the soldiers, and at one point Wiley called out for the men to stay together. The sound of digging filled the air, ringing off the trees and fog until it seemed to be coming from everywhere at once, a hundred shovels crunching through dirt and rocky soil as the men buried the dead. At least they were burying them, Andy 88

A HEART DIVIDED

thought as he edged away from the sounds. That small measure of respect almost made up for the fact the men robbed the corpses where they lay.

As he neared the camp, he heard the pickets talking softly to themselves. The low voices were distorted by the fog, making it hard for Andy to judge their position. But they couldn’t see him, either, and he managed to stumble past them by mere feet without being caught. Once inside the perimeter of the camp, the fog didn’t get much better, but almost all the men were out in the battlefield this morning and he didn’t run into anyone on the way to his tent.

In front of the closed canvas flaps, a tray of cold slapjacks awaited him, most likely left by his aide at dawn’s light. A quick glance inside the tent assured him his personals were still on his bed, undiscovered. Crouching down, Andy wrapped the thin pancakes in the cloth napkins on his tray, then tucked them carefully into his haversack, along with the small tin of coffee that comprised his breakfast. After refilling his canteen with water from the regiment supply barrel, he headed for Mendenhall’s tent.

This time, the tent’s flaps were closed against visitors, but Andy rapped on the canvas, a hollow sound in the early light.

“Doc?” he called out.

No answer.

Taking the medical supplies from his haversack—the needle and what remained of the thread, the bullet probe, the thin vial of ether—he shoved them beneath the tent. He kept the morphine and the gauze, but the rest of it he didn’t need 89

A HEART DIVIDED

any longer, and Mendenhall was short on supplies, that much was true. He thought of the ugly swelling around Sam’s wound and wondered if the surgeon kept any bleeders or quinine in that apothecary chest of his.

The thought of ducking inside to check was tempting, but to be honest, Andy didn’t know what to look for, and he didn’t want to ask for more medication when the army was so low on supplies as it was. He’d save his money for food—that was all Sam needed, a few hot meals, some tender care, someone to watch over him and clean the wound and tell him he was loved, and he’d get better.

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