The Wilderness Way by Anne Madden

Author:Anne Madden [Madden, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008535308
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

The fighting went on for hours as the Union troops pushed forward and fell back all afternoon. In the chaos and heat, Declan and Michael had no idea if they were making any progress. They didn’t speak to each other but there were nods and gestures and passing of cartridge boxes. Declan began to hallucinate about blackberry juice and in one break in the gunfire turned his head to see if he could spy any berries on the nearby hedges. Instead all he could see were rows of bent blue heads covered in dust stretching for miles to his left.

Late that afternoon the guns fell silent on both sides. Declan could still hear a ringing in his ears but the ground had stopped shuddering, which meant a break in the fighting. Then just as his tired bones began to relax an almighty blood-curdling shriek echoed all around them. It came from beyond the Union artillery and triggered bewildered stares from the blackened faces of the prostrate soldiers. Declan was reminded of the Widow McAward’s wail along with the chorus of women keening at his father’s burial. He stumbled to his feet as a rumble of boots of Union soldiers emerged through the smoke. In seconds their line uncocked their rifles and scrambled to their feet.

“What is it?” shouted Declan

“I don’t know but it’s coming to get us!” Michael yelled back.

Frenzied soldiers with terror etched on their faces piled past, pushing and shoving to get away. The horrific shriek continued to rattle in their heads. Soldiers from every brigade – Maine, Pennsylvania and New York – pushed past them, all with one goal: to get the hell out of hell. Declan hauled Michael to his feet after he was nearly stamped on in the rush.

“What the Christ?”

“Our line’s been broken!” Declan shouted over the cacophony of boots, shots and piercing shrieks. “Run!”

Confused officers on horseback were frantically waving their arms and weapons at the stampede.

“Stop, I command you! It’s just the rebels’ battle cry. Stay and fight!” shouted one officer. With flaring nostrils, his horse bucked from under him and threw him to the ground. The brothers ran past him and continued to run until they could no longer hear the shrieking. Shots were fired at the retreating soldiers and some order was eventually restored but Declan realised the battle had been lost. Their first altercation with the rebels had been a defeat. He lay in the dust and longed for a drink. He thought of the clean, clear waterfall at Glenveagh and imagined standing in it, the cold water splashing over his sunburnt cheeks and cleaning the dust out of his eyes and ears. He imagined being able to gulp mouthfuls of the crystal-clear water to quench his dry throat. He realised that while his thirst was overwhelming, that long awaited first battle had sated his hunger for combat.

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