Paladin by Sarah MacTavish

Author:Sarah MacTavish [MacTavish, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: civil war, feminism, women soldiers, history 1800s, union soldiers
Publisher: Rawlings Books, LLC via Indie Author Project
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

WESTLEIGH

Williamsburg, Virginia

May 6, 1862

I only ever saw death once in my life before the war. I’d seen funerals, I’d known some who passed on, but I only ever saw it up close once.

When I was twelve, Peter took me with him to visit an old shut-in who lived just outside of Dove Hollow. She’d been a friend of his wife’s when she lived. Mrs. Nussbaum. Every Christmas, until she became too frail to leave her home, she’d bring my da and I a whole basket of German pastries. I always meant to visit her more often than I did. Whenever I came by, she had me sit and read to her. Never stopped smiling for a moment while I was there. Until the last time, and she passed on, right there with Peter and me by her side. I remember how much it bothered me, knowing there was no breath of life, no soul in that tiny old body. Those empty eyes, sweet as her face was, gave me nightmares for weeks afterwards.

Now… now…

I couldn’t tear my eyes from the sights along the road as we marched into the town, chasing the Confederates at a slow, steady pace. Bodies littered the ground, blue and gray alike. Some were twisted into painful shapes and some had fallen mingled together, still grappled in the fight that killed them, killed not by bullets, but speared by bayonets. Faces stared up blankly at the morning sky, blood washed away by yesterday’s rain. Others were half-buried in the mud. And all of them were empty. Husks of men with their souls violently taken from them.

The sights of all these terrified me, but I was relieved that I knew none of those faces, and I felt a flood of shame for thinking so. Someone knew them. Someone grieved. And I felt it should grieve me.

Allison wasn’t having any of it. He was singing right along to the band that played Yankee Doodle behind us as we marched into town. I frowned at him, and he paused to lean over to me. “If I stop for a moment to think about any of it,” he said, face suddenly serious, “I’m not sure I could move forward again.”

I resolved to shove the images from my mind. At least for now.

Williamsburg was a small town with old brick houses, not a bustling port like Alexandria. Fewer civilians stood on the sidewalks as we paraded by, mostly just men and nurses helping to move the wounded.

A small group of ladies, smartly dressed with their wide ruffled skirts and crisp bonnets, stood in the doorway of a large building. They waved their fans furiously and scowled like they wished they could send us straight to Hell with just a look. I swallowed and looked away. Had they husbands or brothers lying dead in the fields behind us? They mocked us, shouting taunts as we marched by. A few of the boys behind me jeered them back and were sharply reprimanded by the sergeant.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.