Stonewall Hinkleman and the Battle of Bull Run by Sam Riddleburger

Author:Sam Riddleburger
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US

“I was born in Big Lick, Virginia, on a bend in the Roanoke River that’s about the prettiest place on earth.”

For a second, I wonder if Cyrus is daydreaming. Lying on his back and looking up at the sky, Cyrus seems like he’s talking more to himself than to me. His voice is faraway, like he’s in shock from a wound. I quickly scan his body for blood. I almost ask him to roll over so I can look at his butt, but given my performance so far today, I don’t think he’d react too well.

He turns his head to me. His eyes are clear and look right into mine. He’s not hurt. He just feels like talking. Maybe it’s starting to sink in that he almost got himself killed. I see Big Jim give Elmer a look and the two of them go off to get more ammunition.

But I’m more than happy to listen. Anything to steer the conversation away from me.

“I grew up on a farm with my daddy and brother Joshua. Joshua was about ten years older than me and I sometimes thought of him more like an uncle than my big brother. He was tall and real friendly with bushy blond hair and a toothy smile, unlike my daddy, who was built low and gnarled like a scrub bush.”

Cyrus pauses. He wrinkles his forehead and mutters, “Like a scrub bush . . . that’s pretty good too. Lordy, I’m getting all kinds of inspiration on this here field. Whether I’m going to be able to remember it all to write down is another thing.”

He shrugs. “Anyway, Momma died when I was born, so it was just the three of us working the land. Sometimes I’d hike the ridge that rose up across the river and stand on this high rock outcropping and pretend I was seeing the end of the world. ’Course it wasn’t the end of the world, just more and more of those blue mountains stretching off into forever. And seeing that that was all to the world made me feel just fine living on the banks of the Roanoke River in Big Lick, Virginia.

“But it never seemed to Joshua’s liking. He was always coming up with these get-rich ideas. Like when I was about eleven years old, he marched into the house smacking his fist into his palm. It was a Sunday afternoon and Daddy was smoking his pipe by the fireplace and Joshua says, ‘Daddy, Cyrus, it’s time to seek our fortune.’ This was what he always said before landing one of his tall ones on us.”

If I understand my family tree right, Joshua was actually my great-great-great-grandfather. Or something like that.

Hearing Cyrus talk about Joshua, I can’t help but think ADD has been in the family a long, long time. “Maybe that’s where you got it from,” I murmur, a bit too loud.

“Got what?” Cyrus says.

“Oh . . . uh, telling stories,” I say.

Cyrus stares at me and suddenly this smile bursts on his face.

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