The Women Spies Series 1-3 by Sergeant Kit

Author:Sergeant, Kit
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thompson Belle Press
Published: 2020-04-03T00:00:00+00:00

As Belle headed outside, she saw a few men she recognized as Confederate sympathizers standing in a huddle, jeering at the few Yankees who were still on the street.

Belle approached them. “Is there one among you who would be willing to relay information of the Yanks’ plans to General Jackson? It is of vital importance.”

Each man refused to meet her eyes. “Sir,” she said, turning to Mr. White, a man she knew to use any opportunity to denigrate the Union. “If we don’t pass on this intelligence, Stonewall might run into a Yankee trap.”

“Indeed, it is of great consequence,” Mr. White concurred. “But if any of us were to be caught by the Yanks, we would be hanged.”

“A small sacrifice for the greater good of our country,” Belle replied as she narrowed her eyes.

“So says the lesser of the sexes,” another man hooted. “Why don’t you go yourself?”

“I will,” Belle said before turning on her heel. The dress Mauma Eliza had put on her that day was royal blue. Yankee colors, Belle thought, as she ran in the direction where Stonewall Jackson’s troops were supposed to be coming from. She had not gotten very far when the gunshots began to sound. The Union soldiers had erected artillery on the hill just outside of town and were lighting cannons pointed at Main Street. When Belle spotted the gray uniforms of the Confederacy advancing on the other side, she realized she was trapped between the two armies. The rebels on the front line took aim and began to fire. Belle felt the bullets whizz past her ears but she kept her pace until she felt a tug on her skirt and glanced down, expecting to see a stray dog nipping at her heels. Instead she was confronted by a large hole in her petticoats: a bullet had penetrated her skirts, but, luckily, had not reached her person.

Belle ran faster as renewed adrenaline coursed through her veins. She had not another thought but of her mission to reach General Jackson. As she got closer to the Confederate line, she tore her bonnet off her head and waved it in a circle, calling for the rebels to press toward town. The men started running forward, shouting triumphantly, some of them cheering her by name as they passed her.

Belle paused, watching the men heading toward Front Royal. There did not seem to be as many of them as she had thought. She sank to her knees, fearing that she had just sent them toward their deaths. There was no time to delay, Belle reminded herself as she rose. She continued, a bit slower this time, toward the hilltop on the outskirts of town where the gray coats had seemed to be emerging from. Presently, Belle heard hoofbeats and looked up to see Henry Kyd Douglas, a native of Martinsburg only a few years older than herself, approaching.

“Good God, Belle, you look a fright.”

“Henry,” Belle gasped, trying to catch her breath. “Tell Stonewall to charge down the hill and he will be able to capture every last Yankee haunting Front Royal.

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