He glared down at me. “Jesus doesn’t advocate revenge; he teaches to turn the other cheek.”
A lone snowball came flying toward my exposed face and I quickly ducked back behind Preacher.
“Oomph!” Preacher doubled over as the snowball hit his groin.
“Sorry, Preacher,” Toby offered an apology muffled with laughter.
“You have to help me; I’m outnumbered!”
“I will do no such thing,” Preacher grunted through clenched teeth. “If you haven’t noticed, there is a real war raging around us, and I have more important things to accomplish today.”
I took a quick glance behind me and spotted another potential teammate. “Okay, fine. Just let me walk you back to your tent.” And ignoring his protests, I grabbed the back of his coat and dragged him along with me as my human shield. Another volley of snowballs flew at us, but thanks to Preacher, I managed to avoid the worst of it. When we caught up to the unsuspecting Kenny, I released my clamp on Preacher’s coat and dove at Kenny’s back, knocking us both out of the line of fire behind a supply tent.
Kenny sputtered out a mouthful of muddy snow. “What the hell—”
“Shh,” I hissed into his ear. “We are under attack from Privates Toby and Woody. Do you wish to accept this mission?”
“Uh, yeah, sure, I guess so—”
“Then run!” I jerked him up behind me and we took off around the corner as more snowballs rained around us. Bollocks, they are persistent! I grinned; how I loved a challenging snowball fight!
Kenny and I took brief refuge behind the Calvary’s stables while we caught our breath and planned the next move.
“I say we split up,” Kenny suggested. “And as we circle around, we gather reinforcements and then attack them from behind.”
“Good idea, but they’d expect that. Besides, most folks are fixing supper; it’s just you and me against them.”
“And everyone knows Woody can’t aim straight to save his life.”
I shook my head. “Don’t let his lack of gun skills fool ya; Woody might not be able to aim a rifle, but he sure can throw. And Toby’s no slouch either. Just ask Preacher.”
“So, if you have all the answers, Mr. Soldier Boy, what do you suggest?” Kenny asked, dryly.
I ignored his sarcasm; we had more important matters at hand. “Divide and conquer, my friend. That and a secret weapon.”
Kenny’s eyes narrowed deviously. “Go on…”
“Well, you know how Woody is smitten on Nurse Cora?”
“Yeah, him and everybody else within a two mile radius.”
“So, we take her hostage and—”
“Wait, you can’t just go around taking innocent girls hostage!”
“Oh, let go would ya? Cora is no sissy; she’d love to come out and play. Besides, on such short notice, she’s our only chance. Now then, after we use our hostage to disarm the enemy, that’s when we surprise them with our secret weapon.” I reached down and grabbed a handful of steaming horse poo.
Kenny stumbled backwards, his eyes wide with disgust.
I sighed with impatience. “Kenny, it’s just digested hay and grain. Get a backbone!” I showed him how to mix the poo into a snowball.
“Are you sure that’s such a good idea? I mean, we do have to share a relatively small cabin with them tonight.”
“Come on; no time to waste. I see the enemy approaching the south boundary. Load up!”
With a grimace of disgust plastered across his face, Kenny helped build up a supply of special snowballs, then using the horses as cover, we snuck through the back of the stables.
“Toby, look! There they are!”
Kenny and I scrambled through the camp towards the hospital tent. We didn’t take the time to stop and defend ourselves, resulting in a few snowballs to the backs of our heads. One slightly frozen one collided with my thigh, promising a bruise. But I couldn’t keep the grin off my face as we dodged soldiers and merchants, often receiving a few harsh and bruising words as well. But I didn’t care. I threw half-hearted apologies over my shoulder as we ran. I hadn’t had such a good snowball fight since before Robert had left. And Robert had taught me well.
“Quick! In here!” Kenny and I ducked into the hospital supply tent, where I suspected to find a hard working Cora. And we did. She jumped around in surprise at our sudden and noisy arrival.
“Cora,” I gushed. “You have to help us!”
Immediately, a calm assurance took over and she reached for some bandages. “What happened?”
“Oh, Cora, no.” I realized I’d given her the wrong impression. “No one’s hurt. But we do need you for our snowball fight. You’re our only hope!”
A glint of humor sparked in the corner of her eye, before she suddenly grimaced, sniffing the air. “What is that horrid smell?”
I grinned. “Come on!”
A volley of ammunition pelted the side of the supply tent followed by taunting insults.
“We know you’re in there! You can’t hide from the masters of the snow!”
“What are you, chickens?” Woody crowed like an off-key rooster.
Kenny peeked through a slit in the tent and received a slushy ball right between the eyes. “Hey, watch the face! This masterpiece attracts the ladies!”
Cora raised a cynical eyebrow in his direction before turning to me and asking, “How can I help?”
I hid one of the poo balls in her hand and said, “Follow our lead.”
I pushed her out through the tent flaps in front of us.
“Hold your fire, Woody,” Toby cautioned. “They’ve got a hostage.”
“Nurse Davis!” Woody stood up from behind their cover of stacked firewood. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
“I’m fine, Woody,” she assured him with a kind smile.
“So,” Toby walked out to stand beside Woody. “Your team feels so threatened by our superior skills that you had to resort to hiding behind a pretty girl?”
His words irked me. “We’re not ‘hiding’,” I mocked. “We’re using highly skilled war tactics. And if you don’t drop your ammunition immediately, the blonde gets snow down her dress!” I grabbed a fistful of snow and pulled out the collar of her cloak and dress in threat.
Cora shot me a warning glare before turning pleading eyes to the enemy. “Oh please, help,” she cried, purposely over-dramatizing her damsel in distress role.
Woody immediately dropped his snowballs and raised his hands in surrender. “Anything you say! Just let Nurse Davis go.”
“Woody,” Toby turned to him in exasperation, “don’t give in to their demands! We can negotiate. Besides—”
Before Toby could convince Woody, a surprise torrent of snowballs pelted all five of us, and pelted us hard.
“Ow!” Kenny yelled, grabbing his arm. “Those have rocks in them!”
I scanned the cluttered landscape for our attackers and found Jimmy’s sneering face, surrounded by his usual backup misfits, including Kevin.
“You want a real challenge?” Jimmy yelled.
His gang threw another round sending the five of us running for shelter. We ducked behind the medical supply tent, gasping for breath and clutching at various painfully throbbing parts of our anatomy.
“What do they think they’re doing, throwing rock-filled snowballs, especially with Nurse Davis here?” Woody complained. “That’s not fair play; someone could get hurt!”
Kenny shook his head in disgust. “My brother doesn’t know the meaning of the word fair.”
I snorted, looking to Cora for her reaction. Then I noticed the blood. “Oh, Cora,” I whispered, using my sleeve to dab at the bleeding cut on her cheek. “Are you all right?”
She jutted out her chin defiantly, a determined glint taking over her eyes. “I will be.”
“What’s that smell?” Toby asked, nose wrinkled in concern and disgust.
“Oh, sorry about that,” Woody apologized, cheeks flushing red.
“No, Woody,�
�� Cora laid a reassuring hand on his arm. “It’s not you.” She held up the special snowball still clutched in her hand. “It’s Bobbi’s secret weapon. And now we teach Jimmy and his boys a lesson on playing fair.”
Toby took one of the special snowballs from our supply, studying it with a critical eye and sniffing it dubiously. Then he turned to me. “You were going to use these things on us?” he asked, incredulously.
I grinned proudly. “Yep!”
Toby nodded slowly in approval. “Not bad. Where in the blazes did you come up with this?”
“Why, my brother, Robert, of course. I learned from the best.”
Another volley of rock-filled snowballs rained down on us, though this storm seemed to contain more rock than snow.
“They’re getting closer,” Woody announced unnecessarily. “What’s the plan?”
“I don’t think using me as hostage will work this time.” Cora gingerly fingered her cut cheek. “They don’t seem troubled with throwing rocks at a girl.”
“It’s getting dark,” Toby pointed out. “We should use that to our advantage.”
“Good idea.” I nodded. “That and Kenny’s earlier suggestion of splitting up and circling back around on them should catch them off guard. Do we have enough ammunition?”
“Yeah,” Woody squatted down to divide the supply. “I’ll divvy them up.”
Within moments, we split off, Woody and Cora to the left, Toby and me to the right. Kenny stayed put to throw the attackers off our plan. Then under the cover of shadowy darkness and loud, rather rude taunting, we snuck off to confront the enemy in our own blue uniform.
A warmish winter breeze had blown in with the falling dusk, and the few inches of snow blanketing the Tennessee landscape melted fast. I stepped in a muddy hole and felt the slush seep frigidly in through the holes of my boots. The secret weapons had begun melting, dripping manure between my fingers, and I silently begged them to hold it together just a few more minutes. Never had Robert’s ingenious secret weapon had so deserving a target.
Toby and I crept around behind Jimmy’s gang, keeping a safe distance hidden in the shadows. I could just barely make out the creeping outlines of Cora and Woody across the clearing. We could hear Kenny’s torrent of insults shouted out in order to distract from our sneak attack. Then, just as Toby and I slipped into position, Kenny leapt out from behind the medical supply tent, sacrificing himself for the greater cause.
“Hey you sorry excuse for human beings,” he yelled, and then quickly ducked to avoid the worst of the storm.
Our signal! Toby and I leapt out of the shadows firing our homemade, all natural ultimate weapons. The juicy manure snowballs splattered upon impact, the aroma clinging to the intended targets and wafting in the rising fog. Howls of rage erupted, attracting hundreds of curious bystanders who quickly burst out in roguish laughter at the bullies’ expense. We chose that moment to slip anonymously into the crowd. No witnesses equals no verdict; it would be just their word against ours.
The five of us met up at the nearby creek to erase any remaining traces of evidence and to survey the damage. Except for the cut on Cora’s face and some bumps and bruises, everyone checked out okay. We quickly dispersed, Cora returning to her father’s cabin and us to ours.
On the way, we borrowed a few flaming sticks of firewood from our neighbors and threw them into our own fireplace. By the time they arrived, physically and odorously, we had ourselves sitting around our table, cups of coffee in hand and checker game in play.
“What happened to you, brother?” Kenny asked innocently when Kevin and his friends burst through the door.
“Like you don’t know,” Kevin growled.
Of course we knew, and we knew that they knew, but it was just too much fun to feign innocence.
Jimmy pointed a large knuckled finger at us. He didn’t say anything at first, waiting until he had everyone’s complete attention. “I swear we will get each one of you back for this.” Jimmy turned and left, his cohorts close on his tail.
I glanced over at Toby nervously, and found uneasiness mirrored in his eyes. I wasn’t too worried about me; I could take care of myself. But in the gathering twilight and rowdy chaos, had Jimmy noticed Cora in our group?
Sweat beaded on my forehead and trickled down my back as I stood over the steaming kettle of boiling laundry. My shoulders ached in protest as I tugged the heavy stick through the thick mass of uniforms, socks and long underwear. Once again, I regretted sharing the fact that I’d helped with Gran’s laundry business back home. Slightly un-unanimously, on a vote of three to one, I’d been elected official wash soldier of our cabin. With a groan, I let go of the stirring stick and watched it make another half rotation on its own before easing to a stop. I’d promised the camp cooks I’d return their big kettle to them before dark, but my muscles demanded a much needed break. As I stepped away from the steam bath, the evening’s frigid air set a chill down my sweat-soaked body. I reached for my discarded coat and shrugged into the sleeves. I must admit to one benefit of laundry duty: I could catch any bloodstains on my under britches. I rubbed absently at the cramps clenching my lower belly as I sat down next to Kenny.
“What are you reading?” I asked, plopping down on the bench beside him.
“Waverly Magazine,” he said, tossing the pages back to display the cover. “Hey, take a look at this and tell me what you think.” He flipped to a dog-eared page at the back. He pointed to an ad, and then read it aloud. “’Attention well-mannered soldiers ages seventeen through twenty looking for pen friends. Beautiful eighteen-year-old young ladies volunteering to correspond with our soldiers in blue. Highly respectable.’” Kenny looked up at me hopefully. “Well, what do you think?”
I pulled the magazine closer and reread the ad. “Seems legit. I know lots of women back home just itched for some way to help with the war effort. Are you going to respond?”
Kenny sighed. “Maybe. I don’t know. It’s just that it gets a bit lonely here, you know that. And I see you smiling while reading letters from your gal Emma—”
“Emma’s not my girl; she’s just a friend,” I protested.
“—and I kinda wanted something like that,” he finished, completely ignoring my interruption.
I groaned inwardly in frustration. Obviously none of my bunkmates believed what I told them about Emma. But, then maybe that could be good, something to lend credibility to my alias. I wondered if Toby believes…doesn’t matter. I looked over and found Kenny starring at me expectantly. “What?” I asked, suspiciously.
“So, should I write to one of these ladies? I’ve heard that sometimes they’ll exchange pictures. I don’t have one, but I caught a rumor that a sutler on the other side of the camp takes photographs.” He patted his pocket. “I still have my whole thirteen dollars of pay this month.”
“I think it’s a wonderful idea, Kenny. Maybe you’ll meet a really good friend.”
“Thanks, Bobbi. I think I’ll get started right away.” He ducked into our camp to retrieve paper and pen.
I stared at the steaming kettle of laundry, laundry that hadn’t managed to get itself done. I dragged myself up to finish the grueling task.
Soon I had our soggy laundry dripping from the rope strung between our cabin and our neighbor’s. With the night temperatures dropping below freezing, our clothes should be freeze dried by morning, and as stiff as Ole’ Man Jeffers’ joints. Speaking of Private Jeffers, I needed to return his kettle before he blew his own cranky lid.
“Just who we were looking for!”
I smothered a shriek of surprise as I dropped the empty kettle with a loud clang. Jimmy and his gang. I shook my head in disgust at my jittery nerves as I bent to retrieve the kettle. Still, I couldn’t help noticing the twinge of unease rippling through my belly; I hadn’t forgotten their threats. And from their malicious grins and taunting tones, I knew they hadn’t forgotten either.
“So,” Jimmy squatted down by the fire, “where’s your friend, Toby?
”
I would never admit that I’d been wondering the exact same thing. Kevin and the rest of his tagalongs closed in around the hearth. And me.
“We’re right here.” Toby shouldered his way through the crowd. He came to a stop next to me, his shoulder touching mine. Kenny stepped out of the cabin and joined us.
The tension in my muscles eased slightly. One against seven is not good. Having two buddies on my side made slightly better odds.
“What do you want, Jimmy?” Toby’s voice sounded cold and hard, unfamiliar.
“Whoa, Private Dove, calm down. What, do you got a stick up your backside?” Jimmy pulled out a pocket knife and casually began picking at his dirty fingernails. “We just came to talk about the other day.”
“It was just a joke,” Kenny spit out. “Can’t you take a joke?”
Jimmy cut his cold glare over to Kenny. “A manure snowball in the face is not very funny to me. Would you like to try it and see if you laugh? I’d be very willing to help you out with that.”
“Gee, I’ll pass, thanks,” Kenny scoffed.
“If I remember correctly,” I offered, rubbing a bruise on my shoulder, “your snowballs contained more than just fluff.”
“Yeah, rocks!” Kenny’s face grew an angry red with the memory. “You can dish it out but you can’t take it!”
“What do you want, Jimmy?” Toby asked again, impatience weary in his voice.
Jimmy offered a slow, calculated smile. “We’ve come today to invite you to a game of poker.”
His words hung on the chilly evening air like the frozen clouds of my breath. Poker?
“A little game of high stakes poker,” Jimmy explained. “You owe us that.”
“We owe you nothing!” Toby growled.
I put a hand on his arm to calm him. I had a feeling of where this headed. “What kind of stakes did you have in mind?”
“Well,” Jimmy shifted the knife’s attentions to picking dinner remnants from his teeth, “if we win, your group gets to perform a little service for us.”
“Just what kind of service?” Toby demanded, suspiciously.
Echoes of Dark and Light Page 15