“The new history book said that Germany was a super power and world leader. The Confederacy was no more than a third world country. I was sickened. I didn’t want my grandchildren living in a totalitarian, one-world government.”
“How did Gordy fit in?” Mike asked.
“Tom saw Gordon at the library, researching his new history, and told me about how the three of you time traveled. Tom was disturbed by Gordon’s presence. He worried that Gordon could ruin his plans. So he went to the police.”
“Tom went to the police?” Mike asked.
“He told the police that Gordon Smart along with two co-conspirators—Mike Hill, and Ray Hensley—were plotting against the government. He knew the police would pass this information onto the ISS. He knew that the crime of treason would be a death sentence for those who engaged in such dealings. Warrants went out to hunt down and arrest all three conspirators for treason.”
“That bastard got Gordy killed.”
“I kept the first history book of the actual history before we changed it. I placed a label over the cover, Lost Nation. I put the help letter between the pages and hid the book in hopes that Gordon would find it. For backup I got the addresses for Mr. Smart and Mr. Hensley. I sent out two letters by C.S.A. mail.”
“The letters,” Mike said.
“Whatever happens, we can’t let Tom hurt my family, please,” Charles begged.
“He won’t hurt anybody.”
The two Union soldiers came back and stopped at their seats staring at Sarah and Jenny.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Friday, July 3, 1863
That night, after the debacle of Pickett’s Charge, it started to rain. Even though General Lee knew his casualties were high and his ammunition low, he prepared his army for an attack. When the attack didn’t come, he knew the time was right to withdraw his army from the field and start its retreat. He wanted to get his wounded back to Winchester.
Late that night, General Lee received a special dispatch by courier. It was from Jefferson Davis.
I have received a letter describing a demonstration of a new and most powerful weapon. I am sure that this weapon will aid your army in our cause to win the war. This top secret weapon should reach you by rail within the next few days.
Lee called for his trusted general and confidant, James Longstreet. Within the hour, General Longstreet came through the flap of the tent.
“Good evening, General.” Lee handed him the dispatch.
Longstreet read the dispatch. “What is this?”
“Seems President Davis would like us not to retreat, but redeploy and wait for this weapon of his,” Lee said.
Longstreet was skeptical. “He betting on this one weapon to win the war?”
“You brought me a plan yesterday to redeploy the army. Would that plan still be valid?”
“Yes. I believe it would,” Longstreet said.
With this new information, Lee approved a new plan to reroute the troops around the Army of the Potomac. Take them through Thurmont, Maryland, and set up on a defensive line between Meade’s Army and Washington.
The tactical disposition for their withdrawal was tremendous. Lee had to recall General Ewell from Culp’s Hill. Lee’s orders were to entrench just long enough to give the enemy the impression that they had no intentions of leaving Gettysburg. General Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry brigade, along with part of General Wade Hampton’s, would guard the rear and the flanks of Lee’s army as they withdrew.
In the pouring rain, General Lee marched his army south toward Westminster.
***
The two Union soldiers stopped in front of Mike’s group. They stared, seemingly judging the way Sarah and Jenny were dressed, but also noticing their condition.
“Your women okay?” one of the two asked.
“They’re fine,” Mike said.
That did not seem to make the soldier happy.
“Have your passes?”
“What passes?” Mike asked.
“You need a travel pass from the Provost.” The soldier’s body language said he had Mike now.
“Here. You will find everything is in order. I forgot to hand them out,” Charles said, and handed the soldier five forged passes.
The soldier studied the five passes for a long moment. He seemed unconvinced that they were real and showed them to his comrade.
Mike got uneasy and began to think he might need to fight.
Not really knowing what the passes looked like, the other soldier handed them back to his comrade. “They look good.”
“Okay,” the first soldier said, and handed one to each person matching their name to the ticket. “Passes should be carried on each person, just in case you get separated.”
The soldier smiled, then went on his way with his companion.
The train got to the Frederick station about 6 P.M. the evening of July Third. As Mike and his friends departed, they heard a commotion at one of the flatcars toward the rear. Men were roughly unloading a piece of farm equipment. The foreman was agitated with the men when they bumped it.
“Be careful with that!” he yelled.
Mike looked to see what the drama was all about, but the men moved quickly and the equipment was gone before he got a good look.
Charles went to the hotel desk and made reservations. Jenny was out of her stupor, but still weak. Ray walked her into the hotel lobby and sat her down. Charles checked in and got the room keys.
Charles gave Mike and Sarah a key and then handed Ray and Jenny a key. Mike took Ray’s key and handed it to Sarah.
“Sarah, you and Jenny take one room and we’ll take the other.”
“I guess I can live with that for one night,” Sarah said.
Jenny looked around, wondering what they were talking about.
Charles smiled. “Let me get you a change of clothes.”
“Thank you,” Sarah said.
“What about me and Ray?” Mike said.
“I’ll pick you up a set, too,” Charles said.
Mike walked Sarah upstairs to the room she and Jenny were to take for the night.
Mike kissed Sarah goodnight. “See you in the morning.”
Jenny saw what she had missed in the earlier conversation and muttered, “Thank God.”
Mike walked down the hall to his room where Ray flopped on the bed.
“Sure beats the shit out of sleeping in a barn,” Ray said.
Mike smiled and shook his head, then started getting ready for bed. He took off his bandages and cleaned his wounds with soap and water. His chest was healing but his bite was infected. He had no medicines to apply so he just wrapped it with fresh bandages.
After washing his face, he wiped it with a towel. He took off his pants, but left his shirt on.
Mike was tired. He saw that Ray was already asleep. He slipped under the covers and joined him.
Mike was woken by a commotion he heard in the hallway just outside his door. He got up to see what it was.
He moved to the door without making a sound. Opened the door just a crack and peered out into the hallway. He saw a large man arguing with a smaller one. He couldn’t make out what was being said so he adjusted his head to hear. He still couldn’t make out the conversation, but then he heard the words ‘steam’ and then ‘gun.’ He widened the gap in the door and peered out into the hallway to get a better look. To his surprise, he saw that the smaller man was Charles.
CHAPTER FORTY
Saturday, July 4, 1863
What was left of the Army of Northern Virginia, was deployed along a 20-mile front called the Big Pipe Creek, the same battle line that General Meade had abandoned three days ago.
The Confederates beat Meade to the high ground this time. The Confederate Army was placed between the Union Army and Washington. Now all they had to do was wait. With orders from Jeff Davis, Lee intended to make his last stand there. Win or lose, this war would be over.
General Lee set up his headquarters and base of operat
ions in Westminster. From there he communicated with Jeff Davis and learned the secret weapon would be on the train to Frederick.
Lee sent a message to his young cavalier General Imboden by special courier to go to Frederick and bring the secret weapon to Union Mills.
Early that morning, General John D. Imboden’s cavalry company rode to the outskirts of Frederick. The secret weapon was gone. It had made its way up the B&O Railway on July Third and had been unloaded and taken by way of the National Road to New Market. The gun looked like a piece of harmless farm equipment, and with the rain, the Yankee patrols hadn’t paid any attention to it.
When General Imboden got to New Market, the sky was gray and he wasn’t in the best of moods.
“That’s the secret weapon? That, that... thing?” Imboden asked rubbing his unshaven face.
“Yes, sir.”
Imboden was a man of integrity. He had a strong sense of duty. And most of all, he liked his reputation of getting a job done right.
“Before I bring that contraption to General Lee, I want to see a test.”
He called for his adjutant. The major walked over to him.
“I want to test the so-called secret weapon.”
“A test, General?”
“Yes, a test. I want to see if the damn thing works.”
“Yes, sir, whatever the General wants.”
“I want you to send an advance guard to feel the enemy and ascertain his position.”
“Yes, sir. Right away, sir.” The major started to leave when Imboden stopped him.
“Find me a target to test that contraption,” Imboden ordered.
“Yes, sir.” The major hurried away.
***
That night the adjutant met with the general in his tent.
“Sir, the advance reported that the enemy is 5 miles up the road from our position, near the town of Mount Pleasant. There are reports that the townsfolk there are Union sympathizers and there is Union cavalry stationed there.”
“Good work. We’ll target the cavalry’s headquarters,” Imboden said.
***
Charles had changes of clothes delivered to Mike, Ray, and the ladies. After they got dressed, Mike and Ray went down the hall and knocked on Sarah and Jenny’s door.
“You guys dressed and ready?”
Sarah and Jenny emerged from the room looking exquisite. They walked downstairs to the lobby, where they met Charles.
“We’ll have breakfast here at the hotel. We have a lot to talk about,” Charles said. He led them to the breakfast nook. With the rain outside, the small room was getting crowded, but there was a table in the middle. The waitress pointed to it and the five took a seat.
“We have a chance to destroy the Confederate gun before tomorrow’s battle,” Charles whispered.
“Before the battle of Big Pipe Creek?” Mike asked.
“Yes.”
“Is this what you and Tom were arguing about?” Mike asked.
“You heard that?” Charles said.
“You were right outside my door.”
The waitress walked over to take their order. After a few minutes of ordering, the waitress walked away.
“Where is he now?” Mike quickly resumed.
Ray spotted a familiar face sitting at a table in the corner and interrupted Mike.
“Mike, I think that’s Tom over there.”
“Tom?” Mike asked.
“Tree-man,” Ray whispered.
Mike looked over and couldn’t believe it. Sitting at the table, having his eggs and bacon, was big Tom Treble.
“Damn if it ain’t.” Mike got up and walked over to him. Ray followed nervously.
Mike stood close to Tom and stared at him. Tom looked up to see who was standing there. He was startled to see that it was Mike and Ray.
“How, how... how did you get here?” Tom’s face flushed. Mike saw that he was anxious almost to the point of panic.
“Don’t worry about that. Explain yourself,” Mike said.
Tom straightened up and wiped the sweat forming on his brow. Mike watched his every move.
“Let me start from the beginning,” Tom said.
Mike took a seat. “Go ahead. I got time.”
“When I saw you guys in the barn at the Gettysburg reenactment, and the condition you were in, I knew something more was up. So after things calmed down, I went back to the barn to have a look around for myself. I found your tinderbox in the hayloft.”
Ray took a seat at the table to listen. Tom leaned in, guarding his words.
“I read the spell, and somehow I was sent back to 1863. I went to the B&O Railroad workshop in Baltimore, my home town. That’s where I met Charles Dickinson, who was working on the lesser known Winan’s Steam Gun. Being a mechanical engineer, and a good southern boy myself, I knew I could help the Confederacy win the war by fixing the steam gun and making it work as designed.”
Tom looked around the room and saw Charles and the two ladies trying their best to hear. “You might as well join us,” he told them.
Sarah and Jenny followed Charles over to Tom’s table and gathered around, engrossed in what Tom had to say.
“Using the tinderbox as the portal, me and Charles here made several trips back to the future. I was designing the gun to shoot two-inch steel balls, but after reading Archimedes’s idea about a steam cannon, it finally dawned on me, why just make it work as designed? With the ordnance I could get from 2014, I could build a cannon with more destructive power than anyone from these times could ever imagine.” Tom smiled and stopped himself from laughing.
“What did you do?” Mike asked.
“I stole what I needed.”
“What the hell did you do?” Mike asked.
“Ever hear of a dirty bomb?” Tom said delighted.
“You built a dirty bomb?”
“You’re damn right I did,” Tom said.
“You ruined our future,” Mike said angrily.
“Isn’t the world a better place? Man, we have peace on Earth. Your world was violent. It needed to be changed.”
“You killed Gordon, you bastard,” Jenny said acidly.
“I didn’t kill anyone,” Tom said.
“You’re a murderer,” Jenny said.
“I’m a patriot,” Tom said.
“What are they doing with the cannon now?” Mike interrupted.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Tom said.
Mike grabbed Tom by his jacket lapel and pulled him out of his chair and threw him up against the wall.
“You sick bastard. I ought to kill you right now, right here. Where is the gun?” Mike was choking him.
“He wants to make sure it works.”
“Who?” Mike pushed his thumbs into his throat.
“Imboden. He thinks he’s going to destroy a building, but he’s going to destroy, Mount Pleasant,” Tom said.
“Mike!” Charles yelled. “That’s where we can stop the gun.”
Mike loosened his grip, Tom pulled a gun and pushed it into Mike’s jaw. Everyone backed up. Mike let go of his jacket and tried to step back, but Tom was holding him.
“I’m being assaulted here,” he said loudly. “If I shoot you, it would be in self-defense.”
People in the restaurant were petrified. They didn’t know what was going on and started for the door to leave.
“Imboden doesn’t know the destructive power it has. Won’t he be surprised when he destroys the whole town?” Tom smiled, then laughed. He couldn’t control his delight any longer.
Mike gave Tom one last chance to redeem himself. “You don’t want to do this. Help us stop Imboden from using that gun.”
“What I’ve got to do is get there and make sure that the cannon works properly.”
Mike saw red. “You’re mad. I can’t let you do that.”
“Try and stop me,” Tom warned. He headed for the door, pointing his gun.
“I will stop you,” Mike fired back.
Tom glanced out t
he door and saw the police coming with a few patrons.
“I’m counting on it,” Tom put his gun back in his pocket and left.
Mike turned to the others. “We’ve got to stop him.”
“I’ve got a wagon waiting outside,” Charles said.
“What are we waiting for?” Mike said.
They left the hotel by the back door. Charles led them along the boards placed across the muddy street to a farm wagon. The wagon had a canvas tarp over a few steel hoops covering the back.
Mike and Charles climbed up to the front seat while Ray and the girls sat in the back. Ray sat between the two women. Charles tapped Mike on the shoulder and pointed toward the hotel. Mike saw two policemen rushing inside the restaurant.
“You guys ready?” Mike yelled back.
“Go,” Ray yelled.
Mike snapped the reins and told the horse, “Let’s go.” With a jerk, they were headed for Mount Pleasant. They bounced along the mud ruts along Liberty Road.
Mike turned and saw Ray sitting between Sarah and Jenny. “What are you doing?”
“Protecting the women,” Ray said.
“Unbelievable.” Mike turned back around.
During the trek, Ray started a conversation with Jenny.
“You look very nice,” he said politely.
Jenny was not in the mood. “I’m busy right now.”
“You’re doing absolutely nothing,” Ray said dismayed.
“It might look like I’m doing nothing, but my body is repairing itself at a cellular level,” Jenny said.
“I was thinking. When this is all over, would you like to have dinner with me?” Ray asked.
“Good lord,” Jenny said.
“Never mind then, forget it,” Ray said.
“I see you’ve set aside this special time to humiliate yourself,” Jenny said.
“Boy, try to be nice to people,” Ray said.
“Sorry,” Jenny said.
“You could be a little nicer to me, I did help save your life,” Ray said.
“I do appreciate you saving my life, but someday we’ll all look back on this, laugh nervously, and change the subject.”
“Why don’t you two just sit there and be quiet for the rest of the trip?” Mike said.
Mike turned back around. About 100 yards ahead, he saw a squad of Confederate cavalry. They were leading a small company of men marching behind a piece of farm equipment. Mike pulled up the horse to watch.
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