by Pati Nagle
I heard Fletcher yelling and the second rank moving up to fire at the Yankee gunners. I also heard a high, shrill yapping.
“Candy!” I hollered, and he barked back, and I went deeper into the corn, trying to find him. It made no sense, and I knew it, but I was moving and didn’t dare stop.
The Cornfield was a nightmare of smoke, broken stalks, and dead and wounded men. I stepped on something slippery and nearly fell, then hurried on without looking to see what it had been.
“Candy!” I shouted, getting hoarse from the smoke.
Something white moved at my feet and I looked down. It was not Candy. It was part of a flag—the 5th Texas’s flag, made from the wedding dress of General Wigfall’s wife. Our own flag was identical to it except for the bullet holes, but ours had not been taken into the Cornfield.
What I had seen was the big, white Texas star in the center, and it had moved because a Yankee soldier was trying to pick it up. He was not ten feet away from me, had black hair and a moustache and beard trimmed all tidy.
As we looked at each other he dropped the flagstaff to draw a pistol from his hip. I aimed my rifle and fired at his face, which was a mistake because he dodged enough that the ball only cut him, and I did not have my bayonet fixed.
He aimed his pistol and I swung the muzzle of my piece at his arm, trying to knock the gun out of his hand. He kept hold of it and I kicked him in the chest to knock him over, then dropped on top of him trying to wrestle the gun away. He clubbed me with it before I could get hold of his arm, and for a second I couldn’t see straight.
He tried to hit me again but I caught him this time and twisted the gun out of his hand. I put the muzzle against his chest and we sat there, staring murder at each other.
And I thought, this is a man and he has a family and a wife maybe and children. This is a man like myself and why am I about to kill him?
And the voices all burst into argument in my head and the simple answer cut through them: “Because if you don’t he will surely kill you.”
Right or wrong had no part in this. It was a matter of staying alive, and if killing one Yankee could mean that and moreover mean keeping a man of my company or my brigade from being killed, then by God it was worth doing. I pulled the trigger, and the blast deafened me and blood spattered up in my face.
I got up, shoved the pistol through my belt, picked up my rifle, and dragged the 5th’s battle flag free. I did not raise it as that was not my duty or privilege, but I did carry it out of the Cornfield.
When I got back to the pasture I saw our regiment retreating from the turnpike, back south toward the Dunker church and our fires of the morning. I followed, furling the flag as I stepped across the heaps and rows of dead.
Sergeant Fletcher saw me rejoin the line of retreat. His cold eye was on me but he said nothing, nodded once, then looked forward again.
Half our regiment fell in that field on that day, but we were not the hardest hit. That honor went to the 1st Texas, who lost four out of every five men in the Cornfield.
Candy was taken prisoner by the Yankees—one of our wounded men saw him in a band wagon and he never returned to us. At least he made it out of the Cornfield alive.
After that I never thought twice about killing a Yankee. It was part of the war; it was what we were there for. But I never joked about it again.
And I never kept count.
About the Author
Pati Nagle was born and raised in the mountains of northern New Mexico. An avid student of music, history, and humans in general, she loves the outdoors but hides from the sun.
She writes in a variety of genres, but is most often drawn to fantasy or (as P.G. Nagle) historical fiction. Her stories have appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and in various other magazines and anthologies, including Elf Magic, which featured “Kind Hunter,” the story that sparked the ælven world. Her first ælven novel, The Betrayal, was released in 2009 by Del Rey Books. Its sequel, Heart of the Exiled, will come out in January 2011.
Pati Nagle lives in the New Mexico mountains with her husband and two furry feline muses. She loves to walk in the woods and look up at the stars.
Pati Nagle’s websites:
www.patinagle.com
www.pgnagle.com
Illustrations
“Mother Ditch” illustration copyright © 2010 by Pati Nagle. Based on photos by Pati Nagle and Scott Denning.
“Rescue Work” photo copyright © 2010 by Pati Nagle.
“The Cygnius sedonai Caper” illustration copyright © 2010 by Pati Nagle. Based on a public domain image by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and a public domain photo by Harrison R. Diamond.
“Coyote Ugly” illustration copyright © 2010 by Pati Nagle.
“On Swan’s Wings” photo copyright © 2008 by Scott Denning.
“Creed of the Ælven” illustration copyright © 2010 by Pati Nagle.
“Dawn’s Early Light” illustration copyright © 2010 by Pati Nagle.
“Emancipation” illustration based on a public domain image created by European Southern Observatory.
“Arroyo de Oro” illustration copyright © 2010 by Pati Nagle.
“Draw” illustration based on a public domain photo by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“The Cornfield” illustration based on a public domain photo by Mchavez at the wikipedia project.
Cover art copyright © 2010 by Pati Nagle.
Copyright Information
If you did not purchase the copy you are reading, please consider supporting the author by buying your own copy or making a donation to the author at
BookViewCafe.com
“Mother Ditch” copyright © 2010 by Pati Nagle.
“Rescue Work” copyright © 2010 by Pati Nagle. First published in Breaking Waves, Tiffany Trent and Phyllis Irene Radford, eds, Book View Café, 2010.
“The Cygnius sedonai Caper” copyright © 2010 by Pati Nagle.
“Recipe: New Mexican Cocoa” copyright © 2010 by Pati Nagle.
“Coyote Ugly” copyright © 1994 by Pati Nagle. First published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, April 1994.
“On Swan’s Wings” copyright © 2007 by Pati Nagle. First published in Cricket, October 2007.
“Stranded” copyright © 2008 by Pati Nagle. First published in Cicada, July/August 2008.
“The Courtship of Captain Swenk” copyright © 2001 by Pati Nagle. First published in The Blue and the Gray Undercover, Ed Gorman, ed., Forge Books, 2001.
“Creed of the Ælven” copyright © 2009 by Pati Nagle. First published in The Betrayal, Pati Nagle, Del Rey Books, 2009.
“First Love” copyright © 2010 by Pati Nagle. First published in Many Paths: Stories of the Ælven, Pati Nagle, Evennight Books, 2010.
“Recipe: Green Chile Roll-ups” copyright © 2010 by Pati Nagle.
“Dawn’s Early Light” copyright © 2007 by Pati Nagle. First published in From the Trenches, Joseph Paul Haines, ed., Carnifex Press, 2007.
“Kind Hunter” copyright © 1997 by Pati Nagle. First published in Elf Magic, Martin H. Greenberg, ed., Daw Books, 1997.
“Emancipation” copyright © 1996 by Pati Nagle. First published in The Williamson Effect, Zelazny, ed., Tor Books, 1996.
“Rocket Boy on Call” copyright © 2009 by Pati Nagle. First published in Rocket Boy and the Geek Girls, Phyllis Irene Radford and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, eds., Book View Café, 2009.
“Recipe: Cheater’s Chicken Chile Soup” copyright © 2010 by Pati Nagle.
“Arroyo de Oro” copyright © 1999 by Pati Nagle. First published in Lord of the Fantastic, Martin H. Greenberg, ed., Eos, 1999.
“Draw” copyright © 2007 by Pati Nagle. First published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, September 2007.
“The Cornfield” copyright © 2010 by Pati Nagle.
Coyote Ugly and Other Tales
Copyright © 2010
by Pati Nagle
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portion thereof, in any form.
ISBN: 978-1-6113-033-0
Evennight Books, Cedar Crest, New Mexico
This is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names,characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Other Books
The Betrayal
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read a sample at aelven.com
Heart of the Exiled - January 2011
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read a sample at aelven.com
Many Paths: Stories of the Ælven
(ebook)
purchase at Book View Café and other online outlets
For more information, visit patiagle.com .
Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Mother Ditch
Rescue Work
The Cygnius sedonai Caper
Recipe: New Mexican Cocoa
Coyote Ugly
On Swan’s Wings
Stranded
The Courtship of Captain Swenk
Creed of the Ælven
First Love
Recipe: Green Chile Roll-ups
Dawn’s Early Light
Kind Hunter
Emancipation
Rocket Boy on Call
Recipe: Cheater’s Chicken Chile Soup
Arroyo de Oro
The Folsom Suit
Draw
The Cornfield
About the Author
Illustrations
Copyright Information
Other Books