Fight for Glory (My Wounded Soldier #1) Read Free Page B

to get me in the brickyard in Springfield, and I had not been able to deny
my mother the comfort. So home I came…to this.
    My ma put her
hand on my shoulder, but I was reluctant to let go of Missus’ hand. I showed
her all the blood and she told me how to make the tea, the fixings in her
basket on the table. I pulled the spluttering soup off the hob and set it on
the hearth to cool. Then I dug for the tea. The kettle was empty so I filled it
with the dipper and built up the fire so it would heat quick .
Ma had brought a sack bursting with cloth. I hefted this to the bed.
    Ma wrapped her in
the quilt, so the rags were held in place, then said,
“Lift her.” I carefully slid my hands beneath Missus. Ma had wrapped her to the
chin. She opened her eyes to see me, then closed them and seemed to rest. She
was lighter than ever in my arms and I felt like laying my face on hers. I felt
like crying.
    “She’s lost a lot
of blood. There is a stew in the crock. Get me some of the gravy soon’s I
finish this bed.” Ma said, in her bustle.
    So all of the
bloody bedding was pulled off, and the tick was turned, but it was wet on the
other side too, though not so much, and Ma hurried around and made that bed. Then
I laid Missus down.
    “Get out,” Ma
said, ready to unwrap her. “Fill that wash pan with warm water and bring soap,”
she ordered me.
    I hurried to do
this, and brought it back. Ma had her unwrapped. She kept sheeting over Missus’
body, her little feet sticking out, and her small hands. I placed everything
for Ma then went to dish up some gravy. Once that was done, I added my
vegetables to Ma’s stew. The kettle was heating, so I poured some water in the
pot and added the leaves. I stirred this till it was brown, then poured off
some of the brew and took that into the missus, so anxious to see her take it.
    “The blood….” I
said to Ma.
    “Get,” Ma said,
quickly covering the missus as she’d been putting the clean rags in place.
    “Ma,” I snapped. It
was too late for that.
    “Get that tea
down her,” Ma said, looking at me over the tops of her glasses. Her hands did
not stop tending the missus. When she had her covered to her chin, she moved to
the baby, tsking her tongue.
    “Missus,” I
whispered. She opened her eyes. I did not like the look of them so far away. “Lift
up.”
    I knelt and slid
one arm behind her head, lifting her shoulders. With the other hand I held the
tea and brought it to her lips. I knew it was tepid, so she could take it. She
took a sip and made a face. Well it was strong for a reason.
    “Drink it all,” I
said, holding the cup against her bottom lip. She cringed, but she swallowed it
all. I gently laid her down. I felt such hope knowing the tea was inside her.
    When I stood,
grinning I think, my eyes locked with Ma’s. She was thoughtful, holding the
newly diapered baby.
    Don’t get any
ideas, I thought. She was always shoving someone’s daughter at me. I was
leaving. My plans were set.
    I looked at the
missus once more. I had to let her go now. Didn’t I know how to do that? Let
go? I surely did.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    Tom
Tanner
    Chapter
Three

 
    The first thing I
did when Ma released me from my duty with Mrs. Varn was see to her horse. Then I walked the trail that saber made. Even in the setting sun
the trail read easy, so easy William would say it read like a primer, though he
could not read a primer for he’d never been given the chance being both Indian
and Negro. Well, he rode with Jimmy now. Deputy William I called him, and it
made him smile in his silent way.
    So I followed
this trail which took me in time to a tributary of the big river. He had made
his camp here, but he’d carried his roll, so he had no intention of coming
back. He’d eaten a chicken, one he surely stole, and he smoked a cheroot to its
tip. My guess was he came here and stayed a couple of days, perhaps he had
watched them before he showed, but that trail looked broken through