Lincoln's Wizard Read Free Page A

step over them?”
    “It’s too dangerous,” Braxton yelled. Being that close to enemy guns would give the Rebs a much better chance to hit one of the Monitor’s legs. It might not bring the tall gun down, but it could render them immobile.
    “We need another direction,” he yelled up through the grate.
    “Head into the river,” Laurie yelled.
    Braxton wasn’t sure he’d heard that right.
    “That’s where they enemy is,” he said.
    “No,” Laurie said. “Their main force is on the Ohio side of the river. If we can get across to the West Virginia side, we’ll be pushing through their support column. Then we can head downriver until it’s safe to cross back.”
    Braxton didn’t like it, but with bullets and shells bouncing off the Monitor , he didn’t see any better options. The Monitor could take the guns, but sooner or later some Reb would try to blow up one of her legs with a powder keg and then he and Laurie would be dead.
    “I’m taking us out,” Braxton called over the chugging of the engine.
    He gripped the control levers and turned the Monitor into the river. The low narrow strip of Blennerhassett Island lay to his left and he could make out the confusion among the Rebels swarming there like a kicked-over ant hill. With the tall gun’s height, they should be able to cross as long as he took it slow and didn’t get the legs hung up on anything. He pushed downriver to the west, hoping to get around the island rather than try to cross through the Confederate ranks, but the island seemed to go on forever. When they moved, the cannon hits stopped as they passed out from in front of the Rebel artillery. Braxton breathed a sigh of relief, knowing it would take them several minutes to realign their guns. He had almost relaxed when something smashed against the boarding hatch.
    “Someone’s under us,” he yelled to Laurie.
    “They’ve sent out boats with Grays,” Laurie replied, panic in his voice. “They’re climbing up the legs.”
    “Not to worry,” Braxton called back. “There’s nothing on the Monitor ’s legs that would be vulnerable to a few Grays.”
    Something heavy crashed into the hatch and it buckled.
    Braxton blanched. The boarding hatch, however, was another story. If they got that open, they could shoot him easily.
    “They’ve got a boat underneath us,” Braxton yelled, his chest tightening so that his words ended in a gasp. “They’re breaking through.”
    “Should we surrender?” Laurie asked.
    “To the Grays?” Braxton squawked. Laurie didn’t sound as panicked as Braxton felt and that gave Braxton some measure of courage. The hatch banged again, jumping almost free and bending the heavy brass bolt that secured it.
    Without taking time to think it through, Braxton leapt from the pilot’s seat. The rapid-fire guns had a bad habit of jamming, so Braxton had them mounted to the ceiling on swivel arms, allowing them to be pulled inside the cabin so that their gunners could clear them, getting them back in action. Braxton seized one of the Gatling guns, and swung it around, pointing its muzzle inside the Monitor ’s lower compartment.
    It stopped well short of the boarding hatch.
    For safety reasons, the gun arm didn’t swing around so that the gun would point at the inside of the cabin. The hatch banged again and Braxton heard the wood splinter. The Grays below must have a hammer or a crowbar.
    A desperate idea leapt into Braxton’s mind. Above him, the Gatling gun support arm was bolted to the ceiling. If he loosened two of the three bolts, he could move the gun far enough to cover the hatch. As this idea took full possession of his mind, Braxton sprinted across the deck to the tool box. Waves of heat assaulted him when he drew close to the boiler. A wooden tool box was secured to the wall there, and Braxton grabbed the large wrench. He had to drop it immediately as it burned his hand. He made a mental note to relocate the toolbox and untucked his shirt, using the