Secrets and
Sacrifices
Diane Wylie
Charlie is a crack
sharpshooter for the Twenty-Fifth Virginia infantry.
But Charlie has secrets…big secrets that could lead to
heartbreak or even death. The slowly starving South,
lack of medical supplies, and desperate runaway slaves
motivate Charlie and Daniel to take risks beyond their
wildest imaginations.
How could they
possibly know that their paths would cross during the
worst time in their lives and where that path would
lead?
Excerpt
Crawling on her
hands and knees, she came out from under the bush and
pushed to her feet. Her back hurt and her belly
growled, letting her know that she had missed
breakfast. Breakfast and a bath…take it one step at a
time, Charlotte Elizabeth Garrett. Just concentrate on
those two things and nothing else. You cannot just
crawl under a bush and die. Josh would not want that…
No! Do not think of Josh now…food and a bath…food and
a bath. She repeated it silently, like a mantra.
Hearing splashing, shouts, and laughter coming from
further down the riverbank, her feet automatically led
her in that direction. Somehow, the sounds of life and
thought of getting clean pulled her irresistibly. By
habit she groped in her pocket, pulled out her
glasses, and put them back on her face as she walked
on unsteady legs, slipping in the mud and wet grass.
The sight that met her eyes brought her to a sudden
stop, realizing immediately the foolishness of her
actions. Below her, in the calm waters of the
slow-moving creek were naked men. Many, many naked
men…probably more than half of her company was there.
There were tall men, short men, young unblemished men
with rosy pale skin, and wrinkled older men with
permanent farmers’ tans. Some of the soldiers were
totally naked, and others wore grimy undergarments.
Uniforms, shoes, and guns littered the riverbank,
dumped where they were shed.
A group of young men were frolicking together, pushing
each other down into the cold water with whoops and
shouts. Charlie stood, rooted to the spot, staring at
them. Never before had she seen such a sight!
Oddly drawn to watch the sight she should, by all
rights, be turning away from in horror, she continued
to stare in fascination. This was a world that she
would never be allowed to glimpse as a female, but
they allowed her to stay because they thought she was
one of them.
She was one of them. She was a soldier too. An odd
feeling of calm settled over her. Charlie Garrett
belonged to this group of honorable, brave men and
they accepted “him” without reservation.
Her eyes swept over the joyful scene. The men called
out to the ones standing fully clothed along the edge
of the water.
“Captain Reid! Aren’t you going to follow your own
orders?”
“Y’all gotsa ta git in this here freezing water, too!”
Charlie looked to see who they were talking to. A tall
man stood on the bank, still fully dressed in his gray
uniform and boots. He was hatless and his tawny hair
shown golden in the sun. The light reflected off his
shiny captain’s bars set on impressively broad
shoulders. It was the regimental surgeon, the man who
had tried so hard to save the lives of the soldiers.
“Wash that grime and lice off yourselves, boys! It’s a
fine day today for swimming…not bad for a mountain
winter day,” he called to them.
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