The inspiration of a noble cause enables men to do things they did not dream themselves capable of before.
– General Joshua Chamberlain
Colonel Hunter paced impatiently after hearing a few shots in the distance, his heart and eyes weary of watching for her arrival. When the sound of galloping hooves interrupted the silence, he anxiously scanned the lane, waiting for the image of the horse to come into view. But it did not appear where he expected.
The bay, lathered and blowing, came bursting out of the woods not fifty feet away. He watched as she aimed her mount straight for the fence that separated the road from the pasture, watched men who were lounging nearby scatter, and watched with his experienced eye, a horse that had no intention of attempting flight.
Hunter turned his head when they were but one stride out, seeing in the actions of the horse that it was indeed going to refuse to jump. When he did not hear a crash, he turned back to see the duo sailing over the obstacle with a foot to spare. Andrea’s spurs were deeply dug into her charger’s flanks, and the horse’s eyes still bulged from the shock of the perfectly timed action.
A hellcat on horseback. Hunter stared at her in suppressed amazement as she drew the horse to a jolting stop, spraying clumps of mud upon the porch step where he stood.
“Mission accomplished, Colonel.” She saluted him in such a way that he knew it was instinctive rather than planned. “It was occupied but did not appear to be heavily guarded. Gus is through with your dispatch and Captain Pierce’s men are—”
Andrea sucked in a mouthful of air as she dismounted. Although she made an obvious effort to land on her good leg, she grimaced and cursed under her breath when she hit the ground nonetheless. “…In control of the ford.” She finished her sentence, and straightened up with gritted teeth. “He should be back soon with his report. I await further orders.”
“Yes, come with me. I need to talk to you.” Hunter turned and clanked noisily up the steps, his gaze falling on Carter who lounged against the wall beside the door as if preparing to stand guard. Hunter nodded in gratitude at the duty being performed with no orders to do so, and Carter nodded back with a kind of contented smile on his face.
“There’s going to be a hot fight,” Hunter said before Andrea had even closed the door.
Andrea half-nodded and half-shrugged with half a frown on her face, showing as much concern or interest as if he’d just predicted warm weather in the middle of July.
“You need to get away from here.”
This caused a bit more of a reaction. First, she blinked in surprise. Then her eyes, which had been glowing with satisfaction, narrowed with a grave look of defiance. “But I—”
“After careful reflection, I’ve decided I don’t want you involved in this.”
“You mean you’ve decided you want me out of the way.”
Hunter closed his eyes when he heard the rebelliousness in her voice, knowing there was more to follow when it reached that tone. He braced himself for the fallout. “You’ve already done more than we can repay, more than we could ask. I want you safely behind the lines.”
Although Andrea had stood before him calm and determined before, she now bristled with hostility. “Which lines, Colonel? North or South? Because I can be felled by a Yankee bullet as easily as Rebel now. It makes no difference to me from where the lead comes!”
He grabbed her by the arm. “I prefer that you return to Hawthorne, and wait for me there.”
“I’m on the wrong side of the Potomac for that,” she spat. “As are you. Though you are apparently too determined to go down in a blaze of glory to care.”
“We have the ford now.”
“I did not show you the location of the ford so I could retreat to a place of safety.”
When Hunter spoke again, his face was resolute, his tone was stern, and his words were unrelenting. “If you defy me, I will have you arrested and placed there by force.”
Andrea’s jaw dropped and she blinked in surprise. “You would not dare!”
“I am the commanding officer here.” The response was calm, but loud. “Yes. I would.”
Carter stuck his head in the door at the noisy exchange, and gazed worriedly at the courier and the colonel as they stood face to face—one looking enraged, the other careworn and troubled beyond measure. “Everything all right in here?”
“We’re fine, Carter,” the latter said, not taking his eyes from Andrea’s defiant gaze, nor she from his.
Andrea picked up the conversation where it had left off as soon as the door closed. “If you think for one moment you can bend me from my purpose by your threats or command, you will find you are in dreadful error.” She took a step closer and pointed her finger at him defiantly. “I will not leave but by force, and you will not find that an easy course! Why, you do not even have enough men to accomplish such a deed.”
“It will take but one man, Andrea,” Hunter said in a perfectly calm voice.
“Me.”
He did not give her time to respond to that. He cupped her face in his hands, bent down and kissed her so tenderly, so longingly, so lovingly that it took her breath—and her anger—away.
“Is it so hard to believe that I want you to be safe?” Hunter whispered in her ear, pulling her into his arms.
“Is it so hard to believe that I want the same for you?” Andrea placed her head on his heart. “Retreat does not indicate defeat when it allows you the opportunity to fight another day.”
“When Pierce gets back I will consult the opinions of my officers. I’ll yield to their decision on whether the Command fights or crosses into Virginia.”
“But there’s really no decision to make,” Andrea said, making an obvious attempt to keep her voice calm. “Consider how the prestige of a victory over you would animate the enemy, Colonel Hunter. I know you worship the sacred soil of Virginia—but wouldn’t it be better to fight another day than sleep eternally beneath it? That is the basic premise for your decision, isn’t it?”
“You make it sound easy.” Hunter pushed his hat back off his brow and walked to a window in the back of the room to stare at the horizon.
“It is easy.” Andrea paced back and forth, her hands flying to accentuate her emotions. “On the one hand, your Command is devoid of every resource for battle including provisions and men. You do not have the choice of ground, or even knowledge of the ground on which you stand. Nor do you have the advantage of surprise or the benefit of being the aggressor.”
Hunter looked back over his shoulder at her, but made no effort to bring the conversation to an end.
“You have no time to launch a diversion, and even if you did, you don’t possess the manpower or the ammunition to sustain one. Your horses are jaded, your men are tired, and the enemy outnumbers you five to one. Any attempt to defend this position seems incredibly impractical, unrealistic and, frankly, unattainable due to an uncooperative swollen river. Your only hope of success is a sudden and complete capitulation by the enemy, which we both know is not going to happen. They are well rested and well fed, and are no doubt incensed—nay, infuriated—with your very presence on Northern soil. They carry the added advantage of no longer suffering in fear of ambush or reprisal from you, trapped as you are on a useless piece of land that you cannot afford to hold and from which you do not have the ability to maneuver. The benefit of this to them and the consequences of this to you are nigh impossible to estimate. Tell me Colonel, wherein lies the difficulty of the decision?”
“Gotta couple of pretty good points there,” Carter said.
Andrea and Hunter both whirled around at the same time. Neither had heard Carter and Pierce enter the room—Andrea so intent on making her plea, and Hunter intent on listening in bewilderment to her torrent of words.
Carter leaned nonchalantly against the door, chewing on his cigar while looking wryly amused. Pierce stood with his head cocked to the side, looking openly shocked at the lengthy expostulation just given by a mere boy.
Hunter cleared his throat, and nodded dismissively in her direction. “Thank you for your opinion. That will be all.”
He saw a stream of sunlight burst into the room and surround her as she opened the door and then watched it disappear as if she were taking it with her when it alternately slammed shut.
“Send in the other officers,” Hunter said to Carter, “we have a plan to discuss.” Then he turned his back and concentrated once again on the map on the table.