Read War for Free Online Page B

nauseating if it’s just acting.
    The feeling was gone now. The way he imagined war, up in the attic —
    It’s nothing like that.
    Nothing.
    “If they had half a brain,” said the first man, Clarence, “they’d put that snake Orvis in here, too.”
    “A full brain, and they’d get Rademacher.”
    From inside the cabin, Rademacher’s voice called out, “Shut your mouths, ’fore I pump ’em full of buckshot!”
    Clarence lowered his voice to a whisper. “He’s got the curse, Jamie. The anger. Makes him blind. He shot Platt.”
    “That don’t mean he’d turn sides.”
    “He would, for revenge. The Colonel stole his girl. Plumb destroyed him.”
    “Aaaah, Rademacher don’t do nothing less’n Edmonds tells him.”
    “So who says ol’ Edmonds ain’t in on it, too?”
    “Hey — maybe all of ’em are!”
    Both men burst out cackling.
    Enough.
    “Stop it!” Jake shouted. “How can you guys stand it in here? How can you laugh?”
    “Don’t know what you’re complaining about, fella.” Clarence jerked a thumb out the window. “They’re the ones fightin’. We got it easy in here.”
    “Don’t you want to fight?” Jake asked. “Isn’t that why you enlisted?”
    “Hoooo-hahaha! That’s good!” roared Jamie. “I came here ’cause they would’ve arrested me back home.”
    “I came here ’cause I was paid to,” Clarence said. “That’s how it works. A rich gen’leman can avoid service by sending a paid fella like me in his place.”
    Hopeless idiots.
    “But — but — this is the greatest war of all time,” Jake said. “The whole country is falling apart — and you can fight it. Destroy the enemy. Show them who’s boss — ”
    “Yeeee-hahh!” Jamie whooped. “We’ll just watch you do it!”
    Cowards.
    They were the lowest forms of life Jake had met.
    Even their opinions were stupid.
    Orvis, a spy?
    Jake remembered what Orvis had said when he’d first met him — “You Rebel?”
    He was the one who first suspected me.
    Edmonds? Rademacher?
    Ridiculous.
    Absolutely off the wall.
    It had to be someone else. Someone suspicious. Someone who left clues. Like …
    Like …
    Jake sat on the cell’s one chair. His mind was numb. Images began bubbling up.
    Like Orvis. Hinting he wanted to go south. To work.
    What did that mean? Was it a signal? Was h e testing my response to see if I was a Rebel?
    Or … is he one himself?
    Like Edmonds, with his battle plan.
    Incompetent beyond belief. As if he wanted the Confederates to win.
    Like Rademacher and his temper. The way he casually shot Platt.
    Revenge? Sabotage? Wouldn’t put it past that dude.
    Maybe they were working together.
    Maybe Clarence and Jamie weren’t so crazy.
    FOOOOOOOM!
    The ground shook violently. Jake and his two cell mates fell to the dirt.
    “Uh-oh, that was from the north,” Clarence remarked.
    “Ohhh, we’re gon’ get it now!” Jamie shouted.
    The north.
    The direction of Hobson’s Corner.
    The Rebels were closing in now. From both sides.
    Like …
    “Pincers,” Jake said.
    “Say what?” Jamie asked.
    Pincers. A squeeze. Two-sided advance. Solution: Blast enemy with heavy artillery during daylight. Keep them at bay while conserving as much musket ammo as possible. Fan out into the mountainside under cover of darkness. Next morning, enemy ambushes empty camp. Soldiers fire from hidden outposts in counterambush.
    Jake remembered the strategy. From a book. Some Civil War battle.
    A Union victory. Against all odds.
    CRRRACK! CRRRACK! CRRRACK! CRRRACK!
    A bullet flew through the cell window. Jake, Clarence, and Jamie flattened themselves.
    Get the plan to Weymouth before it’s too late!
    “I know what to do!” Jake shouted. “I know how to win this!”
    “Better hurry,” Jamie remarked. “ ’Cause we ain’t got long.”
    Jake pulled out his green steno book and began to write.

Green? Did they have green paper then?
    Or wire-bound notebooks?
    DOES IT MATTER?
    Move to reopen contact. We don’t have