Emmett walked out of the tent we shared, wiping a bead of sweat off his brow.
"Hey Jasper. What you doing just sitting there?"
"Waiting for you to get out of our tent." I say, eyeing the girl on his arm.
"Aw, no need to be so stiff, who is there to get mad at you out here?" He asks, "Why don't you get yourself a girl like Rose here?" He patted the stranger on the hand that was woven into him arms.
"I have a girl. Back home."
"Yeah. So does very other guy in this unit. I don't see that stopping any of them from having a bit of fun."
"Certainly not you." I mutter, brushing past him into the tent.
I like him just fine, he's probably the best friend I've had , only he doesn't feel obliged to follow any rules unless someone was holding a rifle to his head. He was a lot of fun, only he gets us in trouble a lot more often than I like.
"Major Whitlock. Colonel Cook would like to speak with you." He says, saluting me from the tent flap.
"No need to be smart just because I refuse to abandon my girl." I mutter, slapping his arm down on my way out of the tent.
I stand in front of the tent, raise my hand and salute.
"Major Jasper Whitlock reporting for duty."
"At ease." Lieutenant Cullen ordered.
I lowered my arm and widened the stance of my feet.
"This is the solider you are putting in charge of evacuating the women and children, Lieutenant?"
"Yes, Colonel Cook."
"I see he is only a Major, and so young. What makes you think he is capable of this task?"
"Major Whitlock has advanced through the ranks faster than any other solider in this Brigade. He capable of tasks far more difficult than evacuations. I feel very confident that he can successfully evacuate the island."
"What makes you think you have the authority to appoint him? Being a Lieutenant Colonel, you aren't even fit to be in charge of a Regiment, let alone such an important one."
"I feel Major Whitlock is ready. He has impressive accomplishments and has been one of our best soldiers from the start. And one of our Texan soliders can fight like ten Yankees, but Jasper here can fight like a hundred. If any one man in the army were to be put in charge of our civilians, I would choose him over any other."
Colonel Cook nods and circles around me.
"Fine. Major Whitlock, you are given four days to evacuate all the women, children, injured, and other civilians from the island before Union soliders move in off the Harriett Lane."
"Yes sir." I respond.
"They will be under Commander Wainwright. I trust you to command an escort to guide them to the mainland."
"Yes sir." I salute.
"You are dismissed, Major Whitlock and Lieutenant Cullen."
We both give a final salute as he walks off. Carlisle turns to me.
"Now don't make a fool of me Jasper." He says, jokingly punching my arm.
I smile and hold open the tent flap for him. He nods and walks in.
"Well congratulations Jasper Boy. Who would'a thought the three of us would be in the same regiment, you two all high and mighty with titles and awards and all while I stand right next to you fighting without getting a single promotion?"
"Me." Cullen and I say at the same time.
He holds a hand to his heart, feigning hurt.
"Now why would you say that?"
"Because you manage to ruin every weapon you touch and have made a fool of every one of your commanding officers."
He glares at me.
"You can't prove anything."
"But I still remember that skunk in my tent." Carlisle responds.
"And I don't think I could ever forget you painting my name on the flag the night after I got promoted to Major."
"Or when he poured vinegar in the Colonel's water barrel."
"Or poured boot-leg all over your first private tent and set it on fire."
"Or put our cots on the roof of the custom's building."
"Or hid a hog in the-"
"You don't know that was me!" He cut us off.
We look at each other.
"We do, but we can't prove it. We grew up with you. No one else is stupid enough to pour a pound of mustard seed in the stew that everyone had to eat. Including himself." I joke, reaching for a brown bottle on the floor next to his cot.
"Hey, that's mine." He pouts, grabbing it from my hand. "You don't even drink."
I snatch it back and pour some in a cup.
"Whiskey, Carlisle?"
"Don't mind if I do." He reaches for the cup where I hold it out of Emmett's reach.
I cork the bottle and toss it to him; he catches it in one hand and tucks it under his arm.
"My, my. Is this yours Major Whitlock?" He fakes shock.
"No sir. It's Private McCarty's."
"Private. You should know better than to bring alcohol into this camp. We will have to confiscate this immediately." He smirks, turning to leave as Emmett scrambles after him, trying to take the bottle back.
I barely contain a smile as I follow after him with a pitcher of ice tea.
We go into the officer's tent where he can't follow and sit at a table with our drinks and a paper.
"Whiskey?" Carlisle offers.
"You know I don't drink." I push away the bottle and pour myself a glass of iced tea, lifting the paper.
"Mmm. I thought you'd change your mind when the coffee rations ran out." He mumbles, setting down the bottle next to him.
I swallow the contents of the glass in a few gulps and drop the paper without even reading it.
"When does the evacuation period start?"
"Midnight."
I flip open the face of my watch and frown.
"It's two already."
"Well looks like you just lost your head start." He jokes.
I glare at him.
"Don't be mad at me. That genius Cook didn't even tell me about the evacuation until past one, then bothered me with all sorts of formalities before he finally agreed to see you. Be glad Emmett didn't say anything in front of him or else we wouldn't even start the evacuation until after them yanks had already attacked."
I nod but walk out.
"The rest of the escorts under your command are meeting here at sun-up." He calls after me.
"That'll take too long. Give me their names now, we're going to start assembling and posting the notices."
"We have some privates and civilians posting notices throughout the city already."
"You said they were under my command?" I ask.
"Completely."
"Then they can get their lazy asses out of bed and help. I don't care their rank, they are going to do whatever they can and then some."
He smiles and hands me a list of names and tent numbers.
"I don't think I've ever heard you cuss before Jasper."
I look back at him.
"I don't think I've ever heard you go an hour without cursing someone and their mother to hell and back."
"Touche."
With that I left the tent and made my way down the rows of tents to collect my soldiers. When someone asked why I didn't have someone wake them for me I asked why I shouldn't.
"If someone is incapable of waking people up then I don't want them watching my back in any battle."
That turned them around right fast.
After assembling our men, I had about fifty to make up a proper platoon. When I passed around the notices and sent them out to post them throughout the city, a few grumbles rose from the crowd.
"If you can't paste a piece of paper to a wall then why should I trust you to hold a musket? We could send you the doctor to see if it is injury preventing you from doing a proper job, or just mental incompetence." I threat.
They all shut their mouths but continue to glare at me before being dismissed to their duties.
-0-
I take my share of announcements and mount my horse, Ross, and head to the opposite side of the island.
When I get to my assigned area, I take the paste and start putting up the announcements on walls and posts. As I walk through the nearly deserted streets I notice a couple of kids sitting in the corner of an alley, huddled together. I dismount and walk over to them.
"You should be getting home, it's very late, your mothers will be missing you."
They don't respond, just crawl deeper into the shadows.
"An evacuation is starting. Tell your parents there will be four days to evacuate the island."
One wraps two shaky, skinny arms around the other and pulls him in to his shoulder. Their short hair is matted and tangled, covered in dirt and mud and sweat.
"Are you all right?" I ask, kneeling down next to them.