A/N - Thanks to several late night WC with some amazing FF writers, this chapter avoided the dreaded writer's block I seem to be hitting lately. SweetVenom69, Loss4words, javamomma0921, swimom7, and AmelieGee - Thank you ladies. They all also helped keep my mind away from the sudden loss in my family. If Jasper seems moody, that's why. Thank you for all your support. I can't wait to join y'all again!
Jen, my lovely beta, thank you for helping keep 'my' Jasper readable. The two of us greatly appreciate it. And you have given him many ideas for the future.
Also, Ffn has been having issues with using line breaks, so this chapter might have some formatting changes. I noticed CH 10 was all kinds of weird, and still cannot figure out how on earth that mess happened. I'm HTML dumb, so any advice would be lovely. *grins*
As always, Twilight and its respective plotlines and characters belong to Stephenie Meyer and the events of the Civil War belong to history. Anything else belongs to me.
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Chapter 11 : Show Time
As predicted, the week was filled with visits to the Colonel's hotel and to the nearby forts. At any given meeting, I was by far the youngest officer in the room. If the Colonel hadn't placed so much confidence in me, the snide comments from the other Majors would have been enough to give me a complex.
"Major Whitlock, you have documented that you witnessed these ships drawing in closer. Can you make out the names of these ships?" Major Harris addressed me skeptically, finally returning to business matters. For the majority of the afternoon, the room had been filled with discussions of the fundraising bazaar being held Saturday night in honor of the Colonel. I had ignorantly assumed leaving the Blackburn residence would help me avoid the talk of another dance.
"No sir, not as of my last visit. The Union seems to have a firm grip on our sightlines from the harbor." I shrugged my shoulders, taking a sip from the tumbler clutched in my left hand. I had an uneasy feeling that the Union would be making contact soon, but I wasn't willing to risk my reputation on pure speculation.
"How much longer do you think we have?" Colonel Cook directed to me.
"Maybe until the end of the week, or early next week. It's hard to say. I know they had to have seen me during my rounds, but they have yet to make contact. I'm not sure what they are waiting for."
Seemingly satisfied, the Colonel directed his attention to the rest of the Majors lounging in his hotel suit. "And how have none of you noticed these ships? I'm aware that Whitlock's Calvary has been stationed here the longest, but when you arrived, why was I not alerted?"
"We assumed Major Whitlock had already updated you on the situation Colonel. We did not want to waste your time. You are a very busy man." Harris replied, a weak attempt at detaching himself from any blame. The moment the words fell from his lips, the tension level in the room ratcheted up another level.
I grimaced as the Colonel thundered back, "Assume?"
The Colonel slammed a hand down on his desk, loosening his collar with the other as his face quickly turned from a weathered ruddiness to a mottled purple. "You were worried about wasting my time and assumed another major had already informed me? And what if he hadn't and this town was brought under attack? You would have been shit out of luck gentlemen."
The force of his words pushed me further back into my chair, and I watched as his steel blue eyes cut through each person in the room, breaking their stare only when heads were dropped in shame. Only Major Harris had the gall to try to meet Colonel Cook's eyes. As the Colonel continued to speak, his voice grew gruffer, the formal phrasing he employed quickly falling to the wayside.
"And none of you can claim that I informed you why I was coming; I made sure my letters were vague for a reason: I wanted you all on your toes! Obviously Major Whitlock was the only one prepared. The rest of you disappoint me...greatly."
The Colonel took a deep breath before turning to face me, his face still an unnatural shade of purple. "Jasper, I appreciate you traveling out here today. If you will be so kind to excuse us, I will finish with these men in private and come to the boarding house later this evening. There is more I would like to discuss with you."
"Certainly Colonel." I bowed to the room, which had been stunned into silence. As I shut the door behind me, the Colonel wasted no time in resuming his shouting. I shook my head in disbelief and retreated down the hallway to the front doors. Tuxedo was hitched next to a watering trough and his ears perked as I stepped into view.
"Come on old man, let's check out that ridge one more time. I don't trust the Union as far as I could fire a musket." I rode in silence to the ridge overlooking the harbor, not expecting much of a change from two days ago.
When we arrived, I reined Tux in sharply, jerking him in the mouth. His responding bite to the toe of my boot went ignored. I stared at the water in disbelief before spinning him around and took off at a full gallop - back to the hotel.
"Shit. Shit. Shit. God Damn it!" I cursed as we flew down the road. The Colonel would have to forgive me for disobeying a direct order. What I saw was much more important.
I made it back to the hotel in record time, not bothering to properly restrain my mount. Ignoring shouts of protest and anger, I dashed inside and down the hallway, pounding on the Colonel's door.
"What is all that racket?" The Colonel flung the door open and gaped at me, "Major Whitlock, what on earth? Didn't I ask you to return to the Blackburn's?"
"Colonel, we have a problem." I gasped, struggling to catch my breath. "Those bastards, they drew in. They've got us surrounded."
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The rest of the evening passed in a blur, with my company excited to finally be placed on the offensive in this war. The Colonel ordered me back to the Blackburn's to find out as much as my company could about the Union ships. Charles was quickly placed in charge of verifying names while I remained in my office, awaiting further word from the Colonel.
"Major? I think we have found something." Charles interrupted the draft I was writing in response to the Colonel's latest update. The messenger was certainly earning his pay tonight.
"What?" I questioned eagerly before clearing my throat, "I mean, what did you find?"
"A Commander Renshaw. He appears to be the man in charge of the Union fleet currently residing in our harbor."
"Nice work Sergeant. Do we know anything about him?" I was in full information mode, thirsting for whatever I could pass onto the Colonel.
"We do know that he is in charge of the blockade; but other than that, the man is a mystery. Privates Breen and Cane are working on that as we speak. I'm having them go door to door in town, seeing if the commander has visited any of the brothels or saloons. I expect them to return within the hour."
I nodded my approval, scribbling this latest tidbit down. Not only was the Colonel being kept up-to-date, my War Journal was getting the play by play as well. "Can you send for the messenger please?"
As Charles strode out the door in search of the road-wearied young lad, I wondered idly what Jessie would think of the excitement that had found its way to her big brother's doorstep. Charles returned quickly, the messenger close on his heels. I sealed my latest update and sent the messenger off with nary a word. Earlier in the evening, I made the mistake of asking the boy a few benign questions and as a result, couldn't get the boy to hold his tongue for a solid three-quarters of an hour. That update had a hastily scribbled post-script to the Colonel, not wanting him to fall victim as well. Turned out, the Colonel had already discovered the messenger's proclivity for speaking out of turn, much to his dismay.
"May I speak freely Major?" Charles interrupted my thoughts a few minutes later.
"You may."
"How bad is it Jas? You are leaving all of us in the dark. The men have no qualms following your orders, we just are not used to being ordered to follow blindly."
Guiltily, I met Charles's eye. "I'm under orders from the Colonel not to reveal any information before clearing it through him. It is not the way I would choose to lead my men, not with how unfailingly loyal they are. You know this."
"What can you tell us?" Charles prodded, not backing down.
"We are not positive on the severity of the situation, but I would not be surprised to see action before the week is out. The sudden movement of the union ships guarantees that much," I continued to hold Charles's gaze as I spoke, impressed at how calm he remained on the surface. I knew him better though, "Is there anything else Charles?"
"That's all for now. I will send Breen and Cane up when they return. Thank you Major," Charles backed out of the room, shutting the door behind him with a dull thud.
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The week passed much too quickly, and soon Friday evening was staring us in the face; dark, cold and foggy; the clouds rolling in from the water.
Once again, the Colonel and myself were holed up in my office, trying to formulate a new game plan as the Colonel lamented his failures thus far, "Major Whitlock, the blasted Union refuses to reconsider their position. They are intent on seizing Galveston. I am at a loss at what to do. I am afraid we may be out of options and be forced to defend our town with what limited resources we have."
On Wednesday or Thursday, I could no longer be sure which day, Galveston was placed under fire by the Union ships, and as predicted by Charles and myself all those months ago, the town was woefully unprepared. Colonel Cook had been unsuccessful at negotiating with Commander Renshaw. Both men were stubborn, and refused to compromise even an iota, which could easily spell disaster for our tiny island town.
Leaning forward, resting my arms on my desk, I took a deep breath and prayed that with my next words, I would not be overstepping my bounds. Something Charles had reminded me of had been floating in my head, and it was time to bite the bullet, so to speak, "Colonel? Would you mind if I met with Renshaw? Perhaps I can hit upon a way to evacuate the city without raising too much suspicion."
I winced slightly as the Colonel's eyes flashed, "Major, you are a genius! Tomorrow morning we will send you out to Renshaw's ship."
His relief was palpable and immediately relaxed the atmosphere in the room. I was relieved that my suggestion wasn't met with anger and shouts of insubordination. I wondered briefly if Charles was correct when he suggested that I was charismatic enough to influence a room all those weeks ago. I shook the thought away, Colonel Cook was just desperate for anyway to protect Galveston.
Palming the back of my neck, I worked the kinks out of my spine. I could feel a headache building and was determined to stave it off. The Colonel thankfully failed to notice as he prattled on about my idea.
"Yes sir," I agreed blindly to something the Colonel had said. The hour was growing later and I was having a hard time focusing.
"You are a good man Major Whitlock. The Confederacy was very lucky when you joined its ranks. I will be here for you early tomorrow morning, say Oh-five-hundred hours, so I suggest you turn in early tonight. Good evening," Bowing, the Colonel left my office in his usual, abrupt fashion.
As I rose and began straightening my office, I could hear the Colonel downstairs, wishing the my fellow soldiers a good night. Heeding the Colonel's advice, I hurriedly readied myself for bed and after ordering a servant to wake me before dawn; I found myself back in my office drafting a letter to Jessie.
Little Sister,
Your big brother's eagerness for action has come back to haunt him. The town of Galveston will soon be under attack by Union ships. Colonel Cook, my commanding officer has placed me in charge of the negotiation process - he has failed in his attempts. Sadly, it was the opening of my own mouth that got me this position. I'm not so sure congratulations are in order. This has been a mess of a week.
I hope you are doing well, Mama's last letter suggested that you may have a suitor. If he does anything, he'll have me to answer to.
Give my love to everyone,
Jasper
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Whew! What a wild ride Jasper has been on. Let me know what y'all think - reviews light up my day.
On another note, I have submitted a story to the Fics for Nashville fundraiser, and I will not be posting it on Ffnet or any other site. If y'all want to read it, and other stories by some amazing authors, a small donation has it delivered to your inbox. I'll have details listed in my profile.
