4. The Officer

Katherine squinted and she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head as if someone had hit her terribly in the back of the head. She could still hear the gunshots in her ears and she briefly wondered what she had been thinking.

How on earth had she thought about talking her father's place in war? She was a mere woman, what on earth could she had done to prevent it? Katherine should be glad that she was not dead. Her brown eyes flickered slightly as a dread of horror passed through her. But wait, what if she was dead. Or worse what if she was paralyzed or missing an arm or something equally dreadful? She had seen young men coming back home looking disfigured and horrible.

Katherine had been known for her beauty all her life, what if she became disfigured, what if she could never walk, she would not get married ever. She would be stuck living with her parents for the rest of her life and become a horrible spinster!

No, her eyes squinted. She needed to open her eyes, she needed to find out the truth. Katherine heard horse's hooves, she smelled cigarette smoking, and she could hear men laughing and telling horrible jokes. Katherine's whole body ached liked the time that she had been thrown off her horse when she was seven.

She sat up slowly, but relaxed when she noticed that none of her bones were broken. At least there was that. She was at a camp, she finally realized, but it wasn't her camp The tents were covered in navy blue and white. She saw a Union flag on a flagpole and a chill went down Katherine's spine

She was at a Union camp. What was she doing at a Union camp instead of the confederate camp? Katherine briefly remembered what had happened, that she had felt someone grab her by the back of her gray coat and then hit her across the head.

Katherine was a prisoner, she thought dumbly. Of course. She had heard that Union soldiers were taking confederate soldiers as prisoners and torturing them and holding them for ramson. Katherine did not know if she preferred to be dead or be held a prisoner.

Katherine felt her chest and saw that the bonds were still there and she breathed a sigh of relief. At least no one had realized that she was a female. That was something at least. Katherine bit her lip and turned around perhaps someone had been captured along with her. She didn't know many of the men, but at least Katherine would see someone that was familiar. But no, she didn't see anyone. She just saw a sea of blue uniforms. Her heart sank when she thought of poor Matt, who had had his head blown up.

Katherine turned to her side and saw a man taking off his dark blue coat showing off his clearly defined chest. Katherine felt her cheeks flushed bright pink with embarrassment. Even though she had trained at camp, she had never been too comfortable seeing half naked men and even when she had been at the confederate camps she had changed under the covers with fear that they would see her ample breasts. The men had teased her horribly about it.

But before the war, Katherine had been a southern belle and her mother would have fainted if she had found out that her sweet daughter had seen a man half unclothed. Not that Katherine cared very much, but still the sigh made her blush, perhaps her feminity hadn't been stripped off completely.

The man had to be ten or fifteen years older than her. He had the beginning of a beard on his otherwise polished face. He had dark hair that was neatly combed and dark brown eyes. Katherine was too stunned looking at him to be scared.

The man finally turned around when he saw that someone was staring at him. His eyes were anything, but friendly and with all frankness, Katherine was not used to being looked at with such anger. "You're awake." His voice was low and almost growling. "I hope that you didn't think this was a holiday where you were going to spend some time with your girl."

Katherine giggled slightly at the remark, which apparently had not been so wise. The dark hair man eyes narrowed slightly towards her and his tone hardened. "Do you think that this is funny?"

"No," she squeaked, but there was still a small smile on her face that for some reason she couldn't erase. "Why did you take me? There was a battle."

"I know," he snapped as if Katherine were the stupidest person on the planet. "Haven't you read the newspapers or at the very least have some common sense? We take people like you, Confederates in order to show your kind that you cannot win the war between the states. The sooner that you stubborn mules can get through your thick heads that you're trash, the sooner we can go home."

"I'm not trash!" she huffed.

He ignored her. "What's your name anyway."

"Kat," Katherine said stubbornly. "Kat Pierce."

He raised an eyebrow. "It's a nickname." He snorted, but he didn't ask her for her "real" name. "Get up."

"Where are we going?" Katherine asked half filled with curiosity and terror. "There was a small, knowing smile on his face that Katherine did not particularly like. "You'll see."

Katherine followed him like a trailing puppy feeling very small against his tall frame and the dark blue uniforms and Katherine quickly realized that she was in enemy territory, yet everyone was treating her capturer as if he were a walking god.

Katherine finally got his name as they walked through the dusty camp. His name was Elijah Mikaelson. General Mikaelson of the George Washington camp. Southern Belle Katherine would have been thrilled to be in the presence of an officer a handsome one even, but soldier Kat couldn't wait to go in the opposite direction.

"Here," Elijah finally stopped and led Katherine towards a corner of the camp that was filled with trees and shrubs and dirt. Katherine wrinkled her nose. There were mosquitos everywhere which would certainly ruin her skin. Elijah handed her a heavy ax and Katherine looked at him confused.

Elijah almost laughed in her face. "Start cutting southerner. My men need to be kept warm tonight."


"Now Miranda calm down," the real John Pierce tried to calm down his hysterical wife, but he was not being lucky since Miranda was so mad she nearly scratched his eyes out. "You don't need to be getting so hysterical."

"Hysterical? You want to see hysterical?" her usual pale face was red with anger. "My only daughter, my baby is missing and you want me to be ok about it? What did you find out at the war office?"

John cleared his throat. "They are on the lookout. They send some officer to the camp where they send John too, but they told me not to worry, that Katherine was a spoiled sixteen-year-old that they would find out sooner or later that she was a woman and that they would treat her like the young lady that she is."

Miranda relaxed a little, but then her face hardened slightly. "Oh, but John what if she has been taken by some Yankee?"

John didn't say anything for a moment. "Then she better says her prayers at night."

-End of Chapter Four-

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