Chapter 8

The rain finally let up, but when the trio left the cabin, the trail was a muddy mess. Even with her casual shoes, Vivien slipped. Jedediah led the way, while Sam helped her keep her footing. Before they left he changed into more appropriate clothing: jeans, a hawaiian shirt, and sneakers that had a good tread on them. Viven's flats were better on concrete than slippery earth.

"Sam, I don't think we're ever gonna get there. We'll just slide back down into that gully."

"Just keep pushing forward. It starts to level off up there."

"We should have packed lighter and left all my crap back at the cabin."

Sam chuckled. "Hey, this weight is probably the only thing keeping you from sliding into that gully, so be thankful we've got it."

He was glad that they packed smart. Some of their things, like Vivien's large suitcase, they left behind. Instead, they co-mingled her essentials in Sam's smaller bag. He unpacked the weapons and carried the rifle strapped across his back and had one handgun tucked into his waistband, and their pockets were full of ammunition. Vivien carried the other two handguns, one in her hand, the other in Sam's small bag. The duffel full of medical supplies she carried across her back. He carried the suit bag with more of their things inside, including their laptops. Considering that the cabin hadn't been touched in years, Sam felt pretty confident that what remained behind would be left alone, and maybe later they could go back to recover those things.

Jedediah slipped in the muck, but he used a thick branch as a walking stick to keep his footing. He carried his pack and weapons, minus the bayonet and knife, which he left behind with the gun powder at Sam's insistence. He didn't have any musket balls with him, for which Sam was grateful. If the kid ever did shoot his musket, he was only equipped with blanks. That gave teeth to his theory of the re-enactor scenario. But they still didn't know what he was doing out there alone. When they reached flat ground and found the road, they were all relieved.

"Well, here it is, just like I said," Jedediah declared with a smile. "Now, if y'all will excuse me..."

"Not so fast, Johnny Reb. You were going to take us into town, weren't you?"

"Well...I figured now that you're on the road, you could make it yourself. It's just up that way a few miles." He pointed in the direction opposite of where Sam expected they would go.

Sam narrowed his eyes at him. "I thought you said it was north."

"Yep. North." He continued to point south.

"That's the wrong way. What are you trying to pull?" Sam stepped into his personal space and looked down at him in a way that made the young man quake in his boots.

"I-I'm sorry, mister! I musta got turned around." He scowled. "Hey, how do you know that's south, anyway?"

"I have a good sense of direction," Sam replied. He pulled out something from his pocket and held it up for Jedediah to see. "And I found this handy little thing called a compass in the desk at the cabin."

Jedediah looked defeated. "Okay, ya got me."

"What do you mean, we got you?" Vivien looked at him, puzzled.

"I was supposed to lead you the wrong way. The Captain said I was supposed to go down to the cabin and get the people inside, lead them up here and down the hill a ways. They're waiting to capture you."

Vivien asked, "How did your captain know where we were?"

Sam stared at the kid as recollection kicked in. "Recon. I thought I saw something out there last night during the thunderstorm. Somebody was watching us."

"I don't believe this. What is going on?"

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you. The Captain just ordered me to..."

Sam took a deep breath and exclaimed, "Okay, forget about it. We're out of here, and you can go back by yourself. And, I don't know, tell your 'Captain' that we escaped." Sam took a step backwards. "Just give us ten minutes' head start, and then you go walking down that hill and find your platoon. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"Good. Come on, Viv. Let's go." He turned and gestured for her to leave with him.

Vivien turned without a word and hustled to catch up to Sam. She was glad that the road was flat and made of asphalt. It made it easier to keep up with his long strides.

"I wonder if that kid is the result of inbreeding," Sam muttered. "Dumber than a box of rocks."

"He was pretty strange, wasn't he?" She shook her head. "I'm even more convinced that you have to be flaky to want to dress up like that and run around shooting off archaic weapons that do nothing but make you deaf. All in the name of living history."

They rounded a bend and couldn't see Jedediah anymore. The trees dripped water on the road and their heads as they passed under a canopy of oaks and maples. The sun came out and drove fingers of light down through the leaves to dapple the road ahead.

"It's really nice out here. Quiet, peaceful."

"Yeah, but I'd love to be somewhere close to civilization right now." Sam pulled out his phone and checked it. "Still no signal. Watch, Prescott will be some cowtown that doesn't even have electricity, never mind a cell tower."

"There aren't even any farms around," Vivien remarked as she huffed a little from the effort it took to keep up with Sam. "We are really out in the sticks!"

"Let's just keep moving. I don't know why, but I've got a bad feeling about all this."

They walked for an hour at a good pace, although Sam had to slow down a little or risk losing Vivien. And, to tell the truth, he was starting to run out of gas. When he was younger, he could have gone all day without rations if necessary. But other than a few bottles of water they took with them, they had nothing to eat, and deprivation was starting to take its toll. "Hey, you want to switch packs? I don't know if this suit bag is any lighter than that duffel, but we can try it."

She stopped dead in her tracks. "Yeah, sounds like a good plan." Just when they were in the middle of their exchange, trees and undergrowth rustled, and gray coats came out of the brush, guns aimed at them.

"Hands up, you two."

"Oh for Pete's sake," Vivien muttered. Her eyes scanned the men and found someone with a cavalry hat and a lot of brass on his coat. "Are you the leader of this group?"

"Why yes, yes I am."

"Well then, sir, why are you trying to detain us? You can obviously see that we aren't part of your Civil War re-creation stuff. We don't even know what battle you're trying to replay!"

"My dear Miss Vivien, we aren't replaying a battle." With lightning quick moves, he pulled a very modern looking gun from under the flaps of his coat. "Y'all are my prisoners."

"Come on, this has really gotten out of hand," Sam said with indignation. "Cut the crap, already! What do you really want?"

"You and your laptop, Mr. Axe."

"Me. And why do you want my laptop? Just wait about 100 years or so and you can buy your own." How does this guy know my name?

The man laughed, but his face was serious. "Drop everything, including your weapons."

"I don't believe this. I just do not believe this," Vivien muttered as she felt the barrel of a rifle poking her in the side and she glanced over to see one of the men standing with a stone face and his finger on the trigger.

"Believe it, darlin'. You two are worth a lot to a friend of mine. Sam Axe more than you, but for the right price, I know someone who will be happy to see you too, Miss Vivien Chase." He took a step forward. "You're really worth a lot more alive, but if I have to..." He cocked the hammer back on the revolver. It was only six shots, but at that range, it wouldn't matter. They were in trouble, big trouble, deep in the heart of Dixie.