If there was one thing that Forbes was good at (besides being fluent in sarcasm), it was definitely arguing. My ears were ringing from the crowd's insistent yelling and the utter chaos, but now, Forbes' voice was definitely a factor in my now-aching head. It had been nearly an hour of Forbes and I going back and forth, and he seemed nowhere near giving up the argument.

"Forbes, I am not getting on that horse!" I exclaimed, pointing a shaky finger at the animal in front of me. It did seem a lot calmer than Robert's, but it was a horse all the same. It bothered me how afraid I was of them, but I couldn't remember why.

"You must." Forbes snapped. He obviously was getting rather irritated with me, after arguing with me for several minutes. I bristled at his declaration, standing straight up and looking him in the eye.

"And why would that be, Major?" I snarled, making Forbes roll his eyes.

"After the spectacle you two caused riding in here, I really don't believe that Colonel Shaw will allow you to ride on the back of his horse again." He said bluntly, stroking the black horse beside him. "The others already doubt his power."

"What?"

"Having a colored regiment is one thing, Princess," Forbes explained. "But having a woman assist him…" He trailed off, looking at the horse. "I'm not saying that Robert will send you back home –" At this, I swallowed. If only I could remember where my home was. "-but it certainly wouldn't hurt riding your own horse."

I glared at Forbes. For all he knew, riding my own horse could hurt.

"Hername is Miracle." Forbes continued absentmindedly, scratching Miracle's neck affectionately. "She wouldn't hurt a flea, I promise you."

"My God, Forbes, if you're lying to me…" I warned him, leaving the last part off as an implied threat. Forbes laughed, ignoring the occasional shout still emitting from the crowd. It had quieted down a bit, and the recruits were now attempting to get into lines by their letter company.

"I swear on my life, Miss DeWolfe, I am not lying." Forbes said, momentarily catching me by surprise at my surname rather than 'Princess.' He was serious and his eyes sincere, but I was still a bit suspicious. Forbes sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "If it will make you feel any more comfortable I'll even hold the reigns and lead your horse."

That did sound a bit safer. Even though my mind was screaming at me to disagree, I sighed also. "All right." I mumbled, walking closer to the horse. It didn't seem half as scared as I did, but stared at me with huge eyes.

"Fantastic." Forbes breathed in relief. "Now, just grab onto the reigns…" he waited until I had done so before continuing. "…And put your foot right here in the stirrup…Then, just pull yourself up."

Silently repeating the directions in my mind and my hands shaking in terror, I managed to lift my entire body onto the saddle of the horse, so that I was sitting side-saddle. Miracle barely even moved; she just shifted a bit to make herself more comfortable. I felt beam form on my lips. It was so wide that it actually hurt my cheeks, but I just grinned down at Forbes.

"Did you see that, Major?" I crowed. Forbes laughed, nodding his head. "I'm on my own horse!"

"Are you able to ride it by yourself?"

The smile immediately vanished from my face, and I shook my head urgently. Forbes smirked at my aghast face. "Absolutely not!" I exclaimed loudly, startling Miracle a little. She snorted indignantly and tossed her head, stomping the ground. I swallowed, gripping the reigns tightly. To my horror, Miracle began to trot forward alongside the seemingly endless line of African Americans. Many of them looked up at me curiously as I passed. Someone yelled, "For-ward, march!" and then they were off, walking along beside me, still gazing at me incredulously.

I felt my fingernails digging into my palms; that's how tightly I was gripping the reigns. "Forbes!" I managed, even though the horse couldn't have been going any faster than a walk. I heard a few of the officers chuckling again, but at the moment, I feared tremendously for my life so I didn't pay much attention to their laughter.

My God, Miracle is going to throw me off the first chance she gets!

"FORBES!"

"Calm down, Princess." I heard him laugh. I briefly turned my head, watching the dirt billow up as Forbes' horse trotted quickly to catch up to me. Miracle snorted, tossing her head and making a sharp turn to her left. Forbes' hand shot out and grabbed my hand, guiding it so that the horse was walking straight once again.

"I – you need to take the reigns right now so I don't fall off and die!" I shrieked suddenly, my own palms shaking in fear. The man whom I had smiled at earlier – the one with the glasses – looked up at me in curiosity and what I was sure was amusement. A worn-out book was in his hand, and he placed it at his side for a moment.

"Forbes, is she all right?" he asked, blinking once. Forbes smirked before nodded.

"Oh, she's fine, Thomas." Forbes replied, waving a dismissive hand. "It's just the shock and bliss of coming to war with a group of dapper young men like us that's getting to her."

I snorted and the fear of cracking my head open momentarily vanished. "Don't be so arrogant, Forbes. It's not very attractive."

"I'm not arrogant," Forbes said, a look of mock-horror on his face. "I'm simply speaking the truth."

Thomas snorted loudly. When Forbes shot him a look, he immediately busied himself with the book again. It was then that I realized how far I was off the ground, and the feeling that I had to puke settled in my stomach. Forbes seemed to notice my pale face, and he rolled his eyes.

"It's been nearly a full five minutes and you haven't broken your back yet." Forbes pointed out. "That has to be a good sign, doesn't it?"

"If I die it'll be on your conscience." I reminded him shakily. Forbes glared at me a moment before riding ahead of me in spite.

"Wait! Forbes! FORBES!"

"Miss DeWolfe!" Another voice exclaimed from behind me, causing me to whip my head towards the direction of the sound. It was Robert, who was watching me with a mixture of alarm, horror, and fury. That wasn't a good combination of emotions, was it?

"If you would please stop shouting like that, it would be appreciated." Robert spat angrily. I blinked at him once. What was his problem? Did he not realize how terrified I was?

"It's just a horse, for God's sake. How are the others supposed to take me seriously when I have you – a woman – as my assistant, and she can't even ride a horse?" At the last part, he seemed to be talking more to himself than me, but it stung all the same. I noticed Thomas watching us out of the corner of his eye, pretending to be reading his book, said book at eye-level.

"Robert –"

"You will address me as 'Colonel' or 'Sir,' do you understand?" Robert retorted. I stared at him, my mouth agape. Who did he think he was? Oh, right…he was the colonel.

"Do you understand?" He snapped sharply, causing me to close my mouth and nod bitterly.

"Yes sir." I growled. Thomas was now very obviously looking at us, and he too looked both confused and stunned. Robert nodded curtly, and he rode away. I couldn't help but notice how graceful he looked as his horse galloped further and further.

"He's just stressed." Thomas said helpfully. "He's not usually like this, Miss."

"I understand." I nodded slowly, even though I really didn't. He was so nice before, but now he was simply a jerk. Jerk? What in the world was a jerk? It must have been slang from where ever – or whenever, for that matter – I was from.

Thomas went back to reading, and I went back to desperately praying that Miracle wouldn't buck me off of her back. Forbes had returned to my side (somewhat guiltily), and was now quietly guiding me which way to pull the reigns in order to control my horse.

"G-good book, brother?" I heard one lone voice stutter, and I immediately looked down, smiling softly at the man below me. He was attempting to strike up a conversation with Thomas, who looked up from his book and grinned politely.

"Yes it is, actually." Thomas admitted, putting the book under his arm so he could shake the other man's hand. "Name's Searles, Thomas Searles."

"Jupiter Sharts." Jupiter shook his hand firmly. "What it about, that book?"

For some reason, the smile on my face got a bit bigger. Something about Jupiter just made me feel a mixture of pity and something like admiration.

"It's a collection of essays. Fourier, Emerson, all of the transcendentalists." Thomas explained, glancing at me with a smile of his own. I, however, felt completely bewildered. Thomas might as well have been speaking a foreign language, because I honestly didn't understand a single word he said. Jupiter, however, nodded, grinning brightly as if he knew exactly what a transcendetalist was.

"It got pictures?"

I had to stifle a giggle at that one, for the sake of Jupiter. He cast me a confused look, the smile still on his face. Thomas chuckled too, as if he thought Jupiter was joking. With one quick look to his companion, Thomas knew that it was quite the opposite and shook his head with a still-amused, "No."

"You teach me?" Jupiter asked, pointing to the book hopefully. It sort of broke my heart, how he was so eager to learn something that grown men already should have known. That was how it was where I was from, at least.

"Yes, I'd be happy to." Thomas replied. Jupiter seemed elated with this answer, and he nodded again, a beam on his face. He turned to the man on the other side of him and said, "You hear that? I'm gonna learn to read!"

I exchanged a glance with Forbes, who seemed on the verge of laughed. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a loud, obnoxious voice. "Look at what's walking in here!"

At the exact same time, Forbes and I turned to stare at the source. A rough-looking man, lounging along the porch of a cabin was smirking. I hadn't even noticed that we were passing through another camp. I swallowed and suddenly had the urge to pee, but I didn't think that Miracle would like that very much.

"Getting dark mighty early 'round here!" Another bellowed, much to the amusement of the goons with him. I felt my eyes narrow. Did they really have nothing else better to do than torment these poor men?

"I'd rather have a hog than a nigger!"

My grip tightened again, my fingernails making crescent moon-shaped marks in my palms. Jupiter bowed his head and avoided anyone's gaze. The man in front of them – Rawlins, I believed his name was – turned around and gave him a sad smile. Thomas just stared right ahead, his face blank.

"At least you can eat the hog!" The man finished, bursting into a round of laughter. Forbes didn't seem pleased by this remark, but he didn't say a word. Up ahead, I noticed that Robert had frozen and his horse had halted, but he was too far away for me to read his expression.

"Well, look here, boys!" The first man roared, jutting his chin out towards me. I felt my spine stiffen, and my palms began to sweat. Forbes shot me a look as if to silently remind me to ignore them, but still, the man's voice seeped into my mind.

"They've even got a lady with them!"

I could see now that Robert was looking directly at me, but his expression was still too far away for me to be able to grasp.

"Hey, why don't you get off that horse and keep us company 'stead of those nigs over there?"

Jupiter was now also staring at me, his eyes wide in horror. I watched as Forbes' jaw clenched and unclenched, his eyes fighting to stay pointed ahead instead of staring at the foul-mouthed man.

"We'll be able to give you a better time than them!"

My hands began to shake, half in fear and half in anger. Pigs. Stupid, evil, dirty pigs.

"Whaddya say?"

"Don't say a word, Adelina." Forbes growled lowly, struggling to stay calm himself. "They're not worth it."

Even Miracle seemed a bit cross, and she tossed her head and let out an indignant neigh. Forbes reached over to calm her so I wouldn't scream.

"You have a gun on you, don't you?" I whispered back when he was close enough. "Can't you shoot them?"

Forbes shot me another look. "No." he said shortly, pulling back onto his own horse, and I sighed. The men were guffawing amongst themselves and I desperately wanted to go over there and punch the sneers right off their faces.

"Soldiers are always going to be like that," he continued, apparently noticing the look on my face. "Especially white soldiers. Especially towards this regiment."

That was understandable. "Because they're black?" I asked meekly, even though I knew the answer. Forbes didn't even respond, he just cast me a sad-eyed look. We rode in silence for the rest of the journey. There was just so much left to say – and yet, at the same time, there was nothing at all.

oh, yay! third chaper! thank you so much to those who reviewed and such! you guys are amazing. i'm so happy you guys are enjoying this story!

again, what were your favorite lines? parts? did it seem too sudden that adelina was suddenly able to ride her own horse? don't worry, this will all be explained later on in the story.

also; you will probably notice that as adelina begins to remember more, the way she talks and thinks will become more modern. it is too early for that to happen, though. just a heads up.

review, review like the wind!