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.”“From the Boston branch of the Alleyne family.You ever been to Barbados?”“No, sir.Not that I recall.”“You wouldn’t have forgotten it,” Alleyne said.“Most beautiful place on earth.And you would have learned that there are probably more black Alleynes on the island than white ones.” He lowered his voice and leaned toward Caleb.“You may have noticed that I, myself, am not the whitest person you will ever meet, though if you suggested that back in Bridgetown, I’d have to call you out.” He held out his hand.“Richie Alleyne at your service, Sergeant.”Caleb took the hand.“Caleb Jardine at yours, sir,” he said.“Welcome aboard, Caleb,” Alleyne said.“Between the two of us, we are going to get this outfit into some kind of shape.”Caleb and Alleyne had barely begun that monumental task, and Jardine had scarcely climbed down from the observation platform, when General Lee gave the order to begin what was to become known as the Second Battle of Bull Run or Second Manassas, depending on whose side you were on.And it was to begin on the little arc of territory nominally held by the Kershaw County Dragoons.Rafe Bentley hurriedly called his officers together.“Unless this is another of those goddamned false alarms, boys,” he told them, “you have just about enough time to give your troops a cold feed, issue them as much ammunition as you have, and get them saddled up.Soon as the big guns start up in the rear, we are going to storm across that crick and reclaim that little patch of heaven for the Confederacy.”“What do we do when we get to the other side, Colonel?” asked a young lieutenant.“Assuming you are still alive, son,” Bentley said, “kill everything that resists, capture anything that doesn’t, and dig in for a counterattack.I’ll try to think of something for you to do then.Now, get to your men.”On the other side of the creek, Caleb was patiently trying to explain to his new command that those distant figures on the other side of the creek might finally decide to do something active and deadly.He’d hoped to have a month or so for this task, but scarcely a week later the roar of Confederate guns announced that the time had indeed come.“Get to your dugouts,” he told his men, “and shoot at anything that comes up that slope.Don’t stop shooting until they’re not coming anymore.” The soldiers, numb with the knowledge that the battle was finally about to begin, ran to their trenches.In the distance, they could hear the Confederate bugles and a first ragged salvo of rifle shots.Swinging aboard his horse, Caleb rode the length of the Third Platoon sector, checking that the men were pointed in the right direction and looking for Alleyne, who had been called to headquarters.He found Alleyne and his aide standing at the edge of Third Platoon country trying to regain their breath.“Christ!” exclaimed Alleyne.“We had to run all the way back.Did you order this attack, Sergeant?”“No, sir,” said Caleb.“Not that I remember, anyway.”“Well, you’d better get off that goddamned horse.I won’t have a sergeant presenting a better target than I do.It challenges my authority.Are all the troops on the line?”“Yes, sir.And most of them seem to be pointing toward the enemy.”“Praise the Lord!” said Alleyne.“It’s a miracle.Well, let’s see if we can inspire them a little.” He turned to his aide.“Smithers, haven’t you got a rifle somewhere?”“Yes, sir.”“Well, get it.I want you to shoot me if I look like I am going to do anything heroic.Now,” he said to Caleb, “you take the left side of our sector, and I’ll take the right.Those bastards shall not get through, right?”“Right, sir,” said Caleb.Back on the left side of the Third Platoon line, Caleb worked his way from dugout to dugout, checking ammunition, tapping canteens to see whether they were full, and trying to keep the troops from panicking.The new, barely trained volunteers were nervous [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]