Cade's Quest
The Beginning
Copyright©2005 by Ed Howdershelt
ISBN 1-932693-27-0
Caution: Some Erotic Content
Chapter One
Ed Cade quietly hurried through Virginia forest undergrowth into his first ambush position, touch-checking to make sure that all eight of the Colt .44 revolvers belted to his hips and shoulders had arrived with him. They had.
He drew two of them, cocked them, and settled into a reasonably comfortable position as he watched two others of his ambush team settle into positions of their own.
Perhaps fifteen minutes passed before a long line of grey-uniformed men, their rifles at the ready, advanced cautiously northward and slightly upward along the mountainside through the early morning mists of the forest.
Because of the morning mist, Cade couldn't tell how far the line extended, but it seemed that there were a helluva lot more rebel soldiers than he'd been told to expect. Oh, well. Too late now to cancel the damned party.
Some ten to fifteen paces behind the first line, a second line of men also moved forward, following almost in the footsteps of the those ahead.
Cade silently watched the first line of Confederate soldiers pass his position and hoped that none of them would stumble onto one of his men and start the shooting too soon.
As the second line neared, he saw that one of the first-line soldiers was dangerously near Clarke's position. That didn't necessarily mean that Clarke would break cover by shooting, but it can be damned difficult to sit still when someone who'd cheerfully shoot you is about to step on you.
Corporal Higgins knew what to do. A pistol hammer cocked well away down the western end of the lines, briefly halting nearly all of the soldiers and calling their attention that direction. Some dropped to one knee to aim that direction. The really smart ones dropped flat.
A Confederate lieutenant hurried behind the first line to hold a short conference with a sergeant about halfway to Higgins' position. After some moments of whispering, the sergeant raised an arm and motioned forward.
Men began breathing and moving again; some stepping forward carefully through the damp vegetation and some getting back to their feet with muttered cursings about being soaked with dew.
The first line of men had completely passed Cade's position. It was time.
Cade quickly fired each of his revolvers at nearby soldiers, shifted his aim slightly and fired at two more, and then he dove to his left and fired upward at two more from behind his secondary position's covering foliage.
As most of the other Confederate soldiers pivoted toward Cade, Clarke and fourteen other Union men opened fire in the same manner as Cade, each of them taking down as many as six rebels with their first volleys and ducking fast for their secondary covers.
Although most of the nearest enemy soldiers fell, others began blindly returning fire through the billowing gunsmoke that filled the air and thickened the morning mist.
Perhaps half a dozen enemy rounds tore through foliage where Cade had been. Only two of the remaining soldiers in his immediate vicinity were still clearly visible and aiming his way.
Cade's next two shots took them down before he stepped behind a tree, stood up, and chose two new targets among those who'd dropped flat to frantically reload their rifles.
From well behind Cade's victims came shouts and the sound of men crashing rapidly through the forest toward them. The main body of troops had begun a charging advance.
Cade whistled two tones, then repeated them; the signal to fall back. A few more rounds were fired here and there and Cade saw vague shadows running through the misty haze.
One of the soldiers lying on the ground near Cade raised his rifle and aimed at one of the shadows. Cade quickly put a round through the man's head, ducked low, backed away from his tree, and hurried to his next preselected position.
Covering each others' rapid retreats through the forest for about another fifty yards, Cade's men reached a treeless area. A soft, two-toned whistle sounded ahead them.
Cade returned the whistle, then stopped behind one of the last big trees at the edge of the clearing and kept an eye out for rebel soldiers as some of his men dashed past. When no more runners crossed the open area, Cade hunkered a bit and tried to keep the big tree directly behind him as he also ran toward the first line of Union riflemen.
Jumping an overgrown culvert where the first rank of riflemen were waiting, Cade continued twenty yards or so and dropped into another, equally overgrown culvert as he looked for Lieutenant Davis and found him.
Cade's men took positions among the riflemen as Lieutenant Ephraim Davis whispered, "Things went well, I take it?"
"Oh, hell, yeah," replied Cade, "Just fucking fine, LT. There were quite a few more than we were told to expect, but we dropped damned near all of their first two ranks. I heard the men behind them start forward when the firing stopped. They ought to make it at least this far before they realize something's not right."
Lieutenant Davis's mouth was open to say something, but a sentry's hand descended twice to enforce silence. Almost as Cade had finished speaking, the front lines of the advancing rebel soldiers came crashing through the mist to the open area.
Some of them weren't very far at all from the concealed riflemen when Davis yelled, "Fire!" and the Union rifles erupted.
Many of the rebs at the front of the charge fell immediately, but by no means all of them. Almost none of the surprised rebs returned fire instantly, but as some of them spotted and aimed at Union soldiers, Cade's men opened fire on them.
As quickly as he fired the last rounds from his revolvers, Cade dropped them and drew two more without taking his eyes off the action beyond the culvert.
Behind Cade's culvert, the third rank of Union rifles had sent another volley of lead into the rebel charge and again Cade's men picked off those who'd remained on their feet.
The rebel charge broke apart and the remaining rebel soldiers dove for any cover they could find, some even using the bodies of their fallen comrades as shelter from Union fire.
Firing was sporadic for a time, then it ceased altogether as men from both sides watched and waited for valid targets. Cade used the lull to begin reloading his revolvers.
Lieutenant Davis used hand signals to direct and reposition some of his men as he approached, then he said softly, "All appears to be going according to plan, Sergeant."
Gunshots from some distance to the west caused Cade to chuckle and glance up after ramming a load into a revolver's cylinder. He spoke as he powdered the next chamber.
"LT, I love a good plan as well as anyone, but I've never really been able to put my complete faith in them, y'know? The rebs've already started investigating their cage. You've got a few dozen men at each end, right?"
Lifting an eyebrow, Davis replied archly, "Indeed I have, Sergeant."
"And our boys are already closing in from a hundred yards out on both sides of 'em, also right?"
Davis nodded. "Yes. Of course."
"What's the signal to bring them in faster?"
"There's no such signal, Sergeant. They aren't supposed to come in 'faster'. They're intended to securely cover each side as others begin closing the trap at the other end." With an impatient sigh, he added, "And you well know that, so why did you even ask?"
Nodding, Cade replied, "Yup. I know that, but the rebs have probably figured it out, too, or will real soon. We're already hearing shots from the sides. The plan didn't call for that to happen so soon and there are a helluva lot more rebs than the planners expected."
He rammed another ball and glanced west as he said, "They know what the shots way over there mean, too. I don't think they'll retreat, LT. I think they've already hunkered down to regroup and reload. They'll either try to shoot their way out the way they came in or come at us again."
Using his 'let's be reasonable about this' voice, Davis said "Have another look out there, Sergeant. They don't have enough men left to mount a decent charge. They won't face our rifles again; they'll try to escape the way they came and we'll bottle them up, just as planned."
"Uh, huh. Tell you what, LT; you may be right. They may even see the light and surrender. But just in case they don't, I'm moving my men back one ditch to cover everybody."
Stiffening with wide-eyed startlement, Davis said, "That won't be necessary, Sergeant! Our orders are to..."
"Our orders 'were', LT. Then all those extra rebs showed up. Think about it. They were ambushed, then stopped cold by three ranks of entrenched rifles. That isn't exactly a spur-of-the-moment sort of occurrence, is it? You think maybe they didn't instantly realize they'd been boxed tight? What happens when you corner a man, LT? Likely as not, he'll charge at you."
In a rather tight tone, Davis said, "Sergeant, I'm afraid I must insist that you and your men..."
Holding up a hand, Cade interjected, "Don't say it, LT. If you actually say it, you'll be making it a direct order, and if you do that, you'll have to court martial a bunch of us later, because I am going to move my men back to cover all three trenches."
Thumbing back toward the trees, Cade said, "I'd say they had almost half again as many men as we were expecting, LT. Given that, how many are left? A damned sight more than we bargained for, at the very least. Think, sir! If the rebs manage to get in trenches with us, the guys up the hill and our rovers will have to fire into our positions or not fire at all. We'll be ass-deep in bad news, dammit!"
Davis looked peeringly at Cade and asked, "Are you absolutely sure there were more of them than..."
"Aw, hell!" snapped Cade, startling Davis. Cade returned to his reloading as he asked, "LT, when have I ever turned in a bad head count? Listen to someone who was just out there and who doesn't particularly want to die in a goddamned ditch in the middle of no-goddamned-where Virginia!"
Glancing around, Cade took a breath and more calmly added, "Sorry 'bout that, LT. Besides, the border's somewhere around here and the maps are old, so we can't even be sure that this particular tall pile of nodamnedwhere really is in Virginia, can we?"
After a moment of staring at Cade in mild shock, Davis cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and put a hand on Cade's shoulder as he rather condescendingly said, "Sergeant, I can see that you truly feel strongly about this. Since I can't really see how allowing you to cover all three culverts will create any difficulties, I'm giving you my permission to do so."
The LT's tone made it obvious that he thought he was throwing Cade some kind of a damned bone. As much as it galled him, Cade chose to accept it as offered in order to end the discussion and get on with things.
"Thanks, LT," he said, ramming the last chamber of his second revolver, "I'll get everybody back there now."
Getting to his feet and capping his powder flask, Cade headed for the narrow connecting trench someone had thoughtfully caused to be dug.
On the way he told Brinkman and Fuller to pass the word. Within five minutes or so all sixteen of his men were interspersed among the riflemen in the third culvert.
Cade found a place where he could study the treeline through a tiny gap between two logs and finished reloading his last two revolvers almost by touch.
Sergeant Pierce came up behind Cade and said, "I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be over there in Davis's trench."
Without taking his eyes off the woods, Cade replied, "Plans change. Got your binoculars with you?"
"Nope. One side got busted. I gave them to Harkins and requisitioned new ones. They ain't here yet."
"One side would do. Think he left them in camp?"
Grinning, Pierce chucklingly replied, "Well, gee, I dunno. Want me to find out for you?"
Sighing for Pierce's benefit, Cade shook his head slightly and softly muttered, "Jesus..." then answered, "Yes, Pierce, and thank you so very much for asking, of course. Look, I think the plan's about to come apart at the seams. I told Davis, but he didn't seem to want to believe me. Truth, Pierce; we found a lot more rebs out there than we were told there'd be, and I really don't think they're stupid. They have to know their situation by now. What would you do in their place?"
Pierce's answer was instantaneous.
"I'd mass troops, charge the guns where I figured I could get through, and I'd do it damned soon."
He turned and pointed at one of the runners as he snapped, "See if Harkins has binoculars. Bring 'em here quick."
His tone was such that the runner didn't even waste time with a "Yes, Sergeant." He simply nodded briskly and headed off down the line of men in the culvert in a crouching trot.
Turning back to Cade, Pierce asked, "Just how many extra rebs do you think we got out there, Cade?"
"A bunch. A big bunch. I can't give you an actual number, but it was pretty damned crowded out there a while ago. I put my men back here to cover all three ditches."
"You checked with the LT first?"
"Yup. He seemed to think he was doing me a big, fat favor by allowing me to do this one small thing my own way."
Chuckling again, Pierce said, "Yeah, that sounds about right. Later, Cade. I'm gonna make the rounds."
He'd just turned to go when someone within the trees shouted, "First rank! Fire!"
The woods erupted with rifle fire aimed at all of the culverts as the voice yelled, "Second rank! Fire!"
Union soldiers fell dead or wounded here and there along the trench lines and others fired back before they ducked, but it was unlikely they'd hit any of the well-concealed rebs.
The two small logs Cade had been peering between had jolted and shifted under the hammering impacts of several hits. One log fell away from the other and into the culvert. Cade put it back in place and spiked it with a couple of sticks.
Whether they'd fired or not, most of the Union troops had instinctively ducked in anticipation of a rapid second volley, and as they stayed down, precious seconds were lost.
Running, screaming, shooting rebel troops pounded across the open region toward the culverts. Union riflemen recovered from their surprise and opened up on the charging horde, dropping many only a few feet from the first culvert. Reb riflemen fired back on the run to pick off Union riflemen.
Cade and his men held their fire until the Union rifles had finished firing to avoid wasting ammo on the same targets. As the riflemen reloaded, Cade's pistoleers began picking off the nearest of the still-charging rebel troops.
Firing his first pair of revolvers dry, Cade dropped them and grabbed two more to continue shooting. A fair number of rebs made it to the first culvert and over it, but no farther. Cade and his men quickly picked them off, sometimes in mid-leap.
But the rebs were coming too fast and there were just too damned many. Some of them began creating havoc in the first culvert with their bayonets and camp knives.
Cade's men kept most of the first wave of rebs from reaching the second culvert, which gave the Union riflemen there barely enough time to finish reloading.
Most of them didn't even have to raise their rifles to aim; they had only to tilt their weapons up at the onrushing rebs and fire, then their rifles became bayonet-spears and clubs.
As the second trench also became inundated with rebel troops and more rebs jumped over them en route to the third culvert, the riflemen in the third trench fired a ragged volley, then prepared to meet the enemy as had the men in the second trench.
Cade quickly emptied his second pair of revolvers and unholstered two more, grimly continuing the task of keeping the nearest of the onrushing troops from reaching his culvert.
The horde of rebel troops had thinned considerably, but that seemed not to mean much as two men rushed toward Cade with their bayonets aimed at his chest.
He raised his revolvers more or less together and fired both at about the same time. Both men fell, but two more seemingly appeared in their place. He fired again, clearing the area directly ahead, and glanced around as he fired at a reb who'd leaped into the trench and planted his bayonet in a Union trooper's chest.
A man behind Cade screamed and Cade spun to see a reb pulling his bayonet out of another soldier. Before the attacker could turn, Cade put a round in the side of his head.
There were now five rebs in his trench. Cade backed against the far wall of the culvert and fired at one of them even as he fired upward at a reb about to jump into the trench. A corporal not far away bayoneted a reb as Cade shot three more and returned his attention to those still above the trench.
Blue uniforms appeared at the western tree line and fired a volley at the rebels still charging above the culverts. Cade almost shot one of the bluejackets through the thick gunsmoke before he realized that the man's uniform was too dark.
A grey-uniformed soldier went down hard and slid head-first into Cade's culvert. Cade spared him a glance; he seemed to be either unconscious or dead. Returning his attention to those still moving forward, he almost didn't see the man's boot move backward, then flash upward in a hard kick.
Cade sidestepped fast and swung the heavy barrel of the .44 in his left hand hard across the shin above the man's boot. There was a loud 'crack!' and the man let out a hissing scream as he fell back clutching his leg.
Facing forward, Cade put a round in another reb rifleman who was so close he banged his head on Cade's revolver as he fell. A flicker of light on the wall of the culvert made Cade look back to see the reb he'd bashed holding a camp knife and lunging forward on his knees.
Slinging his left arm backward, Cade spun halfway around and slapped the knife aside with his revolver. He pulled the trigger of the revolver in his right hand as the barrel impacted the man's chest, then he spun back around and looked up just in time to see a bayonet heading at his face.
He dove awkwardly to the left and fired upward instinctively -- and hopefully -- and was rather surprised when the man's eyes went wide and he fell stiffly forward into the trench.
Another reb above the culvert arched in agony and went to his knees, having been shot from behind. He glared hatefully at Cade as he mustered himself to try to heave his bayoneted rifle at Cade like a spear.
Cade had no trouble stepping out of the rifle's path as the man groaned and collapsed on his face. The rifle sailed past Cade and impaled the rebel who'd attacked him with the knife, but that man was well beyond caring.
Sitting up, Cade fired at a rebel behind and to the left of the man who'd thrown the rifle, then he fired again at another one who appeared to the right.
The rebel who'd thrown the rifle groaned again as he crawled forward to the edge of the trench. As he gasped for breath, another round hit him from behind and he stiffened, clutching with his left hand at the small of his back as he moaningly let the air out that he'd been holding.
Gasping at Cade, he managed to rasp, "I'm... gut... shot... Sergeant! Two times! For God's sake... kill me!"
Ignoring him, Cade put a round in yet another reb heading for the third culvert, then saw one trying to climb out of the second culvert without having to let go of a revolver.
The reb and Cade saw each other at about the same time, but the reb had to lower his gun to aim. Cade had only to change his point of aim slightly to put a round in the man's forehead. The man froze with an expression of vast surprise, then fell backward into the trench.
Union troops at the trees had thinned the rebel horde down considerably. Realizing their situation, some of the rebs dropped their weapons and raised their hands. Some didn't.
One screamed at those near him to fight on. He was generally ignored. The man called his comrades some names, spotted Cade watching him, and seemed to go berserk. When he charged Cade with his bayoneted rifle, Cade simply raised a revolver and shot him between the eyes, then continued watching the others.
Only moments later the firing had stopped altogether as troops from the tree line advanced and took prisoners. Cade looked at the man who'd asked to be shot, glanced around quickly, and offered one of his empty revolvers to the man.
"It's empty," said Cade. "Make things to look right. If you still want me to shoot you, take it and point it at me."
The man's glare never abated a whit as he reached for the revolver. His hand closed around the weapon's grip, his eyes closed tightly, and he pointed the revolver waveringly in Cade's direction as he pulled the hammer back and hissed, "Now, goddammit! Do it now! Please!"
As the man's gun hand moved to pretend to aim, Cade put a round into the man's forehead from a distance of perhaps three feet. The man's head snapped back, then flopped forward. His hand relaxed and the revolver dangled from a limp finger by its trigger guard. Cade left it there for others to see.
A voice pitched high with outrage yelled, "You sorry Yankee sunnuvabitch! I seen what you just done to Jimmy!"
Turning to face his accuser, Cade saw a blonde-haired kid even younger than himself -- the same guy he'd shot in a hopeful manner and who'd fallen into the culvert -- clutching the right side of his chest with his left hand and lunging at Cade with a camp knife.
Firing once, Cade sent a .44 round straight through the man's heart and stepped back a pace. The blonde man's face displayed great shock and apparent surprise as he staggered against the wall of the culvert.
He tried to look down at his chest, which caused him to drop to his knees, and looked up at Cade with that same shocked expression as the knife fell from his nerveless fingers.
Cade didn't watch him die. Instead, he glanced around to make sure no more rebs were coming at him, then picked up his spent revolvers, clacked them against each other to knock the dirt out of them, and holstered them. Taking the revolver he'd loaned the reb out of the man's hand, he went to find out how many of his team had survived the attack.
Some distance down the trench he found Private Parker and Corporal Higgins patching each others' wounds.
"How bad?" asked Cade.
"My arm and his leg," said Higgins. "Not bad, but Ellis got hit in the hip and shoulder. He's alive, but his war's over."
"Anybody else?"
"Don't know, Sarge. We were kinda busy."
"Okay. Damned glad you made it."
Cade moved on to find eight more of his men wounded in minor ways. After helping with various treatments, he went looking for Sergeant Pierce and found him near the other end of the culvert. Pierce was unconscious and a slick-sleeve private was binding a wound in Pierce's right leg.
"How bad?" asked Cade.
Looking up briefly, the man answered, "Not too bad. He's out 'cause a rifle barrel smacked 'im in th' head. Real hard, too. I seen it happen. I figger he'll wake up in a while." Shrugging, he added, "Or not, I guess. Don't really know, y'know?"
Kneeling, Cade checked Pierce's skull and it seemed to be intact. He nodded and said, "Good work," then moved on and climbed out of the culvert to have a look around.
Men were laying the dead in rows of blue and grey. A quick look at the blue rows told him that Lieutenant Davis wouldn't be following any more half-assed plans from Headquarters. Too bad. He might've been trainable if he'd survived.
Walking to a pile of weapons near the lines of bodies, Cade fished half a dozen revolvers, holsters, and belts out of the heap and checked their calibers. All .44's. Good.
He went to the next weapons pile and dug out four more, slinging them over his shoulders as he continued poking through the pile.
"Sergeant Cade," said a voice behind him that he recognized as belonging to Captain Spence.
Cade looked around to see a rather bedraggled looking man approaching. His jacket was torn open and stained red down the entire right sleeve, but Cade saw no wounds and Spence hefted a pair of rifles onto the weapons pile easily enough.
Standing up, Cade tossed him a salute that became a gesture at Spence's right arm as he asked, "You okay, Cap?"
Nodding, Spence replied, "It isn't mine. How about you?"
"Not a scratch, I think. It's too soon to make much of a report, Cap. Kinda looks like we won, though."
Swigging from a canteen, Spence grunted, "Won. Huh. More like we held our ground is all."
"Could have been worse, Cap. I don't know how the others made out, but half my men were wounded. Only one badly enough to get sent home."
Pausing, he added, "Sir, I'd like to be in the room the next time somebody cobbles up an ambush plan. I had to argue with Davis about moving my men back to the third ditch."
Raising an eyebrow, Spence asked, "You 'argued'?"
Nodding slightly, Cade said, "Well... I 'insisted', sir. He was on the verge of ordering us to stay put, then he reconsidered. It might even look good on his record if you credit him with ordering us back there. If my men hadn't been in that third ditch, the rebs would have overrun us completely, and that's gospel. Some of 'em would definitely have gotten through."
Looking around, Spence asked, "Do you really want to give Davis the credit? And will he go along with that?"
Pointing at the fourth body in the blue line, Cade said, "He'll go along with it. I didn't see how he got it, Cap. We were all kind of busy."
With an air of weariness, Spence looked at the lines of dead men and almost sighingly said, "Yeah. Sure. Write it up and I'll sign it. It'll give his family something to remember him for. Carry on, Cade. And my thanks to you and your men."
Holding all the belts on his shoulders in place with his left hand, Cade tossed Spence a quick salute and replied, "I'll pass it on, Cap. Glad you made it too."
A private dumped an armful of weapons on the pile. Cade retrieved another revolver and almost tossed it back on the pile when the cylinder rattled more loosely than he'd ever seen before.
He examined the gun's action; while the cylinder looked almost new, the rest of the gun was worn all to hell. Someone had tried to make a quick fix to keep the gun in service.
Oh, well. He'd salvage it for parts. After checking on his team members, Cade headed back to camp. It was only eight in the morning; everything had happened in less than two hours from the time they'd taken their ambush positions.
Two days of planning preparation for two hours of battle. Cade had been awake for most of those two days; he told the camp sentry to wake him at noon and went to his tent.
Sitting on his bunk, he took off his boots, sipped from his canteen, and studied the last revolver he'd picked up. As he drifted off to sleep, he remembered the first time he'd used one.
More? On to Chapter 2!
or
Get the rest of the book!
Purchase page:
LIT - Rocket/REB
PDB/Palm - PDF - KML
(Must be 18)
|
|
|
|
