Not ten minutes after Hester's departure, I heard a faint new sound drifting toward me. As I strained my ears, my body growing tense, the noise came again, unmistakable this time. Horses and…voices. A dense ball of ice began to form in my gut as I automatically seized the cold handle of my sword. My hand shook violently as I pulled the blade free, and I flinched at the dull clang that sounded from the steel as it left the scabbard. You idiot! The voices came again, closer now, and despite the cold, a thick bead of sweat trickled down the side of my face as I made out the distinct accent: British. Please, please just pass by, don't stop. I can't fight eight men, please…But I knew my pleading was in vain. They would see the aftermath of the skirmish, the dead bodies. They would want to know what happened. They would stop.
I looked down at Carter, the man still senseless, pressed against the loose soil of the dirt walls, his breathing rapid, unsteady. He uttered another faint moan and, to my incredulity, stirred slowly, lifting a trembling hand to rest unsteadily against the bloody cloth binding his head. Then the young man’s body gave a great shudder and he twisted to the side, groaning, and vomited.
The sound sliced through the silence around us, and the voices stopped abruptly—listening, no doubt. No! Reaching out, I gripped Carter's arm firmly, willing him to be silent. With a jolt, I felt a rapid tremor run through the limb, but Carter made no sound, his head resting back against the dirt wall, his eyes still closed. I quickly realized that he had fainted again, the rough spasm evidently involuntary.
A sudden movement out in front of me forced me to pull my attention away from Carter, my hand clenching so tightly around the cold hilt of the saber that I felt the metal cut into my palm, and my heart seemed to stop altogether as I spotted the dull red of the figure's uniform. The man stood less than ten yards from where I crouched; I could have struck him with a rock if I so dared—a desperate thought that crossed my mind as I sat frozen in the snow. He was evidently unaware of his proximity to us as of yet, even as his eyes passed directly over my position, scanning the woods around him, and I felt a dim flicker of hope as I realized the great log before me was blocking his view of the ditch.
But he still stalked forward, and soon…
"Sergeant!" The gruff shout came from out of the trees behind the man, and I only just held back a startled exclamation, the abrupt sound tearing through my tense brain as effectively as it broke the terrifying stillness of the forest.
The enemy soldier responded immediately to the call and performed a swift salute. "Sir!"
A second man, older, emerged from the trees at the foe's back, and as my eyes focused on the new man's brighter, crisper uniform, my breath caught in my throat, a quiver of shock shaking me. What the hell is a general doing out here? I strained my ears to hear the words they spoke.
"Return to the road, Sergeant. We cannot afford to delay."
The younger man hesitated, casting an uncertain look around him. "But sir, I thought I had heard something nearby, thought I should take a look. Might be one of the rebels, sir."
The officer glanced back at the guards hurrying through the snow behind him and then ran his eyes over the trees as well, taking in his surroundings. I flinched, shivering with an uncontrollable terror as he appeared to stare straight at me. I cautiously inched my fingers back to Carter's arm, praying he would stay senseless. The spasm was gone, and as I touched his hand, his lips parted with a trembling breath, but no sound came from them.
The general made no indication of observing anything unanticipated and said at last, "No man would be fool enough to remain here in this damned blizzard. The bloody rebels who shot our boys back there, if they are not dead themselves, will be far from here by now. And we must be as well, for it is a wonder the enemy has not yet detected us. If we are to find our way back to camp before they do, we must remain on the move." He turned away, moved back into the woods, grumbled something under his breath, then said, "Return to the road, Sergeant."
