Boys of Wartime: Will at the Battle of Gettysburg by Laurie Calkhoven Page B

Mother told the twins, giving them a hug. “You mind Grace.”
    Sally and Jane Ann held hands and sniffled a bit, but they seemed to enjoy the idea of an adventure. It helped that they adored Tillie, the prettiest girl in town, and often played with the Shriver children.
    Mother and I stood on the doorstep and watched them go. First Jacob, then Father, and now Grace and the twins.
    I squeezed Mother’s hand. “They’ll be back before I even have a chance to miss them,” I told her. “And Grace will be bossier than ever.”
    Mother started to reply, then gasped and gripped my arm. I turned my head in the direction of her stare. A wagon pulled up in front of the Courthouse. What appeared to be a dead man lay in the back. There were a few wounded soldiers with him. Those who could walk helped the others inside.
    â€œGo with the girls, Will,” Mother said.
    Part of me wanted to run after them as fast as I could, to get away from these dead and wounded men. But I couldn’t leave Mother there alone. “You just said I could stay!”
    â€œWalk with them as far as the cemetery,” she said. “Then I’ll know that they’re safely away.”
    I had to make sure that this wasn’t part of a secret plan between Mother and Grace. That Grace wouldn’t force me to stay with her once I was out of town.
    â€œI’m coming back,” I said firmly.
    Mother nodded. “I’ll be in the Courthouse,” she said. “Those men will need nurses. Let me know that the girls are safe, and that you are, too.”
    Mother and I left the house together. She turned in the direction of the Courthouse to help the wounded. I went the other way.
    I caught up with Mrs. Shriver and the others quickly. My plan was to take my leave of them when we reached the cemetery. But Cemetery Hill was full of Union soldiers preparing their cannon to fire, and I thought I’d best see them farther along.
    â€œGet yourself into a cellar,” one of the soldiers told us. “You’re in danger!”
    Grace tried to talk Mrs. Shriver into stopping at the cemetery’s gatehouse and taking refuge there, but Mrs. Shriver flat out refused. She was determined to make it to her parents’ farm.
    We could see the battle on Seminary Ridge. Shells burst in the air and on land. Whenever the smoke lifted we saw soldiers running all around and the smaller puffs of rifle fire. The noise was loud enough to set my ears to ringing.
    Taneytown Road was full of Union soldiers heading for the fight. I could not see the end of the line in either direction.
    Between the morning’s rain and the tramping of thousands and thousands of boots, the road had turned into a thick muck up to our ankles. The twins could not walk in it. Grace and I each lifted one onto our backs and struggled forward while Tillie and Mrs. Shriver helped her two young ones.
    An ambulance wagon passed. Sally hid her face in my shoulder so as not to see the man in the back. Grace’s eyes were fixed in front of her. Jane Ann stared, her mouth a perfect O of surprise.
    The man wore a crimson rose on his blue coat. It wasn’t a flower. It was blood. I stared right into his eyes, waiting for them to blink. They did not. He was dead.
    Grace stumbled to her knees, exhausted. We only had gone halfway. Mrs. Shriver and Tillie looked as worn out as I felt. The young ones were utterly done in. Too done in to make it all the way to the Weikert farm. But going back would take just as long as going forward. I did not know what to do.
    I spotted a farmhouse just ahead. “Let’s stop there for a rest,” I said. I wished the whole group of them would stay there until the battle was over, but I didn’t think Mrs. Shriver would be willing.
    â€œThe Leisters’,” Mrs. Shriver said. “Yes, let’s stop for some water.”
    The soldiers had drunk the well dry. The people of the house had fled, and a