AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Heavily armed fish in a military convoy. Pull yourself together, and get a shovel. ”
“Do we have shovels?”
“Check with the ship; they might have some. If not, we’ll improvise. We have axes, and we have a whole forest full of wood we can commandeer if we have to. Bring me Lieutenant Engel, and I’ll see what exactly we have at our disposal. ”
Henry leaned over and whispered into Maria’s ear. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll wander away from the caravan. We may have to swipe him, but we’ll make him listen to us. ”
“We’re a pitiful pair of kidnappers, you and I. ”
“We’re armed. We don’t have to overpower him, just surprise him. ”
“Is that our plan?” she asked.
“It’s a possibility. Should we split up?”
She thought about it and said, “We could, but let’s not. We’d just double our chances of getting caught. ”
He nodded. “All right. Let’s go together, then. ”
Forward they crept, staying low and working toward the giant rolling-crawler—a Texian-made monstrosity that operated on floating axles, and was renowned for its ability to traverse uneven terrain. Apparently it wasn’t quite advanced enough for Georgia roads, which made Maria smile ruefully until she drew near enough to really look at the thing. It was huge—bigger than any such contraption she’d ever seen before, in the North or South. Six wheels on three axles, and about as tall as a single-story building, except for the back portion, which was open like a cart.
This segment was occupied by something huge and—if the set of the wheels in the road was any gauge—quite heavy. The rear half was bogged down, oversized tires lodged into fresh ruts that had been made all the deeper by their spinning, digging, lunging efforts to free the thing.
“Can you see it?” Henry asked, craning his neck.
“They’ve covered it up with something. We’ll have to get closer, though it may be dangerous. ”
“We might … not have much choice,” he said slowly, turning his head sharply but carefully to the right.
Maria followed his new gaze, and was horrified to see a gray-dressed soldier with a large army-issue rifle. The rifle was long-barreled with its hardware in gleaming condition, and it was aimed directly at them.
He said, “Hello there. I’d ask what we have here, except I can make myself a guess. ”
“It’s not what it looks like,” she promised him.
“It’s not two people spying on a military caravan?” he asked with a smirk.
Maria instantly disliked him, not that there was anything she could do about it. “No, it’s not that. Not exactly. ”
Henry stood up straight from his crouch, and said, “I’m a U. S. Marshal, and I’m here to help. I’m going to get my badge out of my coat, see? I’m not drawing a gun. ”
“U. S. Marshal my ass. Don’t you dare move. ” Over his shoulder he shouted, “Hey, Captain, I’ve got something over here!”
“What?”
“A couple of spies; come and see ’em,” he called. “One says he’s a marshal. ”
“A marshal?”
Seconds later the captain appeared—and, yes, it was the red-haired man they’d identified before, in a well-fitting uniform, as opposed to those of his subordinates. He was handsome in a way that red-haired men tended not to be, in Maria’s experience—though there was always an exception to the rule, and here he was. His eyes were cool, intelligent, and very blue.
Another gray-uniformed man appeared with him, and now they were outnumbered.
“Captain,” Henry said, not bothering to address anyone anymore, except the man who made the decisions. “My name is Henry Epperson and I’m with the U. S. Marshals Service. I was sent here by the president himself, with regards to Project Maynard. ”
Maria gave him a bit of side-eye. She wasn’t sure she would’ve played it so on the nose, but between the pair of them, he was the one most likely to be listened to, so she chose to trust him. It was too late to do anything else, anyway.
“The president?” The captain huffed a small, incredulous laugh. “If you’ve got word from President Grant, then why are you sneaking up on us, hiding in the woods? And furthermore, let me see your badge. ”
