Drill
The officers had given them a break that rainy day because the weather was too dreadful to get much done, and Will was hoping to write a couple of letters himself while he had a chance. But just as he was entering the tent he shared with two other soldiers, he heard the buglers blowing. Time to drill—again.
He made his way through the muddy lanes between the tents. The rain hadn’t exactly stopped, but it had lessened. He was able to use his own rifle as his weapon, the same one he had used to kill some of the raiders the night his brother had died, so he was extremely comfortable with the piece in his hands. He took his place in line between a couple of other Barton County boys, Frank Glen and the newlywed Skeet Cooper. They were not supposed to talk during drill, but Will could see that Skeet had a letter sticking out of his pocket. Frank was so busy peeking over Will to get a better look at it that he almost dropped his weapon a couple of times. Finally, Will couldn’t help but whisper to him, “Pay attention!”
Frank looked up at him, his eyes wide, his unshaven face covered with grime. “He’s got a letter!” he said back.
Will could see the sergeant coming. He definitely did not want to have to do any running in this mud, so he chose to leave Frank and Skeet to their own demise. “It’s from my wife,” Skeet said, leaning over Will.
Will shook his head in dismay. And then, he couldn’t believe Frank didn’t have enough sense to let it go. “What’s it say?” he asked.
Just then, the sergeant jumped into Frank’s face. “Boy! We are drilling here! There is no talking during drill! Do you understand?” Frank looked puzzled, as if he did not understand. He just stood there, perplexed. “Do you hear me, boy?” the sergeant yelled again. This time Frank just nodded his head. Of course, that wasn’t good enough for the sergeant. He yelled to the entire company, “That’s it—we’re moving out. Attention Company! About face! March—double time!” Moans and groans went in waves down the line as they all started to run as fast as they could, while still maintaining their ranks. Carrying heavy rifles while running through the mud was no one’s idea of the glory of war.
Later that night around a campfire, Frank was retaliated against non-stop. Some of the men only called him names; others couldn’t help but knock his hat off of his head, or worse. And it wasn’t until then that he found out what Skeet’s letter said—none of which seemed to truly interest or concern him.
The next afternoon at mail call, Will received another letter from his sister, and another letter from Cordia. He didn’t get a chance to read the whole correspondence before he had to go drill. Still, just knowing that she was thinking of him was enough to get him through—even though Frank’s mouth did cost them all another sprint.
* * *
All of May had passed and then most of June. It had been so long since Cordia had seen Will or Jaris. She had found some comfort in the few letters she had received from Jaris, but she still longed to hear from Will. She had now written six letters to him and more letters than she could count to Jaris.
She had been spending a great deal of time with Julia. Almost every day they would get together in some fashion or another. A lot of the women folk were hosting different sorts of bees at their homes, some to make socks, others to make blankets for the men in the winter. And then some days, Cordia and Julia just sat out on the swing in Cordia’s yard and exchanged stories about their childhoods. This was a great comfort for Cordia because she often got to hear about the adventures of Will’s youth. Julia told her of all the different times her brothers had hidden down in their old, dried up well and jumped out and scared their poor mother. She also talked about the time that Nolan had held her upside down over the new well, behind their house, threatening to drop her in if she didn’t give him back a shiny rock he had found. Cordia felt as if she knew Nolan now, though she was heartbroken that she would never get to meet him. She also realized that she probably knew more about Will than he could possibly like for her to know at this point in their relationship.
One day, near the end of June, Cordia was sitting out under a shade tree in her yard, trying to read Wuthering Heights when, she heard Julia screaming as she came flying up the lane, her horse charging at full speed. At first, she thought something was the matter, but when she saw Julia’s face, she knew that it was good news. Then, she saw a letter in her hand. Cordia’s heart skipped a beat—it had to be from Will.
Sure enough, her screams of glee confirmed it. “Will sent a letter! I got a letter from Will!” She almost doubled over trying to catch her breath.
Cordia took her arm, trying to keep her from falling on the ground. She was afraid that she might start having a coughing fit now, which she had had quite a few of lately, but she didn’t. As soon as she caught her breath, she pulled Cordia over to a bench, and they both sat down to read it together.
May 26, 1861
My Dear Sister Julia,
How are you Jules? Scarcely a minute goes by that my thoughts don’t return to you. I have been in camp for quite some time now. It’s not too exciting, but I have made a lot of friends. We do a lot of drilling and some marching, but mostly drilling. There is a rumor that we may be headed out of here soon and into another county, though we are not supposed to say which one. At any rate, army life seems to suit me pretty good. I hope that you are finding ways to pass the time. I know that you have a good friend in Miss Cordia Pike who will take very good care of you. Have you heard from Jaris? I hope he is safe and that I do not see him anytime soon, if you gather my meaning. Well, you know how I am about writing letters. Not too good at it. But I did want to let you know I am safe and hope to see you soon.
Love,
Will
To Cordia, simply seeing those words, that he was safe, was almost enough to make tears fill her eyes. But, she would not be able to explain to Julia why that might be. Somehow, she managed to hold them back. Julia, on the other hand, had tears streaming down her face. “That’s my brother,” she said. “Cordia, I am so proud of him.”
Cordia wrapped her arm around her friend. “You should be,” she said quietly. “You should be.”
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