Wounded Yankee (House of Winslow Book #10) , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - Gilbert Morris

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183 pages

English

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Zack Winslow, The Wounded Yankee, had served the Union Army for exactly one year and been wounded twice, surviving the battles of Bull Run and Shiloh. But when he is sent home, Zack discovers some devastating news about his fiancée and his livelihood. Having seen the worst of war and tasted the disappointments of love and friendship gone sour, Zack decides he must get away from it all. Striking out for the wilds of Montana, Zack resolves to live as a hermit in Alder Gulch. On one hundred acres in the shadows of the Rockies, he can build a cabin and raise sheep the promise of a better life, free from the entanglements of other people. But Zack can't seem to keep them away from his door. Yet how can he take on these unwelcome people? But if he doesn't provide for them, who will? Book 10 in The House of Winslow.

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Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	01 avril 2005
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441270368
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0202€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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© 1991 by Gilbert Morris
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Ebook edition created 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-4412-7036-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Cover illustration by Dan Thornberg
Cover design by Danielle White
To Mike Haley
If, once in his lifetime, a man has a boss who is also a brother, he is fortunate. If only once, a man has a friend he can trust, admire and respect, he is blessed. If once along the way, a man finds a confidant worthy of all trust, he is to be envied.
And I have found all three of these in Mike Haley Brother Friend Confidant
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
PART ONE
THE HERMIT
1. A Farewell to Arms
2. A New Vocation
3. Choiya
4. “He’s Like All Other Men!”
5. A Night Visitor
6. A Trip to Town
PART TWO
THE MISSIONARY
7. A Committee of Three
8. Bron and Billy
9. Bron’s Dream
10. “God Brought Us Here!”
11. Just for a Few Days
12. Zack’s Choice
13. A Cry for Help
14. New Development
PART THREE
THE INNOCENTS
15. Holdup
16. A Visit From Yeager
17. A Monument to Injustice
18. At Dancer Creek
19. Buck and Lillian
20. A Bitter Harvest
21. A Certain Notice
22. The Fight
PART FOUR
THE VIGILANTES
23. What Love Means
24. Two Visits for Billy
25. Shoot Out
26. The Trial of George Ives
27. The Posse
28. “I Thought I’d Lost You!”
About the Author

CHAPTER ONE
A FAREWELL TO ARMS
Zacharias Winslow said goodbye to the Army of the Potomac July 4, 1862, after serving one year. During that time he had risen to the rank of sergeant. He had fought at Bull Run, Shiloh, the Peninsula Campaign, and The Seven Days, and been wounded twice first at Bull Run by a sharpshooter who severed the right middle finger, and then two days before his discharge by a shell fragment that penetrated his right buttock, leaving a deep track.
It wasn’t the first but the second injury that bothered him. In the first, the loss of his finger, he had simply wrapped his bleeding hand with his handkerchief and continued fighting. Observing this, Captain Futrell ordered, “Winslow, Yates has been killed take over as sergeant!” Despite Zacharias’s inward protests, he complied.
The second wound, however, affected Winslow deeply not physically but psychologically. The ribbing he endured from the men grated on his nerves. On the day of his discharge as he bent over to gather his personal belongings, a streak of pain shot through him. He grunted, straightened up carefully and twisted his head to see if any blood had soaked through the thick bandages the surgeon had applied. Seeing none, he tossed his razor and socks into a small carpetbag, turned and left the tent to join his squad for a late breakfast of bacon and bread. His discomfort did not go unnoticed.
“Hey, Sarge sit down here and have some of this fresh bread,” Nate French yelled, then snapped his fingers as if he had just remembered something. “Well, shoot, I forgot about your wound. Here, we saved standin’ room for you, sure enough!”
Zack grimaced and took the food Jimmy Little handed him. Biting into it hungrily, he glanced sourly at him.
“Now, Zacharias,” Little said, winking at French, “how you gonna show that girl of yours the scar when you git home? If she’s nice, why, it’ll be plumb embarrassin’, won’t it?”
“Don’t think I’ll mention it, Jimmy,” Zack said, ignoring the men’s laughter. “How about a cup of that stuff you call coffee?”
“But won’t she think it’s a little unusual? ” French insisted. “I mean, you ain’t gonna sit down, that doctor says, for maybe a month. How you gonna explain that to her?”
“Won’t take her anyplace except dances where nobody sits,” Zack answered. He let the men have their fun, for he had grown close to them the past few months, especially French, the young man from Michigan, who had been with him the entire year. The three-month volunteers had gone home after Bull Run, with new men replacing them.
After the meal was over and everyone had said goodbye, Nate French walked with him to the gunboat waiting to take the wounded to hospitals in Washington.
“Shore do hate to see you go, Zack,” French said as they waited in line at the gangplank while the wounded were carried aboard. “Don’t see why you can’t sign on for another year.” His long face and beak-like nose squirreled around to scrutinize the sergeant.
“What for, Nate?”
The cynicism in Winslow’s answer reflected in his keen blue eyes, and French hesitated. He had known for sometime that his friend had been disillusioned with the war, but had hoped the officer would stay with the outfit. “Why, Zack,” he said, “we all get fed up with the army from time to time. But we got to settle this slavery thing, don’t we?”
“Not me,” Winslow said adamantly, then asked, “Did I ever tell you how I happened to be in the army, Nate?”
“Don’t recall as you did.”
“Well, I was doing real well in the hardware business with a good friend named George Orr. We had one store in Cincinnati free and clear, and were getting ready to open another one when this blasted war came along.”
Although Zack was three inches under six feet and looked almost fragile, there was a solid quality that was deceptive. He had heavy thighs and a thickness to his upper body, rather than breadth. The strength of his long smooth muscles constantly amazed the men.
Zack took off his forage cap, wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, then moved closer to the boat as the line of men crossed the gangplank.
The sun was hot, and his wound was beginning to itch, but Winslow gave no indication of his discomfort. A wry expression curled his lips upward as he continued his account. “I had it all, Nate good health, money, and was engaged to a beautiful girl named Emma Lawson. Then Lincoln sent out a call for 50,000 men, and I was one of them.”
Nate nodded, “So was I, Zack.”
“But you didn’t join up at the flip of a coin, Nate,” Winslow countered. The old memory raked across him, and he spouted the next words out rapidly. “Emma got all patriotic, as most of us did. We thought we’d run down to Richmond, whip the Rebels, then come back home by fall. Both my partner and I wanted to go, but one of us had to run the business. So we flipped a coin and I won.”
“Move on down, will you, Sarge?”
The walking wounded had moved from in front of him, so he stepped back and let the private in charge pass. Zack stuck out his hand to French. “So long, Nate. I’m sick of it all. We ran away like rabbits at Bull Run. The Rebels pushed us all over the map at Shiloh. And now with 100,000 men in our army, Lee’s slammed the door in our face so we’re headed back to Washington like whipped curs!”
“Why, everybody in our outfit knows you’re the best fighter in the whole company!” French said, knowing all the officers had tried to persuade Winslow to stay. “We’ll whip those Rebels yet!”
Winslow picked up his bag. “Not me. I’m going to get married, make a mint, and have ten kids. I’ll never fight again. And if you’re smart, you’ll get out when your enlistment’s up.”
French watched in dismay as his friend limped across the gangplank and disappeared through the narrow door. “He shore was a fighting man when the show started,” he mused. “But I guess he figures he’s done enough for a lifetime.” French turned and made his way across the camp, half wishing that he, too, could leave.
****
The gunboat was crowded, and Zack stood most of the time. When he did lie on the straw ticking given him, he favored his right side. The men wanted to talk about the battle, what McClellan would do next, but Zack never joined in. They were interested in only one thing war.
Zack looked down at the muddy waters of the James River, his thoughts on Emma, a petite brunette with sparkling black eyes and provocative lips. She had moved to Cincinnati only a few months before the war started, and Zack fell for her the first time he saw her at the Fireman’s Ball. Winslow had never been seriously interested in a girl until he saw Emma. There he instantly vowed, “I’m going to marry that girl!” Several other men contested, but he went at his courtship like everything else single-mindedly and aggressively and beat every suitor. His persistence finally won her.
His partner, George Orr, had been attracted to Emma, too, but realizing Zack’s determination, he disqualified himself. When Emma finally agreed, Orr said, “Zack, you just didn’t give that woman any choice she either had to marry you or go crazy! When you want something, you put everything into getting it!”
The boat docked at Washington a few days later, and the wounded were taken to a small military hospital located on the edge of town. Since Zack’s wound was not as serious as most of the others, he had to wait two days. During that time he took a lot of ribbing about his injury. He finally withdrew, keeping to himself and daydreaming about Emma.
The doctor eventually attended Zack’s wound, his fat sausage-like fingers moving deftly over the area. He started to make a joke about its location, then changed his mind when he saw his patient’s steady eyes fixed on him. “Guess you’ve taken some ribbing, eh, Sergeant?” he said.
“Just about all I’m going to, Doctor,” Winslow nodded. “Nobody thinks a wound is funny unless it’s in the rump. Put that bandage on tight. It’s going to have to last all the way to Cincinnati.”
“Well, the wound is in good sha