Confederate Lieutenant Anderson Blanks has grown weary of the War Between the States. He is all too aware of the tenuous thread that ties him to this earth -- as he writes a letter home to his sister, he realizes he may be among the dead by the time she receives the missive. His melancholy mood is shared by other soldiers in the campsite; in the cool Virginia night, the pickets claim to hear ghosts in the woods, and their own talk spooks them. Andy knows the "ghost" is nothing more than a wounded soldier left on the battlefield, dying in the darkness. With compassion, Andy takes the picket's lantern and canteen in the hopes of easing the soldier's pain. After a tense confrontation with the soldier, Andy is shocked to discover none other than Samuel Talley, a young man Andy's father had chased from their plantation when the romantic relationship between the two boys came to light. The last time the two had seen each other, Sam had been heading west to seek his fortune, and had promised to send for Andy when he could. Then the war broke out, and Andy had enlisted in the Confederate Army to help ease the financial burden at home. Apparently Sam had similar ideas -- he now wears the blue coat of a Union solider. Sam is severely wounded and infection has begun to set in. Andy can't sneak him into his own camp for treatment because all Union soldiers are taken prisoner. But Andy's Confederate uniform prevents him from seeking help from the nearby Union camp, as well. It's up to Andy to tend his lover's wound and get Sam the help he needs before it's too late ... and before Andy's compatriots discover Sam's presence.

A Heart Divided

Cautiously, Andy lowered Sam to the ground. His face and neck burned to the touch. That wasn’t a good sign, was it? Andy didn’t think so. 


In a small voice, Sam whined, “Andy, I just can’t—” 


“I know.” Andy leaned Sam against the trunk of a tall sapling and frowned as his lover’s head lolled to one side. He looked like a child’s rag doll, battered and torn and tossed away into the woods. “We’ll rest a minute.” 


Sam nodded listlessly and Andy paused to catch his breath as he looked around them. His heart stuttered in his chest, adrenaline flooding his body. He’d never felt as useless as he did at this moment. Part of him expected to hear sounds of the Confederate Army at any second, men crashing through the woods toward the battlefield…were they far enough away that they wouldn’t be seen? They had been walking for hours, it seemed, but when the fog burned off, would they only find they hadn’t made it very far past the clearing at all? 


Chapter 12