The Titans (33 page)

But they had not yet become soldiers. "We'll review the fundamentals once more," Stuart continued. Standing on the left side of his mount, he extended a gauntlet toward his reins. Gideon admired the smoothness of the move. Despite the long arms and legs so at odds with his short torso, Stuart possessed a natural grace few could match "Stand to horse-everything begins from that." Somewhere to the rear, Gideon heard a rattle of musketry. One of the infantry units sharpshooting. He yearned to wipe a trickle of sweat on the underside of his freshly razored chut Far away, artillery caissons rumbled. The meadow was warm beneath the cloudless June sky. Fat yellow jackets buzzed in the long grass. Jack Harris belched, then idly swatted at a fly pestering the ears of his horse. Stuart scowled him. Harris reddened. "Note again the correct stance." Stuart demonstrated. "Heels together-so. Left hand hanging naturally at the side. Body erect but not stiff-was Suddenly Gideon heard the creak of leather; the jingle of harness. Turning, he sucked in a breath. "Rodney!" The long-jawed private from Peninsula paid no attention to the whisper. He broke ranks and walked his horse several yards in front of the company. Captain Macomb looked apoplectic. But Rodney was well out in front of him, oblivious. Cheerfully, he waved and shouted: "Colonel? Tore we go ahead, wonder if I might bring up a point." Harris goggled. Gideon was afraid Macomb was going to faint and fall from the saddle. He whispered again: "Jesus Christ, get back here!" 454With Jeb Stuart Astonished that his curiosity met with objection, Rodney Arbuckle swung to glance at his officers. "I want to speak to the colonel. What's wrong with that?" He faced Stuart again. The commander's cheeks were flushed. He dropped the reins, rigid beside the blood bay. The fingers of his gauntlets flexed. Rodney stood in his stirrups. "Colonel, sir? It's about our company smithy. He shod Red Eye here, and I'd like you to look at the piss poor job he did. I'm not the only one with a complaint. A number of the other boys-was "Trooper," Stuart roared, "return to your position!" Rodney blinked, hurt. "You mean you don't care if our smith's no damn good?" "I said return to your position!" Rodney turned as red as the colonel. "Now wait just a minute, sir. You're talkin' to a gentleman, and I was under the assumption I was doin' the same. I see nothing wrong with askin' a sensible question." Quivering, Macomb leaned over his mount's neck to plead in a strangled voice: "For God's sake, Arbuckle, don't say any more or-was "Trooper," Stuart broke in, "you have sixty seconds to return to your position and shut your mouth or you'll be back in Richmond by tomorrow night." Rodney clenched his teeth. Gideon thought he might charge the colonel Stuart began walking toward the private. "I realize a great many of you gentlemen fail to comprehend the need to obey orders-maintain discipline- submit yourselves to the commands of your superiors. I could try to present the case in a reasonable way. I could tell you obedience is necessary for a pretty performance on horseback-being good riders, most of you are doubtless quite interested in a pretty performance." The Titansbledee The sarcasm grew heavier: "But in combat, gentlemen, there is no time for outpourings of sweet reason. So let me be more direct. Do not break ranks unless instructed. Do your utmost to forget you were formerly able to lord it over your chums back home because you had a little more money or a better horse. Kindly stay where you're supposed to at all times-was He reached Rodney and glared. Rodney seemed to alternate between rage and cringing terror. "One more tidbit of advice-private. In battle, I believe you'll notice it's the undisciplined man-the man guilty of breaking ranks-who gets shot first. The veteran knows there's safety in numbers." Stuart drew a deep breath. "Now perhaps we can recommence the drill. I sincerely hope my little explanation of why you should obey orders has satisfied your curiosity- because your sixty seconds are up." One white gauntlet lashed out to slap Rodney's horse. Stuarr jumped back as the animal reared. Rodney fought to keep his seat. Finally, he controlled Red Eye and maneuvered the horse back to the ranks. Stuart faced about and marched off. Rodney fumed under his breath: "Goddamn West Pointers! No respect whatsoever for aeagentleman's rights!" Jack Harris rode up beside him. "You pull another stunt like that, you're gonna be exercisin' your fuckin' rights sittin' on your fuckin' ass in Company Q." "I don't care. Those West Point boys treat us like niggers!" "Shut up," Gideon hissed. Rodney looked deeply injured; eveji his good friend had turned on him. Here and there in I Company, others voiced whispered support for Rodney's stand. Gideon suddenly wondered whether even a man of Colonel Stuart's abil- 456With Jeb Stuart ity could turn this pack of disorderly individualists into a cavalry regiment. Stuart certainly gave it extra effort that morning. He went through the fundamentals, then kept the companies practicing on their own until noon and beyond. The sun grew broiling. Men began to faint and tumble from the saddle. By three o'clock thirty or forty troopers lay on the ground in various stages of heat prostration. But the drill kept on. ii The horses stirred and tugged at their picket lines as Gideon approached. The stars were out. Behind him, lanterns glowed in the regiment's tents. He spied a figure strolling among the animals, an old musket cocked over one shoulder. "Private Arbuckle?" The sentry halted. Turned. Gideon swore when he saw the dusting of starlight on curly gray hair. "No, sir, Lieutenant. It's me." Gideon ducked under one of the ropes. "Damn it, Isom, where's your master?" The middle-aged black dressed in cast-off clothing tried to blunt Gideon's anger with a smile. "He was feel- in' a mite poorly, sir. He asked me-was "I can imagine why he was feeling poorly!" Gideon broke in. "Because Stuart reamed his butt this morning and I ordered him to stand watch tonight Stay here, Isom. You'll be relieved in a minute." "But I don't mind, Lieutenant Master Rodney brung me along for times like this." "Colonel Stuart has issued explicit orders. No body- servants are to stand in for their owners. You'll be sent home as soon as we move into the field. Your master The Titansbledeg won't have anyone to relieve him then. So he'd damn well better start practicing." "Yes, sir," Isom said in a meek tone. "But master Rodney, he ain't "customed to being" ordered around-was "We're going to fix thati" Gideon stalked back to the tents. Ih one of them, someone was plucking a slow version of "Dixie's Land" on a banjo. In another, he heard Harris conducting a euchre game. Harris had undergone a remarkable change of luck since his election. He seldom lost. And he welcomed players without money in their pockets. He handed them kernels of corn, tallied their losses at the end of the game and collected cash once the men received their back pay. A couple of Rodney's messmates were lounging in front of a small fire outside their tent. One was writing a letter. The other leaned on his elbow and puffed on a cob pipe while reading a worn copy of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, a novel still considered quite racy. With an odd feeling, Gideon noted the design stamped in gold at the bottom of the spine. The partially filled tea bottle of Kent and Son. The pipe smoker raised his head; started to speak. Gideon gave him no time. He slapped the flap of the tent aside. Rodney yelped in surprise. He was resting on his cot, bare-chested, a letter in his hand. Shredded wrapping paper, a huge mound of large and small articles and some kind of red bunting lay beside the cot "Private Arbuclde, you undisciplined son-of-abiteh-was Gideon began. Rodney's dark eyes grew comresentful. "Come on, Gideon-to " "Lieutenant!" "All right. Lieutenant. Do you have to holler that way? I took enough abuse for one day." "Stand up." 458With Jeb Stuart "What?" "You heard me. Put on your uniform and get to the horse corral double-quick." Rodney didn't get up. Instead, he laughed. "Boy, with that temper of yours, you'll be a junior Jeb Stuart "fore you know it Not me, though," he sighed, relaxing and returning his attention to the letter. Gideon snatched it away, banging his head on a hanging lantern: "Ow! Dammit, you're making me mad, Rodney." "You be careful how you handle that letter. It's from my girl Nancy. Miss Nancy Wonderly of White House-was "I'll tear the damned thing to pieces if you don't get dressed!" "My. You sure have gone high-ass since you got elected." "That's right, I got elected. And until you and the rest of the boys decide to put someone else in my place-was "Lead us not into temptation," Rodney murmured. "comx's my responsibility to see that orders are carried out. Lord!" He raked a hand through his hair. "If every man in this regiment keeps galloping off on his own, we'll never whip the Yanks. Don't you realize Stuart was right this morning? A man by himself is ten times more likely to get killed than one who stays with the troop and does what he's told" A shrug. "Maybe so. But I am just not used to being ordered about. Do this, do that, piss here, crap there, yes, sir, no, sir, up your West Point bum, sir!" Rodney's grin failed to mollify his friend. He grabbed the letter, then tried a new tack: "You can let Isom take over for a while. Lookit all this stuff I got to sort out!" Gideon surveyed the jumble of articles beside the cot "Did your girl send you a package?" The Titansbledei "More like the entire contents of the general store. What am I goin" to do with all this?" He crouched and began pawing through the shipment. "Extra pair of pants. Extra set of underdrawers-was "Pretty personal." Gideon smiled in spite of himself. Rodney spread his fingers and tented the drawers. "Silk! Cost a fortune. Can you imagine what'd happen to me if Jeb found out I not only shoot off my mouth but do it wearin' silk panties?" Shuddering, he discarded the garment His face grew forlorn as he fingered through the rest "Two pair of boots. Eight pair of stockin's. Four flannel shirts-flannel! In the summertime!" "Guess she thinks you're cold-blooded." A foxy grin. "She knows better'n that" "Then she doesn't want you to catch the grippe." "Lookin' glass. Six cans of peaches. Cough syrup. Salts for the bowels. Pencils. Paper. Button stick. Sewing kit New razor and strop-those, I can carry. A Bible. A pocket Shakespeare-she must think I got time to sit around improvin' my mind." "Maybe the books are supposed to keep you away from wicked companions." "Could be. For toppers, here's a double wool blanket comanda rubber one. YoUs need a wagon, not just a horse." He sighed. "She's just tryin' to look after me. "Course, there's a price for all this generosity-was "Oh! She wants something in return-was "Wipe that leer off your face. It isn't what you're thinldn". Not this time, anyway." He pointed to the letter. "When we finally fight, she wants me to run around afterward an' pick her up some souvenirs." "Like what?" "Lord, I don't know. A bayonet. Some Yank's false teeth-anything she can show off, I guess. She's a mighty patriotic girl-even if she's got no notion of how light the cavalry travels." He kicked a good portion of 460With Jeb Stuart the shipment under the cot. "Want to see her picture? She sent that, too." "Sure." "Nancy may not be too quick in the head, but I got to admit she's the prettiest little piece in four counties. Hotter'n a fowling piece after a rabbit hunt, too." From beneath the cot blanket he drew a small leather presentation case, opened it and showed Gideon a daguerreotype of a plump, pretty young woman with ringlets over her ears. "Mighty good looking girl," Gideon agreed. He hoped he'd calmed his friend to the point where he could talk sense to him. "Bet she'll raise a rumpus in bed once we get married." Rodney shut his eyes and let out a grunt of anticipation. "You haven't-ah-sampled the merchandise yet?" Gideon's voice had a strangely hoarse quality. The little picture-box in his Rand brought Margaret's face to mind. He experienced a sharp feeling of loss, then longing. He hardened himself against it. She wasn't the girl for him and never would be. Less boisterous all at once, Rodney answered the question in a reflective way: "Truth is, I haven't. Not that I wouldn't like to, mind. Nancy can put me in a mighty uproar when we fool around. But a gentleman doesn't take advantage of the girl he means to wed. Here, I forgot to show you what else she sent me-was Gideon was still staring at the daguerreotype. "Gideon?" He snapped the case shut and handed it back. Rodney laid it on the blanket, then unfolded the red bunting Gideon had noticed earlier. It turned out to be a Stars and Bars, though of a style he hadn't seen before. On the blue canton, a single large white star was centered in a circle of ten smaller ones. The Titansbledfa "Sewed it herself," Rodney declared. "It's the newest design. They call the big one the Virginia star." He raised the banner by its upper corners. "Measures fifteen by fifteen exactly. Just half the size of a regular cavalry flag. I can carry it under my shirt in battle." With the toe of his boot he nudged the rubber blanket sticking out beneath the cot c less-than Sure don't know how I can carry the rest." "I have a notion about how you can get rid of the things you don't want" "For God's sake tell me." "Do you play euchre?" Rodney's face fell. "'Fraid not I'm not one of those who considers euchre a gentleman's game." "Do you think you could lower yourself to the level of us common folk for one night?" "You're makin" sport of me, Gideon." "I'm sorry. I'm trying to say the solution to your problem is Jack Harris." "What can that dirty-talkin' horse breeder do for me?" "Careful. You're speaking of the lieutenant we know, love and elected." "I didn't elect him. I voted for Hanks." "Harris is still your answer. Tell him you want to learn euchre." "I hear he cheats." "All the better. Join one of his games. For your stake, put up whatever you want to shed-and in three or four hours Jack will have you traveling light again." "Well-was Rodney looked dubious. "Guess I could be civil to him for that short a time-was An emphatic nod. "All right, I'll give it a go. It's either that or die of the heart failure tryin' to lug this stuff in the field. I might as well go see Jack right now-was "No, not tonight" "Why the devil not?" 462With Jeb Stuart "We have one more subject to discuss." Gideon sank down on an empty cot across from his friend's. He rubbed his temples, finally managing to banish thoughts of Margaret: "It's pretty hard for me to talk to you as a friend one minute and an officer the next. I'm no more experienced as a soldier than you." "No," Rodney admitted, "you're just more popular at election