The Road

The Road
by
P.L. Ellars


Col. Kelley and the rest of the 1st Virginia Volunteers must be on their way back to Grafton by now. We’ll catch up with them soon enough, I hope. I don’t like being lost out here in the woods like this. Damn, but that was an ugly and funny little skirmish this morning. I had to laugh, though, when I saw Johnny Reb running
away, some of them still in their nightclothes. Already they’re talking about callin’ it
the Philippi races; it was a race all right. I figure they must of been more scared
than we were, the way they took off running. I reckon I shouldn’t have let the boys
chase after them like we did ‘cause all it did was get us lost.

“Hey, Sarge, which way we goin’ to go, to get back with the 1st?”

“Well, Tom, I reckon they’re all on their way back to Grafton, so that’s what we’re
going to do. We’re going north. Everybody, get your gear, we’re headin’ out now.”
That Tom is the youngest one here, but he stood tall this morning. He’s no coward.
They all did. Not a one of us has had much fighting experience before this morning.
With any luck, Johnny Reb will give up this foolishness and we can all get back
home. I know I’m ready. Three months of this and I’ve had more than enough
already. What a hell of a mess.

“All right, men, let’s go. We’re movin’ out.”

They all look as tired as I feel, but if we don’t get going now, we’ll miss our best
chance to hook back up with the 1st Virginia. Damn, that was sure a confusing
morning. I never knew fighting could get so many people mixed up so fast. They
damn sure didn’t tell us about that back in training.

“Tom, you take the lead. Just go on ahead about fifty yards and follow that road
ahead; it seems to be goin’ in the right direction. Keep your eyes peeled and your
ears open, and make as little noise as you can. If you hear anything, you scoot on
back here with the rest of us, quiet like. Those Johnny Rebs that ran off this
morning could be anywhere. We’ll be right behind you.”

“Right, Sarge.”

I'm down to six men, six men out of twelve. I guess the others are all right. I
reckon they’re headed north, too, by now. I didn’t see any of them fall wounded or
anything, so I’m hoping they made it. Now what’s Tom running back here for?

“Sarge! There’s a road up ahead that’s headin’ off northwards. Do you want to take
it?”

“Maybe. Kennedy, you come with me, we’ll go have a look. The rest of you wait
here for my signal. Keep a watch out. Johnny Reb could be anywhere in these trees
just waitin’ to ambush us. I’d bet my last nickel they’ve collected themselves by now and are probably madder than wet hens at the way we routed them this mornin’.
Come on, Kennedy.”

That road does look like it heads north. I reckon we’ll know better when we get to it.

“Kennedy, spread out some and keep it quiet.”

“Yes, Sarge.”

Well, I’ll be damned. Man, would you look at that! That’s about the straightest road
I’ve ever seen. It ain’t much wider than a cart trail, but it looks like it just goes on
forever; I can’t see the end. Those trees coverin’ it seem to grow straight into the
horizon. Man, I ain’t never seen such a beautiful road; the way the sunlight comes
streamin’ in sideways through the trees like that, makin’ the leaves glow with some
kinda’ divine light. It reminds me of the church windows back home. I almost feel
like I know this road; like I’ve been on it before, maybe in a dream.

“Sarge!”

“Keep your voice down, Kennedy, and get over here!”

“Sarge, this road don’t seem natural. I ain’t never seen a road that straight
and…and beautiful before. It looks like it just runs on into tomorrow. Look at the way
the sun comes slantin’ down low through them trees, and that breeze makin’ the
leaves dance like that. It sure as hell looks natural enough, Sarge, but it damn sure
don’t feel that way, ya’ know? Maybe we ought to try another way, Sarge; this road
is givin’ me the jumps.”

“You probably got jumps left over from Philippi this morning. No, Kennedy, this road
is runnin’ due North, and we’re going to have to take it. It’ll be the quickest way
back to Grafton.”

I have to agree with him, though. It was almost supernatural the way this road, this
beautiful road, made me feel. Peaceful and quiet, like the war never made it this far,
and never would; death was as far away as next year, and yet, there is an eerie
feeling to it that we both felt. The road did seem to run on into tomorrow, then
beyond tomorrow, into eternity. I wanted to sit down right there in the dirt, and
stare down that beautiful road until this war was over.

“Kennedy, go back to the junction and signal the other men to come on. Tell ‘em to
be quiet, too. This road will take us where we want to go.”

I watch him trot back to the junction and then turn to look down the road again. I
can picture Lily and me walking hand-in-hand down a road like this; laughing and
talking and saying nothing, watching the shadows of the leaves dance before us;
listening to the mockingbirds singing their songs. I think about her all the time, and
wonder if I’ll ever see her again.

“Sarge, we’re ready. It sure seems quiet here.”

“Yes, it does, doesn’t it? Well, enjoy it now boys, who knows when we’ll have
another quiet moment like this once we get back to the war. All right, these trees
and bushes along the road would be a good place for Johnny Reb to get a little revenge on us, so we’re goin’ to go forward at the ready, rifles up. Tom, I want you
to take the lead, again; you’re the youngest and the fastest. If you see, or hear,
anythin’ in front of you, you tear off runnin’ back to us; if you hear it behind you,
take off runnin’ forward on down the road as fast as you can. With luck, you might
be able to outrun ‘em and make it back to Col. Kelley and the 1st Virginia in Grafton.
The rest of you spread out along either side of the road. I know it ain’t wide, so stay
close to the edge, don’t bunch up and keep low. There ain’t enough of us to make
much of a fight, so the same thing I told Tom goes for you, too. We’ll run back to
the junction if there’s anythin’ in front of us, and straight on ahead if it’s to the side
or behind us. Two bits to the first man that catches up and passes Tom.”
I was glad to hear a couple of them laugh at that.

“All right, Tom, go on ahead, and be sharp!”

I watch Tom move out and wait until he had gone about twenty-five yards before I
give the signal to follow. I don’t know why, but here we are on a road that is as
peaceful and soothing to be on as you could ask for, and I am starting to sweat and
my mouth is dryin’ out; my eyes start to dart left and right like a pendulum on a
grandfather clock. It was the same thing this morning at Philippi, waitin’ for the
battle to start. I take a quick drink from my canteen and that helps to settle my
nerves some. I watch Tom ahead and for a moment he is no longer a young soldier
carrying an Enfield rifle down a road he’s never been on before, ready to shoot down
and kill somebody he doesn't even know; instead, he is what he should be in life, a
16 year old kid carrying a fishin’ pole out to try his luck down at the river, catchin’ a
mess of fish to proudly show off to his mama. I can see the youth in him start to
come out; he is no longer staring straight ahead and watching the road ahead for
trouble, instead, he's walking a little more relaxed, not being cautious. He, too, is
probably dreaming about going fishing in another place, another life. It is too easy
to dream about things other than war on this road; it is just too beautiful. How can
men, complete strangers, try and kill each other on a road like this? The sun is
playing through the leaves and it feels warm. The shadows of the branches
overhead swaying gently back and forth on the ground, and the breeze is carrying
the scent of corn, sweet peas and alfalfa growing in the neighboring fields. I watch
birds flit down to the ground and then back up into the trees. I feel like I am on the
road home again. Lily will be there, waitin’ for me, and the smell of fresh baked
bread and stew will fill the house.

I see the cloud of smoke up ahead first, followed by a deep boom, and then hear the
ball when it hits Tom. A .58 caliber lead ball makes a horrible, thudding sound when
it hits a man. It goes into Tom’s stomach and spins him around, knocking him down.
He lies on his back in the road, dying, his heels kicking and drumming out his death
dance in the dust. He will not die quickly, poor bastard. From behind and to the
side I see and hear more shots. O’Reilly and Kennedy are hit several times before
they can get off a shot and fall silently and lie motionless in the road. Flynn and
Thomson, behind them, fire at the smoke and then start running as fast as they can
back towards the junction. They had not gone far before a volley brings them both
down. Before I can run into the bushes, I feel a ball go through my left thigh. It
spins me around and I, too, lie in the road looking up through the trees to the blue
sky beyond. The next round slams into my shoulder. Turning my head in the dust, I
look over to where Jameson, the last man in our squad, is kneeling in the road,
quickly trying to reload his rifle. Thank God, he never felt the ball that takes the
back of his head off. I can feel the blood flowing warmly over my leg and shoulder,
it won't be long, now. Turning my head, I gaze past Tom, and looking up the road, I can just make out Lily, running to help me; her long, white dress flowing around her
and the sunlight making her hair shine. I try to reach my arm out to her, but it
won't respond. I want to touch her one last time. She is coming closer. The warm
sunlight starts to feel cold; the blue sky is turning gray, and the bright, divine light
of the leaves is starting to dim. I smile up at her as she comes near, holding both
arms out to me. I hear footsteps and angry voices quickly approaching me from
behind. I look back into her eyes, smiling and...

"Hey, Sergeant Taggert, this here Yankee sergeant looks like he might still be
alive...naw, he's dead. They all dead."