Spake As a Dragon

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Jamie Arrives

  The Reb soldier at the tent entrance walks to Luke’s bunk and sits down, “I hear’d a rumor on the way down here from one of them blue-bellies that we is bein’ sent to sommers called Point Lookout. You ever hear’d of that place?”

  Luke turns over and sits up, “Point Lookout, you say? Yeah, I’ve heard of it. It’s in Maryland, I believe. From what I have picked up it’s not high on the list of prisoner camps to go to.”

  “You think we might have a chance to skedaddle?”

  “Nah, from what I can remember Point Lookout is on a peninsula on the south end of Maryland.”

  “Pen...penne...”

  “A peninsula, it’s just a name for land surrounded on three sides by water. Kind of an island, but not exactly, only one way in and only one way out. It’ll be hard for us to escape out of there I’m afraid.”

  “Hey,” a voice from the tent opening yells, “anybody here know an ugly, Alabama hick named Luke Scarburg?” The soldier enters as Luke turns to confront the man who is calling him insulting names.

  Standing in the glare of the open flap it is hard for Luke to identify the big mouth, and then he recognizes the man, “Well I’ll be! If it isn’t Morefield!” He says leaping from his bunk grabbing Jamie Morefield and hugging him tightly.

  “Whoa! Whoa, you’re squashin’ a wounded man,” Jamie says grabbing his left arm and laughing. “Just a mini-ball through my arm didn’t hit no bone or nothin’. They say I’ll be fine as frog hair pretty soon.”

  They sit down on Luke’s bunk and began reminiscing about the past year. Although, Luke is in Company E and Jamie is with Company C they have not had many occasions to see each other and visit. Jamie tells he heard that Luke was here in this tent, and he came looking for him.

  “Jamie when’s the last time we saw each other?”

  “I believe it was at Shiloh.”

  After Luke agreed, he begins to fill Jamie in on his part in the Battle of Gettysburg. He explains how his father Robert was last seen lying hurt beside the boulder at Devil’s Den and how he had to leave Matthew badly wounded at the split-rail fence on Emmitsburg Road. He thrust his face into his hands, and tears formed in his eyes as he remembered them both, both badly hurt yet he was unable to help them. He tells how he asks everyone he comes into contact with about both of them, but no one has been able to say what finally happened to them after the battle.

  “Luke, I caught a bit of news that might get your hopes up. I hear’d that your Pa was alive. Last I hear’d he was at one of them temporary hospitals out there in them woods south of Gettysburg. One of the boys in my wagon comin’ down here had been in there with him.”

  “What else Jamie? Who is that soldier? I need to talk to him!”

  “Nothing more Luke, that’s the only thang I know, but that’s good ain’t it? Yer Pa was alive, but I ain’t hear’d nothing about Matthew. As fer as talkin’ with my mate in the wagon he died afore we got here. There’s one other thang, but I don’t know if’n I should tell you. He said all the wounded in yer Pa’s tent had black armbands.” All soldiers in both armies learned about the red, white and black armbands after their first battle. “Sorry about that news Luke.”

  Luke sits back up straight, slaps Jamie on the back, “Black bands or not now I’ve got hope! At least I know he was alive when he reached the medical tent. Thank you, Jamie, thank you my friend.”

  “Luke, what you been hearin’ ‘bout us stayin’ here for the rest of the war? You think that might be right? Some of the fellers in my tent thanks they’s wrong they say we’re goin’ to sommers caller Pint Lookout. They say they hear’d one of our Yankee guards say so. What say you Luke?”

  “No, I don’t think we are staying here, but it’s ‘Point’ Lookout. I also hear it’s a nice place to visit, but you wouldn’t want to live there,” Luke says grinning.