Free Shades of Gray: A Novel of the Civil War in Virginia by Jessica James Page B

detained.”
    “Did you forget my orders?”
    This question stumped Andrea for a moment
because she rarely ever committed his orders to memory—therefore she could not
have forgotten one. “No,” she replied honestly. “I did not forget your orders.”
    “Did I not tell you to come through the other
pass?”
    “Oh-h yes . . . but this one was faster—”
    “Faster? For what? Dispatching you to your
heavenly creator?”
    J.J. paced up and down, stopping only long
enough to pour himself a drink, which he emptied with a shaking hand.
    “A little early for that isn’t it?” Andrea
stared at the empty glass, thinking she would not mind having one herself.
    “You did not answer my question.” J.J. slammed
the glass down. “Do you believe yourself immune to death or are you trying to
get yourself killed?”
    Andrea shrugged. She had never seen J.J. quite
like this. Although it was common practice for her to seek forgiveness rather
than permission, J.J. did not seem predisposed to either one today.
    “Is your affection for danger so great that you
must amuse yourself with it? I believe you would jump off the face of a cliff
with the intention—and the hope—of growing wings on the way down!”
    “J.J.” Andrea sighed heavily again as she pulled
out a chair and sat down. “Duty is ours, the consequences are God’s. If a
bullet finds me, it will be according to the order of Providence.”
    “It will be according to whether you have any
sense or not! Holy Jerusalem! I would have thought your horse’s life, at least,
had a little value to you.”
    “Please, Colonel,” Andrea said, chafing at his
tone and manner. “Perhaps from your vantage point you could not see, but the
incline was too steep. They were content with firing over my head.”
    “Oh, you have that right.” He walked over and
pulled off her hat. “They were indeed shooting over your head!” He pointed to a
ragged bullet hole she had not known was there. “Why do you seem to get the most
enjoyment out of life when you are within an ace of losing it?”
    Andrea stared uneasily at the hat as she spoke,
but did not allow her voice to betray her. “ I
only did what I thought was best, considering the—”
    “Did it ever occur to you not to think?
To just follow orders? Was your mission not clear? Were my orders not
explicit?” Must you persist in your obstinate refusal to obey?”
    “You evidently did not follow your own orders,
Colonel,” Andrea said as sulfur smoke, sinking down from the upper floors, began
to fill the room. “I am apparently not the only one to have taken the wrong
pass.”
    “I never intended to be at Hopewell. I
intended to keep you away from this Gap and the enemy, and thereby out
of trouble!”
    Andrea
blinked in disbelief, realizing for the first time he did not trust her.
    “Blazes,” J.J. said, running his hand through
his hair. “I’m going to have every blasted officer on this side of the Bull Run
Mountains demanding my report on this.”
    “I believe you’d be less likely to criticize my
actions were I a man,” Andrea countered, her voice rising in anger.
    “You’d be
imprisoned for insubordination if you were a man! And if you still carry any
notions about going to Richmond,” he said, standing directly in front of her
now as if she couldn’t hear his yelling from across the room, “then I can’t
help but fear the voice of reason has entirely abandoned you.”
    Andrea’s gaze jerked back to his and she rose to
her feet, but he held out his hand for her to be silent. “My scouts tell me
Hunter squeezed through our lines and has returned to wherever he came from, so
there’s no use deliberating over it now. You are dismissed.”
    “Sir, with all due respect—”
    “I said you are dismissed.”
    When Andrea turned to exit, she nearly collided
with an officer striding through the door. “Ah, there you are, boy. Never saw
anything like it. How about you, Colonel?” Colonel Dayton dragged Andrea