Free A Dangerous Promise by Joan Lowery Nixon Page B

can find? I'll take care of this one."
    "He's a Yank. Why not just shoot him in the head?"
    Corey flushed. "I'd as soon shoot you as him. The battle's over, and the Federals have been gone since yesterday."
    "Leaving us to bury their dead," Jiri grumbled.
    "It makes no nevermind," Corey told him. "This man is our prisoner, and we don't shoot prisoners."
    Jiri glanced at Mike's leg. "He'll probably beg you to shoot him after he finds out the surgeon's gonna take off his leg."
    Mike's heart raced. "Corey? Your surgeon wouldn't do that, would he?"

    With a nasty laugh, Jiri began to climb the slope, and Corey bent to study Mike's leg. This time Mike could feel him pushing and probing around the wound. Mike bit his lip to keep from crying out. When Corey finished, Mike fell back, exhausted.
    "The bone's not broke," Corey said. "As far as the wound goes, it's stopped bleedin', and it needs a good cleanin' out. 'Course, I'm no company surgeon, and hke Jiri said, the doctor we got is kinda inclined to handle bad leg wounds by taking off the leg."
    Mike clutched at Corey's hand. "Don't let him cut off my leg! Please, Corey! Let me just stay here until I've got my strength back."
    "You lie here much longer in this heat, with those maggots eatin' away at that wound, and there won't be anything left of you."
    "But my leg—"
    "Listen to me, Mike," Corey said. "I've got to take you to where you'll get care."
    "Then take me to my own company."
    "No chance in the world for that. Your Federals were retreatin' fast. By this time, they've reached Springfield and then some. With our army on their tail, they'll have to keep movin'. No telling where they'll run to."
    Without Todd. Without me. The last bit of Mike's resolve melted, and he burst into tears.
    Corey was silent for a few moments, then touched Mike's shoulder. "You're no older than my brother Ezra. I don't know what gave you the notion to join the army, but you did, so you gotta get yourself in hand now. You done me some favors by carryin' my notes to Marta, so I promise I'll see you get care, Mike, and I'll do whatever I can to keep you from losin' your leg."
    Mike struggled to get himself under control. He rubbed the tears from his eyes with the back of one hand and looked up at Corey. "Thanks, Corey," he said.

    Corey's smile was brief. "I'm gonna have to carry you up this slope and out of here," he said. "I won't try to fool you, Mike. Afore I get you to the hospital that's been set up at the farmhouse, your leg's gonna hurt somethin' awful."
    Mike nodded. "I understand."
    "Okay," Corey said. "Reach up and grab me around the neck."
    Mike did, and Corey swung him upward and over one shoulder.
    "Don't worry if you can't hang on," Corey said. "I've got a good hold on you."
    Pain streaked through Mike's entire body. This time he didn't try to fight it. Gratefully, he slipped back into the darkness.
    Mike awoke to find himself lying on the ground in the shade of the white farmhouse he'd spotted from the ridge on the hill. Around him were other wounded men. Some lay still, eyes closed, wrapped in blankets, while others cried out in agony. A man crawled over Mike's feet. "Oooh!" Mike yelled, but the man didn't hear. Moaning, talking to himself in delirium, he crawled on, sprawling over the bloody blanket of the man who lay next to Mike.
    "Did he hurt you?" Mike asked as he twisted toward the injured soldier.
    The man didn't answer. His half-lidded eyes were dull, his jaw slack. The soldier was dead.
    An officer, his clothes stained with blood, approached the row of wounded where Mike lay. Following the officer was an orderly with a sheaf of papers on which were printed large numbers. As the officer examined each injured man, he spoke to the orderly, and the orderly tied one of the papers to each one's coat buttons.
    This must be the company surgeon, Mike thought, and he was so frightened, he found it hard to breathe.
    The doctor spent only a moment looking at Mike's

    wound. "Infection's