Free Shattered Lives (Flynn Family Saga Book 1) by Erica Graham

nodded.
    Sam patted his pockets and swore softly.
    “What is it, Major?”
    Sam looked away.  “It was just a locket, but I’ve
had it a long time.”
    Ben’s eyes widened, and he felt in vest pocket.  “Emma!”
    Sam turned to him.  “Your wife?”
    Ben nodded.  “She had a daguerreotype made of her,
just before I left.  Those bastards took it.”
    Flynn got up and started after Brooks and his men.
    Sam grabbed his arm.  “No, son.  Let them go.  What
matters is that we’re all right.”
    Flynn hesitated.
    “Come on.  If we hurry, we might get a tent.”  Sam’s
grip tightened on his arm.
    With a sigh, Flynn followed him into the camp.
    That night, when both Ben and Sam were asleep, Flynn
crept silently into the darkness.  He found Brooks easily.  He took his belt
out of its loops and wrapped around Brooks’ neck.
    The man woke with a start.  He stared at Flynn with
eyes wide with terror.
    Flynn smiled.  “Now, you are going to give back what
you stole, and you are going to leave Sam and Ben alone.  Do you understand me?”
    Brooks nodded.  His hand fumbled in his pocket.  The
locket glinted in the firelight.  Flynn nodded once.  He tightened the belt
again.  Brooks handed over the daguerreotype.  Flynn continued to tighten the
belt until Brooks lost consciousness.  Then, he walked silently back to Sam and
Ben.  He opened the locket.  It contained a picture of a woman with hair the
color of honey.  She had high cheekbones and an aristocratic look to her. 
There was something familiar about her.  The daguerreotype showed a woman with
a plain, wholesome face.  He drew a deep breath and woke Ben.
    Ben stared at him.  “Flynn?”
    Flynn nodded.  He held out the daguerreotype.  Tears
glistened in Ben’s eyes.  He touched the picture reverently.
    Flynn squeezed Ben’s shoulder.
    “Can’t a man get any sleep around here?”
    Sam’s bass growl startled Flynn.  He turned to the
Major and held out the locket.
    Sam’s hand shook as he took the locket.  “Kate,” he
whispered.
    “Your wife?”
    Sam shook his head.  “No.  She married someone else.”
    Flynn looked away from the raw pain in the older man’s
face.  “I’m sorry.”
    Sam sighed.  “It was a long time ago.  Get some
sleep, son.”
    Flynn nodded.  He curled up next to the Major. 
Eventually, he slept.
    They got nothing to eat that day or the next.  One
of the guards came over to them.  He cut up an apple into thirds with his knife
and handed it to them.
    Sam nodded to him.  “Thank you, son.  What’s your
name?”
    “Joseph O’Malley, sir.”
    “Well, Corporal O’Malley, we are in your debt.”  Sam
touched the brim of his cap.
    O’Malley shook his head.  “No sir.  What we are
doing here is wrong.”
    Sam laid his hand on O’Malley’s shoulder.  “Son,
this isn’t your fault.”
    The corporal opened his mouth and shut it again
without speaking.  He turned and continued his rounds.
    The three men ate the apple slowly.  Flynn savored
the sweet juice.  The scent reminded him of Maude and Hector and pies cooling
on the windowsill, and his eyes filled with tears.
    But he could not cry.

 
    CHAPTER SIX
     
    The days blurred into one another.  Flynn was always
hungry.  It was a little warmer in Georgia, but not much.  Three weeks after
they arrived in Camp Sumter, Sam fell ill.
    “Cholera.”  Ben looked up at Flynn.  “Do you know
any Indian medicine for cholera?”
    Flynn shook his head.  He stood up and went in
search of Corporal O’Malley.  He found the young man supervising the daily
burial detail.  “Corporal O’Malley, Major Anders is sick.”
    “Cholera?”
    Flynn nodded.
    O’Malley sighed wearily and stared at the linen-wrapped
bodies.  “That’s what they died of.  I’m sorry, Lieutenant Flynn.”
    Fear pooled like icy water in his belly.  Flynn
turned away.  Then, he turned back.  “Is there any chance of getting us some
laudanum?”
    O’Malley