This is my first book! I posted it up on Amazon here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0896YGBKT

I have included the first chapter here, I might post the rest of the chapters later.

It was cold and clammy in the Tennessee mountains. A late fall morning, the time of year when the sun was a little more reluctant to pop up over the horizon with each new day.

Down in the valley in the pre-dawn gloom, lieutenant Jacob Clemens rolled over on his narrow cot, nearly tipping into the dirt. He woke and cast his eye about the tiny tent he called home. Not much to see, standard army issue moldy gray canvas dripping with dew. He often wondered if being in the army was a good idea, especially in the middle of the War for Southern Independence. He had been told many times a war can make a career, but it can also make a person dead. He was not so interested in being dead. To top it off, the war was not going well. Not that wars ever really go well other than in history books, with the killing and mud and bad food.

At least he had his own tent. It was small and cramped with a little drip just above his head. But it was better than sharing and it was just a small perk he was due as a general’s aide de camp. Another perk he appreciated was not having to go shoot at other men while getting shot at. That was the one he appreciated the most.

He roused himself up from his cot, tossing aside the gray itchy wool blankets, replacing them with a gray itchy wool jacket. He grabbed his black boots from under the cot, shook them out and pulled them over his frozen toes. As he was leaving the tent, the cold wind hit him full in the face. He grimaced at the blow, like a slap in the face with a wet fish. It was late fall, towards the end of October. Winter was coming. He pulled on his dirty hat and headed over to the small fire maintained for the sentries.

The remnants of the 55th Regiment of the Confederate Army had been hiding out in the Smoky Mountains for the last two weeks after a stunning defeat outside of Knoxville. It was no surprise to Jacob, the unit was good at defeat.

He huddled close to the meagre fire to bring some life back into his numb fingers. Sergeant Sam Myers looked up from where he was poking the embers, “Morning lieutenant, any plans for today?”

Jacob spoke slowly, trying not to chatter. “I was thinking we could head into Washington and have a sit down with this Lincoln fellow, settle this war. Maybe see if we could put an end to this hiding in the woods. I wouldn’t mind spending some time indoors.”
Sam chuckled, “Can’t imagine the general going for that. He would miss out on the glory. He wants statues and bridges and little boys named after him.”

“Don’t be saying that too loud. Go kick the cook, the men should at least get their gruel warm.”

Sam added, “I’m just kidding, he’s a good sort despite everything.” He moved off to start waking the camp.

General Zacharia Horatio Jackson looked out from his tent at the misty Tennessee morning, stroking his lovely whiskers. The morning mist was the best for shaping his rather substantial beard. It wouldn't do for the men to see him with "morning beard". He adjusted his gray uniform, held his head high and stepped out into the camp. Several horse apples met their demise under his heavy black boots.
He walked over to the campfire where the lieutenant was waiting. Jacob piped up "Morning, general, what are your orders today?"
The general responded with enthusiasm "We are going to flip the tides of this war today! I feel it deep in my bones! My exalted grandfather always told me there is no time like the future for getting off your rump and setting out for greener pastures!"

Jacob sighed. "Sir, not to be negative, but we hardly have fifty men after we ran aw.. um, did a tactical retreat to hide... regroup here in this forest. We are going to have to come up with some other plan if we are to have a hope of ending this war. I doubt the men can carry on much longer in these conditions. Not that they are complaining. They are a good bunch, as loyal as they come."

The cook interrupted at this moment to bring over the general's breakfast. He attempted a smart salute but forgot to remove the eating utensils from his hand first. The general peered closely at the blood trickling from the cook's forehead, then at the few drops of blood on the cook's hand. "Young man, you must get to the doctor immediately and get that hand amputated. No sense in getting gangrene! Go now - quickly!"

The general turned back to Jacob, "We will do the impossible! Merely doing the possible is for weak men of low birth. We will make it happen, the impossible that is, with grit, determination and greatness! After all we are masters of this world. To believe otherwise lowers us to the level of animals, like this mangy dog here eating my breakfast.” Zacharia stepped to the table, “I will demonstrate!"
The general spastically waved his hands at the dog as if he were trying to douse an invisible fire. The dog continued to eat the food, unbothered by the general’s gyrations. Having eaten all the breakfast, the dog jumped down and slowly limped away.

"See, I have banished this ferocious animal with my superior intellect and abilities. Cook! Get me some more food."

As the sun reluctantly began to glow through the trees and the bugler blew a few discordant notes into the morning air, the camp started to rise and greet the morning with all the vigor of a rotten melon.

Jacob heard a faint yell from the sentry just as a black charger galloped into camp. It was a magnificent horse, all muscle and foam. It was carrying an equally imposing rider. He was entirely covered in black leather, from his riding boots to his peaked hat. They were like something you would see in a painting, riding into battle leading brave men to certain doom. The rider pulled up, yelling out “General Jackson!”

Zacharia jumped up from the table, excited and agitated, flustered like a school girl at the rider’s sudden appearance.

“Are you from Atlanta? Henry’s Literature Emporium?” Zacharia blurted out.

“Aye sir, Henry sent me at a rush to find you. He found that book you were asking after. I have it with me now. He said this was of the utmost importance. I’ve ridden night and day to find your camp.” The rider dismounted in a swoosh of black leather. Zacharia offered him refreshment, more out of habit and decorum than anything else. The best they could offer was somewhat clear river water.

“Thanks, but don’t bother yourself. I have everything I need. Henry spoke of you in the most gracious terms, I see what he was getting on about. Though to be honest, I did not expect such a handsome fellow, and he didn’t say anything about that wonderful beard!”
Zacharia blushed, “Henry has always been the best of friends. I apologize for rushing you, but can we have the book? Please give it to my aide here!”

The rider pulled a package wrapped is old leather from inside his coat and handed it to Jacob. “I’m sorry I can’t stay. I would love to meet all your soldiers and make friends. But there is a Union army heading this way and I don’t want to get in the middle of whatever they have in mind.” The rider vaulted back on his horse, turned and tore out of camp.

Moments later the sentry came running up to Jacob panting, “Sir! An unknown rider is approaching the camp. What should I do?”

Jacob looked sadly at the young man, “Have some breakfast. We will be moving camp shortly.”

Zacharia was standing at the flap of his tent, beckoning Jacob over. He covered the muddy ground quickly with almost no sliding and ducked under the dirty flap after the general. Once inside, Zacharia turned quickly, reaching for the package in Jacob’s hand. Zacharia rapidly pulled off the worn leather wrapping to reveal a small ancient tome about the size of his hand. He looked up at Jacob with wonder and excitement, “Many years ago I heard of the possible existence of this book. I doubted it could be found but I held on to what little hope I could muster. This is the original account of the Roman defeat of the Gods, written by Pliny the Younger himself. According to the legend, the Romans played some trick and banished the gods from our mortal plane. There must be some information in this book to help us to gain an advantage and reverse out luck. I believe we can use this knowledge to turn the tide of this war!”
He opened the book with care, glancing at the first few pages then quickly flipping through the book, a look of disappointment on his face. “This is all in Latin. It has been too many years since I have practiced the language, I fear I will not be able to read it!”
Jacob spoke up, “Sir, I have studied Latin extensively, enough to be able to read the classics in the original tongue. May I take a look? Perhaps I can make some sense of it.”

Zacharia reluctantly handed the book back to Jacob as if he were giving up his only chance to make good in life. This was an exciting moment for Jacob. It is not often he had the opportunity to study any ancient writings and none in their original form. Despite the stains and smudges on the pages, he was able to make out the words and slowly began to translate the first page for Zacharia.

“This is the entire account by Pliny the Younger, written in my own hand of the infamous actions brought on by the Roman Senate, actions which have changed the very nature of this world and have left us to carry on with no hope of divine guidance.”

Jacob looked up. The general was dancing about the tent, knocking over his wash table and spilling his clean clothing into the mud. “Woohoo my boy! My fate is being fulfilled today! There will be statues and bridges and little boys galore! We are going to win this war! Stay here and finish translating that book.”

Jacob closed the book with regret, carefully wrapping it up and tucking it into his tunic. “General, while we have the best of the best retreaters of the Confederate Army in this unit, they will need guidance to move out of this area before the Union Army shows up. We need to get going now, we wouldn’t want this book to fall into the hands of the enemy. There is no time to spare for scholarly activities.”

Jacob left the tent, running to the center of the camp. He bellowed “Sergeant Myers! Get the men ready to move out!” The camp erupted in motion, not all for the good or even helpful in any way. Men were running to and fro, tents were knocked down and put back up. By some mysterious agency, three separate fires broke out, one in the center of a mud puddle. Sergeant Sam Myers ran from tent to tent, getting the men up and yelling at them to pack their gear.

Jacob grabbed him as he was rushing by, “Get a scout out there to see how far away these Union boys are. We don’t even know for sure there is anyone out there.”

“Yes Sir! Bawkins is already on his way. He is the best we have. There is a decent chance he will not be caught. If you don’t mind sir, I would like to ask how we will stop them from just following us as we retreat?”

“I’ll think of something. Just concentrate on getting everyone ready to go, quick as a pickle!”

Jacob watched as some semblance of order overcame the camp despite the general effort to create more disorder. Before long the men started to line up, rucksacks at their feet. Some even with weapons ready. It was a sad sight, many of the men were missing bits of their uniform, making do with what they could find. Through it all, private Singer somehow managed to always be wearing that bright green ball gown he found, always clean and smartly pressed no matter what befell the group. Jacob walked around the camp, collecting the rest of the men. Some were having trouble with their tents; others hadn’t been aware they were moving out.

The scout came riding back into camp at a gallop and sharply pulled his horse up in front of Jacob. “Sir, I found the Union camp. They are several miles down the valley. It appears they are just starting to break camp. From what I could see, they are not aware we are up here. I didn’t see any scouts or advance parties. We are safe for the moment.”

Jacob brightened, “Ok, we need to get a move on. Grab your gear and form up with the rest of the cavalry unit over to the east side of the camp.”

Jacob walked back to where the infantry was now assembled. He was thinking these men had to leave this valley without leaving a trail. He was not interested in having the Union boys chasing them all over the countryside. They were going to have to fade away without a trace, like a sleight of hand parlor trick. Better yet, leave a false trail for the Union to follow. He went to the front of the troops, “Alright men. We need to move out quickly and quietly. The Union camp isn’t aware we are here. We have caught a break for the moment. Keep the noise to a minimum and we will have the opportunity to leave without a fight. I want you to form up into small squads, no more than five soldiers to a squad.” He paused, waiting. The men stared at him. “I’m telling you to do it now.” The men shuffled about, forming and breaking groups like ducks swimming randomly in a pond. They settled out, the last few men making their final decision.
Jacob continued, “Next, you will drift off into the forest, one by one. Not as a group, one by one. Imagine you are going out to relieve yourselves in the forest. Once you have moved out into the trees and are well away from the camp, connect up with your squad mates and head for safe ground. Take a look at each other now so you will remember who is in your group.” The men glanced about, a few expressing obvious surprise about who was in their squad.

Jacob spoke quietly, “Do you understand?”

The assembled soldiers whispered in unison, “Yes sir.”

“Very good, before you go, take a look up there at that ridge.” Jacob pointed to the east, up the valley. The men started to look off in various directions, murmuring amongst themselves and pointing randomly. Jacob shook his head. “Alright everyone, look at me. You got that? Everyone!”

He now had the attention of all the soldiers. “Look at my hand”, he held his arm straight up. “Follow my hand and see where I am pointing.” He slowly swept his hand from above his head, moving it to the east. “Now, my finger is going to point at the ridge in question, look at it.”

Several of the men continued to stare at Jacob, like dogs who think there may be a treat in his hand.

“All of you look to where I am pointing. I want to show where safe ground is. See on that ridge, there is an outcropping. It looks like a turtle’s head poking up from a log.”

One of the men spoke out, “It looks more like a ferret to me. Are you sure you’re pointing at the right one?” Several others nodded in agreement.

Another soldier commented “I would say it is more like a tortoise, seeing as there is no water up there.” More chatter met these words and several of the men congratulated the speaker on his astute wisdom.

Sam stepped and in is best sergeant voice quietly yelled. “It don’t matter what kind of animal it is. You all need to turn your heads right NOW and look at that ridge the Lieutenant is pointing to!”

Everyone snapped to at his words, even the deaf fellow who got a bit too close to a cannon muzzle. Jacob glanced over at Sam and nodded, impressed at his ability to cut through the chatter.

“What we are going to do is fade away in all directions. Each team will meet up a couple hundred yards out into the woods and make their way to that ridge. Don’t all of you just go directly to the ridge, you need to fan out. But don’t forget to look up once in a while to see where the ridge is at. Otherwise you’re going to end up in Texas.” He looked over at the mounted men, “Cavalry, stay in position.” Putting his attention back to the crowd, “Infantry, move out now.”

The men shuffled off. Some holding their crotches as if they truly had to relieve themselves. Jacob thought amusedly these fellows would make a better acting troupe than they had shown to be an effective army unit. He thought with some amazement, after all they had been through, these are the ones who survived.

Jacob and Sam walked over to where the cavalry was waiting. They only had eight horses left, but they were well rested and had fed nicely on the late fall grasses. The General was mounted along with five others. Two horses were rider less, waiting for the two men to arrive. General Jackson spoke up, “Good job to you two men. Well done on getting the soldiers on their way and out of danger.”

“Thank you General. You should head on out, take two riders and head up the stream over yonder. You should walk you horses in the water where you can. When you find a spot where the bank isn’t muddy, head on up the ridge to the meeting point. The rest of us will lay in a diversion, giving us all time to get away.”

The general quickly responded “Yes Si... Uhm, I mean I will take your advice in consideration and as such, finding it to be a correctly estimated estimation of the situation we now face here as we are, I will order myself to ride up the stream in short order. Yes, as an order. Wilks, Parsons, you’re with me. Off we go!”

The general moved out, down the valley towards the stream, leaving the five soldiers to hold off an entire Union Army.

“All right, I have an idea of sorts that may get us out of this.” Jacob began. “We need to make it look like a large group of cavalry retreated up the stream in the opposite direction from the ridge. We are going to accomplish this by riding around, back and forth, churning up the soft ground. After it is good and muddy, we cross over the stream and do more of the same. We go as far as we can until we hit firm ground. Once we are in the woods, we circle around and head towards the ridge. We only have an hour or so before the Union scouts--”

One of the soldiers interrupted, “Do we ride around in circles or go back and forth? Can we come up with some interesting patterns, you know, leave some nice designs in the mud? I’ve always been a fan of Irish lace. I would like to try to reproduce some of the classic patterns. My gran was the best lacer I’ve ever seen, she taught me everything. There’s the Irish rose and the fleur de lis, though that is really a French thing. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at--”

Sam grabbed the rider by the arm, “That’s enough for the lace lesson soldier. Listen up, the lieutenant is speaking!”

“While you head over to the field, I will grab some tree branches we can drag around as well. Sam, mount up. Let’s get down to the stream. We don’t have much time to get this done.”

Jacob climbed up on his horse and took off at a trot leaving the rest to follow. He spied a small forest to the left and headed for it, directing the others into the meadow next to the stream. He stopped and dismounted by a growth of fir.

Grabbing a small axe from the saddlebag, he immediately got to work hacking off several sizable branches. He looped up the trunk ends with a piece of rope, jumped back on his horse and heading to the meadow, dragging the tree branches behind.

He was surprised to see the other riders doing a decent job of riding about, back and forth and circles as well. The meadow was well churned, giving the appearance of a hundred or more riders having come this way. He passed off branches to each of the riders so they could start dragging them through the mud, obscuring the hoof marks.

“Well done boys, let’s head across the stream up towards those woods there.”

Nearly an hour later they had finished all the riding about, and it really did look like a large cavalry had ridden off into the trees. Jacob motioned to the other riders to join him. “We need to catch up with the rest of the unit now. The Union boys will be here any minute. Johnson, take point.” He motioned to the other riders, “You two follow after him, then the sergeant after that, and I will follow in the rear.” At this moment Jacob brushed his hand across his coat the clean off some stray pine needles.

“Oh, for heavens no!” he cried out, “Sergeant, the book, it’s gone!”

Sam stopped riding, “Oh Mother of Joseph!”

Jacob exclaimed, “Oh, to all the demons of earth, how could this be?”

Sam hesitated, “Oh malarkey!”

“Malarkey?” Jacob laughed.

Sam looked down sheepishly, “It’s all that came to mind at the moment. I can try again. How about, ‘Woe is us, we are cursed’, is that better?”

“Never mind.” Jacob replied. He looked back across the field of churned mud, his face fell. “Damnation! How will I ever find it now? It could be anywhere under all that mud!”

The two men looked back across the meadow to where they started. It was easily more than half a mile back to the camp across the churned-up mud.

Sam asked, “When do you last remember having it?”

Jacob retorted, “Why does that matter? We had better get searching fast, there is a lot of ground to cover. We are going to need to search on foot. Let’s tie up the horses behind these trees.”

“Hold on.” Sam insisted, “I have a technique for finding things. It will save us time we don’t have to spare. When do you last remember having it?”

Jacob thought, “Well, when we mounted up, I definitely had it then. But since then I haven’t really been paying attention, I could have lost it anywhere. We need to get searching!”

Sam growled, “Hold on! Follow along with me and we will find your book. When you lose something, you get befuddled. If you weren’t befuddled, then the thing would not be lost. See? You would know exactly where it is. We have to clear up that befuddlement. Losing things involves the ideas of presence and absence, this is the important part. This is how we find it. You would have noticed its presence from time to time as you were riding about. It would jostle and poke you. The absence would go unremarked since it is not the usual thing for you to have a book in your pocket. See, you notice the unusual and don’t notice the usual. Now the absence of the usual is different that the unusual. You will notice the absence of the usual to some degree, but you notice the presence of the unusual much more. It’s just a matter of what you are used to. In order to find the book, we need to get the moment when you stopped noticing it. You would have lost it at that moment or soon after. Think hard, when did you stop noticing it?”

Jacob took a moment to think, “I don’t recall noticing it while we were riding about in the field across the stream or any time after that. The last time I recall definitely being aware of it is when we mounted up and headed for the mud field. I must have dropped it soon after.”

Sam prompted, “That’s good. What did you do right after we set out?”

Jacob thought back, “Well, first thing is we rode down and I went over to get some branches. I dismounted and was chopping at the trees, bending over and lifting. It must have fallen out then! Wow, you are an absolute genius! Where did you learn such things?”
“Well, my grandfather was a pretty smart guy. He taught me all sorts of useful knowledge.”

Jacob turned to the others “Johnson, take my horse. I will have to go back on foot. If the Union gets sight of a rider, they will chase us until we are caught. I can sneak back through the trees and go unnoticed. Meanwhile you all head over to the ridge and catch up with the troops. Once I retrieve the book, I can make my way to the ridge.”

Sam jumped off his horse, “I am going with you. You need someone to watch your back. This isn’t a job to do alone.”

Jacob dismounted. “Good idea. Johnson take these two horses and get going. The Union scouts will be here any moment.”

The two men crouched and watched as the riders slipped between the trees. They rushed over to the right to cross the stream and get into cover of the forest. They quickly and quietly moved through the trees, coming up to the top of the meadow where they would have to cross in the open. It was only about 50 yards to the stand of firs where Jacob stopped to cut branches. They did a quick look around, checking for any sign of soldiers. If they were spotted at this point, they were done for. Seeing nothing, they dashed across and stepped into the firs.

“It was just on the other side of these trees where I did the cutting.” Jacob whispered. Sam crouched down and got on his belly, crawling under the low branches until he was out of sight. Jacob waited, wondering what he would tell the general if they came back empty handed. Sam slid backwards out from under the trees and got up on his knees.

He whispered, “I see a scout out there. To make matters worse, he has the book and is looking through the pages. If he didn’t have the book, we could just distract him and get him to move on. But now that he has the book, we will have to deal with him. Luckily he is alone.”

Jacob stood up, checking he still had his pistol and knife. “Ok, I will go out there and deal with him. I have no other options. Stay here and keep watch for others.” Jacob moved silently through the trees in the direction of the scout. Quietly, he stepped out around the last tree, stopping about 10 yards from the scout.

“Hello” said Jacob, “I’m just out here looking for my book. Lucky for me, it appears you have found it. I will thank you to please hand it over so I can be on my way.”

The scout looked up at him, startled. “I don’t think I can do that.” He sneered, “You’re a Confederate boy. This here is my book now. You best just surrender before one of my buddies puts a hole in you.”

Jacob thought for a moment, this really was a pickle. “I understand your point. It makes sense to me. You appear to have me over a barrel. But before I surrender, I would like you to know that book is something special to me. It’s not really worth much but it means a lot to me. I really would like to get it back before consenting to surrendering as you prisoner.”

“Why’s that? It’s just a dirty old book filled with gibberish. These are not even regular words, not anything anyone could read anyway.”
“Yes, that’s true. It’s beat up and stained and old, but it was given to me by a dear friend who is no longer around. It meant the world to him and I don’t want to disrespect him by not taking care of it. It’s the last thing he gave me before ‘riding off’, as they say.”

The scout thought for a moment. “Well alright, you can have your book. I can understand about special things. See, I have this pendant given to me by my ma.” He fished a small necklace out from under his shirt, “I would hate to lose it in all this mud. She said I have to bring it back to her. It’s special to me.” He paused in thought. “She would want me to give you your book back. Take it.”

Jacob took a few steps forward to accept the book from the scout, putting it back in his pocket while retreating. “Thank you. You are a genuine fellow raised well. I’m thankful to your ma for raising you up right. Before we discuss surrender, I’d like to introduce myself.

I’m Jacob Clemens, from North Carolina. I grew up out Ashville way, son of a farmer. How about yourself?”

“I’m Brian Thompkins, from Connecticut. I was near done with apprenticing to a baker when I was conscripted into this war.”

Jacob moved closer. “I hear Connecticut is a beautiful state. I mean to go visiting up there once all this kerfuffle is over. Maybe I could stop by your bakery. Maybe even meet you ma and thank her personally for raising an honorable man like yourself.”

“She would appreciate that, and it would surely make her proud. If you come by you will be in for a treat, I make the best bread in four counties. People travel from all over just to get a taste of my work. I make a special croissant as well. It has chocolate inside and sliced almonds, best this side of Paris.”

Jacob leaned forward, holding out his hand, “Well then, I’d like the honor of shaking the hand of the best baker in Connecticut!”

Brian beamed, reaching out and firmly grasping Jacob’s hand.

Jacob smiled, “I look forward to meeting you again someday.” Jacob paused and his tone saddened, “But the thought of being in one of those prisoner camps, it’s possible I may never make it out alive to come visit you.” He hesitated, “Brian, it may be bold of me to say, but this is not our fight. Just some slimy politicians got all agitated and then look at us, just a couple of regular guys stuck out in the miserable woods in the middle of winter.”

Brian nodded in agreement, “You speak the truth. I want nothing more than to go back home to my ovens and see my ma.”

“Me as well. I’d really like to meet up again someday. But to do that we both have to survive this war. For me that means staying out of one of those camps and going back where I came from. So, I’m just going to step back to these trees, and we will see each other in better times.”

Brian smiled and winked. Jacob slowly slid backwards, keeping an eye on Brian until he was once again back behind the fir trees. He turned quickly, running right into Sam who was waiting at the edge of the trees. Jacob grabbed his arm and ran for all he was worth back through the trees, across the meadow and towards the higher ground of the forest. Once they hit the trees, Sam pushed down at Jacob’s hand holding on to his arm, “I can run on my own you know. No need to be dragging me!”

Jacob turned, “Sorry, we just need to put some distance between us and that army.” They continued to run through the forest, dodging trees, fallen limbs and rocks. After about a mile Jacob slowed to catch his breath.

Sam stopped to look around, “Where are we now? Tell you what, I’m going up that big tree over there and get a look, find the ridge with the aardvark on it so we know what direction to go.”

Jacob chuckled, “Very funny. See if you can spot the general as well. He may not have made it too far. He gets distracted by the native plants. He always wants to stop to take samples of some new species he’s found. He imagines himself to be like Charles Darwin, expecting to make a groundbreaking new discover.”

Sam climbed the tree with much grunting, finally getting close to the top. After a few minutes of peering about, he began to climb down and returned to the ground. “I see the ridge is over that way to the right and the general is just about a mile ahead in front of us. We should be able to catch up to him in short order.”

Jacob and Sam set off without another word, scrambling through the scrub oak undergrowth. It was early afternoon by the time they saw the general and his party up ahead. “Hello general!” Jacob cried out.

Zacharia stopped his horse and turned. A smile broke across his face when he recognized Jacob and Sam coming up through the woods.

“Ah, there you are! Did everyone get out in time? I seem to remember you two having horses. What happened to them?”

“It’s a long story sir. Just suffice to say we all made it out and the men are on their way to the ridge. It’s good to see you doing well.”
Zacharia dismounted, sitting down on a nearby log and gestured for Jacob to come sit. The general started speaking, “We need to move forward with the translation. I don’t want to wait another minute and we are safe enough here.”

Jacob pulled the book from inside his jacket. He flipped it open to the second page. He began to read. “Let’s see what we have. Pliny the Younger continues on, talking about his uncle Pliny the elder and the eruption of Vesuvius. He expresses sadness at his uncle’s death and anger at the senate for causing it. That’s odd, if I remember the story correctly, the elder Pliny died trying to rescue his friends from the eruption. I don’t see how he could blame that on the Roman senate.”

The general interjected “Yes, that is an interesting point. There must be more to that story. Keep going.”

Jacob continued, “Yes, there is more here. He claims the Senate precipitated the eruption, he wrote, ‘The rise of Jesus of Nazareth was the last straw for the Senate, they would not accept the continued meddling in their affairs by the pantheon’.”

The general smiled, “Yes, I think we are on the right track here. My father thought I was batty. Youthful flight of fancy he would say. Continue on.”

Jacob continued translating, “There is more about Vesuvius here, somehow that was the catalyst for what the Senate carried out. He claims they should have warned the islanders, but they had gone mad with their idea and the power it would bring. He claims there is a way to undo what the Senate has done. He says he was unable to carry it out himself. He writes that it would take a progenitor to be able to do it. I’m not sure what he means by that. We now think of that word as representing a parent, but in Roman times that word also meant the person who brought something forth. It would be the creator of a movement or idea. The person who came up with the idea on their own, you might say.”

Jacob continued reading, “Ah, I think I understand. He was unable to do it because he was first told about it by another. A person not of this earth, he says. He did not come up with the idea of undoing their work first himself, then find out how to do it. It was the other way around.” Jacob stopped, lowering the book. “That’s as far as I can get. The rest of these pages is all gibberish. It looks like words but not any words I have ever seen. I’m not sure what to make of it. Also, finding the progenitor could pose a problem for us, assuming what he writes is correct.”

Zacharia grinned, “Yes, we are definitely on the right track. It is beginning to come together. Now figure out what those last pages say. Once we have the translation, our path forward will be clear.”

Sam leaned over to peek at the page. “Ah, it looks like a cipher. At the time of his writing people would use what we call a Caesar Cipher. It is a simple transposition cipher. That’s where each letter of the alphabet is replaced with another. You can tell because the vowels and consonants do not appear in any orderly pattern, making them look all jumbled up. We just need to determine the repositioning of the letters to get back the original message.”

Jacob stared at Sam in amazement. “Can you do that? How do you know about this?”

Sam replied, “Remember I told you about my grandfather. He was a right smart man. First step is we need to look for repeated patterns. Small words are a good clue. Do you see any small words repeated often?”

Jacob studied the manuscript, “Yes, I am seeing ‘pf’ repeated in a number of places. Could that be ‘et’, the Latin word for ‘and’?”
“Great, that’s a good start.” Sam reached into his pack and pulled out piece of paper and a bit of charcoal. “Go ahead and write the message here, leaving a space under each line.” Jacob quickly transcribed the message. “Now put an ‘e’ under each place where you see a ‘p’ and put a ‘t’ under each ‘f’. Some other words may start to become apparent.”

Jacob did as instructed. “I see ‘pef’ in a few places, that could be ‘est’, meaning ‘is’!”

Sam quietly instructed, “Now put an ‘s’ under all the places you see ‘e’.”

“Ah, I get the idea. Let me finish this up and I will tell you both when I am done.” Jacob worked quietly, occasionally letting out a small exclamation as he conquered each letter. A while later he put down the charcoal and held out the paper. “I’m done! He says the progenitor must speak these words and by free will join with the gods by descending into the bowl. I’m not sure what the ‘bowl’ is, and he does not provide any further explanation. Once this is carried out, the gods will be free to mingle with mortal men. He further warns that the passage of the gods into the mortal world will be marked with a cataclysm of fire.”

Sam asked, “Do you have to say the words in Latin, like a witches chant?”

“No, no, it doesn’t say anything like that. I think it is just the idea that needs to be communicated. He again stresses that only when the progenitor speaks the words will they have any true meaning.”

“OK, so what do we need to say?” asked Sam.

“Let’s see, the idea is to invite the gods. I wrote them down on the back of this paper. It’s rather simple. He wrote ‘I beckon the spirits of the immortal realm to come to me and have dominion over the mortal world. I seal this desire with my agreement to join with them in their realm’.”

Sam looked around, “You spoke the words, but nothing is happening. I think it is a just a myth or a story.”

“No, that’s not it. Something about the writing makes me think he believed it is real. He mentions the person not of this world several times as providing this information. I think the problem is I am not the progenitor. As such, I wouldn’t expect anything to happen when I say the words. We don’t know who this person is or how to find them. There is nothing in the book to help us there. I don’t think we are able to do anything with this book today. Sorry general.”

The general stood, looking down at the two men. “When I was a young man, I spent more time than I should have poring over old myths and tales of the gods from many cultures. I had the opportunity to read first-hand accounts of the daily life of ancient civilizations. These are very different from the watered-down myths that are fed to school children. I was struck by the apparent interaction ancient people had with their gods. Taking the stories at face value, it seemed as if they actually spoke to the gods from time to time. Some writings have survived that give a hint of this, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the Old Testament. These all speak of a world where the immortal gods played a part in day to day life. Earlier when I mentioned my youthful flights of fancy, it was this idea. The gods are as real as these trees, not some ethereal fantasy. They rightfully belong amongst us and that some horrible tragedy in the past has kept them from our world. As a young man I confided these ideas to my father. I told him I intended to right whatever wrong had occurred in the past. He thought I was foolish. Secretly, I held on to this dream. Someday I would be able to set them free.”
The general straightened up, “I believe I am the progenitor spoken of in this book. Now give me the paper containing the words, my destiny is waiting!” The general walked into the clearing. With head held high he boldly spoke the words of welcome.

Nothing changed. The general continued to hold his position in the clearing. Jacob and Sam looked at each other, concerned for the general. Then they began to notice a quiet had descended on the forest. The birds stopped singing. The horses fell silent.

Moments later they could feel a slight rumbling from the ground. Like the gentle shaking of a house in a high wind. It built moment by moment until the trees were swaying and the very ground under their feet was shifting. Jacob struggled to stay on his feet. The general continued to stand straight, seemingly unaffected by the motion. Then the sounds began. The air was filled with the noise of rock grinding against rock, getting louder and louder.

In front of the general, the soil fell away from the shaking ground. A circular bowl three feet across opened up just before his feet. The shaking and noise suddenly subsided. All was silent as if the world was holding its breath, waiting for what was to come. The general looked back at Jacob. His face had an air of contentment and deep satisfaction. He thanked Jacob, then, turning forward again, he slowly stepped into the depression.

As Jacob and Sam watched, the general suddenly vanished! Moments later, the soil at the base of the hole flexed up as if it were being pushed from below by a steam bubble, then dropped away suddenly, leaving a pit with sheer sides, going down further than the eye could see.

Jacob and Sam looked at each other, then stepped back putting some distance between themselves and the gaping hole. Jacob turned to the two riders that accompanied the general. “Johnson, get over to that ridge and make sure the men get as far away as possible. We don’t know what is going to happen here.”

Johnson replied, “Yes Sir, we will take care of the soldiers.” The two riders jumped on their horses and quickly headed off.
The men continued to peer at the hole, not knowing what to expect. Jacob detected some movement deep in the pit. As he watched, a small human-like creature with green iridescent wings flew up out of the hole. It circled the clearing passing over the heads of Jacob and Sam. It continued to circle, then dipped back into the pit. A minute later it flew out again, came directly at Jacob and hovered just in front of his nose. It, or she as Jacob could now see, was a miniature person only 6 inches from nose to toes and dressed in some sort of light green tunic.

She spoke, “Hey friend, what kind of mischief are you up to here?”

Jacob could only stammer. Sam tried to hide behind himself, without success.

She watched Jacob for a moment, “Yup, I get it. You don’t think I’m real do you? Maybe this is some kind of dream or hallucination. Is that what you are thinking? Well, how’s this for real!” she reached out and poked Jacob right in the eye!

Jacob cried out, “Hey, that hurts!” He resisted the urge to swat at the creature. Who knew what kind of trouble that would get him into!
She started to laugh. “Oh, you should see the look on your face! For real though, you don’t appear to be up to no good. I doubt you are smart enough to be clever. Let’s do some introductions. You can call me Agatha. My real name is much too hard for you to pronounce so let’s leave it at that. And you my fun yet not quite bright fellow, are Jacob and the cute one over there trying to be invisible is Sam. Let’s see, what other questions do you have? Ah, yes. I came out here to scout out the scene. Some of the others are too scared. They think somebody may be trying to trap them, you know, capture them to keep as a pet or whatever. I volunteered because I’m too smart to fall for any silly traps.”

Jacob finally spit out, “Who, ah, what are you?”

“Wow, it really has been a long time since we’ve been gone! I am obviously a sprite, not a faerie! Don’t go calling me a faerie or I will char that silly look right off your face. I am a woodland sprite as you can see by my dress.” She gestured with her hands to indicate her tunic.

Jacob stammered, “How did you know our names?”

Agatha replied, “Oh, I just know things sometimes. Since I’ve decided to be nice to you guys, I’m going to give you a warning. Things are about to get exciting. You may want to think about vacating the area. Do a little ‘Hasta la vista’ action, if you catch my drift!”

Just then, a ball of dark fire shot out of the hole up into the air, landing hard on the other side of the clearing. They all watched as it began to change shape, limbs and scaly tails and fins jutting out one way then another. Forming in all directions and disappearing just as fast. After a minute, it finally decided on a form and appeared as a rather large ugly winged monkey dressed in a colorful uniform. It spied the men standing across the clearing and began to slowly march in their direction, grinning and laughing maniacally.

“Oh no you don’t” yelled Agatha. She held out one arm, palm facing the advancing beast. Zaaap! A bright green light shot from her hand, hitting the beast in the chest and knocking him on his backside. He struggled to get back up, wings beating hard at the ground. Agatha pulled her arms in tightly against her chest. Swinging both arms out suddenly and pointing at the creature, she cried out “Back to Oz with you!” A green ball of fire flew out from her body, engulfing the hideous monster. He writhed within the green flame, crying out in agony. The ball began to shrink. It became smaller and smaller, trapping the beast within. It reduced in size until the beast was just inches tall. The orb glowed brightly for a moment then blinked out of sight with a snap!

Agatha began to laugh, “Oh they think they can mess with me! I’m not quite so small as I look.” Two more balls of fire shot from the pit, hovering in the air. They resolved into two bright colored sprites with yellow wings, they waved at Agatha and flew off into the sky. Agatha waved, “Bye ladies!” A series of small fire balls in all colors began to fire out from the pit. Agatha told the men, “The sprites are always first. That’s because we are the bravest.”

From down the valley they heard a rumbling noise. It was getting closer and closer, sounding like an entire battlefield of cannons going off at once. A large machine on two wheels carrying an even larger man dressed in a tuxedo sped into the clearing. Jacob could just make out the words “Harley-Davidson” on the side of the metal machine. The rider slid to a stop next to the pit and looked in. Right at that moment, a large black ball of fire flew up from the hole. The man, moving faster than the eye could easily follow, reached out, grabbed the emerging demon by the head and stuffed the squirming creature into a saddle bag.

He held a hand up, looking at Agatha. He said, “Hey sweetgums, it’s nice to see you free again.”

Agatha smiled, “Thanks Vince! It’s good to be out after all these years.” Agatha turned back to the men, “Let me do the intros. She pointed at the two soldiers, “This is Jacob and Sam, they’re funny and cute. I think I’ll keep them.” Then pointing at Vince, “And this is ‘El Bastardo Vencedor’ but his friends just call him Vince.”

Agatha faced Vince. Speaking in a serious tone, she informed him, “There is another gate opening up where most of the baddies are getting out. It is way over to the west near a little Spanish village called El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles.” Vince gave a thumbs up, with a flick of his wrist the machine jumped forward, heading for the forest. The trees had the good sense to move out of his way as he came through.

Jacob stared at the forest where the man disappeared. “Who was that?”

Agatha turned back to Jacob. “As I said, that was Vince. No one really knows where he came from. He’s just been around forever. I haven’t seen him since we all got trapped. As far as I know, he’s been out roaming around the world while the rest of us were caged.”

“Why wasn’t he with the rest of you in the…”, Jacob paused, “the cage place, wherever that was?”

Agatha continued, “Well, he is different. Not really a god or demi-god or sprite or anything like that. All I know is he is a sweetheart and the bad gods give him a wide berth. Speaking of wide berth, we better get out of here. Remember that part about the cataclysm of fire? Well it’s about to happen!”

Two more large balls of purple fire and a dozen tiny balls flew out of the hole, spreading around the clearing. It was starting to get hot! Jacob and Sam ran over to where the general’s horse Thunder was tethered. They were lucky he was a battle tested horse and wasn’t fazed by all the goings on. They mounted up with no delay. Agatha settled into Sam’s coat pocket. “Riding is much faster than flying, let’s get going!” More balls of fire of every color were firing out of the ground, coming faster now. The trees near the pit were aflame. Hot burning gasses began to erupt from the hole.

They rode hard and fast down the valley, ash from the cataclysm filling the air. Lightning flashed and thunder crashed behind the group as they rode like the devil was chasing them. They made it down from the peak and out of the valley. They arrived into the cool air of the flatlands, not stopping until the horse was too tired to carry them any further. They dismounted and let the horse wander. Agatha popped up out of Sam’s pocket. The three companions looked back up towards the mountain. The sky was filled with unearthly clouds glowing bright red, spreading rapidly out from the peak. Large and small balls of fire in all the colors continued to fly from the burning mountain top, gods and demi-gods, sprites and spirits such heading off in all directions. Some to ancient homes, others looking for new territories.

“What became of the general? We saw him disappear, not fall into the hole but just blink out of sight.” Jacob asked Agatha.

“Oh, he will be just fine. He will eventually pop out somewhere. Though, being in the Realm can change a person in all sorts of ways. But I’m sure we will see him again.”

“I see. He is a good man. I hope he makes it out intact.” Jacob turned to Sam, “I imagine the war won’t last much longer now. Life is about to get very different around here.”

Sam agreed, “With the general gone, you are now in command. Should we connect back up with the unit or at least report into a nearby post?”

Jacob made a decision, “We have started something we need to see to the end. We do not have the time to go through channels, we need to take care of this ourselves. Johnson will assume we did not make it out and he will take command of the unit. The men are safe in his hands.” Jacob took on a formal tone, “As the current commanding officer of the 55th, I decree you are hereby formally discharged from the Confederate army. This war is over for us. You can start calling me Jacob now.”

Sam grinned, “Thanks, but you will always be the lieutenant.” Sam looked over at Agatha with a smile. “What are your plans now?”

Agatha laughed, “You guys are pretty funny. I think I’ll hang around. You two are going to need someone to protect you. I can stop you from getting yourselves killed or worse.”

Jacob smiled, “Thank you. Your help is truly appreciated. We have a hard task ahead of us, I have no idea how we are going deal with this new future. Regardless, it will be an adventure! Are you two ready to take this on?”

Sam and Agatha nodded in unison.