Where Does My Heart Beat Now- Chapter 42

*Author's Note: Gaelic words & meanings from this chapter... Éirinn go Brách= Ireland Forever (pronounce it like aer-in guh brawkh)

Chapter 42

Bright and early on the big day of battle, Kate took advantage of the time while Gabriel was attending Officer’s Call with General Mayo to freshen up by washing her hair. She had gotten a pitcher of cold water and a glass vile of shampoo from inside of their tent before sitting down on a wooden stool in between the row of tent backs for some privacy as she washed up. It had been a good idea, after all, for her to put on old, grungy clothes beforehand seeing as how the sudsy water went everywhere. Just as she was about to pour the clean water over her head, she looked up to see a foot emerge from the back flaps of Casey’s tent, followed by the rest of Faye’s slender form.

 What have we got going on here? Looks a bit suspicious, Kate sat watching the other woman slink away cautiously, most likely on her way back to the civilian camp. A slight grin spread across her features as Faye disappeared around the corner of the end tent, and then Kate went back to rinsing her hair. She would question Casey about what she had seen. Wait until Gabriel hears about this!

Once her hair was clean, Kate disappeared into her tent to find Gabriel changing Shannon’s diaper. From the look of it, Officer’s Call hadn’t lasted long, and Gabriel smiled brightly as his wife entered their tent with her hair wrapped up in a towel. She sat down on her cot, pulling out a small tote filled with her hair brush and other hair products. It was almost killing her not to tell Gabriel about what she had witnessed shortly before while she was washing her hair. Finally, she caved.

“Gabriel, guess what came slipping out of Casey’s tent this morning,” Kate broke the silence as she wrapped the bandage around her breasts to flatten them.

Her husband raised an eyebrow, suddenly amused by what Kate had seen, “I don’t know, but do tell.”

“A woman, and not just any woman… Faye.”

“Why am I not surprised by this?” He lifted his daughter up to his shoulder once he had her dressed and gently patted her bottom. So that’s where all of that noise came from last night. Oh well, at least he had a good time.

The rest of the time spent inside of the tent was used for Kate dressing in the layers of her uniform. At the moment she hated Gabriel for having the easiest time of getting ready, simply because he didn’t have to use a bandage to bind himself with, or pull the trousers on over wide hips. The things Kate went through to be a man for a short period of time. Thankfully Gabriel had taken Shannon with him when he left the tent, leaving her to finish dressing in peace. Pleasant thoughts filled her mind, which ended up slowing her progress.

This is going to be an amazing day for all of us, especially Gabriel. Only a little more time left until-. Kate was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of Mae talking to her youngest son, telling him that Sean had been looking for him.

Not long afterwards, Mae appeared inside of the hot tent wiping her brow with the back of her hand, “I thought I would never get him away from here.”

“Don’t worry, Mae. I’ve got it hidden where he won’t find it until everything is ready.” Kate stuffed her hair underneath her hat and picked up her gun belt before walking out into the sunshine with Mae.

The cavalry camp was bustling around finishing their breakfasts and getting their horses ready for the battle. They would be portraying the battle that had taken place a few miles out of town at a place called East Cavalry Field where Major General J.E.B. Stuart had fought against the Union generals David Mcm. Gregg and George Armstrong Custer to get behind the Union forces as a way to help with any breakthrough during Pickett’s Charge. It was expected to be a massive attack considering how many units were there, they just didn’t know how big.

Kate saw Casey and Seamus in the shadows of the trees brushing down their horses’ coats so they could get them saddled. Neither one of the men wore their wool jackets, indicating just how hot the temperature had already gotten. While they were alone, Kate figured it to be the perfect time to breech the subject of Faye sneaking around Casey’s tent.

“Hey, Casey! Did you hear any strange noises last night? Like moaning?” Kate asked nonchalantly while running her hands over Buster’s neck, and glanced out of the corner of her eye to judge Casey’s reaction.

The light green male kept his attention on tightening Dionysus’s bridle, “No. I didn’t hear anything.”

“Really? So explain to me why I saw Faye slip out of your tent this morning and take off like a bat out of Hell.”

Casey stiffened up as soon as she had said the words. Why did Kate always have to find out about everything? It was like she was a hired spy or something along those lines. His eyes flashed around the clearing in order to see hers and Seamus’s reactions. Kate watched him like a hawk while Seamus appeared interested, though he made no move to say anything in reply. Perhaps he didn’t want to get involved.

Well, I can’t hide this one. “Alright, Faye was in me tent last night, but in me defense she was the one who initiated it by coming in and waking me up,” he explained with a sigh. “How could I turn her away? I love her.”

“Whoa. I’ve never seen you look so serious about anything,” Seamus broke the silence that crept around them, clearly stunned by Casey’s words.

The other male placed his saddle on the paint’s back, waiting for Kate to say something, but she remained silent, “It’s time me little girl had a mother that actually wants to be there for her, and seeing how Tate didn’t want to leave her the other day, I know Faye’s the one.”

Not another word was said for the rest of the time it took to get the horses completely ready for the day. Secretly, Kate was pleased to hear that Casey had finally found the woman he had been waiting so long to find, and wished everything turned out how he wanted it. She knew what it felt like to find the perfect soul a person wanted to spend the rest of their life with since she had been in the same position. Kate waited for the two men to finish with their horses before they made their way to the head of the camp where the entire 1^st Texas was gathering for a meeting. And Kate knew just what the meeting was about, too; she and Gabriel’s parents had known for a long time what was going to happen in a matter of minutes since they had been in contact with General Mayo without Gabriel’s knowledge. When the small group arrived, everyone in their cavalry unit stood around in their uniforms in front of the general’s tent, waiting for the meeting to begin, and then General Mayo cleared his throat to get their attention after he made sure no one had been left behind.

“Thank you. Now, I know you’re all wondering what this meeting is about, and what I tell you this may come as a surprise for a lot of you, but I think this is the best time to tell you,” General Mayo started once the group was silent. “I’m giving up my command as your general. The wife wants to go traveling out of country and I’ve been forced to go. Unfortunately, this will be my last event, but I’m glad it’s here at the 150^th Gettysburg and with all of you. The 1^st Texas will always be a part of my family.”

Several members gasped as they gawked at their commander; who would lead them once he was gone?! Kate glanced over to her husband, who stood nearest the general with a startled look on his face and Shannon still on his hip, gripping onto the end of his ponytail. Obviously he wasn’t expecting to hear the news. Within a matter of seconds he would be even more surprised, which brought a small grin to Kate’s face.

Without waiting for them to say anything, General Mayo continued, “You’re probably wondering who is going to be your commander since I’m stepping down. Well, I’ve had this person in mind for a while. He’s the best damn leader and horseman I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing. Gabriel… You are to be General of the 1^st Texas Cavalry from here on out.”

Gabriel’s eyes widen in further disbelief " if that was even possible. He truly was at a loss for words. The first comprehensive thought that hit him was to attempt to reject the position, but seeing as the announcement was made in front of everyone in camp it would have been considered rude to do so.  Am I really hearing what I think I’m hearing?  Me? I never thought of myself as the leader type. What If I screw up?

“Gabriel, are you all right?” Kate gave her husband a worried look. He had gone extremely quiet at the announcement and that was enough for anyone to worry.

Gabriel snapped out of his shocked daze and gave her a small smile, “I’m fine. I just need some time alone, I guess.”

The others watched him saunter off with Shannon in the direction of his tent, some thinking that he was in too much shock to say anything else. And why shouldn’t he be shocked? All of them knew he was capable of being a strong commander; it would just take time for him to get adjusted to the new role. Hopefully by the time of the battle he would be back to his normal self and eager to whip some Yankees like he always did. They saw him disappear through the flaps of his wall tent after stabbing the point of his sword in the ground near the lantern stake at the front of the tent fly. It was apparent Gabriel needed a lot of time alone to sort things out.

 

 

Gabriel sat on the edge of his cot gazing absently at the tent wall opposite him, still in disbelief about what had happened at the meeting. So many thoughts flooded his mind. Why him? What did the other cavalry members think about him being their new general? Would he be able to uphold the duties and responsibilities that came with being the general? Everything was so surreal to him at the moment, he didn’t know what to do.

“Gabe, are you okay?”

Kate’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts, making him turn his attention over to see her place a large duffle bag on her cot before she unzipped it. “Yeah, I’m good. Still in shock from earlier. I can’t believe you knew this was going to happen and didn’t say anything.”

“We knew that if we told you about it, you’d refuse the position,” she shrugged her shoulders and went back to going through the bag to find what she had kept secret from him for so long. Shortly after, she pulled out a long, gray wool officer’s coat complete with the intricate gold braiding on the sleeves and the same three stars he had before on the collar, but instead of the style of his old coat they were surrounded by a gold wreath. The coat had never looked more beautiful than at that moment. “It was time to fancy up your stars a bit.”

Kate carried the general’s coat over to her husband still sitting on the cot in a semi-catatonic state as he tried to fathom everything he had witnessed. She stood in front of him, holding the coat up while she waited for him to don it and take up his rightful position as General. The twinkle in her pale blue eyes finally brought Gabriel out of his stupor long enough to take the coat from her and strip his old one from his body.

I’ll give him some time to sort things out. He’ll join us when he’s ready to accept that being the new general is the biggest honor he could have received. Kate quietly left the tent after Gabriel set the coat beside him, taking Shannon with her to go visit Moira and her mother-in-law by the campfire, “You’re daddy is such a girl at times, Shannon. Please don’t get that trait from him.”

While Kate, Mae, Moira and Ava sat in a circle around the campfire, they discussed Gabriel’s reaction to being the general of the 1^st Texas Cavalry and what they thought his final decision would be. The women looked up a few minutes into their conversation at the sound of booted footsteps approaching, and smiled happily at the former General Mayo standing behind them with his hands on his hips. They were pleasantly surprised to see him there.

“How can we help you, Sir?” Mae asked him, already standing up to offer her seat to him.

“Has Gabriel decided to accept the role of General? I dearly hope so,” he looked around the group at the women, waiting for one of them to respond to his question.

“I have, Sir.”

To their surprise, Gabriel strode in the group’s direction dressed in his new uniform and looking positively immaculate in it. He wore his sword belt with his pistol holsters, cylinder boxes and cap box attached around it, and his Hardee hat with the ostrich plume to complete his cavalier impression. The women were seeing what appeared exactly like an old tin-type photograph, only in real time. The only aspect missing to complete his appearance was Bo, and it wouldn’t be long until he was sitting atop the bay stallion as they galloped valiantly over the battlefield, leading the rest of his troopers to victory despite what actually happened during the assault of East Cavalry Field; the true victory was being able to recreate the large cavalry battle of Gettysburg while being there with the people he loved most dearly.

“You make me so proud, Gabriel,” Mae took her son into her arms, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “You’re everything a mother could hope for in a son. I know you can be a strong general.”

Mayo cleared his throat to get Gabriel’s attention once Mae had released him from her grasp. The younger man turned to salute his former general, waiting for him to speak.

“Gabriel, I must meet up with some of the other cavalry officers to have them form up over by the large barn near the civilian camp,” Mayo said. “Please gather the troopers and join us there in an hour to discuss our plan of attack.”

Gabriel saluted him again, “Yes, Sir!” And then walked off to finish tacking Bo while his wife and the others spent time chatting away about random things, like what they were going to wear to the ball and what dances they hoped would be called.

 

Close to a hundred cavalrymen were gathered around the gray metal barn an hour later, baffling Kate when she and the rest of the 1^st Texas followed behind Gabriel on their way to join up with Mayo. She had no idea that many people were camped near them, and gave up counting after a while. The group pulled up beside their former general, who sat on the back of a glorious black horse that had a sleek coat along with its wavy mane and tail. The most interesting feature of the horse was the long feather-like hair hanging over his shiny hooves. It wasn’t the horse Mayo usually rode, that was for sure.

“I never pictured you to be the person to ride a Friesian, Jesse,” Gabriel marveled at the beautiful horse in front of him grazing on the bright green grass.

“How do you like Hero? I decided to bring him instead of Scarlett to this special event,” Jesse slapped his hand on the horse’s muscular neck.

A smiled appeared on Gabriel’s face when the other man said his mount’s name, “Ah, you named him after General Longstreet’s horse. Very fitting for him.” He glanced around the massive group of cavalrymen, wondering what all of them would be doing during the battle. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we did a cavalry charge with all of us?

Their meeting was meant to discuss their plan for the battle which was exactly what Gabriel had hoped for: a hundred-man cavalry charge down the hill to overrun the Yankee cavalry by the spectators. It was everything Gabriel had dreamed of, but he was in for another surprise. He would be in charge of leading the assault with the entire Confederate cavalry under his command. Fear started to course throughout his body as the reality of the moment sank in; he couldn’t possibly manage that many people and still pull off a successful attack.

Gabriel turned around in his saddle to see every single person around him saluting to show their respect toward him. The display was enough to bring tears to his eyes. All of them believed in him, which gave Gabriel new strength.

From the second row of cavalrymen, between Casey and Sean, Seamus cried out with every ounce of emotion he could muster from deep inside of his heart, “Éirinn go Brách!”

Cheers rose above the crowd to join in with Seamus’s rejoicing at their new general. Not only was he showing how much he was proud of Gabriel being their general, but that he was reminding his brother of their heritage and to keep it with him during everything he did and wherever he went. The air around the group was charged with an electric energy ignited from their exultations. From the sun’s position behind Gabriel’s head, he appeared to have a holy glow illuminating his form to seem ethereal, heightening the energy even more.

Kate beamed proudly at the sight of her husband in the sunlight. He truly looked to be enveloped by a heavenly light, as if he had the arms of an angel wrapped around him. But wait! It was, indeed, and angel. Susan? She recognized the young female spirit behind Gabriel, only her former blue glow was replaced by a warm, creamy white glow. You never left him, after all. Just like you promised. Kate quickly wiped away the tears that stung her eyes, not wanting Gabriel to ask why she had started crying.  

“Well, General… Shall we move out and get into position?” Jesse snapped shut his silver pocket watch after checking the time, “It will allow us to see just how big this place is.”

Gabriel bore a crooked grin of excitement as he pulled out his sword from its sheath and held it close to his head with the point up, “1^st Texas, move out!”

He, Jesse, and Sean led the way past the barn to parade by the gathering spectators with Sean carrying the unit’s colors proudly to show everyone exactly who they were. Behind them every trooper trotted in twos to form a long line that reached clear back to the cavalry campsite. It was their moment to shine, to show the world what it meant to be a part of the Confederate cavalry.