Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 Birdie looked at Thomas, too terrified to even cry. "They won't hurt us, Birdie," Thomas whispered, praying this was true, trying to keep his voice steady. But his entire body was trembling. He heard the sound of stirrups clinking, of boots on the ground. The men were coming! Thomas stood up and was about to shout, "Don't shoot us!" But then he caught a glimpse of the men. There were two, and they weren't facing Thomas and Birdie. Their rifles were aimed up

into a tree. And they were wearing gray uniforms, the same as Mr. Knox's sons had worn when they went off to war. Thomas quickly ducked back down. Something was strange. He turned to Birdie and put his finger on his lips. Then he peeped up again, trying to get a better look. There were no dogs anywhere. Was it possible…? "We see you up there!" one of the men called up into the tree. "Get down now or we'll blow you to pieces!" They were not slave catchers. They were soldiers. They weren't looking for Thomas and Birdie! But who were they chasing? Thomas studied the men. One of them was very tall, with a straggly beard. The other was skinny with a bushy brown mustache.

There was a rustling in the tree the men stood beside. A boot appeared, and then someone dropped onto the ground. A man. He looked to be around Clem's age. He wasn't tall, but he looked powerful. His face was smudged with dirt, and his tangled brown hair was matted with leaves. He was wearing a uniform, too, a dark blue one. It was torn and soaked in sweat. His expression was fierce as he rose slowly to his feet. Thomas guessed he was a Yankee — a soldier fighting for the North. Thomas didn't know much about the war — just that the North and South were fighting against each other. He had no idea why. Suddenly Birdie started to whimper. Thomas ducked down, pulling her to him. Didn't she know to stay quiet?! And then he saw what Birdie was whimpering about: The biggest skunk he'd ever seen was only

a few feet from them, nosing around in the leaves. It didn't seem to notice Thomas and Birdie… yet. He held Birdie tight to his chest. He couldn't worry about the skunk now. He craned his neck so he could keep an eye on the soldiers. He wished they'd just do their business and get out of here. "You'll be sorry you ever came here, boy!" growled the tall Southern soldier. He took a pistol from his belt. And as quick as a snakebite, he smashed it into the blue soldier's face. There was a sickening cracking sound. The blue soldier fell to his knees, blood spurting from his nose. "What are you doing?!" the other gray soldier yelled. "Our orders are to bring back prisoners, not beat them to death!" "Shut up!" the tall man bellowed, his voice so vicious that the other man backed off. Thomas's heart pounded. He hugged Birdie closer, putting his hands over her ears so she wouldn't hear the curses and cries.

The tall man stepped up and kicked the blue soldier, who doubled over, groaning in pain. Then the fallen man looked up, and somehow, his desperate eyes found Thomas, peering through the tangle of leaves. Thomas felt a strange jolt. That look: He'd seen it before. It was the same look Clem had had when the men took him away. The tall man placed the barrel of his pistol at the side of the blue soldier's head. "You're gone, Yankee," he said, clicking back the hammer.