Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 TWO WEEKS LATER 5:30 A.M. UNION ARMY CAMP MIDDLEBURG, VIRGINIA The bugle blared reveille, and Thomas sat up with a start. All around him he could hear the sounds of sleepy men, groaning and cussing at the bugler. Birdie was curled up next to him. She snuffled, but didn't wake up. In her hands was a little doll Henry had made for her, a tattered sock stuffed with straw, with two cracked buttons as eyes. From the way Birdie clutched it to her heart, you'd think it was made of gold.

Thomas peeked his head out of the tent and looked around the army camp, which stretched out across a huge field. There were hundreds of tents, crammed together in rows. A few early-rising soldiers stood groggily and shaved in front of mirrors hung from tree branches. There were more than six hundred men here, Henry had explained, just one regiment of the huge Union army. They'd been camped here for three months, waiting for their next big battle with the rebel soldiers of the South. At first, Thomas was sure he and Birdie wouldn't be allowed to stay here. But the story of Thomas and the skunk had swept through the camp. Soldiers came up to Thomas, smiled at him, and patted him on the back, said that the Union army should start shooting skunks out of their cannons. And soon enough, Thomas felt almost like he and Birdie belonged there. They got their own tent. There was plenty of food, and Birdie had never been

happier. She had the run of the camp and spent most of her days helping two older soldiers, Lester and Homer, with the supply wagons. Les even made her a new dress, out of an old flour sack. For the first time in Thomas's life, his ears didn't ring with the sound of Mr. Knox shouting, "Boy! You get here now!" He didn't drop to sleep at night aching from his head to his toes. He woke up in the morning looking forward to the day — to helping the men with their chores, listening to their stories, and watching them practice their battle formations and shooting. And best of all, there was Henry, who'd barely let Thomas out of his sight since that day in the woods. "You know how it works," Henry had told Thomas. "You save a man's life, you're stuck with him forever." He really did remind Thomas of Clem, the way his voice rose up when he told stories about the children he taught in his Vermont schoolhouse, his

patient way of listening when Thomas told him about his life with Mr. Knox, the feeling Thomas got when they were together, that he and Birdie were safe. Thomas had just climbed out of his tent when Henry appeared. "Morning, soldier," the corporal said. Birdie's head popped out of the tent. When she saw Henry standing there she leaped up and threw her arms around him. "I love my doll!" she said, beaming up at him.

"No doll could ever be as pretty as you, Birdie," Henry said, kneeling down. "Les and Homer are looking for you. Can you ask them to put an extra biscuit aside for me?" She nodded happily and scampered off toward the supply wagons, chattering hellos to every soldier she passed. Thomas noticed that even the weariest men looked up and smiled when Birdie breezed by, their faces lighting up as though Birdie herself were a bright candle. Henry turned to Thomas, his face serious. "We've gotten our orders," Henry said. "We're to march out today." Thomas's heart sank. The men were leaving? What would happen to him and Birdie? Henry seemed to read Thomas's thoughts. "Of course you and Birdie are coming with us," he said. "I'm glad about that," Thomas said, relief washing over him.

"You won't be when we get out into that heat," Henry said with a little smile. "It's going to be brutal. Two days, I'd say." "Where are we heading?" Thomas said. "We're marching to Pennsylvania," Henry said. "The town's called Gettysburg." Henry squinted into the distance. "It seems like we're in for a big battle."