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Author’s Note: This is a work of fiction, based on documented historical events including The Battle of the Little Bighorn, The Vision of Sitting Bull, and the deployment of the Fifth Regiment from Fort Riley, Kansas, in 1876 to the Montana Territory in the wake of Custer’s defeat. It is also a RÚN, or rune, an offering of reconciliation.
Copyright © Rún: Soldier and Shaman May 28, 2024. All rights reserved.
CHAPTER 7
SOLDIER: Battle of Olustee, Florida, February 20, 1864
The admonition had been given to him so often by his ancestors over the course of the war that he had begun using it with his men.
“You cannot look away,” Patrick had warned them. “Pay attention. See everything there is to be seen.”
The Rogue’s approach to war and training recruits was a little unorthodox, but their company had a reputation for staying alive, uncaptured and unwounded.
Following a recent promotion to First Sergeant, Patrick was leading a mixed group of veterans and new recruits, and he had just caught the new ones watching him instead of the fight.
He leveled a flat stare at one of them until he looked away, and then each of the others until they took his point and turned their gaze forward.
“You best keep your eyes forward if you want to come through this situation intact,” he told them. “This is a stand-and-deliver situation, and it requires your keenest attention.”
But Patrick was not as calm as he looked. They were going into a bloodbath. And for the first time since enlisting, this morning he had seen which men were going to die.
