Captain James Ellison woke when one of the guards entered the tent carrying two plates of food. Both of the wounded Confederate soldiers were gone so he and Blair were the only ones in the tent. The potion the young medic had given him had dulled the pain in his shoulder. He had even managed to sleep some during the night.

He was feeling alert enough to start planning his escape. It was just a matter of time before he would be taken for interrogation. After that he would be sent off to a prisoner of war camp. He needed to escape before that happened.

The first thing he needed was an ally, if possible. The medic, Blair, would be his best choice. He needed for the kid to trust him. If last night was any indication the kid liked to talk. He could use that to his advantage.

Jim let out a groan and made a big deal out of waking up as the guard left.

Blair was by his side in an instant. "How is your shoulder feeling today, Jim?"

"I'm feeling better, thanks to you. That drink you gave me seemed to have worked. Just don't tell me what was in it. I don't want to know the ingredients of anything that tastes that bad," Jim said with a smile as Blair checked his shoulder.

Blair laughed at the joke. "Well, I don't see any infection so that's a good sign," Blair said "You should be back on your feet in no time."

"Thanks Chief, a prisoner of war camp is bad enough if you're healthy. I don't want the added disadvantage of starting out sick," Jim said, watching the young medic's reaction.

He was pleased when Blair winced at the reminder that his patient was a Union officer. Maybe this would be easier than he thought.

"Sorry, I forgot for a moment that you aren't like my regular patients," Blair said apologizing.

Jim felt a pang of guilt for using this kid, but he firmly suppressed it. He needed to escape and he would do whatever he had to do to achieve that goal, even if that meant playing on the emotions of the young man in front of him.

"Don't worry about it, Chief. There's nothing you can do about it," Jim said. Looking around he decided to change the subject, "Is that breakfast I smell?"

Grateful for the change of subject, Blair handed him a plate. "It's not much, but it should help you get your strength back."

Jim looked at the food he was given with a decided lack of enthusiasm. From its appearance it was some type cabbage soup along with a hunk of stale, moldy bread. He was about to make a comment on the quality the food given to prisoners when he realized that
Blair was eating the same fare with an enthusiasm the food did not deserve. With a closer look he realized how thin the kid really was. The rumor had it that the Rebs were short on supplies. Looking at the young man on the verge of starvation, Jim could see the truth of
those rumors. "It’s fine," was his only reply as he started to eat.

Not long after they finished eating the guards returned. "Sorry, Doc we need to borrow your patient for a while. Colonel Briggs wants to see him."

Jim listened as Blair tried to protest that he was still too weak but his arguments were ignored. Jim gave Blair a weak smile. "Thanks for trying, Chief," he said as the two guards lead him out of the tent.

A couple of hours later the guards had to half carry him back to the tent. He was exhausted. As interrogations went it could have been worse. He ached all over and was exhausted. The Colonel had forced him to stand for the entire session. They kept asking him
the same questions over and over about troop movements, and supply locations, hoping that he would slip up and tell them something. As it was, he learned more from them than they did from him, he hoped.

Jim must have passed out on the way back to the tent, the next thing he knew was that he was waking up to see Blair bending over him and checking his shoulder.

"How are you feeling?" Blair asked, as he finished changing the bandages.

"I've been better," Jim replied. "How's my shoulder looking?"

"There is still no sign of infection. You should be able to travel in a day or two." Blair said, looking down at his hands. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Chief. I'd be in a lot worse shape right now if not for you. I might not be looking forward to going to Andersonville, but at least now I have a decent chance of surviving," Jim said watching Blair pale at the scenario he was describing. For an instant Jim could swear that he heard the pounding of the kid's heart and smell the anxiety coming off the kid at his mention of the infamous Confederate prisoner of war camp. Jim shook off the feeling. He was obviously hallucinating, that was impossible. He was just letting his guilt get the better of him. He hated using the kid's good nature against him but everything he saying was true. If he was going to escape, he was going to need Blair's help.

Blair got up and moved over to wash his hands. "You need to get some rest. I'll wake you later when they bring dinner around."

Blair moved around the tent checking his supplies and trying not to dwell on what the Captain had said. He was smart enough to realize what the captain was doing but he had also heard the horror stories associated with Andersonville. Blair was torn; in his heart he
had not taken a side in this war. He did not believe in the Confederate cause, he was only making the best of a bad situation helping those he could. He wanted to help the union officer but he wasn’t sure what he could do.

The rest of the day seemed to crawl by. The captain slept most of the time; this gave Blair much too much time to think. Bye the time night had fallen, Blair had come to a decision he was going to help the Union officer. If he got caught, he would probably end up
being shot as a traitor but he would not be a party to sending anyone into that hellhole of a prison.

It was sometime after midnight when Blair woke the Union caption motioning him to be quiet. “If you are going to escape now would be the best time. The guard out front is asleep. There are horses picketed near the trees about fifty yards to your left” Blair said
as he cut the ropes from around Jim’s wrists and ankles with a scalpel.

“Thank you,” Jim said, rubbing his wrists.

“ Don’t thank me. I couldn’t live with myself if I let them send you to that place” Blair explained.

Picking up a small bundle, Blair said, “I saved some food for you. I don’t have any weapons but there is a small knife in there. Head northwest, rumor says there should be a Union camp in that direction.”

Jim took the bundle from him and lifted the back of the tent to see if anyone was around. “I don’t suppose I could convince you to come with me could I?”

“No, I’d just slow you down. I’m not a soldier. Besides I’m doing some good here. I’m helping save lives.” Blair explained. “If I went with you, at best I would be allowed to leave and head back to my university, at worst I would wind up a prisoner. Either way I wouldn’t be able to help."

“I need you to hit me and tie me up. Make it look I fell asleep or you knocked me out. They should believe that.” The captain looked like he wanted to argue with him but Blair stopped him. “You don’t have time to argue, just do it.”

The captain looked hard at him for a moment before nodding his head in agreement. “Hold still,” was the last thing Blair heard before everything went dark.

Jim caught the kid before he could fall. “Sorry about that Chief.” Jim whispered to the unconscious medic before sneaking out of the tent.

He made it to the picket without being seen. Without making any noise he managed to cut one loose. “You take care of yourself kid.” Jim said, before leading the stolen horse deeper into the trees. Jim paused for a second freezing in place as he heard the cry of a
panther in the distance. His horse didn’t seem to be bothered by the sound so he mounted up and headed away from the camp toward the Union lines.

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