A rocket blazed overhead, smashing into a general store, blowing its roof into the air like confetti. Navy ships answered from the river, cannons flashing from their decks in bright white bursts that echoed off the earthen cliffs and stone walls of the fortress behind her.
A crowd of terrified citizens turned to her for direction, eyes wide, faces pale.
“Men and women who can fight, report to the garrison,” she commanded. “Mothers, children, elders, come with me.”
Able-bodied residents rushed toward the fort. Even if there weren’t enough weapons for them, it was the safest place in town—almost.
Cassandra recalled what a spoiled daddy’s girl she’d been as a teen. Her only interests had been in parties, dances, boys, and horses. Sheremembered whining, complaining, and rolling her eyes about being required to study history. Spanish and French made sense, but memorizing the names and accomplishments of long-dead men did not. Yet now, when she needed it most, a junior high field trip unlocked itself from storage in her brain, racing to the surface.The caves.
The class had studied the War Between the States and how this town had survived. Their teacher took them to a place, long weathered away, where residents had dug into the soft loess soil on the river side of the bluffs, making safe havens to ride out the enemy bombardments.
“Are you sure this will work?” Suzanne asked, fear etched into her youthful face. Her gaze darted around them as she kept pace.
“No,” Cassandra admitted. “But it’s the best we’ve got.”
“My Lady,” Hollis protested. “Let’s return to the house. Better yet, the fortress.”
She merely glared at him before turning to the residents who searched for somewhere to flee.
“Grab shovels,” she shouted, “pickaxes, hoes, and spades—any tool you can find.” Stopping in the rubble-strewn street, Cassandra grabbed a shovel lying in the dust, likely blown there through a shattered window of the general store. She raised it high above her head.
The detonations thundered, some distant, some close enough to send mortar dust raining onto her head. Several hundred residents formed clumps behind her, scrambling to pick up something resembling a garden tool. Her two guards, arms at the ready, pushed in tight beside her.
“What are these for?” asked a woman older than herself. A younger woman beside her clutched a baby to her breast, her shoulders hunched to shelter the child.
“We’re going to dig, like they did long ago,” Cassandra called out to them. “I’ll show you where.”
More people streamed in, lining the streets like busy ants, all following where their lady led them. Hollis frowned and grumbled. She ignored him.
South of the citadel, not far from her estate, was a gentle slope that one could descend without falling to one’s death. This time of year, a sandbar lined the bottom of the bluffs. Whoever couldn’t dig themselves a cave would at least be shielded from the Iron artillery and bullets ripping through Marchland.
Cries split the air as the ground under their feet rumbled from a nearby concussion. Cassandra spun as fragments of a massive warehouse blasted in all directions, burying nearly a hundred of her citizens in bricks, steel, and debris. Suzanne screamed, drawing her shoulders in and pressing against one of their guards, as if trying to make herself small. Dust coated her brunette hair, coloring it ashen.
Cassandra gasped at the sight.They had crowded in one place because of me,she thought.If they had spread out …
There was no time for self-blame. Cassandra’s eyes blazed to the east, her jaw set against their enemies. She remembered the letter General Crane had sent.I’ll spare the city and all its inhabitants if you surrender without a fight.Hatred for General Garcia, President Irons, and every Republic soldier flared in her chest, stiffening her resolve.
“Hurry!” she shouted, waving the civilians on. “We’re almost there.”
“Aren’t we going to help them?” Suzanne asked with a plea in her voice.
“We can’t stop now. The first responders will come, save who they can.” But they were overwhelmed. Who knew when they’d get there—or when the hospital would be blown to smithereens?What sort of people would wage war on women and children?Cassandra forced her feet forward. If they remained in the open, more would perish.
At a grassy knoll just past a water tower, she stopped and pointed. “This way! Watch your step. Go slowly if you must, to avoid a fall. Over that hill, you’ll all be safe.”
Hollis puffed out his chest, his expression dour. “You don’t expect me to descend that acclivity. Let’s go to the bastion.”
“Suzanne, lead them down,” Cassandra instructed as she stared her steward in the eyes. “Some caves still remain. Remember? We climbed down there as children. Show them where to dig. I’ll wait here until everyone else is safe.”
Suzanne swallowed and gave a solemn nod. “This way.”
Cassandra’s hard heart made room for pride in her youthful cousin. She would do.
“Benjamin, you served my father, and you’ve served me faithfully. If you feel it is time you retired, I’ll accept your resignation. If you wish to zigzag through machine gun and cannon fire back to the stronghold, you are free to go. There isn’t room for a hundred thousand people behind those walls. But below, on those sandbars, they have a chance. I’m going to see as many of them to safety as I can.”
Hollis folded his hands in front of himself and dropped his chin. “You are Lord Britain’s daughter,” he uttered. “He would be proud.” The aging steward lifted his gaze as bullets ricocheted off the water tower, barely missing them. He cringed, but his feet remained firm. “I shall accompany you into hell if you ask it of me.”
Cassandra wondered if that was exactly where they were.