The Smoke Jumpers

Chapter One

    It wasn't long after Billy Joe and his father joined the Confederate Calvary that they were sent to Tennessee.  This trip from Summit to Memphis took them a week.  The Unit was lead by Captain Dave, he was in his mid-fifties, with a good shade of gray in his hair, that matched his blue eyes and beard, and very thin.  He was the oldest, tallest and wisest in the unit.  

    James Nations, Billy Joe's father was the second in command of the unit.  He was 43, and 5ft 10'.  He had red hair, with piecing green eyes that could cut right through you.  James was an honorable man that said what he meant and meant what he said.  Not only did the soldiers look up to him, Billy Joe loved him.  

    While on their way to Memphis, after riding the better part of the morning, they noticed dark clouds rising from up around Wesson.  They did not know what it was, but it was certainly big, as if a thousand hay fields burning all at once.  After riding for another hour, they came up on a terrible sight.  This was not a thousand hay fields, but an entire town.  Houses were burning everywhere, so they split up in groups to attempt to put out the fires and help the surviving townspeople.  

James took lead on one of the groups and Billy Joe followed.  The first house they came to they saw bodies of those that tried to! stop the Yankee soldiers.  They were met by a young girl from the wood line she asked "Will you help me?, Please help us!  The Yankee soldiers have gone mad! Please stop them!  This had been done by the Yankee forces about six hours ago.  The girls name was Lucy, they had killed her father and 13 yr old brother bother and her mother lay dead outside their burning house.  Lucy had hid in the woods until they were gone.

    Lucky was a teenage girl, beautiful.  She had blond hair, blue eyes, 5ft 5' and a slim build.  Her dress was long, ripped, and shredded hanging by threads to her body.  Her hair was scorched, and hands burned from pulling her mother's lifeless body from the rubble.  Though Lucy had lost every thing but her life, she asked for nothing for herself, she only asked to help the others.