Wagon Master

Chad is a wagon master and he thinks he is a coward. He still manages to deliver supplies to the frontline, rescue wounded, befriend the young Princess Asmara and inspire respect in his enemies. A story from Harrhein, set five hundred years ago in a fictional world, of a different sort of soldier.Chad is a soldier - but not your normal soldier who is good with weapons and kills enemies. Chad is one of the 80% of soldiers that we ignore, part of the support staff who keeps men on the front line. He is a transport soldier, getting supplies to the soldiers at the front. His weapon is his wagon and horses, and his wars still take him to the frontline. He thinks he is a coward, yet he exhibits incredible bravery by simply doing his job in the face of enemy action. This is the story of his life, little chapters of it, from resupplying a fort to rescuing wounded. A man who can inspire respect in his enemies without fighting. He is a different soldier, and though this story is fantasy set in Harrhein, it equates to a time in our world perhaps five hundred years ago. I was inspired to write it by a friend of mine, whose uncle died and he discovered the uncle had been in the Royal Corps of Transport yet he knew nothing about his life. I do not pretend that Chad's life in any way reflects that of the real Chad, nor that Paul is as uncaring as Nephew Paul, but I hope I have managed to show the very different courage of the unsung heroes of an army. I was a soldier, and I remember how we looked down on the comfortable life of the truck drivers, secretly envious, and I could never show the type of courage they showed so frequently. Keeping on doing your job in highly dangerous situations. Leaving your personal defence to others. That last is the key to why I cannot comprehend their courage. Gentlemen and scoundrels of the Transport Corps of All Armies, I salute you.