John Clark Payne

In Defense of Patch Schubert John Clark Payne

This is a historical romance. How can the letter "S" carved in a rifle butt determine the fate of a former soldier? The story starts on the Palmito Ranch battlefield in South Texas, thirty-three days after Lee surrendered to Grant. Confederate Private Patch Schubert's best friend is killed, and Patch takes his Enfield rifle with the initial "S" carved in the rifle butt. Patch is inexperienced in matters of love and violence. He meets Rosa, his first sexual encounter when paired with a young Mexican mercenary to capture a Union prisoner. Several atrocities occur that will catch up and haunt him. The war ends and they plan to reunite after he musters out. However, he's delayed when he reconnects with a widowed schoolmate in San Antonio. The unsuccessful liaison was short-lived, and he takes off for Mexico to reconnect with Rosa. By the time Patch arrives, the daring young Rosa had disappeared on a mission to a dangerous port city orchestrated by her adventurous and politically-wired father. A county-wide hunt ensues without finding her. Patch hooks up with Goler, a former Union Army soldier who fought on the same battlefield. Having much in common, they leave in search of gold but soon break up. Smith, the former Union prisoner returns to Texas, meets up with Goler, and they search for Patch. Smith doesn't know him by name, only by the rifle butt with the "S" that knocked him silly when assaulted and taken prisoner. Patch is captured and brought to a military base in El Paso for a military trial of his alleged war-time crimes. His fate was hanging until the tribunal was interrupted by a series of events that changed the dynamics of the trial. A "cease and desist" proclamation from exiled Mexican President Benito Juarez results in Schubert's release. He and Rosa return to Mexico, only to be severely challenged by an event that happened to Rosa during her earlier exploits in Bagdad.