12th June: The noose for the long-eared

Pye paused when he started to pull on his trousers to imagine Cotton as an officer. A broad grin spread across his face." I think if you was an officer, everybody's have liked ye. Couse you've got t' sort of manner... you can lead, even now, an' people will follow.. an' yer don' need ter say orders for it." He chuckled. "But I sure can't imagine you havin' a batman! Jus' can't!" And to magine himself as an officer.

Wasn't that just a good cause to laugh. Officer Pye. No, that would have been strange. "Sashes are nice thou'. t' material.. of 'em. Wot' does it feel like? Think you'd know, wouldn't you?"

"They'm made of silk. It's sort of cool to touch an' smooth, an' slipp'ry - it can slip off easy if you put it over the back of a chair or summat." He grinned. "Everybody likes the Captain, anyway. Or pretty much they do. Folks listen to him, an' not jus' 'case he'm the Captain." He shrugged. "He's got this sort of... He expects folks to listen to him, so they do."

The sash sounded like a pleasant sort of material to touch, and certainly useful since it was long and could possibly serve a different reason other than having the officer look as he ought to. Pye nodded. Cotton was quite accurate when describing Vickery. Indeed, the man was all that he had said, but he had to have something that drew people to eagerly listen to him as opposed to doing it out of duty.

"He lets people speak as well. Other officers prefer to have us silent and stiff. " He chuckled and got himself near fully dressed. "But Vickery. I think he commands more than his men."

"Want to return now?" He was quite happy to enjoy the side of the river for a bit longer but if Cotton needed to return he did not want to be the reason that he was late or needed to be in a hurry. Not, when some things had gotten better.

"He does. Be strange if'n he didn't, seein' as he'm an officer in the Rifles an' all," Cotton replied, and turned his head to look at the younger soldier. "How d'you mean, he commands more'n his men?" he wanted to know, getting to his feet and stretching. "S'pose we best had go back - I need to be some'rs he c'n find me without too much of a bother. Must say, though, it's good to be clean. Well, a bit cleaner, anyhow."

"I mean.. he commands t'.. well. Respect.. he commands more n' jus' telling people to do summat couse they's soldiers. I can't explain it!" He looked frustrated at that. Words just did not make sense as much as the fact did in his mind.

"Same fer me." He agreed with a small chuckle. "Gotta go summwhere where he can get ter me soonest.. if n' he wants me." Only, it was for all the different reasons. His whereabouts had to be known, Cotton had to be available for the captain.

"..Thank'ee fer lettin' us head 'ere... I wanted ter.. head here but I jus'.. couldn't. " He turned his head a bit, got up, dusted himself and walked to Cotton's side. "Gabe, would it be alright if I provided a rabbit fer a ..former marine fer his services?"

Cotton's face cleared. "Ah, right. Yeah, he does at that, an' all." He looked slightly askance at Pye. "It don't make no diff'rence to me what you do with 'em. Your snare, your rabbits. Why should it bother me?" He reached to ruffle Pye's hair. "Honest, I don't mind what you do with what you catch - though I ain't cookin' 'em all, that's for sure. You'll have to take your turn doin' the cookin', like the rest of us have to."

Pye flinched at first, more subconsciously than meaning it. When realising that Cotton meant only to ruffle his hair, he relaxed and smiled. "If I cook there'll be hardly any left for the rest o' ya... if if prooves edible at all, that is. And even then it might much disappear." It was a bit of a joke that, though there was probably some proof in his statement as well. He was known to like food.. above all else, though his physique failed to show the results of such obsession.

Cotton laughed. "I reckon you must have hollow legs, you eat so much without gettin' any fatter," he said. "I'm goin' to have to keep an eye out in case you decide the Captain's horses'll make good eatin'." He began buttoning his jacket back up. "We all have to take our turn at cookin'... though I reckon we'll be able to get Maggie to do it when we ain't off too far in front of the baggage an' that." And Sarah Palmer could cook as well, of course - if the women would come back, that was.

"I'm jus' growin' still, I think. An' ....an' i promise I won't eat Captain's horses. Reasons aplenty fer it. Horses ain't safe an' ..they's the captain's. Couldn't eat summat that was Captain Vickery's!" He shook his head with a scoff at the idea.

"Um... I'll cook but...but, don't know much how ter. So.. there's you have it. Better our Maggie cooks!..She'm a prime, skilled lass!"

Cotton looked Pye up and down. "Reckon you are still growin' an' all, lad," he said. He was interested that Pye wouldn't touch anything of the Captain's, although that still didn't mean that Pye was trustworthy.

"I reckon I got a good'n in my Maggie," he added. "Though I don't s'pose your cookin's any worse'n mine, or Tom Roper's. It's just that, well, we all have to muck in, pull our weight. Only fair, that."

"Well sure it mus' be worse than yours. You are older n' me.. had more experience cookin' than me! Your mom's mighta taught yer things or yer watched 'er cook. I didn'." That made sense to Pye.

"I like ter clean t' kettles after.. couse..there's always summat that has stuck to 'em.. and yer can jus' scrape it untill you wash off!"

"It's just a case o' boilin' the meat an' addin' veg'tables to it if'n you've got any," Cotton pointed out. "You c'n allus ask for help if you need it, anyhow."

"I can 'borrow' lots'a vegetables.." The lad smiled. Borrowing or taking and not returning had to have a good reason or in this case, cause. When all of the riflemen were happy and fed, it certainly accounted as a good reason to borrow from others. Now, the others did not need to know, especially not, if they were local. He only had to get a chance to go about in such a concealed way. When his whereabouts had to be known every moment almost, he could not go ahead on a foraging trip for something extra.
He also felt he needed to wait till the eye of others was averted from him onto a next insignificant target.

"I think.. I changed me mind. I know how's I will cook an' yer lot will like it a lot." A grin on his face was quite genuine. "An...." He hesitated slipping his hand into his breadbag, past the little chick, and further to the bottom of it. The weight of the front flap was not wholly because of the fabric, but that he ignored. From the bag he produced a small pouch which contained even smaller glass bottles. and another package. "Um......i dunno if this is worth anythin-." He murmured , holding the find up for inspection. The different bottles and packages would have contained dried up plant like things in bits and pieces. "...but.. t' Frog cook had it...I thought it was tea at first.. but it ain't! Wot' is that?" He inquired finally.

Cotton shrugged. "So long as you don't go pinchin' from us - or from anyone who's goin' to kick up a stink, reckon that's all right. An' don't let the Captain find you pinchin' things from the locals, neither, or he'll give you a chewin' out like you've never had - an' stop your money to pay for it after an' all."

His eyes widened as Pye produced his find from inside his breadbag. "Let's see that," he said, holding his hand out. "Looks like herbs an' stuff to me - this's thyme, an' that's parsley." He looked up. "You add 'em to what you're cookin' - just a bit an' not a bit of everythin', just a bit here an' there. Makes it taste nicer, gives it a bit of flavour, like." He wasn't going to ask Pye where he'd acquired the herbs, that was for sure, and handed the back. "You take care of them. Get Maggie or someone to show you what to do with 'em."

"Oh, t' captain won't learn any of it if I can help it." He would not want to be caught by Vickery. The disappointment in his eyes was oddly the reason enough for it. It did not stop him from doing it, after all, what one did not know, could not hurt him. But he did not want them to know! That, and he did not like the chewing Vickery could give out.

And as for the other riflemen. First , golden rule. Do not steal from your own. Only take and misplace if the one of your own had been deserving, but that was not stealing, it was getting back at a person. And even then something had to be terribly bad to do it. One's own, off limit.

"So.." his eyes cleared, and a grin came to his face. "So.. this will make food taste even better? It's meant for food, not tea?" He chuckled. " I will learn how to use it! And then I promise you will enjoy it." True, Pye could not keep things for himself even if he pinched them. Even the coin he had, well that would probably be lost one way or another on things such as cakes for a wedding of Gabriel and Maggie, or some other celebration. If the thing would not have been pinched instead of paid in the first place.

"You c'n add herbs to meat, or potatoes, pretty much anythin' you cook, really," Cotton said in confirmation. "I'd use 'em a bit sparing, though, 'cause you dunno when you'll be able to get more."

Pye had to be one of the most generous people Cotton had met, though; he'd heard that one of the first things the other Rifleman had done was to arrange to send some of his pay to the family of a friend in the 33rd. Telling him to use anything sparingly wasn't something that likely came naturally to Pye.

"I'll jus' have a visit of t' next French cook we get under our wing an' as prisoner. I'um sure he would be willin' ter part with things he wouldn't be able ter use anyhow."

He glanced at his bottles which he began to roll back up into the pouch. "I'll figure summat out, as long as you lot eat well is all good." He smiled. "Don't matter ter me if I run outta it. Really don't." He shrugged. "I can eat 'bout anythin' anyhow."

Cotton smiled. "You might be able to find some herbs growin' wild, dependin' on where we'm at, an' what's growin' around," he said. "Ain't so likely we'm goin' to capture a French cook - though did you hear the rumours I heared after Oporto, that we took the place so quick the General sat down to the French General's dinner? An' it warn't even cold!"

"Really? No I haven't heard that'un. But is there any truth in it. I wouldn't think we was that fast even if we were quite at a ...well, if we was as successful. An' I wouldn't dare eat anythin' left by..."Fine, that was a lie. He would have eaten it if given half a chance. "...Well, was I a general, I wouldn't. Couse then..." He shook his head. "I say it is safer that t' folk like me, test if it's safe ter eat it." HE grinned quite innocently at that, and chuckled.

"Least there is food ter be had.. ain't it. Fer us to eat. Better n' starvin'. Hmm.. yer been much ter London and t' likes?" He was walking now as they did have to get back before the Captain needed to worry about his dressing.

"Well, if the Frog general was plannin' on eatin' it, I daresay it'd be safe enough for anyone else to eat - they wasn't expectin' us to take the place, after all," Cotton pointed out. He shook his head. "Never bin to London, no. Furthest from home I ever went - well, till now - was to Fav'sham, an' that's about seven mile or so from my village. Felt like a long old walk gettin' there, that did an' all."

They'd walked a good deal further than that since, of course. "I hadn't even bin up to Chatham afore 'listin' - never knew what a sight all them ships was till we was sailin' for here." He shrugged. "Can't say as I like 'em, neither. Goin' acrost to the Isle o' Wight was bad enough, never mind the voyage out here."

"I didn' much mind going with them ships, you know. Though, guess we was all scared witless of our Sergeant an' our superiors .. dunno, I know I was." He frowned, studying Cotton. "See..fore t' trainin, n' leavin' off on a ship, fore gettin' settled in...right after we was taken ter stay with them n' realised we'd been screwed..Well....You know wot' me marks on me back are from. That's what dulled out any latter seasickness I might'a had. I was more concerned o' keepin' me head low, than o' mindin' me belly."

"Think if you had our superiors you'd have preffered t' ship over anythin' other... least... not real hated them... especially if they made yer disliked superiors sick!" He grinned at that.

Cotton shrugged. "What you ought to do is, you oughta forget them. Stick to learnin' your trade as a Rifleman." He wasn't sure of Pye's worth as a rifleman after what he'd done in putting on a French uniform, but if Pye honestly hadn't intended to desert - and he'd sworn he hadn't - then he was a soldier in a green jacket and therefore better than anyone in red. "You ain't got them officers an' sergeants to deal with any more. You got Captain Vickery an' our sergeants an' all, an' if you got any problems you can talk to them. If you need to talk to the Captain at any time, you tell me an' I'll see if I can sort things out for you, how's that sound?"

"Oh.. OUr officers are ...can't compare ter those.. ye'um right. An' I am thinkin' only of servin' them well, rather n' wot' t' old had done. I am thinkin' on learning,.. and I have me partner now. Burke. He's a fine lad. He's experienced too, so I look forward ter learning off'a him. I hope he has me even after t' week. Cotton. I really hope. Couse I'll do me best ter learn fastest." He smiled. "But.. he's real nice now.. Friendly. An....an.. will you really make it possible I talk with t' captain if I need to?... Really, promise?" He looked hopeful but as afraid as earlier that good mood wold be gone in the man and he would return to complete distrust.

"I promise, on me mum's grave I promise." He smiled. "Well, unless you'm goin' to complain to him about me for somethin'. I might jus' let you go whistle if that's the case." The smile became a grin. "No, seriously. I'll tell him. Dependin' on what it is, at least try talkin' to Roper first, all right? The Captain prefers folks to at least try the chain of command first, if it's summat to do with your soldierin'. But if you need to, I'll tell him." After all, it wasn't really abusing his position, to tell the captain that someone wanted to talk with him.

"I would not complain about you. Cotton. Unless you become really unlike yeself.. then.. I still could not complain couse I don't know ter whistle too well, and .." He grinned and shook his head. "If it's about soldiering ..eh.. I don't think I have much talked ter Roper 'fore. Somewhat... could you help with that as well....especially now."

"Thank you... in all. Fer wot'ever yer might be willin' ter do." He nodded again. "I will make sure yer don't need much o' it done. An' ter be as insignificant as a mouse...but useful ter wot'ever we needs ter do!"