6th August 1809, afternoon: Meanwhile ...

Etienne held the reins taunt but not uncomfortable for the animal and then nudged it to move. It was not forceful, but it was a command that the rider did not want ignored. "....Malefice.." He muttered to himself. Wonderful. He swore he would not be impressed by size again.

The animal snorted and moved forward - it had a rather hard and abrupt gait, but it moved well enough. Meanwhile the patrol had been assembled, and Prayon was just in the middle of giving his pep talk. As soon as Etienne reappeared, Frenet quietly came over and reported:

"Your men are ready and waiting, Monsieur. Corporal Piccard knows what this is about and will make sure that your back is covered."

He touched his eye lightly, indicating that the corporal had orders to make sure that Etienne's blind eye would not become a deadly disadvantage.

"Good, thank you." Saint-Hilaire answered the sergeant, while he felt a little ill at ease. He did need assistance, yet it still clearly reminded him of his disadvantage and that did not feel good. He was not yet completely used to seeing 'half' the world and until confident this was the best possible solution.

"We can proceed as soon as he finishes with his speech of grandeour. " He said softly.

Fernet smirked a bit.

"It might be better you stop him a bit, monsieur. The lieutenant has a knack for making nearly everything sound very grand!"

Saint-Hilaire nodded and lead his new mount to the group of soldats and cleared his throat.

"I think it's time to go, sir."

"Oh, you are ready? Perfect! Very impressive horse!"

Bastien grinned broadly.

"Alright, we are ready to go, so off we go and make the Colonel proud. Sergeant!"

Fernet grinned and got the men to move. Bastien waited until everybody was walking in the right direction, then he fell in next to Etienne's horse.

"Comfortable?"

"I would be, if the horse did not decide that he's going to walk in the least comfortable manner possible." Saint-Hilaire answered, glad to have Bastien on the side which he could see, but equally ..or at least enough at ease with the corporal on the other.

"So what's the plan? You rush in and scare them off, I follow and snag the cornet?" He shifted a bit in the saddle.

"Of course! You look impressive enough that they will take one look and run! You could put a sabre between your teeth - that would make it even more effective."

In a lower voice, so that only Etienne could hear, Bastien admitted:

"Although even I doubt that it will be quite that easy. Let's wait and see what we actually will find."

"We'll try our best...and hopefully survive it." Saint-Hilaire answered quietly. He looked on getting used to the gait of his mount. It was not as bad as he had first thought it would be.

"The exploring officer mentioned someone else possibly being in the area...do you think we'll encounter them?"

"Depends ... do you believe in my or your luck?"

Bastien smiled up at his friend, his eyes clearly telling Etienne not to worry too much.

"He said it is unlikely, so I put my money on: Yes, certainly, and it will be either more than we expected or some people we never expected there."

"I better believe in your luck, mine has been rather absent." Saint-Hilaire answered with a little bit of irony sneaking into his voice.

"Lets just hope they don't cause us any trouble...or alert our target." They left the camp and continued in good order by that time, passing also the picquet line soon after.

"Well, my luck locating trouble is certainly quite evident ... and the one avoiding it should be even more so - after all, just read any novel to appreciate all the trouble I could have found but very wisely negotiated around!"

He casually saluted a fellow lieutenant at the picquet line, told his sergeant to send out an advanced scout, and resumed his conversation.

"The question is, how lucky is that poor Cornet? His first day to command anything, probably, and he promptly got spied upon, delivered to the enemy, and will shortly get attacked and captured by us. I almost feel sorry for him - almost."

"You have got a point. It really is not his day. He will walk through fire, before he has even learned to deal with the warmth." Saint-Hilaire shook his head. "Well, if he is fortunate, he will be at some point exchanged, if not.. at least he can look forward to surviving the war , even if in captivity." That was, if the luck of Bastien and Étienne held, and trumped that of the cornet.

"I just hope we will not return empty-handed." He added gazing ahead. Even though they were still quite distant from their destination, he was paying attention to their surroundings. The British were not their only enemies and an ambush was the last thing he wished them to fall into, just then.

"Oh, don't worry - Our men are good, we have creditable intelligence, and the other side has no idea. At least a horse should be in it. And if something is wrong with Lemarc's description of the situation, we will just take it from there and make the best of it."

Prayon hated to appear as if he had thought things through, but right now he tried to put his friend at ease; he had a feeling that how Etienne handled this mission was not only important for his future carreer, but even more for himself.

"Yeah..." Saint-Hilaire murmured offhandedly. He absentmindedly traced the scar under his eye that lead towards it. "...Well. We've got enough men to drive them back, we have got the terrain working in our favour and as you said...we can surprise them." He sighed.

"So how much longer till we get there?" The corner of his mouth twitched upwards a bit. The question was one of those silly and sometimes annoying ones. Are we there yet sort.

"An hour, if we march at that speed?", Bastien estimated. "It must be somewhere behind those hills."

He set a brisk pace, so that they would cover most of the way while the light was still good. Making sure that the men could not hear him, he asked after a time:

"Étienne ... other question: What do you think is up with the Capitaine at the moment? If he gets any thinner, we will have to weight him down, and it's been three times this week alone that he has come by and drunk the better part of my liquid stash in the evening. It's getting hard to get drunk with him around."

"Well, we keep the speed that won't tire our men before we ever get there. I'd hate to have them miss the enemy entirely, because their hands shook from exhaustion." Saint-Hilaire answered gazing in the direction of the hills, though his head tilted further than it would have, had he still had the sight in both eyes. It looked a little as if he was actually looking to the side rather than straight at the destination.

"..I do not know but we could invite him to eat more than drink. A few morning breakfasts, a few evening dinners, perhaps some excuse for celebration and for a feast...We cannot afford to loose a Capitaine either. Not one as valuable as him at least" He smiled lightly. "Perhaps something weighs heavily on his mind?...that often causes men to turn to drink rather than solace."

"It might be. Inviting him to breakfast might be a very good idea, though. I have a feeling it will end with me inevitably being roped in to do more work than I want, but ... yeah. We can't loose him as well."

Bastien worried his lower lip for a bit, then suggested:

"Perhaps ... you could talk to him? He likes you, and you are the responsible one ... and the one who has been through bad times himself, and so can perhaps relate well?"

"I will talk to him." Saint-Hilaire inclined his head slightly in confirmation of that plan. "Though I am not quite certain how I may help him by it, I will atleast try it..and should he need assistance in anything that I see...attempt at best to offer it." He smiled faintly.

"...I do not know if my experience can be at all helpful and I do not think that he likes me any better than he does you.. but as I've promised, I'll do my best." He shifted a little in his saddle. "You do know that being my superior, you don't really need to fear being roped in to do work, but can delegate?" He chuckled faintly. "And ask me not, why I am such a fool as even to point it out for you!"

He grew more serious again. "If.. I freeze, nevermind me, take care of the mission and the others first. Alright?...Make sure they are safe. I don't want to jeapordise the team.."

"Don't worry about that - you have good men. Prepare them well, and they will do most of the job alone. If you think you can't cope, fall back and we will take you along when we go home."

Bastien gave his friend a reassuring grin.

"And talk to Sourette. Perhaps it can help you as much as it will him, hopefully. As for work .... I wish it was that easy, but since they have found out that they can easily stop me from foisting most things on you by giving me tasks that require a full lieutenant to do, it isn't quite that easy. Last time I tried to weasel out of doing the battalion accounts voluntarily until the position was properly filled again, the high and mighty simply decided that I might be the right candidate for the job anyway. That one took a lot of fancy footwork to get out of."

Bastien sighed melodramatically.

"Can't you just simply proof to them that you are much better at this stuff than I am? And that it is suicidal to trust such an irresponsible fellow like me with anything more then a button and a sou?"

"About this...I'd rather pester noone, and if I must, I do enjoy seeing you squint at the imagery in your mind, more than I would want poor Sourette to suffer it." Saint-Hilaire said innocently. "It's the only way I can pay you back for borrowing my clothes!"

It was strange how this conversation with his friend and fellow officer was actually lifting his spirits and taking his mind off the possibility that he might fail this time around.

"You would be fit for promotion Bastien.. much as you give yourself no credit for it and I will do no such thing, I much rather prefer to see you suffering under even more paperwork and a greater command. Makes me feel wonderful about my rank then." He smirked then nearly snorted, trying to stifle laughter.

"If you put as much effort in officer work than you do in convincing me you should return the uniform this instant,... you'd already be a marshal by now!"

"I would carry off being one splendidly, of course - and would look devilishly dashing in that uniform. But I gave up working for my father because I hated paperwork. I find it rather unfair that they make me do it here, too! Isn't being a soldier all about adventure and grand heroic deeds? Not about accounting how many boots needed to be replaced?"

Bastien sulked most theatrically. Was it his fault that, after having been rigorously trained to do accounts correctly, clearly and on time, he still couldn't shake the habit and therefore had to avoid them completely or do them properly?

"What did you expect, when you joined?...all fighting, no sleeping, no work? Really?Perhaps for a common soldat that plan nearly works, but you're an officer and paperwork makes certain that men are taken care of, that things are...mostly not missing and that we are busy." He shrugged. "You are lucky to be so.. good at it."

"If we would not do the paperwork, we would even mostly not miss the things", Bastien replied rather morosely. "It's rather unfair that I get penalized for not having escaped having things drilled into me at a young and impresionable age!"

"You are not penalised... you will do great things yet, my friend. You've got it all working for you, except for your terribly lazy character." Saint-Hilaire smiled lightly and then turned away. "I will be lucky if I remain in the army, let alone.. anything else." He added more quietly.