27th May, morning; with wagons

"Pushn' one of 'em in the river brought Captain Vick'ry up here ridin' hell for leather," Cotton retorted. "Din't seem to do much for young Zack, neither. You - either of you - try that again, an' the Captain's like to rip your balls off an' make you eat 'em." There had to be a better way of distracting them than that. He adjusted the hang of his rifle, before pulling his shako off to scratch his head. "Whatever, s'pose it ought to be me do it, seein' as both of you have bin in trouble with 'em up to your eyeballs, near 'nough."

Newbury shook his head. "Nah. Best not to do more'n think on it, really. Wouldn't surprise me if that lot got wind of it just 'cause we was thinkin' on it."

Cotton grinned and nodded. "Reckon that's the first bit o' sense I heard outta you for days, that." He prepared to duck away if Newbury looked as though he was going to hit him round the head.

"..I'd volunteer if it means showin' any of the provosts, how to swim.. or stuff." Pye said, after having been quiet for the most of the conversation. He glanced between the two. "..Even.. if we's only thinkin' it.. I'd do it." He said in earnest, the only thing stopping him, or at least slowing him in making such a decision, being Vickery. But if nobody knew who did it, captain Vickery could not be upset either.

He remembered Newbury plotting to do something bad to a certain sergeant once, which made his grin fade a little, but then reappear. He hadn't done it, and Pye hadn't snitched on him, having such a faith. Probably he wouldn't even without the said faith, being as Newbury was one of them.. of the riflemen.

Having heard that the riflemen had fallen behind the rest of the baggage, Maggie had came to seek them out. "What are you doing? Why'd you stop?"

She looked at the captain's things that Cotton was still holding and immediately thought of the stolen watch. She looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was watching, sure that they would try to catch Cotton in the act of stealing and send him up for the remainder of his sentenced flogging.

"They damn provosts come up an' said as they wanted to check that there warn't nothin' stolen hidden in the Captain's baggage. Had it all over the road - shirts, pelisse, drawers - everythin'." Cotton turned his head and spat into the dust by the roadside. "I packed everythin' in Lisbon, real careful. An' now I'm goin' to have to take it all out an' pack it over again, when we stop. Captain's goin' to have their head when he hears about it." He shook his head. "Well, I hope he will, anyway."

"Pack of meddlin' devils, them," Newbury agreed with a nod. "I don't s'pose we'll see the end of them 'til we're back up with the company."

"What? Why'd they do that? Why'd they want to see if there was anything stolen?" Maggie's frown was one of barely suppressed fear, certain that this time they meant to give Gabe the full hundred strokes even if they had to invent a reason.

A blush spread across Newbury's cheeks and he dropped his gaze down to his shoes.

"That'd be 'cause of me," he admitted. "Havin' stirred up that trouble with 'em the other night."

"Oh."

Maggie remembered Cotton's agitation the night before and his explanation to Jenny. Whatever it was that had happened, it had made an impression on Jenny. Maggie had encountered her in the morning slipping out of the wagon where Joe was asleep, and they had spoken briefly. She decided now that it was probably best not to ask too many questions.

"Well I'll help you, Gabe, when we get to camp."

He smiled at her. "That'd be nice of you, Maggie, though you... you don't have to, if you'd rather not." He knew she was nervous around the captain and suddenly had the irrational feeling that she might end up being just as nervous when handling his things. He switched Willow's halter to his other hand and slipped his arm around her shoulders.

Pye knew how it really was but kept his tongue. He looked at Maggie, bowed his head a little in greeting and took a step back, tending to his chick, now that there was nothing more to pick up. He did still leave her out of the bag, if only as a reward for her brave actions. "They're.. just like that. " He murmured after a while, patted the chick over the head and decided to tie a little string around her leg, the string to be attached to the top of his backpack later. Though he was quickly changing his mind. The provosts wanted to take the chick, what if some officer ordered it, seeing her?

With a frown he began to search his breadbag for a way to let it travel there comfortably. No reward was worth more than the safety of the little thing.

He suddenly registered what Newbury had said. "You was an idiot, Joe, but don't go blamin' yourself over it all. You didn't steal anythin' and they never said you did, so they didn't go through the Captain's stuff because of you." He gave an awkward shrug. "If anythin', they went through it 'cause of me, 'cause they heard 'bout me bein' flogged for... for getting caught with sup'm that warn't mine."

And if that was the case, had they been looking for some way to get him back to the triangle for the hundred and fifty lashes he hadn't had the first time? He shivered a little at the thought - it had hurt bad enough the first time.

Even though he wanted to, Newbury did not press the point. Instead, he simply shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pockets, choosing to hold his silence.

"They'd find somethin' on either of.. us. You, Cotton, fer yer past.. you Newbury, fer bein' in t' wrong place at t' wrong time, fer bein' near found with t' goods.. n' all that, ..me. 'Couse I admitted to it. N' because of my chick." He paused and looked at Maggie apologetically. "N'.. they would find something on each and every one of us even if we did nothing. Because they'd want to search for as long as possible.. or if we had someone who disliked us.. those would have somethin' slipped into our packs too."

He never wanted to hand his coat over. It weighted a bit more for a reason. "M' sorry you got in trouble b' the water though, Joe."

In spite of Cotton's reassuring arm, Maggie shivered. She knew that "each and every one of us" included her, though that probably had not been Pye's intended meaning. She had been the one originally found with that watch, and even though she had now met Captain Padstowe in person and knew that he didn't blame her or Cotton, it still made her nervous. "Just be careful. All of you."

"We will, lass, real careful." Though if the provosts chose to pick on them again, there really wasn't anything they could do to stop them - the current state of Captain Vickery's possessions was proof enough of that.

"We will be, miss." Pye said respectfully, placing a rather loudly protesting chick into his bread bag. He wanted to have her outside, but what if an officer decided to take her. The damn provosts nearly did. They did accuse Newbury of owning one, possibly hoping that they could have the man flogged finally. Of course, he did escape their clutches, and so did the chick, but leaving it where everybody would see it,.. it just made Pye more nervous.

It was funny to see him worry so much over a little bundle of feathers. He looked thoughtful and brought her out again. Still, if she was confined , she might not feel good in the long run. He didn't want her dead, but he didn't want her discovered either. The damn provosts were really making a mess for all of them. Newbury, Maggie Cotton even, Gabriel Cotton, and Pye.

"Don't you worry 'bout them miss." He spoke out again. "You're safe too n' your man." He nodded to Gabriel and hid a grin that threatened to appear. "But bes' we hurry n' start walkin' else we want to be left behind." And accused of desertion or attempt at it, by the provosts. He didn't think they would be averse to something like that.

"Aye," Newbury agreed, stepping carefully over a deep rut in the road. How the wagons were able to avoid getting stuck every few seconds was a mystery. He glanced back at Pye, in time to see him tuck the mad little chick into his bread bag.

"Could try leavin' him on one of the packs, sort of," he suggested. "It ain't easy to see down in 'tween 'em while we're movin', really."

Pye looked at Newbury questionably and then glanced at his chick. " If's safe there. I'd like to." He nodded patting the little animal and yet again holding it out where it could breathe comfortably. "But we ought ter tie it down or something. So it doesn't wander off and get lost where it won't survive if not found again." He murmured, grateful for the suggestion.

"I think Joe's idea is pretty good - you don't want to risk it gettin' squashed in your bread-bag, do you?" He patted his pockets thoughtfully and pulled out a length of string. "Here, use this. Or, I'm sure Maggie wouldn't mind lookin' after it for you." He glanced at Maggie as he said that, not sure at all, despite the confident tone of his words.

Pye studied his chick. Both Newbury and Cotton were right. The chick would fair better if not stuffed in the beg, where it would have little air and space to move and excercise its feet. It wouldn't get squashed, while it's chances of survival were certainly greater if it didn't need to worry about cooking itself dead or whatnot, in that bread bag either.

He took the string and weighed it - it was light - in his hand. He nodded and as he placed the chick down, on the floor so as to have both hands free, began to tie the string to one little foot. The chick didn't think to cooperate at first at all. It tried running around, pecking at his fingers, making very loud sounds of protest, and chirping away perhaps a chainmail of 'curses' if ever a chick would know them. When finally the string was tied, it gave the thing a thorough pecking for revenge and finally settled with it, snug but not too tight, around its foot.

"Miss Cotton, ma'am." He said, knowing that he ought ask her for permission of that. Even if not needing it for the moment, later when they would return to the front, he would certainly. "..would ye.., could you... um... wot' Gabe 'ere suggests.. ter take care of 'er sometime. Won't need no bread crumbs ter get her, just see to it, that she don' " Maybe he decided it was a female chick, and hopefully Peggy P... er Peggy would not disappoint in that aspect. "..well that she don't hurt 'erself, n'all. " He smiled shyly. "Jus' so she's safe, that's all. Promise she won't be a handful."

"Oh." Maggie was surprised and slightly hesitant. She was perhaps embarrassed because she had no idea how to tend any type of fowl. "No, I don't mind. But I've never cared for a baby chick before. It's a sweet little thing." She smiled at the little ball of fluff. "But what about you? I thought you was looking after it." Why was he worrying about such trifles while the rest of them were worried about the provosts?

Cotton saw the look on Maggie's face. "Jus' keep an eye on it, that's all. You don't have to look after it like you would a... a ferret or summat like that." He smiled and offered it a finger to explore, which it pecked at, though not as hard as it had attacked Newbury earlier. "Don't need so much lookin' after, fowls don't. Mum used to keep chickens an' things an' they'd wander in an' out of the place all the time."

"A ferret?" Maggie looked startled at the thought. "I don't know how to take care of a ferret neither. Aye, I'll take care of your chick, Zachary. Just - lets hurry up before the provosts come back." Somehow it seemed that straggling at the back of the line would only attract attention. She would feel safer once they had the mule further up, alongside her own donkey. "Let me lead him, Gabe. He'll follow me."