27th May with the provosts

That was a little better. Mister Todd swabbed at the bloody wound with a cloth, then tutted and reached for a folded square of linen.

"Not deep or particularly serious," he said disapprovingly. "Such a waste of energy to cry about it so." One would have thought the provost was shortly to lost a limb, the way he had been carrying on.

Pye arched a brow, strangely unfazed by the screams. They were provosts, they deserved it. He averted his gaze from the wounded towards Newbury and Jenny. "..Glad to see you two.." He couldn't add more, since they weren't really fairing well. He shrugged stiffly.

Seeing as the officers were busy with their own keeps, he slipped his shako of his head and studied his plume. He brushed some dirt of it, and picked a leaf that attempted to wedge itself onto it somehow. It was a good think these weren't in any way white.

With a far more relaxed stand, he leaned against his rifle, watching patiently as the surgeon worked. One zero for the riflemen.

Hoofbeats on the road. Lieutenant Cobb was returning, with half a dozen burly, bearded fellows. A faintly smug expression on his face, the lieutenant reined in and glanced toward the men he'd brought.

"Those three fellows there, with the red on their shoulders, are your new charges, lads," he said, sounding almost happy.

Jenny felt a mix of relief and regret at the news that the provost's injury was minor. But more than that, she felt an incredible urge to crawl away and wrap herself around a hot brick or water bottle.

The arrival of the redcoats unnerved her. She had almost forgotten the stolen bread, and perhaps it was best to get away before the others remembered. She pushed herself unsteadily to her feet. "Sir, may I go?" she asked Vickery.

He looked at the woman, who seemed somewhat shaken. He could think of no good reason to detain her any longer. If the bread she had been found with earlier had been stolen, she had more than paid for it now.

She would be far better off with her friends, whoever they were, than kept here. If she was needed later for questioning over the assault on the provost, it would be easy enough to find her.

"Yes, of course you may," he answered.

She began her unsteady walk away, simply heading in the direction opposite the horsemen, before she realized she was completely disoriented. The column had stopped to camp and she had no idea where her things had ended up. Cotton might know - they would probably be in Maggie's vicinity - but she did not want to draw more attention to herself. So she just walked.

"A moment," Mister Todd interrupted, rising to his feet after dressing the provost's leg. He was more ready to give the woman a proper looking-over, since he knew her to be more positively associated with the Riflemen. The woman had moved some short distance away, but it was easy to catch up to her. "I will have a look at you before you go farther, Miss."

"Sir, may I leave as well. " Pye studied his rifle. He wouldn't have minded using the rifle still, but the provosts were unlikely to run. Even then there were men enough to catch up and to detain them. He studied the faces of the three men. Perhaps not knowing their names he would remember their faces.

He turned his gaze away and looked at Vickery again, awaiting his decision.

Vickery considered for a moment. "No, I think you're safer here for the moment. I'm going to want a word with the three of you when the surgeon has checked Newbury over."

Jenny looked at the surgeon warily. "I'm all right. Just some bruises," she said dismissively. Then she looked down at her dress - filthy and also stained with blood. "It's not mine. I don't think it is."

"Hmm." The surgeon took passing note of the blood on her dress, then carried on with his examination. It didn't take long. She had not been far wrong. Some scrapes, likely from boots or the ground itself, and plenty of bruises, but nothing life-threatening.

"That will do," he said presently. "Mind you get some rest now, Miss."

He thought better of saying anything more, and settled for offering a companionable nod before turning to make his way back toward the group. There was still that Rifleman to check on, after all.

"Yes, sir." He answered obediently and gazed at Newbury. He would come next, after their woman. And then there was Cotton, who might need to help her return to camp, if she was too dazed. He had hoped to go, but did not worry himself over what Vickery might say. It did not look as they were in any danger of being in trouble.

Cotton shifted enough that the surgeon could get to Newbury but not so far that he couldn't be there to help his mate, who looked as dazed as all hell.

"He'm more'n a bit swimmy-headed, sir," he said. "Think he couldn't work out which one of the Captain he was seein' was the real one a moment ago. Says he's tired too." The last was completely understandable, of course. "Oh. Hurt his knee real bad the other day. If they've kicked him around some, they'll have done that for him an' all."

Shut up, idiot, 'fore you go too far an' run off at the mouth, he reminded himself. Newbury was probably perfectly capable of telling the surgeon what was wrong with him without Cotton butting in.

Jenny dazedly walked some short distance away, but the men on horseback were paying no attention to her. So she stopped and sat back on the ground, tucking her knees up to her chest as she watched the surgeon's examination of Newbury. She could not hear anything that was said, but she would wait at least to see what would happen to him. When the officers were gone, she would approach Cotton or Pye to find out where their bivouac was. She did not feel like wandering the entire camp searching for Maggie or that wagon driver.

The surgeon nodded his acknowledgment of this information as he knelt by the Rifleman. Knocks to the head would indeed cause such symptoms. That was something to be mindful of. He was less worried about the injury to the knee, in the face of a possible concussion.

"Hello, Rifleman," Mister Todd said, patting the man's face with just enough force to rouse him. "Rouse up, fellow, no time to sleep now."

His effort was rewarded by a groan and a half-hearted recoiling away by the Rifleman. A relieved grin came onto the surgeon's face. "Good lad. D'ye know where you are?"

"On the ground," was the slightly-unsteady reply. Good. Not quite the answer Todd had wanted, but it was accurate.

Pye sat himself, tucking his legs close to his chest. His rifle rested across his legs. He had returned his shako back atop his head. He stayed only because he had to, and gazed across past Mister Todd and Newbury, picking out the little marks of trees and the like in the distance.

The provost's screams and the subsequent scene had drawn quite a few onlookers. Having grown impatient waiting for Pye to return, Maggie had enlisted Jestel to help her find him - or Jenny, or Cotton, or anyone who knew what was going on. When they heard that a provost had been attacked, Maggie had headed straight for the crowd. She pushed her way to the front.

"Gabe!" She ran to kneel at his side where he was sitting with Newbury. For once she was not concerned with what the captain would think. She stared at Newbury, at Pye and her husband. Newbury looked absolutely wretched and was being examined by a surgeon, it seemed. Gabe did not appear to be hurt. "What happened? Where's Jenny?"

Someone else came running up and it wasn't until she spoke that Cotton recognised his own wife. Which just went to show how concerned he was for Newbury.

"I'll tell you about it later - or Jenny will. She went off in that direction." He pointed and then grasped her hand. "She... She's goin' to need you, sweeting. Like you needed her. Only it weren't so bad as that for her." He couldn't say the words, not with the Captain and the surgeon and whoever else earwigging.

He sighed. "Was them provosts. They round Jenny an' said she'd stole some bread or summat." He sighed. What a complete mess the whole thing was.

She covered her mouth and looked around in horror, trying to spot her. She did not see her anywhere nearby. "I'll find her," she assured him, scrambling to her feet. "What about Joe?"

"Joe... Joe's had a bad knock to the head. He'll be all right if he gets some rest. Right as rain in a couple of days, you see if he ain't. But Jenny's goin' to need you. Though... they never managed anythin'."

If there was any mercy to be found in this whole thing, it was that they hadn't done anything. Though they would have, had Jenny not gone for Newbury's sword. But he couldn't say that to Maggie, not after she'd suffered who knew what, herself.

She nodded and squeezed his shoulder before running off again.

Poor lad was going to be mightily sore for the next few days, but he'd be all right. Thank heaven for small - or not so small - blessings. Mister Todd gave the Rifleman a more gentle pat on the shoulder before getting back to his feet.

"He'll mend decently enough," the surgeon reported to Captain Vickery. "Though he won't be going very far at all until his concussion lessens. I daresay he won't want to anyway."

Lieutenant Cobb's Pioneers had rounded up the three sullen provosts and were keeping close watch over them, disgusted expressions on their bearded faces. The dislike for provosts was universal and made more powerful in light of this newest incident.

"Do you wish to have these men charged by your regiment's authority, sir, or their own?" Cobb asked, waiting politely until the surgeon had finished his report.

Vickery nodded at the surgeon's report on Newbury's condition. He would confine the man to the surgeon's wagon if it would keep him out of trouble and get him on the mend quicker. "He may consider himself confined to your care until he is fit to rejoin his company. I would appreciate it if you, or a colleague, would keep a very close watch on him until then, also."

He turned to the other officer, whose Pioneers seemed to be relishing their unusual duty. "I will charge them. They assaulted one of my men who is already on light duties, ensuring that it will be even longer before he is fit to return to duty. I am no friend of the lash and it will doubtless mean a flogging, but such an act cannot go unpunished." They had probably intended raping Jenny Ross as well, but could probably wriggle out of receiving a punishment for that due to her ambivalent status with the army.

Something like satisfaction flitted across Todd's face. "I understand, sir. He will have no wish to move more than necessary however, I daresay; if only to spare himself the pain of such exertions. Have no fear. He will be well monitored."

Lieutenant Cobb nodded once. "Very well. Corporal Kerr. These men will be conducted safely to the 60th's custody. You may tolerate no interference to your duty, from anyone."

"Aye sar," the husky Kerr replied.

Stephenson spat onto the ground in disgust.

"We are currently serving on detached duty alongside the Coldstream Guards," Vickery said. "If you ask for Captain Blackwood of the Light Company, please give him this with my compliments." He found a blank page in his Day Book and scribbled a note before tearing the page out, folding it and passing it over to the Pioneer Corporal.