27 May; surgeon's wagon

Todd inclined his head. "If he is awake," he replied.

"I am sure Cotton wouldn't dream of waking him if he is asleep," Vickery said. "And thank you for your time. I will leave him in your capable hands as I have some arrangements to make."

Cotton ventured a little closer, biting his lip nervously.

"Best of luck to you, sir," the surgeon said and held the lantern up so the redcoated sentries could see the newcomer. "Go ahead, Rifleman."

Vickery nodded and took his leave, returning Cotton's salute as the Rifleman approached.

"I jus'... jus' wanted to see how he is, sir," he said , addressing the surgeon a little nervously. He swallowed as the surgeon raised the lantern, allowing the light to fall on his face. This was the man who'd treated his back after the flogging. Maybe he wouldn't want him around? He probably thought a flogged soldier would be a bad influence.

"By all means," Todd assured him. There was a light shuffling as one of the sentries moved away from the back of the wagon. "I believe your friend will be glad to be looked in on."

"Thank you, sir," Cotton said, and moved around to the back of the wagon, poking his head in. "Hey, Joe. You awake?" he called softly, prepared to leave if it turned out that Newbury was in fact asleep.

Somebody was talking to him. Again. Newbury shivered and cracked his eyes open again, staring absently into the darkness above him.

"S'posin' so," he grunted.

"Am I disturbin' you?" Cotton asked, privately glad he couldn't see what state those bastards had left him in. "I'll come back termorrer if you want."

Sit up, you lazy fool. Newbury sat up, with difficulty.

"I'm 'wake," he said, remembering at the last moment that he shouldn't rub at his eyes. "What's doin'?"

"We'm a mort worried 'bout you, is all. Think the Cap'n's got 'em under arrest - what I heard, he wants to charge 'em for what-all they done to you." He looked at Newbury in consternation. "Here, you oughtn't to be a-sittin' up like that, not without the surgeon's say-so, or he'll have me hide!"

Charge 'em, eh? Good then.

"Can't see half of nothin' lyin' down," Newbury replied. "Least I ain't tryin' to go off walkin'." Not that he had any interest in leaving this mattress. Sitting up had taken up the bulk of his remaining energy.

"Where's they bein' kep' at?"

He remembered that feeling. Lying down was no way for a man to talk with anyone, after all. "Away off with the Second Guards, I think. If they was round here, I'd've killed 'em meself for layin' into you like they done, an' for no good reason." He looked at Newbury curiously. "Heard they done you in good'n'proper. How's Jenny doin' - they had her down as well, after all."

Better. Good luck to those bastards trying anything of this like with the Guards.

"They hadda reason," Newbury muttered darkly. "But they been stopped, so it's not so bad." He gave in to temptation and rubbed at his eyes - and, naturally, regretted it. "Jenny's... a'right, I reckon. You din't see her leavin'?"

"Reason? What sort of a reason?" Cotton nearly reached for his friend's wrist as he started rubbing at his eyes. "Easy there, don't think you oughta be doin't that, Joe." He shrugged. "No, I din't. Bin with... bin with Maggie." He looked slightly abashed at the admission.

"Just bein' there was it," he answered blandly. "Wasn't they wantin' to carry her off to the woods. Bein' there woulda kep' 'em from it."

It made perfect sense to him, anyway. He closed his eyes against an unexpected burst of pain in his head and sighed. Even in his muddled state, he was frustrated. This whole affair was stupid.

"Ah," Newbury went on, not grasping any significance behind Cotton's statement. "Jenny was here for a bit. Dunno where she went off to. Think the cap'n was talkin' to her or som'thin'."

"S'pose I oughta let you get some sleep," Cotton said, wondering vaguely what Captain Vickery had wanted to talk with Jenny about. "I don't reckon I'm helpin' your head overmuch, am I?"

Newbury forced a shrug. "It'll hold," he remarked dismissively. It wasn't his head that was really the problem just then, anyway. He'd never imagined it would be such an annoyance to talk around a bitten tongue.

"Like to give that lot a fair kickin' back, though."

"You an' me both, mate," he said. Something hadn't sounded quite right about how Newbury was speaking, though. "Did you lose a tooth or summat?" he asked. The way they'd been kicking him, Cotton wouldn't have been at all surprised if he had.

"Put a hole inta me own tongue." Better to have lost a tooth, perhaps.

"You're an idiot, Joe, allus were." The words couldn't hide the concern Cotton felt for his friend. "You'd... You'd best get some sleep. If the Captain is goin' to charge 'em, he'll want you there as a witness, an' you won't be givin' no evidence if you ain't had some shut-eye."

It wasn't like he'd done it intentionally.

"I s'pose," Newbury said, though he didn't relish the idea of being anywhere as a witness, if it meant having to move. "If you see Jenny som'ers... well. I ain't the only one bad off."

"I'm sure the surgeon'll give you summat to ease things, at least for now. An' if I see Jenny, I'll tell her she's wanted."

He sighed. "You'll be right as rain 'fore you know it, Joe, an' back up with the Comp'ny an' all, too."

"Aye." Newbury leaned back and let gravity do most of the work of settling his weight back down onto the mattress. 'Before he knew it' could hurry itself up, that was for sure.

"All right, then. You take it easy, then... Here..." He fumbled in his breadbag and pulled out a bottle. "Surgeon'll likely give me what-for if he knows I brung you this," he said, holding it out. "Ain't much, but mebbe it'll help, a bit."

Oh, piss, Newbury thought. He was going to have to sit up again to get that, wasn't he?

"Cheers," he said, promptly giving up on any notion of shifting himself again. "Just tuck it down against that blanket there. I'll fetch it out later."