28 May; Twilight Trial

"Did you give them any reason to turn on you?" Vickery asked. At least Newbury could speak clearer than he had last night, which was something, although he still looked dreadful.

Shaking his head was out of the question and Newbury was proud of himself for not trying. "No sir. I hadn't even gotten a chance to say anythin' 'fore they laid into me."

"Do you have any idea why they might have turned on you?" Vickery asked, wondering if he was repeating himself at all. If he was, never mind; it was always good to establish precisely why something had happened - if it could be established at all, that was.

"Not really, sir, 'cept that it was probably just that I was there at all. They wanted to take Jenny with 'em to the woodline. For... sport. My bein' there stopped 'em, sorta."

Vickery nodded. "Can you identify the men who assaulted you?"

He uncurled one hand from his shako and pointed toward the three provosts, who were sitting behind their officer with a two-man guard behind them. "Those fellows, sir."

Well, he knew he'd got the right men, and now the members of the court knew it, too. "And did they say anything before they tripped you and started laying into you, or while they were doing so?"

He had to think on that for a second.

"Jenny asked 'em what was gonna happen to her, an' one of 'em said 'Maybe a floggin', or maybe nothin'.' An' another said 'or maybe somethin' else', then said we was goin' for a walk an' that I was comin' along too. That's when the fellow behind me gave me a shove along." Newbury twitched his fingers before tucking them around his shako again. "Wasn't hard at all to guess what they was after, neither."

The young "boy" sitting outside the tent listened intently. Jenny was glad she had decided not to participate in this court martial, or even to appear at all. The last thing she needed was to remind the provosts that she still required judgment for stealing. And of course the men were bringing it up again, as she had known they would. Idiots. She had been right not to trust her safety to them. She let out a quiet disgusted sigh.

Vickery let that last comment pass. "Did you try to retaliate in any way - to fight back, to defend yourself?"

"Tried, sir. Tried gettin' up a coupla times, but they didn't have no trouble knockin' me down again. Kicked my knee out an' all."

Vickery's eyebrow went up. He was quick to take advantage of the mention of Newbury's knee. "Your knee? Would this be the injured one, or the other?"

"The injured one, sir." Fortunately it was impossible to see his blush. If he had not been stupid out in those hills, he would not have a bad knee at all.

Vickery consulted his papers. "As far as you know, were they aware that you had sustained an injury to your knee?"

Graham broke in, though his voice was mild. "Rifleman Newbury can only offer speculation as to that point, and speculation is of no substance." He glanced at Colonel Trevor.

Trevor nodded. "Objection sustained."

Vickery inclined his head. "I beg your pardon. Rifleman Newbury, was it obvious to an observer that your knee was unreliable in some way?"

"Yes sir. I ain't been able to walk steady in days, 'fore this."

"So it would have taken very little to put you on the ground? How sure are you that you didn't stumble over a stone? That you were deliberately tripped, in fact?"

This time, he did not think to stop himself nodding. Hell! "That's so, sir. I didn't trip over nothin', 'cept that one fellow's leg."

"And can you remember what happened once you were on the ground?" He might have already given a brief description, but Vickery wanted him to try to give as much detail as he could.

"They got to kickin' me, sir. All over." As if it wasn't obvious by his face alone. "Tried gettin' up, an' got their boots 'gainst my knee first, then my arms and head."

Woodmarsh stood in the corner of the tent, watching as the court-martial unfolded. Apparently some altercation had occurred between the ragged-looking rifleman and the provosts. There was something about a woman too, but he did not catch any of the details since he was only half-listening. He could have given a damn about the squabbles among the soldiers. He had better things to do than stand around listening to all of this. But now he had to wait until this whole affair had concluded before he could speak with the colonel. He could only hope Trevor would be more considerate towards him than he had been a few moments ago. The nerve of the man; to accuse him of having no honour and then being downright dishonourable himself.

Frowning, Woodmarsh crossed his arms and continued to observe the proceedings.

"So, as I have it, you were tripped and set upon for no apparent reason, with no chance to defend yourself, and not only that, but they deliberately targeted an already weak knee. Would that be a fair summary?"

"Yes sir."

"Thank you, Newbury." He glanced down his sheet of paper and straightened to look at Colonel Trevor. "I have no more questions for this witness, sir."