28 May; Outside the Tent

"There's always.... other ways." Pye shrugged and prodded the ground with a stick that he picked of the floor. He made a small circle in the dirt, and then proceeded in making marks that reminded most of little river waves. He continued with a few lines, until it was clear he was probably doing it for the sake of the scratch rather than drawing in a certain meaning.

"No, there ain't." Cotton was firm on that. "I don't want no private wars 'tween you an' them, no matter what happens in there. 'Cause you can bet you'll get found out, however careful you are, an' seein' as the Captain has brung them to trial, you'll get brung to trial yourself an' likely flogged at least. I don't care how careful you are, mistakes can happen - look at what happened yesterday with that Sergeant. I don't think it was anythin' like easy for the Captain to get him to let you go."

"But he did. N' t' sergeant was none t' wisest either. " The lad answered, more convinced in his right, than he had been even before the trial. He did speak very quietly though, so that even Cotton, who was close, would have to strain himself to hear. He didn't need someone hearing, that wasn't meant to.

"If he hadn't bin bringing them three to trial for makin' it worse for Newbury - you put him in a proper sticky situation, y'know. If them in there catch wind of it, they might make him drop the charges or charge you, even now." Was there any way of getting any sense into the boy?

"You ain't got no right to go after them. 'Cause they will catch you - an' the next time, the Captain prob'ly will let 'em charge you, if it's the only way you'll learn. You're a damn fool if you think he won't; there's only so much he'll take, y'know."

"They won't drop t' charges!..Ain't goin' around wot' they did, no matter wot'." He stopped drawing on the ground, lifting his hand from it, and the twig snapped. "They won't. He won't. Couse they won't." He shook his head. "If they get o' lightly.. you'd be glad of it Gabe? 'accept that they's officer's pets more n' us?.. That they can do wot' they want. Wot' if they killed Joe.."

"They ain't officers' pets any more'n you or me. But it ain't right for you to... to ignore the law an' go after 'em the way you have. 'Cause then you'll get in trouble, an' for no good reason. Don't sink to their level - you'm a Rifleman, so's you'm better'n them, so don't go doin' the stupid things they've done." He sighed. "If'n they'd killed Joe - an' I'm damn glad they didn't - they'd swing for it, wouldn't they. Same as if you killed one of them. Now don't be a damn fool, Zachary Pye."

"Wouldn't they?..." He flinched. "..Gabe, they'd only swing if they were found guilty.. n' in no other way..., if'un they weren't. They coulda' done it an run free." He sounded defensive.

"Could've. There is that risk, but don't you think it's a damn small one, really?"

He found himself hoping like hell that they would be found guilty for what they'd done, if that was what it took to prove that the law could work for them.

"Wait wait wait," Newbury cut in. "What's all that 'bout?"

"No. I don't think it's a small'un.. honest men had been....." He glanced at Newbury as the man cut in with his question, and turned quiet. He shifted, threw the two bits of twig off somewhere infront of him and then shrugged. "..what's what 'bout?"

Cotton sighed. "Pye don't reckon the court's goin' to find in our favour, an' he went off yesterday to give one of 'em a... a taste of his own med'cine, 'gainst the Captain's wishes, an' came damn near gettin' on a charge of his own for it, that's what." The story would be out soon enough, among the Riflemen, and Cotton was reluctant to say much more right now.

"He done... what?" Pye'd gone after the provosts? Or one of them, at least? Newbury blinked at the darkness, trying to wrap his head around this bit of news. Earlier in the day, he had heard snippets of conversation about some sort of bad doings taking place, from Mister Todd and his mate, but nothing complete. It had been Pye's doing, though?

"Great," he said sourly. "Just bloody great."

"Quite." Cotton tossed the bit of grass away into the dark.

".. He'll live. " Pye said and shrugged. "...live ter b' 'ated another day." He smiled.

"You better hope he will," Cotton said in a low, fierce voice. There were rumours, after all, that it hadn't been quite as simple as Vickery thought it had been.

He'll live. As if that made the whole thing acceptable.

"You're a damned idiot," Newbury growled.

Pye would have been more fazed about that, if not for the fact he was used to the word. He was illiterate, not very smart probably, so why care if he was insulted. "N' you two worry too much." He said matter of factly. "..if they are let go.. as innocent, least they got some o' their back."

Newbury sat up, with some difficulty. " 'Worry too much'? Bloody right we're worryin' 'bout this. What the hell was you thinkin'?" Only it was obvious that Pye hadn't been thinking, wasn't it?

"..I was thinkin' they won't get found guilty." Pye answered stiffly. "N'..them..provosts..they deserve wot' they got."

"You never even gave him a chance to get to trial first." 'Idiot' was too soft a word, in Cotton's opinion.

"Oh did they." Newbury shook his head slowly, his jaw set in annoyance. He would be among the first to say those provosts needing setting to rights, but in a more direct manner. A good flogging was more in his line of thinking. Or even a sound beating.

"No. 'couse if you don't take a chance the time it offers itself, well then.. you might well miss it another time. It ain't like it will appear to ye every day n' moment of ye life. It don't. It appears sometime, and sometime it don't." He looked at the two men. "N' ..well, they might know ter keep their paws ter' themselves. Know'um that no matter wot' has t' be decided...they better stick out o' t' wrong business.." Which made sense, sort of.

Hearing this was giving Newbury a headache. And folks said he didn't think things through?

"An' of course it never 'curred to you just to give that 'chance' a miss, did it?" He shook his head again, carefully, and tucked his legs closer in, giving himself leverage to get up to his knees. "Or maybe you gone an' made it all worse?"

"Might've bin better if you'd just up an' told the Captain straight you don't trust him to do right by us," Cotton said. "I'd give you a damn kickin' meself if I didn't think I'd get in trouble for it."

"Worse?.. if they'n not seen guilty, they still got a punish'nt ...n' if they do, it's jus' an additional 'un." The lad answered. He believed he had given it some thought. Enough thought, even to know how to avoid getting caught. The proof of this was evident. He was not going to stand trial as the provosts were.

" 'is done anyway. Dun' see how's that bad." He scowled at both Cotton and Newbury.