12 June; Baby steps

"I will check back on you when I can," he said, and moved away to give Newbury a bit of privacy.

"This is a new development and I do not like it at all," he said in a low voice to Blackwood. "He asked me what colour my jacket is, seemingly convinced I had changed to wearing brown at some point."

He had heard the exchange and found equally as worrying as Vickery clearly did. It was not something Blackwood had ever heard of before. That it was happening now did not bode well.

"Something has indeed happened to his vision, then," he remarked. "Though of course I could not hazard a guess as to what."

Nor, he thought sourly, was that surgeon likely to either.

"No." He sighed. "I believe I need to pay the 15th a visit - and those Hussars are going to regret being so damned foolish, especially after this particular development. I only hope he will be able to return to duty and that this will not affect him permanently."

This was an action that Blackwood agreed with completely. "Indeed. I had intended to have a word with their officer myself, to take them to task for their wild play." That honour would be Vickery's now, though Blackwood would not at all begrudge him it.

"Their camp is not so far from here, I believe."

"Let us hope they are not so foolish in future," Vickery replied. Of course, they had managed to get away without giving names, which would make the officers' task that much harder, but it was still not impossible.

"The sooner this is over with, the better," he added. It was never easy to upbraid men of another regiment, but when it came down to the health of his own men, Vickery would not shrink from so doing.

If Vickery did not sort them out - which he considered unlikely - Blackwood himself would. He at least could call on the backing of his regiment, where Vickery could not. Creating an inter-regiment dispute was not the best thing when on campaign, but this was a singular case.

"This man Willoughby," Blackwood began. "He speaks as though he is educated, which even for a hussar is unusual. Do you suppose he would have been the ringleader of sorts?"

Vickery considered Blackwood's question. "I suppose he may have been, although it is my experience that if an educated well-spoken man is in the ranks, he generally regarded with something very like suspicion by his fellows. At first, anyway. He may well have gained some sort of prestige among his comrades. It is not unheard of, at any rate."

He adjusted his sash, still feeling a little discomfited by Newbury's odd question as to the colour of his clothing.

That was true enough. Still, the suspicion remained that the little group had been largely content to follow Willoughby's lead.

"That would appear to be their camp, there," Blackwood observed. This was going to be interesting.

"So it does," Vickery replied, before asking the nearest trooper where he could find their duty officer.

The man gaped at him for a moment, clearly disconcerted to find himself face-to-face with a couple of infantry officers, before pointing to a guidon stuck in the ground. "He's at ord'ly room, sir."

"Thank you," Vickery replied, and headed toward the flag that was fluttering pathetically in the small breeze.

"That was easy enough," Blackwood remarked mildly. It remained to be seen, of course, how well the duty officer took to their news. How the hussars in question would react was quite beneath his interest.

~

"Sir," Corporal Tunney rasped, lowering his eyes as he adjusted his course to bring him past his troop captain. "Officers comin'. Foot types."

Captain Gaines made a noise of irritation. "I am busy, Corporal."

This was taken by Tunney to be sign enough that the captain was aware and he took himself off to rejoin his mess.

"Hmm, Vickery replied, noncommittally. He hoped that they could get this sorted out without too much hassle, although it really would have helped vastly had Blackwood had the presence of mind to take names. Still, what was done was done, and they would just have to do the best they could without the names.

"Good afternoon, Captain," he began, hoping that he could persuade the Hussars' officer to at least take his charge seriously.

The approach of the two Foot officers did not go unnoticed. Not even by those, who had not been directly addressed and questioned by them. A pair of curiosity driven Hussars waited for them to move on, until they thought it was safe to question the trooper who had been addressed.

Forbes arched a brow, looking on with mild interest as the pair of officers disappeared in the direction of their captain's accomodations. What business did the Foot officers have in their camp? Just a pleasant visit? He doubted it somehow. Not his business though. With a great big yawn he leaned back, returning to his work, half-heartedly brushing out his dolman. Where the bloody hell was Kerr?

"Is it?" Gaines asked, before looking up from the letter he had been struggling to write for nearly an hour. "Oh. Hello, sirs. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Blackwood kept his sudden irritation in check. "I am Blackwood, and he is Captain Vickery," was his carefully-bland response. "We are come on account of some of your men."

"Private Willoughby and some others were indulging in a rather ill-thought out game of football right by the surgeon's wagons, which was the cause of one of my men taking a very nasty tumble and knocking his head, which has seriously affected his vision," Vickery said, hoping that he wasn't going to have to make too much of a fight of this.

The hussar officer's eyebrows arched on hearing this and Blackwood felt a flicker of hope at the short flash of darkness that passed across the cavalryman's face.

"Indeed," the fellow said. His tone, Blackwood thought, suggested irritation, though with whom was impossible to judge. The hussar captain stood up and strode away a couple of paces, where, halting, he called for the trooper named Willoughby. And then, to Blackwood's surprise, he bawled several other names as well.

The Hussars in question did not appear right away. If anything it seemed at first that they were not even in camp. They must have been aware of the arrivals or if they had not seen them themselves, somebody certainly had to have told them.

Would they come? Or were they surprisingly out of range of hearing? It all went quiet, and but for a neigh of a horse it appeared men were keeping quiet and hoping not to fall under notice.

Somebody had to have run right after the bawling, for at last, and at an equally speedy pace, somewhat out of breath the first (Willoughby) of the called appeared. He kept his pace steady until he was close at which point he slowed down into a walk, quick only because it was their officer he was called by. "..Sir, here sir." Behind him, others of the named began to trickle into view. None looked too happy about having been called.

"That is not an invitation to dawdle!" The hussar captain barked.

Blackwood was obliged to conceal a very slight smile, despite the grave reason for their presence. It certainly did appear as though the duty officer had summoned the guilty parties. That he had apparently done so without needing to know their names beforehand hinted at these men having been pulled up for similar offences in the past. How interesting...

The men picked their pace and once they were all gathered formed a line. One look at the two officers, and they knew what this call was all about. The nervousness clearly best seen on the young Kenley's face. Kerr on the other hand kept good control of his, confident and convinced that they had no reason to call them up here as they were not guilty of anything.

Silently they stared ahead, keeping their expressions neutral. They knew better but to anger their own officer as he was not as forgiving and was regretfully very much theirs. Why did that Rifleman had to fall to the ground in the first place! His clumsyness could cost them a lot!

That brusque command did the trick. In only a moment, the four hussars stood before them in a single rank, as close to proper attention as they no doubt knew. Blackwood was inwardly relieved that it was the same four he had encountered. This cavalry captain certainly knew his men.

"I am given to understand you four have been stirring up trouble," the hussar officer said. "Galloping about through the surgeons' wagons, endangering wounded men - indeed, causing fresh harm to a Rifleman. With that infernal ball as well, I see!"

The four men stood in silence. Kenley glanced briskly from his left to his right neighbour and then quickly averted his gaze back ahead of them, past their officer. Kerr shifted his weight a little, barely visibly. Willoughby remained silent and as motionless as a tree when there was no wind to blow against its branches. Their fourth fellow remained equally quiet, if for a short while.

It seemed that they waited to hear if there was anything else that would be spoken against them, or if they would be permitted to speak in turn. While cheeky against the Foot soldiers, their own officer was a completely different thing. It was clear they had enough to say to claim their innocence.

"Have you anything to say, sir?" The hussar officer asked, glancing at Vickery.

Blackwood noted that while the cavalryman had referenced the leather ball, he had not asked for it. It remained in Blackwood's hand and he wondered if that was to mean he could dispose of the item as he saw fit.

"Yes, if you don't mind, sir," Vickery replied and gave the four miscreants an icy look. "I consider it most irresponsible of you to have been engaged in such antics in the vicinity of the surgeon's wagons, where there was an extremely high probability of running into a convalescent," he began, his words clipped. "You should consider yourselves extremely fortunate that you are not under my command. I only hope that this disgraceful behaviour has not set my man's recovery back too far. And if it happens again, I will be pressing charges. I hope that is quite clear?"

It was clearly an unfair accusation of a party innocent of it. Kerr waited silently with the rest and then at very last thought to utter a simple: "Permission to speak, sir." Addressing not captain Vickery however, and making little aknowledgement of him, but his own officer whom he also looked in direction of.

Willoughby kept his gaze at a distant spot, past the officers, wishing that the rifleman's injuries would not be quite so bad, but also thinking that the upset was not directed where it was due. If the man was so terribly injured, he should have been confined to the wagon. He was not steady enough on his feet, what it seemed like. But this lad kept his mouth shut.

Kenley, who was more interested in whether they would have their ball returned kept his gaze on it. Atleast the Foot officers could deliver it to their officer and from him they could possibly get it at some point in time. But if it was not returned they would be hard pressed to make a new one and that meant looking for a damn goat again and even the preparation might set them back a while.

The cavalry officer hesitated, then nodded once. "Do. I should like to hear your excuses."

That might be a little harsh, Blackwood thought, but he said nothing. He was interested to hear what the trooper had to say for himself.

Vickery stood ramrod straight, despite the insistent twingeing of his side, and clasped his hands behind his back, waiting to hear what the cavalryman might have to say that could possibly excuse their foolishness.