13th June: Mapping out surroundings

"Of course." Blackwood inclined his head. "Let us hope then she chooses to favour this expedition."

Or, more accurately, the men undertaking it.

That went well. Captain Blackwood had been very helpful, but he had also confirmed Edward's first impression of him as a sensible man and worthy aquaintance.

He already knew that the man he would have to talk to next shared these characteristics, which made him hope that perhaps he would be equally interested in both his expeditions and his training program.

The only real danger he saw was that the trouble his batman and his friend - Pye? He needed to check the name - had caused might have put the Captain in a rather understandable bad mood. When he approached the Captain's tent, however, no loud voices could be heard outside. But this of course could be good or bad.

Cotton was breaking sticks for the small fire near Captain Vickery's tent. There was a small pot balanced carefully over the flames, ready for the Captain's tea.

He looked up as Captains Torrington and Blackwood approached, and straightened, wiping his hands on his trousers. "Can I help, sirs?"

Edward greeted the rifleman with a friendly nod. "Good morning, Cotton. Is Captain Vickery available or is he still washing the two miscreants' heads?"

"Yes, sir. They've just gone now, sir." As if the Captain would do something like that himself... He looked at Captain Torrington, puzzled. "Washing...?" What on earth could that mean?

"Just a manner of speech."

Edward shrugged. He wasn't too sure himself what the Captain had intended. His instincts told him that there was some piece of information he was missing himself, but that had played heavily on Vickery's mind. Cotton probably would be able to supply that piece of information, but however highly he regarded the rifleman, Edward wouldn't speculate with a soldier about the Captain's actions.

"Would you please inquire whether the Captain can spare us a moment?"

If his batman had just been allowed to go - hopefully Rottländer still was his batman - then Edward would also need to let him know that he expected guests for luncheon. At home he would have left a note for his butler and housekeeper, but Edward had already learned that Rottländer couldn't read. A fact he would, as he now knew for certain, have to change soon.

He could hardly ask Cotton to carry a message, though. But perhaps, if his new servant had any sense, he would sooner or later remember that his master might have some work for him and appear on his own accord.

"Oh." Cotton wasn't quite sure what sort of manner of speech it might be, but if he was any judge, the Captain's young batman had had something hidden under his cap that had needed to be washed out of his hair.

"O' course, sir," he said, and turned to find his master, returning after a few short moments to say, "He'll see you, sir." He looked from Torrington to Blackwood and back, and hastily corrected himself. "The both of yous, that is, sir."

"Thank you, Cotton!"

Edward exchanged a quick glance with Captain Blackwood, then went into the tent.

"Captain," Vickery said, getting to his feet from where he had been sitting on his camp-chair, busy with some of the Company paperwork. "How may I help you?"

Wordlessly, as up to now he'd seen little use in speaking, Blackwood followed the engineer into Vickery's tent. This was Captain Torrington's realm of expertise, after all.

"Captain Blackwood," Vickery said, pushing his books to one side. "Have a seat." He indicated his recently-vacated camp chair, and the second one that Cotton had unfolded. He himself would be content to sit on his camp-bed.

"Thank you, Captain!"

Edward bowed slightly to indicate that he appreciated the offer of the chair but remained standing. It was easier to handle large maps that way. Unrolling the one he had used half an hour ago to explain his request to Captain Blackwood, he turned it now so Captain Vickery could see it.

Giving a quick summary of the problem with the maps and the discussion of the necessity to fill the gaps between him and Captain Blackwood, he finished:

"Would you agree with this evaluation of the situation, Sir?"

He mainly looked at Captain Vickery, but also spared a quick glance for Captain Blackwood to inquire whether he wished to add or correct something.

"Should you like to borrow my table for that, perhaps, Captain?" Vickery asked, moving forward to clear the Company books from it. "It would, perhaps, make such discussion easier?"

"It would certainly be helpful, Captain. Thank you!"

Edward moved forward and rolled the map out fully on the desk, then stepped to the side to allow the other a better view of it, pointing out the relevant areas with a pair of dividers he had taken out of his breast pocket.

Vickery weighted the map down with a couple of books, and bent over it. "May I?" he enquired, finding a pencil from somewhere. "These hills here," he said, lightly sketching in one of the blank spots, "are impassable to horse and guns and all but light infantry - the only paths are goat tracks and the like, I believe."

He straightened. "Some of my men were captured recently, you see, Captain. They made their escape through those hills. My man was one of them... He has rather a keen eye for ground which I have come to trust implicitly."

"Cotton? Then perhaps he could give me a description of the terrain? It is of course not as accurate as a real map, but if you think that the whole area there is useless for military purposes, then our time might perhaps be better spend on other regions. The Lord knows that there are enough where we have no reliable information yet."

Edward labelled the mountains Vickery had sketched in 'Unpassable (Cpt. Vickery) --> Cotton'. He was already reshaping his plans in his mind; if he needn't spend time to search for passes in that blank spot, he had three days in which he might perhaps tackle in greater detail that river they would have to cross sooner or later should they want to advance eastward. Somewhere in the back of his mind the fact registered that men had been taken prisoner and escaped, and that one of them had been Cotton, but he only archived the information to deal with it later. Right now the only fact pertaining to their current problem was that by their testimony they could establish that the mountains were impassable for an army.

"There isn't by any chance somebody who can give similar information for this area?"

He indicated another large blank spot a considerable distance from their camp.

Vickery looked down at the map again, hiding a smile at the Engineer's notation, before looking back up. "I do not believe I have sent any patrols out so far, Captain. Should you wish to explore the area for yourself, of course I and my men are at your disposal, sir." He tapped his pencilled-in area. "Should you wish to question Cotton further concerning these hills, I shall be only too happy to oblige."

Blackwood had agreed with the engineer's assessment with a nod and observed the additions being made to the map. He had heard a little about the terrain being discussed from Sergeant Burr, though of course the Scotsman had not been able to offer more than basic detail. He had been somewhat preoccupied with other things, after all.

Still. The assessment Vickery offered, based on reports from his men, matched up well enough with what Burr had told him. This meant a survey of those hills would be undertaken with an understanding in advance of the terrain. Good.

The blank expanse of map Torrington indicated was a good way removed from where they were presently encamped. To the best of his knowledge, infantry patrols had not gone so far in that direction, but that did not mean excursions there had not happened.

"It may be worth asking our counterparts in the cavalry as well, beforehand," he suggested.

Edward nodded.

"Certainly, if there is a chance that they may have gone that way. The better we know what to expect the faster the actual mapping will go, should we decide that it is still necessary."

He turned to Captain Vickery again and said, a hint of gratefulness in his cool voice:

"I must admit that without your help, Captain, this project could not be undertaken at all. If his Colonel agrees, Captain Blackwood will have some of his men participate as well, so that we may hope to have a large enough force soon enough."

He quickly laid out his plans for a training session this afternoon.

"I think it would be wise to train as many men as can conveniently be spared to the task so that we will have a pool of men from which to draw. Even if they never have to do it again for a map, to know how to take cross-bearings is a useful skill on its own."

Vickery looked interested at that. "Forgive me, I am no hand at mathematics - which is partly why I joined the Army rather than the Navy. Does taking cross-bearings require a man to be literate?"

His German Riflemen were nearly all literate to a good degree, while the same could not be said of all the Englishmen in his Company.

"I can certainly make my men available for you this afternoon."

"Not necessarily. There are several ways to do it, actually. The simplest way, with which any man can rather accurately fix his own position if he can see three distinct points of reference, does actually require nothing more than an even piece of some kind. If you can remember your points of reference and mark off the angles on a sheet of paper, for example, you will always in the field find the spot again where you have taken the measurement ."

Edward quickly demonstrated by placing a sheet of paper in the centre of Captain Vickery's desk and marking its middle with a dot. The he squinted over the edge of the table, one eye completely shut, and found the directions of the tent poles when looking over the dot in the middle. Marking of the respective lines of sight, he labelled each, then smiled up at Captain Vickery. His face had lost much of his usual haughty expression and looked younger and much more animated, like a schoolboy showing of his latest discovery to a friend.

"Here. Probably a most useless piece of information, but as long as you don't move the posts of your tent, I will always able to show you the spot where your desk stood today. Furthermore, if you can find your points of reference on a map, you only need to push the paper over the map until it lines up with those points again and the centre of the paper will mark the place."

Vickery grinned at the little demonstration. "Ah, I see. Simplicity itself. I shall certainly be able to spare you as many men as you may need for your project. If you could teach them all that, in fact, it may come in very useful. Riflemen are taught to be observant and to think for themselves. With a skill like that, they could be even more useful when on scouting patrols, as you no doubt intend."

Each patrol would not only be able to make a report of the terrain but could then help the Engineering officer to map it. That could prove absolutely invaluable later on, to Headquarters.

"There are also simple ways to measure distances, ways to find north if you know the time ..."

Edward realized that he got carried away and stopped abruptly. He cleared his throat and returned to his cool society demeanour.

"I have no doubt that they will learn quickly and profit from it, Captain. If they could join the training this afternoon in small groups, three pairs at most, they will soon know what to do."

Although he knew what he wanted to say next, he took a moment to formulate the invitation and find the light, polite yet courteous voice appropriate to an offer whose acceptance was placed wholly at the other's convenience. He respected Captain Vickery, liked him even, but he knew little yet about him and the demands his position made on him.

"If your time permits, would you care to join Captain Blackwood and me for luncheon?"

"I am sure they will look forward to it." It would certainly be something out of the ordinary for them and any break or variation in the routine was generally welcomed.

He smiled. He rather liked Captain Torrington and would appreciate the chance to get to know him a little better. "I should like to, thank you, Captain."

Edward gave a slight bow of acknowledgment. He now definitely looked forward to lunch today, something he seldom did. But in contrast to many of the endless lunches he had had to endure in England, this time he was actually interested in the people he would share his food with. He reflected cynically that this was probably caused by the fact that they were actually intersting, competent, sensible people, a distinction he awarded few of his usual social circle.

"Then shall we say in an hour? Or would you prefer to join me for some tea right now and have lunch as soon as it is available?"

He would have liked to inquire after Rottländer, but Captain Blackwood's presence prevented him.