26th June, A fat ox with evil will

"Lets get 'im out o' here." Pye spoke quietly, not to scare the beast. "Before somebody comes and shouts him into a run again." He glanced ahead of them for a good, safe path to take. He could go get more hay too, or they could stop further down to the left, where he knew there was more hay.

The hussars would not be very happy, because much of this had been theirs, but perhaps they will learn to appreciate that their sacrifice saved the lives of some officers. "Your girl..um,.. wife is watching." He whispered playfully. He still felt a bit akward, but thrilled now. Strange as that was!

The ox poked Cotton a bit with his nose, then returned to the fascinating green plume of Pye's shako. He was following him rather playfully now, quite unlike the mad beast that had run over Captain Vickery. When another rifleman accidently wandered a bit closer than he liked, the ox was quick to turn and snort warningly.

Several men immediately hissed for the man to come back behind the line of fires, and the poor soldier, who hadn't been around when the drama started and still tried to figure out what this all was about, quickly jumped back to his comrades.

The hissing, however, brief as it was, had reminded the ox of the other humans standing around again, and of the distance that was now between him and the herd, and he shook himself and directed an unhappy, accusing low at Pye and Cotton.
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Edward shook his head and replied evenly:

"I would imagine that this would end his good mood rather quickly, which in turn would likely cause some danger to the man doing it. Your husband seems to know how to handle him quite well, and I would trust his judgement."

At that moment the rifleman stumbled forward, and Edward opened his mouth to call him back sharply, but closed it again quickly, tensing and taking a step in front of Maggie. When the ox didn't immediately take off in a gallop, he relaxed a bit again, but said quietly to Vickery:

"More and more come to see what's the matter - and not all soldiers."

"I think he's calmed down enough that he can go back with the others," Cotton said quietly to Pye. "There really ain't no reason to get him away from 'em, not now." He looked back at the big beast. "You ain't goin' to go hurtin' anythin' now, are you?" he said, holding out a handful of hay.

Maggie frowned and shook her head at the scene, her earlier fear gradually being replaced with sensible caution and irritation. "I don't trust them oxen, me. Better a donkey or even a horse for pulling a cart." And then she realized that she was speaking to two officers. How had she come to be standing here chatting with two officers?

"I believe he will taste better, though", Edward replied absentmindedly, his eyes still on the two men and the ox.

"It seems he would prefer to eat Pye than have Pye eat him," Vickery remarked dryly, watching the ox try again to nibble at Pye's plume.

The ox placidly accepted the hay Cotton offered, munching slowly, then rubbing his head down Cotton's arm to dislodge some insistent flies. He seemed to like the attentions of the two men quite well, and began to nudge them with his head if their focus strayed from him.

"Eat or be eaten ..."

Edward laughed. He looked at his friend's shako, slightly worse for wear thanks to the oxen's rearranging of Vickery's tent.

"Perhaps I should be glad to wear a bicorn - that beast certainly is drawn to shakos!"

Vickery smiled ruefully and took his shako off to examine it. "It does seem that way, doesn't it?" he said, attempting to straighten the plume out. "At least your hat folds flat naturally," he added. "I suppose it could be worse. He didn't actually stand on it."

"Well, it's designed to be practial when not worn. I guess avoiding damage from rampaging beasts in that state falls under this heading - especially since it does nothing of that kind when worn."

Edward's mouth briefly twisted in an answering smile, and he tucked the point of his head down more firmely.

"Let's hope he keeps to that standard - and has shown the rest of your possesions the same courtesy. Do you think they can tie him down again soon?"

"About the only use I have seen for a cocked hat is to act as a waterspout in the rain - it has an amazing propensity to direct water down one's collar," Vickery observed. "Of course, a shako offers little to no protection from the rain either, although it is more effective at keeping the sun out of one's eyes." He sighed. "I am not quite sure I dare to look in my tent and discover just how bad the damage is."

Edward cleared his throat, very discreetly fidgeting a bit.

"You know, if there's anything ..."

Vickery raised an eyebrow. "If anything is broken, it can be either mended or replaced, I am sure. Thank you for the offer, though - I appreciate it."

If offer it was... Torrington had implied, although not specifically said, that he was willing to help.

"You're welcome."

He had meant exactly that, although he hadn't been sure how to phrase it.

Vickery sighed. "I suppose I had best go and see what the damage is - and get someone to pitch my tent again properly, if it hasn't been damaged too badly."

"Gabe.. we've just taken him away from his herd.. we can't make him go back to them..." Though the ox would have been safest hidden among the many. "...Think they want to eat him." Which was a splendid idea, but this ox liked them and Pye no longer considered him a big, scary beast but, almost like Peggie, a sweet little pet.

"He's nice, isn't he? All tame, really."

"There ain't no way the captain'll let you adopt him an' all, y'know, Zack," Cotton pointed out patiently. "An' now he's calmed down a bit, the herd's the best place for him - we only needed to keep him away from 'em when it looked like he was goin' to get them runnin' amuck too."

"Too bad, he could pull quite a load." Zack answered innocently and grinned. "An'..he'd be a perfect disguise. What Frog would think we're near, when the only crackin' sound would be that of the ox. A neat lure too! I think!" He chuckled and reached out towards the beast rather slowly and carefully not to frighten him.

The ox seemed quite willing to make Pye's point for him - he chortled, flicked his ears a few times and then settled down to contently nibble at Pye's jacket tails.

"They still use oxen for ploughin' in some parts," Cotton pointed out. "An' you must've seen the ox carts the Portugee folks use?" And if he hadn't seen the things, he must have heard them, with their solid wheels fixed to the axles - they squealed horribly when they were on the move.

"They do, but we ain't t' ones that do an'.. he can pull loads for us an'.. he can make t' Frogs more at ease than they should be. If he ain't tied ter somethin' then they won't fear that Portuguese are there,.. would they? " He took a few steps away from the Ox. "Oi, I'm not edible, tole you that before!" He said softly.

"We can't keep him," Cotton said firmly. "We march much too fast, for one thing. Captain wouldn't like it, for another."

"I know." Pye looked at the beast. He would be food, eventually. If he was lucky, he would be a cart animal and then he would escape the butcher for a long while yet. "'s a shame."

"Gabe!" Maggie hissed from her new safe vantage point. She had climbed onto a cart nearby, hoping that the elevation and size would make her a less desirable target if the ox decided to charge again. "What are you doin' with that thing? Get rid of it."

"Aye, it is a shame, but that's life. Can't be helped." Maggie's voice made Cotton look up, to see his wife perched on one of the baggage carts nearby. "Takin' it back to its friends, Maggie. Get down from there, do."