Thursday morning before the march

"n' they steal too..though 's from t' ones that have more. Wouldn't be smart if they tried t' do it from those who had little to none." He thought that the country was what they walked through now, they slept out in the open sometimes and sometimes in the towns, like Coimbra. And now they walked across the beaten path and the air looked fresher and sounder.

" Have t' walk lots more, t' get to places tho, is it?" Cotton was a wise man, had been through a lot and worked at more than one place, it was something the lad cherished, and was eager to listen to.

"But it's a nicer walk, most times. Not so much with all the folks what make up the army, but back home, it was nice. Walkin' through the woods or down to the village or wherever. Though till I 'listed pretty much the mostest I ever went was about six, seven mile into Faversham. Thought that was a big town, though likely you wouldn't think so, not bein' from London and all."

He sighed, remembering it. He wanted to show Maggie the place he'd grown up, one day, and now he wondered if he ever would. Did she remember he had her locket, he wondered. Maybe she'd want it back. He'd keep it safe for her, like he'd promised to do, until she asked for it back, though. And that meant that somehow she'd have to talk to him, to do the asking.

"Maybe. " He noticed the traces of sadness on Cotton's face and frowned. He chewed a little at his lower lip.

"Would scoutin' be a bit.. more like walkin' out on ye own then? Sure don't sound like it had lots of people, right? N' yer going where all t' rest need t' follow soo... so it can be an open kind of ground or a forest or anything! Can get lost too, I reckon! Ever did when ye were goin' about in that country?"

"Me? Get lost at home?" Cotton looked blankly at Pye. "No, I never did. Not even when I was comin' home from Faversham the very first time I ever went there. It's... it's summat you learn, like... like fingerposts. Only, proper finger posts is for folks what can read, right? So us country folks have our own. Like, at the dead oak, you take the left-hand path. And at the big rock, you leave the lane and follow the track acrost the field on your right. And when you get to the beech tree, take the path on the left. And then you're home, near enough."

He shrugged and adjusted his grip on his rifle so he was carrying it at the 'trail arms'. "It works just as well out here, only there mebbe ain't so many markings like that. But then, it's learning what the ground looks like as well. Can do it in the dark, only it ain't so easy, of course. But you have to learn to do it in the daytime, first."

Roper had missed Williams' and Hakeswill's visits completely, but now he could hear Cotton talking amiably with the new fellow. He must be feeling more at ease, and that probably meant good news. "Gabe, did you get everything sorted when we stopped?" he asked, grinning to him over his shoulder.

Pye looked at Roper just a little bit alarmed, and glanced up to Cotton hoping the man would not be seen upset now.
He was quiet though, and tried - though not with the distance, for he couldn't right do so - give them some privacy. These posts that Cotton spoke of, it was like in the city, just they weren't made of wood and didn't have leafs on 'em. But nobody would remember the names , they'd remember the pictures, the peculiar houses, corners, turns, what lived there, who frequented there even.

Cotton shook his head. "No. She sent me a note sayin' as she was leavin', an' she was sorry, and she don't want me to worry. Though I am worried. She didn't say why, or anythin' like that, and I dunno if'n it's summat I done, or said, or, what. An' I miss her summat terr'ble, I do. And I can't even tell her."

Roper looked horrified and embarrassed. He'd sure put his foot in it this time. "Sorry, Gabe!" he said quietly. "Awful sorry."

Cotton gave a half shrug. "Ain't your fault, Tom. Really it ain't, an' I don't blame you, neither. You wasn't to know, after all."

Zachary looked at Roper then glanced ahead of them. Cotton couldn't right return to Coimbra unless, well he didn't know how he could, though the officers surely would. He adjusted his rifle and slipped it from his right to his left hand.

Up ahead he could see more green and if he'd have looked over his shoulder he could see the red serpent following them.

"But... she was leaving? Where'd she go?" Off with another man? A soldier? Someone in Coimbra? Where could an English girl go around here?

"She... she stayed in Coimbra. She's left all her stuff be'ind with us, though I dunno what she's thinking of. I... don't think she was goin' to, so I dunno why she has gone and stayed." He probably sounded miserable; he certainly felt it. He found himself pressing her locket to his chest again, as if reassuring himself he still had it.

"I'm real sorry, Gabe," Roper repeated. "I thought - well I know she was real sweet on you."

"Maybe.. maybe she's jus' tired, n' she needs t' rest a lil' more. Maybe helping a friend back in town, n' she.. doesn't know how long it might take?" Well that was all he could come up to reason with. He flushed not wanting to interrupt so and bit his tongue that he did.

It was more than 'real sweet on him'; Cotton knew it was. He just couldn't say so much. He sighed and looked towards Pye. "She'd have said so, if it was that, I know she would," he said.

He hated this march. Every step he took was a step away from her, and that hurt more than he could ever have imagined it would.

"But mebbe, ..maybe t' girl she is helping with is havin'... lass kin' of.. problems.. n' then, is not for men t' hear." He did not know Maggie for long enough to know how sweet she was on Cotton, or had known her enough to know how she would act in one or another situation. Well, he couldn't pride himself in knowing much about the girls either, not enough to be able to be a judge of their character at least.

"Maybe ..." He looked at Cotton. Why did the girl go, did she not know how wretched she was making her man? Could they get Cotton to go back and come again unnoticed? The further they went, the smaller was that possibility. And he was a batman, someone who their captain was bound to notice missing.

"What about her donkey?" Roper asked. "She has a donkey, right? And all that stuff she sells. Where were youse at - the captain's place?"

Cotton nodded. "Aye, we was. An' she left it - all of it. Like... like she needed the privy, and just vanished. Least, I couldn't tell if she took anythin', but it wasn't like I had a proper look - I was more worried about her. Still am."

Could he slip away, get back into Coimbra to look for himself? No - the captain would be wanting him, and he'd know straight away. He didn't want to get taken for a deserter, after all.

Roper thought about Pye's suggestion. Could she really have stayed behind to help a friend in need? "Who are her friends? Apart from Sarah and Martha, 'cause I seen them here already, on the march."

"Jenny Ross, Annie Lawson, dunno about any others." He shrugged; he didn't really have much to do with any of the women apart from Maggie. "It could just as easy be that one of them's stayed to help her, of course." He couldn't think straight, he knew he couldn't, and that wasn't any good, either.

Roper pondered this idea. "Did you ask them?"

Cotton gave a hopeless shrug. "Ain't thought about it - was too busy tryin' to find Maggie. Captain only gave me a half-hour afore fallin' in, y'see, an' I was pushin' that, time I got back to fall in."

He brightened. "Well that's all right! You can ask 'em all next chance we get to stop. They'll know! Women always know what's going on. They talk about things, see. Everything."

He nodded, still morose. "Never thought of that. I'll ask and see, and I do hope they know. And if they don't, I dunno what I'm a-goin' to do, I really don't."

Roper nodded and sighed. It was intensely frustrating to be unable to cheer his friend. Normal platitudes seem to fall flat. But the sun had already passed over their heads, so surely they would be stopping soon.