On duty in the dark

"Don't think anyone'd have cavalry up here. 'Sides, you'd smell French cavalry. All sores an' saddle-rot, they are. This ain't the sort of country where they'd use horses. Horses are best in flat country, y'see. They'd have their skirmishers out in these hills, I should think. If they come at all." He thought for a moment. "Dunno. They might do, but you wouldn't see 'em so easy as durin' the day."

"But we have horses and the cavalry." He looked back at the path, the owl was gone and so was the rabbit. They would not see any mice picking and squirming through the undergrowth, neither hear them much but those rather close.

"cavalry's a right terrible thing." Standing in a square which should by all means mean safety, didn't mean actually feeling any safer than the men that would run for their lives and be hacked down as they did so. "If it's t' enemy's." And if it was theirs and lost its discipline, they just stole sooner than the rest of the army then.

"Aye, we do," Roper replied. "But ourn ain't going to be much use to us, neither. It's too hilly and stony out here, see. What they want is good flat country with decent footin' where they can get a good gallop up. And then the best place for us to be is in square - rally square, for us Riflemen, 'cuae we ain't got enough men to make a proper square like the 33rd can. And then you're safe as houses and they can't get you, not unless the square breaks. And I ain't known a British square to break yet."

He took his shako off and ran a hand though his hair. "If you can't get into square, I think the safest thing to do is lie flat on the ground. Horses won't stand on you if they can help it. And it'll be harder for the man on the horse to do anything, as well."

"Rally square fer t' riflemen." He knew the other sort, been learning it in the 33rd. Knew it and knew that it ought never break for a man running, even if feeling safer, would indeed be dying sooner. The sort of suggestion to lie flat had him thinking though. If the square were to break or not form in time, lying flat would not be on one's mind.

But if sounded rather logical if the horse missed you. A man could come down just so much from a horse. And, then he would be off balance, wouldn't he?

"Have you had cavalry run at ye many a time?" Probably not, atleast not as a rifleman, but men transfered and so even if not in the first case perhaps in the second.

He perked up again, and looked at the movement he thought he had seen. A play of light, a breath of air? A small sort of animal? He strained his eyes in the dark, wanting to see better.

"No, but that's what I've heard the German Riflemen say, and they know a thing or two, them." And then Pye sat up as though trying to see something. "Don't look straight at it. Look past it, to the side a little. Makes it easier to see in the dark, somehow, that."

He nodded and quickly adjusted the direction at which he was looking. He wanted to see if it would move again and if had a reason not to. Something moved again, that he was sure and it wasn't the wind that had the leaves shaking this time. But still he could not make out whether it was of human or of animal nature.

"Can you look too. It could be nothing...I think." He looked anxiously at Roper, falling back to the way the 33rd were for a moment. Couldn't think there else there was trouble.

"It is.. probably is." He added. And it possibly was too.

Roper looked in the direction Pye was indicating. "I don't think there's anythin' there," he said. "Nothin' bigger than a fox, anyway. It's prob'ly after one of them rabbits. I think. And I ain't heard anythin' out of place, neither."

The boy smiled more relaxed. Wasn't a Frenchman, but wasn't a bad thing spotted anyhow.As long as they didn't go after the rabbits. He heard one rifleman go after one, when he was ahead scouting or so. Newbury. He nodded and smiled.

"Perhaps they're all asleep 'already now. T' French. Thinkin' to do anything tomorrow, are they?" Looks up at Roper curiously.

"Maybe they are. Wouldn't put it past 'em, sure." He grinned. "I dunno. Y'know, bein' in the Rifles is the same in some ways to bein' in the Line. We dunno what's goin' on till there's a bit of a fight. It's just... we end up on duties like this more, and there's times we have to think about things so's we can make a report to an officer, but gen'rally, we don't know what the Frecnh are doin'. Same's they don't know what we're doin', see."

"I know." He nodded quickly, didn't want to seem as if he thought the rifles had a strange sort of intelligence about the movements of the French. "Though, we're further up front. We'll see'em sooner than the ones back." Which was a no brainer of course. But he did look proud of knowing that.

Another false alarm there was, with the breath of air having some branches shake and an old dried up branch fall from it's shaky confinement up in the tree. It fell smack with a louder a noise than ever at day, and had some scampering of the smaller residents of that land. Across rock and stone.

"Aye, we will at that." He jumped a little at the sound as the branch fell, and grinned in Pye's direction. Not that he could make out the other Rifleman's face in the dark, of course.

"See how easy it is to be startled at things at night. Would've been real easy to raise the alarum just then with that goin' the way it just did."

"...do know some who would." He grinned, ear to ear at that. He felt his heart beat faster and knew that if it weren't for Roper he too might have done more than just listen, twitch at the sound and look at Roper for a decision.

"Seems all's t' loudest in t' night. Always is!" He murmured and leaned back a little, to ease the strain on one arm and give more to the next.

"It does that. Moonlight's the worst when you're on picquet, I think. All them queer shadows you get alonh of everythin' else." He covered a yawn. "So what d'you think of the Rifles, then?"

"Like them very much, that I do. " He beamed at the thought for there were too few words that he knew, that could describe how he had felt ever since joining the rifles. It was different, nobody could tell him that it was not. In his mind it was better but in no sense was it easier. They perhaps did things that were not by the ways of the line, but the discipline was there full and well and he knew that, though he felt...

"..so many things still to learn, 'm more hindrance to you now than any help." He knew that and didn't blind himself into believing it was not so. " But I'll try. N' so fine it is here. Very much, n' the captain. Captain Vickery is great." He was embarrassed and a bit uncertain if he could say that to Roper. If that was the sort of thing said at all. "T' wakin' up so early don't bother me." He shook his head, he'd woken earlier than that, which would take a toll if he did not learn a proper time and to dull his excitement a little.

"I like it. N' so grateful that Was able to come." Though he thought the men of the 33rd, some of them, were good too. Like Johnny, that man was a fine example!

Roper nodded in the darkness. "Seems you'll do just fine. An' at least you know you've got plenty to learn. It's them as don't know it and won't be taught that has the real problems. And Captain Vickery's not long been a Captain, but I think he's real good too."

" He ,.. he knows the men. N' he asked me questions, before I was to join. Didn't just see me name n' say stand straight or so. But asked me opinion! Never seen an officer do that." Certainly not in his former regiment.

"He's a grand man." He concluded with a nod and was glad for the darkness for he felt himself blabber away as if there was no return.

"Oh yes, plenty to learn!" And he was willing and excited to do so. "Thank you." Hewas glad for the darkness to hide himself look so embarrasesd. He did keep his eye mostly on the part of land that they were to watch. He didn't want them to miss an enemy's coat just for the sake of whispering.

"You'll see stranger things than that afore this campaign is too much older. Like you say, Rifles officers know their men, or want to. I wouldn't be surprised if he comes to have supper with us one o' these days. Best way to get to know someone, by talkin' to 'em, after all."

When Pye had the training and a bit of experience, Roper thought that he'd be just as good as any of the Riflemen, though he didn't say so. There was no need to make the lad even more excited, or more nervous, after all.

"Supper with us?" If it were any lighter Roper could see how wide his eyes had become at the thought. An officer eating with the men as if it were nothing, that was something he could not have imagined. Even if he were given the same food, as Cotton had brought him a day or so ago, it was different, for he ate it as an officer and away from the men.

"No, yer pullin' me leg on that 'one!" He said with a stifled chuckle. That wasn't possible.

"I ain't!" Roper said, though he could hear the disbelief in the other man's voice. "Honest I ain't. He'll come along an' have a chat an' afore you know it, it'll be suppertime an' he gets Cotton to get his plate and everythin' and eats with us. Saves Cotton havin' to do a separate mess for him, see."

Eating while the captain was around, he already felt nervous. What if he'd do something wrong? But Captain Vickery was a great captain, he wouldn't be all angry about it. That he wouldn't. He nodded slowly and glanced to the path they were watching. It had gotten somewhat quieter, though somewhere in the distance a hoot of an owl was heard, and elsewhere another animal squeaked into the night.

"Ours,... they'd never be messin' with us, that I'm sure of." He murmured, not sure if he was confident with the news. "'is .. is it any different like, when he comes? Any rules n' .. order n' such, special fer t' rifles?"

"Diff'rent?" Roper mused. "Not really. He gets served first, of course, but that's only right. But it ain't really any diff'rent to how it is otherwise, when he messes by himself or with the Lieutenants." He grinned. "He ain't no diff'rent to you an' me, really. Not in himself, anyway. Just wears a fancy jacket, that's all."

"Jus'.. oh, if sir Simmerson woulda' heard yer, or sargn't Hakeswill, or any of ourn' officers. They'd be disagreein' till t' cows came home, they would!" He was amazed at what Roper said, just a man in a fancy jacket, and didn't mind being called so? Wasn't no doubt that the rifles were different! But instead of any ill, it only lifted the captain in his eyes.

"Let 'em. They're not in the Rifles, are they? You're with us now, ain't you, and we do things different. You'll get used to it, in time." It was vastly different fro life in a redcoat regiment, as Roper knew only too well, but Pye would get used to it

"I am!" Pye had to silence himself rather quickly, for he had near spoken out too loud, so certain and proud he was of that. He blushed and was glad that it was dark and this couldn't be seen. He looked again at the path. For a while nothing moved, not even with the wind. And when it did, it was a dried leaf caught in the wind, a swirl on the road and then moving ahead unseen.

"N' I will." He added with a grin. "N' I'm here to stay." He added, for he though not to transfer, not ever, not anywhere else. Not if he had a chance even though he probably wouldn't. "Is... is a fine night, with them stars...right? For watching?"

"Aye, it's a fine night. And with these rock at our back we're out of the wind, and folks comin' from down there -" he nodded in the direction of where the French were, where they were looking for any sign of trouble "- they won't see us. Not in the green, with the black leather stuff we have. Not like them white crossbelts the rest of the Army's got."