Waiting at the Bridge

"Jacklin," he replied, after finishing off the last of his half of the rabbit.

"Fair enough. All in the family. And really, what with being a mother hen and all, I see Martha more as a housekeeper. Maybe Maggie could be..." She laughed. "The land agent. Can't you just see her collecting the rents? No one would ever dare be miss their payments."

He could definitely picture Maggie being an effective land agent. "I'd never refuse to pay, if she was collectin'. There'd not be a troublesome tenant on the estate with her around!"

She smiled, a bit wistfully. "We'd have a grand old time there, all of us together. With all of you soldiers and the captain there, nothing would... I don't know what I would do though. It's been so long since I was in service that I wouldn't be much use anywhere. Maybe I could stand in as one of the garden ornaments."

A cheeky smirk came onto his face. "You could be a lady's maid, you know. Bet you'd be brilliant at that."

"You really think so?" She seemed pleased by the idea. "Well there'd have to be a lady first. Does Vicks have a lady?"

"I dunno for sure, but if he don't, he should." Newbury lifted the kettle and held it out slightly toward Jenny, a silent invitation to more tea if she was interested. "Or if not a lady's maid, maybe an under-housekeeper."

"Maybe," she replied, holding out her mug to be refilled. "Looks like something's happening by the bridge. Are we moving again?"

Newbury refilled her mug before looking toward the bridge. Part of him hoped they weren't about to move again, as he had been enjoying the respite.

"Maybe, but I dunno. Hope not, though," he admitted. A light blush touched his cheeks. "Been nice not havin' to get banged around in the sawbones' wagon."

"But I thought it was all padded and comfortable and all. Better than a cart full of officers' furniture, and chests with sharp corners and that yappy little dog. What's the point of a dog like that?"

"Comfortable if you're in the back, sure." He put the kettle back onto the dwindling fire, after refilling both their mugs. "Dunno if there is one, but it's easy enough for a little dog to disappear..."

She laughed and had to cover her mouth to keep from spitting out her tea. "And then the rifles will have a tasty dinner, no doubt."

"We would. One little dog wouldn't go too far though. We'd have to find others to add more meat to the stew."

She smirked, her thoughts straying back to their earlier discussion as she watched the redcoats at the bridge. "If a little dog can disappear, why not a sergeant? You could feed him to the dogs, fatten them up for later."

Why not a sergeant. Newbury considered that, even though he knew from the previous encounters that the Rifles had had that Hakeswill was a damned slippery bastard. Making him disappear as if he was a yappy little dog would be no small feat, but wouldn't it be a good one.

"I dunno if there's a dog in the army that'd want him," Newbury commented, managing a slight smile at the thought.

She sniffed. "Maybe Portuguese dogs wouldn't be so picky. Or French ones." She frowned and spoke quietly. "He's a... monster. I heard he was stripping women almost naked in a tavern in Coimbra, in front of everyone! And Maggie said she thinks he was the one who hid that watch in the captain's things, too. He was the real thief, just about killed that officer just to steal his watch, and then used it just to get Cotton flogged. Who does something like that? If he wanted to sell it and get money, it's still awful to half kill a man, and an officer too, but at least it makes sense."

Newbury stared down into his mug for a moment. "Right nasty piece of work, I ain't gonna argue. Pinnin' him down for anythin' would take a miracle. I can't see how worryin' about it will do much though."

She chewed on her lip a moment, staring into the fire and thinking. "What if it could be done without pinning him down? If something could be arranged where he didn't feel threatened, and he was off guard. He might not feel threatened by a woman..."

He didn't like the sound of that. Frowning, Newbury looked over at her. "Maybe he wouldn't," he said grudgingly, "but so what?"

She frowned slightly with disappointment but did not answer.

"Why?" Newbury's frown deepened. "You weren't plannin' on doin' something, were you?"

"No," she said defensively. "I was just saying."

"Because," he went on as if she hadn't spoken, "if you are plannin' somethin', I'll help with it."

She did not smile, but she looked at him with her eyes gleaming. After a moment of staring, she spoke in a low voice. "It would be so dangerous. Are you sure? Not that you're afraid of danger, but... you should be sure. It's only Maggie's word and Cotton's suspicions."

There was something unsettling about her stare, but Newbury returned it without expression. He had no doubt it would be dangerous. Even thinking about it was dangerous.

"Dead sure," he said.