24th May, south of the Douro

So he wasn't the only one helping himself to the surgeons' stores. Newbury grinned and accepted the fruit. "Kind of 'em, ain't it? Thank you. D'you s'pose we oughta get 'cross the river now, 'fore everybody else?"

"Ain't you gonna ride with them? They've got those padded wagons." Which she had not been allowed to sleep in.

"Nah," he said. "I'd rather stretch me legs."

Getting too used to riding in wagons was bad for a rifleman, after all.

"Come on then. Would you like to lead your old friend?" she asked, offering him the reins. "Unless... I suppose you could make yourself doubly welcome if you returned to the rifles with the captain's mule. That fellow with lieutenant what's-his-name's baggage usually takes it when Cotton's not around. But if you want to earn some extra gratitude..."

That wasn't a bad idea, really. Except he wasn't sure which mule belonged to Captain Vickery. With a shrug, Newbury took the donkey's reins. "They'd take me for a batman meself if I did," he said.

"Might not be a bad thing!" she answered, giving him a playful shove in the side before remembering his stitches. "Sorry."

Oof. Newbury grinned, determined not to grimace. "You're just wantin' a reason to sew me up with gussets, ain't you?" He asked mildly.

"You guessed my secret," she answered with a grin. Then she looked down toward the river and sighted the bridge. "Let's hurry along past the slowcoach surgeons, eh? Their hospitality only lasts for so long. And besides, we'll be forever if we have to follow them."

"Aye, let's." He pulled on the donkey's reins, forcing the animal to start lumbering forward. If they got behind the baggage train, or even behind the surgeons, they'd never get across the river.

Jenny looked over her shoulder as if fearing a troop of surgeons would come after them at any minute, demanding the return of their stores and their patient. But when they had gotten past them without incident, she laughed and linked her arm through Joe's. "What a beautiful morning," she commented, in spite of the grey clouds and mud underfoot.

(To 24th May, early morning in Oporto)