Hello there all you lovely, wonderful, beautiful people. Okay, so this is my very first story to be posted on fanfiction. Therefore, I can't promise it will be perfect but I will try to make it as entertaining as possible. Please let me know what you think.

As for the disclaimers, well, here goes. I don't own anything related to War Horse. (That includes Captain Nicholls; and now I am crying uncontrollably!) I only claim the original characters or ideas that happen to get thrown into this story.

I should warn you all ahead of time that this story may very likely deviate from the movie/book. I am usually a stickler for historical accuracy particularly when dealing with anything related to a major war. However, in order to make things sound plausible, I had to do a little tweeking to certain historical details. My history teachers and professors from years past would throw an absolute conniption fit if they knew! I'm sure you'll see what I mean as the story progresses.

Alrighty then, shall we begin? Hope everyone enjoys and thanks for reading.


Chapter 1:

"Evie, come on girl! For pity's sake, they're leavin' without ya." A slim built copper-topped boy ran through the streets of Devon trailed by a petite blonde. He was lugging a suitcase and yelling over his shoulder as he dodged between the groups of people gathered along the road leading out of town.

As the woman raced to catch up to the boy, her skirts gathered up in her hands in an unladylike fashion, she drew quite a lot of attention. She could hear the whispers from a few of the older town women as she flew past them.

"Can ya believe her? That ain't any decent way for a lady to act. Ya don't see none of our girls scampering around with their skirts hiked up like that, showing off everything God gave 'em. What a disgrace! Why she's an absolute embarrassment to those poor Langstons."

She ignored them just as she always did, but couldn't help smiling when she heard Mrs. Kent say, "Considering the fact that she's done more for the people of this town than most of you I'd say they have nothin' to be embarrassed about."

She honestly adored that cantankerous old maid. Mrs. Kent had a mean disposition, but for some reason she had taken a liking to Evelyn as soon as she showed up here in Devon. Evie had always figured it was just because she seemed to be an instant thorn in the sides of several of the elder women in town and dear Mrs. Kent seemed to derive more pleasure from that than any one person probably should. Her aunt however had suggested that it was because some of the women took offense at Evie being American, but that Mrs. Kent had relatives over there as well and therefore felt a bit protective of her. Whatever the reason, she was grateful for all the allies she could get.

"Evie, hurry it up will ya?" The boy yelled out to her again, drawing her attention back to him. She realized he was already running past a column of new recruits as he tried to make his way to the wagon that held two of her friends and the rest of the nurses. She pushed herself harder and was soon in a dead run trying desperately to reach her cousin who now held the majority of her personal belongings in his hand.

"I'm coming Harry." When she passed the men, much to her discomfort, she was greeted with several whistles and hoots along with a few tawdry comments. Had she the time she would have gladly turned on her heels and proceeded to give those filthy pigs a piece of her mind but as it was she was in too big of a hurry. Besides, she had to admit that running through a group of roused and rowdy men while showing off one's legs was a sure fire way of gaining some undesirable attention.

As she passed them, Evie came upon a sight she had hoped she wouldn't have to witness. Joey, Albert's horse, was being led in the line of wagons, a car, other horses, and soldiers by a gruff looking sergeant. So Albert's father had been forced to sell the one thing that meant the most to the boy. Poor Albie, he must be devastated. She understood why his family had to make this difficult decision but it still caused her grief to see that it had come to such a thing. She tried her best not to spook the poor stallion more than he already was as she ran past.

"Evie, get a move on or we're gonna leave ya." Evie heard Vera, one of her dearest and closest friends, yell out from the back of the wagon which her young red-headed cousin was now jogging beside as he chucked her suitcase into it.

Evie was coming up on a car, which at the moment was just barely creeping along, what with the bog down in traffic from the wagons and soldiers on foot. She noticed from the back that a very tall uniformed figure was occupying the rear seat of said car. He was certainly an officer; obviously the current ranking leader of this small band of newly recruited misfits. However, she hadn't the time to get a good look at him as she rushed to catch the nurses' wagon which was just ahead.

"Evelyn Grace Munroe, what in creation do you think you're doing? You nearly missed you're ride to the war." Dorothy, Evie's other best friend whom everyone simply referred to as Dottie or Dot, stood up and waved frantically at the now nearly sprinting blonde.

"Oh dear me, that would have been tragic." Vera piped up and then began to giggle loudly as she stood to greet her friend as well.

Evie flew right past the officer's car, hoping upon hope that she would escape any reprimand or punishment for her unladylike behavior. She finally slowed to a moderate jog as she came to the wagon. It struck her as funny that the old rickety transport was in that very moment one of the most beautiful sights she'd ever laid eyes on. Her poor feet were aching having just run nearly two miles in boots that were made for daintier more gentile activities, like tea parties and church services. She was ready to prop her throbbing tootsies up and kick back to enjoy the rest of their trip to camp.

But she still had one last obstacle to overcome. The fact was that these wagons weren't the easiest things to load oneself into even when they were sitting still; but this one was moving, and at a fairly decent pace now too.

"Here, I'll give ya a boost while the girls there pull ya up." Her cousin Harry made to grab her waist.

"Hold on a minute." Evie swatted his hands away. "I am perfectly capable of handling this." She grinned widely up at him. Leaning closer to him she whispered, "Just don't let me fall and get run over by that officer's car. It would be quite humiliating." Harry grinned back as he began to chuckle.

With her right hand, she continued to hold her skirts out of the way. She then reached up to grasp the side of the wagon with her left as she jumped with the speed and agility of a cat to catch a foothold on a hanging step. She faltered a bit and let out a high-pitched squeak as the wagon hit a large bump in the road and lurched slightly in the opposite direction. But Vera and Dottie were there clutching onto her shoulder and arm and dear Harry was still steadily jogging along beside her; ready to save her from becoming a flattened mess in the event she fell. What she did not see was a certain concerned captain tense at the sight of her near accident.

"Evie hang on." Vera and Dottie yanked on her arms and heaved her up into the back of the wagon. Unfortunately, they neglected to gauge their combined strength and all ended up falling into a heap of tangled limbs, hair, and twisted up skirts. Evie peeped out from beneath her now mussed blonde waves and began to laugh hysterically.

Upon looking at the now almost comical appearance of one another, Vera and Dottie soon joined in. Within a few moments the women were in such fits that tears of happiness and mirth began to flow. The other nurses in the wagon watched in varied degrees of shock and disapproval as the three friends tugged, pulled, pushed, struggled, stumbled, and fell back down only to repeat the process a couple more times before giving up and continuing to roll around in hysterics.

In the car behind them, the same captain that had been worried for the safety of the fair-haired lass only moments earlier was now fighting to contain a silly grin that was threatening to give away his delight at seeing the playfulness of the women.

Suddenly, a loud cough caught all of their attention. Poor Harry was still dutifully jogging alongside the wagon waiting patiently for the women to calm themselves so that he could say a final farewell to his cousin.

"Oh gosh Harry, I'm so sorry." Evie scrambled to pull herself out of the pile and stood up towards the rear of the wagon. She reached out and took his hand, which was resting on the back of the seat she was leaning over.

"Take care of yourself now Evie. All you girls take care." Harry grinned weakly up at the women who were packed tightly into the wagon along with the few belongings they would be allowed to tote with them on this journey. "Be sure and write as often as ya can. And don't go gettin' yourself hurt or killed. Mum and Dad would never forgive ya if ya didn't come back to us." He winked at his cousin, who only mock-glared at him before breaking into a laugh.

"I promise, but only if you promise to look after Aunt Beatrice and Uncle Frank and give Georgie a hug and kiss for me every day." He nodded his agreement. "And please stay out of trouble Harry." She squeezed his hand firmly before releasing it and waving to him as his jogging came to a halt at the edge of the road.

Evelyn fought back the tears that were threatening to overflow. She had sworn several days ago that she would not allow herself to fall apart in front of any of her family; for her sake as well as theirs'. It would only make leaving that much more difficult. No, she would be the epitome of strength for the ones she loved. After all, it had been her decision to sign up for this grand adventure in the first place. She had felt that there was no way she would be able to just sit idly by as her friends went off to help in the war effort; especially given her extensive experience as a nurse. She had no dreams of grandeur or hopes of becoming a frontline field hospital heroine; just a thought that perhaps the knowledge and skills that she possessed could be put to good use in the coming war. And so now here she stood, rocking back and forth in an old run-down wagon on her way to God only knew what.

As they passed over the small bridge leading out of town, Evelyn saw Albert standing on the other side of the stream. He was crying and looking on as Joey was led away, very possibly never to be seen again. "Albert, do not fret. All will be well." She called out to him trying desperately to fill him with some kind of hope.

"Keep a watch over him as long as you can will you Evie?" The quiver in his voice made her heart ache. Of course she would keep an eye on Joey. Both he and Albert meant a lot to her and her family. She would be there for them when they needed her most. "You have my word." She waved one final time to the boy, giving him her most encouraging smile before she turned away to take a seat.

As she did, Evie happened to look out over the trailing procession of men and horses. When her gaze drifted to the car that drove along only a few yards behind them, her eyes locked with the officer she had noticed earlier in the back seat. Her breath caught in her throat for a moment when she saw just how handsome he was. He looked so distinguished in his uniform that he could very well have passed as a royal traveling in a grand procession. She noted the bars and markings on his uniform indicating that he was a cavalry captain. How intriguing!

Coming back to her senses, Evie realized he must have been watching and listening to her interaction with Albert. It was confirmed when he looked over his shoulder to the disappearing figure of the boy and then back up at her. So he must have been the officer that purchased Joey and by the look on his face, he was clearly concerned with Albert's distraught reaction.

She thought perhaps that he might be upset with the idea that Albert had asked a woman to keep an eye on the horse even knowing full well that it would be under his care. But the captain surprised Evie when he simply gave her an understanding nod and flashed a kind smile to her. She returned the gesture and took her seat beside her friends, readying herself for the long journey ahead.