(Thank you for being patient! You guys rock. Once again, thank you to the FGnat for help with the German translations! Ready for James and Avis to finally start falling for each other?)
Avis glanced over the shoulder for the hundredth time. James was dozing as they continued to ride, those glorious blue eyes closed as his head bobbed in time to the ambling horse. He had kept insisting that she call him by his first name, which she kept sounding out in her head. She liked the name James. It still gave her goose bumps when he rarely said her name. He kept calling her Fraulein.
Joey, that was his horse's name as Avis found out, saw her and gave a soft whicker. James shook himself awake, looking slightly disoriented before flashing her a disarming grin. Avis's palms grew sweaty, her heart began to race, her breathing grew shallow…
'Stop it,' she hissed to herself, looking forward to hide the blush crawling across her face. Topthorn gave her a shake of his head, as if he agreed with her thought.
A jangle of harness approaching from behind drew her attention. James shyly glanced at her under his cap, giving a nervous cough before grinning at her.
"Guten Tag, Fraulein," his voice was warm and gentle as he stumbled over the foreign words, sending an involuntary shiver down Avis's spine.
"You mean Guten Morgen," Avis corrected with a chuckle.
James gave a nervous laugh. "Ah, yes. Guten Morgen."
They both fell into silence, both suddenly out of things to say. This was going to be a long ride if they weren't going to be able to finds things to talk about. She didn't want to express her feelings about him, not yet at least.
"Your German sounds better," Avis glanced at him. James looked at her in surprise.
"Euer Englisch ist auch besser geworden," he replied. He suddenly looked shy again. "I, learn fast." Avis gave a chuckle.
"I learn fast too," she said. "I have question."
"Yes?" he looked hopeful, his eyebrows rising in that cute slightly worried look she had grown to love.
"How did you become wounded?"
James's hand clenched around Joey's reins. Joey sensed his rider's uneasiness, and twisted his head around to nudge James's knee. James gave him a sad smile, patting the horse's neck.
"I don't know how much of this you're going to understand," James began. "I was in the Calvary, with Samuel. I thought I could trust him. He betrayed us, killing those under my command and almost killing me. Twice. Three times, is that the right… yes. Three times."
"Ihr redet zu viel" Avis shook her head in disbelief. James looked slightly panicked.
"Did I, am I…" he sputtered. Avis laughed, causing James to stare at her.
"Yes," she smiled sweetly at him. James relaxed, causing Joey to relax as well. They continued to ride on, asking each other questions in their broken languages. Avis found out that James was an only child, just wanting to go home and back to his family and horses. He was a dreamer and an artist surprisingly. He promised to show her once they got to safety.
Avis told him about her home village, which he listened to with rapt attention. He asked questions the best he could, with a few language lessons between the two of them.
The sun was high in the sky when Avis noticed that James was starting to squirm in the saddle.
"We need to dress your wounds," Avis announced, looking around them for a place to hide. They had passed numerous abandoned farmhouses, their families having fled the war. She spied one at the end of a dirt path, which she turned Topthorn's head towards.
The horses picked up their pace a little at the promise of a break. James was trying to hide his pain as Joey trotted for the barn, each jostle jarring each wound. Avis swung off Topthorn, James a little more slowly.
"I'll take care of the horses," James said through gritted teeth.
"I'll be inside," Avis called out over her shoulder. She headed into the farmhouse, slowly making sure that they were alone. Satisfied, she headed back down to the kitchen.
James had come in by that point, looking around curiously and wary. He froze when he heard Avis before he saw her. He looked relieved to see her, flashing that grin of his at her again. He placed her saddlebag on the table, looking at her with a tilted head, waiting for instructions.
"I'll be back," she said, grabbing the bucket she had seen earlier. There was a pump outside, which thankfully gave fresh water instead of something worse.
James was still waiting for her when she returned, eyeing the bucket before giving an uncomfortable look at Avis. He knew what was coming.
"Zieht bitte das Hemd aus," she said sweetly, tugging on the shirt. He looked down at her, taking a fist full of shirt.
"Shirt," he said in English.
Avis also took a fistful of shirt. "Das Hemd." He grinned.
"Das Hemd," he copied her slowly.
"Shirt," Avis tried out the word. He gave her a wink that almost sent her fainting to the floor as he turned to face away from her. He struggled to get the shirt off, groaning and gasping as he tried to maneuver around still-healing wounds. He had the shirt up over his head, when he encountered a problem. He couldn't raise one shoulder, which was needed to get the shirt fully off. Avis wanted to help, except she couldn't reach him.
"Um, eheh," his voice was muffled in the confines of the shirt. "Help?" Avis was having a dilemma. Helping him sit so she could reach him was going to require her touching his bare torso; which, as a nurse, she had seen plenty of. Except, it was hisbare torso. Added to the fact that he looked pretty silly with the shirt stuck over his head, this was the strangest situation Avis had ever found herself in. That, and she didn't know the word for 'sit' in English.
So, she gathered her courage and did the only thing she could: she pushed him.
"Wha… ahh!"
Thankfully he fell back onto the chair, swearing then apologizing over and over again as she was now able to reach the stuck shirt. At least, she thought that he was apologizing. He was talking too fast for her to be able to understand what he was saying.
After some tugging and him yelping in pain more than once, he was free from the shirt. Shirt in hand, Rosalie tried to stay focused on the wounds and not lingering over other parts of his torso. He looked slightly embarrassed sitting there only half dressed in front of a lady, his eyes not looking at her directly. Slowly, she began to undo the bandages and begin her assessment.
He would give an occasional hiss or wince as the wounds were revealed. Avis frowned at the two that were stubbornly refusing the close, but the others seemed to be healing without any sign of infection.
"Heute Abend fals diese Zwei nicht geheilt haben," she pointed to the two open wounds, "Ich werde sie wieder zunehen müssen" James looked at her with worry and confusion.
"I'm sorry, what?" he asked.
"Bad," she pointed to the two troublesome wounds. "Might need…" She made sewing motions with her hands. James nodded, swallowing nervously. He took her free hand in his much larger ones, looking directly into her eyes.
"I trust you," he said softly. "You have gotten me this far." Avis fought the urge to kiss him, while running her fingers through his hair. Her face further warmed as he brushed the top of her hand with a kiss, all while staring deeply into her eyes.
Shamelessly blushing, Avis quickly went to the bucket to preparing cleaning his wounds. She could feel his eyes on her as she moved about the room preparing. She was glad she wasn't facing him, because then he wouldn't see her love-struck smile on her face.
Samuel eyed the barn that his men were currently searching. After a few false starts, they had picked up on the two fugitive's trail. The dogs and trackers had led them here, which they immediately surrounded. Samuel wanted to burn the barn down, but the General's orders were to capture the girl and horses alive. It was up to Samuel how to deal with Captain Nicholls.
The General had been furious that Nicholls had escaped and the doctor was dead. But he was more furious that his daughter had gone missing. Samuel may have bent the truth a little, saying that Nicholls had grabbed her as a hostage before fleeing with the horses. What the General didn't know wasn't going to hurt him. That, and Samuel would be considered a hero if he brought the girl, shaken but unharmed, back from the clutches of a dangerous war criminal.
Samuel stroked the pistol at his hip. It still contained just the one bullet. The one bullet destined for the Captain.
"Sergeant!"
Samuel lifted his head to see one of the men hurrying towards him, with a bundle in his hand. He snatched the bundle out of the man's hands, recognizing the bloody clothes.
"He's wounded still," Samuel mused aloud. "Probably slowing them down. They couldn't have gotten far." He turned to his next in command. "Tell the men to pick up the trail. They aren't too far ahead." He listened to the orders being barked out, along with the baying of the hounds as the trackers fanned out.
"I will find you, Nicholls," he growled to himself. "You won't get to your Calvary alive."
Avis watched James sitting in the doorway. He was supposed to be resting, but he was doing something on a piece of paper that she couldn't see. The sunlight caught the gold in his hair, giving him an angelic profile as he leaned his head back briefly.
He had been anxious to leave as soon as she was done, but his weak body agreed with Avis that he needed a rest. After some frustrating rounds of 'I don't understand what you're saying', a compromise was made. He would rest, only if he sat in the doorway where he could keep an eye on the road. Curiosity winning over, she got up to sit across from him in the doorway. He quickly covered up the paper, turning his head to look at her inquisitively.
"Is it time?" he asked softly. She shook her head.
"What have you been doing?" she craned her neck to catch a glimpse. He shifted it away, giving her a smug look.
"Not yet, it's not done," he teased her. She leaned back against the doorframe, staring him down. He was too handsome sitting there grinning at her in the sunlight for her to be mad at him.
"I have a question."
"Ask away," he tilted his head again. Avis drew a deep breath.
"Do you," she played with her hands, "like me?" James jerked his head back, clearly surprised by her question.
"Of course I like you," he sounded as if she was silly for asking the question. "You have saved my life more than once so I instantly like you for that."
"That's not what I meant," she rolled onto her knees, moving closer towards him. He looked her over warily before arching an eyebrow at her.
"Ah," he sat up a little straighter, looking nervous. "I don't think this is appropriate."
Avis sat back on her heels, feeling frustrated. "We are in a war, nothing about any of this is right."
"I mean," James's voice was at a pleading tone, "that since we are an unmarried couple, unchaperoned… wait, Avis!"
Avis, frustrated and a little hurt, got to her feet to frown down at the worried James.
"Father was right, stubborn British," she huffed, before storming across the yard.
"Avis!"
Maybe the horses would be better company.
"Please, Avis, wait!"
The barn was cool, and she paused just inside the barn to let her eyes adjust. Both horses turned their heads towards her, watching her in concern. She could still hear James calling out to her, though the shuffling in the dirt and the increasing volume of his voice suggested that he was chasing after her. Avis stroked Topthorn's forelock as James stumbled into the barn. She peeked over her shoulder to see him standing there, out of breath and in two different types of pain.
"Please, Avis," he panted. "That came out wrong."
"Do you like me or not?" Avis strode over to him, arms folded over her chest. He limped the rest of the way to her, his face softening as he gripped her elbows.
"I very much do," his voice was gentle. "Where I come from, there is a whole bunch of steps one must take before reaching this stage. But, I guess, this dance is different than the ones I've been taught." Avis unfolded her arms.
"Then dance with me," she whispered, encircling her arms around his waist. He lifted her chin up gently in response, before lowering his head to hers.
His kiss was tender, questioning, waiting for her to make the next move. She gave him his answer, by pressing harder. He moved his hands behind her, cradling her in an embrace that pulled her in closer to him.
Except, that was a bad idea.
James, still weakened, lost his balance. He stumbled backwards, surprised and panicked but didn't let her go. He didn't make a move to catch himself, only to make sure that she didn't get hurt by landing on top of him. He cried out as he landed on the barn floor, giving another yelp as Avis landed on him.
"James!" she cried out, trying to squirm out of his grasp as he lay gasping beneath her. "Are you hurt?"
James started laughing.
Confused and concerned that James was really hurt, she pawed him over, looking for injury. "James? James!"
He raised a finger to her lips, a twinkle in his eye. "'Silence is the perfectest herald of joy: I were but little happy, if I could say how much.'"
"I don't understand," Avis looked down at him with concern. Maybe he hit his head. He took her hand, brushing it with another kiss.
"Fraulien, 'as you are mine, I am yours'," he whispered, before bringing her head back down for another kiss.
Avis, before letting herself be taken over by the kiss, glanced up at the watching horse. Funny thing was that she swore Topthorn rolled his eyes while Joey was nodding his head in encouragement. Someone approved.
With their silent guards watching, Avis kissed James back.
(Aww. Yes. I threw Shakespeare in there. Ta-da.)