The shooting stops, and more trees whip past me as we ride. We're in the forest on the other side of the field! We made it! We actually made it! I don't let Sparks slow down though, not for a second! I keep him going until our base is in sight. The few men who'd stayed behind come out of their tents, looking confused as we gallop up. Sparks' sides heave as we stop and I cling to his neck.

I can feel myself trembling, whether it be from exhaustion or fear I don't know for sure. My comrades tug at me gently, trying to coax me to loosen my grip on Sparks' mane, yet I don't think I can. I can't get off, I can't let go of my horse, I can't even find the right words to say. Someone has pulled out a knife and is now cutting me from Sparks' mane. With my hands freed, they pull me off and lead the white stallion away.

Finally I manage to speak "They... I... We... We have to go back" I stammer. The highest ranking officer left is Perkins. He seems shocked at my appearance "Go back? Where? Where did they take you? What happened?" he questions, he seems flustered but his questions are asked with purpose. He wants information, and he wants it now. I try to relay everything that happened as best I can, but it's hard when I can't stop shaking.

He shakes his head "We have to leave them, we will never be able to take a base" he tells me. He takes my arm and tries leading me towards my tent "You need to rest, the exhaustion from your escapade has made you delusional". I pull my arm from his grasp, stopping dead in my tracks "No! I promised them I would return with help!" I say. By now every soldier has come out of their tents and grouped around us. I turn to them, they are our only hope!

"It's not a big base, most of the soldiers have probably gone now anyway. We can take it, we have the element of surprise on our side. And our comrades will stand and fight with us. We can do it, come on! There's no time to waste, we leave within the hour!" I declare. They all stare at me like I'm insane for a moment, I shout again "GET MOVING! THAT'S AN ORDER!". They scramble to their tents, pulling on their coats, grabbing their hats and whatever else they need before running to saddle their horses.

Perkins trails me as I walk to where Sparks is standing "You can't give orders like that! I'm the one in charge here!" he says crossly. I roll my eyes "Just saddle your horse and shut up. You can be in charge when we get back" I tell him. He pouts but does as I say, walking over to his horse and beginning to brush her off. I turn my attention back to Sparks, the white stallion is soaked with lather and sweat. I rest my head on his neck, I'm still shaken and just as Perkins said, exhausted.

I rub Sparks' neck with a cloth, drying him as he stands and rests. I speak to him softly, as though to settle his nerves, but it's mostly settling my own "We can do this, just get them and come back. We'll beat out history, or we could make our own. Wouldn't that be funny if Mr. Rivers talked about us 100 years from now because of this?". Once Sparks is relatively dry I borrow a saddle and throw it on his back before mounting.

The others are all waiting for me as Sparks and I walk over to the edge of camp. They watch me expectantly and I reach down, touching my saber and taking a shaky breath "Alright, let's go" I tell them. Perkins calls out "Wait! Shouldn't we have a plan of attack before we go charging in there?" he asks, I look back at him over my shoulder "I have a plan! Attack!".

We ride in silence from that point on, I try to remember the layout of the land. The most important thing will be to bypass that field, they'll surely be waiting for us there. We'll have to sneak around and attack from behind. I can see the field up ahead, and I stop the company just before we reach it. Turning back in my saddle, I explain to them that we must stay out of sight of the field. They all nod in understanding and I lead them left of the field. It is still dark out, which comes to our advantage. However if I wait too much longer, the sun will come out and that might complicate things a bit.

With the field behind us, I begin leading them towards where the camp is. There are no Germans in sight, which is unnerving. I know most of them have headed out to the front lines away from here, but I can't help but feel like they're going to jump out of nowhere from behind a tree or something. That happens to me all the time in video games. I am not paying enough attention, and someone comes from nowhere and kills me. It frustrates my brother to no end.

Suddenly the German camp comes into view. How could we be here already? Perhaps my escape just felt like a long ways because I was so afraid. Or maybe I just wasn't paying that much attention on the way here. I once again halt everyone, telling them to draw their swords. I dismount and lead Sparks to a nearby tree, tying him there before walking over to Perkins "I'm leaving you in charge now. You attack, while they're all distracted I'll get the others and lead them out of here" I tell him. He nods before pointing his sword forward "CHARGE!" he hollers. The horses leap forward and charge towards the camp.

I can hear shouting and guns going off, however I can't let that stop me. I wait in the trees until the coast is clear before sprinting over to the building. Once I'm inside I take the stairs two at a time, the soldiers that had been guarding the door have gone off to fight leaving it wide open. I turn the nob, but it's locked. I bang on it "Jamie!" I call. Immediately I hear his response and I sigh in relief, they're alright!

"I brought reinforcements. We have to go now but the door is locked" I tell him. There's a bit of silence before Jamie answers "Clear out of the way, we'll break it down" he tells me. I step away from the doorway, and listen as they begin pounding the door. With one final smash the entire door is broken off its hinges and falls to the floor. Jamie dusts off his hands as he steps out "Certainly took you long enough" he tells me. I sigh and roll my eyes before pointing down the stairs "Get down there, find a horse, get on it, and then head back to camp. Go around the field, you remember where that is right?" I ask. Everyone nods and begins running down the stairs.

I follow and head to the treeline, where I know Sparks is waiting for me. The white stallion nickers softly as I untie him and jump on his back. Perkins has noticed my success and is now ordering a full retreat. Horses race past me, but I scan to make sure everyone has a horse. I know the Germans took Joey and Topthorn, and many others with them. Those few that were tied with Sparks seem to have been taken.

Charlie rides up alongside me on a small bay mare "Are you coming?" he asks. I nod "Yeah, but I'm just making sure we don't leave anyone. You go ahead, you're accounted for" I tell him. He nods, tipping his hat to me "Thanks! See you back at camp" he tells me, grinning ear to ear. I smile as well, he's so chipper about this rescue and he's hardly safe yet!

Everyone has galloped off, and I'm just about to turn Sparks and head after them when I notice Jamie leaning against the wall with his head down. I ride over to him, leaning down on my horse's back "Major?" I ask. He looks up and I don't know whether to roll my eyes in annoyance or to feel overwelming sympathy. His eyes are red rimmed from crying, and he keeps his cap low in an attempt to hide it, but I can see.

"They took him, Topthorn. I can't ride another horse" he says, his voice low. I reach a hand down "You can ride Sparks, I ride him, James rode him before me. Come on, we have to go before those Germans bring their friends back" I tell him. He stares at my hand like it's some sort of strange alien object, before finally taking it and pulling himself up onto Sparks behind me.

Urging Sparks forward, he takes off at a steady pace, although it's noticably slower than he has been going. He must finally be wearing down "Come on Sparks, my bonny boy. Just a little more I promise" I encourage. He pricks his ears and continues his steady pace until the camp comes into view. I slow him to a walk and stop him outside Jamie's tent. He dismounts, still keeping his eyes low "Thank you" he murmurs, I can hear how grateful he is. I offer a small smile "You're welcome" I reply softly.

With that I turn and ride Sparks back over to where the other horses are tied. The rest of my night is spent cooling, rubbing, and taking the best possible care of Sparks I can with the resources we have. It's hard to get the horses what they need lately, but somehow we've managed to be lucky. I even manage to get a carrot into Sparks' feed before leaving him to try and get a wink of shut eye before the sun rises.

On my way to my own tent I pass by Charlie's tent, and I hear sniffling and stifled sobs as I pass. I stop in my tracks at the sound and turn towards his tent, kneeling near the entrance and pulling the tent flap back "Charlie?" I ask. It's dark, but I can make him out in the far corner of his tent. He's lying on his side facing the wall of the tent, curled up tightly with his blanket wrapped around him. He lets out another sob and I notice him shaking.

I crawl the rest of the way in "Charlie?" I ask again. This time he notices me and immediately brings his arm up, wiping his face and turning at me, cracking a painful looking smile "Oh, hi Gabby" he says hoarsely. I sit down next to him "Care to share what the tears were about?" I ask. He shakes his head and turns away from me again and I smile, trying to cheer him up "Aw Charlie, it'll make you feel better" I tell him, making my voice sound silly.

When he smiles genuinely up at me I feel better immediately. He sits up, pulling his knees up and resting his head on them "I was thinking about Blenheim" he says quietly "I've grown very fond of him". He then proceeds to tell me about Blenheim, how he'd gotten the white stallion a few months before the war began after he'd been promoted to lieutenant. The horse was much quieter and slower than the other officers horses because he was older, but if he was one thing, it was dependable. He was a survivor of the second Boer war, and the soldiers who'd ridden him then all said he was the steadiest horse they'd even been on.

"I can't imagine how Jamie must be feeling though" Charlie admitted once he finished his story "He trained Topthorn himself. He was there when Topthorn was born, apparently he was a very sickly foal but Jamie nursed him and took care of him. He learned how to ride on Topthorn, all his cavalry training, everything he'd done, all with that black stallion. He's never been on another horse in his life. What'll he do now, I wonder".

In a way I'm surprised that the Major has only ever been on a single horse, and in another way I'm not. He loved Topthorn, he was proud of Topthorn. When Topthorn had gotten that cough over the winter he'd devoted all his free time to him. I wonder right along with Charlie, what will the Major do now?

Even Joey's gone now, what'll happen? I lay next to Charlie and he shares his blanket with me. I tell that the sun is just starting to come up, but I'm determined to get some sleep! Perhaps I can just sleep until the war is over, that would be fantastic! Charlie wraps his arm around me and I sigh, closing my eyes. Everything is just falling apart, we're all emotional wrecks, we're not doing well on the battlefront. And now I'm wondering more than ever if it was a mistake to come here, to come participate in the war. Maybe I should have gone back to my own time with Titanic like I was supposed to.


Shorter chapter, really sorry but I'm kinda desperate to get it out there because it's been so long. I am SO SO sorry for disappearing! My computer's hard drive crashed very suddenly after the last update and I haven't been able to get it fixed until now. And then being away so long is making hard to pick up again!

I should be writing steadily once we get into July. I'm finishing up my school stuff now but once I'm done with that I'll be in my summer writing swing. YAY!

Alright, please review and such. Thank you so much for reading, and thank you for your patience!