To Angelika- thanks for your kind words! Forgive me if I side-step your question concerning where Em's feelings are headed.. I wouldnt want to ruin anything! Lets just say.. things are going to get a little complicated. Everything will be answered soon enough! To all my other reviewers- Love you guys!! I'm sorry I make you suffer so with my slow updates! It's hard trying to maintain two stories at once, sadly, and more often than not both end up sorely neglected! For anyone who cares, the next chapter on my Bordon fic is coming very soon! Thanks for letting me know what you think!
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He could still see it. Lying awake in his bed that night, back at the Middleton house, Frederick Bordon squeezed his eyes tightly shut and tried not to think about the day's events.
It'd started well enough. Their mission had been successful- marvelously so. Efficient, quick business, just as Bordon preferred things. All the details in perfect order. All except one. The bloody mess at that damned farm.
Bordon pulled the pillow over his head as the sounds and images came flickering back. Screams, pleas for mercy... 'no.. NO! Don't! PLEASE! For Christ's sake!'... The explosion of muskets, thick red blood spattering on the white railing and wooden floor planks of the porch, children screaming.
Bordon had not intervened. The cold logic of military training told him that Tavington's order was a sound one, strategically. This war was not going to end as quickly as they had once hoped. There'd been far too many wounded strewn across the farmhouse porch for the dragoons to take prisoner, and leaving them alive would have simply invited escape, return to the war.
Those men, once healed, could be back in the field and killing British soldiers.
Bordon's first reaction was to convince himself that in ordering the taking those men's lives, Tavington was simply helping to preserve the lives of his own men in the future. He trusted his commander's judgement. He had to.
And then there'd been the boy...
["Oh, I see.. He's your son." Tavington sneered with pleasure as a look of panic crossed the farmer's face. "Well... perhaps you should have taught him something of loyalty."]
'Yes, if only he had.. What do they think they're fighting for, anyway?' Bordon frowned. He gripped the top hem of his blanket and pulled it up to his chin, his fists knotted tightly on the fabric. 'To throw away all sense of duty to your country.. to your true origins.. why, you may as well admit to having lost every scrap of human dignity! The father must have impressed such deviance on his children... damn these backward colonists!'
Bordon's frown deepened and he turned roughly onto his side. He truly believed in duty above all else.. but no, there was more to it than that in this case. The actions of the boy had nothing to do with politics or commerce...
["We're not going to hold him.. we're going to hang him." Tavington's eyebrow quirked challengingly.
The farmer was quick to protest as his eldest son was bound at the wrists and led away. "Sir, the rules of war.."
"Would you like a lesson, sir, in the rules of war?" Tavington snapped as he raised his pistol, pointing it swiftly at the man. The farmer starred blankly down the barrel of the dragoon commander's gun, a reaction Tavington obviously found unsatisfactory.
"Or perhaps... your children would?" His aim rapidly changed to the
group of young children clutching fearfully at one another nearby. The
farmer's face instantly lit with panic as he sprang to shield them with
his own body.
"N-n-no lesson is necessary, Colonel," he stammered, hands upheld
defensively.
Having received the desired reaction at last, Tavington seemed to
lose interest. He turned to the young Lieutenant in charge of the Legion
infantry group that'd first arrived on the scene. No sooner had the Lieutenant
moved to follow Tavington's order to take the farmer's rebel spy son to
the nearby outpost at Camden than the boy sprang at them.
Tavington never hesitated. In one fluid movement he raised his pistol
and fired a single shot into the boy's back. The family erupted in screams
as the boy dropped. Bordon's open-mouthed stare and hand raised quickly
in silent protest were ignored, as were the sharp and confused glances
Tavington's men shot one another as they came to grasp what their commander
had just done.
Tavington's lip curled. "Stupid boy.."]
Yes, he'd been stupid. And now Bordon and his conscience were paying
the price.
'What was that damned child thinking? Of saving his brother, obviously,
but what.. did he actually think he'd succeed? Honestly? Pathetic youthful
foolishness!' Bordon cringed inwardly as memories of his own youthful failures
flooded over him. Yes.. hadn't he also tried to save someone and failed?
But unlike the farmboy, he'd survived.. survived to regret it daily. Perhaps
the boy was better off...
Bordon felt his guilt begin to subside. Whatever that day's events,
they were done with now and there was nothing he could do about any of
it. The whole mess was just another drop of unpleasantness in the sea of
war they were already drowning in.
A warm, humid breeze blew in through the small open window of his room,
bringing with it a faint smell of Mrs. Middleton's garden. The tenseness
in his back and shoulders slowly melted away. Bordon sighed in resignation.
Dwelling on it would do no good, and time for sleep was short. As they'd
parted after securing their mounts in stables, Tavington had not wasted
the opportunity to remind him of that fact. The smirk he'd adopted in doing
so made Bordon's skin crawl. 'Don't forget, Bordon.. church services
in the morning. Mind you're not late..'
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Emily struggled to stifle a huge yawn as she made her way down the
stairs from her room. She was in no particular hurry to get about with
the day's activities as, really, there wasn't much planned. Since the departure
of the Legion and dragoons, things around the Middleton house had been
extremely quiet. If there was anything Emily hated, it was quiet. Quiet
and boredom were a dangerous mixture for her, as more often than not her
attempts to escape them led to trouble.
Yes, as she reached the bottom of the stairs and neared the parlor
window, she quickly realized that it was definitely going to be one of
those days. The army camp in the estate's east field was bustling with
activity of the sort she hadn't seen since the day of her arrival. A mischievous
grin slowly crept across Emily's face. The dragoons had returned in the
night.
It was still early and Emily doubted very much if Mrs. Middleton was
up yet. Since arriving at Middleton Place she'd spent most of her time
in the company of the kind loyalist woman, who she found reminded her very
much of her own mother. Emily had originally planned on finding some way
to occupy herself until Lily awoke so that they could eat the morning meal
together in the drawing room, but the hungry rumble that eminated from
her stomach suddenly coupled with her eager curiosity at the dragoon's
return sent her scampering in the direction of the house kitchens. Surely
Francine would be awake and taking her own breakfast there, and Emily guessed
she could grab something quick before investigating the activity outside.
"Francine? Would you mind seeing to.." her voice trailed off as she
swept into the kitchen, only to find it empty. Very strange indeed! Emily
stood a moment, her eyes sweeping over the wooden countertops, which were
covered with a significant amount of crumbs, leading her to assume they
had been used since the preparation of dinner the night before. But where
was everyone?
Emily shrugged and moved toward the breadbox. The thought of it! Preparing
her own breakfast! Ah well.., she thought, I'll just grab something
small and head outside. There must be something going on to explain how
it could be so terribly quiet here in the house.. Lily runs a tight ship-
there's no way the servants could have merely overslept!
Carefully lifting the lid on the breadbox she removed a small fresh
loaf and set it on the counter before reaching for one of the knives hanging
on the wall. Bread was hardly what she'd normally call sufficient breakfast
fare, but being as she was on her own to find something it'd have to do.
Besides, at least it was something she could eat on the run.
Emily carefully slid the sharp knife through the loaf of bread, cutting
herself a large slice. As she did, a loud thundering on the stairs leading
from the second floor quarters to the kitchen caused her to jump and she
just missed her hand with the sharpened blade.
Quickly dropping the knife she turned toward the sound and was met
by the form of a much-hurried Captain Bordon. He was still pulling his
uniform jacket on as he descended the stairs in an obvious rush, a look
of fearful worry painted across his features.
"Captain Bordon!"
"What?" Bordon faltered in his mad dash for the side-door out of the
kitchen. "OH! Excuse me, Miss Durnham! I'm afraid I overslept a bit. Late
for services! I hope you wont think it rude of me, but I really must be
going!"
"Services? Oh, it's Sunday, isn't it! I'd completely lost track of
the days! May I join you, Captain?"
"Yes, you're most welcome to, Miss! In all honesty you'd be doing me
a great service.."
Emily grinned and snatched her breakfast off the counter before quickly
crossing the kitchen to join him at the side-door.
"I am quite happy to do so, Captain. If that rude Colonel of yours
gives you any trouble for being late, please tell him it was because I
demanded your company on a whim and would positively not let you go. And
then I insisted on accompanying you to services as well! He already believes
me to be a complete brat, so I'm sure you'll have no problems getting by
on that story."
Emily winked conspiratorially and linked her arm quickly through Bordon's
before shoving the door open with her free hand and leading the blushing
Captain into the yard.
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Notes: LEGAL STUFF- Yes, I've used bits of the actual
movie dialog here. I dont own the rights to that, blah blah blah, if you're
connect to whoever does please dont sue me, etc. ^_^
Appologies that this part is a little short. The next scene is really
long and significant, so this seemed like the only place I could cut this
chapter off without breaking the next part up awkwardly. I'll try not to
leave you hanging too long!