(William's POV)
I went downstairs to the sitting room where Capt. Bordon was waiting for me.
"Colonel.."
"Captain I have to go to my brother's; can you watch my son and daughter until I return?"
"Yes…"
"Thank you so very much. I should be back soon."
I left the house with Belial at a full gallop to Thomas' house, where I found him in the stables grooming his gelding Saxton.
"Good morning brother… is something the matter?"
"Yes; Mary is very ill; she has a high fever and her breathing is laboured."
"God there's a lot of Hell knocking on your door."
"What can I say, I'm damned." I replied sarcastically.
"You and the rest of us; give me five minutes and I'll be ready to go."
"Thank you Thomas."
"It's nothing; you're family."
It took no time for Thomas to saddle Saxton and we took of at a gallop back to my house."
"You're back." Capt. Bordon greeted my brother and I at the door. "Thomas… Mary is upstairs today."
"Thank you Captain."
Thomas headed up the stairs; I hung back to talk with Bordon.
"Thank you again for all that you have done for my family and I."
Bordon gave me a sheepish smile.
"You know I love them as if they were my own family. I would do anything for them, and you as well."
"I know, and I am very grateful; and I will allow you to take Alastor to stay with you, as I cannot have him around with Mary being in the condition that she is. However, once she is feeling better, he will come back here until I can get him back to town; I'm going to be around more for the next couple of months so Mary should feel safe at home. I'll keep Alastor with me so he doesn't disturb her. You don't need to be bothered with affairs that aren't yours."
Bordon shook his head, smiling to himself and said, "You stubborn bastard. Always did like to control your own situations without the aid of others."
I laughed dryly.
"Well of course! I wasn't called 'Butcher' for nothing, you know."
"Who called you 'Butcher', Father?"
My eyes widened and I turned to see Braden standing in the hallway.
"Who called you 'Butcher'?" He repeated, walking over to me.
'Nice one Will, you asinine fool! And you were hoping to keep silent about your atrocious reputation…'
"People who didn't agree with my policies on certain issues Braden." I replied.
"Why Father?"
"They thought me to be to unreasonable when it came to certain military reasonings."
"Where you?"
"At times, I may have been, but for the most part, I believe justice was served."
I held my breath, waiting for Braden to dig even deeper into my war experiences but surprisingly satisfied, he asked if I would play with his toy soldiers with him.
I looked over at the captain who nodded at me and said, "Go on; I'll make sure Thomas finds you."
Twenty minutes passed. I was lying on the floor of Braden's room; he was pretending to stab one of the toy soldiers with another that was holding a bayonet when there was a knock on the door and Thomas stepped in.
"Will, I need to speak with you."
Thomas and I left Braden in his room and went out into the hall.
"So.."
"Mary has pneumonia."
