Doctor Harris Arrives

"There is a world, of which you know nothing, that is always changing. Always. To think otherwise, is a fatal folly."

Doctor Elijah Harris

A heavy rain began to fall during the night hours. Lightning lite up the sky, and thunder rolled in the distance.

Colonel William Tavington woke to this ominous weather early the next morning. He grunted softly, and moved closer to Catherine. After all, she was warmth, she was safety, and she was his. At this moment, at least to him, nothing else mattered. He soon returned to his slumber.

Moments later, a loud knock came at the door. Tavington grunted once more, and snarled.

"Who is it?"

"Colonel, Sir…most important visitor to see both you and Mrs. Tavington!" Captain Borden shouted thru the heavy oak door.

Catherine woke grudgingly.

"What is going on, William?" She yawned.

He shook his head.

"A visitor apparently." He got up, pulled on his breeches, and went to the door. Upon wrenching it open, Captain Borden nearly fell into the room.

"Borden, do you always listen at closed door? Especially, those of your Commander?"

The Captain shook his head quickly.

"No Sir, I was set to tell you about the visitor, but you opened the door too quickly."

"Be that as it may, who is this important visitor? Why could they not wait until after we breakfasted?"

Catherine muttered behind him.

"I do agree with that, William. 'Tis too early for visitors."

Tavington nodded in agreement.

"Who would it be, Captain?"

Borden cleared his throat.

"A Doctor Harris. He asked for Colonel William Tavington. When I informed him that you were asleep, as was Mrs. Tavington, he then asked specifically for her. He is, if you don't mind me saying so, a most peculiar man, Sir."

"In the first parlour Sir, he insisted that he not be put in the study. Why that is, I cannot say."

Tavington turned to his wife. She shook her head slightly, and began to dress quickly.

"Tell our visitor, that we shall join him shortly." William said.

"Very good, Sir." Borden nodded.

"Dismissed."

"Thank you, Sir." The Captain bowed to his Commander and dipped his head at Lady Catherine.

A short while later, the Tavingtons entered the parlour to find their guest drinking a cup of tea, and chatting animatedly with a certain red-haired Dragoon officer.

The Colonel cleared his throat loudly.

Banastre Tarleton turned at this, and gifted both the Colonel and Mrs. Tavington with a lopsided smile.

"Will! Good morning to you! Sleep well, I take it?"

William nodded.

"We slept well, ban. Yourself?"

"Oh, reasonably well. Mind you, I didn't sleep alone, of course." He winked at Catherine.

She smiled at him.

"I do not doubt that for a moment, Banastre."

He chuckled softly.

"I doubt Will slept badly. Especially, since his wife is so ravishingly beautiful!"

Before either William or Catherine could reply to this, their guest set his teacup down with a loud clink.

"Ah, Lady Cornwallis, is it?"

Catherine eyed him queerly.

"Yes, but I am now Mrs. Tavington. Lady Tavington, if you will."

"Why yes, that delightful Captain Borden informed me that you had married the Colonel. I am most pleased to meet you, my Lady."

She nodded.

"I may say the same of you. But, being as I do not even know your name…"

"Oh pardon my manners! Doctor Elijah Harris at your service, madam." He rose from his chair and bowed to her.

"Doctor Harris? You must be the new surgeon? We are grateful to you for coming all this way. Especially, during such turbulent times." Catherine said.

He smiled at her warmly.

"Yes, I would be the new surgeon. And you are most welcome, madam." He turned to Tavington.

"I did not mind travelling here, twas a most pleasant trip."

The Colonel stared at him for a moment. Was this man bloody mad? A pleasant trip?

"There is a war going on, Doctor Harris. I do not know how you can say it was a pleasant trip, being as the Rebel Army is running amuck throughout the countryside."

The doctor scrowled.

"I do know this, Colonel. How could I not? And, it was a pleasant trip. Though, if truth be told, I was detained by a few of these Rebels outside Charles Town. Most uncouth rabble."

Banastre snickered softly.

"I had hoped they would have been routed since I last fought them. But, it would seem they have come back with a force unknown to us. No matter," He nodded towards Colonel Tavington. "They will be routed by myself and Colonel Tavington."

Doctor Harris smiled happily at this.

"I look forward to witnessing your expertise, Lt. Colonel. As well, as Colonel Tavington's. I have heard much about both of you." He eyed Tavington greedily. "Namely, about you."

"I have no doubt about that." Tarleton chuckled. "His reputation does precede him!"

Tavington glared heatedly at him.

"Yes, and I dare say your reputation precedes you. Namely, with the women of the camp."

Again, Tarleton chuckled.

"Too true, Will, too true."

Catherine had listened to this exchange in silence. She found it highly amusing to listen to the good-natured banter between her husband and the Lt. Colonel. They were both cads. Both rogues. Moreover, both were very dangerous men to cross. If angered even slightly, one had cause to fear for their life.

But, regardless of how dangerous both men were, they commanded respect. And, received it. Granted, it was respect won thru fear, but it was respect nonetheless. And to not give them what was due, could be far from a pleasant experience.

"What of you, Doctor Harris? What would your reputation be?" William asked slowly.

"Ah, my reputation, as it were, is for many things. I specialize in the usual mundane medical practices, as well as…" He stopped for a second, then smiled darkly. "As well, as the more mysterious kind."

Tavington and Tarleton exchanged curious glances at each other.

"Mysterious kind? Whatever do you mean by that, Doctor?" Tarleton questioned.

Harris' dark smile widened.

"Something of which, I am most certain that you would not understand, my dear Lt. Colonel. You would need to see it, as well as experience it, to understand. I, myself, am a testament to this amazing practice."

All three now glanced at each other. Doctor Harris was definitely no ordinary surgeon. In fact, he was no oridinary man. Something was definitely very queer about him.

"Perhaps, you would care to demonstrate this amazing medicine, doctor?"

Harris smiled more darkly. Without a word, without a warning, he drew a pistol from his coat and fired once at Banastre Tarleton, who crumpled to the floor in a sickening heap.

Both Catherine and William could do nothing, but stand there in shock. William knew he should do something, after all this man had just killed an officer in His Majesty's Army, and in cold blood. The shock of what he had just witnessed kept him rooted to his chair.

Catherine gasped loudly.

"My God! You have just murdered Lt. Colonel Tarleton! You will hang for this!"

Harris laughed softly.

"No, I do not think I will."

Catherine gaped at him.

"Do something William!" She hissed at her husband.

Tavington went to rise from his chair, but the doctor motioned for him to remain seated. Why he chose to listen, was beyond him at this point. Any other time, Tavington would have already killed the offender. He shook his head and sighed.

"Lt. Colonel Tarleton will be just fine, madam."

She stared blankly at him.

"Fine? He will bleed to death! How can you say he will be fine?" She snarled as a crimson pool of blood began to spread out around Ban.

Doctor Harris smiled happily.

"Of course he will bleed to death! That is the point! He must be dead for this to work properly!"

Catherine's mouth dropped open.

"Are you mad? He is an important officer of the Green Dragoons! We cannot replace him, you fool!"

What she had not said, and would never say out loud to anyone, other than Tavington and Tarleton, was that she looked upon Banastre as a close friend. As someone, she could speak to freely about anything. And, someone she knew would protect her if anything happened to the Colonel.

Now, all that lay on the floor in front of her, dead. What would she do?

"My dear madam, Tarleton will be perfectly alive in a few hours time. You have my word on it."

Before Catherine could even voice any protest, he went to the door, and held it open.

"Now, if you will excuse me, I must tend to my patient. Time is of the essence, you know?"

William stared at him, than at the open door. When he did not move, the doctor smiled warmly at him.

"I can see you are wanting to examine the dearly departed, am I correct?"

How the hell did he know what I was thinking? Tavington thought.

"I…yes, well I would like to know if he is truly dead."

Harris chuckled.

"By all means, I gladly welcome your examination, Colonel!"

William rose from his chair, crossed over to where Banastre lay motionless on the floor, and knelt down beside him. He fumbled around to find a pulse. He found none, but that was a mute point. The amount of blood pooled around him, would have told the Colonel he was indeed, dead.

"Very dead." William said slowly.

"As I said! Now, please do leave me with my patient. I need to work quickly, if I am to get him back here in a few hours."

William helped Catherine from her chair, and nudged her towards the door. She was as rigid as a statue, and he found he had to literally shove her out the door.

When the door had clicked shut behind them, she turned on her husband in fury.

"Are you not going to do something about this?"

William glared back at her.

"I would, under normal circumstances! But this, this is not normal! Something…something tells me, to trust this man!"

Catherine stared at him.

William trusted someone other than herself. Something was definitely not right here.

"William…Ban was your friend. Our friend! How can you just let this happen?"

Tavington did not know why, himself. Indeed, he was overwhelmed by the need to trust Doctor Harris. If he did, everything would be fine again.

"We have to trust the doctor, my pet. He knows more than we do. Trust me, Catherine! I know this is for the best."

She decided that her husband had hit on the head one too many times. But, a nagging feeling propelled her to agree with him.

"I do trust you, William." She sighed heavily and leaned against him for support. His arms embraced her tightly, and he kissed her gently on the forehead.

"All will be well, my love." He whispered into her hair. "Ban will be with us once again."

They retired to their room, where they went about making up for lost time. They lay panting in each other's arms, when yet another loud knock came at the door.

Catherine rose from the bed, threw her dress over her head, and went to answer the door. She was just buttoning up the front, when she opened the door. She looked up, and stifled a scream.

"Ban?" She finally screamed.

"Well, I will say that is a fair welcome." Banastre Tarleton laughed vigorously.

Catherine promptly fainted.

A/N: Well, I have decided to take this is a much different direction. At least, one of the genres, anyway. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by this turn…now, as to Cowpens…what exactly do you think is going to happen to Colonel Tavington there? Yes, as in the original scene from The Patriot, he does indeed, die. It is what happens after he is found, and brought back to Doctor Harris, that really will surprise you. Happy reading, and don't forget to R and R! I do love to hear from you!