"We came as fast as we could when we heard what was going on here," James Wilkins told his sister as he held her in his arms. "I'm sorry we didn't get here in time to save Tom."

"I'm just glad you're here," she murmured, still shivering with fear. "You did get here in time to save Susan. I don't know what more those horrible men would have done if you'd not arrived when you did." After a pause to collect herself, she added, "I think they would have killed us all if they'd thought it was necessary."

Looking around the yard at the dead and wounded, Wilkins did not doubt her word, as Mary had always been a level-headed, sensible woman.

William Tavington had dismounted after ordering other dragoons to check around the property to assess the damage and to look for any wounded partisans who might have been left behind. Approaching the grieving woman, he said, "Please excuse the intrusion, but I must know which way the partisans went when they left."

Before she could reply, the blacksmith said, "Sir, I can answer that question." Pointing out to two large trees bordering the northern edge of the property, he told Tavington, "They went out past those two trees nor more than ten minutes ago." After a moment, he added, "But I don't think you'll find them as there's a big swamp not far into the woods from there."

Turning to Ogilvie, Tavington ordered, "Take a detachment and see if you can't track the partisans. Send a rider to report if you've found a good trail."

"Right away, sir." Ogilvie responded, immediately moving off to carry out Tavington's orders.

"I need to check on Susan," Mary said shakily as Jim helped her up from the ground. "I left her with one of the slaves when I went to find Thomas."

As she regained her footing, her gaze turned back to her dead husband. "I can't just leave him there like that."

"Do not worry, Madam," Captain Bordon said solicitously. "We will make sure that his body is properly prepared for burial."

"Thank you," she said, giving him a brave smile, as Wilkins led her away. "I appreciate your kindness."

Bordon stood watching in rapt attention as the two Wilkins siblings walked toward the large house. Even in her stunned grief, he found Mary Wilkins Miller to be a strikingly attractive woman.

"What is so fascinating?" Tavington suddenly appeared at Bordon's side, following his gaze. "Ah, I see. Wilkins does have rather a comely sister, even if she is every bit my height. A veritable Amazon one might say."

"I like tall woman," Bordon retorted, somewhat defensively. "I always have. They...fit…better."

Tavington chuckled lowly in agreement. "No doubt." Laughing again, he continued, "But if you can tear your eyes away from Mrs Miller for now, we need to go take a look through the main stable and gather up Miller's account books and ledgers, so we can get an idea of how much Martin took. I'll need to have this information for the Lord General, as I would imagine he'll want to install a garrison here in order to protect the horses that are left from any further plundering by the rebels."

Tearing his gaze away from Mary Miller reluctantly, Bordon followed his commanding officer to the stable.

"Don't worry, Bordon," Tavington said a couple of moments later as he rifled through Miller's desk. "Wilkins will no doubt bring his sister and niece back to the fort, and you'll likely get a chance to become better acquainted with her there." Looking sideways at the other man, he added, "My advice to you is to wait awhile before you express any interest directly. In the meanwhile, you can make yourself useful to her during her time of mourning, That is, of course, if your interest in her is a serious one."

"I believe it is, sir," Bordon said. "Not only is she comely, but I would think she is also quite well-to-do."

After a pause, he continued, "And I would not simply trifle with Wilkins' sister, considering that Fort Carolina has sufficient women for me to amuse myself with. I'll be well able to wait for Mistress Miller, as my immediate needs will be well attended to by others."

"Speaking of that, Bordon, have you ever been with Molly?" Tavington asked in a conversational tone. "That wench is simply insatiable. Why, the other night, she took on Tarleton and I, one right after the other."

"Actually, yes I have and you're absolutely right," the other man replied, chuckling. "She's quite the enjoyable ride."

Bordon was a bit surprised that the still-newlywed Tavington was already seeking sex outside his marriage, but did not comment about it, as it was none of his business.

As the two dragoons continued to gather the information they needed, the Wilkins siblings reached the house,

"Oh, Jim," she whispered. "How am I ever going to tell Susan that her father is gone?"

"I can tell her, if you like," he offered, rubbing her back in an attempt to comfort her.

"No, I need to be the one to do it," she said resolutely. "But I'll need you right there by my side."

"Of course," he assured her. "I'll always be there when you need me, just as I promised Father on his deathbed."

"Susan?" Mary called out as they climbed the steps to the porch. "I'm back! And you'll never guess who I brought with me!"

The little girl appeared warily in the doorway, still clinging to Maisie, who looked nearly as apprehensive as her young charge.

"Uncle Jim!" Susan exclaimed, breaking away from the slave to run to her uncle.

Wilkins picked her up as she wrapped her arms around him. "Just look at how you've grown in just a few months!" he told her. "Pretty soon, you'll be so big that I won't be able to pick you up like this any more!"

Looking over his niece's shoulder, the dragoon noticed the shambles in which the partisans had left the room. As he put the little girl down, he gestured to two slaves standing in the doorway.

"Clean this up," he commanded in a low tone. "Then one of you go tell the cook to start dinner."

He walked over to the sofa and righted it himself, so they could have a place to sit when Mary broke the news of Tom's death to Susan.

"Come here, baby," Mary said to her daughter in a tired voice, once she'd seated herself on the sofa.

"Where's Papa?" she asked in a small voice, her lower lip quivering. Susan had suddenly remembered that her father had not returned to the house with her mother, having been completely distracted by the unexpected appearance of her favourite uncle. Looking into Mary's eyes, the sad expression on her mother's face frightened her. "Why didn't he come back with you? Did the bad men hurt Papa?"

"Oh, Susan!" her mother exclaimed, drawing her close as Susan began to cry. "Your father did his best to protect us, he surely did, but there were too many of them. He's...gone to be with Jesus."

Neither mother nor daughter spoke for the next few minutes as they grieved together, both in tears. Wilkins, too, remained silent, but patted his sister and niece on their shoulders as he shared their grief.

Within a few minutes, Susan's tears had subsided to occasional sniffles. She straightened up, then said in a small voice, "I think I should like to be alone now for a little while. May I go to my room?"

"Of course, dear," Mary said, giving her one last hug, then a quick peck on the cheek. "We'll be having dinner before too long and Uncle Jim and I will be right here if you need anything at all before then."

After the girl had left the room, Wilkins said, "Are you sure that's wise for her to be alone right now?"

"Susan has always been a rather self-contained child," Marry told him with a sigh. "She's always had the habit of going off by herself for a little while to collect herself after troubling and sad events." Sighing again, she continued, "She's like her father that way. I can remember when Thomas went off to spend hours in the stables after the news came that his father had died from a broken neck after being thrown from his horse."

Her eyes tearing up again at the mention of her beloved husband, she put a gentle hand on her brother's arm and added, "Don't worry, Jim. Maisie will follow her upstairs and linger nearby, just in case. Susan will not be left entirely unsupervised."

Rising gingerly from the couch, Mary said, "And I think I need to have some time to myself as well to have a bath before dinner."

She repressed an instinctive shudder as she thought of how she wanted to scrub herself raw to remove every trace of the indignity she'd been made to suffer that day. Mary wasn't quite ready to talk about the rape with her brother, but hoped a bath would help her relax sufficiently to broach the topic with him later.

"Mary," Wilkins called out in a soft, but commanding voice as she walked awkwardly in front of him on her way out of the room. "There's something you haven't told me. Tell me what they did to you."

Her shoulders sagging, she whispered, "How did you know?" Knowing there was nothing for it, she returned to the couch to sit beside her brother.

"There are a couple of small spots of blood on the back of your petticoat, each about the size of a coat button," he told her. "I've seen women who have been taken against their will before…" His voice trailed off, as he attempted to bring his emotions under control.

His voice nearly shaking with barely suppressed rage, he demanded, "Who is the bastard who did this to you? I swear to you that I will make him pay when I catch up to him! He will rue the day he was ever born when I find him!"

"Oh, Jim, it was so horrible!" Mary exclaimed, unable to hold back her emotions any longer. "He grabbed me and bent me over the front porch railing right in front of Susan!"

"Susan saw what happened?" Wilkins asked, thoroughly scandalized.

"He was going to do it right there in front of her and a few of the slaves," Mary confirmed. "But I told Maisie to take her inside. She was spared seeing it with her own eyes, but she knew something terrible was about to happen, even if she didn't exactly know what."

Suddenly grabbing on to his arms, she cried, "I was so frightened! I knew Tom couldn't help me because he was surrounded by Ben Martin's men by that time and probably never even saw what happened to me."

Pausing to take in a lungful of air, she continued. "And there were two of them! The other one was going to ravish me as well when the first one was done, but I was saved when one of their men came riding up to tell them you and the dragoons were coming! I don't know what would have happened to me if you hadn't come along when you did!"

"I'm surprised that Ben Martin would allow such a thing to happen," Wilkins said, frowning. "He and I have had our differences over the years, but I'd never seen him as anything but an honourable man."

"I don't think he was aware of it," Mary pointed out. "He was over at the stables with Tom and probably had no idea what had happened."

"Who were the two bastards, Mary?" Jim asked again. "I need to know."

"It wasn't anyone I knew," she reported. "They weren't Pembroke men, I'm certain." Pausing to think, she added, "I think they were some of those mountain men that Ben served with in the last war. He had quite a few of that sort with him."

"That makes sense," Wilkins agreed. "Can you at least describe what they looked like?"

"They were both short," she said, indicating with her hand about how tall they were. "Neither one came past my eyes. The one that…hurt…me had bright red hair and a wart on his cheek, right next to his ear; the right, I believe."

After a moment, she suddenly exclaimed. "Oh, yes, I remember now! The other man called him 'Sam'. And he called the other man 'Harry'! He had sandy-coloured hair, I think. His face was pockmarked and he had a knife scar on his chin!"

"Very good, Mary," her brother praised. "That will be quite helpful."

Changing the subject, he told her in a firm voice, "I'm taking you and Susan to the fort when we leave. It's not safe for you to stay here any longer."

"Do you think that's a good idea," Mary said, frowning. "If we leave the farm unattended, the partisans will just come back and take everything and destroy whatever they can't carry away."

"The farm won't be unattended, I can assure you," her brother said. "After Colonel Tavington gives his report to General Cornwallis, I'm quite certain the General will assign soldiers here to guard and run the farm, as Tom did have a contract to supply horses to the Army."

Seeing the hesitation on her face, he coaxed, "There are families living at the fort. It will do Susan good to be around other children, I'm thinking. And you'll never guess who is living at the fort: Charlotte Putnam!"

"I've not seen her since we were children," Mary said, smiling. "I knew she'd married John Selton, but I believe she's a widow now."

"But she's not a widow any longer," Jim said, grinning widely. "She was remarried quite recently -- to Colonel Tavington!"

"It would be nice to see Charlotte again," Mary conceded. "I will bow to your wishes in this matter, as I know you want what's best for us."

"I'll be able to rest easier if I know that you and Susan are safe and protected," he told her. "It will be one concern off my mind."

Lieutenant Ogilvie was disgusted as he returned to the Miller farm, along with the detachment of dragoons. They'd been able to easily follow the trail the partisans left while leaving the farm, but had been unable to track them any further once they reached the large swamp about a mile from the edge of the Miller's property.

He met Colonel Tavington and Captain Bordon leaving the main stable as he dismounted to make his report.

"Well?" Tavington demanded. "Any sign of where they went?"

"They went straight into the swamp about a mile from the edge of this property," Ogilvie reported. "It's anyone's guess as to which direction they took from there, as I found that the swamp had several branches leading in different directions."

"That's about what I expected," Tavington said. "I am not overly concerned, as I'm sure we'll be seeing them again soon. We'll have plenty of opportunities to deal with them. Right now, our focus is to save this horse farm."

"Yes, sir."

"Have the men set up camp, as we'll be spending the night," Tavington instructed. "Also assign a detail to dig a grave for Mr Miller and have someone find some lumber to build a coffin with. Bury Miller's dead employees and slaves in the appropriate places, but have the partisan dead taken to the swamp and dump them in there."

"Right away, sir," Ogilvie said.

Turning to Bordon, who was carrying several ledger books, Tavington said, "Let's go up to the main house and see to dinner and our own accommodations."

"Right behind you," Bordon said, eager to see Mary Miller once again.

Next chapter: not yet named.