Many thanks are in order to Esther, Susan, and Janeen for their thoughts and suggestions for this chapter.
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William Tavington rapidly followed Marcus Tapp's long strides to the enlisted men's tent encampment, which stood in a meadow at the northern edge of the plantation property near the woods. With an amused grin on his face, Tapp led him to the campfire, where Dobbins and Peterson sat dejectedly on a log by the fire.
Bordon and Wilkins stood nearby talking quietly, while other dragoons of various ranks milled around, waiting to see what would happen to the two hapless dragoons. The dragoons' conversations immediately faded away into dead silence as Tavington stepped into the campfire's circle, with Tapp standing behind him as a grim sentinel.
Both men gulped, barely keeping control of their bowels and bladders, when Tavington came to stand in front of them. He stared down at them with an unreadable expression, his cold blue eyes boring into them mercilessly.
For several long minutes, Tavington did not utter a sound, regarding them dispassionately as one might consider a bug one was about to squash.
Finally, he spoke, his voice deceptively quiet and soft. "Well? Do you have anything whatsoever to say for yourselves that would explain why you abandoned your post and failed to protect my wife this afternoon?"
Dobbins gulped again, then hesitantly began, "Well, sir, we'd manned our post as originally planned and watched Mistress Tavington enter the tailor shop."
After a slight pause, he continued, "Then I realized our horses were gone when I didn't hear them snorting any more."
"Then me and Dobbins went to look for them," Peterson supplied. "We thought it would take only a couple of minutes to find them, as we think it was just a couple of kids who let them loose."
"You deserted your post for a couple of fucking nags?" Tavington exploded. "Did it ever occur to you that you don't abandon a post for any reason and that horses can be replaced?" Not expecting an answer, he added, "But do go on with your story. I want to know everything before I decide your punishments."
"Well, sir, we ran into the woods to look for the horses," Dobbins continued nervously. "But we couldn't find them and as we were about to give up and head back, we noticed a large bear nearby. It hadn't noticed us and we didn't want it to notice us, so we decided to stand still and quiet until it went away."
"But the bear didn't move and we were trapped there for nearly an hour," Peterson put in. "But when it did finally leave the area, we moved on and ended up coming out of the woods by the road, where we saw Mistress Tavington's carriage hurrying back down the road in the distance, so we just followed on foot."
"We didn't have any idea what had happened until we got back here," Dobbins concluded miserably. "We're so sorry for what happened."
"Sorry?" Tavington spat. "Did you hear that, men? He said they're sorry. As if that would help the situation in any way!" Whirling around to face the two men, he said coldly, "You're going to be even sorrier shortly, I'd wager."
Gesturing over his shoulder at Tapp, who was greatly enjoying the proceedings, Tavington ordered, "Sergeant Tapp. These men are to be executed by hanging and I'm putting you in charge of the detail. Sentence is to be carried out immediately."
"Yes, sir!" Marcus Tapp said eagerly, just barely able to keep a gleeful tone out of his voice. He and Dobbins had been having a bitter rivalry for months and in one fell swoop, Tapp had lost his only serious bit of competition in his quest for the rank of Sergeant Major, which would make him the senior enlisted man in Tavington's Legion.
Before Tapp could take charge of the condemned men, Bordon hurried over to Tavington, obviously agitated.
"Sir!" he said urgently in a low voice. "Wouldn't it be more honourable to execute them by firing squad? Hanging is what we do to rebels and traitors."
Tavington's head snapped toward his second in command in sudden anger. "Where were they when those two bastards tried to take my wife's honour?" he demanded, his eyes blazing with fury. "They deserted her, so they deserve no honour in death."
Marcus Tapp, who'd heard the officers' conversation, rolled his eyes at Bordon's naïveté, then spat contemptuously into the grass. "They're doing good to get hanging," he remarked sourly. "If it had been up to me, I'd have taken them back to the bear to be its dinner."
Bordon gave the tall sergeant a sharp glance, but remained silent. Tavington, however, agreed with him.
"Quite right, Sergeant Tapp," he said with a sardonic expression. "But as we don't have the time to search for the bear, we'll have to make do with hanging." Turning away from the enlisted man, he said, "Carry on!"
Tapp turned and gestured with a jerk of his thumb to two men well known to be his toadies, Corporals Sanders and Freeman, who followed him without a word. He'd also been in charge of hanging Elijah Draper some time back and these two men had ably assisted him then. Looking at two other men, he motioned to them to follow as well to take charge of the prisoners until he was ready to hang them.
Indicating two stout trees a short distance away, he told Sanders and Freeman, "We'll use those two trees. There's some suitable rope in the barn and you'll put them up on horses when we're ready to begin."
After the two corporals hurried off to do the sergeant's bidding, Tapp strolled lazily over to where the two condemned men waited under guard.
Regarding Dobbins with a feral grin, he drawled, "I have to thank you for so conveniently clearing the way to me making Sergeant Major." Pausing briefly for effect, he continued, "Now, Tavington would have chosen me over you in the end, anyway, but your stupidity will just help me get that promotion that much sooner."
Dobbins didn't reply, sick of the sound of his rival's gloating voice.
"You do know that none of this would have happened had the Colonel put me in charge of his wife's safety," Tapp continued, wanting to goad Dobbins into reacting. "Not a hair would have been harmed on her pretty head if it had been me."
"Maybe not from the rebel scum," Dobbins sneered. snorting in derision. "But knowing you, you'd have tried to get under her petticoats, in which instance, you'd be the one standing here waiting to be hanged. The big difference would have been that Tavington would have cut off the part of your body that you think with, first."
Reacting instantly, Tapp punched him in the mouth, breaking several teeth. Dobbins, who was bound with his hands behind his back, immediately went down. As the private guarding him quickly hauled him back on his feet, Tapp smiled at him. "Do you want to repeat what you just said, you miserable sack of shit?"
Before Dobbins could reply, Tavington made an impatient gesture with his hand, signalling Tapp to get on with it, as Sanders and Freeman had now set up the nooses.
A few minutes later, it was all over for the two dragoons. As Dobbins and Peterson swung lifelessly in the gentle breeze, the crowd dispersed and went back about their business. Tapp wandered off to seek his pleasure with the wench he'd picked up from the rebel farm, while Tavington and his senior officers returned to the house to plan the revenge for Charlotte's assault.
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Ben and Gabriel Martin wearily shambled into camp long after the sun had gone down, dismounting gingerly from their horses.
Most of the men had bedded down for the night, but a few stalwart diehards still sat by the campfire waiting for the two Martins to return.
"Ah, there you are," Reverend Oliver said as Ben joined him by the fire. "I was beginning to worry." Gesturing to the coffee pot over the fire, he asked, "Do you want some coffee?"
"It must be like mud by now," Martin said.
"No, I made it just a little while ago," Oliver assured him. "It should still be good."
Ben wordlessly accepted a cup from the older man and the two sat in companionable silence for several minutes. Gabriel did not join them, but immediately set about laying out his bedroll.
"So," Ben said a few minutes later. "When did Billings and Rollins get back to camp? I'm going to have to have a serious conversation with them in the morning."
"Billings returned not long after we arrived," Oliver told him. "Rollins never showed up. Billings told us that Rollins said he'd be back when he felt like it and not before."
Martin wiped his brow is exasperated frustration. "Well, I'm going to go to bed," he said, yawning. I'll see you in the morning."
"If you need to talk, you know I'm always available," the reverend said.
"Yes, thank you," Ben said. "I'll remember that."
As Ben placed his bedroll by Gabriel a couple of moments later, Gabriel said, "I'm going to get up early and go into town to go to church with Anne. They're reading the banns for us tomorrow and I'd promised her I'd be there for that."
"You might want to reconsider, son," Ben counseled. "Tavington is going to be out for blood and he's likely to come looking for us. It would be best if we remained out of sight for a while until it all dies down."
"I don't think he'll come looking for us in Pembroke," Gabriel reasoned. "He knows we won't be there. And he won't be looking for Anne, in any instance."
"That's true," Ben allowed. "And someone needs to go check on Rollins, in any instance."
"I'll leave before dawn then," Gabriel decided.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
After leaving Pembroke, Ezekiel Rollins returned to his sister's barn and his drinking. He was put out with Ben Martin for interrupting his fun, wondering if Martin had lost his nerve to fight. He knew that Tavington wouldn't have spared Naomi from rape if he'd happened to run into her before she'd died, so why in the hell should Tavington's snooty wife get any special consideration?
Billings had left to return to camp shortly after they'd returned to his sister's home. Coming into the barn, where Rollins was sprawled out in the hay, already halfway back to being drunk once again, the big man said, "Rollins! Are you ready to go? Martin said we should return back to camp to keep out of Tavington's way."
"Naw," Rollins slurred. "You go on ahead. I'm tired and I don't feel so good. I'm going to spend the night here." Putting the bottle down beside him, he continued, "I don't think Tavington will be looking for us in Pembroke, anyway. He'll probably be all over the countryside trying to find our camp."
"Are you going to come along later?" Billings asked. "I still think we'd be better off at the camp."
"I'll think about it,' Rollins said evasively. "Now, you'd better get on before you run into one of Tavington's patrols."
"All right, I'm goin'!" Billings said irritably.
After Billings had ridden away into the forest, Rollins drank himself into a mindless stupor. The rest of the family avoided the barn, wisely deciding to leave him alone for the night.
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After a mostly sleepless night, William Tavington rose before dawn. He'd spent part of the evening planning strategy with Bordon and Wilkins, then had held a still-nervous Charlotte in his arms for several hours until she'd finally fallen asleep out of sheer exhaustion.
As he hurriedly dressed, he felt a burning current of energy surging through him as he thought of what he'd planned to do today to avenge Charlotte. Looking over at her one last time as he finished tying his cravat, he kissed her softly on the cheek so as not to awaken her.
Tavington had persuaded the doctor to stay one more day to keep her under observation. The doctor had promised to keep her calm, doling out laudanum as necessary in carefully measured doses to keep her from panicking while he and the men were gone. Ruth would assist, keeping Charlotte company to keep her mind distracted. He didn't want to leave her again so soon, but it couldn't be helped if he was to retaliate in a timely fashion and send a message to Benjamin Martin and his militia.
He'd also assigned Lt. Ogilvie and two cornets to be in charge of guarding her and the farm while he and the rest of the dragoons carried out their grim task. Tavington felt confident that Charlotte would be in good hands with these men while they were gone.
After one last loving look, he stepped out into the hall, carefully closing the door behind him with a barely audible click.
He met Bordon and Wilkins at the bottom of the stairs and the three men ate a quick, silent breakfast before hurrying outside, where the men were quietly preparing to mount up in the pre-dawn darkness. They'd be able to move quickly this morning, as he'd given the order not to break camp, because they'd be spending another night here before returning to the fort.
Tavington strode quickly back to the stables, too impatient to wait for the groom to bring his horse around as was his usual custom. As he made his way through the ranks, he observed the men getting into formation with satisfaction; they seemed almost as eager to avenge his wife as he was.
Heading back from the stables a few moments later, leading his saddled horse behind him, Tavington came upon Marcus Tapp coming out of the barn. A lantern burned inside the structure and looking inside, Tavington could see the vague outline of a woman clad only in a shift.
"Did you take care of those items I asked you to get," Tavington asked the sergeant as he collected his own horse.
"Everything's ready and completely in order," Tapp assured him. "I took care of it all before bedding down last night." Gesturing to where several privates were clustered, already mounted up and waiting to go, he continued, "They've got it there between them and it will be standing by for when you need to use it."
"Excellent," Tavington replied, sparing a glance to verify Tapp's words. "Tell the men to be ready to move out in ten minutes."
"Yes, sir."
Ten minutes later, the dragoon column left the plantation as the dark of night had lightened into a purplish hue. Tavington kept his own counsel as the group rode swiftly up the road toward Pembroke, his mind on the job ahead. Bordon and Wilkins, too, remained silent, and some of the men behind took the opportunity to doze a bit in the saddle, so they'd be alert later on when it counted.
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"Get up, Zeke!" Mattie Draper bellowed at her snoring brother later that same morning. "It's nearly time for church!"
"Go 'way," he mumbled, as he rolled over in the prickly hay. "I don't feel so good and I've got better things to do than listen to that boring old preacher. I need to get some rest before I go back to Martin's camp today."
"I don't want to hear none of that," she replied unsympathetically. "We're all going and you are, too. What kind of an example would you be settin' for my boys if you don't go to church?" Pulling on his ear to get him up, she added, "Besides, Luke saw Gabriel Martin headin' into town a little while ago, so you can ride back to camp with him after church."
"All right, all right, I'm comin'," Rollins grumbled, knowing it was no use to argue. When Mattie had her mind set on something, she was like a dog with a bone and would never let it go. But he dawdled just enough so that the family was late in setting out for town.
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As the dragoon column neared Pembroke a couple of hours later, Tavington directed the group onto a narrow path through the woods skirting Pembroke. The dragoons moved slowly and cautiously down the winding trail to avoid detection by townspeople arriving late to church. They'd heard the church bells in the distance announcing the start of the morning service a short time ago, but there were always the inevitable stragglers who would be arriving late.
"The Hudson farm is shortly up ahead," Wilkins warned Tavington. He'd told his commander the night before that Rollins' brother-in-law had a farm just outside of Pembroke and that they might be able to find Rollins and Mattie there.
Tavington held up one hand to stop the group, putting a finger to his lips, silently ordering them to remain quiet. "Wilkins, send a few scouts up ahead to see if anyone is at home," Tavington told him in a low voice.
Within moments the scouts had returned to report that the farm was vacant, but that they'd seen a small group on the main road heading slowly into town.
An evil grin spread across William Tavington's face. "That's it," he crowed. "We've got them!"
Looking over his shoulder at Marcus Tapp, who was several horses behind him, he gestured to the sergeant to join him.
"Sergeant Tapp," Tavington said. "Rollins and his family have been spotted on the main road, not far from the farm ahead. I want you and about ten men to slip up on them quickly and quietly, then capture them without killing them, if you can."
After Tapp nodded in acknowledgment, he continued. "Once you've captured them, I want them restrained, so we can take them into Pembroke and make a public example of them in front of the entire town. We'll follow you in once you've neutralized them and we'll gather in front of the church."
"Yes, sir, right away," Tapp said briskly. He quickly motioned to the usual men in his entourage and the small group rapidly moved out to do Tavington's bidding.
Moments later, the small detachment shadowed Rollins and his family, who were riding in a slow-moving, heavy farm wagon, from the woods until Tapp determined the right place to ambush them.
"I'll get Rollins, and Freeman and Sanders will get the wagon stopped," Tapp told the men. "The rest of you will cover us to make sure there aren't any nasty surprises and that their brats don't run off."
The dragoons all nodded their understanding, after which Tapp said, "Let's do it, then."
Less then a minute later, Marcus Tapp burst out of the woods directly behind Rollins' horse. He was on Rollins before the partisan could react, hitting him in the back of the head with the butt of his carbine. Rollins immediately toppled from his horse, with Tapp grabbing him by the scruff of the neck before he could hit the ground. Quickly dismounting, he pulled a short length of rope from his saddle to bind the partisan's wrists together.
The other dragoons had meanwhile surrounded Rollins' two sisters and his brother-in-law in the wagon and soon had the family neutralized by the time Tavington and the rest of the dragoons caught up and surrounded them. The adults were frozen in shock, with the terrified children moaning in fear.
By this time, Tapp had dragged the stunned Rollins to his feet and threaded a longer rope through his restraints and had tied the other end to his saddle. Tavington came alongside him as he re-mounted his horse.
Looking down with undisguised loathing at Rollins, who was still woozy and disoriented from the blow to his head, Tavington had to repress the urge to unsheath his sabre and run him through right then and there. No, he thought to himself. That would be too easy and he doesn't deserve an easy death. Turning his attention to Tapp, he told the sergeant, "Let's get this piece of filth into town and let's finish this."
Tapp nodded and immediately set off at a pace deliberately designed to make the hapless Rollins stumble and fall. The tall sergeant looked back behind him a few times, laughing scornfully at Rollins' inability to keep to his feet.
By the time the dragoons had assembled in front of the church, Rollins had been dragged for most of the way, to Tavington's great satisfaction. As Tapp ordered two privates to tie the now cut and bruised partisan to a tree in the churchyard, Tavington directed other dragoons to surround the church so no townspeople could escape out the windows and sent others to check the town to make sure they'd not missed anyone not in church. Other dragoons prodded Rollins' family out of the wagon, to stand under guard near the tree where the partisan was tied
Tavington positioned his horse to face the doomed partisan and his family, with Bordon and Wilkins flanking him on either side and Tapp off to the side a little ways where he could quickly carry out more orders that Tavington might have.
Glaring balefully at the terrified Ezekiel Rollins, he began coldly, "I suppose there's no need to explain to you why I'm here."
Rollins, still reeling from the blow to the head and being dragged into town, refused to beg for his life. Naomi and their baby were gone, so the small man didn't really have much to look forward to after the war, in any instance.
"I have no regrets," he said hoarsely "I'm only sorry that I didn't get to finish what I started and that Billings didn't get to plow the bitch, too." Staring up at Tavington with spiteful eyes, he ground out, "Go ahead, do your worst."
"Oh, I fully intend to," Tavington assured him, smirking. "All in due time."
Mattie Draper, who up until now had been frozen with shock, suddenly found her voice. "That high and mighty slut just came to Pembroke like she owns the place," she spat, loudly enough for everyone to hear. "She's lucky that Zeke just didn't kill her like she deserved, the traitorous bitch."
Marcus Tapp glanced at William Tavington, catching his eye with a questioning look. Tavington gave him an imperceptible nod, which was all the permission Tapp needed. Slipping soundlessly off his black gelding, Tapp was at Mattie's side in an instant, grabbing a handful of her hair and wrenching her head back as he dragged her to a tree near the one that her brother was lashed to.
Sanders and Freeman, realizing what the Sergeant intended to do, rushed over to stand on either side of the tree in case Mattie tried to get away.
Tapp shoved the rebel woman's face hard into the tree with one hand, where the two privates grabbed her arms to hold her still while Tapp quickly unbuttoned his breeches. Wasting no time, he spat on his hands, then ran them over his hard member, before roughly entering the now-shaking woman.
Pulling her head back forcibly by the hank of hair in which he still had his hand securely wrapped in, he muttered, "Who's the slut now? When we're done with you, you won't be able to even twitch."
Several of the dragoons began catcalling as Tapp thrusted viciously into the unfortunate woman.
"Woo, hoo, Tapp!" Sanders exclaimed, whistling loudly. "Give it to her good!"
"I want a turn when you're done!" Freeman put in.
Rollins turned his head in anguish, not able to bear witnessing his sister's brutal public humiliation.
Tavington, who had been watching the partisan to see his reaction to his sister's rape, called out imperiously, "You will pay attention to this, Rollins! If you close your eyes or turn your head again, I will instruct Sergeant Tapp to run her through with his sabre and put an end to her right now!"
Before Rollins could react, the church doors opened with a loud squeal and several townspeople appeared in the doorway, attracted by all the noise. There were several gasps as they caught sight of Rollins lashed to the tree and Marcus Tapp, still rutting vigorously into Mattie Draper.
Several dragoons moved to intercept them, quickly checking the men for weapons. They found only one armed man, Gabriel Martin, whom they quickly disarmed.
As they were about to herd the group back into the church Tavington noticed Anne Howard and her mother among this group. He held up one hand to stay their actions, then said, "Let them watch. They need to see what sort of consequences that such actions result in."
At the sight of the sneering British officer who had so callously killed her beloved father, Anne Howard saw red and immediately lost all control. Breaking away from Gabriel, she marched right up to Tavington and hissed, "How dare you come here on a Sunday and desecrate our churchyard during a worship service! Have you no respect for our Lord, at the very least?"
Looking down at the angry young women with an almost bored expression, he replied, "I see that I was amiss in not permanently silencing you on my last visit to Pembroke."
Anne, suddenly realizing the rashness of her words, turned to run back to Gabriel as she saw Tavington almost lazily dismounting his horse. The young woman hadn't taken two steps when she ran headlong into two burly dragoons, who held her in place.
"Where was your Christian charity when my wife came to your door seeking refuge from harm?" Tavington harshly demanded. "It seems as if there was no room at the inn for her when she called on the good Christian people of Pembroke for help." He spat the last few words out as if they were an epithet.
Moving closer to the petrified woman, he said, "I'm not a reverent man, as you should well know by now." Tavington said, then casually unbuttoned his breeches. With a gleeful smirk, he emptied his full bladder all over her in a forceful stream, aiming so that some drops made contact with her face.
Quickly buttoning back up after he was done, he murmured, "There. Now I've shown the proper respect in which I hold you and the citizens of Pembroke."
Gabriel Martin, seeing his intended's humiliation, rushed to attack Tavington, but was suddenly felled when Marcus Tapp pistol whipped him from behind. Tapp had finished up with Mattie, turning her over to another dragoon, and had come over to see what was going on when Martin made his ill-fated move.
Glancing up gratefully at Tapp's timely intervention, Tavington said, "Enough delay; let's do what we came here for, Sergeant. Are the items we discussed earlier ready to be used?"
"Yes, sir," Tapp said, gesturing to two nearby dragoons to get the items in question.
A couple of moments later, the dragoons returned, rolling a large, heavy wooden barrel between them.
Turning back to the townspeople still in the church doorway, Tavington looked down scornfully at Anne in her sodden gown bent over Gabriel, who was out cold. Indicating the barrel with one hand, he said, "Here's another lesson from the Bible for the people of Pembroke: an eye for an eye."
As the dragoons set the barrel upright in the middle of the churchyard, they removed several bayonets from inside. The bayonets were tipped with wooden pegs on the end that normally attached to a musket.
Standing between the townspeople and the tree from which Tapp had untied Rollins and was now dragging him toward the barrel, Tavington continued, "As I contemplated how to best deal with what this misbegotten mongrel did to my beloved wife, I was reminded of a book I'd read several years ago about Medieval torture. It seems as if one unfortunate soul had been sentenced to die by being put into a barrel, which then had knives thrust into it, after which the barrel was dragged through the town square by a man on a horse until he was dead."
Looking over at Rollins, he said with a tight feral grin, "I deemed it the perfect way to end your miserable life." Indicating Bordon and Wilkins, who stood by their commander with grim expressions, "I'm sure you heard of how these officers dealt with the scum who violated Mary Miller. What you are about to experience will be much, much worse, I promise you."
At hearing Tavington's words, a dark stain suddenly appeared on the front of Rollins' breeches with a small puddle appearing below him as he lost control of his bladder. A foul stench soon arose from him as his bowels similarly erupted.
"Sergeant Tapp, if you please," Tavington said, turning to the tall man. "Let's get on with it."
Within two minutes, Ezekiel Rollins had been stuffed into the barrel, with the lid being nailed shut on top of it.
"Good thing he's a sawed-off little bastard," Tapp observed darkly. "If he'd been my size, I'd have had to dismember him to get him in there."
"Quite," Tavington acknowledged, not doubting for a moment that Tapp would have done so had it been necessary.
Gesturing to Sanders and Freeman, Tapp grabbed a couple of the bayonets, while the two corporals did the same. They shoved them into Rollins' body through the gaps between the boards, repeating the action until all the bayonets were gone. Rollins began to howl like an animal as the first bayonet pierced his body, which soon morphed into a low moan.
Tapp then returned to his horse, which still had the rope attached to it that he'd used to drag Rollins into town with. Bringing the horse close to the barrel, he prepared to attach it to the trailing end of the rope.
Before he could do so, Tavington stepped forward, leading his own horse. "Stand down, Sergeant," he ordered. "I intend to personally see to this detail myself."
"Of course, Colonel," Tapp said, moving to transfer the ropes to his commander's horse, after which he securely attached the barrel. "You're all ready to go."
Tavington swung up into the saddle, with his men quickly standing aside so that he could get through. Once he'd cleared the group of people clustered around the churchyard, he dug his spurs into his horse's flank, while simultaneously switching the animal with his riding crop. The horse shot forward as if being shot out of a cannon, with the barrel bouncing crazily behind. Rollins' howls, at first clearly heard by everyone in town, soon subsided to an eerie silence.
The dragoon charged up and down Pembroke's main street three times before returning to the churchyard with the barrel, now stained red with blood which still seeped out the bottom as Tavington slipped down from the horse.
Mattie Draper, who was still being mounted in turn by a waiting line of dragoons, had not seen her brother's grisly death, but began to wail in anguish. Her crying children were being comforted by their aunt and uncle, who still could not quite register what they were seeing.
"Let's finish it," Tavington said wearily. "Get them all into the church." Turning to the dragoon currently on top of Mattie, he added, "Enough, soldier. Get her in there, too."
Several dragoons responded, herding the stunned townspeople back into the church, using their muskets when necessary to move them along. One dragoon picked up the still unconscious Gabriel Martin under the armpits and hauled him inside.
The barrel, containing the oozing remains of Ezekiel Rollins, was also rolled inside and left beside his weeping sister, whose petticoat was in tatters and her legs slick with the semen of at least a dozen dragoons. Her four crying children rushed to her, still unaware of what was about to happen.
Once all the townspeople were in the church, Tavington stood in the doorway to address them. "I will leave you with what Miss Howard so charitably told my wife yesterday when she sought refuge: 'You reap what you sow'. And so all of you shall now."
He turned and walked away, then ordered a young private, "Close the doors."
As the dragoon obeyed, other dragoons closed and secured the shutters to all the windows around the church.
Marcus Tapp, meanwhile, had directed several men to light torches and they stood waiting as Tavington returned to the churchyard.
"Fire when ready, Sergeant," Tavington ordered.
Tapp hurled the first torch which landed neatly on the roof, which immediately caught fire. Several dragoons followed suit and the church was soon fully engulfed in flames, Moments later, as the dragoons returned to their horses to mount up, the shrieks of the dying townspeople could be clearly heard.
"Move out," Tavington said, holding up one gloved hand. "Our business is concluded here."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Author's note: Years ago, I actually did read about someone being executed in the same manner that Rollins was. I can't remember the exact source, but I think it was in the book of fairy tales.
There's a new entry in my blog, "Inspiration From Books". Vote in the poll there to choose the actor whom you would have chosen to play Sergeant Marcus Tapp, had his character appeared in the Patriot. The blog can be accessed from a link on my profile page.