One week later
Charlotte Tavington looked around for the last time at the suite she'd shared with William since shortly after their marriage. The order had finally come for them to make the move to Winnsboro, which was further upcountry from Fort Carolina.
"So many memories here," Charlotte said quietly, as William shut the door to their quarters for the last time. "I'd hoped that our baby would have been born here."
"That would have been my wish as well," Tavington said, shrugging. "But the Lord General has assured me that there will be suitable accommodations for us in Winnsboro."
"I hope you're right," Charlotte said doubtfully.
"You could have returned to Charlestown, you know, to have the baby there," Tavington reminded her. "In fact, I would have preferred it."
"It's closer for me to accompany you to Winnsboro," Charlotte said firmly. "I'd be travelling much longer to reach Charlestown." After a moment, she added, "And I don't want you to have to wait to see your own child."
She left unspoken the thought that she wanted to make sure William would see his child at all, knowing that death could come any time he left the fort to go on patrol.
"The carriage is waiting downstairs," he told her. "You'll be travelling in the back with the baggage wagons, but I'll provide you with a couple of dragoons for added protection. Plus I'll hopefully see you at some rest stops."
"That's fine, as long as neither of the dragoons is Marcus Tapp," Charlotte said. "I don't want the man near me and I don't think Ruth could bear to see him so close."
"Don't worry," Tavington assured her. "I'll be having him leading a group protecting our flanks. He'll be too busy to linger at the back of the column."
As they stepped outside, the carriage was at the bottom of the stairs, ready to go. The Lord General had given special permission for the heavy vehicle to join the march, allowing for Charlotte Tavington's late state of pregnancy. Normally, she'd have ridden horseback with her belongings on another horse, but Cornwallis had quickly granted Tavington's special request.
Ruth stood waiting by the carriage, her manner subdued and diffident, the way she'd been ever since being spurned by Marcus Tapp. He'd never come to her to talk about their child-to-be; indeed, she'd had no contact with him at all since that terrible day.
And though reeling with pain and anguish, Ruth still had her pride. She'd not sought him out, either, as she had no intention of begging. The young woman, however, prayed nightly that he would come to his senses and eventually come back to her, though she now accepted that there was little chance of this happening. For the meantime, Ruth was taking things one day at a time, handling life as best she could.
Smiling at the downcast young woman, Charlotte said, "Are you ready to go, Ruth?"
"Ready as I'll ever be, Miss Charlotte," she said, sighing glumly. "At least I have plenty of sewing to keep me occupied during the trip."
"And thank God for that," Charlotte replied, a forced cheerful note in her voice. "Keeping busy will make the trip go by that much quicker."
"I suppose you're right," Ruth replied without much enthusiasm. Nothing much seemed to matter since Marcus had walked out of her life. But for her baby's sake, she'd keep putting one foot in front of the other.
"Let me help you get into the carriage," Tavington said to Charlotte. After giving her a kiss, he bent and pulled down the attached steps, then steadied her as she put one foot onto the first step. Putting one hand on her rump, he boosted her until she was safely inside.
Turning to Ruth, he extended a hand to do the same for her.
"I can manage on my own, thank you," Ruth said stiffly, still stung by his reaction to the news of her pregnancy. Before he could protest, she scurried up the steps and took a seat opposite that of Miss Charlotte.
Tavington sighed, knowing that he wasn't the cause of Ruth's problems. After the women were settled, he folded the steps back and closed the door.
Charlotte rolled the window down and trailed her hand out to briefly link with that of her husband. "I'll see you soon" she murmured. "Be careful."
"I always am," he said, kissing her hand briefly. "We'll stop for a break within three hours, I promise." Squeezing her hand one last time, he said, "I'll see you later."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Mary Bordon was ready to leave Fort Carolina behind. Yes, this was the place where she and James had courted and begun their married life, but she was more than ready for a change. It had been painful in recent weeks, as time passed without her conceiving, to closely associate with Charlotte who blossomed more every day with her glowing pregnancy.
And the last straw had been when Ruth had turned up pregnant by that degenerate Marcus Tapp, who didn't even want to be a father. It just wasn't fair! Here was James, a good and honourable man, eager for fatherhood, and she couldn't provide him with an heir. But Tapp had impregnated Ruth as easily as he breathed, yet neither desired nor was fit for fatherhood
Charlotte had offered her a place to ride in the carriage with her and Ruth. Mary had declined, knowing the two women would inevitably and endlessly talk about their pregnancies and babies in general. She'd consented to Susan riding with the two women, however, as she knew it would be easier on her than riding double with someone on horseback.
Mary would ride her own horse, who hadn't been properly exercised in some time, side by side with James. She knew that Tavington wouldn't normally allow a woman to ride up with the dragoons, but he'd made an exception for her, because she was as accomplished of a rider as any of his men. Though Tavington did not expect a fight, she'd also been provided with a pistol, just in case.
As she walked her daughter over to the waiting carriage, Mary said, "I know you'd prefer to ride and you are a good rider, but you're just not big enough to keep up with the dragoons."
"Yes, Mother," the girl said dutifully, though she hated the idea of being confined in the cooped-up carriage for hours.
"Are you sure you won't ride with us, Mary," Charlotte asked as the other woman helped Mary into the carriage. "There's plenty of room."
"I appreciate the offer, but I must refuse," Mary said. "I've not exercised my horse in quite some time and today's trip is the perfect opportunity to do so." Smiling, she added, "But I'll surely see you when we take a rest break."
After giving her daughter one last kiss, Mary went to where she'd tethered her horse, Juno. To her distaste, just as she'd mounted the animal, Sergeant Major Marcus Tapp came by, heading right to where she was about to go.
Weeks of built up frustration suddenly came to a boil as the arrogant Sergeant Major approached. As he came within earshot, she turned to him and spat, "Shame on you, Marcus Tapp! How dare you take advantage of an innocent girl like Ruth, then not do the honourable thing. I know if I were Colonel Tavington, I'd make you marry her. Actually, I think you ought to be strung up from the nearest tree!"
Tapp stopped, regarding the ranting woman with sheer malevolence. "You think so, do you?" he demanded harshly. Not waiting for her reply, he grinned maliciously, then said, "The way I see it, you're jealous. Your man is apparently shooting blanks and you can't stand to see me give another woman a good bellyful." After a pause, he added, "You would do best to tend to your own affairs and stop meddling into what doesn't concern you."
"How dare you speak to me, an officer's wife, like that!" she cried indignantly. "You're nothing but a vile piece of gutter trash."
Before Tapp could reply, Captain Bordon came hurrying up to them. "Is there a problem here," he demanded, standing protectively between his wife's horse and Tapp's.
"No, sir," Tapp said, his tone of voice just slightly shy of insolence. "Your wife was just expressing a difference of opinion to me."
"You have no business speaking to my wife about anything, Tapp," Bordon said severely. "You are dismissed."
"Yes, sir," Tapp drawled, snapping off a sloppy salute to Bordon, before turning his horse and trotting away.
After Marcus Tapp had ridden off, muttering under his breath, Bordon turned to Mary, who was still trembling with rage. "Are you all right, love?" he asked, concerned. "Just what did he say to you?"
Not wanting to repeat the crack said about James 'shooting blanks', Mary merely said, "It was really my own fault, I'm thinking. I started it by telling him that his treatment of Ruth has been shameful."
"My God, Mary, whatever possessed you to do that?" Bordon demanded. "Tapp is a dangerous man. You should have never called attention to yourself like that."
"I didn't think," Mary said. "I acted out of frustration."
"He didn't threaten you, did he?" Bordon said. "I can have him busted for that."
"No, James," Mary assured him. "He simply told me to mind my own business."
"Well, you're going to ride up front with me," Bordon decided. "I'll feel better if you're where I can see you."
"Of course, James," Mary replied. "I'd already planned to ride alongside you, anyway."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Three hours later, the column halted for a rest break by a large meadow with a nearby creek.
"Finally!" Ruth exclaimed as the carriage rumbled to a halt. "I am so weary of sitting!"
"As am I," Charlotte agreed. "Do you think you can manage helping me down from the carriage? I find I need to relieve myself."
"Yes, Miss Charlotte, as long as we take it slowly," Ruth assured her. The younger woman was several inches taller than Charlotte, nearly as tall as Colonel Tavington, and felt quite up to the task.
Just as both of Charlotte's feet had reached the ground, one of the dragoon escorts belatedly said, "You should have allowed one of us to have helped you, Mistress Tavington. That's what we're here for."
"Quite all right, Private," Charlotte said briskly. "Why don't the two of you go water your horses while we're stopped and take a break yourselves."
"Will you keep watch while I go behind that large bush over there," Charlotte asked Ruth, pointing, after the two dragoons had trotted off. "I can't wait any longer."
"Of course, if you'll do the same for me," Ruth replied. "I'm fairly near to bursting myself."
"That's how it is when you're expecting," Charlotte said, with a rueful smile. "Just think, you have several more months of this ahead of you."
When both women and Susan had each taken their turns, Ruth said, "I'll go take our canteens down to the creek and fill them all up for us, I'm feeling kind of queasy, so I think the walk will do me good."
"Excellent idea," Charlotte said. "Susan and I will stay here near the carriage in case anyone comes looking for us. If William is able to come check on me, I need to be where he can find me."
"I shouldn't be gone all that long," Ruth promised.
"We'll eat some of the food I brought when you get back," Charlotte said.
When Ruth reached the creek a couple of minutes later, she found several other camp followers engaged in the same task she intended. She moved upstream a bit, to avoid conversing with the other women. She'd just not been in much of a mood for gossip since Marcus had abandoned her.
As she edged away from the laughing, chattering group of women, she was suddenly noticed by Molly.
"Will you look at that, girls!" Molly brayed. "Look at her, she must think she's too good to associate with the likes of us!"
The other women turned to stare at Ruth, who was bent over the stream trying to fill the canteens as quickly as she could and get out of there.
Molly ambled over to Ruth, followed by few of the other women. Glaring down at the other woman, she continued, "You think you're so high and mighty because you're Charlotte Tavington's maid. Truth is, you're no better than the rest of us, especially now that you've got a bellyful of Tapp's bastard."
"Mind your own business, Molly," Ruth said under her breath.
Paying her no heed, Molly was just warming up to her tirade. "But if you think you're special for that, you're sadly mistaken. I'm sure ol' Tapp has left by-blows all up and down the coast. Isn't that right, girls? Almost all of you here have spread your legs for him, haven't you?"
After most of the women nodded vigorously, Molly said, "There, you see? You're nothing special. And obviously you weren't doing the job right, as he's visiting my tent most often these days. Maybe one day soon, I'll be sporting me a big belly."
Having finished her task, Ruth stood up to face Molly and the other women. Speaking loud enough for everyone to hear, she spat, "Yes, but the difference between you and me, Molly, is that I know for sure who the father of my baby is."
"Why, you miserable sow!" Molly exclaimed, moving it to slap Ruth. Molly's friends edged closer as if they wanted to do the same.
Now feeling frightened, Ruth ran away, not paying particular attention to where she was going, as she simply wanted to get away from the angry women. They blocked the direct path back to Miss Charlotte, so she had to run along the creek bank for a bit, before cutting back in to head back to the road. Because she'd looked over her shoulder several times to make sure the women weren't following her, she'd blundered into a group of rough looking infantrymen, who were lounging in a small clearing by the side of the road.
Before she could get to the road, an arm reached out and pulled her to a stop, making her drop her canteens.
"Hey, little lady," one grimy looking private called out. "Where are you going in such a hurry? You didn't even stop to greet us lonely soldiers proper, did you now?"
Another soldier, a corporal, grabbed her other arm, leering at her. "Come on, now, love. Give us all a bit of relief before we have to start slogging onward again."
"Please, let me go," Ruth said, trying unsuccessfully to pull away from the two men. "I don't want any trouble." Nodding toward the creek, she said, "There are plenty of women there who'd be glad to accommodate you, I'm sure."
"Those worn-out slatterns?" a third man spat contemptuously. "They've been ridden more than a dragoon's horse. We want something new!"
"We want something new!" all the other men repeated. "We want something new!"
The second man shoved her to another man, who shoved her to yet another, until she was being shoved from man to man in a circle, while they all continued to chant, "We want something new!"
"What the fuck do you pox-ridden bastards think you're doing?" Marcus Tapp had seen Ruth's predicament as he was riding by and had spurred his horse to come up beside the filthy private who had her pulled tight against him. "Let her go. Immediately."
The private, oblivious to the murderous glare Tapp was giving him, said, "Aww, Sarge. We're just have us a bit of fun here. What it to you anyway,? Is this your whore?"
In the blink of an eye, Tapp had unsheathed his sabre and slid it against the offending private's cheek, opening an angry red gash from cheekbone to jaw. Before he finished replacing it into its scabbard, the other man had quickly released Ruth, his hands instantly flying up in a belated attempt to protect his cut face.
"Do you care to repeat what you just said, Private?" Tapp said coldly. When the man shook his head, the dragoon muttered, "I didn't think so. You try anything like this again with her and my sabre will go lower the next time."
Turning his glare on the other men, he pointed at the group of women still down by the creek and growled, "There's plenty of tail over there if you're needing to have an itch scratched."
As the men dispersed, Tapp leaned down and pulled Ruth up onto his horse, after she'd retrieved the fallen canteens.
"What in the hell were you doing down there among that pack of cutthroats?" Tapp demanded sourly as he turned his horse back onto the road. "If I hadn't come along when I did, they'd have all ridden you until you couldn't twitch."
"What do you care, Marcus?" Ruth asked wearily. "You walked out on me as soon as you found out I was carrying your child."
"I care more than I should," he muttered gruffly, his hands absently stroking her where he held her around the waist.
"You care too much?" Ruth was confused. "You certainly have a peculiar way of showing it."
"You didn't answer my question," he said, ignoring her expression of hurt feelings. ""What were you doing down there?"
"I was down at the creek refilling our canteens for the next part of the trip," she told him. "And they grabbed me as I was walking back."
"Charlotte Tavington should have sent the carriage driver to do that," Tapp said. "You shouldn't have to be doing that in your condition."
Ruth shifted to look back into Tapp's face, but nothing about his facial expression betrayed any particular feelings he might have.
A moment later, they'd arrived back at the carriage, where he immediately dismounted and helped Ruth down from the horse, Catching sight of the carriage driver laying in the grass nearby, he left Ruth and strode over and kicked the private in the arse.
"Get up, you bleeding sod!" he roared. When the hapless soldier complied, he said, "Next time the women need some water, you go get it, you lazy piece of shit. Understand?"
"Y-yes, sir," the private said. "Sorry, sir!"
Tapp didn't acknowledge him, but returned to his horse, muttering under his breath. After he swung back up onto his horse, he turned to Ruth who was standing by an open mouthed Charlotte and an avidly curious Susan and said, "I trust you're all right, now?"
After she nodded dumbly, he turned his horse without another word and trotted off, leaving a thoroughly bewildered Ruth staring after him.
"What was that all about?" Charlotte asked, looking askance at the departing Marcus Tapp then back at the perplexed expression on Ruth's face. "You've not reconciled with him, have you?"
"I was accosted by some foot soldiers when I was on my way back here from the creek," Ruth explained. "I think they would have all ravished me had Marcus not come along and stopped them." She shuddered at the mere thought of what likely would have happened to her.
"Well, it would seem as if he does have some measure of regard for you," Charlotte noted. "Even if it is just a desire to protect the mother of his child." After a pause, she added, "And it appears as if he has a sense of honour, after all, however small."
As the women resumed their journey a short time later, Ruth pondered Marcus' actions that day and dared to hope that there might be some hope for them. As the miles passed behind them, Ruth carefully tended that small flicker of hope for the future.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Author's Note: The chanting of "We want something new!" is, of course, taken directly from the old M*A*S*H episode where Hawkeye protests getting the same old thing in the mess tent all the time, and gets everyone in the tent to chant, "We want something else!", over and over.