A week and a half after Obadiah Hakeswill first met Jane Cutler, Corporal Richard Sharpe and the rest of the bedraggled remnants of the 33rd finally arrived back at their home base, weary and footsore. Orders for new supplies to re-provision the returning troops had yet to be completed, partially because of Sergeant Hakeswill diverting a portion of the goods from each sutler into the black market, so quite a few of the men would remain in tattered uniforms and broken shoes with flapping soles for the next several weeks.
Richard Sharpe did not care; he was just glad to be on home soil again, with a full belly and a full bag of coins. He'd stripped a dead French dragoon of his trousers and shirt not long before returning to England, so he at least wasn't showing his arse through torn trousers, like so many of his comrades were. They'd be on garrison duty for some time to come, so he was content to wait patiently for new supplies. It would be a couple of days before all the returning men would be assigned to various duties, and Sharpe was more than happy enough to wait for that, too.
In the meanwhile, he intended to get drunk as often as he was allowed to visit the pub in town. With a the loot he'd plundered in Belgium, he had enough to keep himself in liquor for some time to come, with plenty left over for whores as well.
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Since meeting Jane Cutler, Obadiah Hakeswill spent every idle moment daydreaming about the comely young woman, thinking of how to go about courting her. He knew at least that he had to take it slow; that it wouldn't be proper to rush a respectable woman like her. Though he had no experience with decent women, he did not ask anyone for advice on how to win her affection. There was no one he trusted enough to confide in and he'd always made a point of keeping his private business to himself since joining the army. Over the years, he'd had plenty of opportunities to observe officers courting proper ladies, so he'd decided to muddle through as best he could.
Because Lt. Morris had kept him busy for the next few days, mostly arranging for the sale of stolen goods on the black market, he didn't have the chance to visit the cobbler shop again as soon as he would have liked. Nearly a week passed before he had the chance to go into Leadingham. It was about time to check on the progress of the shoe order, so he had the perfect excuse to stop in to see Jane.
After washing up and putting on a clean shirt with his uniform, Obadiah thought it might be nice to bring a gift for Jane. But what? It shouldn't be anything too personal, because he wanted to take it slow and didn't want to scare her off before any relationship ever got started.
His eyes swept around the sergeants' barracks until they fell on the coal bin in the corner. "That's it!" he thought to himself."I'll bring her a scuttle of coal!"
Some time later, as he entered the cobbler shop, he found Jane sitting alone at a desk doing some paperwork. "Obadiah," she greeted him, smiling, as she looked up from her work. "It's good to see you again." Looking down at the coal scuttle he was carrying, she asked, "What do you have there?"
"Brought you a scuttle of coal, I did," he told her, twitching nervously. "Thought you might be able to use some extra."
"Oh, how wonderfully kind of you," she said warmly, accepting his gift. "You can put it by the hearth, if you would, please. I will certainly put it to good use."
"Glad to be of service, missy," he said, grinning broadly. "Any time you needs help with anything, you just call on me."
"You're such a good friend, Obadiah," she told him, favouring him with a tentative smile, wondering why he'd brought a gift.
"I hopes to be."
"What can I do for you today?"
"I just want to check how far along your father is with the order," the sergeant explained. "I needs to give Lt. Morris an idea, 'cos the men have just started arrivin' back in camp today."
"Nearly halfway through," she told him. "They've been working steadily on it." After stepping into the back room for a moment, she came back with a brand new pair of boots. "Take a look at these and you'll see they're very well made."
Hakeswill inspected the footwear carefully, which were indeed as finely made as Jane had claimed. "Fine looking pair of boots. I'd be proud to wear a pair like these."
"They're yours," she said, putting a finger to her lips. "They look to be about your size. Just don't tell no one I gave them to you. Da wouldn't be happy if he knew I gave a pair away."
"Our little secret," Obadiah said, his heart warm with gladness, as it seemed as if Jane liked him, too. "Let me see if they're the right size, first, though." After lifting one foot and placing the sole of one of the new boots against it, he pronounced, "Just right! How'd you know what size I was?"
"I've been doing this job for so long that I can pretty much just look at someone's feet and know about what size is right," she explained, shrugging. "I'm glad they'll fit."
"I 'preciates it," he told her quietly, twitching again. "Always good to have a spare pair of boots."
"I'm glad you like them," she said, her tone businesslike once more.
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Two days after Corporal Richard Sharpe arrived back in camp, he and six privates were given orders to report to Sergeant Hakeswill for duty at the warehouse.
"Well, at least I won't be spending my time doing all that bloody drilling," Sharpe muttered to himself in consolation as he made his way over to the warehouse with the other men. "Hope Hakeswill won't be too much of a bastard to work for."
A few minutes later, he found the rawboned sergeant in the back of the warehouse sitting at a desk drinking coffee.
"Corporal Sharpe reporting for duty as ordered, Sergeant Hakeswill," Sharpe said, saluting the senior NCO as he stopped in front of the desk.
"Well, if it ain't Dick Sharpe," Hakeswill said, cackling as he acknowledged the corporal. "Done made corporal, have you? Army life must be agreein' with you as much as it does me."
"That it does," Sharpe agreed.
Indicating the coffee pot and a few mugs sitting on a shelf nearby, the sergeant said, "Have you a cup of coffee, Sharpie, 'fore I tells you what you and the lads will be doing here."
"Don't mind if I do," the younger man said, heading over to get a cup.
A few minutes later, after the two men finished their coffee, Hakeswill rose from the desk. "Come on, Sharpie. I'll show you the warehouse and tells you what needs to be done."
Beckoning for Sharpe to follow him, he went down one aisle, which had several empty shelves. Other shelves that contained inventory were jumbled and disorganised.
"I've only just took over in here, 'cos the sergeant what was here before me died," Hakeswill explained. "Man was old and feeble, so that explains the sorry state of this warehouse. He just wasn't up to the work no more."
Not waiting for Sharpe to comment, he continued, "I've done put orders in for all the equipment what you lads who just returned to camp will need to have replaced, but ain't none of it ready yet. When it's all ready, I'll be needin' you to take these lads to each sutler to pick up the orders. After bringin' it back here, you'll put it in proper order here on the shelves, 'fore it all gets issued to each man, see?"
"Right, Sergeant," Sharpe replied, nodding in understanding.
"While you're waiting for the orders to be ready, I'll be needin' what we have now to be organized, so's we know what we have and can make room for the new stuff."
As they left the aisle and returned to the desk by the fireplace where the coffee pot still waited, Hakeswill concluded, "It ain't very interesting work, but it's better than bein' out in the mud doing drill all damned day long."
"You're right there," Sharpe agreed. "I know I'm lucky to have got this duty."
"You does what I says and minds your own business and keeps your mouth shut, we'll get along fine," Hakeswill told him, twitching briefly. "You cross me and I promises that you'll be more sorry than you can ever imagine, mark my words."
"Ain't going to be no problem, Sarge," Sharpe promised him. "Not me, nor none of the lads here are going to ruin easy duty like this."
"Good," Hakeswill growled. "Just so's you understand how it's going to be."