Thanks again to those determined souls who've managed to hang in there as John's backstory unfolds. Things should move quicker now that they are embedded in the camp. Please assume that when John and his men are in the Boer unit they are speaking Afrikaans, but for obvious reasons I've written it in English.
Reviews, as always are deeply appreciated.
Having eaten the small meals prepared to tide them over until supper, John and his team left the mess tent and went their separate ways. The plan being to meet at the tent assigned to their team in an hour and share whatever information or observations they'd made as they casually walked about the Boer encampment.
The hour passed quickly and John and his men gathered together to discuss what they had found. Thomas was stationed outside of the tent, ostensibly to have a cigarette, but in actuality he was keeping watch that none of the Boers came within earshot of the team. He'd be replaced in 10 minutes or so by Simon and then could get caught up on what had been found out, and also share his observations.
The transfer of information went seamlessly and all the men were brought up to speed on the layout of the encampment, an estimation of how many men and women made up the group and the location of the ammo and weapons.
John released a sigh of relief following the debriefing. So far, so good he thought to himself. Now all he had to do was wait to be informed who and where his contact was located and start feeding him information on the Boer's and their plans.
Bates knew that even as he and his men were being marched to the Boer headquarters earlier in the day that he was also being tracked by members of a crack British team of spies. They would be contacting him some way, somehow, sometime and the flow of information would then commence between John's group and British HQ. So for now, there was nothing more to do than wait...
A game of cards began amongst the men but John decided to forgo joining in and instead opted to go for another walk around the camp... thinking there may be some important clue to what was being planned that they might have missed.
He ambled leisurely towards the Boer Commandant's tent and was just starting to make out the voices of Colonel Veldhuis and another man. Casually he continued towards the camp... kicking a stone with his boot as a ruse to get him closer to the makeshift HQ. Just as he was about to maneuver the rock a little closer to the tent, he felt a hand touch his arm, startling him. Instead of hitting the stone he toed the ground hard and stumbled but caught himself before he fell down.
"On my, I'm so sorry Sgt. Botha. I didn't mean to startle you."
John recognized the voice of Marta, the young woman from the kitchen, and turned to face her.
"Not your fault...Marta, is it? I'm afraid my football skills, or rather lack of them is what brought me up. You see I knew at an early age that my dream of being a footballer was a mission impossible. As you have just witnessed...I have two left feet"
Marta covered he mouth and laughed softly at Bates attempt to explain his near fall, and then countered quickly. 'Well, it's a pity then, really, as you have such very long, and from what I can tell from here, strong legs, Sergeant. I imagine that you would be very fast running down the pitch.
Marta looked directly into John's eyes as she spoke and then lightly bit down on her lower lip. Bates immediately felt his cheeks go red as his eyes focused on her mouth.
'Good God man... What is wrong with you?' Bates was having an inner dialogue admonishing himself to get a grip. It's not like you've not been the object of a woman's harmless flirtation before. He had important business to attend to and while Marta was quite lovely, there was no time to continue this conversation. Duty calls, John... don't forget.
John bowed slightly from the waist, picked up his rock and nodded to Marta as he strode purposefully back to his team. He wasn't sure, but he thought he heard a sigh come from the young lady as he walked away. He made sure not to look back.
Suppertime came and Bates, Thomas, Simon and Jamie headed towards the mess. Upon entering the tent they saw a line forming to the right and entered into the queue. John noticed Marta standing at the opposite end of the line behind one of the long tables dishing out what appeared to be some kind of stew along with a chunk of bread,
As the line moved forward, John engaged in some meaningless chatter with his men, while trying to listen carefully for any talk that might give away any type of plan for future attacks by the Boers, but it all blended into one continual stream of voices. One thing that John did notice was that whenever he looked up and over to where Marta was standing his gaze would be met by hers. Bates couldn't explain why he was so enchanted by the young woman, but he once again felt his cheeks redden as he got nearer to her and her mesmerizing green eyes.
As he reached the front of the line, she addressed him by name. "Good evening, Sergeant Botha. Did you score any goals since we last spoke?" Marta teased.
Bates wasn't expecting such familiarity from Colonel Veldhuis' daughter and the reference to their earlier meeting threw him slightly. Surprised he said nothing but gave a timid grin to the young woman, murmuring a thank you as she filled his bowl to the top with the thick rich stew and plated an extra piece of bread for John.
"Good eating, Sergeant," the young lady smiled as she looked directly into John's eyes. "If you're still not full after this serving, please come back for more. I find it quite appealing..."
Bates was confused and had to have an explanation.. "You find "it" appealing?"
Marta smiled and then replied... "A man with a hearty appetite, Sgt. Bates... You appear to me to be a man with a very impressive appetite."
John couldn't believe his ears...What did she just say? Bates mouth fell open but before he could gather his thoughts and make a reply he felt someone shove him out of line.
"Move on Sergeant... There's a line of hungry men waiting to be served...Off you go." Bates turned and saw it was Thomas pushing him forward. Through gritted teeth Thomas whispered in John's ear..."For God's sake man... Move! You're attracting way more attention than we need at the moment."
John stumbled forward as Fellowes steered him to the table where the rest of the team was seated. They were gathered away from the rest of the soldiers in the mess and out of their earshot. Bates sat on the far end of the bench. His mind was racing as he tried to put into perspective what had just happened. The stunned look on his face was not lost on his men as they murmured amongst themselves with Thomas finally addressing John directly.
"So Sarge, ummmm What exactly was that in the queue... Don't tell me that you are starting to fall for the lovely Miss Veldhuis. She is a looker, but really John... the Colonel's daughter? Sounds like something from a penny dreadful."
Jamie looked at Simon and started to laugh but stopped quickly as he saw the deadly stare emitting from Bates. "Sorry Sarge," murmured Jamie.
"It's nothing...and none of your business, Thomas," John growled, hoping that would be the end of the discussion, but Fellowes wouldn't let it go.
"On the contrary Sgt. Bates... It very much is my business... Anything that could jeopardize our mission is, in fact "our" business. Thomas nodded towards Simon and Jamie. "We're a team and there is no good that can come from fraternizing with the enemy."
"Shut up, Thomas," John spat in Fellowes direction.
"I only know what my eyes show me, sergeant," Fellowes continued. "And it was so obvious what was going on between you and Marta. I can't believe you'd jeopardize this mission just to sate your own personal desires."
Bates stood up slowly and placed his hands on the table. "You know nothing." He spoke slowly and distinctly, directing his gaze towards Thomas, Simon and Jamie. "All of you...know nothing."
John turned and exited the dining tent, and headed towards the outer perimeter of the camp. He needed to be alone...he needed to figure out what was happening and how he was going to be able to stop whatever it was that Marta saw and wanted from him.