@ luceti ; as if he'd ever get castmates lol

[greenjacketed]

My lady,

Beg pardon, but I do not see the point in canvasing this spot for any of my men. [ or women, lest he ever let himself dream of seeing teresa again. ] Not a one of them would like life in that village -- nor like the wings neither. Not even Harris. And as it is my duty as Major to look after their interests, I must insist. Don't try and tempt a single rifleman to Luceti. Especially not...

[ a taut, brassy silence. it's finally broken when sharpe's formal tone erodes and he argues more casually: ] Look, you. I'm doing bloody well fine without Harper. I don't need him or anyone else to brew my tea. And no, I don't need him to make certain I don't muck things up with with Miss Carpenter. I'm perfectly capable of wooing a woman without my Sergeant Major in attendance. I'm not tied to Pat's apron-strings.

[ wait -- did he just say wooing? blast it. blast it all to hell. ]

...Give it a rest, ma'am.

-- Major Richard Sharpe

Comments

[greenjacketed]

[ quietly -- and as a confession he wouldn't dare give to any other man: ] I've been waiting to wake up, Pat. It's like that bloody death house in Salamanca.

[ a hard swallow. things turn light once again as he tries to take a swipe at the many sailors found in town: ] I've got a load of navymen to keep me company, Sergeant. It's unbearable. Could do to see the men again and give the sea-bastards a glimpse of real soldiering.

[godsaveireland]

From what I've heard, these places always seem like a bad dream.

Sailors. With wings.

God save Ireland.

... can any of them hold their drink? [Because it sounds like the sort of place the requires copious amounts of alcohol.]

[greenjacketed]

And there's only a blighted Admiral there and all...[ a bitter laugh. ] There's a bar in the dead centre of town that you'd take to, Pat. Fine brandy in stock and all for free.

And a man what seems to be a fixture of the place. A pirate, he says. Can hold his liquor well enough. I'd sooner drink with him than the naval officers.

[ as ever. ]

[godsaveireland]

Free brandy? Maybe the place isn't so bad after all.

[Patrick has clearly picked the right thing to focus on.]

[greenjacketed]

[ his smile is sardonic. ]

We've seen worse, Pat. Much worse. And the locals are downright helpful. Still -- it isn't without its own war.

[godsaveireland]

Including this Miss Carpenter, sir? [Yes, he spotted that. Of course he did.]

There always is. And you'd get bored if there wasn't. You always get yourself into trouble when you're bored.

pardon the edits.

[greenjacketed]

[ of course he did. there is that split-second slightly besotted look on richard's face that his men know all too well. a petticoat has waltzed into his sight and he's clearly down for the count. he'll likely cock the whole thing up without you, pat. ]

She's an odd sort, Miss Molly Carpenter. [ brassy -- as he likes'em -- and terrifyingly modern. ] And enough to keep any man from getting too bored, if only

[ he abandons the thought. ] A woman like her must expect something more [ just being his magnetizing self hasn't been working as well as he'd hoped. ] And the she has a guardian in the village.

No problem!

[godsaveireland]

[Well, on one hand, it was good to know that being trapped in such a strange prison hadn't changed Sharpe. On the other hand, however, Harper knows how this story is going to end.

Although Sharpe has never let those sorts of details - guardians and differences in stations or expectations or both - stop him before.]

What sort of something more, sir?

[greenjacketed]

Oh -- you'll like this bit, Patrick. She's American. [ but... ] And I do not claim to understand it but she's from a far-off year where men like you and I are only history. Just another reason why the village is so buggering confounding. Folk from all sorts of times and places.

[ like king bleeding arthur. still can't quite wrap his belief around that one. ]

I suspect I'm a simple old soul to her, Pat. Never thought I'd be turned into a bloody relic.

[godsaveireland]

God save Ireland.

[And he'd thought the wings were strange.]

Well, every man'll be history one day. You're both there now. That's what matters.

[greenjacketed]

[ there is a certain relief found in the fact that no one seems to know his name -- history or not. they know of the war and some knew of the 95th but most received his name with a blank face. this has been a blessing for a man who cringed when civilians quizzed him on talavera or badajoz or assaye. ]

Aye, but for how long? Our captors come across fickle. But if she chooses to dally -- [ in the dust and dirt, as spears might once have said ] -- then I shan't complain.

Where've you found yourself, these days? [ his voice turns brisk. to business, then, if not to matters of the heart. ]

[godsaveireland]

Me? I'm only here because of you, sir. My own lady mundane caught sight of your post and couldn't resist lettin' me stretch my legs. I'll be gathering dust before long.

[Which isn't the most pleasant of thoughts, now that he's out and about.]

[greenjacketed]

Better dusty, in the end.

[ but his voice lacks conviction. it isn't a simple case of missing his sergeant and his friend but more an uncanny understanding that men like himself and harper weren't made to gather dust of any kind -- unless it was dust kicked up on the march or the fine bitter dust of gunpowder. ] Safer.

[godsaveireland]

When have the likes of us ever been interested in being safe, sir?

[And it wasn't just the prospect of inaction that troubled him. He'd follow Sharpe anywhere. To hell and back, if necessary. The idea of leaving him along - again, apparently - didn't sit well with Patrick Harper.]

[greenjacketed]

...Got myself sent on one of their missions, at least. A means to keep busy until they send us marching to war again.

[ missions. wellesley's whipping boy all over again -- got a dirty job that needed doing? sharpe and his rifles, aye. they'll look after it.

and then, slightly moodier: ] Been making my own damned tea too, Pat.

[godsaveireland]

[A mission without Harper by his side? His loyal sergeant didn't like the sound of that.

Dangerous, these missions?

[He smiles again at the mention of the tea.]

Are you now? Have you got any better at making it taste like proper tea?

[greenjacketed]

Enough, Pat. Dangerous enough. Though they had us hauling sodding bodies around the jungle like...[ oh. but that brings up the strange matter of the dead not staying dead in luceti. but coming back to live and being collected by poor saps like himself and sparrow.

and he doesn't care to invite that horror on harper. not yet. ]

It tastes shite. I tried to make it the way you do but it always comes out shite. How hard can boiling bloody water be?

[godsaveireland]

Like a soldier.

[That was what they did, wasn't it? The jobs that somebody had to do and that nobody else wanted to do.]

Ah, there's an art to it. I'm sure you'll be brewing it perfectly in no time.

[greenjacketed]

Well, I'm no artist. They have terrible, strange machines for that sort of thing. 'Lectric stoves, they call'em.

[godsaveireland]

Lectric? What does that mean?

[greenjacketed]

Means they're the devil's bloody handiwork. That's what it means, Pat.

[ don't let sharpe teach science to your kids ok. ] That and the 'lectric lights. No flames to'em. Not a lamp or candle in sight.

[godsaveireland]

Well, you've already got yourself a pair of wings, sir. I wouldn't be surprised if the devil was involved.

[greenjacketed]

And here's myself, the unrepentant sinner. [ could it be hell?

no -- miss molly carpenter could never be a citizen of such a place. ]

[godsaveireland]

Most people aren't repentant when they start, sir. That part comes later.

[greenjacketed]

[ a long sigh. ] They stole me straight off the docks in Plymouth. We'd just secured the Second Battalion. On our way back to Spain to crack open France with Nosey.