Chapter 8

It was a fine late summer's day as the column set off towards the Badger people. They expected the journey to take three to four weeks, depending on what they came upon along the way. They had been travelling for a day and a half, when they came upon a farmstead with a woman and two small children trying to bring in the harvest. They had scythes that looked worn and blunt, and Tony could see that the woman was crying. He rode over to the woman and asked what the matter was.

"My husband died of fever during the winter. Now we have to try and get this harvest in. There's only me and my children, if I don't get it in we'll starve. But even if we do, what'll we do next year? I can't plant all this by myself. I just don't know what to do!"

"Now tell me, what is your name?" asked Tony

"Letitia, and my children are Peter and Alice," she told him

"Well, Letitia we can help you get the harvest in this year, but we'll need to speak to Lord Tom about next. He will probably have an idea," Tony said.

The column halted and Tony assembled one of his harvesters, hitched it up to a team of horses and started to harvest the field. Letitia looked on in amazement. She turned to Janice and Paul who were standing watching as the wheat was cut and bundled by the machine.

"I have never seen anything like it. This normally takes days, but he'll have the field done in a couple of hours. Please, where are my manners? I'm Letitia, and these are my children Peter and Alice, I'm afraid I didn't catch yours."

"I'm Paul, and this is Janice," answered Paul.

"That's Lord Paul, and I'm Angel Janice," Janice corrected him.

"You're the ones who defeated the slavers aren't you!" She said her jaw dropping with surprise.

Tom wandered over and asked, "Who's this then?" as he approached.

"Lord Tom, may I introduce Letitia, the owner of this farm," said Janice.

"Lord Tom!" said Letitia amazed "You're the ones who saved Small Cove ... and all of us, really ... from the slavers. Why have you stopped, here? What have we got that you could possibly want?" She dropped to her knees. "I am your servant, sire," she proclaimed.

Tom, embarrassed, helped her back to her feet.

"Now then," he asked her, "where do you want this lot stored?"

"Um, in the barn at the back, please?" she answered somewhat stunned.

Tom signalled to his men, and dismounting, they helped gather in the harvest. After it was all in it was quite late.

"We'll stay here, tonight, if that's all right with you?" said Tom. "In the morning we'll send word to Small Cove and get some help sent out here. I'm sure that some of the refugees there will be only too pleased to help, as will the prisoners, also. I'm sure that you'll not want for help in the future."

The woman looked at him, flung her arms around him, and wept.

"Thank you, Sir, thank you. I don't know what we would have done without you."

He quietly led the woman into her home. As they went, the boy came up to him. He was about seven years old.

"Please, Sir?" he enquired politely, "Why is mummy crying? The harvest is in, now, and my hands won't get so sore."

Paul asked to see his hands. They were blistered, and the blisters had burst and were weeping.

"I'll get something for those," he said. "Mummy's tears are happy tears. She's happy that the harvest is in, and you will all be able to eat this winter." He told the boy as he went out to the wagon.

He returned with some clean bandages and some salve which he put on Peter's blisters. Alice, who was about five, came over to them.

"What are you doing to Peter?" she asked.

"I'm making his hands better, so they won't be so sore," Paul told her.

"My hands are sore, too." she said, not wishing to be left out. Paul smiled and rubbed some salve onto her hands, as well.

"All better, now?" he asked her

She nodded, then reached up and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you," she said and then went over to her mother, who had stopped weeping and was boiling up some water.

"We haven't much," she told Tom, "but you're welcome to what ever we have."

"It's all right. We have our own supplies. We couldn't possibly impose on you like that. It's enough that you let us camp here, tonight. I will however ask that you allow the people from Small Cove to take your harvest for safe keeping. You will be issued a tally stick, and this will be honoured whenever you need supplies. Have no fear, the people there will not try to trick or rob you. Your harvest will be quite safe," Tom told her.

She looked worried at this. "We are not rich sire. This is all we have. If anything should happen to it, well, what would become of us?"

"Do not worry. You have my word on it. You and your children will be well cared for," he told her.

She stood silently thinking, and finally said "You are right, Sire, I must do this for my children. Our harvest must be protected, and it'll be safer in Small Cove than here in my barn."

"Good, now let's get the children fed and off to bed. It's getting late for them," Tom told her.

Food was brought in and prepared, and the family ate better than they had for months. Finally two very tired, sated children were ready for bed. Peter came up to them and gingerly shook their hands.

"Thank you all for everything you've done for us."

"That's all right, son," Tom replied. "It's been a pleasure meeting such a fine gentleman as yourself."

Peter beamed, and stood as tall and proud as he could as he made his way up to the sleeping loft. Alice was next. She kissed Paul and said, "Thank you for helping us and making Peter's hands better. I wish you could be my new daddy, but you already have your wife, here, don't you?" She looked straight at Janice. "How long have you been married, and when will you have a baby?"

Janice spluttered and stammered out, "We're, um, not married, and I'm not having a baby!"

"You will, soon," Alice replied, and with that she went up to bed.

Tom and Tony staggered out side, and then burst into laughter.

"Out of the mouths of babes," Tony said, and laughed so hard that tears flowed freely.

"I know! Did you see their faces?" Tom said through his laughter.

Suddenly, the realisation struck them. The child was right. The pair were in love. You could see it in their every action and motion.

"Oh, shit. This complicates things, doesn't it?"

"I should say. What are we going to do if he decides not to go back? What if he decides to stay here?" said Tony, horrified.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now we have a very large Island to clear of slavers, and some damsels to rescue. Come on, we'd better get some sleep, ourselves. We leave at dawn." replied Tom.

The following morning, Tom wrote a letter to Robert explaining the situation at the farm, and gave it to one of the messengers. The lad set off, and arrived at Small Cove after a hard days ride. He gave the letter to Robert.

"Well done, lad," Robert said to him. "Now get something to eat before you head for bed."

Robert went off to read the letter. Once he had read it he went to see Heinrich. They went to the refugee camp and found a family willing to live with the widow and her children. They also found one of the prisoners who had been a farmer before he joined up. He was willing to accompany the party. It took three days to assemble all the necessary supplies and equipment. On the afternoon of the fourth day, they arrived at their new home.

Tom and his party set off at dawn, making good time, covering ground much quicker than they did last time they came this way with Ahmed. They stopped at a small town, if you could call it that. It was just a few houses; a blacksmith's, an inn and a small shop. They went to the inn; it was the usual type of inn, dark, smoky and incredibly smelly. Tom and Tony went inside. The landlord came over to them.

"Yes, Sirs, what can I get you?"

"We'd like to stay in the field at the back. We have several wagons and over thirty people, along with several farmers and their families. They are also with our column. They will need food and drink. Several of them are Angels, so if you have folk who have need, let us know," Tom told him.

The man's eyes lit up with the prospect of so much business.

"Yes, Sir! Certainly, Sir," he said, rushing outside to see who and what had arrived at his inn.

Tom and Tony joined him outside when Simon, who was the captain of the guards came up to them. He stood before them and saluted.

"Lord Tom, Sir Tony, we've started to set up in the back field, I'll send half the men in first, the others can keep watch. I thought a four hour shift should be about right. I'll send the boys in, as well. They may as well get as much sleep as they can. Lord Paul and Angel Janice have started setting up a clinic. They say they'll be in on the first shift, which will give time for the locals to find out about our presence, here, and begin arriving. The farmers will come in as they will, some of them have said they will take their turn standing watch, too."

"Very good, Captain," replied Tony. "It's nice to see you're on top of things."

The innkeepers jaw dropped when he saw the assembled column setting up camp so efficiently. When he heard the names of Lord Tom, Sir Tony, and Lord Paul; his eyes nearly stood out from his face, in amazement.

"My Lords!" he said, not believing what was happening. "Umm, welcome to my inn. Umm, I'll get the wife to start cooking the food. What would you like Sirs? If we have it you'll be surely welcome to it."

Tom smiled at the man and told him, "It's all right. We'll have what ever is on the stove, just as long it's hot and tasty. Also, have no fear, we intend to pay for what ever we eat and drink. Now, could you please boil up some water, I expect the ladies would like a bath."

"A bath! Yes, Sir, a bath! Right away, Sir. Yes, a bath," he repeated over and over.

"Yes, a bath... now, " said Tony.

This seemed to galvanise the man, and he hurried into the inn, shouting for his unfortunate wife.

"Margaret, we have guests! They need food and baths. Stoke up the fire and boil the water. I'll see to the food."

Tom and Tony left him to it, and went down to where the camp was being set up. The guards were already in position, and looked magnificent in their uniforms, holding their spears and shields.

They walked over to where Paul and Janice were setting up their clinic. It had been decided that they would do this everywhere they stopped, as they wished to help as many as they could. Already there was a young woman talking to them about something, and as they approached they saw Janice lead her into the wagon.

"Hi, Paul," said Tom as they drew near, "everything all right?"

"Yes, fine. The poor thing is suffering terribly from period pain. Janice is mixing her up a potion of willow bark and hemp to ease it. She should feel a lot better by morning," he told them.

"I've asked the innkeeper to prepare baths for the girls. I must say I could use one myself. As soon as she's finished, send her over, I'll tell the others," he said.

"Okay, I'll let her know," said Paul

Tom walked over to the other girls, and told them about the baths. They were very excited, and ran over to the inn to be in the front of the queue. Several of the off duty guards also wished to have a bath. Tom laughed. Just a few months ago you would have been lucky to have got these men into a tub once a year. Now, with the health benefits so evident, with the reduction of sores, rashes and irritations it was difficult to keep them out. They also smelt a whole lot better!

Tony walked around the camp. It was he who had been responsible for forming the militia, for training and arming them. He was pleased how it had turned out. Each man was armed with a long spear, and he also had a large shield made from a type of plywood covered in leather. He watched as some of the locals approached his men. At first they seemed wary, but when they came nearer, and his men were not aggressive towards them they seemed to relax. Several of them seemed to be unwell, and a couple were being carried on stretchers. He went over to these folk, and directed them to where Paul had set up his clinic.

Paul looked at these new arrivals with a sinking heart. He knew that he could do very little for these people. He just hadn't the skill or equipment to do what was necessary. One man had a broken back. It was a miracle that he was still alive, but there was nothing Paul could do. The other two Angels took some of the other patients to see what could be done. They asked the off duty guards for help, and they were only too glad to assist. There were several skin rashes to treat, boils to lance and the usual cuts, abrasions and minor ailments to attend to. Most were treated with a little willow bark tea. If something stronger was required they were dosed with poppy tea, or wine. Another was a boy with a badly broken leg, that had been allowed to heal wrong. The only thing to do was to re-break the leg and reset it. This would take time and the child would need to be immobilized for up to six weeks. He just didn't have the time to do it, and taking him with them wasn't an option, as being bounced about on the back of a wagon would be a form of torture. He explained this to his parents, but they asked him to do what he could, and they would look after their son, and keep him still for the required time. They explained that if nothing were done then their child would grow up a cripple and be unable to work the farm. If he could not work, then how would he be able to feed himself, or help them as they grew older, for that matter?

Paul agreed and asked Janice to assist. The child was taken into the wagon and given a strong dose of poppy tea. Once it had taken effect, Paul re-broke the child's leg. The child screamed and cried. His mother held her hands to her mouth, and tears ran down her face. Paul manipulated his leg until it was positioned correctly, then he set the leg with split boughs and clay soaked bandages. He wrapped the bandages around the leg, then re-enforced it with more boughs, and wrapped more bandages around, until the leg was totally immobilized. He then told his parents to keep him off of the leg for six weeks. Only then, could the plaster come off.

He also told them that after the leg had been immobilized for so long, that the leg would be withered. It would need rehabilitating. This would be painful. The chance was good that the boy would not wish to do it, but without it, he would never walk correctly again. Paul said to them that he had done his best, now it was up to them. They thanked him for his efforts. The man tried to press some money into Paul's hand, but Paul refused it. He told them that their son's rehabilitation was going to take a long time, and for them to spend the money on getting help for him. The parents spent the night in the wagon next to their son, while Paul and Janice spent the night at the inn. As they retired to their separate rooms Paul spoke to Janice.

"Do you know what, my angel" he said, "I don't know what I'd have done today without you."

"Am I your Angel?" she asked, stepping into his arms and looking him in the eyes.

He looked into her eyes and was lost.

"You know you are. You are my sun and my moon. You are the reason I get up in the morning."

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. She returned his kiss, and were still wrapped in each others arms when Tom walked along the corridor and saw them. Tom coughed and they broke apart.

"Paul, we need to talk" said Tom, with a worried look on his face.

"Yes, very well," he said. Turning to Janice he added, "Goodnight, my love, we will have something to discuss in the morning."

And with one last kiss he shepherded her into her room. They then walked into Tom's room.

"Well?" said Tom, "What was all that about?"

"I just don't know. I've never felt like this before, about anyone, before. She's the first person I think of in the morning, and the last one I think of at night. I really don't know what I'm going to do without her. The thing is, she has no idea who we are, or why we're here. How do I tell her that I'm here to rescue another woman, and once I have, I'm to take her back to another planet and get her pregnant, all the while leaving that poor girl simmering like mount Vesuvius. I can't sleep some nights the strain is so great," Paul told him.

"How did all this start?" asked Tom.

"Well, it started at the hospital with that woman you found, the one who had prostituted herself, the one with the two small children that were starving. Well it started when you brought her in. Janice just took over. She was so good with the woman, so kind, gentle and caring. We just seemed to work so well, together. I mean, I'd already noticed how good looking she was, but her nature is such that I know I could search for a thousand years and never find another like her. It's quite simple, I love her, and it's my wish to marry her and make her my wife. I never thought it would happen, certainly not on Chaos. I mean, I've had so many Damsels before, and I have Meria on Crossroads. God! What am I going to tell her? Oh shit. How did this get so complicated? At least there isn't anyone on Earth that's going to get hurt. Tom, just what am I going to do?" said Paul despairingly