Chapter 23

“But the Major isn’t available!” I heard Lieutenant Lister say, as we approached the desk that they were standing in front of after entering the finance building.

“What seems to be the problem, Jeremy?” I asked, as we neared the desk.

“They demand to see your commission, sir. They don’t believe that our unit exists,” he told me in a frustrated voice.

“That’s easy enough to remedy,” I told him, as I removed the envelope containing the various documents from my coat pocket and removed the appropriate ones for the Finance Officer, a Captain, to look at. I was looking at Sererena as I did this and wondering why she hadn’t already used a spell to remove this problem. Sererena was madder than a wet hen and appeared to be fit to be tied.

“These all appear to be in order. Thank you, Major,” the Finance Officer said after inspecting the various documents. “Your Finance Officer, Lieutenant Lister, will be able to pick up the pay for those at the fort at Mount Sterling from now on. What about the rest of your unit?” he asked after that.

“I will have our administrative personnel draw up a list of their names and ranks, and Lieutenant Lister will deliver it to you shortly. We will be adding personal to the initial list over the coming weeks, as we receive more people to fill out the unit,” I told him.

“Of course, there are always minor problems when new units start up,” the Finance Officer said in an agreeable voice.

“Captain, I’m Lieutenant Matherson from Fort Washington. I believe that we will be able to be here on a more consistent basis now that Major O’Connell’s B Company is located at Fort Washington.”

“That’s fine. It has always been a long trip there to pay your people. Be sure to bring your orders with you when you come. I’ll make a note that you will be here at the end of the month. You will be here then won’t you?” the Finance Captain asked. Fredrick looked at me.

“Yes, he’ll be here. We will ensure that he is able to be here each month, unless we are all out on an operation,” I told the Finance Officer.

“That’s understandable,” he replied. Lister went to draw the money to pay those at Mount Sterling while Sererena joined Fredrick and me. She seemed in much better spirits now.

“I’m Sererena O’Connell,” she said, and smiled at Lieutenant Matherson.

“Fredrick Matherson,” he replied with a bow and a large smile.

“Let’s wait outside for Jeremy to finish,” I suggested. He was still at the pay window drawing the money for those at Mount Sterling.

“What were you so upset about in there?” I asked Sererena in a quiet voice, once we were outside and couldn’t be heard by those in the finance building. “And why didn’t you use a persuasion spell on that Finance Captain?”

“I did!” she answered in an upset voice. “I used every persuasion and compliance spell that I knew, but none of them had any effect on him at all,” she told me still upset.

“Interesting!” I said, as I looked back into the finance office at the Captain still at his desk there. “Very interesting indeed. Someone who can not be affected by certain spells. Definitely something to be investigated, but later. Our plate is more than full at present,” I said and paused. “Have you seen Gwyn while you were here?” I asked.

“No. She and Sergeant O’Flannagain came with us, but they went over to the Quartermaster’s section, and I haven’t seen either of them.”

“What about Sergeant O’Faolain?” I asked.

“He went to Lexington on an errand,” she told me. Jeremy Lister joined us shortly after that, and I introduced the two Lieutenants.

“I’m going to take both Lieutenants with me to Mount Sterling. Find Gwyn and tell her not to worry if she has trouble getting things here. Fort Washington is fully stocked, and we can wait for a while if need be to acquire more furniture and other items,” I told Serena. She left to inform Gwyn, and I took the two Lieutenants around behind the building where we would be out of sight and did the transfer spell there.

We instantly reappeared in the fort at Mount Sterling. Both Officers looked around them at our new surroundings. Jeremy was no longer surprised, as he had made a number of transfers by now and was studying Magic. Fredrick was still amazed.

“Welcome to Mount Sterling,” Wolf called shortly after we appeared. “Who have you brought with you, Mark?” The men here were no longer amazed by our sudden appearance among them and hadn’t reacted.

“Wolf, this is Lieutenant Fredrick Matherson,” I told my Brother and then turned to Fredrick.

“Fredrick, this is my younger Brother, Wolfgang O’Connell,” I told him. The two shook hands before Wolf turned to Jeremy.

“Did you get the pay for the men here?” he asked.

“Yes, finally!” Jeremy told him without going into the trouble that he had. “They had been expecting the Lieutenant assigned here to come in for it for the last two months,” he told him.

“That figures!” Wolf said in a disgusted voice before adding, “How soon can you be ready to pay them?”

“Give me fifteen minutes and show me where to set up,” Jeremy told him. I took him to the headquarters building and helped him arrange the desk there to pay the men coming in the door. Wolf went to alert the Corporals, and we were soon ready to pay the men.

“What was it that Jeremy said about the Lieutenant here?” Fredrick asked after we left the headquarters building before Pay Call started.

“There was a Lieutenant in charge here when we arrived. He was a pretty sorrowful leader, and actually abandoned his Command after we were here the first day. We have him locked in the cell in the guardhouse,” I told him. “We really need to transfer him to the Provost Marshal at Fort Henry. We’ll do that today when we are ready to return,” I told him, as we moved over to the guardhouse. After entering, I showed Fredrick the cell with the prisoner in it.

“Oh ... him!” Fredrick said looking into the cell. “Nothing that you have said surprises me now. Everyone at Fort Henry knows that he is a ‘do nothing’. I suppose that his Colonel sent him out here to see if he would prove to be a fit Officer. Obviously from what you said, that didn’t work,” Fredrick finished.

“No, he apparently didn’t do anything here but drink,” I told him. The one who we were speaking about hadn’t even bothered to look up while we talked about him. We left the guardhouse following that, and I looked Wolf up.

“I’m taking Fredrick out to Gilmore’s Station to get his opinion of it,” I told Wolf who had the men in line to be paid.

“Right,” he told me but had a question, “Would it be all right to allow the men to go into town for a while after they are paid? Those who are married will need to give part of the money to their wives, and all of them may want to purchase a few things.”

“Yes, but impress on them that those scheduled for guard duty tonight will need to be here before we leave,” I told him before changing my mind. “Cancel that!” I told him. “Tell them that they have off until tomorrow at five in the afternoon. We’ll just enclose the fort in a Defensive Shell tonight when we leave,” I told him. “They have been on duty for three months at least with very few breaks, I would imagine.”

“Thanks, Mark! I’m sure the men will appreciate it,” Wolf told me with a huge grin. I transferred Fredrick and myself to Gilmore’s Station following that. He was again surprised by the sudden change of scenery, but was adjusting quickly.

“This will be the new Ranger Training Center,” I told him, as he surveyed the site from our arrival location.

“It could use a bit of work,” he said after looking around for a short time.

“We are aware of that, and I will be arranging with Captain Moore, the Chief Trainer, for him to come out here to look at it also, but I wanted another opinion before I do that,” I told him.

“How many men will be in training here at one time?” he asked.

“The current class has about twenty men graduating, and they will be here for two weeks after graduation to help get things set up before joining us. I’m not sure how many started in the class,” I told him.

“I should think that as many as forty-five to fifty men could fit in here comfortably once it’s repaired. I’m not sure what exactly they do during training, but it is certainly large enough for that many,” Fredrick told me. We spent time checking the entire station, and he pointed out certain things that would need to be changed or altered to meet military requirements, at least in his mind. I would need to see what Captain Moore thought of his ideas. We also checked the area surrounding the station.

“This area wouldn’t do for training Continentals. There just isn’t enough open space. I don’t imagine the Rangers will find that a problem,” he told me after looking at the area. The settlement of Peeled Oak was some distance from the Station, and we didn’t go there, but Captain Moore and I would need to when he was here. We returned to Mount Sterling by mid-afternoon to find Wolf and Jeremy there waiting for us.

“Are you interested in some lunch?” Wolf asked after we appeared.

“Something to eat would go down very well now,” I told him, and we were led into the headquarters building where there were sandwich makings and cold milk.

“Anann brought them out a while ago. Jeremy and I have already eaten, and Anann took D & C back with her. They had finished their work in the garden,” Wolf told us. I showed Fredrick how to make a sandwich and poured him a mug of milk.

“Is this safe to drink?” he asked.

“Yes, our Mage Sisters check the milk and the dairy for any problems, and we get it fresh every morning,” I told him.

“Those are the healers who you told me about, right?” he asked.

“Yes, those are our Mage Sisters,” I told him. We enjoyed our ham sandwiches on homemade bread before I addressed our next problem.

“We need to deal with the former Commander here,” I told the others when we had finished eating. “Before we do that, I have a question for you Gentlemen. Should we turn him over to the Provost Marshal directly, or should he be turned over to his Regimental or Battalion Commander?” I asked them, as they had a more thorough understanding of Military customs in this time period than I did.

“His Battalion Commander might tend to be more lenient on him, as he would have approved sending him here,” Jeremy told us.

“The Regimental Commander at Fort Henry is a stiff necked New Englander and is very stringent about Officers’ behavior in particular, though he has little patience with anyone who breaks the rules, or doesn’t behave in a manner that he considers correct,” Fredrick told us before pausing.

“The Adjutant at Regiment would be the one to turn him over to if you go that route. The Provost Marshal would be a very public option and could set Colonel Thayer against you,” Fredrick told us before adding, “Simeon Thayer is called ‘old one eye’. He lost his right eye during the Battle of Monmouth in ‘78 from a near miss by a cannon ball. He even served in Rogers Rangers during the war with the French and the Indians,” he concluded.

“You seem to know a lot about him,” Jeremy said after hearing this.

“Every Officer in the Regiment knows about his record. If you are going to visit Regimental Headquarters, I’ll remain out of sight if you don’t mind. I don’t need to come to his attention,” he told us.

“All right,” I agreed with a smile. “If he is that formidable, we will turn our prisoner over to the Adjutant and you may remain outside,” I told Fredrick.

“If you are going to do that, you will need a written complaint against him. You will also still need to testify in any action against him,” Jeremy informed us. Wolf and I both took the time to write out the complaint and enumerate the charges against him in addition to explaining the circumstances behind them.

“Will we need a complaint from Seamus also?” Wolf asked when we were nearly finished.

“Yes!” I answered before telling them to wait there. I transferred to Fort Washington to see Seamus. He opted to add his signature to my complaint, and I was soon back at Mount Sterling.

“That was fast,” Wolf said, as I reappeared.

“Seamus read what I had written and just added his signature to my complaint,” I told him and the others.

“Let’s roust our prisoner from his cell and be on our way back to Fort Henry,” I told them all. Said prisoner was asleep on the cot in his cell, and was very unhappy with us when we woke him. I used a freeze spell to silence him and to make it easier to transport him to Fort Henry. Wolf brought along his coat, and the other personal items that he had found in his quarters while cleaning them up.

We moved everyone out of the fort to wait for us while we cast a spherical Defensive Shell around the fort and tinted it a light green. There were just the five of us to transfer to Fort Henry, and we appeared near the Officers’ mess. I had directions for the two Lieutenants.

“Since neither of you need to be involved in this, why don’t you take Jeremy out to the front gate, Fredrick, and see what has been added there,” I told them.

“Added?” both men asked.

“Yes, a little demonstration that we did for General Clark. We’ll meet you there when we finish,” I told them.

“Which building is your Regimental Headquarters in?” Wolf asked before they could leave.