Tradition Be Damned

“Three hundred men twenty miles outside the gates, and my scouts have seen nothing of this?” The colonel shook his head, dull-brown wisps of hair falling over his brow. He threw me a look of skepticism over the large oak table between us.

“You know that I trust your abilities, Miss Tate, but surely this information is just another bit of farce to confuse the spies that might be listening.”

Spies such as I, I presumed.

I gave the colonel a severe look. “I beg your pardon, sir, but I got the captain drunk myself and am quite sure he could not have been faking. There’s a reason you do not take drink, is there not?”

He flushed slightly and his mouth compressed into a dark line. “I take your meaning, my dear, but-"

“I know my job, sir, and I take great care to do it well. I was alone with the captain and he was eager to prove his newly acquired rank to me, even before the drink.”

Colonel Greaves narrowed his eyes. “Like that, is it? I do believe it is common knowledge that many whores pass along information for… supplemental income, if you like. I simply do not find this information plausible.”

I gave the insufferable man a smirk across the table. His eyes narrowed further.

“You will be pleased to know I had the foresight to not play whore, sir, but as Lady Belle from Lille. He thinks me nothing more than a money-grubbing French leech.”

A slow grin of appreciation spread across the colonel’s face as he processed my words. “Alright, then. If you’re so certain, find another source to confirm this information.”

I bared my teeth in a smile, accepting the challenge. “I’ll report back in three days, Colonel.” I turned to leave, already making a mental list of provisions I would need for my journey, but my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Colonel Greaves clearing his throat.

“Miss Tate.”

Damn.

Turning slowly back around, I conjured up an innocent smile. “Yes, Colonel?”

The look on his face was one I had seen on my father’s a number of times, and I knew what was coming. “Do you care to explain your whereabouts earlier this evening?”

My eyebrows shot upwards in intentionally fake surprise. “Whatever can you mean, sir?”

“My… informant says you were seen fighting with some French soldiers at Godwin’s Tavern.”

A snort burst out as I rolled my eyes. “I’d hardly call it a fight. I’m surprised either of them could even find their swords, let alone use them.”

“It is most unusual to see a lady, a well-dressed one, at that, brandishing a sword against soldiers in the middle of a tavern. People are already talking.”

“Rest assured. Some of their fellows attempted to capture once I’d left, but they ran right past me without even a flicker of recognition. And it wasn't a sword; it was a dagger.” I hesitated then, unsure how to balance the need for defending my actions and the need to stay in my place. I dipped my head. “I acknowledge the risk of my actions, Colonel, but those soldiers were planning to follow me and commit acts that would make your hair curl. They didn’t know I can speak French, of course, so didn’t think to spare the details, sir.”

Color spread up his neck, though whether in anger or embarrassment, I wasn’t sure. But he held firm. “An unfortunate thought on their part, Miss Tate, but that does not excuse the behavior. And why not let them follow you and dispatch them away from public eye?”

I met Colonel Greave's gaze. “They had done it before. Both of them. To a child with red hair. Don’t ask me how I know.” I shuddered. “I lost my head, sir, and I do apologize for that.”

The colonel’s skin lost its color. He gripped the chair in front of him as if it was the only thing keeping him anchored to the earth. I thought he might vomit.

“Are you all right?” I asked, hurrying around the table towards him.

His eyes were closed, and as I reached him and put a hand on his arm, peering at his face, he waved a hand in dismissal. “Yes,” he croaked. He cleared his throat, opening his eyes. “Yes, I’m fine.” I narrowed my eyes at him, searching his face. Clearly, I had upset the man. He faked a smile.

“It doesn’t take a spy to know you’re lying, Colonel. But I’ll leave you to it, then.” I squeezed his arm before turning towards the door.

“Did you kill them?” He asked just as I reached for the handle.

I paused. “No.”

Silence. Then, “Ah. Would that you had.”

I looked back at the colonel, suppressing a shiver as his haunted eyes met mine. “Would that I had,” I said quietly, and walked out.

The trees were just starting to lose their color. A fire would be nice during the night, but not necessary, and I preferred to not attract any attention to myself during my short mission. I only had half a day at most to get to the soldiers’ camp, which would leave no time to spare. No fire, I assured myself, just a bit of bread and cheese and a few hours’ rest and I’d be on my way.

I had just rolled out my woolen bedroll when I heard the subtle crunch of leaves and twigs under a boot. I stood up slowly, sliding my dagger out from beneath my cloak. “Show yourself.” I commanded, though quietly.

A figure stepped out of the shadows and I readied myself to dodge if it held a weapon. But after watching the shadow take a couple more steps, I sheathed the dagger. “Jack!” I quite literally flung myself at him, my arms around his neck and his around my middle. “I’m going to end up killing you if you keep trying to sneak up on me, you know.” With my nose buried in his neck, I smelled the undeniable stench of sweat, horse, and… metal? I wrinkled my nose. “Why do you smell like a blacksmith?”

He gave me a crooked smile and shrugged. “Took Tommy to your father to mend a sword just before I started tracking you.”

“Have you lost your mind?” I asked, a little bug-eyed.

“What’s the harm? Just bringing a little business to the family trade, eh?”

I scoffed. “According to my mother, it won’t be in the family much longer if I don’t 'find a man to take over the smithy and settle down.’”

“Yes, well, I should think Tommy will have kept the tradition safe for another week, at least, with what he’s already put down on that repair.” He pulled me tight.

“How close are you to the French, do you think?”

“Several hours yet. I’m supposed to be sleeping so I can get an early start tomorrow, you know.”

  “Hmm. Might be I could help you fall asleep.” He bent his head, kissing my neck, and whispered in my ear. “Keep you warm, if nothing else.”

  I reached for the buttons of his coat. “I think you read my mind.” I whispered back.

   After hours of riding the next morning, we stopped at a creek to let our mounts drink and to fill our bellies with a quick lunch. I was on my knees in the grass, bent over my pack, rummaging around for some cheese. There was a sharp pain at the back of my head as I heard a horrendous crack, and then there was nothing.

I came back to the conscious world dangling over the back of a horse, arms hanging down below my head, and I let out an involuntary moan from the pain in my head and was quickly dragged off the horse, gagged, bound with my hands behind me, and put back on the horse in front of Jack. Initially I assumed we had both been captured, but as I caught his eye before they lifted me into the saddle and saw the challenge there, and the slight lift of his chin, that assumption was thrown by the wayside.

I had been stripped of everything but my shift, and was fairly certain Jack had removed any blade I possessed. I couldn’t turn my head to see how many other men were in our group but I could see three from my view now and thought there might be another three behind us based on the noise. It didn’t matter. Even if it had only been Jack, I knew better than to try to fight. Jack kept his arms loosely around me, clearly not trusting that I wouldn’t try to escape.

Finally, as the sun began to sink to the horizon and the shadows lengthened, we stopped. The mouth of a cave gaped open on a rock face above us. I suppressed a shudder. Jack slid off the bay mount, then pulled me down after him. My legs were quite accustomed to long days on a horse, but between the state of my head and lack of balance with my arms bound behind me, I staggered and fell to my knees. Jack grabbed me under the arms and lifted me to my feet. I glared at him with as much vehemence as I could muster, which did not change his expression in the slightest.

“Put her with the others,” he said to the man who had bound me. “I’ll be along shortly.”

Trained as I was, I couldn’t keep the surprise off my face when I recognized Colonel Greaves sitting with his back to the wall of the cave. By the firelight, I could see one side of his face was swollen and covered in blood, though it looked dry for the most part. His eyes were closed but as we got closer to him, he rolled his head to the side and pried them open. Upon seeing me, he scrambled to get up. I shook my head. Save your strength, man, I thought.

I was unbound and the gag was removed. My shoulders were aching from being bound for hours, and I really just wanted to lie down and forget about my pain. But as I approached the colonel, I saw three large lumps lying a short distance from the fire and felt the bile rise in my throat. My mother, father and sister all lay on their backs with their hands and feet bound, though they weren’t gagged. They were not conscious, but I saw the rise and fall of their chests. I turned, fists clenched. Jack had entered the cave and watched me from across the fire.

“What have you done to them?” I demanded.

He glanced down at their bodies. “They’re asleep. They’ve not been harmed, Izzy.”

I had such an odd feeling in the pit of my stomach hearing his voice say my name. It was like I was looking at a complete stranger, seeing this person for the very first time. I couldn’t grasp it, couldn’t make sense of what was happening.

“What the hell are you about, Jack?” the colonel asked. We were both under the impression Jack was a spy working under Colonel Greave’s command, as was I.

“Couldn’t have you sounding off the alarms. Wouldn’t catch the city off guard if you had.” He nodded towards me. “She wasn’t supposed to find out. Damn Captain Stiles apparently can’t hold his liquor and his tongue at the same time.”

“And how did you find out she knew that bit of information?” Jack’s eyes flicked over to me, and Colonel Greaves stayed silent a moment, assessing, then fixed his gaze on me. “You bedded him.” It was a statement, not a question.

I kept my eyes on Jack, but answered the Colonel. “I thought I loved him.” I whispered, and Jack’s body twitched at my confession, unwilling now to meet my eyes.

Colonel Greaves didn’t say a word, but lay his head back against the rocks and closed his eyes.

Sometime later, I woke to the sound of a shrieking, earth-shattering scream outside the mouth of the cave. I sat bolt upright and glanced to where my family lay. My sister was no longer there. Without another thought, I was on my feet and flying to the front of the cave. I had no weapons, but I had an unyielding determination and I would get to Finley one way or another. A few hands halfheartedly reached for me as I leapt down the slope, following the sounds of Finley’s screams, but I shook them loose and moved on.

Then they were there in front of me. The two men I had fought with at Godwin’s Tavern were kneeling in the grass, one now attempting to stifle Finley’s screams with his hand, the other between her exposed legs trying to pull his breeches closed since she had made their whereabouts known. Not in time, though. I could see his cock gleaming red with her blood.

I screamed and lunged for him, reaching for his throat before even hitting the ground. Catching him off guard, I was able to pin him beneath me, pressing my thumbs as hard as I could into his windpipe. He was much larger and stronger than I was, though, and grabbed my arms and threw me to the side. He reached for the dagger at his belt, but had to fumble for it as his breeches weren’t laced and the belt hang loose. All I knew was a red, blinding rage and the need to snuff the life out of this man. I clawed his face, tried to reach his eyes, but he had finally got his dagger to hand and I just wasn’t strong enough.

  Knowing I was about to die, I was very surprised to hear the man grunt as his weight fell heavily on me. I pushed on his body and someone pulled him off. Jack stood over him, his face ghostly white in the pale glow of the moonlight. He reached for my elbow and hauled me to my feet.

  Colonel Greaves was kneeling on the ground a few feet away, facing me, with a sobbing, hysterical Finley folded in his arms. I saw the other man next to him, his throat cut, eyes still and empty. My eyes met the colonel’s, whose face was shining with tears, and the pieces snapped together with a click. “It was your daughter.” I said, stunned.

  “You said the girl had red hair. But I never got to hold her and tell her it would be okay.” He closed his eyes, and whispered. “They killed her. And then they got away.”

I knelt next to the colonel and put a hand on his arm while I combed my fingers through Finley’s hair, sweeping the tear-dampened locks back from her face. She peeked at me through the colonel’s arms. “Are they gone?” she whispered.

   I nodded, not able to speak. As the man on the ground next to us let out a moan, Jack knelt at his head and held down his shoulders and arms. Jack looked up expectantly at Colonel Greaves, who passed Finley to me and got to his feet. I held Finley close to me, pressed her head to my shoulder and attempted to cover her ears. The colonel knelt at the man’s side and took the dagger out of the wound in his side. He grabbed the blood-stained flesh between the man’s legs and cut clean through in two swift motions. I pressed harder against Finley’s ears as the man screamed.

Jack ordered his men back to the cave and stood in front of me and Finley, the colonel at our side. He frowned as he took in Finley’s tear-stained form I held against my shoulder.

“I meant no harm, Izzy. It was just-"

   “Business. A matter of politics.” I could hear the ice in my own voice.

 Jack nodded. “I didn’t know they would- that they…” his shoulders slumped. “I didn’t know them.” Colonel Greaves stepped forward and punched Jack right on the jaw. Jack had the decency to let him, and staggered a bit, but didn’t fall to the ground.

As he straightened, Colonel Greaves cleared his throat. “I expect her father would have liked to do the same had he been present for the conversation, but as he’s not…” he shrugged, and rubbed the back of his hand with a grimace.

  Jack nodded in acknowledgment. He turned back to me, a look of desperation in his eyes. “Go. Take your family to Scotland. You’ll be recognized here now. None of you will be safe.”

“Your men aren’t going to let us just walk out.” I said, pointing my chin towards the cave.

 “We’ll tell them we’ve made a bargain. I presume the French have already descended upon the city?” the colonel asked. Jack nodded. “Can’t do much harm now, can we?”

I shook my head. “Colonel, I appreciate the sacrifice, but-“

“Worry not, Miss Tate. I’m worth more alive than dead, for now. I’ll live to tell the tale.”

“Maybe you’ll carry on the family tradition after all, Isobel.” Jack gave me a half smile, though it didn’t reach his eyes.

  I met his gaze, staring straight into his soul. “Would that I never love another man. Tradition be damned.” I whispered, and gathered Finley close as Colonel Greaves took my arm and steered us back towards the cave.