What Happens By Candlelight

Chapter Two: Lieutenant Colonel

I sighed and rubbed the sweat off my forehead with my forearm. The cooking apron I wore was covered in blood, and the same could be said about my hands. Thomas was still unconscious. He would be for a while. 

I stood up, holding my hands away from my body, and nodded towards the other men in the room. "Open the door."

One of them quickly jumped up from his sitting position and opened the door. I walked through and nodded. "Come on, I need to wash this off."

The man hesitantly nodded and followed me up the stairs. He opened my door (after assuring him that it was indeed my room) and poured some water into a bowl. "Thank you."

I was tired. Amanda left hours ago to warn the townspeople, leaving me to treat my stupid brother alone. A few men were stationed to keep an eye on me, but after an hour of watching me wash the wound and stop the bleeding, they dozed off or relaxed.

I dipped my hands into the water, watching as it was tainted red. The white washcloth lost it's bright white and would forever be soiled. I saw myself in it, forever soiled from the bright innocence of childhood. I would never be a true lady in society. If I was ever caught, then I'd be hanged for crimes against the crown.

Once my hands were clean enough, I untied the apron and studied it. I knew that it was bloody beyond repair.

With a final sigh, I stood up and walked out of my room, down the staircase, and into the kitchen. Only a couple of the workers were in there, sweeping the floors and wiping down the tables. I disposed of the apron in the fireplace and watched as it burned, after concluding that it wasn't worth the hassle of cleaning. "Any food left from supper?"

One of the women nodded and grabbed a plate of food. I felt honored that they made a plate for me, especially since our "guest" had already eaten. I happily lifted some food in my mouth, the counter serving as my table.

"Will he be alright, Miss?" I lifted my eyes to the two women, watching the fear and hope flicker in their eyes. I took a minute to remember how close each of them was to Thomas, they grew up with all of us. I figured that it wouldn't hurt for them to know.

"He'll be fine after a night of rest." Hopefully, I did all that I could; it was up to him to pull through. The two shared a sigh of relief before setting their cleaning supplies off to the side.

"You must be excited to have your brothers back home after so long." My jaw clenched as I bit my tongue. The two took my silence as fatigue and fluttered off to their rooms.

Was I happy? A little, but in reality, I was pissed that they never wrote or visited or bothered doing anything.

I thought that they had died horrible deaths. That no one recognized their bodies. Of course, I was happy to see them alive (mostly alive), but only the Lord knew how much I wanted to be the one to kill them. How could they do that to me?

"It's rather late for a lady to be up." My eyes shifted to look at the Lieutenant Colonel, who stood proudly in his red uniform.

"It's rather late for a guest to be snooping around." My gaze returned to my food, which had mostly disappeared. I scrapped what was left of my plate into the trash and left the plate to soak in the cold water. I didn't want to look at him. I tried my best to avoid him, but he was blocking my only exit.

"So, you're the infamous Evans girl. Your brothers spoke highly of you, though I expected more of a..." I sighed as he trailed off. I knew exactly what he wanted to say.

"A child."

I finished for him, my fingers turning white from how tightly I gripped the countertops. "I did not mean to insult you, Miss, they simply described a... younger version of yourself." I laughed lightly, thinking over how much I changed over the course of three years.

My hips had widened and my breasts had grown, I grew in height, my face had matured, and my hair had darkened. According to Captain Wilson, my employer, I could have easily become a seductress.

I, however, wouldn't hear of it. I was a woman that needed to look out for herself, I couldn't just use my looks to get out of a sticky situation.

I shook my head when I realized that I had been quiet for far too long. "The girl they have been describing was sixteen; three years have passed since they last saw me."

I finally turned my gaze to the man, slightly surprised to see him clenching his jaw. I didn't remember saying anything that could have offended him, so why the sudden irritation? He couldn't have been mad at my brothers, at least not that I was aware of.

"I should go." Even as he said this he stayed where he was, unsure of whether it was alright for him to leave or not.

"Yes, good night-" I paused and waited. I had no clue what to refer to him as.

"You may call me either Colonel, or Lieutenant, or even Lieutenant Colonel if you must." I pouted to myself, curious as to why he didn't give me his name.

"Is there-"

He walked away before I could finish. I huffed in annoyance at this, having expected him to be more polite. Weren't the British soldiers supposed to be polite and civil with everyone they crossed paths with unless they met patriots? 

I stood for a moment and considered what to do. Going to bed seemed to be my favorite option, but I had warned Edward that I would talk to him once I was done with Thomas. I sighed as I glanced at my hands, unhappy to see some dried blood still stuck under my nails.

Edward was cowardly when it came to me anyway; he was probably in his room, hiding from me. He had done the same thing even since we were young. Like the time he tore the head off of my doll and I was so mad I threw all his tin soldiers into the fire. After that, he always hid from me.  

I finally gave up and decided that getting some sleep would be nice. After all, tomorrow was bound to be an even longer day.