Red & White

seventeen.

Leah's recovery continued through the rest of that day, until the next morning when the nurse stopped in once again and declared that she was free to go as she wished. The elderly woman gave her medicine tablets that would be taken if a headache popped up or anything like that.  

The peasant's head still hurt a bit, but that was common for someone suffering from a minor concussion. 

That day, when her lessening symptoms were approved by the doctor, Leah chose to go home. She told Harry the moment she decided, saying that she missed her family and that the twins surely needed some sanity brought back into the cottage home after being stuck with their mother. She worried terribly during the time spent at the palace whether or not they were managing well. 

And they seemed to be okay.

Louis traveled in the carriage with Leah when she went home and after a hug goodbye and him telling her to "feel better and I will see you soon, love" the girl walked inside and called out to the members of her family.

It was quiet for a second before the stumbling over tiny feet could be heard from the only other room in the home. The twins had burst through and hugged the girl.

Her mother appeared only a few minutes later and Leah sat them down to explain what happened and why she did not return home the past few days. Ben questioned her about Harry and what was happening between them and she didn't know how to respond. What was going on between them? Were they lovers or simply good friends? He was showing great interest in her by taking care of her and pleading that she stays with him during the days and nights. Everything baffled the girl.

The tables then turned and Leah asked her family how the farming and selling had been going in her absence. 

"The land has not been in our favor," her mother had regretfully informed her, "However, the boys are doing very well down at the market with what we can produce."

Cal nodded enthusiastically and Leah grinned proudly. "Yup! Ben and I sold pounds and pounds of vegetables to a needy new mum and her husband. They were really nice, too. It was like they couldn't even tell we were peasants!"

That made her frown. Though her brother said it with excitement, it still saddened her. She felt grateful that the family treated her siblings kindly, but the naive little boys didn't seem to understand some things. They shouldn't be treated any differently no matter who confronts them. We are all one, we all have one heart and brain, we all are working under the Royal Family, and we all have our personal struggles, she argued privately in her mind.

After telling them how proud she was of them, Leah asked them if they were still having difficulty sleeping with passing soldiers outside their home. It happened each night since the last war years ago. They patrolled the land for a reason the Bates family were not aware of. 

"I suppose we're doing alright," Cal had answered with a shrug.

Ben then added, "It was odd. The night you didn't come home, we heard no soldiers. And then the next day they returned and to us, it seemed like the group of soldiers doubled."

In a peculiar way, that worried the peasant girl.

****

In the afternoon, Leah did her best at helping her family work in the just-about frozen farmland, but by three o'clock her head was pounding. She apologized with a wince and retreated back into the home for a nap.

Leah dryly swallowed a medicine tablet the nurse had previously given her and dozed off in the makeshift bed. Her body had gotten used to Harry's plush and silky bed. The cloth and hay her back was resting on surely was noticed with an uncomfortable difference.