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And what reatest respect for Ja as hunter and as hunted, not to sense the edgy awareness that lay between the two--invisible or not

He returned ainto the blankets

"It’s all right," he said "I’ve said we’ll have two guards tonight, and each man to keep his piece loaded and to hand But I think it’s all right" He looked beyond htful

"It’s all right," he repeated again, one?"

He turned his head, his lips curling slightly His mouth looked soft, tender and vulnerable a beard

"I dinna ken if it was ever there, Sassenach," he said "I thought I felt eyes uponwolf, an owl--or nayin the wood But aye, it’s gone now"

He sht that rimmed his head and shoulders as he turned, silhouetted by the fire Beyond, the sound of Roger’s voice drifted to me above the crackle of the fire, as he learned theEvan’s voice, hoarse but confident Jamie slid into the blankets besideto return the favor he had done ent for each other’s war up the layers of fabric between us, so that he lay behind me, his arm secure around me, the small secret patches of our nakdness joined in war the darkness of the wood, watching the firelight dance a the trees, as Ja, and so slowly as scarcely to rustle the branches beneath us Roger’s voice rose strong and sweet above theslowly stopped

I WOKE MUCH LATER beneath a blue-black sky, dry-h of Ja; one of those pointless drea but leaves a nasty taste inboth water and relief of my bladder, I squirmed carefully out from under Jamie’s arroaned slightly, snuffling in his sleep, but didn’t wake

I paused to lay a hand lightly on his forehead Cool, no fever Perhaps he was right, then--just a bad cold I stood up, reluctant to leave the war I couldn’t wait until s were stilled, the fire s, kept up by the sentry on duty It was Murdo Lindsay; I could see the white fur of his possum-skin cap, perched atop what looked like a huddled pile of clothing and blankets The anony, musket on his knees; he nodded to me, face shadowed by the brim of his slouch hat The white cap turned in my direction too, at the sound of my step I sketched a wave, and Murdo nodded toward me, then turned back toward the wood

The men lay in a shrouded circle, buried in their blankets I felt a sudden qualht and drea so still, side by side Just so had they laid the bodies at Amiens At Preston Still and shrouded, side by side, faces covered and anonymous War seldom looks on the faces of its dead

And why should I wake fro ranks of dead htly past the shrouded line of bodies Well, that was siiven our errand We were headed for battle--if not now, then soon enough

One blanket-wrapped foruishable fro foot thrust free of the blanket, revealing Evan Lindsay’s trapped shoe I felt the anxious burden of iination ease, with this evidence of life, of individuality

It’s the anony possible When the naain on toain the identity they lost as soldiers, and take their place in grief and hosts of sons and lovers Perhaps this journey would end in peace The conflict that was cohthe world would hear of that, and I stepped past the last of the sleeping h an evil drearound near the saddlebags and drank deep The water was piercingly cold, and an to dissipate, washed away by the sweet, clean taste of it I paused, gasping from the coldness, and wiped my mouth

Best take some back to Jamie; if he wasn’t wakened by my absence, he would be by my return, and I knew his mouth would be dry as well, since he was coh his nose at thethe strap of the canteen over my shoulder and stepped into the shelter of the wood

It was cold under the trees, but the air was still and crystal clear The shadows that had see, seen frolow and crackle, an to adapt to the dark I heard the rustle of sorass nearby, and the unexpected distant hooting of an owl

Finished, I stood still for a fewthe momentary solitude It was very cold, but very peaceful Jaht not have been here earlier, the wood held nothing iniht of him had sum rasp of his breath He coughed, a led noise that I didn’t like at all

"Here I ah choked off in a sudden wheeze of panic, and there was a crunch and flurry a the leaves I saw Murdo start up by the fire, musket in hand, and then a dark shape darted past htened The shape stu the canteen off ure in the back with a hollow thunk! and whoever it was--certainly not Ja

There followed a short period of chaos, without of their blankets like startled jack-in-the-boxes, incoherent shouting, and generalbodies and charged into the wood,into the darkness, he charged the first shape he sahich happened to beinto the leaves, where I ended inelegantly sprawled and windless, the Glaswegian kneeling on runt as I fell, for he paused, narrowly checking himself as he was about to club me in the head