FicWad

Jack is not dealing well with what happened to Liam. He feels that he ought to have realized that Liam was descending into a state of destruction similar to those he experiences himself. He, in turn, begins drinking heavily in an attempt to put the thought of Liam’s probable fate out of his mind. Kerrigan silently watches him descend into the same pattern of destruction that so recently overtook his son. Kerrigan does something she feels that she will likely regret, though she knows it must be done. It has been more than a week since Liam attacked her and fought with the men who came to find him. She has replaced her nightshirt and corset, healed, and forgiven him, but she wishes to ensure his own safety. She searches through Jack’s papers, finding a series of notes about battle plans jotted haphazardly on various pieces of parchment. She studies his handwriting closely, takes his inkwell and dull quill out of his traveling desk set, mixes the powdered ink with a small amount of water, and begins writing on a fresh piece of parchment, mimicking his haphazard spelling, handwriting, syntax, and phrasing perfectly.

“To: Colonel Owen Callahan, Thirteenth Bridgeton Light Infantry, Southern Army

“From: Senatorial General Jack Shepherd, Southern Army Command

“I am sure you are aware of my son’s unruly behavure. You know that he’s as much family to me as you are to General Callahan. I must do for him as your father would do for you, if for no other reason than that he is my son. I order you to maintaine his rank of Captin and not punish him too severely for his mistakes. He must not under any circumstanse be discharged. If you have already done so let me know now, so that I can find him in Bridgeton and return him to you. You will agree that he is a good Captain and has good judgement in battel. Reply quick, telling me your desision reguarding his punishmint.

“Senatorial General Jack Shepherd, Southern Army Command.”

Kerrigan carefully mimics Jack’s uneven, scrawling penmanship and occasional haphazardly irregular spelling and punctuation, which is most unlike her own extremely neat, measured cursive and formal manner of writing. She ensures that every letter looks like Jack’s handwriting instead of her own. She then makes sure that the ink bottle makes a ring at the top right hand corner of the page, drips a few drops of ink across the page in a concerted effort to make them seem careless, lights one of Jack’s cigars, carefully smudging ash across the page, predominantly on the left-hand side, since Jack is right-handed and smokes and gestures with his left hand as he ponders to himself about what he should write next while composing letters. She also spills whiskey on the same side of the page due to his habit of holding a glass of whiskey in the same hand as his cigar while writing. She is careful not to leave any of her own fingerprints in the ash or ink because the small size would make them obviously hers instead of his. She folds the letter, writes the Colonel’s address on the back, splattering more ink, and seals it on the front with Jack’s monogram seal. She uses the desk version that he keeps as a backup in case his sigil ring, which he wears continually, should be broken. Before the wax sets completely, she carefully spills more cigar ash into it. After clearing Jack’s things from the table, she walks into the street and finds a young boy. She sends him along with the promise of six copper coins, a wondrous sum for a boy of seven years and enough to buy a small bag of toffee, if he returns with Colonel Callahan’s reply and does not mention who handed him the letter.

An hour later, the boy returns with the Colonel’s detailing of the events, Jack none the wiser to the exchange. Kerrigan pays the boy and wonders where Jack is and what he is doing. Normally, she does not agonize about Jack’s whereabouts. His business is his own, except when something needs his urgent attention and he is not there to deal with it. Today, she has a feeling that something bad will happen. She tries to put it out of her mind as nonsense, but she cannot help but feel anxious. She is no seer, and she has no powers of premonition. She is, however, concerned about both Liam and Jack. Jack’s Generals arrive for a meeting, but she turns them away, informing them that he is not there. General Callahan and General Malone ask her where he is, and she informs them that she does not know. She fears that he is going to lose his life in an opium den, drugging himself to death, but he is far more likely to buy opium, inject himself, and then go to the pubs and drink all day and night and wander back some time late at night or early in the morning, depending on the hour the pub he has selected closes its doors. Generals Callahan and Malone step outside so that they may speak privately.

“I told ye, Eamon,” says General Callahan. “Liam goin’ that way’s caused Jack to do the same. We ought to go find him.”

“’Tisn’t our business, Keegan,” says General Malone. “She’s not asked us to fetch him, an’ I, for me own part, would rather not get involved, not least after what happened wi’ his son.”

“She won’t ask. I had to pull rank on me own son to put Liam back together when Owen was too stupid to do it hisself. I can’t go over Jack’s head an’ order someone to fix him as well. We got to catch him now ‘afore it gets any worse.”

“I simply can’t spend the day traipsin’ ‘round Crosspoint ‘cause Jack can’t take care o’ hisself. I’ve all the men from District Twenty to command.”

“An’ I’m any less busy than ye are? I have District Thirteen. Or have ye forgotten from your own time as Colonel o’ the Thirteenth after me an’ Jack how unruly that one unit is? Think ‘bout the number o’ reports I’d get wi’ that multiplied across a whole District.”

“I still don’ think we ought to get involved where we ain’t welcome.”

“I don’ think we have any choice. We can’t exactly have her runnin’ ‘round after him. She’s a lady.”

“Have ye forgotten we ain’t exactly gentlemen, Keegan?” asks General Malone.

“We’re Bridgeton Gentlemen,” argues General Callahan

“Which means we ain’t really gentlemen a’ ‘tall.”

“We still owe it to her, gentlemen or not. ‘Sides, who knows Jack better’n us?”

“She does.”

“Quit bein’ a miserable bastard, Eamon.”

“Me job is to make sure we win an’ hopefully don’ lose too many men doin’ it. Yours is the same. ‘Tisn’t me job to mind Jack, an’ ‘tisn’t yours either.”

“D’ye not care ‘bout him?” entreats

“I do, but I ain’t the one sleepin’ wi’ him,” says General Malone in acid tones.

“I ain’t. I got three girls in town, an’ ye know I don’ go for men. She ain’t neither, not wi’ her husband the way he is. Have ye not heard the stories?”

“I’d rather not. I’ve me childer at home to think ‘bout, Keegan. Mine, unlike yours, are all still too young to work. I do me job. I go back to me room. I have the odd drink now an’ again to drown me troubles. I don’ have time for nothin’ else, much less Jack’s stupidity. Plus, ‘tis Samhain. I’ve no intention o’ runnin’ after Jack all night when I could be out gettin’ drunk an’ generally overdoin’ it meself.”

“Got some dead relatives ye need to feast to?”

“Me brothers an’ sisters what died as kids, Erin an’ Edward, me sister an’ brother what both died too young, though they both made it to adulthood, an’ me ma’, who died when I was only a wee little boyo.”

“That really why ye want to go out tonight?” asks Colonel Callahan, sure that the reply will be in the negative.

“No, I jus’ want to go an’ get bollixed, since ‘tis Samhain, an’ me wife won’t deny me that, no matter how many o’ the childer need new shoes,” replies General Malone, proving his old friend correct.

“I’ll cut ye a deal. Come wi’ me ‘til dark. If we don’ find him by then, we can go get drunk.”

“Alright, fine, but ye owe me the first round.”

“We’ve a deal, then.”

They return to the cabin, where Kerrigan has made them tea. General Malone thanks her gruffly, and General Callahan says, “We’ll be lookin’ for Jack for ye. Don’ worry your pretty little head, Miss Kerrigan.”

“I assure you, Keegan, there is no need. Jack will probably return of his own accord before dawn tomorrow. If he does not return by then, I may require your assistance in locating him.”

“I’d rather find him now. I have reason to believe he’ll find hisself in quite a spot.”

“I plan on visiting with Liam today. It is Samhain, and he has a dead fiancée to honor.”

“I suggest bringin’ somethin’ for Fitzmaurice an’ Sparrow as well. They was up all night.”

“Why did they not rest?”

“Fitzmaurice came to see me, an’ he begged me to check on Liam. He was right. Liam gets Jack’s malaise, an’ he was real sick.”

“Thank you for telling me. If you do find Jack, please mind him until I return.”

“I will, ma’am.”

Kerrigan bakes a loaf of Barmbrack and saddles her horse to ride through town to purchase gifts for the men. She then travels to the camp of the Thirteenth Bridgeton Light Infantry. A major greets her, telling her that the Colonel is asleep in his tent after a long night. She thanks him and goes to Doctor Sparrow’s tent. Housing only one man, it is small like the Colonel’s tent, with room only for his bed, trunk, files, and desk. His supplies are in his surgery. He has a bell attached to his tent flap, but Kerrigan is careful that she does not disturb it or wake him. She leaves him a very expensive bottle of whiskey with a red bow and a note tied to it. She then walks over to the tent shared by Liam, Captain Fitzmaurice, and three others, who are not there. Captain Fitzmaurice, a notoriously light sleeper like the Doctor, rolls over when she enters. She puts an identical bottle on the shelf by his head next to his guns. She then walks over to Liam. She puts his bottle on his trunk and sits on the side of his bed, stroking his hair. He is a sound sleeper from accumulated years of homelessness in Bridgeton.

On the other side of camp, the dinner bell rings, waking Captain Fitzmaurice, who stretches, yawns, grumbles, and dresses himself for dinner. He sees the bottle and thanks Kerrigan, informing her that Liam must be woken. She wakes Liam, who knocks her off of the bed in a panic as he emerges from a nightmare. He quickly apologizes, to which she replies that she is unharmed and will be waiting for him after dinner. Captain Fitzmaurice helps her to her feet while Liam is dressing himself and hobbling along with his crutch. Colonel Callahan has ordered that dinner not be served until Liam arrives, knowing that he is in the farthest tent from the mess tent and badly injured. Captain Fitzmaurice helps him to dinner, wanting to eat his own food while it is still warm. Kerrigan waits in the tent, not wishing to attract undue attention with her presence, particularly because she is wearing a fairly low-cut gown and does not wish for the majority of the unit to realize this. After dinner, Liam returns with Captain Fitzmaurice and Doctor Sparrow. Conan Callahan wanders into the tent shortly thereafter, and Kerrigan serves the loaf of Barmbrack that she made. It is a Samhain tradition to bake Barmbrack containing a pea, a stick, a cloth, a coin, and a ring, each of which symbolizes a prophesy for the next year. Typically, Barmbrack is served with tea, but she serves it with applejack, typically a drink enjoyed during the harvest season. Each eats it slowly, being careful to take small pieces so as not to break a tooth or choke upon the objects hidden inside.

Doctor Sparrow finds the pea in his slice, symbolizing that he will not marry within the next year. He is unsurprised and says, “Sure, amn’t I married already?”

Kerrigan finds both the stick and the cloth in her slice, the former representing an unhappy marriage and the latter bad fortune or poverty. She says, “I am not surprised either. I have never been blessed with a happy marriage. I doubt the cloth will mean poverty, given my family’s circumstance, but ill fortune plagues us, as it always has.”

Liam finds the coin, which symbolizes wealth, and the ring, which symbolizes marriage within the next year. He is surprised on both counts and says, “I’ve not a woman to share me life wi’. I thought for sure ye’d get the ring, Fitzmaurice.”

“I’m rather relieved, actually,” says Captain Fitzmaurice. “I’m not ready to marry. Perhaps I’ll get the ring next Samhain. Liam, ‘tis good your fortune will be blessed.”

“Thankee.”

Captain Fitzmaurice finds nothing in his slice, despite having by far the largest piece. He seems worried, but Conan Callahan found nothing in his piece either. The next day being Sunday and having no battles, Colonel Callahan has given his entire unit the freedom to stay in town overnight and travel alone. This is an unusual freedom for the enlisted men, who have always been required to file paperwork with an officer and travel in groups to and from town. Colonel Callahan does not even have anyone standing watch. The men are all given complete liberty to do as they please. For Conan, this means that he can go to town to find women. Unlike his brothers Owen and Brendan, he, like his brother Kian, who is four years his senior, has no wife. Brendan, who has no intention of leaving camp, lends Conan his horse, and Kian offers to bring him to town, since he has plans to drink with their father, and he knows that General Callahan will share his women with his two unmarried sons. Kerrigan leaves with them, though she is destined for the cabin, since she prefers to have a reliable escort down the pathway at or after dusk if it is at all possible.

Neither Doctor Sparrow nor Captain Fitzmaurice are in high spirits. They have been close friends from the age of four, and Doctor Sparrow’s time with the unit is nearly over. He will return to Bridgeton at Yuletide and remain there, possibly never returning to Crosspoint. He would like to stay, but his wife begged him to return, despite the fact that he earns a better salary in Crosspoint and has few friends in Bridgeton to keep him company. In hopes of finding Army doctors to transfer and in an attempt to get civilian doctors to enlist as officers, his job is disappearing. Doctors Kiersey and Hayes are all now formally soldiers, and Doctor Lawless was already a Lieutenant. There is no spot for Doctor Sparrow in the Thirteenth Bridgeton Light Infantry, so, rather than be forced to join another unit, he is returning to Bridgeton awaiting further notice that his job will again arise and promising Colonel Callahan to return the day that it does.

Captain Fitzmaurice would like to return with him, but he cannot do so. He joined the army upon graduation of his officer training on his twenty-third birthday. His enlistment is the customary five years, so he will not be able to leave the army until his twenty-eighth birthday, which is in another year, eight months, one week, and two days. He keeps an excellent count of the amount of time he has left out of habit and because he hopes for something better afterward. He did much the same thing when he was in training. He misses Bridgeton’s filthy streets and crowded taverns because it is his home. In Crosspoint, the only familiar faces wear uniforms. In Bridgeton, his uniform brings him some respect, as does his reputation. In Crosspoint, he is merely another Southern Army Captain. There are many Southern Army officers from Bridgeton, but in a city with such a massive population, they are a relatively small percentage, unlike Crosspoint, which is a far smaller city surrounded by Southern and Western Army units.

Faced with seeing his best friend leave so soon, he filed paperwork to leave the Southern Army in an officer exchange program for one year as soon as he learned about the Doctor’s fate. He would have leave from Yule until the beginning of January, meaning that he could spend Yuletide in Bridgeton with Doctor Sparrow before departing for his temporary assignment. He initially requested the Western Army, with a special request for Sergeant Barrett’s unit, but Colonel Callahan reminded him before he filed the paperwork that he being an officer and she being enlisted meant that their relationship would have to end if he were even assigned to the Western Army at all. Already having been given a preliminary acceptance to the program, he had no choice but to pick another army, and, being Anglo-Irish, that meant the Northern Army, the Central and Eastern Armies lacking units who speak his own language. Captain Fitzmaurice has a particular dislike of northerners in general, particularly the men from District Six, and he is guaranteed to be assigned to a District Six Light Infantry unit, since he is trained for Light Infantry and District Six is the district represented in the Northern Army where his language is spoken. His rank will remain intact, but he cannot be promoted while in the program, which means that Liam will make the rank of major before he does. After a year with that unit, he will again be given leave at Yuletide and will transfer back to the Thirteenth Bridgeton Light Infantry in early January to finish his final few months of required service. When he returns, he will again be the first in line to receive a promotion to major, which is little condolence to him.

He has only told three people of his decision to participate in the officer exchange program, Colonel Callahan and Major Moynihan, who both had to participate in the filing of paperwork in order for him to apply to the program, and Doctor Sparrow, who inquired as to what his plans would be facing their separation. With Conan Callahan gone, he decides to confide in Liam next. He, like Liam, has a particular regard for Conan, and he wishes to seek Liam’s advice upon how to tell Conan of his leaving. He also wishes to seek Liam’s advice on the customs of District Six, since Liam labored there many years earlier. Captain Fitzmaurice must also tell Sergeant Barrett. He has every intention of marrying her as soon as he returns, but he cannot bring himself to do so before then because he has so little time and wants to arrange it properly.

“I have to tell ye somethin’, Liam. I haven’t told everyone this yet, so don’t go announcin’ it. I’m to go to the Northern Army come January. Ye’ll get a captain from District Six here in me place, an’ I’ll be up along the northern part o’ the border fightin’ in his place. I’ll be gone a year, sooner if he dies.”

“Billy, I-” begins Liam.

“I’m sorry for not sayin’ it sooner. Doctor Sparrow’s leavin’ too. He an’ I’ll go back to Bridgeton for Yule, an’ then I’m to go north for January. I’ll pass through Crosspoint again on the train journey up there, since the line don’ go direct, but I’ll on’y be here one night,” says Captain Fitzmaurice.

“Does Sergeant Barrett know?”

“No. The reason I didn’t get the ring in me own piece is that I won’t be here to marry her. I intend to propose to her tonight. I already have the ring. I’ve sent for her to come here tonight, an’ I’ll propose to her in camp as soon as I explain it to her.”

“Fitzmaurice, ye- ye-”

“I’m not throwin’ me life away. I thought it through. I’ve been sober. I don’ think I can bear stayin’ here an’ seein’ me best friend leave, so I’m goin’ up north. I can’t take her wi’ me, so I’ll give her me promise to stay faithful. ‘Tis as best I can do.”

“I wasn’t gonna say ye’re foolish. I was gonna say ye remind me o’ meself.”

“What d’ye mean?” asks Captain Fitzmaurice, utterly confused.

Liam sighs. “Back in the Revolution, I’d a girl o’ me own. I was a smuggler. I gave her an engagement ring wi’ the promise we’d be married as soon as I could afford the weddin’ ring. I wanted to take her wi’ me to other Districts when I went on business, but I knew I couldn’t. All she had was me an’ her brother. They had evidence ‘gainst me, an’ I didn’t know it. I went out drinkin’ one night, an’ when I came back, she was gone ‘cause she couldn’t tell ‘em where I was. She died in prison. That was thirty years ago. Last year, me last bit o’ work ‘afore I joined up was trainin’ wi’ the silversmith McAlpine. Look in me foot locker. Here’s the key. There’s a small pouch wi’ a ring in it. I made that. ‘Twould fit her finger exact. I knew her that well that even thirty years after her death I’d know how big her ring would be. I can tell ye care as much ‘bout Emily Barrett as I did ‘bout Mary Jameson. Kerrigan thinks Mary might still be alive an’ that she got smuggled out o’ prison. If that’s the case, well, I’d rather wait for ye to return to marry her. I want yourself an’ the Doctor to be there.”

Colonel Callahan steps into the tent and informs Captain Fitzmaurice that Emily is in camp waiting for him. Captain Fitzmaurice thanks him, takes a small box down from his bookshelf, and turns to Liam saying, “Wish me luck.”

“I’m sure ye’ll do fine, Fitzmaurice, but good luck.”

Captain Fitzmaurice steps out of his tent, utterly surprised to see Emily in a uniform very different from that in which he is accustomed to seeing her. Her coat is longer and lacks the middy collar with the stripes on it that her previous uniform had. It cannot be civilian wear, since it bears her insignia. He is utterly surprised to see her like that and brings her on one of their customary walks through the woods in order to speak with her privately.

“Surprise!” she exclaims. “I made Lieutenant.”

“Congratulations, Emily,” replies Captain Fitzmaurice solemnly.

“Are ye not happy for me, Billy?”

“I am.”

“Then why so gloomy? ‘Tis the happiest day o’ me life! I’ve finally done me father proud! I do so wish he could be here to see me now!”

“Emily, I- This ain’t easy for me to say. I won’t be here next year.”

“What!? Ye’re leavin’ me!?” asks Emily, utterly shocked.

“Not you. Crosspoint,” answers Captain Fitzmaurice. “The Doctor’s job’s disappearin’, an’ I can’t stand to see him go. I know ye’ve no family an’ that, but me own family, well…we’re not close. He’s the closest thing to real family I’ve got. I’m closer to him than I am to me own two half-brothers.”

“Half-brothers?”

“They’re both called ‘Fitzmaurice,’ an’ I’ve a half-sister as well, but their da’ died a year ‘afore I was born. Do the math for yourself. I’ve no idea who me own da’ is. Anyhow, Brendan Sparrow’s the closest thing I got to real family, an’ I can’t stand to see him go after the time he’s been here.”

“Are ye sayin’ ye’re goin’ to…” wonders Emily, unable to finish the question out of fear that it might be true.

“No! No! Not a’ ‘tall!” promises Billy. “I’m in the officer exchange. I’m goin’ to a District Six unit. I’ll be gone a year, less if the man in me place dies. Ye’ll probably be me equal, if not me superior, when I get back.”

“I’m not sure I can-”

“Fitzmaurice!” shouts Captain Boland as Captain Fitzmaurice and Emily return to the edge of camp.

“What is it, Boland!?” asks Captain Fitzmaurice loudly, shouting rather than bothering to walk closer to have the conversation, much to the annoyance of Emily.

“Me an’ the lads are goin’ to town…well…everyone ‘cept Liam, an’ I ain’t asked the Doctor yet! Wanna come!?” shouts Captain Boland.

“Not tonight, Boland! I’ve got plans!” shouts Captain Fitzmaurice in reply.

“No ye haven’t,” says Emily, furious at Captain Fitzmaurice’s audacity. “I can’t take it this time, Billy. No more. I’m leavin’.”

“I’ve one more thing to say to ye, Emmy,” says Captain Fitzmaurice,

“I hope it’s good-bye.”

“’Tisn’t,” he says, kneeling in the grass on the edge of camp. “Will ye marry me, Emily Barrett?”

“When?” she asks, surprised.

“’Twill have to wait ‘til I return, I’m afraid, but this is me promise to ye that I’ll return from District Six an’ I’ll be faithful to ye while I’m there. Since ye’ve made me ask twice, will ye marry me, Emily Barrett?”

“I’m- I’m not sure. I-”

“So I ask a third time, will ye marry me Emily Barrett?” he asks, putting a concerted effort into trying to use the expression that once caused so many adults to take pity on him when he was a small child, making sure his blue eyes look innocent and somewhat sad.

“I will.”

As Captain Fitzmaurice stands and kisses his fiancée, putting the ring on her hand, several members of the unit begin to cheer and shout congratulations, and Colonel Callahan pushes a glass of whiskey into his hand, saying, “Ye look like ye could use that about now, Fitzmaurice.”

Meanwhile, in town, the sun is setting, and Generals Callahan and Malone abandon their search for Jack. Despite its small size, Crosspoint has many pubs, and it is impossible to search them all in one day. Jack is drinking in an establishment called The Slaughtered Lamb, not far from the markets in the center of town. Around eight o’clock at night, he is thrown out of the pub, despite not having drunk his fill. He is quite drunk, and he is somewhat unsteady on his feet, but he is able to mount Spectre, who, accustomed to Jack’s drunken behavior, is not bothered by having a fairly erratic rider. Jack shoots himself up with opium and cocaine and drinks more whiskey, leaving a trail of broken bottles on the icy cobblestones in the street behind him. Kerrigan is in the stable grooming her own horse when he returns to the cabin. Being too intoxicated to notice or care for anyone or anything other than himself, he leaves his horse tied outside. Kerrigan knows that he will not be leaving the cabin again, even if she must force him to stay, so she brings Spectre into the stable and puts him in his stall next to Pyro, removing his saddle and bridle, giving him his blanket, brushing him some, and giving him food and water for the evening. The horses greet each other affectionately, and a full moon rises, clearly visible with thin, whispy clouds hovering in front of it. The will o’ the whisp shine over the bogs between Crosspoint City and the many camps in the woods surrounding it, ready to lead travelers off of the well-worn trail and into danger.

As soon as Kerrigan steps into the threshold of the cabin, she is overpowered by Jack, who is mad with intoxication. “Ye’re a pretty little thing, now aren’t ye? Aye, ye are. Come ‘ere!”

“Jack, please stop,” she pleads, her cries falling upon deaf ears.

“Take that dress off now, or I’ll cut it off for ye. Ye wouldn’t want to be losin’ somethin’ so fine, now would ye?” Kerrigan reluctantly does as she is told, knowing that Jack’s threats are not empty ones, and Jack says, “Now there’s a good little strumpet.”

“Please do not do this to me, Jack,” she says, through tears, her cold exterior melting away as her closest friend degrades her.

“Take it off. Now. All o’ what ye’re wearin’,” he orders. Kerrigan’s tears stain her makeup as she unhooks her corset, removes her bloomers and dressing gown followed by her shoes and stockings, and carefully folds them neatly, placing them on a chair. “Take down your hair. It’s nicer that way.” She unpins her hair, still sobbing, unable to speak even to plead with him to stop. “Now get on the bed like a good little wench an’ don’ say a word.” Jack removes his own clothing, a knife to Kerrigan’s throat the entire time. She closes her eyes, not wanting to watch it happen. Jack is surprisingly light despite his great height, something she has long known from assisting him to bed on the nights when he drinks too much and loses coordination completely or falls asleep elsewhere. He fumbles around on the bed, forcing her legs apart and grabbing her chest so hard that his nails cut into her. She turns her face away as he tries to kiss her, and he slaps her so hard that she bites her tongue and chokes slightly on the blood, sputtering because she is laying on her back.

Jack is in a blind rage. He does not know what he is doing. Kerrigan realizes this and tries not to be angry with him. She knows that if she becomes angry and loses her temper, she will only anger Jack further by hurting him. She fights to keep her icy nature and to make it seem like what he is doing to her does not matter at all, but she cannot help her sobbing. Jack forces her to kiss him, and she can taste the whiskey on his breath. He forces her acceptance of his sexual advances, something he has never before done to any woman. He is trembling slightly because his own nerves are shattered. Still, he continues. He holds her mouth shut with his left hand as he forces himself inside of her. She cannot scream, but he can see the terror in her eyes. He hates to admit that he enjoys the power. After all the times that she denied his advances, insisting upon faithfulness to her husband, he finally gets what he wants and what he has always wanted. The act only takes him ten minutes, and afterward, he falls asleep immediately, still on top of her. She carefully rolls him off of her, letting him remain on her bed, and wraps herself in a spare blanket, donning her nightshirt and sobbing while she sings to comfort herself, her haunting voice piercing the night.

Dún do shúile a rún mo chroí
A chuid den tsaol is a ghrá liom.
Dún do shúile a rún mo chroí
Is gheobhair féirín amárach.

Beidh do fhear ag tiocht gan mhoill ón g'cnoc
Agus cearca fraoch ina lámh leis.
O codhladh go ciúin a rún mo rún
Agus gheobhair féirín amárach.

Dún do shúile a rún mo chroí
A chuid den tsaol is a ghrá liom.
Dún do shúile a rún mo chroí
Is gheobhair féirín amárach.

Tá an Samhradh ag triall le grian is teas
Agus duilliúr glas ar phrataí
Tá an ghaoth ag tiocht go fírinneach
Is gheobhaimid iasc amárach.

Dún do shúile a rún mo chroí
A chuid den tsaol is a ghrá liom.
Dún do shúile a rún mo chroí
Is gheobhair féirín amárach.

General Callahan has already left his sons and General Malone. Conan is in his hotel room, having found a particular fondness for Mary, and Kian is in the next room with Alice and Evelyn. General Malone decided that he wanted to drink alone, so General Callahan is alone and wandering the streets of Crosspoint on foot. He is headed for The Broken Bottle when he hears the singing. Kerrigan’s voice draws him closer to the cabin. He peers into the cabin and sees her sitting there. He cautiously opens the door, and, upon seeing her tears and the blood on the bed from the violence of Jack’s attack, wraps her in his overcoat, asking to borrow her horse in order to fetch Doctor Sparrow. She nods, giving him her permission, and leaves. Kerrigan’s horse is very fast and agile, being of racing stock, and, despite the fact that her mount is accustomed to a sidesaddle and a very light rider, has no trouble stealthily spiriting General Callahan bareback as far as the camp of the Thirteenth Bridgeton Light Infantry. He finds Doctor Sparrow celebrating with Captain Fitzmaurice and Liam and insists that he come to town quickly and alone, not telling him the nature of his visit or who is involved.

When they return to the cabin, Kerrigan is asleep in her chair, having cried herself to sleep still wearing the General’s coat, and Jack is nowhere to be seen. When General Callahan wakes her gently to tell her that help has arrived, he asks her where Jack has gone. She replies that she does not know and doubts that he will be returning anytime soon. Doctor Sparrow asks her permission to inspect her injuries and does not ask about what happened. He knows, but he does not want to admit it to himself. He gives her a little of General Callahan’s blood to drink with brandy, and he helps her into bed, changing the sheets for her so that she need not be surrounded by her ordeal. He promises her everything will be alright, as does General Callahan, and she replies that she knows it will. Doctor Sparrow returns to camp, promising not to breathe a word of the incident, and General Callahan stays with her in Jack’s bed for her protection. He is determined to ensure that everything will be alright, even if he has to fight for it.